Chapter 1787: Chapter 1787: Shifting the Blame to the Dead

General Ge was almost furious, riding his horse all the way into Gu Family Village.

He did not dismount, holding up his token and asked the soldiers guarding the village entrance: "Where is that beast Qiu being held?"

Bu Fang said: "In the tent next to the punishment room yard, it’s marked with a prison flag."

Upon hearing this, General Ge whipped his horse twice and galloped towards the tent.

By the time Qin San Lang and his men got the message and rushed to the tent, General Ge had just dismounted and was rushing towards the tent with his blade.

Upon entering the tent, he looked around and found Troop Commander Qiu tied up, immediately charging towards him: "You beast, how dare you commit such evil. Do you know you almost got General Xu killed!"

With that, he swung his large blade at Troop Commander Qiu.

Clang!

The guard Zhang Tu raised his blade to meet the attack.

He was strong, using a Tang Blade, thus successfully blocking General Ge’s deadly move.

General Ge’s blade was blocked, he quickly looked at Zhang Tu who caught the strike, and saw he was only about twenty years old, feeling shocked: "Are you part of Company Commander Qin’s troops?"

According to the scout who led them, Troop Commander Qiu had surrendered himself for punishment, leaving Qin San Lang no choice but to keep him in the tent, afraid he might harm himself, so he sent his trusted soldiers to watch over him.

Who was this trusted confidant?

Zhang Tu nodded: "I am indeed Company Commander Qin’s Flag Soldier."

"Just a Flag Soldier?" General Ge was amazed, they say there are many capable people under Qin San Lang’s command, and now it seems true, even a Flag Soldier can block a General’s blade. Qin San Lang’s ability in training soldiers is truly terrifying.

Zhang Tu: "Indeed, General."

General Ge was even more astonished and couldn’t help but ask: "With your skills, why are you only a Flag Soldier?"

Zhang Tu smiled: "I only have great arm strength, a loud voice, and can ride horses well. I haven’t led troops in battle, so being a Flag Soldier suits me best."

He looked simple and honest, his smile slightly silly, making General Ge feel at ease.

"Old Ge, stop it, what are you doing? You can’t kill Chou Manwu!" Vice General Ma rushed in, gripping General Ge’s hand holding the sword: "Let’s ask clearly first."

Then he said to Qin San Lang and the others who followed: "San Lang, set up some chairs and bring the witnesses and evidence. We need to conduct a personal inquiry."

"Understood." Qin San Lang bowed in salute, then turned away, busy for three quarters of an hour, clearing a tent to serve as the courtroom, bringing all the witnesses and evidence to the courtroom tent, then inviting Vice General Ma and the others: "Vice General Ma, General Ge, everything is ready, please follow me."

By this time, Troop Commander Qiu had already been beaten harshly by General Ge, covered with injuries, blood everywhere from his nose and mouth, even three teeth on the ground, obviously knocked out just now.

With a bang, General Ge kicked Troop Commander Qiu: "Get up, if you dare to play dead, I’ll cut you myself! Useless thing, you’ve disgraced yourself completely!"

Troop Commander Qiu had achievements in the Kangrong War, it was because of his merits, being General Ge’s confident, he was temporarily assigned to guard Gaoshui County, only to end up in this situation.

"General, Troop Commander Qiu is still tied up, let me handle it." Zhang Tu, receiving a signal from Qin San Lang, carried Troop Commander Qiu and quickly brought him to the tent used as the court.

General Ge did not immediately follow but rather thanked Qin San Lang: "Company Commander Qin, thank you for this matter. If it weren’t for your timely investigation in Gaoshui County, reporting it to Daokou Gully, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

If Qin San Lang was ambitious and reported this matter directly to the Capital, General Xu would be finished!

Moreover, they’ve received news that the team coming to confer titles on meritorious generals is arriving soon.

Because General Xu is being titled Marquis Zhong Chu, the officials coming to bestow the title carry significant weight, being Emperor Jingyuan’s new confidant.

It’s said that the confidant has received a secret decree from Emperor Jingyuan, tasked with inspection duties, recording all violations along the way to report them to the Capital.

If Qin San Lang hadn’t discovered Gaoshui County’s wrongdoing in time and the confidant uncovered it, General Xu would be implicated, and the hard-earned public trust from repelling the Rong people would be lost.

Therefore, General Xu originally planned to clean up Northwest misconduct later, but now he’s forced to allocate manpower for a clean-up.

Qin San Lang bowed: "I don’t deserve General Ge’s thanks... Actually, my actions were somewhat selfish, the Qian Family people were too despicable, occupying my father-in-law’s house and land. To recover the Yue Family’s assets, I took action. Later at Lin Family Slope, after discovering the kidnapped children, I withdrew from County Captain Tang’s affairs, feeling the matter was big, not daring to delay, so I reported to Daokou Gully, asking the generals to decide."

His demeanor was humble, his speech pleasing General Ge... This Qin San Lang, although he achieved great merit, had he dared to act arrogant or bypassed authority to deal with Northwest officials, General Xu would have been angry.

Because, Northwest is meant to become General Xu’s place of power!

Vice General Ma was extremely proud, looking at Qin San Lang like he was his own son, patting Qin San Lang’s shoulder: "You did well, go interrogate Chou Manwu now, we’ll talk after the interrogation."

"Understood." Qin San Lang replied, maintaining a respectful demeanor.

General Ge initially disliked him, suspecting Qin San Lang of harming his subordinate Troop Commander, but now he had to admit: Just from his respectful demeanor after achieving great merit, Qin San Lang would surely become a great figure in the future.

Soon, they arrived at the interrogation tent.

With a bang, General Ge sat at the main seat, slapped the table, personally interrogating: "Chou Manwu, start talking! Dare deceive me, kill!"

Enduring severe pain, Chou Manwu confessed everything: "I deserve to die, I was deceived by Tang Zhongzhou, thinking Gaoshui County was in post-war recovery, so the whole county was desolate... Who knew he gathered all the strong laborers, making them help him in harming passing travelers’ business."

Chou Manwu was full of regret, but it was too late to say anything now.

General Ge then interrogated others.

There wasn’t much to interrogate, Qin San Lang had interrogated before, General Ge just took each person’s confession to verify any discrepancies, in case Qin San Lang coerced confessions.

Tang Zhongzhou was quite defiant, he still refused to admit guilt: "I didn’t do these things, it was Bian Family, Qian Family colluding with the former County Magistrate An, County Chief Zhang. After they died, they approached Chief Commander Huang, having him use Troop Commander Qiu’s name to bribe Company Commander Jia and Company Commander Qian, making them think it was my and Troop Commander Qiu’s idea, that’s how it came to this point... I’m innocent, I haven’t done anything!"

Bam!

General Ge, extremely angry, pointed at Tang County Captain: "Come, slap him ten times right now!"

"Yes." His personal soldier immediately stepped forward, one held Tang County Captain, and the other slapped him hard, ten times, with such force that half his teeth were knocked out.

General Ge sneered: "You Tang, you’re courting death. Not admitting guilt is one thing, but daring to push all the evil deeds onto the deceased County Magistrate An and County Chief Zhang! They are dead and you want to make it impossible to verify? But everyone in camp can testify against you, the captured people from Lishui Village can especially testify, don’t even think about escaping!"

Sixth Aunt Qian got excited, immediately crying: "Wuwu General, it was Tang Zhongzhou, this beast, who colluded with Bian Family to force us into committing evil deeds..."

She poured out everything, with embellishments, about how Tang County Captain and Bian Family threatened them into doing evil.

She also took the opportunity to plead innocence.

"This old woman originally lived a prosperous life, for generations in my married family, no one ever committed a crime. I’ve always adhered to the family teaching, never committing any evil in this life..."

Saying this, she sobbed a few times, continuing: "But my children died on the road fleeing from famine, leaving only Qian Qiwen to support me. Remembering his grace, I believed everything he said, only to be tricked by him, following him to cause trouble in Gu Family Village... I truly didn’t expect Qian Qiwen to be worse than a beast, actually teaming up with Tang Zhongzhou and Bian Zai De to harm others... General, this old woman is innocent, wuwu~"

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