Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 140 - 139: Uncomfortably Poked

It was not until around three quarters past 9 p.m. that a carriage arrived at the post station, bringing three people to the imperial guard camp.

The person driving the carriage was not dressed in the clothes of the Li State imperial guards, but looked more like a personal attendant of Situ Jing.

Without saying a word, he brought the three people into Situ Jing’s large tent and silently stood by the entrance of the tent flaps.

Situ Jing was startled when he saw the three people entering, but upon seeing that they were brought in by his own personal attendant, he immediately understood, stood up, and scrutinized the three before gesturing to Lu Qing, "Please, this way, sir."

Lu Qing approached as Situ Jing produced a thick cloth bundle, carefully placing it on the table, unfolding the wrapped cloth layers one by one.

Zhu Yu, also curious, thought there might be something rare inside. But as the last layer was removed, it turned out to be just a waist card.

The waist card was black in color, appearing quite ordinary and even somewhat rough, looking like the most common type found in military camps from its style.

Situ Jing then took another one from his waist and placed it beside the first, "This is the waist card that the soldiers patrolling the Li State imperial guard camp need to carry daily.

The one wrapped in the cloth is something different that I discovered earlier today when I went to check after receiving news."

Placing the two tokens side by side, one could discern subtle differences upon closer inspection.

The one wrapped in cloth was slightly darker, exuding a bluish-black hue, and apart from the normal textures of a waist card, the other parts were exceptionally smooth.

Whereas the one from Situ Jing’s waist was slightly lighter in color, and between the textures, three small circular bulges could be seen.

Situ Jing then took out his Command Room waist card, turning it over to show Lu Qing. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

On the back of the Command Room waist card, there were also three inconspicuous indentations.

He placed the iron waist card behind the Command Room waist card, and the three circular bulges fit perfectly into the three indentations.

Seeing how meticulously Situ Jing wrapped the unusual waist card with several layers of cloth, including an oiled cloth in between, Lu Qing said to him, "Have someone take this to the post station and hand it over to the Divine Doctor who came with me."

Situ Jing wrapped the waist card, handed it to the personal attendant standing by, who carefully took it, tucked it into his chest, turned, and left the tent.

"What strategy does the general have?" Lu Qing asked in a low voice.

"I plan to have someone take the real waist card with my handwritten note, go find a secure place, and have a blacksmith forge a few more of these waist cards to replace the suspicious ones," Situ Jing replied honestly. Having experienced several incidents recently in the Li State imperial guard camp, the only ones he fully trusted were the personal soldiers he brought with him.

Yet, these personal soldiers, while loyal to him, were not adept at discussing strategies with others.

Therefore, his best hope now was instead this Golden-faced Imperial Censor sent by the Holy Emperor, whose background and intentions were unknown to everyone.

"I can assign this matter to my subordinates," Lu Qing said, looking at the rune, "Did you hear what General Situ said?"

"Yes, I will handle it immediately," the rune responded with fists clasped, then respectfully asked Situ Jing, "May I request a fast horse from the general? It’s not suitable to seek a blacksmith shop too close, as that can easily alert the enemy, so I need to go further away."

Situ Jing, pleased with the rune’s thorough consideration, readily agreed, calling someone in to bring a horse with good endurance.

Once the horse was brought over, the rune mounted with the marked waist card and rode out of the camp, kicking up dust as the hooves struck the ground, leading the sound of hoofbeats to gradually disappear.

Situ Jing handed over two sets of personal soldiers’ uniforms to Lu Qing: "It’s ultimately not secure for you to stay with other imperial guards, as inserting new faces can raise suspicion.

Moreover, with unpredictable figures like Pang Centurion in the camp, who knows when they might suddenly act up. Therefore, for these days, you’ll pose as my personal soldiers and stay in the same tent as my other loyal personal soldiers overnight.

They are my trusted men and won’t speak out of turn, so you can rest assured.

Change into these clothes, and I’ll have someone take you over for a rest."

Evidently, Situ Jing was unaware he was facing a disguised woman, with Zhu Yu, of course, not keen to reveal this truth at such a critical moment, quietly changing into uniforms with Lu Qing.

Situ Jing initially didn’t pay it much heed, but when he unintentionally caught sight of the Golden-faced Imperial Censor’s disguised personal attendant wearing a golden silk armor beneath, he couldn’t help but be slightly startled before discreetly averting his gaze.

Once the two changed clothes, Situ Jing had someone guide them to the camp.

Since the two were newly assigned, and the other personal soldiers not on night duty were already resting, they could only set up two temporary bedding spots on one side of the main tent for them.

This arrangement, though, suited them well, with Lu Qing letting Zhu Yu sleep on the inner spot, while lying fully clothed on the outer bedding position, shielding Zhu Yu from the snoring personal soldiers little more than a few meters away.

After lying down, Zhu Yu tossed and turned, cautiously adjusting her posture.

"What is it?" Lu Qing quietly leaned towards her ear in the dark, asking in a soft voice, "Too nervous to sleep?"

Zhu Yu’s ears grew warm from his breath as he spoke, but whispering seemed essential given the current situation.

She cautiously turned over, whispering back into Lu Qing’s ear, "The golden silk armor, it’s uncomfortable."

After speaking, she sensed the person beside her slightly trembling, clearly stifling laughter.

But before Zhu Yu could "remind" him, Lu Qing calmed down.

"Take off the soft armor to sleep. I’ll call you to dress before dawn," he whispered.

Although this seemed a bit risky and troublesome, unfortunately, while standing or sitting was fine, lying down felt like being on a stone-strewn road, with discomfort all over.

Zhu Yu had no choice but to follow Lu Qing’s suggestion, cautiously removing her robe and soft armor in the dark, feeling much better once she lay back down.

She quietly felt around her chest, where the corset felt tightly fastened. It was slightly uncomfortable, but given the current conditions, she couldn’t be too particular.

Without the golden silk armor poking, and with Lu Qing beside her, Zhu Yu felt somewhat at ease, turning her back to Lu Qing, and soon fell asleep.