Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2592 Atonement for Crimes 55.0
Watching the shadowy figures leave, Shen Cha gave Shadow Five a wink. Shadow Five nodded, walked to the side, and clapped his hands lightly.

Eagle Leopard watched as several figures emerged from the tents on either side and quickly followed the group in front.

He glanced at Shen Cha, then at Ying Wu who had returned, raised an eyebrow slightly, and said in a low voice, "What's going on? Don't you trust your own people?"

"This is a necessary procedure. All the brothers who are sent out, especially those who escort back spies who have turned against their country, must undergo an internal investigation. Before this investigation is completed, they cannot live in the camp, cannot go on missions, and cannot communicate with anyone. Everything they do is being monitored, and they themselves are well aware of this."

"Is it so strict?"

"There's no other way. We've learned our lesson the hard way, so we're being more cautious," Shen Cha smiled. "To avoid repeating the same mistakes, right? We have to be even more careful here, otherwise, it won't just be us who suffer, but the entire Great Xia will be on edge."

Eagle Leopard nodded slightly after hearing Shen Cha's words. She was right. The reason why important border towns are so important is because of their special status. If spies were to infiltrate a place like the main camp, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, Shen Cha's words reminded him of something he had heard a long time ago. It was said that when the Shen family army first established Shadow, a very serious infiltration incident occurred.

At that time, the Shadow Camp had just been established, and no one had any experience in this area. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jin spies killed several Shadows who were still in training and replaced them to infiltrate the Shen family army. They quietly infiltrated the camp.

Later, by chance, Shen Cha saw through their scheme and discovered their weaknesses. Not only did he prevent them from passing on crucial intelligence, but he also followed the clues and arrested many spies from various countries who were hiding in Jiaping Pass at the time, carrying out the first major purge of Jiaping Pass.

From then on, the Shadow Camp became a place that was difficult to enter and difficult to leave. No one knew how they were trained, no one knew what they did on a daily basis, and they were not sent by anyone but only by Shen Haolin and Shen Cha.

Eagle Leopard still remembered that when their Eagle King talked about this matter, he kept praising the eldest daughter of the Shen family for her quick wit and natural talent for intelligence work. She had only come to the camp by chance because she was looking for her brother, and she discovered the flaws in those spies. While everyone else advocated capturing them, she was the only one who suggested turning the tables and using these small fish to catch the big fish.

Subsequent events proved her approach correct. She devised a false intelligence story to lure the spies into a trap, and then, just when they thought they had succeeded, she rounded them up. Not only that, but she also followed the trail to deal a heavy blow to the spies hidden in Jiaping Pass, making them hesitant to make any rash moves for a long time.

For this alone, Eagle Leopard had to admire Shen Cha. At that time, Shen Cha was only eleven or twelve years old, yet he possessed such wisdom, skill, and courage. Eagle Leopard asked himself honestly, at that age, besides daily training, he spent his time following the prince all over the country, eliminating the remnants of the previous dynasty hidden in the shadows. Back then, he was merely an executor, doing whatever the prince told him to do, without asking any questions or thinking anything more.

Thinking of this, Eagle Leopard shook his head slightly. The old saying was indeed true: "You can tell what a person will be like at three and what they will be like at seven." What a child is like when they are young will probably not change much when they grow up.

"What's wrong?" Shen Cha looked at Ying Bao with curiosity. "What are you thinking about?"

"nothing."

Eagle Leopard looked at Shen Cha and sighed again. After that incident, all the affairs of the Shadow Camp were handed over to General Shen in front of him. Although some people were not convinced at the time, they felt that the capture of so many spies and the achievement of such great merits were all coincidences and could not be counted at all.

Many in Shen's army shared this view. This young lady was ruthless; despite her seemingly frail appearance and poor health at the time, her methods were exceptionally ruthless. She swiftly subdued those who dared to challenge her, managing the Shadow Camp with impeccable discipline, ensuring that the catastrophic oversight of being replaced never occurred again. As for how she was subdued, His Highness the Eagle King didn't explicitly state it, but Eagle Leopard believed it was inextricably linked to the then-heir apparent, the Duke, and the Marquis.

Watching the figures of the group disappear into the distance, Eagle Leopard turned to look at Shen Cha, and seeing that she was also staring at him, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Does the General not believe their explanation?"

"Let's not talk here, let's go inside!"

After saying that, Shen Cha walked over, took Shen Haolin's hand, and went inside first.

The others exchanged glances and followed behind the two into the tent, with Merlin and Shadow Five bringing up the rear.

Merlin had already prepared water for washing hands and faces. Everyone washed themselves briefly and then sat back down at the table.

Merlin carried a stack of small teacups and served tea to everyone, while Shadow Five was responsible for serving the bowls to everyone.

"Xiao Cha, General Eagle Leopard just said you don't trust those people who just returned, right?" Song Yaojia looked at Shen Cha, resting her chin on her hand. "Are you going to investigate them?"

“Investigating them is definitely necessary, to prevent them from being replaced by someone else and suffering the consequences. But I still believe what they say, although…” Shen Cha sighed, “I really don’t want to believe it.”

"What do you mean?"

Shen Cha glanced at Ying Bao, took out a letter from her sleeve, waved it in front of everyone, and slammed it on the table.

"This is."

"Uncle Liu's urgent message." Shen Cha gestured helplessly with her chin towards Ying Bao. "Look, this is a letter of complaint."

"A letter of complaint?" Eagle Leopard looked at the letter on the table with curiosity. He didn't rush to read it, but instead looked at Shen Haolin next to Shen Cha. Seeing that the two of them agreed, he reached out and took the letter. "Why did Commander Liu file a complaint?"

"Why the complaint? Of course, it's because of the fight our men got into." Shen Cha rolled her eyes, took the tea Ying Wu handed her, sighed, and said, "The people we encountered that day were thugs hired by the two most famous wealthy men in the area. Uncle Liu and his men had been watching them for quite a while. Both families are suspected of smuggling goods by sea, but they haven't caught any evidence yet. As a result of our men's actions, their original plan fell through." She patted Ying Bao's shoulder and revealed a mischievous smile, "Don't worry, this complaint letter definitely wasn't just sent to me. In a few days, Uncle Huang's letter of accusation will probably arrive. We two should both prepare ourselves and see how to apologize to Uncle Liu!"