I manage female characters in all the heavens.

Nie Yan was jolted awake from his sleep. He threw on his clothes and rushed out of the tent, only to see a group of fully armed soldiers hurrying toward him.

"Lord Nie!" An officer with a scar on his face strode forward. Although his tone was still polite, his eyes already carried a hint of scrutiny.

"Something's happened in the army. The general's classified information has been stolen. The general has ordered everyone to be searched. Excuse me!"

Nie Yan frowned, feeling a slight unease, but since he was upright, he had nothing to fear. He nodded and said, "Please go ahead."

It's normal that the enemy would suspect us first, given that we had just arrived at the military camp and there was already a theft of classified information.

With a wave of his hand, the scarred officer ordered the soldiers to disperse and begin searching every tent and every box belonging to Nie Yan and his group.

The servants were woken from their sleep and stood aside, their faces filled with confusion and unease.

Butler Xu quickly walked to Nie Yan's side and whispered, "Master, this situation... isn't quite right."

Nie Yan nodded slightly without speaking, but the unease in his heart grew stronger.

He had a hunch that the so-called "theft" was too coincidental.

Moreover, the scarred officer's attitude was so rude that it worried him.

Luo Che's reminder from earlier in the day unconsciously came to mind. Nie Yan narrowed his eyes and his hand gradually moved to the long sword at his waist.

The soldiers searched very thoroughly, turning almost every piece of luggage upside down.

When they found Nie Xiaoqian and Qingluo's tent, a soldier suddenly exclaimed, "Found them!"

All eyes were drawn to it.

The soldier emerged from the tent, holding a letter sealed with sealing wax aloft: "Here it is! The stolen intelligence!"

The scarred officer took the letter, his gaze immediately turning cold, and asked, "Where did you find this?"

The soldier pointed at "Nie Xiaoqian" and Qingluo: "Under their pillows!"

Qingluo's face turned deathly pale, and she waved her hands repeatedly: "No...it's not mine! I don't know what that thing is! I've never seen that letter before!"

The scarred officer's eyes swept over the two women, his face instantly turning ashen: "Well, the general treated you so kindly, even mobilizing men overnight to prepare a convoy to escort you to the capital, and yet you do this!"

He looked at Nie Yan and asked loudly, "Lord Nie, what do you have to say?!"

Nie Yan felt a buzzing in his mind and was completely stunned.

He subconsciously looked at "Nie Xiaoqian," only to see his daughter standing at the tent entrance, her face showing no panic, but rather an expression of great interest, as if she were enjoying a good show.

"A misunderstanding! It must be a misunderstanding!" Nie Yan forced himself to calm down. "My daughter and her maid would never steal military secrets! There must be some misunderstanding here!"

"A misunderstanding?" The scarred officer sneered. "Finding it under her pillow, how can that be a misunderstanding? Lord Nie, I respect you as an official of the imperial court, but it's disappointing that your men would do something like this!"

He turned and shouted to the soldiers beside him, "Go and fetch the general!"

Nie Yan's heart sank little by little.

He had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but the thought was too dark for him to believe.

How could a general of the imperial court resort to such despicable means to frame an innocent girl?

A moment later, Xiahou Tan strode over, surrounded by a group of personal guards.

He put on his armor again, the armor gleaming coldly in the torchlight.

His expression was complex—it contained anger, heartache, and something else that Nie Yan couldn't understand.

"General!" The scarred officer knelt on one knee, presenting the letter with both hands. "Your subordinate found this secret letter in Lord Nie's daughter's tent. It has been confirmed that it is the confidential intelligence that the General lost!"

Xiahou Tan took the letter, glanced at it pretending to read it, then closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

That sigh contained disappointment, heartache, and a sense of helplessness, like the line from the poem: "I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on the gutter."

He opened his eyes, looked at Nie Yan, his gaze filled with deep sorrow: "Lord Nie, I kindly invited you to stay overnight, and tomorrow I will even send someone to escort you to the capital... Is this how you repay me?"

Nie Yan quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "General Xiahou, there must be some misunderstanding! My daughter has lived a secluded life since childhood and doesn't even know what military secrets are. How could she possibly steal?"

"Besides, this is the first time any of us have been to a military camp. We don't even know the layout of the camp. How can we possibly steal secrets accurately?"

"Someone must have framed me!"

Xiahou Tan shook his head, his voice bitter: "Of course I want to believe that Lord Nie is innocent, but... the evidence is conclusive, how can you expect me to believe you?"

Nie Yan's face flushed red, and he was about to continue to argue when Xiahou Tan raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Lord Nie, I believe this was definitely not at your behest." Xiahou Tan's tone suddenly softened.

"You, a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Rites, a third-rank official, how could you possibly do such a thing? Is it possible that your daughter is young and ignorant, misled by someone, and made such a grave mistake in a moment of confusion..."

Nie Yan, of course, did not believe that his daughter would do such a thing. He argued his case and insisted that "Nie Xiaoqian" had no ability, no opportunity, and no motive.

Xiahou Tan paused, then turned his gaze to "Nie Xiaoqian," a hidden greed flashing in his eyes: "What Lord Nie said makes sense. How about this, we first detain this maid and let my men interrogate her."

"I don't really believe Miss Yaoguang would do such a thing. Perhaps this maid is the culprit. What do you think, Lord Nie?"

Xiahou Tan hinted that Qingluo could take the blame, seemingly hoping to settle the matter peacefully.

If you were to directly suggest that Qingluo should be unfairly blamed, given Nie Yan's character, he would definitely refuse; a maid's life is also a life.

But now that the maid is taking the blame for her daughter, Nie Yan is in a dilemma.

Moreover, judging from Xiahou Tan's attempt to quell the matter, the theft of the secret might not have been a conspiracy orchestrated by him. Perhaps Qingluo really is the culprit, and she is the one who stole it?

Just then, a large group of officers suddenly jumped out and shouted, "General, military secrets are a matter of life and death for everyone. Stealing secrets is extremely dangerous. We cannot be lenient just because she is the daughter of a high-ranking officer!"

"Exactly! Everything was fine before, but the secrets were stolen as soon as they arrived. Maybe they weren't the Ministry of Rites' delegation coming to the capital at all, but rather spies sent by the rebel army!"

"How could a mere maidservant have the ability and the guts to steal military secrets? It must have been this Miss Nie who did it!"

"Arrest him, subject him to severe torture, and interrogate him thoroughly!"

Arrest him!

"Arrest him!!"

Arrest him!!!

Seeing that this had triggered a mass incident, and that it might lead to a mutiny if not dealt with seriously, Xiahou Tan said regretfully to Nie Yan, "Lord Nie, please understand my predicament."

Then, he sighed and waved his hand: "Take down Nie Yaoguang."

Nie Yan's face instantly turned ashen.

He understood completely.

The theft and the classified information were all a trap set by Xiahou Tan!

He even absolved himself of responsibility in this matter, subtly placing himself on my side, claiming that he was forced to deal with Yaoguang.

Even if the conspiracy fails in the end, it's just that someone below framed him and forced him to abdicate; it has nothing to do with him, the general!

First, they framed Yao Guang, then under the pretext of preventing a mutiny, they imprisoned and interrogated Yao Guang. Later, they probably have a plan to fabricate testimonies to frame me, force me to rebel, and create a legitimate reason to kill me!

Luo Che, you're right, Xiahou Tan is indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing!

Nie Yan was no ordinary man; even though Xiahou Tan's performance was perfect, he still saw through Xiahou Tan's true colors!

Nie Xiaoqian shook her head inwardly, saying that Xiahou Tan was treacherous and cunning, a wolf in sheep's clothing, but now it seemed that he was just average.

She is nowhere near as ruthless and wicked as he is!

"I am the Vice Minister of Rites, who dares to touch my daughter!" Nie Yan stopped them without hesitation.

His eyes were icy: "My daughter would never do such a thing! If General Xiahou doesn't trust me, he can imprison me along with him and get to the bottom of this! But there is absolutely no way he can interrogate my daughter alone!"

Xiahou Tan's expression darkened slightly, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

In any case, he could not take action against a high-ranking official without solid evidence.

But he quickly regained his helpless expression and sighed, "Lord Nie, why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I mean well, but you must know that in the military, not many people care about your rank... If we don't win over Miss Nie, we may both be in danger."

At that moment, the crowd erupted in shouts again:

"General! The leak of military secrets is a matter of great importance. If we do not punish the perpetrator severely, it will be difficult to maintain public order!"

"Yes, General! What are our soldiers risking their lives in this war for? If we can't even keep military secrets, how can we fight a war?"

"This is clearly a death sentence for us; they must be severely punished!"

"No matter how high his rank, if he dares to harm us, he must die!"

The surrounding soldiers also began to stir, and their gazes toward Nie Yan and his group turned hostile.

Xiahou Tan sighed and said regretfully, "Lord Nie, as you can see... it's not that I don't want to help you, but the morale of the army is hard to go against."

He waved to several soldiers: "Arrest them!"

"Yes!" Several soldiers grinned and stepped forward, rushing towards "Nie Xiaoqian" and Qingluo.

"Stop!" Nie Yan drew his twin swords from his waist and stood in front of his daughter. "Anyone who dares to touch my daughter will have to get past the sword in my hand first!"

The soldiers were intimidated by his imposing manner and took a step back, but more soldiers surrounded him from all sides, forming a human wall.

The scarred officer sneered, "Lord Nie, do you think you, with just one sword—no, two swords—can stop our army of several thousand?"

Nie Yan's hand holding the sword trembled slightly, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes were filled with anger.

He knew he couldn't stop a few thousand troops, no matter how much potential he had.

But he was confident that he could lead everyone, especially his daughter, to break through the encirclement!

But such behavior is tantamount to rebellion.

"Come on! I can't kill all the thousands, but I can kill the first ones who come up. Who wants to be the first to die?!" Nie Yan was filled with rage. He was willing to risk everything to protect his daughter.

At this tense moment, someone nearby suddenly cried out in fear: "General! The box, there's movement inside the box!"

Xiahou Tan frowned: "What box?"

It turned out that the soldiers who had been assigned to check Nie Yan and his group's luggage had planned to take advantage of the chaos to find some gold and silver jewelry.

But when he was moving a small but unusually heavy box, he heard a woman's muffled groan coming from inside. Startled, he immediately screamed.

Soon, Xiahou Tan ordered several soldiers to carry the box to the front of everyone.

The box was slammed to the ground, from which several more painful groans of a woman were heard.

Several soldiers hurriedly retreated into the crowd, fearing they might have encountered something strange.

A box that looked too big to fit a person, sealed with intact wax, appeared to have been unopened for at least eight or nine days, yet now emitted a woman's moans, which were truly frightening in the pitch-black night.