Zhu Yu, upon hearing this, really wanted to elbow the man who was clearly so restrained in action yet always unreliable with his words. Unfortunately, she was wrapped tightly in the quilt and couldn’t free her arm.

But she suddenly found a taste in the first half of Lu Qing’s sentence.

Very similar to Situ Jing’s waist card, but not entirely the same...

Their temperament was like that of military personnel...

Being able to find sixteen such people who resemble them in stature and are also skilled within a short period...

So it’s not Situ Jing, but most likely someone with the surname Situ, right?

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu relaxed a bit, buried her face in the quilt, and fell soundly asleep.

For several days like this, Zhu Yu followed Lu Qing in and out to prepare for things that might be needed for the long journey. They encountered those people a few times in between, but they were very low-key, seldom appearing outside.

However, every time they saw Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, they would cast their gaze over, as if they were observing their words and actions, walking postures, and so on.

Zhu Yu had already roughly guessed the purpose of those people, so she wasn’t evasive and let them observe generously.

Until the day of departure, Lu Qing and the others got up early, changed into the clothes Liu Yueyao had prepared for them, and once they were all dressed up and stepped out, they found four more groups of "them" outside.

Zhu Yu looked at those four groups of people. Not only were their heights, builds, and weights very similar to the four of them, even the clothes they wore were identical. If it weren’t for the fact that their veils weren’t yet up, exposing different appearances, it would feel as if four teams of them had popped out of thin air.

Lu Qing glanced faintly at the four groups, then cupped his hands to them.

The four groups silently returned the gesture with quite a respectful attitude.

Zhu Yu and Lu Qing climbed into the prepared carriage, and the other four groups of people who resembled them also boarded. The rest, resembling Fu Lu’s build, donned veils and sat at the front of the carriage.

"Since everything is ready, everyone should set off." Liu Yueyao said with a smile, addressing everyone, and then specifically bowed towards the carriage of Lu Qing and Zhu Yu, "Mr. Zhu and Madam, may you have a smooth journey and return soon. Yue Yao will prepare wine and dishes in advance to welcome you both."

Lu Qing lifted the carriage window and nodded to Liu Yueyao. At her signal, the young assistants jointly opened the heavy wooden door.

One by one, the five carriages went out and drove off in different directions.

The two wooden doors closed heavily behind the last carriage, and the sound of locking highlighted the emptiness of the quiet morning street.

All five carriages had two horses each, and not only were the carriages identical, but also the heights, weights, and colors of the horses were the same, making it impossible to distinguish any differences. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The five carriages drove unhurriedly towards the five outskirt gates in the Capital. By the time they arrived near the gates, it was just the moment of opening.

Typically, unless there were direct orders to strictly investigate to prevent someone from escaping the Capital, the guards at the gates would strictly check those entering the city, whereas those leaving were treated more leniently, with hardly any questions asked unless something extremely suspicious appeared.

Thus, Fu Lu drove the carriage out of the gates without any resistance, continuing along the official road for nearly half an hour before turning onto a slightly bumpy country road at a fork.

"Sir, it’s confirmed. Someone’s been following us from a distance since we left the city, maintaining roughly the same distance and seemingly not intending to get close," Fu Lu’s lowered voice relayed from the front of the carriage after a while.

Zhu Yu was a bit surprised and looked at Lu Qing: "We have five teams that look exactly the same, without any flaws. Why are we still being watched?"

"It seems the others have also put in considerable effort to ensure we don’t escape. They’ve probably stationed eyes at each city gate," Lu Qing speculated.

"So, five carriages leaving from random gates have probably all been followed by now..." Zhu Yu huffed, disdainfully puckering her lips, "They’ve certainly paid us a lot of attention, which is quite touching."

Lu Qing silently laughed at Zhu Yu’s "touched" expression.

"Sir, how do we handle this?" Fu Lu asked again from the front.

"Move with the situation, adapting to changes as they occur." Lu Qing had already planned, "Since they’re just following from afar without any intent to approach, we’ll continue on our way as usual.

If we notice any attempts on their part to raid, we won’t need to be polite with them."

"Yes!" Fu Lu responded with a level of excitement that was barely concealed, though his voice wasn’t loud.

In recent days, having been confined within such a small space, he was nearly going crazy.

Even if he occasionally had opportunities to go out once or twice, it was of no help.

Zhu Yu was quite aware of how suffocated Fu Lu had felt these days.

Previously, she had joked with Fu Lu, saying he was living the life of many wealthy housewives.

Fu Lu had vowed at the time that if he ever got married, he would never restrict his wife from going out. After all, no good person deserves to live cooped up in such a small yard every day; it would drive a good person insane!

He likely hoped, even if outwardly complying with Lu Qing’s strict directions, that those following would soon lose patience and show their true intent, giving him a chance to demonstrate his skills!

Unfortunately, their patience was evidently very strong.

They carried on traveling for an entire day, stopping for a rest at a nearby town in the evening, but those followers still showed no inclination to approach.

The others continued to simply follow from a distance, making no close moves or any actions whatsoever.

This really frustrated Fu Lu, leaving him with a kind of bottled-up anger he couldn’t vent.

That night, the four stayed at an inn, with Fu Lu and Fu Lun taking turns resting and keeping watch for the next day’s journey.

Lu Qing sat cross-legged on the bed, gently resting with his eyes closed, seemingly in a light sleep, or perhaps not sleeping at all.

Zhu Yu lay down fully clothed, unable to sleep soundly, unable to stop herself from listening intently for any unusual sounds.

However, she heard nothing, and the night passed with no one attempting anything under the cover of darkness.

In the morning, the four of them didn’t eat at the inn; they just had a bite of snacks brought from the Capital and continued their journey.

And those who tailed them also silently followed up, just like the previous day.