"I didn't kill him." He Yan stood up and said to them.

The new recruit who first spotted He Yan pointed at him in fear and shouted, "If not you, then who else could it be?"

"I went to the martial arts arena to practice archery at night, and I accidentally saw someone riding a horse towards Baiyue Mountain. The situation was critical at the time, so I followed him. After a fight with him, he ran away, leaving this brother behind before he ran away. When I rescued him, he was already dead."

"Where did you get this curved knife?" Shen Han asked in a deep voice.

"It belongs to the other party, and he threw the knife as well."

"Is he crazy? He handed over his weapon. Do you think he could have thought before telling a lie?" Du Mao didn't believe it.

"No, I think he's very smart," He Yan said calmly, "Now, with this knife, I become the one under suspicion."

The weapon was stuffed into her hand, so they just pressed her head and said that she was the murderer who killed the new recruits.

Shen Han stared at He Yan: "Did you bring any weapons with you when you went up the mountain?"

"I brought an iron-tipped club." He Yan said, "I lost it on the road when I rolled down with this dead brother. The head coach asked someone to look for it, maybe he can find it."

Shen Han ordered Liang Ping: "Take people to look for it. Be careful. Send a signal if anything happens."

Liang Ping nodded in agreement.

He Yan felt a little tired and sat down on the stone. Her injuries had not fully healed, and after all the hard work today, the old injury on her waist was aching slightly, and she really wanted to rest for a while.

After a while, Liang Ping came back with the new soldiers and said to Shen Han, "Head Coach, we didn't find the iron stick."

"I think he's lying," Du Mao frowned, "He only brought this curved knife with him when he went up the mountain."

He Yan secretly sighed in her heart. Since the other party was coming for her, he would naturally not leave any handle. She must have taken the iron stick away when she went to rescue the new recruit just now.

However, she did have a trick up her sleeve.

"I suspect this man is Hu Yuanzhong," He Yan said, "When I fought him, the iron stick hit his right shoulder. We just need to go back to the guardhouse and check if he went out at night to see if he has any wounds on his right shoulder."

"Are you trying to make excuses?" A new soldier looked at her suspiciously.

He Yan shrugged, "I am unarmed right now. There are so many of you, are you afraid of me alone? It's a small matter to wrongly accuse me, but it's a big matter to let the wolf into the house. Let the real murderer mix in the Liangzhou guards. Who knows, the next person to be assassinated may be you, brother."

She spoke slowly and steadily, but her tone was so cold that it startled the new recruit who was speaking and he dared not continue speaking.

Ma Damei looked at Shen Han: "Head Coach, this..." To be fair, he still likes He Yan very much. It is rare to see a teenager of his age who is so outstanding in all aspects. Moreover, he has a cheerful and easy-going temperament, without the slightest bit of pretentiousness, which makes people like him. But since it involves human life, we must not be careless.

"Take him back first and see if what he said is true." Shen Han turned around and said, "Follow my orders and get down the mountain immediately."

He Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Shen Han was still a reasonable person and did not beat her to death with a stick.

When they were going down the mountain, the atmosphere was a little depressing, probably because one of their companions had died. He Yan asked Ma Damei, "Master Ma, why did you guys go up the mountain?"

Ma Damei always had a smile on her face and a amiable expression when meeting people. She was also always kind to her. Even at this moment, she still patiently answered He Yan's questions.

"A new soldier got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and saw someone riding a horse up to Baiyue Mountain. He told the head coach, and the head coach asked us to go up the mountain to investigate. Before we came, we didn't know that this person was you."

Isn't this exactly the same process as when she chased the masked man? He Yan felt something was wrong, but she didn't say anything.

"Since you said you had fought with him," Ma Damei asked, "How good was he?"

"Very good. If I hadn't been injured, I could have caught him if I had delayed a little longer. But this man is cunning and cruel. He used the corpse of my comrade to lure me away and escaped by himself." He Yan became angry when he talked about this. "Today's fight was all arranged by him."

Ma Damei smiled and asked in an ambiguous tone, "Young man, although I have always admired you, I have to ask you, what is so special about you that makes the other party go through so much trouble to slander and plot against you?"

What's special?

He Yan recalled carefully that she was kind to others and had no conflicts with the new recruits of Liangzhou Guards. It was nothing more than a "fight" with Hu Yuanzhong a few days ago.

Hu Yuanzhong should be the only person in Liangzhou Wei who is hostile to her.

But what did she do? She never asked Hu Yuanzhong about his background directly. At most, she asked him a few questions indirectly. Even though she suspected that he was a Qiang, she never revealed it. If this was the reason why he framed He Yan, then he was clearly hiding something.

After thinking for a while, he finally went down the mountain and returned to Liangzhou Wei.

In the middle of the night, Liangzhou Wei became noisy.

He Yan was watched by the coach in front and behind, and went to Hu Yuanzhong's room first. Everyone in the room was asleep, and when the coach asked them to get up, they were all confused. Xiao Mai called out in a daze, "Why is it so early today? It's not time yet."

When I saw who it was, I was so surprised that I almost put my shoes on the wrong way.

He Yan looked towards the other side of the wall without hesitation. As soon as he saw it, his heart sank.

There was a person curled up on the bed, sleeping soundly. After being woken up, he slowly sat up with sleepy eyes. It was Hu Yuanzhong.

He was actually in the house.

Shen Han asked the people in the room, "Did anyone see Hu Yuanzhong go out tonight?"

“No, no.”

"Brother Hu has a broken leg and goes to bed earlier than us. We have never seen him go out."

He Yan looked at Hong Shan, and Hong Shan gently shook his head at her.

Didn't you really go out?

Shen Han took a step forward, his expression unclear: "Take off your clothes."

Hu Yuanzhong was confused, but when Shen Han had a sullen face and didn't say anything, he looked a little scary. He hesitantly unbuttoned his clothes, and after taking off his outer garment to his arms, he saw that there was nothing wrong with his right shoulder except for a few small cuts caused by the bushes.

If an iron club were to hit him, it would at least leave a large black patch on his right shoulder. But there was nothing on his right shoulder.

Not him!

He Yan's eyes widened. Instead of feeling relieved, his expression became even uglier. This was an elimination. It was unknown what role Hu Yuanzhong played in this. However, since he was fine, it could only mean one thing: he was more than just a person.

There is a traitor in Liangzhou Guards, and only with the cooperation from inside and outside can this drama be arranged perfectly!

"Coach Shen," she said coldly, "I'm afraid that person is now in Liangzhou Guards. Take people to investigate!"

"I think you are the most suspicious person." A coach stared at her and said, "You previously said that Hu Yuanzhong killed the man and asked us to come back to see Hu Yuanzhong's injuries. Now that Hu Yuanzhong has cleared the suspicion, you want to change someone else. What is your purpose in delaying time like this!"

"I'm not lying," He Yan frowned, "You can find out what I said is true by investigating the entire Liangzhou Guard."

"Shut up!" Shen Han shouted.

The arguing stopped, and He Yan looked at Shen Han, "Coach Shen, you don't believe what I said?"

"I only believe my own eyes." Shen Han said, "Come on, take her to the dungeon!"

He Yan: "You can lock me up, but you have to find out the truth! Otherwise, the Liangzhou Guards may be in great trouble."

"You are still cursing people after all this," a coach said angrily, "How arrogant!"

He Yan was taken away by someone. The others in the room wanted to ask but didn't dare. Xiao Mai and the others looked grim. Hu Yuanzhong asked doubtfully, "Coach Shen, what happened? Did someone... die?"

Shen Han said nothing, turned around and left the room. The coaches who followed him out looked solemn. Liang Ping hesitated for a moment and asked Shen Han, "Head Coach, how do you plan to deal with He Yan?"

After all, he was a soldier under his command, so Liang Ping was unwilling to believe that He Yan was a man with ulterior motives. However, with all the evidence, he could not find a reason to excuse him.

"This matter is of great importance, and He Yan's status is not ordinary," Shen Han said in a deep voice, "Keep him locked up first, and wait for the governor to come back."

"yes."

…

The dungeon of Liangzhouwei was not big, but it was dark and damp enough. As it was winter, people felt freezing cold when they entered. There was no bed, so they could only sleep on the straw floor. The quilt was also a thin layer of cloth with several holes in it. I don't know if it was bitten by rats or something.

He Yan sat on the ground and looked around.

There was no one else in the dungeon except her. The lock of the dungeon was specially made, no longer a simple "one" shape like the door in her and Xiao Jue's room. At a glance, He Yan knew that she couldn't open it.

He Yan was reborn, but before he could show his talents, he ended up in jail. He should have been sighing and lamenting about it, but at the moment, He Yan was not in the mood.

She was now certain that there had been a traitor in the Liangzhou Guards, and that traitor had probably been keeping an eye on her, which was why she knew that she had been going to the martial arts training ground every three nights. That was why she arranged for someone to wait on the horse trail and lead her to Baiyue Mountain.

Whether it was going up the mountain at night or killing the new soldiers, it was all to accuse her of "conspiracy". As for why Ma Damei went to such great lengths to slander and plot against herself, it was because He Yan discovered the other party's Qiang identity.

She had already been suspicious because of the rash on Hu Yuanzhong's hands and his inconsistent behavior. Later, when she met the masked man holding a curved knife on Baiyue Mountain and the Qiang soldiers' usual sword techniques, she was already 80% certain.

Now He Yan is in prison, but there are Qiang people in Liangzhou Guard, which is horrifying. Xiao Jue is not in Liangzhou Guard, and tens of thousands of new soldiers have never been on the battlefield. If they encounter Qiang people at this time, just like what she encountered in Mo County, they will probably be wiped out. And the other party is so deliberate, they must have a big plan. If the news that Wutuo people in Zhangtai harassed the people is false, in order to lure Xiao Jue away, then Liangzhou Guard at this moment is like fish on the chopping board, and can only be slaughtered at will.

Xiao Jue has been gone for 20 days. According to what he learned after arriving in Zhangtai, he found out that the intelligence was false, so he rushed back overnight. It would take him another 10 days to reach Liangzhouwei. So the other party must have chosen to take action within 10 days. There was not much time left for them. And now He Yan was still locked up in the dungeon, and no one believed what she said.

When Shen Han had her taken to the dungeon, He Yan had thought about fighting them directly to get rid of their control. But in this way, it would be true that she had killed the person even though she had not done it. She did not want to live with the murder charge. Besides, the new recruits of Liangzhou Guard were her partners. She did not want to live alone and watch them die in vain.

I don't know when this chess game became a dead end.

However, she had already put down the rebellion of the Western Qiang, and the Qiang soldiers were severely injured in that battle. They would not be able to make a comeback for at least ten years. How could she dare to take such a risky move?

He Yan couldn't figure it out either.

At this moment, I suddenly heard a noisy voice coming from outside: "Let me in, I just want to say something! My father is Lord Song, the deputy commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If anything goes wrong, I will take responsibility!"

It's Song Taotao's voice.

He Yan was stunned. Song Taotao usually came to bring her cakes and candies every now and then. She didn't expect that even she knew about what happened today.

The soldier outside the gate said something else. He Yan heard Song Taotao say unreasonably, "You try to stop me again? If you stop me again, when Mr. Xiao comes back, I will tell him that you molested me!"

Something fell to the ground with a clang, and the next moment, He Yan saw a pink skirt flying in.

Song Taotao said: "Brother He!"

"Miss Song." He Yan smiled.

Song Taotao rushed over and stuffed two steamed buns into He Yan's hand through the fence: "It's too late. I'm giving you some of what Doctor Shen had left over from the night before. I heard from my father that people in prison don't have food to eat every day. I'm afraid I can't come every day, so I'll give you two first. Eat sparingly."

Everyone in Liangzhou Wei now treats her as a murderous demon, but this little girl is not afraid of her at all, and is even afraid that she is hungry. He Yan's heart was moved. She said softly, "Miss Song, you shouldn't have come."

"Why shouldn't I come? I heard from them that you killed someone?"

“I didn’t kill him.”

Song Taotao nodded: "I guess so. You are such a kind-hearted person. You always help those who are in trouble. How could you kill someone? You must have been plotted against. Don't worry, I will definitely save you."

He Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Miss Song, you'd better not get involved in this matter."

But the girl was very stubborn. "You are my savior. My father once said that a drop of water should be repaid with a spring. Now the coaches of Liangzhou Guard are old-fashioned and stubborn. They won't listen to me. When Mr. Xiao comes back, I will talk to him and see if he can help."

He Yan thought, it might be too late by the time Xiao Jue comes back.

She raised her eyes to look at Song Taotao. The little girl looked serious and solemn. He Yan wanted to laugh, but then she thought of the current situation and couldn't laugh.

If the Qiang tribe really came and Song Taotao fell into their hands, what would happen? He Yan shuddered.

"Miss Song," she said after a moment, "since you want to help me, I'll ask you for a favor now."

"What's the matter?" Song Taotao looked at her.

He Yan sighed softly, "We can only try our best to save the situation."

…

In Shen Han's room, Cheng Lisu was confronting Shen Han.

"Young Master Cheng, please go back. I dare not release He Yan without the governor's order." Shen Han said helplessly.

Cheng Lisu sat at his door, blocking it from him, and said, "Coach Shen, believe me, Brother He really can't be the murderer."

Du Mao stood aside and couldn't help but speak up: "Young Master, everyone knows that you and He Yan are close friends, but when we went up the mountain, there were witnesses and evidence, so how can we deny it? Even if the governor is here, we still have to follow the rules. Besides, we haven't said that we will convict He Yan immediately. Everything will have to wait for the governor to come back and make a decision."

"But my uncle is not in Liangzhouwei now!" Cheng Lisu shouted, "You talk so lightly, but you know how cold and dark it is in that dungeon, and how scared Brother He must be, all alone in there!"

Du Mao: "...."

Cheng Lisu said this as if he himself had been in the dungeon and felt the same way. Moreover, it was not certain that He Yan was scared alone. With He Yan's temperament, he might not take this matter to heart at all.

There's really no need for Cheng Lisu to worry about it.

Seeing Shen Han's firm attitude, Cheng Lisu had no choice but to give in and said, "It's okay if you don't let him out, but I have a condition."

Shen Han asked: "What do you want, young master?"

"The food and utensils in the dungeon are too shabby. My elder brother can't stand such hardship. I won't say anything too much. Whatever my elder brother eats on weekdays, he must be provided with the same food in the dungeon. In the next two weeks, the winter will be too cold. Give him two more quilts and hot water every day..."

"Young Master Cheng," Shen Han interrupted him, "this is against the rules."

"Neither this nor that. What do you want?" At this point, Cheng Lisu also got angry. He stood up and shouted, "If you can't do it, I will go by myself. I tell you, you will regret it if you treat my elder brother like this!"

Having said that, he turned around and ran away.

The door was slammed shut with a bang, and Shen Han couldn't help but feel a headache. Children of this age, especially the little boy who was spoiled by his family, were really too much to bear. Xiao Jue looked cold and harsh on weekdays, but he was very patient to be able to get along with Cheng Lisu for such a long time.

The remaining coaches in the room all looked at Shen Han.

Liang Ping asked: "Head Coach, what should we do now?"

A man died in the military camp. Although He Yan was locked up now, He Yan's words did stir up a stir in the hearts of the people. If there really was a traitor in the Liangzhou Guards, that person would still be hiding among the new recruits, and he killed a companion without anyone noticing, so it must not be for fun.

Who is this person, who is the master behind him, what is his purpose, and when will he reveal his true colors? Everything is unknown. This person may be He Yan, or someone else. If it is He Yan, it is easy to deal with, but if it is someone else, it will be a big disaster.

"Find someone to keep an eye on Hu Yuanzhong," Shen Han pondered, "If what He Yan said is true, this person will definitely take action."

Ma Damei asked, "Has the governor sent any letter in the past few days?"

Shen Han shook his head, his eyes filled with worry.

There has been no news from Zhangtai till now, which was very rare in the past.

Hopefully nothing bad happens.

…

Cheng Lisu ran out and bumped into a man. The man covered his forehead, sighed, and scolded: "Don't you have eyes when you walk?"

Cheng Lisu looked carefully and found that it was Song Taotao.

He was just filled with anger at Shen Han, and now when he saw Song Taotao, he was furious, "Who told you to bump into me?"

Song Taotao rolled her eyes at him and said, "I don't want to bother with you." Then she walked straight ahead.

"stop!"

Song Taotao turned around and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Are you going to look for Old Shen?" Cheng Lisu pointed in the direction of Shen Han's house.

Song Taotao simply turned around and said unhappily, "Why, no way?"

Cheng Lisu was really excited now. He took a few steps forward and asked, "Are you pleading for my elder brother?"

Song Taotao glanced at him. Although she didn't like Cheng Lisu's useless appearance, she had to admit that this boy cared about He Yan. He sent food to He Yan every now and then, and He Yan had a good relationship with him. So she said, "So what?"

"Don't mention it," Cheng Lisu waved his hands, looking frustrated. "I just came out of Old Shen's room. This guy is so stubborn. No matter how hard I tried to persuade him, he still didn't believe that my brother He didn't kill anyone. He also refused to let anyone send food and blankets to my brother He."

"You are stupid," Song Taotao said angrily, "If they don't agree, won't you go by yourself?" He glanced at Cheng Lisu's depressed look and said unhappily, "I've been there just now and brought steamed buns to Brother He. You don't have to worry!"

"Really?" Cheng Lisu's eyes lit up and he looked at Song Taotao: "I didn't expect you to be so loyal."

Song Taotao sneered: "Thank you, Master Cheng, for your appreciation."

She stopped talking and continued walking forward.

"Hey, hey, hey," Cheng Lisu stopped her, "Why do you still want to go find Lao Shen? I've already said that this guy is unreliable. It's better to rely on the two of us."

Because of He Yan, these two people can now be called "us". If He Yan were here, he would not believe his ears.

"I think so too. Who made Brother He believe him?" Song Taotao said helplessly: "I am loyal to the person who entrusted me. It was Brother He who asked me to find Coach Shen."

"Brother asked you to go?" Cheng Lisu was stunned.

"Yes." Song Taotao walked around him and said, "So don't disturb me from doing my work. I'm going to find someone first." After that, he ignored Cheng Lisu and walked straight forward.

After walking two steps, he turned around and walked back to the dazed Cheng Lisu. Song Taotao lowered his voice and whispered in his ear: "Brother He also said that you should not walk around in Liangzhou Guards these few days. If a new soldier comes to see you, don't go. It's best to stay with Coach Shen at all times."

"Old Shen?" Cheng Lisu frowned: "Why should I follow him? I can't even get enough of him!"

"This is what Brother He told us to do!" Song Taotao's face darkened. "You'd better listen to me."

She recalled the young man standing in the dark dungeon, stuffing something in his hand into her hands, and said worriedly: "There may be traitors among the Liangzhou guards. I'm not here. Follow Shen Han and let him protect you."

"Be very careful."