Chapter 262 - 262 Incognito Visit

262 Incognito Visit

Seeing Lin Ran nod in agreement, Tu Baichuan’s shoulders sank visibly, as if he was relieved.

After saying “Wait a moment”, Tu Baichuan stood up and went out. After a few minutes, he returned.

“Leave what you want to say in this jade talisman. I’ll get someone to send it to the palace.”

As Tu Baichuan spoke, he handed a jade talisman to Lin Ran. “The message in this jade talisman can only be read once, so you don’t have to worry about me eavesdropping.”

!!

Lin Ran looked down. The jade talisman was half the size of an egg and half an inch thick. The texture was not particularly high-grade, and there were no patterns on the surface.

“Where did this thing come from?”

Lin Ran’s expression changed slightly as he hurriedly asked. This jade talisman was exactly the same as the one left behind by Liu Hongshan!

Moreover, Lin Ran had already crushed Liu Hongshan’s jade talisman, so it must be a new one. If he could find out the origin of this jade talisman, he might be able to find out what else Liu Hongshan had done.

Tu Baichuan didn’t know what Lin Ran was thinking. He explained, “This is a communication talisman used by the Five Elements Imperial Guards because it can record the voice. At the same time, the message inside can only be read once to prevent anyone from leaking the news.”

“For the Five Elements Imperial Guards?”

Lin Ran narrowed his eyes and suddenly thought of something, but that thought was very vague. In a moment, it disappeared.

After thinking for a while, Lin Ran took the jade talisman to infuse the message into it.

This process was very simple. Lin Ran just had to think about what he wanted to say.

From the moment Xiao Huai was injured, Lin Ran roughly explained the entire matter and left a last sentence before handing the jade talisman back to Tu Baichuan.

Lin Ran said seriously, “Please send it to His Majesty as soon as possible.”

Tu Baichuan nodded and turned to leave.

Lin Ran was alone in the room again. This silence helped him think. However, before he could sort it out, the door suddenly opened and Tu Baichuan walked in.

Lin Ran frowned in confusion. “His Majesty replied?”

“Not so fast. The messenger just left.”

Tu Baichuan waved his hand and sat down opposite Lin Ran. “I just want to ask one thing. What’s with the out-of-control sword energy in Mount Sword?”

“Out of control sword energy?”

Lin Ran was stunned for a moment before he realized that the other party might be talking about the visible sword intent. “I’ve said it before. It’s not something you should ask…”

“Don’t give me that!”

Tu Baichuan waved his hand, causing a gust of wind to blow. “I won’t ask anything else, but I have to get to the bottom of this matter! I have to give those dead brothers and their families an explanation on behalf of Brother Shen!”

“Dead brothers?”

Lin Ran’s expression turned cold. “Someone from the Golden Guards died?”

“Three hundred and twelve people.”

Tu Baichuan replied in a low voice, his determined face filled with grief. “When we found out, they were already unrecognizable. We could only rely on their tokens to distinguish their identities…”

As he spoke, the burly man actually choked with sobs.

Seeing him like this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but be moved. He really didn’t expect there to be sword intent outside Sword Grave, nor did he expect the casualties of the Golden Guards to be so heavy!

As his emotions fluctuated, the killing intent he had suppressed in his heart began to stir again.

Lin Ran quickly composed himself, gritted his teeth, and said firmly, “I’m very sorry about their casualties, but I need to ask His Majesty if I can reveal this. Please understand.”

“I don’t understand!”

Tu Baichuan waved his hand again and shouted sternly with red eyes, “I’m different from Brother Shen. Those rules are useless to me! Back then, I was also a member of the Golden Guards. Now that my former brothers are dead, I have to give them an explanation even if I have to break the rules!”

The muscle on Lin Ran’s cheeks bulged. He was hesitating. He really wanted to give Tu Baichuan an explanation, but this matter involved too many secrets.

Just as Lin Ran was feeling conflicted, there was suddenly a knock on the door.

Tu Baichuan immediately adjusted his expression and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He said in a low voice, “Come in!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened and a young soldier walked in. He held a jade talisman in both hands and said respectfully, “Commander Tu, His Majesty has replied.”

“Got it.”

As Tu Baichuan spoke, he reached out to take the jade talisman, but the soldier retracted his hand.

The soldier smiled awkwardly. “Commander Tu, His Majesty has ordered me to hand this jade talisman to Deputy General Lin personally.”

When Tu Baichuan heard this, he retracted his hand and looked at the person’s face. He suddenly asked in confusion, “Huh? You’re from the Golden Guards? Why haven’t I seen you before?”

The young soldier smiled. “I’m Lu Di. I’m new in the Golden Guards. It’s normal that Commander Tu doesn’t recognize me.”

Tu Baichuan narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. He only looked at Lin Ran meaningfully before getting up and leaving.

The young soldier turned around and closed the door. Then, he came to Lin Ran’s side. “Deputy General Lin, please.”

Although he said “please”, the person put away the jade talisman and sat opposite Lin Ran with an anxious expression. “What happened?”

Lin Ran blinked blankly. After a moment, his expression changed as he suddenly thought of something. He lowered his voice and asked, “Your Majesty?”

The “soldier” nodded, and his voice became a female voice. “Didn’t you ask me to come over as soon as possible? The procedure for the emperor to leave the palace is too complicated, and the existing evidence is very disadvantageous to you. It’s very difficult for me to summon you into the palace, so I can only do this.”

Lin Ran immediately frowned and questioned in a low voice, “Can you not be so rash? If I really kill someone, do you know how dangerous it is for you to come over so rashly?!”

“I know, but I also know you won’t harm me.”

The empress smiled and looked at Lin Ran with certainty. “I believe you.”

Lin Ran looked at the empress silently for a long time before sighing and saying dejectedly, “It’s different this time. I’m not in full control of myself now. Besides…”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud bang. The tightly shut door was instantly kicked open.

Tu Baichuan walked in with a heavy sword in his hand. His sharp gaze was fixed on the empress like a knife. “I just checked. No one in the Golden Guards is called Lu Di… Who are you?!”

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