Chapter 72: The Thief Cannot Help Himself

  When the sky was bright, the military camp began to bustle. The soldiers should have gotten up at dawn to prepare for the march, but due to last night's disturbance, Qian Buli specially ordered the soldiers to rest a little longer.

  The assassin was not caught, but last night, Qian Buding's personal guard commander Cheng Da disregarded the patrol team's obstruction and risked his life to rush into the general's tent, using his own life to guarantee Sun Zhongde's innocence! Cheng Da had long been mentally prepared for two possible outcomes: one was that the general would be furious, thinking he was in cahoots with Sun Zhongde, and might even put him to death; the other was that the general would believe his statement and give Sun Zhongde a chance to clear his name. Unfortunately, Cheng Da got a result that left him bewildered - the general did not get angry, but instead praised him for being loyal and daring to speak out, yet still ordered the public notice to capture the traitor Sun Zhongde to be issued as usual.

  Cheng Da was not reconciled, wanting to continue arguing, but found that the princess and the commander both showed impatient expressions, so he could only reluctantly retreat. However, Cheng Da did not have a single bit of resentment towards Qian Buli in his heart; if it were another commander, just based on the crime of forcibly breaking into the commander's tent, they would be able to put him to death!

  But when Cheng Da heard from his old superior, General Du, that the Lord had personally witnessed Sun Zhongde's assassination attempt, Cheng Da was stunned. On one hand, he felt hatred towards Sun Zhongde's actions, on the other hand, he felt regret for his old friend, and at the same time, he also had some doubts. According to reason, Sun Zhongde would not do such a thing, unless he was coerced by someone? Once this idea emerged, it took root in his heart. Cheng Da appeared calm on the surface but secretly cast suspicious glances at everyone around him, except for the Lord.

  Qian Buli slowly opened his eyes, and this sleep was very uncomfortable. Last night, he had left Ji Shengqing behind for the reason that there were assassins outside, but Qian Buli was not a lustful person. At least before Ji Shengqing's heart defense collapsed, he would not be lustful. So Qian Buli let Ji Shengqing sleep on his own bed, while he himself spent the night on a chair.

  "Sir, you're awake." Zhou Yi said in a low voice, standing guard beside Qian Bu Li.

  Qian nodded: "How did Your Highness sleep?"

  "Your Highness slept very soundly." Zhou Yizheng smiled: "Last night she even snored for a while."

  "It's probably because sleeping in my bed isn't that comfortable." Qian Buli also smiled, leaving Ji Shengqing with a deliberate intention. When pursuing a girl, one must follow the gradual and progressive approach. Qian Buli wanted to slowly lift the veil of Ji Shengqing's shyness, and having spent the night together once would lead to a second time, and after multiple times, they could naturally do what they should be doing.

  Zhou Yizheng handed over the sword that Qian Buli had been holding onto, and Qian Buli put it on after dressing. However, as he turned around, he knocked over the teacup on the table with a loud crash. A low cry came from inside the commander's tent, followed by Ji Shengqing's voice: "Ke Lan, have them all leave, I need to change clothes." Last night, Qian Buli had summoned both Ke Lan and Ke Li, two maidservants, partly to help Ji Shengqing relax and partly to maintain her reputation.

  Qian Buli stretched out his tongue and whispered to Zhou Yizheng: "We're retreating!"

  Zhou Yizheng never thought that the commander would also make such a mischievous move, he almost burst out laughing, and strongly restrained his smile, biting his own lips as he followed Qian Bu Li's back out of the tent.

  Du Bing was pacing outside the tent, saw Zhou Yiren's strange expression and couldn't help but pause for a moment. But he didn't ask much, just gave Zhou Yiren a glance, and Zhou Yiren retreated to one side with a knowing look.

  "Sir, we're pulling out... what about them?" Du Bing said in a low voice.

  "Them?" Qian Buli was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized what Du Bing was referring to. "What do you want to do?" He hesitated about how to deal with those few sentries who didn't belong to the Snowy City army system. They had witnessed him leading the cavalry into the valley, and if the matter of the young nobleman and his attendants being killed were to be exposed, it would definitely implicate him. If he got rid of those sentries, it would be more secure; even if someone accused him, he could deny it, and the other party wouldn't have any strong evidence to prove it. However, if he really did that, Qian Buli had his own concerns - he was afraid of damaging his reputation. From ancient times to the present, every superior who knew how to use power tactics would find all sorts of justifiable reasons when killing people; otherwise, they would try their best to clear themselves of any involvement. The first thing a superior needed to learn was hypocrisy; otherwise, it would be difficult for them to survive.

  Du Bing made a gesture of drawing his sword, then gazed intently at Qian Budie.

  Qian Buli revealed a hesitant expression: "Not good, right? For no reason at all..."

  "Sir, they clearly knew that the knight was plundering and pillaging but didn't tell us. They're obviously in cahoots with him, none of them are good people!" Du Bing saw Qian Buli hesitating and became somewhat anxious: "Sir, don't you know how many heroic deeds have been ruined by such petty characters? You can't be indecisive!"

  Qian didn't leave, smiled and said: "You misunderstood my meaning."

  "But... didn't you just say it's no good?"

  "My words are focused on the second sentence." Qian Buli looked around to the left and right, and his eyes immediately stopped at Ji Shengqing's carriage.

  "What do you mean......" Du Bing suddenly opened his eyes wide: "For no reason?"

  "That's right!" Qian Buli said as he walked forward, and jumped onto Ji Shengqing's carriage. Before long, Qian Buli got off the carriage with his waist full of things.

  "What are you doing, sir?" Du Bing stared foolishly at Qian Bu Li.

  "Shh!" Qian quickly raised his index finger, then walked over to Du Bing's side and pulled him into a corner. He swiftly retrieved a handful of gold and silver jewelry from his waist and stuffed them into Du Bing's hands: "You go give these things to them and tell them I gave them. Let them shut their mouths and absolutely cannot spread yesterday's incident."

  "How can you believe that those people will keep their promises?" Du Bing, who was usually clever, didn't turn around this bend.

  "Nonsense! If I really wanted to buy them, they wouldn't be using Your Highness's things!" Qian Buli said calmly: "When Your Highness says that your own jewelry has been stolen, you just..."