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Chapter 143: Suffering on behalf of others
"Have you asked him who asked him to help?" Situ Jing felt that there was something fishy when he heard it.

Important items that need to be locked in the Imperial Guards camp are managed by special people, and the keys are not accessible to just anyone. So the person who asked his personal soldiers to run errands for help must be a person with a legitimate identity. Otherwise, given He Jiu's usual caution, he would not necessarily obey other people's orders easily.

Several personal soldiers now remembered that this incident did happen, but they looked at each other and shook their heads, indicating that He Jiu had not mentioned this matter in detail to others when he came back, but only complained casually when he hurried back to eat.

"He Jiu also said at the time that maybe someone in the barracks was dissatisfied with the fact that we came here with the general and thought we would be treated better than them, so they deliberately teased him.

Several of us advised him not to go out and talk nonsense, so as not to cause trouble for the general. After all, we are working in the Imperial Guard camp now, and we cannot have any second thoughts towards the Imperial Guards. Mutual suspicion is absolutely not allowed.

Anyway, it won’t tire me out from the trip, and it didn’t delay my meal, so I just gave up.

After that, no one mentioned it again, and no one expected something like this to happen that night."

The personal soldier who was speaking now realized where the problem lay, but when he thought about his close brother having his arms dislocated and being beaten so badly by that unknown stranger, he couldn't help but feel worried.

He didn't dare to say it directly in front of Situ Jing, so he could only say in a suggestive tone: "If He Jiu suddenly became like this because he was poisoned, and was beaten so badly... I don't know if he can be cured later..."

"Do you know why Captain Pang died?" How could Situ Jing not understand what this personal guard meant? He glanced at them and said, "It was because the poison took effect and he was blinded by killing. His meridians were severed and he died of exhaustion.

"He Jiu was careless today and fell into someone's trap. He suddenly took effect of the poison while on patrol at night and nearly made a big mistake. If it weren't for this lord who was there and subdued He Jiu in the shortest possible time, do you think he would still be alive to be sent for detoxification and treatment?"

After hearing this, the bodyguards suddenly realized what was going on. Thinking about how they were upset because Lu Qing was an outsider and had attacked their brothers so harshly, they felt extremely guilty. They quickly saluted Lu Qing and thanked him.

Lu Qing didn't have the heart to pay attention to those people at the moment, and asked them: "Isn't it He Jiu's turn to patrol tonight?"

When he asked this, one of his personal guards suddenly came to his senses and remembered something they had just overlooked: "No! He Jiu was not supposed to go on night patrol today!

Originally, it was his turn to stand guard outside the general's tent tonight, but the man who was supposed to be on night patrol had eaten something bad and was squatting in the toilet until his legs gave out. He Jiu saw that he couldn't do the night patrol in that state, so he temporarily switched with him.

When Situ Jing heard this, he immediately asked someone to call in the personal soldier who was on duty outside the tent to ask him about it.

When asked, it turned out to be true. The person standing outside the door should have been He Jiu, and the exchange between the two people was purely an unexpected and spur-of-the-moment decision.

Although Lu Qing had given him a warning earlier, a warning and having the facts confirmed were two completely different things. Thinking about what kind of intentions the other party had in deliberately attacking He Jiu, who was supposed to be on night duty outside his tent, Situ Jing's anger surged from his heart to his forehead. He slammed his fist down on the low table in front of him, causing all the cups and teapots on the table to clatter.

"This is too much!" The anger in Situ Jing's eyes almost burst out. The feeling of being bullied by others is really heartbreaking.

"General!" Several personal guards had now come to their senses, realizing that the person who might have been attacked tonight was actually Situ Jing. They quickly knelt on one knee, clasped their fists, and said, "Although we are new here and have few men, if anyone dares to harm you, we brothers are not afraid of their numbers. We can easily defeat ten people with one!"

"Yes, General, more and more of our Imperial Guards have been in trouble these days, and many in the camp have been secretly complaining that you're allowing evil to happen in the camp and are unwilling to do anything for your brothers.

Now they've gotten so arrogant that they've dared to use dirty tricks against you. How long are we going to endure this?!"

Although the personal soldiers around Situ Jing have always been by his side and are usually very strict in their daily lives, they are ultimately passionate martial artists who don't have that many twists and turns in their minds. Recently, they have been on edge every day because of the series of accidents in the military camp. Now, suddenly the other party's conspiracy is directed at their own general, so they are immediately furious and can no longer remain calm.

Situ Jing was already angry, and now he was even more outraged by the indignation of these personal soldiers.

Before he was transferred to Runzhou, what he did most alongside his father and brothers was to encircle and suppress bandits and the like. Those were all open battles with swords and guns, and he was always quick and efficient. After capturing all the bandits, he felt so refreshed.

When someone plays dirty tricks on him like this, he can only defend himself carefully. Seeing the number of people being tricked increasing one after another, he has to remain silent and pretend to be ignorant. This makes him feel a surge of nameless anger in his chest.

Just when Situ Jing was about to slam the table and stand up, deciding to take action, Lu Qing, who had been listening for a while, said slowly: "The ancients said that courage is not enough to rely on, and the use of troops must first make plans.

Strategy is the key to victory or defeat. Therefore, the way to be a general is not to worry about his lack of courage, but to worry about his lack of strategy.

What do you think of what the ancients said, General?

When Situ Jing heard this, his hot head quickly calmed down.

"As the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must seize the stolen goods. Putting aside other things, just take the case of He Jiu. No one saw who sent him to get the key, and he himself couldn't tell the truth for a while." Lu Qing paused and looked up at him. "General, even if you arrest him, how will you convict him? Do you have any solid evidence?
If at that time, the other party turned the tables and said that the general brought his personal soldiers to the Lizhou camp, and because the imperial guards in the Lizhou camp had a conflict with his personal soldiers, he became furious, and used an excuse to deal with the imperial guards in the camp, and brought the matter to the emperor.

What will the general do then?"

(End of this chapter)