The Cultivator's Reborn to 1970s
Chapter 233 - 197

Chapter 233: Chapter 197

"Snap," at this pause, the ink on the tip of the brush dripped down, Lan Tian looked down and saw blossoms flowering on the white paper.

Lan Tian sighed, this piece of paper was ruined, she gathered it and threw it into the trash can, swept the area with her Divine Sense, and was slightly startled to see who was knocking at the door.

These days, only Tian Xianghua came to visit, and the person knocking was indeed her. Other Military Wives from the building hadn’t visited; everyone just knew each other by face, so it wasn’t good to suddenly visit.

But Tian Xianghua usually came over in the afternoon and seldom in the morning; could something urgent have happened?

Lan Tian put down her pen and went out to open the door, "Sister-in-law..."

"Something big has happened."

As Lan Tian was about to call out "Sister-in-law," Tian Xianghua interrupted her and walked into the house, pushing Lan Tian in.

After nine in the morning, there were not many people in the building. Those with jobs had gone to work, and those without children took them to the playground. Tian Xianghua’s alarm went unnoticed, or it would have stirred up rumors in the building.

The two sat in the living room, Lan Tian poured a cup of tea for her, "Sister-in-law, have a cup of tea, take your time to talk."

Tian Xianghua, still in shock, sat down and didn’t come back to her senses for a while, dumbly gulping down the tea. The tea had a calming and heart-stilling effect, specially prepared by Lan Tian. After drinking it, Tian Xianghua slowly regained her composure, looking at Lan Tian without a word, then finally sighed deeply.

"Lan Tian, you need to be mentally prepared."

With a "clunk," Lan Tian’s heart sank, her face remained calm as she poured another cup of tea for Tian Xianghua and also took a cup herself.

"Sister-in-law, please speak."

"Just now, my husband sneaked back to tell you, Camp Commander Mo has been arrested at the regiment headquarters, and my husband also said, prepare yourself mentally." She didn’t say what to prepare for.

"Sister-in-law, do you know why Junhua was arrested?" Chaos, all in chaos, this never happened in the past life.

Her fingertips flicked, setting up a protective shield in the room, preventing their conversation from being overheard through the walls.

Tian Xianghua moved closer to Lan Tian, spoke in a low voice suppressing her throat, "My husband said, a traitor has appeared in the military, Camp Commander Mo and Lieutenant Su have been arrested, be careful, someone from above will definitely come to talk to you, I should go now."

With that said, Tian Xianghua, seemingly recalling something with a pale face, put down her cup, her face full of conflict, and hesitated to speak.

"Sister-in-law, if you have something to say, speak." Lan Tian looked thoughtful as she glanced at her struggle.

Tian Xianghua thought for a while, finally gritted her teeth and said, "I won’t be coming to your house for a while..."

Lan Tian pursed her lips and gave a faint smile, Tian Xianghua looked guilty, "Don’t misunderstand, it’s only temporary, I’m not trying to draw a line between us..."

Tian Xianghua felt a bit down and frustrated. Her husband was just an ordinary soldier, their family had no connections, it hadn’t been easy for him to climb to the rank of battalion commander.

Unlike Camp Commander Mo, whose real military exploits were recognized, highly regarded by the regiment leader. Every time her husband talked about Camp Commander Mo, besides admiration there was envy, envying his ability to accumulate achievements.

Therefore, she had to consider for her husband. With such an incident involving Camp Commander Mo, with senior officials bound to investigate, her close association with Lan Tian might implicate her husband, ruining their family.

"Sister-in-law, don’t worry, I understand. No matter when you come, you’re always welcome because we are friends." Tian Xianghua took the risk to tip her off, a favor of the highest order, Lan Tian remembered this.

In this world, there are many who add flowers to the brocade, but few who send coal in snowy weather; not to stab in the back is already a blessing.

Even if Tian Xianghua said nothing, Lan Tian would have advised her not to come for a while to avoid being implicated. Good people should receive good karma.

Tian Xianghua’s smile gradually spread, Lan Tian was truly kind, she didn’t want to lose this friend, "Okay, then I’ll leave, take care of yourself."

But she had to eradicate the memories of Tian Xianghua, and poured her some tea from the pot on the coffee table, "Military Wife, have some tea before you leave."

After seeing off Tian Xianghua, Lan Tian lost interest in practicing her calligraphy, sat in the wicker chair, held her teacup, and slowly sipped, pondering over what she had just learned.

Whether the matter of convicting a traitor was fabricated or not was aside, the idea that Mo Junhua was a traitor was something that Lan Tian absolutely refused to believe. The regiment commander would surely be the first to object, let alone the higher-ups who were not all blind or deaf, with his glaring military achievements right there.

Unless someone framed him?

Who would frame him? What was their purpose?

The person capable of framing him must have gone to the northern battlefield with him and been close to him, to be knowledgeable about his military strategies in the army.

He had many close associates, and Lan Tian couldn’t figure out who it was. She had little contact with Su Qing and the others and didn’t know their affairs, naturally making it impossible for her to analyze.

Who exactly did it?

She dug up the memories of her previous life, combed through them from start to finish, and found nothing useful; no such incident of convicting a traitor happened in the military in her past life.

When Mo Junhua was promoted around the age of thirty-five or thirty-six, an incident did happen—someone reported him. What he was reported for, Lan Tian was not sure. Mo Junhua came back and shut himself in the study for days and nights, and when Su Qing and the others came to see him, they inadvertently heard him cursing the person who reported him, calling them heartless, an ingrate, and forgetting how Mo Junhua had treated him, how he wouldn’t have his current rank without him.

Could the two incidents be related?

Lan Tian was glad she hadn’t returned home. With this matter exposed, everyone related to Mo Junhua would certainly be investigated, and as a family member, she couldn’t avoid being questioned.

If Grandma Sun and others knew about this, they would be furious. Once the neighbors knew, there would inevitably be whispers behind their backs, and they would isolate their family. Grandma Sun wouldn’t have the face to stay here either.

Lan Tian sighed deeply, wondering why these people wouldn’t just enjoy their good days and had to engage in underhanded schemes.

Recalling the day before Mo Junhua left, he asked her for the True Heart Pill, and a light flashed in Lan Tian’s eyes. Perhaps there really was a traitor? Mo Junhua must know who the traitor is, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked her for the True Heart Pill.

Lan Tian wasn’t too worried about Mo Junhua; with his cunning, he surely had made full preparations, though it might take longer and cause him some suffering.

...

Lan Tian guessed right; Mo Junhua was taken away, and the regiment commander was the first to disagree. The materials submitted by Mo Junhua were too important and represented an opportunity for him to move against his family’s political enemies.

Nobody expected the traitor to be Li Hong. During the Boundary River battle, Mo Junhua risked his life to save him from a pile of corpses. When the shells came, Zhao Li rushed to save them both; Li Hong was mostly unharmed, but Mo Junhua’s back was severely injured by a bomb shell, and Zhao Li’s leg was broken, filled with bomb fragments—this leg nearly cost him his life.

Brothers-in-arms born from the battlefield, he ventured alone to rescue Mo Junhua trapped in the north. They had a profound bond, sharing life and death; no one expected him to harbor malice and desire their deaths.

On the way back from the front line, Ding Lei and Zhang Tian intercepted him, secretly brought him back, and interrogated him overnight. Li Hong initially reacted violently, insisting he was framed, that they were all brothers-in-arms, and they knew his character; he begged them not to fall for someone else’s trap, which would ruin the brotherhood and play into the enemy’s hand.

If not for the irrefutable evidence presented before them, Su Qing and the others would have liked to believe he was innocent. Ding Lei and Zhang Tian couldn’t be bothered with his defiance, throwing the evidence before him. After Li Hong read it, he said, "There’s nothing I can say," and then fell silent.

The regiment commander personally interrogated him, and he unexpectedly turned hostile, adamantly claiming that these actions were instigated by Mo Junhua, enraging the regiment commander to the point of flipping the table, almost hitting him, only restrained by Ding Lei.

"Why?" Mo Junhua arrived later and only asked that one question, then kept silent while watching him, noticing Li Hong’s dry lips, he poured him a glass of water.

Su Qing was indignant, arguing that a traitor shouldn’t be given water to drink, that letting him die of thirst would still be too kind.

Li Hong glanced around the interrogation room, gave a bitter smile to his once close brothers, said nothing, and downed the cup of tea in one gulp.

After Li Hong finished drinking, Mo Junhua who took the empty cup out, gave him a deep, penetrating look before leaving, sending chills throughout Li Hong’s body.

What followed was Li Hong’s lifelong nightmare.

The evidence unearthed by Ding Lei was shocking and horrifying, beyond everyone’s expectations, involving too many people. The regiment commander’s legs went soft upon reviewing the materials, and it took him a long while to regain his composure.