Chapter 43: Forceful Judgment at the Training Ground

()/Ming Shu Lou (www. MinGshuLou. com) Chapter 44: Forceful Judgment at the Training Ground

In the eastern training ground of Sand Spring, among the sixteen routes of troops, apart from Lord Qian Cang, Pu Feng Tian, whose whereabouts were unknown, and Li Bucai, who received no transmission and therefore did not arrive, the remaining fourteen routes of troops were all present.

Jingyi gasped, "Young Marshal, this…"

The Young Marshal's face, which had been full of joy, suddenly turned from bright to gloomy, his angry eyes wide open. When Li Bucai and his party arrived at the platform escorting Xu Rong, he shouted angrily, "How dare you, Li Bucai! I am mustering troops here today, yet you delayed, and you even sent my own General Xu to fetch you. You are far too presumptuous!"

Li Bucai bowed to the platform and said in surprise, "Young Marshal is mustering troops today? Is that true?" He turned to Xianghong and asked, "You stay outside my tent every day; did you conceal the Young Marshal's mustering from me?"

Xianghong replied, "Such a big matter—how could I dare not report it? I didn't even know there was any mustering."

Li Bucai pointed at a school‑uniform girl and said, "My neighbor, Princess Jingling, has already arrived; didn't you see?"

"Lord, when the Young Marshal's Guard General went to fetch Princess Jingling, Xianghong tried to ask, but they ignored her. I thought the Young Marshal merely wanted to move Princess Jingling's entourage. Later there was a matter in the tent, so I returned to my own tent."

At that moment, Jian Yu spoke up, "You're talking nonsense; I was the one who notified you, how could you not know?"

Li Bucai asked in astonishment, "You notified us? When? Does anyone know about this?"

The others shook their heads.

Jian Yu said, "I clearly placed the assembly banner in front of your tent and even reminded you."

Wu Zhuoran suddenly remembered that after the Lord ordered everyone to enter the tent, not long after a sound of stones striking the tent came from outside. When he went out to investigate, there was no one, but a wooden stick lay on the empty ground. He thought it was the work of rebels, and together with Rui Tong patrolled a circle, finding nothing abnormal, so they did not alarm Li Bucai. It turned out they had set a trap.

Wu Zhuoran leaned toward Li Bucai and whispered, "There was indeed a reminder, but no assembly banner. Famous Book Tower... To avoid arousing suspicion, Lord Li, you should still call your people to fetch it together."

Li Bucai ordered Rui Tong to go back and check. Shortly after, Rui Tong returned accompanied by a blue‑clad guard, holding a triangular flag in her hands.

"Lord Li, do you have anything else to say?"

"Damn it, playing tricks on me, no wonder those rebels would revolt; if it weren't for a warning, they'd damn well turn against me." Li Bucai was certain that when he escorted Xu Rong and others out, he had never seen that flag.

Both witness testimony and physical evidence are present; if one wants to get out of this, the only option is to shift the blame onto the person who delivered the orders.

The Young Marshal seized the opportunity to press, "You not only treated my banner as if it were nothing, but also brought my General Xu here bound. What are your motives?"

Li Bucai smiled, "As for who actually has what motives, we can discuss later. I want to ask when this banner was sent and who sent it."

Jian Yu said, "When the Young Marshal gave the order, I dared not delay; after receiving it I conveyed the banner to Lord Li's tent entrance."

Li Bucai asked, "Then, Guard General, may I ask, when you delivered the banner to my tent entrance, who was outside the tent?"

"No one."

"Then how did the Guard General notify us?"

"Because other lords also needed the orders, I shouted a few times in front of the tent: 'Marshal mustering troops, hurry to the training ground and stand by.' At that time even the Young Marshal was already up; Lord Li has so many elite soldiers under his command, could they all have stayed in bed and not gotten up?"

Li Bucai did not answer but retorted, "When the Guard General said he was eager to convey orders to other lords, after notifying us, which other lord did he inform?"

"Lord Du Chang, Chen Nuo."

"When the Guard General notified us, how loud was his voice? Could you demonstrate it again for everyone present?"

Jian Yu, who had never shouted, said, "Now the Young Marshal is asking why you didn't see the banner and come to stand by; he's asking you, not me. How could I demonstrate for you?"

Li Bucai quickly pressed before the Young Marshal could speak, "So the Guard General feels he is at fault?"

The Young Marshal was about to defend her, but before he could speak, Jian Yu retorted, "What could I possibly be at fault for?"

"If you're not at fault, why dare not demonstrate?"

With that said, the Young Marshal could say nothing more.

Jian Yu said, "What is there to be afraid of," and immediately shouted three times, "Marshal mustering troops, hurry to the training ground and stand by…"

"Guard General, are you sure that was exactly what you shouted then?"

"Of course."

Li Bucai gave a slight smile, approached Lord Du Chang, Chen Nuo, and bowed, "Lord Chen."

Chen Nuo returned the salute.

Li Bucai asked, "May I ask, Lord Chen, what were you doing before the Guard General delivered the order to you?"

"Eating."

"Then while Lord Chen was eating, what were your servants doing?"

"Besides eating, they were serving me food."

"Lord Chen, did you hear the Guard General's shout just now?"

Chen Nuo thought for a moment and replied, "No."

"Are you certain?"

"Certain."

Li Bucai then asked his servants, "Did any of you hear it?"

They responded, "No."

Jian Yu, seeing the situation turn unfavorable, rushed to say, "They were busy eating at the time, of course they wouldn't pay attention, especially being so far away."

Li Bucai laughed, "It's clear that Lord Chen is also a fine commander on the battlefield, and we are currently within rebel-controlled territory. Even when sleeping, who would dare sleep with one eye closed? Moreover, while eating? The distance is minimal—Lord Chen's tent is at most thirty meters from mine. Even if I were asleep, Rushi and Xiaoxiao stand beside me; could all seven of my men fail to hear? Do we still need to verify it personally?"

The tent is not soundproof; with a voice that loud, even fifty meters away can be heard, let alone thirty meters.

Jian Yu explained, "I... I didn't use such a loud voice at all."

"Alright, Rui Tong, go to the foot of the low hill fifty meters over there."

Rui Tong responded and went; after reaching the foot of the low hill, she signaled with an echo.

Li Bucai said, "Rui Tong is over there; now the Guard General can demonstrate again how loud the voice was back then. You may speak any other words at that volume."

Jian Yu lowered his voice a bit and uttered a few words. Then Rui Tong, over there, repeated his original words verbatim, word for word. Jian Yu had to lower his voice again…

"With such a loud voice, Guard General, even I here can barely hear it! How loud was it exactly?"

"This... this..." The voice became softer, indistinct even at close range, barely a command; if it were a bit louder, it could be heard fifty meters away.

Li Bucai nodded, "That's enough, Guard General." He then turned to the Young Marshal and said, "Young Marshal, as the commander you are naturally better at discerning right from wrong than we are. You heard everything the Guard General just said. He sometimes says this, sometimes that, and even he cannot be sure. Could it be that I have somehow offended the Guard General, causing him to quietly place the banner before my tent without delivering the order to me? Is he trying to use your sword to eliminate Li Bucai? You are wise, Young Marshal; I cannot draw a conclusion now, so I ask you to judge clearly."

"This..." He did not expect that Li Bucai's reinterpretation would shift all responsibility onto Jian Yu.

Jian Yu hurriedly protested, "I've only been here less than a day, I have no grudge with you—why would I harm you?"

"You don't wish to harm me, yet you seek to sow discord between us commanders—could it be that the Guard Commander is acting under rebel orders, coming here as a spy?"

"You... you're spitting slander!" In an instant, I've been labeled a rebel; Jian Yu's eyes flared red, and she lunged forward to fight him to the death.

Young Marshal also felt a surge of anger, forcibly restraining her, he said to Li Bucai: "Lord Li, don't spout nonsense; Jian Yu is my personal guard, she has been by my side since childhood—how could she be a rebel spy?" Famous Book Tower www. MingshuLou. Com////