After the Crown prince and Qin Zheng went far away, the skinny man looked at his terrifying expression and, in order to give him some face in front of his brothers in the West Village.

He said indignantly, “Big brother, don’t be angry. If it weren’t for your serious injuries, how could that little white-faced guy be so arrogant?”

Wu Xiao gritted his teeth, his facial features distorted, “I must kill that Cheng guy!”

The skinny man quickly agreed, “Yes, kill that little white-faced guy, sleep with his woman, then that woman won’t dare to curse you, big brother, anymore. When the time comes, big brother, you must teach that woman a lesson!”

Wu Xiao didn’t understand what Qin Zheng said and asked, “What did she curse me?”

The skinny monkey swallowed and said, “She said… she greeted your mother.”

Wu Xiao’s temple veins bulged, and he slapped the skinny man’s face, “You foul whore! When I kill that little white-faced guy, I’ll make sure to have the brothers torture her to death!”

After walking a distance with the prince, Qin Zheng finally remembered to ask him, “Sir, how did you happen to pass by there?”

The Crown prince replied, “The village was attacked, so I planned to go take a look.”

Qin Zheng thought to herself that’s why he was still carrying a sword.

After walking for a while, Qin Zheng realized they weren’t heading back to their little courtyard but instead towards outside the village.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Are we going to the dam cave now?”

“Yes.”

“Can I come too?”

The prince sensed the implication in her words, glanced down at her, and said, “The people capable of wielding knives in the East Village have all gone to the dam cave. It’s not safe for you to go back.”

Qin Zheng understood.

Just now, encountering Wu Xiao and his group was the best example.

Even if she hid back in the courtyard, if the people from the West Village stormed in, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself.

It was safest to stay by the crown prince’s side.

The dam cave was now packed with people from both the East and West Villages.

About ten small boats were docked in the river area below.

It was estimated that the water bandits who launched this sudden attack numbered around a hundred.

Lin Yao and a dozen or so men from the East Village were at a disadvantage down below.

There were limited numbers of hanging baskets, unable to lower too many people at once.

And once the hanging baskets descended within range of the bandits’ bows and arrows, the hidden bandits would shoot arrows at the hanging baskets.

Many mountain brothers who went down to support were shot dead in the hanging baskets.

The people from the West Village were already sounding the retreat:

“The water bandits are fierce. Those archers up on the mountain are unreachable for us.

As soon as the hanging baskets are lowered, they become live targets. Going down there is just sending oneself to death!”

A man from the East Village shouted, “There are not only the leaders at the foot of the mountain. Your precious daughter, the second leader, is also down there!”

The West Village people who came to support were originally just putting on a show.

But when they heard that He Yunjing was also at the foot of the mountain, someone quickly sent the news back to the West Village.

Qin Zheng didn’t see Lin Zhao.

After asking around, she found out that Lin Zhao had gone down early in the morning to help Lin Yao.

Seeing the group of people standing at the entrance of the dam cave, too scared to go down, she became anxious:

“There are so many bandits. How can the village chief and Lin Zhao handle it?”

She wiped her eyes and walked towards one of the hanging baskets, facing the man from the East Village responsible for lowering the ropes, “Lower me down. I’ll go help Miss Lin.”

The man from the East Village was hesitant, but it was precisely because of Qin Zheng’s actions that many East Village men who were still hesitating got into the baskets.

He shouted loudly, “Let’s go help the village chief!”

Qin Zheng’s mind was racing.

The hanging basket was woven from vines and couldn’t block arrows, but it could accommodate two people at a time, and there was still enough space.

After making some protective measures inside the basket, it could definitely accommodate one more person.

She asked the leader of the East Village men, “Do you have any shields?”

If there were shields placed under the hanging basket, most of the arrows could be blocked.

The man shook his head, “There are none in the village.”

Most of them were farmers, and the weapons in the village were not well-equipped.

Where would they have shields and such things?

Now Qin Zheng couldn’t think of any other way.

Just as the men responsible for lowering the ropes were about to lower the basket,

The Crown prince, who had been observing the situation below the cliff, suddenly spoke up, “Lower an empty basket first.”

The leading man didn’t understand, but the prince’s tone subconsciously convinced him.

So, he cleared out an empty hanging basket as the prince instructed.

The prince then took a bow and arrows from a man carrying them on his back and said to Qin Zheng, “Take care of my wife for me. I’ll go save people.”

With so many people of all sorts around, he couldn’t leave Qin Zheng alone.

Qin Zheng knew that the crown prince was highly skilled in martial arts, but the bandits below treated the hanging baskets as targets and shot arrows.

The arrows came from the bottom of the baskets, making it almost impossible to defend against.

She was worried: “Hus..”

The crown prince glanced back at her, “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

The leader of the East Village men was grateful for the prince’s righteousness and promised, “Sir, rest assured. As long as there’s one person from the East Village still standing, no one can harm your wife.”

The prince clasped his fist at the man and entered another empty hanging basket.

He instructed the man responsible for lowering the ropes, “Lower the empty basket three yards before lowering mine.”

The man hurriedly obeyed.

As the baskets descended slowly, the water bandits below saw two more baskets being lowered and tightened their bowstrings.

As soon as the first basket reached their range, they all released their arrows.

The prince braced himself against the edge of the basket, identified the positions of the bandits shooting from the shadows, squinted his eyes, drew his bow and arrow, and before the basket he was in reached the range of the water bandits’ arrows, several arrows had already claimed the lives of the bandits.

The Qi Yun Village men who were craning their necks to look down from the cliff were overjoyed and admired him greatly.

“This Cheng brother is truly courageous, and his archery skills are truly remarkable!”

“Hurry, hurry, the water bandits who were shooting arrows from hiding have been killed by Master Cheng. Let’s go down and rescue the village chief!”

With no more hidden arrow threats, the East Village men scrambled to get into the baskets.

Qin Zheng and He Yunjing nervously watched from the cliff’s edge, and upon seeing this, they breathed a sigh of relief.

The baskets were still some distance from the ground.

The prince saw Lin Yao being surrounded tightly by a group of bandits, with most of his clothes already stained red with blood.

Only one stubble-bearded man and Lin Zhao were protecting him, but the bandits were like leeches, biting wherever they could.

The two of them were also on their last legs.

The prince stepped on the edge of the basket, leaped out of it, stomped on the heads of several water bandits who were about to surround and kill him, and landed directly in the innermost circle of the encirclement.

Drawing his long sword like a silver snake from its sheath, he instantly claimed the lives of several people.

Lin Yao had been slashed on his side, blood gushing out profusely.

He couldn’t move, leaning against the pile of wood on the ground.

He Yunjing tightly covered the wound on his side with her hand, but blood kept oozing out, flowing through her fingers and soaking the sandy ground beneath her.

She cried until her voice was hoarse, “Lin Yao, don’t die. Hold on a little longer, my father will bring people to save us…”

The crown prince frowned at a glance.

If Lin Yao’s wound wasn’t bandaged soon, he might truly die from excessive blood loss.

Although it was inappropriate, he couldn’t help but think of Qin Zheng.

If he were injured like this today, Qin Zheng would never just sit there and cry without doing anything.

Although she looked delicate and weak, underneath that fragility seemed to be a gentle yet resilient strength, like a tender shoot that could push aside boulders.

Seeing He Yunjing crying as if she was about to leave this world on a crane, the prince didn’t expect her to help bandage Lin Yao’s wound.

He directly took Lin Zhao’s place, tossed her a bottle of healing medicine, “If you don’t want your brother to die, hurry up and bandage his wound.”

His swordsmanship was fierce.

After taking over Lin Zhao’s position, not only did he not give the besieging water bandits any chance, but he also forced them to retreat, giving Wang Biao, who had been fighting hard for a long time, a chance to catch his breath.

Lin Zhao also had several cuts on her body, but not as severe as Lin Yao’s.

After taking the healing medicine, she didn’t say a word, rushed to Lin Yao’s side, tore open his clothes, and poured the healing powder over the wound, then wrapped it with torn strips of cloth.

With blood on her face, she looked like a small beast baring all of her sharp claws and teeth after losing her shelter: “Brother, hold on, we’re about to win.”

After doing all this, Lin Zhao joined the battle, not saying a word to He Yunjing from start to finish.

He Yunjing knew she blamed herself, feeling extremely aggrieved.

She continued to cry.

Wang Biao was so exhausted that he could only stand steady by supporting himself with his big iron hammer.

Watching as the prince’s sword swept down, taking down a large group of bandits, he spat into his own palm, lifted his big iron hammer, and struck back, “The pretty boy is good, but I’m not worse than you!”

The prince glanced at him without saying a word.

His swordsmanship was not flashy at all, but every strike drew blood.

After killing dozens of bandits, the remaining ones looked at him with fear in their hearts.

They surrounded them but didn’t dare to approach easily anymore.

After more than a dozen hanging baskets landed, the men from the village roared and charged over.

Seeing the reinforcements arriving and the prince acting like a killing god protecting Lin Yao, the bandits, realizing there was no more opportunity to strike, began to retreat to their boats.

Lin Zhao was already in a frenzy.

Seeing them showing signs of retreat, she lashed out with her long whip, entangled a bandit’s neck, and cut his throat with the sickle knife at her waist,

Viciously saying,

“You want to leave? Dare to cause trouble at the doorstep of my Qi Yun Village, don’t even think about leaving alive today!”

With the continuous arrival of people from Qi Yun Village, the remaining battle turned into a massacre of the bandits by the people of Qi Yun Village alone.

Lin Yao’s injuries were too severe, and he had lost too much blood.

The people from the village didn’t dare to move him easily.

It wasn’t until the chief physician came over to re-treat his wounds that they used a stretcher to carry him back.

When they were all on the hanging baskets heading back up to the dam cave, the master of west village rushed over with dozens of elite fighters.

Seeing people, he shouted angrily, like an enraged leopard, “Where’s Jing’er?”

Lin Zhao passed by him, and at his words, she only gave him a cold glance.

The second master was about to get angry when He Yunjing’s hanging basket ascended at that moment.

Seeing his daughter was unharmed, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

He scolded, “Who allowed you to leave the village?”

He Yunjing couldn’t stop crying when she saw her father.

She cried out, “Dad!”

Seeing his daughter was safe, the second mastee’s heart finally settled down.

Although he was still angry, his tone softened, “Where are you injured?”

He Yunjing cried even harder, “I’m not injured. Brother Lin was cut by the bandits while saving me. He lost a lot of blood…”

When this was said, the expressions of the people from the West Village varied, and even Qin Zheng, standing on the side, looked somewhat surprised.

Lin Yao was injured so severely just to protect He Yunjing?

No wonder Lin Zhao had looked disdainful when facing the second master’s questioning earlier.

Most of those who went down to support were from the East Village.

It seemed like the people from the West Village were just there to show their faces, and the second leader arrived late after the battle.

The reason behind this was something one dared not think about deeply.

When the prince came up, Qin Zheng saw blood on his clothes but wasn’t sure if it was his.

The prince saw through her thoughts with just one glance and said, “I’m not injured. The blood isn’t mine.”

While Qin Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, there was a subtle discomfort in her heart.

How did the prince know what she was thinking?

Because of this rescue of Lin Yao, the people from the East Village treated them with obvious respect.

On the way back, they encountered a man they hadn’t seen before, and he warmly greeted them.

As soon as they returned to the courtyard without even having a sip of water, another man came to the door, saying that Lin Yao had awakened and asked the prince to come over.

Thinking back to when they returned earlier and saw Lin Zhao’s obviously troubled expression, Qin Zheng wanted to comfort her a few words, so she went with the prince.

Lin Yao and his sister lived in a courtyard.

At this moment, all the heads from the East Village were gathered in Lin Yao’s room.

When Qin Zheng followed the prince in, she immediately saw Lin Zhao sitting on a low stool by the bed.

Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying, but her expression was very firm, “I will avenge you!”

Lin Yao had just woken up.

Because of the excessive blood loss, his originally wheat-colored face was a bit pale.

He weakly said, “Don’t act rashly. Let’s talk about everything after I recover.”

Lin Zhao pursed her lips and remained silent.

Someone by the door saw the prince and Qin Zheng and hurriedly said, “Master Cheng is here!”

Lin Yao looked towards the door, and the people in the room automatically made way for them.

As the prince approached, Lin Yao weakly smiled at him, “Today, Lin owes his life to Master Cheng’s rescue. You two are truly our benefactors, my siblings and I.”

The prince replied, “Chief, you’re being too polite.”

Lin Yao coughed a few times, glanced at everyone in the room, and slowly said, “I need to recuperate from my injuries for a while. During this time, all of you will listen to Biaozi.”

Since Wang Biao was his right-hand man and good at fighting, no one had any objections to this.

But what Lin Yao said next surprised them a bit, “My life was saved by Brother Cheng. From now on, he is my brother, and he will be the third leader of Qi Yun Village.”

Inside the room, a faint murmur of discussion arose.

The martial arts skills of the prince were witnessed by all today, that much was undeniable.

However, since the prince had entered the village not long ago, suddenly appointing him as the third leader of Qi Yun Village made most people still hesitate.

As long as no one openly opposed, such a decision was basically settled.

However, the prince politely declined, “Thank you for your kind offer, Chief. If the Chief needs my assistance, I am willing to serve as an advisor. There’s no need for me to hold the position of the third leader.”

Seeing the prince’s reluctance, Lin Yao didn’t insist further, and thus the prince became the military advisor of Qi Yun Village.

The doctor said Lin Yao needed to rest.

After they left the room to discuss the next deployment in the front hall, Lin Zhao sat on the steps outside the door, lost in thought.

Qin Zheng sat down beside her, gently patting her shoulder, “Let it out if it hurts.”

Lin Zhao stubbornly replied, “I’m not going to cry. My brother isn’t dead!”

Knowing that this girl was strong-willed, Qin Zheng felt even more sorry for her but said nothing, gently patting her shoulder.

Lin Zhao pressed her lips tightly together, but her eyes still slowly reddened uncontrollably.

“Yanku has a high terrain, and the entire river can be seen. If there are many boats approaching, the people on duty would have given an early warning.

Why did all the people on duty at Yanku suddenly have diarrhea today, and not one of them saw the pirates’ boats approaching?”

Qin Zheng hesitated, “Could there have been a problem with the food?”

Lin Zhao closed her eyes and shook her head, “The food was made by Wang Lao Niang and sent over by the people from the East Village.

There couldn’t be a problem unless someone tampered with it while it was being eaten.”

Qin Zheng immediately understood this was a miscalculation.

From the cooking to the delivery, everything was handled by the people from the East Village.

Even if someone from the West Village secretly added laxatives, when investigated, they could easily find excuses, or even shift the blame.

After all, the people from the West Village also ate the food sent by the East Village and experienced diarrhea.

Lin Zhao sneered, “He Laocai and his son saw the signal flare but didn’t bring the people from the West Village over in time.

They just wanted my brother to die in the hands of the pirates, right? It’s just that they miscalculated.

Their precious daughter was also down the mountain.”

“If it weren’t for my brother saving He Yunjing, that old thief would probably be crying over his daughter’s corpse right now!”

At this point, Lin Zhao couldn’t help wiping her eyes again, “But my brother took that blow for He Yunjing, also for me.”

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Zheng understood the meaning behind Lin Zhao’s words.

Lin Yao saved He Yunjing not only because of their childhood friendship.

At that moment, when they were outnumbered and unable to come down from the mountain, the second leader might have been thinking about taking advantage of the situation to eliminate the East Village.

Only because He Yunjing was still alive did the second leader halt the original plan and send people down to support, at any cost.

Looking at it from a different perspective, Lin Yao knew that if he died and the leadership of the Eastern Stronghold fell into the hands of the Second Master, he would surely eliminate all threats.

He risked his life to save He Yunjing, hoping it might persuade the Second Master to spare Lin Zhao’s life.

During the intense battle at the foot of the mountain, Lin Yao had thought through all his options before bravely taking action.

Qin Zheng didn’t know how to comfort Lin Zhao, so she gently embraced her.

Despite Lin Zhao’s resilience, she was still just a fourteen-year-old girl.

Leaning against Qin Zheng’s shoulder, though silent, Qin Zheng could feel her tears dampening her clothes.

She softly said, “Zhao, don’t be sad. Whatever the Western Stronghold wants, you must stand firm for your brother’s sake and not let them succeed.”

After crying for a while, when Lin Zhao lifted her head, her gaze became incredibly determined again. “Of course, it must be that old scoundrel He who realized we were about to finish repairing the pontoon bridge.

He knows they can’t benefit from this situation and is just acting out of desperation!”

The Crown Prince and the leaders of the Eastern Stronghold were discussing matters in another room.

They knew the pirate attack was aimed at the cargo on those two ships.

Currently, for their own interests, the Western Stronghold was probably aligned with the pirates.

To quickly unload the cargo and bring it back to the stronghold, the pontoon bridge needed to be repaired.

Otherwise, if the pirates caught wind of their plans, they would attack while they were unloading, leading to another difficult battle.

Wang Biao placed the blueprint Lin Zhao had obtained on the table. “This blueprint was obtained by the Miss from an old craftsman at the foot of the mountain. Let’s continue working this afternoon and try to get all the goods back to the stronghold by tonight.”

When the Crown Prince saw the familiar blueprint, his eyelid twitched. “An old craftsman at the foot of the mountain?”

Wang Biao explained, “In our stronghold, only Feng, from the Western Stronghold, used to work for the canal gang and knows how to repair the pontoon bridge.

After the incident at the ancestral hall embarrassed the Second Master, Feng pretended to be ill and refused to repair the bridge.

The Miss went down the mountain to find an old craftsman who used to build defenses in the army camp, asking for the construction method of the bridge.

Last night, we followed that method and drove the piles and laid the beams. We just need the movable bridge piers and the bridge planks.”

After hearing Wang Biao’s explanation, the Crown Prince still stared at the blueprint, his expression indecipherable.

The paper was the poor-quality paper he had won in chess from the old doctor yesterday, and the ink was the ink from the coarsely ground inkstone.

Yes, the blueprint was the one he had seen at Qin Zheng’s place last night.

It turns out she drew this blueprint to help repair the pontoon bridge in the stronghold.

He had no idea his princess consort had such skills.

Back at home, Qin Zheng always felt that the Crown Prince’s gaze towards her was somewhat strange.

She couldn’t figure it out.

Seeing the Crown Prince sitting at the table with one hand on his brow, she thought he might be having a headache again, so she kindly asked, “Is Your Highness having a headache?”

The Crown Prince glanced at her thoughtfully and nodded slightly.

Qin Zheng got up and went behind him. “Then let me massage your temples.”

But the Crown Prince declined, “No need. It’s just a chart I can’t understand.”

When Qin Zheng heard him mention the chart, she had a foreboding feeling.

Sure enough, the next moment, the Crown Prince took out the simple blueprint she had drawn from his sleeve and laid it on the table, seemingly casually saying, “It’s said to be drawn by a seventy-year-old man from the mountain below.”

His narrow eyes half-lifted, the slight upward tilt of his eyebrows carrying a hint of intrigue, complementing his cold face, enticing yet unaware, “Can Ah Zheng understand it?”