CHAPTER 144: CHAPTER 143: TAKING THE FALL FOR ANOTHER

"Did you ask him who told him to help?" Situ Jing immediately sensed something was amiss.

In the imperial guard camp, important items that need to be locked are managed by designated individuals, and the keys are not for just anyone to handle. Therefore, whoever asked his personal soldier to run an errand must be someone with a legitimate status; otherwise, given He Jiu’s usual caution, he wouldn’t easily follow someone else’s orders.

The personal soldiers all remembered there was indeed such a matter, but they exchanged glances and shook their heads, indicating that He Jiu hadn’t mentioned it to others specifically. He merely made a casual complaint while rushing back to eat.

"He Jiu did say that he wondered if someone in the camp was unhappy that we came over with the general, thinking we might be treated better than them, and so they deliberately played a prank on him.

We advised him not to speak out carelessly and not to cause trouble for the general, especially since we are now working in the imperial guard camp and must not harbor any ill intentions towards the guards. Mutual suspicion is absolutely unacceptable.

After all, a wasted trip doesn’t get one too tired, and since it didn’t delay eating, we let it go.

None of us brought it up again, and none of us expected such an incident to occur at night."

The speaking personal soldier now realized where the problem lay, but thinking about how his close brother had his arms dislocated by someone unknown and beaten so badly, he couldn’t help but feel worried.

He didn’t dare to say it outright in front of Situ Jing and could only hint, "If He Jiu got poisoned and that’s why he suddenly turned like this and was beaten so severely... I wonder if he can recover afterward..."

"Do you know why that Pang Centurion died?" Situ Jing understood the implication immediately and glanced at them, "It was because, after poisoning, he went berserk, his veins snapped, and he died of exhaustion.

Today, He Jiu, being careless, fell into someone else’s trap. During the night patrol, he was suddenly poisoned, almost causing a major mishap. If it weren’t for this gentleman present, who subdued He Jiu in the shortest time, do you think he would still be alive to be detoxified and treated?"

Those personal soldiers came to a sudden realization after hearing this. Resentment brewed earlier, thinking that Lu Qing, from elsewhere, had been so harsh on their brother, but now they felt especially guilty and hurriedly saluted Lu Qing in thanks.

Lu Qing, however, had no interest in minding them; he asked, "Was it He Jiu’s turn for the night patrol this evening?"

A personal soldier suddenly remembered a neglected detail: "No! It wasn’t He Jiu’s turn for the night patrol today!

Tonight, he was supposed to be on sentry duty outside the general’s tent. The one going on a night patrol ate something bad and squatted in the latrine until his legs were weak. Seeing him in no condition for patrol, He Jiu temporarily swapped with him."

Upon hearing this, Situ Jing quickly called the personal soldier on sentry duty outside the tent to clarify.

Indeed, it was true. The one supposed to be standing outside was He Jiu. Their exchange was purely unplanned.

While Lu Qing’s earlier words already offered a hint, there was a world of difference between a reminder and confirmed facts.

Thinking about the intention behind the attack aimed at He Jiu, who was supposed to be outside his main tent, anger rushed from Situ Jing’s heart to his head, and he slammed his fist hard on the low table before him, causing the teacups and teapot to clatter loudly.

"Too much to bear!" The flames of fury in Situ Jing’s eyes were about to explode. Such audacity to provoke him in his own domain was infuriating.

"General!" Recognizing that the intended target tonight was actually Situ Jing, the personal soldiers quickly knelt on one knee, fists clasped, "Though we just arrived and are few in number, if anyone dares to harm you, our brothers are not afraid of their overwhelming numbers; we’ll match them ten to one if need be."

"That’s right, General. Recently, more of the guards have been in trouble. For quite a while, there have been whispers in the camp blaming you for ignoring the evil spirits and not taking action for the brothers.

Now, people dare to play dirty tricks on you. How long are we supposed to tolerate this?!"

Though always disciplined, Situ Jing’s personal soldiers were ultimately passionate martial artists, not given to complex scheming. Constant crises in the camp had kept their nerves taut, and realizing the conspiracy was directly targeted at their general, they were instantly enraged, losing all sense of calm.

Already furious, Situ Jing found it harder to restrain himself after his soldiers’ angry pleas.

Before relocating to Runzhou, he had mainly been involved in cracking down on bandits and robbers with his family, fights that involved direct clashes, where quick and decisive action was rewarded, completing captures was gratifying.

But now, faced with deceit and having to fend off carefully, watching victims increase without moving troops, feigning ignorance despite knowing better, there was a wild fire of anger rampaging within him.

As Situ Jing was about to strike the table and act decisively, Lu Qing, who had been silently listening, spoke slowly, "The ancients said, courage alone is not dependable; in warfare, strategy must come first.

Strategy is the key to victory and defeat. Therefore, the way of a general is not to fear lack of courage but to fear lack of strategy.

What does the general think of these words from the ancients?"

Upon hearing this, Situ Jing’s heated mind instantly cooled down.

"As they say, catch a thief, catch him with evidence. Just with He Jiu’s case alone, others have not seen who asked him to take the keys, and he himself cannot yet reveal the truth," Lu Qing paused and looked up at him, "If you seize the person, how will you sentence them? Do you have solid evidence?

At that time, the other party might counterattack, claiming you brought your personal soldiers to Li State’s camp, clashed with the guards, then took anger out on the original camp’s guards, escalating it to the Holy Emperor.

Then, General, how would you handle it?"