"They've all been protected?"
Gu Yaoniang raised an eyebrow and paused in her steps.
Ping An, oblivious to the situation, nodded and said, "Several brothers were injured, and one person from the Lu family died."
Gu Yaoniang frowned as the two of them arrived at the courtyard.
When Lu Zhaoan saw Gu Yaoniang approaching, he went to greet her.
Gu Yaoniang then noticed the cart that delivered the money. It was an inconspicuous cart, made of fine, sturdy wood and aged to look dilapidated, but it was perfectly functional.
The wooden boxes used to store the money were all made of ironwood, which was impervious to swords and spears. It was unknown how they were disguised, but they were not visible to the naked eye and could be mistaken for ordinary wooden boxes used by ordinary people to store clothes.
There was an unpleasant smell in the air. Gu Yaoniang looked at the group of injured guards in the courtyard and roughly understood the situation.
Gu Yaoniang glanced at it briefly and found no flaws before looking at Lu Zhaoan.
Lu Zhaoan stood with his hands on his hips. Perhaps because he had rushed over in a hurry, his hair was a little messy. At this moment, with his hands on his hips, he had the air of a mountain king in fine clothes.
Gu Yaoniang wanted to laugh, but thinking about the scene before her, she couldn't bring herself to do so.
She asked, "Do you know who the other person is?"
Lu Zhaoan shook his head: "They did it very cleanly. Thirty people came from the other side. Those who could run ran away, and those who couldn't committed suicide. We don't have a single survivor."
His gaze fell downwards, and he said regretfully, "There are no objects that could reveal my identity."
Gu Yaoniang sighed inwardly.
She didn't suddenly become kind-hearted and pity those who came to rob her of her money. These people were simply following orders, and their lives were lost in the failed attack, which was truly not worth it.
"The money was all saved?"
"Yes. Luckily, we listened to you and switched to a large ironwood chest. They can't take it away or cut it open. Otherwise, we would have suffered heavy losses this time."
Gu Yaoniang breathed a sigh of relief and turned to instruct Ping An, who was standing beside her: "Go and rest well. Make sure the injured brothers see a doctor to check their injuries, and make sure they don't develop any chronic illnesses."
Then she instructed Bizhu to take people to the Fifth Courtyard to guard the silver until she gave further instructions.
Ping An and Bi Zhu acknowledged the order and withdrew. Gu Yaoniang looked at Lu Zhao'an and said, "I still think that it's troublesome and unsafe for us to always be transporting silver."
Lu Zhao'an stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the courtyard. He remained noncommittal, but instead praised, "This is the first time I've ever seen a silver vault designed like this. It's truly heavily guarded. There are even mirrors around the corners. What a brilliant design!"
Gu Yaoniang was taken aback: "I think it's good too."
But then he came to his senses: "Boss Lu! We almost lost all our money today!"
How come you still have the leisure to talk about other things?
Lu Zhaoan straightened his expression and said, "But the money must be transported! Our two families do a lot of business, and it's normal to settle accounts monthly, so the amount of money will be more each time."
But if it's settled every two weeks, it really is a bit troublesome..."
Gu Yaoniang shook her head: "The more times you transport goods, the more troublesome it becomes, and the easier it is for others to target you."
"Wife! Something's wrong with this!"
Their thoughts were interrupted by Bi Shuang's voice, and they looked in the direction from which the sound came.
Bi Shuang squatted on the ground, looking at the axle of the cart that had just transported the silver.
Several large ironwood crates had been moved away by Bizhu, and the cart lay forlornly in the center of the yard.
Bi Shuang rested one hand on the axle and placed the other hand near her nose, as if gently sniffing something.
Gu Yaoniang and Lu Zhaoan walked to her side and squatted down as well. Their eyes fell on the axle, but they did not find anything different.
Bi Shuang moved her hand, gesturing for the two to look over: "Here, please look."
Gu Yaoniang leaned closer to take a look.
The axle was covered in mud and ash, appearing entirely brownish-brown. But something unusual was about it.
The cart did not leave the city. Most of the roads in Shuojing City were paved with stone slabs, which were dusty but had very little mud.
The mud on the axle could perhaps be explained by "scratches and bruises that are inevitable during a fight," but the color of the mud was rather off.
The soil near Shuojing City is a dark yellowish-black color, and the soil is fertile. However, the soil on the cart is a lighter color.
However, no one would normally notice the color of the soil, so Gu Yaoniang and Lu Zhaoan did not notice the difference at first.
But what does this prove?
Seeing that the two seemed puzzled, Bi Shuang said again, "Madam, Boss Lu, please take a closer look. Is there anything similar in this mud?"
Lu Zhaoan and Gu Yaoniang both squatted down, trying to get closer.
However, they were standing too close and almost bumped into each other. Gu Yaoniang quickly stepped back, but her flowing skirt nearly tripped her again.
Lu Zhaoan reacted quickly and reached out to support her. Gu Yaoniang blushed, stood up and stepped back, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then squatted down again.
The yellow mud was lighter in color than that of ordinary fields, and there were also faint white particles embedded in it.
The particles are fine, sparse, and evenly distributed in the mud on the wheels. They are indeed difficult to spot without close inspection.
"You mean this?"
Gu Yaoniang pointed, took out a handkerchief, and extended her little finger, intending to lift it up.
"Don't move, my wife!"
Bi Shuang quickly called out to her. Gu Yaoniang was startled by Bi Shuang's suddenly raised voice, causing her back to tremble.
Lu Zhaoan chuckled casually from the side: "Yao Niang! You're really bold. You dare to reach out without even knowing what it is."
Gu Yaoniang ignored him and asked instead, "What is this?"
Bi Shuang had startled Yao Niang earlier and was somewhat embarrassed: "This is a tracking drug used in the martial arts world. If it gets on the skin, it will be quite painful to wash it off; the skin will itch, crack, and peel. That's why I didn't let you hold it, Madam."
Gu Yaoniang understood, but she was still shocked by the potency of the medicine that Bishuang had described: "So powerful!"
"Is it Crane's Foot Powder?"
Lu Zhaoan, who was standing to the side, asked.
Bi Shuang nodded: "I didn't expect Boss Lu to know about this too."
She then turned to Yao Niang and explained, "Crane Tracking Powder is the most powerful tracking powder in the martial arts world. It is said that once you get it on, it is very difficult to wash off. Even if a crane goes up to a sacred mountain, its tracks can still be found."
She reached out and picked up a white granule in her hand, gesturing as she said, "The only drawback is that it has a fishy, foul smell. If it were placed on a person normally, it would be hard to miss. So people in the martial arts world often make it into these wrapped granules and put them in mud to mask the smell."
When a horse-drawn carriage gets covered in mud, the mud particles will inevitably be crushed during its journey, releasing a smell. The person making the "crane powder" will have trained hunting dogs that will follow the scent. Even a person can smell it if they sniff carefully.
Most people just think of it as the stench of mud and rarely consider other possibilities.
Gu Yaoniang looked at her worriedly: "What about your hand?"
Bi Shuang didn't take it seriously: "Don't worry, my wife, I can get rid of this smell."
It's just a little suffering, it's nothing. She said silently to herself.
Gu Yaoniang nodded: "Then you've suffered."
Although Bi Shuang didn't say it, Gu Yaoniang still remembered it: to wash off the Crane Trace Powder, one had to peel off a layer of skin.
Lu Zhaoan suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed.
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