Chapter 191: What True Identity?

The moment this thought arose, Li Quan's mung-bean-like small eyes rolled.

He strutted over and shouted at the three of them.

"You three, incorrigible! Someone come, drag them away and give each twenty military staves!"

Hearing his words, a few soldiers from Li Quan's squad walked over.

But for some reason, after they reached the three, they suddenly just stood there motionless.

"Are your ears deaf? I said drag them away!"

"Why aren't you moving? You want to start a rebellion too?!"

The next instant, he suddenly clutched the back of his head and howled.

"Oww!"

He turned his head and roared furiously.

"Who dares hit me?!"

"It's me!"

Seeing who had come, the man's face instantly shed its earlier ferocity and piled on a fawning smile.

"Lord Shi, how did you get here?"

"I was just out for a stroll, but I spotted some excitement on your side from afar, so I came over to have a look."

Shi Xiao draped a hand on his shoulder, watching him with a half-smile, and said meaningfully.

"Old Li, I never noticed before—you cut quite an imposing figure."

"Truly an eye-opener for me."

Li Quan's expression stiffened; he quickly led him a few steps away and explained with nods and bows.

"Lord Shi, you've wronged me."

"I just thought those three looked sneaky, so I wanted to give them a proper check."

Shi Xiao knit his brows, his expression turning stern, a dangerous edge creeping into his tone.

"You want to investigate them?"

I just promised the General I'd help cover for those three, and you turn around and want to investigate them?

You old fool, surely you have a grudge against me?

"Yes, yes."

Not noticing his expression had changed, Li Quan kept talking on his own.

"I've seen more than once those three sneaking out of the squad—who knows what they're up to. And I don't have the slightest impression of them. I asked the brothers around, and everyone said they'd never seen them. Those three must be up to something!"

Shi Xiao tugged at the corner of his mouth, watching him with an inscrutable look.

"Nicely done, Old Li. You're quite the careful one, aren't you? Observant enough. You know all three thousand of us here?"

"But then again, why do you keep staring at them? Did they offend you?"

If Li Quan still couldn't take the hint now, he'd truly have wasted all those years scrambling around in the Military Camp.

He instantly broke out in a cold sweat down his back. Unable to gauge Shi Xiao's meaning, he could only force a fawning smile and explain.

"Lord Shi, I'm doing this for everyone's good. What if those three really are trouble? Wouldn't General Lu and the rest of us be in danger?"

After saying that, he watched Shi Xiao nervously.

Could those three have some connection to Lord Shi?

But in all these days, he hadn't seen Lord Shi seek them out either?

"Oh?"

"Then by that logic, we ought to thank you?"

Li Quan quickly lowered his head.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I was just… just doing my duty."

"Enough! No need to explain further!"

Shi Xiao waved a hand and cut him off coldly.

"I don't care why you're targeting those three. From now on, you're not to make things hard for them like today. Be polite to them!"

Li Quan nodded repeatedly in assent.

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand."

On the surface he was meek and obedient, but in his heart he thought it was all because the earlier commotion had been too big and alerted Lord Shi.

He didn't know what relationship those three had with Lord Shi; he had to find a chance to probe. If the relationship was close, he should apologize when appropriate—a real man knows when to bend and when to stand.

If the relationship wasn't that close, at worst he'd make trouble for them in private later, just so it didn't reach Lord Shi's ears.

But how could his petty schemes escape Shi Xiao?

He immediately let out a cold laugh.

"No one is a fool!"

"They don't bother arguing with you, and you really think they're afraid of a measly Hundred-Man Commander like you?"

"They're giving the General face by not arguing with you, and now you're getting cocky, aren't you?!"

"Li Quan, you didn't get where you are today easily. Stop scheming!"

A self-satisfied idiot!

If he ruins the big picture, forget this little position, he probably won't even keep his life!

Hearing this, Li Quan unconsciously swallowed and grinned foolishly at him.

"Well, Lord Shi, whatever are you saying? I don't understand."

"No need to play dumb here!"

"Seeing as you're usually pretty sharp, I'll let you in on a little something."

He beckoned Li Quan over and whispered in his ear with a deliberately mysterious air.

"Actually, General Lu couldn't trace the backgrounds of those three either. All he knows is that they were arranged directly from above."

"From above?"

General Lu is a disciple of Minister Situ, and Minister Situ is the National Lord's very own maternal uncle!

Even he couldn't find out?

Then going further up, wouldn't that be…

Realizing this, Li Quan's eyes instantly widened in terror.

Seeing this, Shi Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

"I didn't say a thing."

He'd only said one ambiguous sentence; how others chose to interpret it was none of his business.

"You keep this to yourself. Don't breathe a word of it!"

Li Quan nodded hurriedly in agreement.

"Yes, yes, yes. I didn't hear a thing."

After Shi Xiao left, Li Quan raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow, then walked over to Cheng Chengxuan and the others.

The soldiers he'd called over were still standing guard. Seeing him approach, they asked.

"Village Head, are we still fighting?"

Li Quan waved them off, shooing them away.

"Go on, get lost! Find somewhere cool to hang out!"

Then he flashed Cheng Chengxuan and the others a fawning smile and even reached up to slap himself across the face.

"Look at this stinking mouth of mine!"

Then he cupped his fists in apology to the three of them.

"Sorry, sorry, you three. The weather's been so hot these past few days, the sun's baked my brain. I wasn't thinking straight, said some foolish things, did some foolish things. Master Shi already gave me a dressing-down just now. Please, don't take it to heart, don't hold it against me, eh?"

After saying that, he bowed to the three of them, turned around, and scurried off in a flash.

Staring at that back fleeing as if a wolf were at his heels, Cheng Yao was completely baffled.

"What's with him?"

Cheng Xin pursed his lips.

"Who knows what got into him!"

Suddenly, Cheng Yao patted him twice, gesturing for him to look in a certain direction.

"Look over there."

Their gazes met Shi Xiao's.

Shi Xiao smiled at them and tilted his chin up slightly.

See? A little trouble, easily taken care of. No need to thank me too much.

Then he walked off with a beaming smile.

Cheng Yao and Cheng Xin exchanged a glance.

"What did he mean just now?"

"No idea."

The two turned their heads in unison to look behind them, but where was the shadow of their Young General?

In a secluded corner of the woods.

Cheng Chengxuan answered the video call that had popped up for the second time.

The moment it connected, An Luo's worried voice came through.

"Why did you hang up earlier?"

Seeing her worried gaze, Cheng Chengxuan's heart softened, and a warmth crept into his eyes.

"It's nothing, just a little trouble came up."

An Luo looked at him anxiously.

"Is it tricky?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing worth mentioning."

Hearing him say that, An Luo let out a breath of relief.

"That's good then."

Glancing at his surroundings, she asked.

"Where have you gotten to?"

"At our current pace, three more days of travel and we'll reach the Capital."

Cheng Chengxuan paused, then continued.

"I may need your help passing a message—have Grandmother and Big Brother discuss the specifics of the rescue plan."

"Alright, I'll pass the word to Yu'an right away."

Looking at the ended video call, Cheng Chengxuan shook his head helplessly.

He'd wanted to chat a little longer.

……

In Zaituan's farm.

The early bird catches the worm, as they say.

Coincidentally, Cheng Old Madam and Cheng Sitao were both there. Just as An Luo was about to tap the speakerphone, she heard:

"Grandmother, do you mean to leak Shengxuan's true identity?"

Hearing this, An Luo's finger froze mid-air.

True identity?

What true identity?