Turning Antagonist to Protagonist: He is Both Soft and Fierce-Chapter 345 - 340: The Sole Survivor of the Battle
Lin Qiao’s face changed and said: "Why? What mistake was made?"
The soldier thought he had already said it, so saying a few more words wouldn’t matter, "General Qin’s daughter was defiled, and they insist it was under the orders of the Song General."
"Don’t worry too much, we all think it’s not true."
Lin Qiao felt a jolt in her heart, this matter definitely had to be the work of the villain, but she didn’t know why Qin Wuli was suddenly targeted.
Could it be she was planning another scheme to "force" herself on Song Tingfan?
Thinking of this, she still kind of admired her, the villain dared to do it.
She softly asked, "Can’t I really go in? I’ll just take a look and leave." Her eyes showed worry while speaking.
The soldier shook his head, but seeing she was so worried, he couldn’t bear to refuse, kindly said: "I’ll help you deliver the meal."
"Thank you, big brother. Big brother, my husband Tingfan wasn’t punished, right?" Lin Qiao handed the meal to him and also slipped him one tael of silver.
The soldier hesitated for a moment before accepting the silver, "No, without any evidence against the Song General, there won’t be any punishment."
Lin Qiao thought it made sense too, the villain wasn’t the former Song Tingfan, how could he allow himself to be hurt? She slightly relaxed.
"Thank you, big brother."
She returned home still feeling uneasy, found an excuse to speak with Song Qin and them, then took a carriage to Ruyi Shop.
...
Over here, in the tent. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Qin Dewen did not imprison Song Tingfan in a cell, instead, he just had soldiers surround his tent, preventing him from moving freely.
He wasn’t the only one, all the soldiers in the Archery Camp were ordered not to leave the camp.
Everyone understood the intention, to prevent news from spreading.
After all, imprisoning the Song General without evidence truly violated military regulations.
The soldier at the door arrived at the tent entrance, "I’m here to deliver food to the General."
A burly man checked the meal and then let him in, inside the tent, a man was seated, writing something, he respectfully said: "General, just now your wife delivered a meal."
Without looking up at him, Song Tingfan suddenly raised his chin, his gaze fell on the food box, softened considerably, then he pursed his lips, "Does she know I’m detained?"
The soldier nodded honestly, "Yes."
"How is her mood?"
"She’s very worried about you, she wanted to come in, but the General ordered not to let anyone in, so I didn’t let her in."
The soldier recalled something and added, "General, your wife is really good, even my wife doesn’t care if I’m home or not."
Unintentionally helping Lin Qiao a great deal.
Song Tingfan responded with an "Mm", "You may leave."
After he left, he opened the food box, inside were ordinary pancakes and porridge, fearing he wouldn’t have enough to eat, two bowls of porridge were packed, thick and sticky.
His mind instinctively recalled the image of the woman packing the meal, after a moment, he picked up the pancake to eat.
One detention lasted seven or eight days, Lin Qiao could not see Song Tingfan, but Song Tingfan managed to send a message advising her not to worry.
Inside the main camp.
Qin Dewen was handling affairs while listening to reports from below, hearing there was still no evidence, his face soured a bit, could it really not be him?
"Continue to investigate, press hard, ’must’ find evidence."
The implication of the word ’must’ was understood by those below, this meant they had to fabricate some evidence.
He was temporarily troubled, leading three thousand soldiers, the Song General wasn’t an unranked soldier, if found out, he’d be the first to take the fall.
"General, this may not be wise. The Song General was directly appointed by the Emperor. If something is done to him now, the Emperor will become suspicious."
Qin Dewen was well aware, but Song Tingfan couldn’t be swayed by threats or promises, otherwise he wouldn’t have been touched, "What’s there to fear, mistakes must be treated equally! Besides, keeping him around might become an unexpected factor."
He paused for a moment, "No need to rush." After speaking, he waved a hand indicating for him to leave.
Not long after, he finished the matter at hand, patted his clothes, then walked out of the tent.
The weather today was gloomy and windy, he instinctively squinted his eyes, after a short while, he arrived at a tent.
The guard at the entrance respectfully stepped aside, then lifted the tent flap with one hand, "General."
"Mm." Qin Dewen walked in, inside, a man sat before a table, eyes focused on the book in hand, showing no intention of acknowledging him.
He irritably frowned, "Do you really think I can’t do anything to you?"
"Yes."
Song Tingfan raised his eyes to look at him, sharp and revealing a cruel streak, completely unlike his usual demeanor, "Your dealings with the Third Prince have already been sent to the Capital, recruiting soldiers, illegally making weapons, secretly hoarding food, salt, coal, any one of these is enough for you to be executed along with your entire clan."
With every sentence he spoke, Qin Dewen’s complexion rapidly faded, by the end turning pale, yet he quickly steadied himself, "What do you mean?"
Song Tingfan’s lips curled slightly, but with no warmth, instead even more sullen than before, making one shiver, "You had an affair with the Third Prince’s wife, Qin Wuli is your illegitimate child. To prevent exposure, you poisoned your wife mute, outwardly claiming she caught a cold which damaged her voice."
He chuckled lowly, staring directly at him, and added: "You think the Third Prince doesn’t know? He does, he knows everything between you."
"Because he orchestrated it all, he wanted you to be utterly devoted to serving him."
All of Qin Dewen’s secret activities could be said to be crystal clear to him.
The only variable was her...
Qin Dewen couldn’t remain composed any longer, he couldn’t help but growl, "How do you know? Are you sent by the Emperor?"
Song Tingfan didn’t answer him, instead continuing, "That battle a year ago, you acted recklessly, an entire camp of three thousand men, none survived."
"Instead of sending reinforcements, you accused them of acting without orders, dragging nine families into execution, tens of thousands enslaved, beaten."
"No, I didn’t!" Qin Dewen instinctively denied, his gaze a bit evasive and fearful,
This matter couldn’t be known by anyone, couldn’t be.
All those people were dead.
No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t have known, Song Tingfan was the sole survivor of that battle.
Seeing him deny it, Song Tingfan’s gaze grew colder, "Soon there will be, I’ve already sent all the evidence to the Capital."
Qin Dewen clenched his fist, too afraid to consider the reality of this matter, Song Tingfan rose, took out a dagger from a cabinet, "You should be very familiar with this dagger."
The Qilin Dagger was Qin Dewen’s personal item, he instinctively touched his waist but found nothing, recalling that yesterday his men took the dagger for sharpening.
"How did you bribe my people!"
"They fear death."
Song Tingfan opened the dagger, Qin Dewen stepped back, quickly restrained himself, if he acted, he could find a reason to kill him.
However, the dagger didn’t point at him but swiftly stabbed into his own chest.
In Qin Dewen’s moment of shock, Song Tingfan had already run out, his face changed dramatically, quickly followed.
It was already too late.
