She didn’t understand. “But I’m perfectly fine, so there’s no need, right?”

The old doctor stroked his beard. “Your husband cares about you and worries that you’ve been through a lot during these days. Let’s just consider it a routine check-up.”

Qin Zheng looked at Chu Chengji, and he nodded to her. “Go ahead.”

Qin Zheng thought this was probably the ancient version of a physical examination, so she didn’t hesitate anymore.

She walked over and sat down at the table, extending her wrist.

The old doctor placed his fingers on Qin Zheng’s pulse, pondered for a moment, and said, “Liver qi stagnation, spleen and stomach deficiency. It’s probably caused by excessive worry.

The problem could be big or small. You need to take better care of yourself on a daily basis. I’ll prescribe a tonic to replenish qi and soothe the mind for you.”

Qin Zheng didn’t feel uncomfortable herself, so she was somewhat surprised when the doctor diagnosed her with these symptoms.

But then she thought, isn’t this what modern people call mental tension and excessive stress?

Having traveled through dangerous situations to the scene of execution, she would be strange if she didn’t feel any pressure.

Qin Zheng didn’t think what the old doctor said was too serious.

She thanked the old doctor, “Thank you very much, Doctor. I will pay more attention.”

However, Chu Chengji furrowed his brows. Was she burdened with excessive worries, causing her unrestful sleep at night?

As the old doctor wrote out the prescription, he said, “When your husband was injured before, you took care of him without reservation.

I even said that your husband was lucky to marry such a wife as you. Now it seems that you, girl, are also fortunate.

Look how much your husband cares for you, fearing that you might suffer and develop health problems.”

Qin Zheng blushed and lowered her gaze, unable to see Chu Chengji’s expression upon hearing the doctor’s words.

She felt a bit uneasy herself.

Her speculations about him had always been just speculations.

It was a bit difficult to remain as calm as water when dealing with such a powerful and reassuring person day in and day out.

After finishing writing the prescription, the old doctor picked up the paper and blew on the ink.

He looked at the ink on the paper and praised, “Your brush is really good! The characters you write now look much stronger and more robust than before.”

Chu Chengji said, “It’s just a casual piece. If you like it, I’ll make another one for you another day.”

The old doctor seemed genuinely eager for that purple-haired brush.

He grinned and stroked his beard. “Then I’ll take advantage of your generosity. You can continue to use the ink and paper. There’s no rush for you to return them to me.”

When Qin Zheng tried to give the doctor his fee, he waved his hand, refusing to accept it. “Your husband promised to make me a purple-haired brush. That’s payment enough.”

After tidying up his medicine box, the old doctor didn’t forget to say to Chu Chengji, “When you have time, let’s play a few rounds of chess again. The day you broke my game, I pondered it for several days and finally figured out how to defeat you.”

Chu Chengji nodded with a faint smile, but he seemed like a passing breeze in the woods—gentle to look at, yet ungraspable.

After the old doctor left, he sighed as he looked at Qin Zheng, “Ah Zheng, do you miss home?”

His voice was unusually soft.

The rain that had lasted for a day and a night had stopped.

The early morning sun shone through the window, casting its rays on him, enveloping him in light and shadow.

Perhaps it was because he looked so gentle under the morning sun, or perhaps it was because the word “home” struck a chord in her heart.

Qin Zheng felt as if something soft had gently brushed against her heart, causing even the most solid defense to falter a bit.

Home?

Her home, in a different world thousands of years in the future, was long gone.

Her eyes suddenly felt a little sore.

She just nodded softly. “Mm.”

With that, she lowered her eyelashes, trying to push back the sense of soreness, not wanting him to see anything.

It’s strange, isn’t it? When people are truly upset, they tend to want to hide it.

A large hand fell on her head, perhaps trying to comfort her, and gently rubbed it. “Someday, I will take you back.”

Perhaps at that moment, Chu Chengji felt a sense of familiarity with the desolation and loneliness emanating from her.

His clear and gentle eyes showed a hint of emotion. “It won’t be long.”

Feeling the force of his hand on her head, Qin Zheng lowered her eyelashes and subconsciously pinched her fingertips to ward off the palpitations in her heart and the inexplicable sense of soreness.

Just as the hour of si was approaching, Lin Yao sent someone to invite Chu Chengji to the ancestral hall.

It was only then that Qin Zheng learned that the second master had actually brought people from the western stronghold to launch a surprise attack last night, but they were subdued by Chu Chengji and his men.

She glanced instinctively at Chu Chengji negotiating with the messenger at the courtyard gate.

They had only been at Qiyun Stronghold for a few days, and the western stronghold, which had troubled Lin Yao and his sister for many years, was resolved so easily?

Perhaps this was also part of the conversation he had with Lin Yao that night.

The power of Qiyun Stronghold had already united into one force.

Next steps…

Either he would recruit soldiers and expand his influence, or he would train the men of Qiyun Stronghold.

Previously, when the river bandits attacked, Qin Zheng noticed that the weapons and equipment in the stronghold were inadequate.

If they were to fight against the imperial army in the future, with the current level of armament in the stronghold, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Whether recruiting soldiers or procuring weapons and equipment required money.

Qiyun Stronghold was not rich, and although Chu Chengji had made contact with the Lu Family, they had not yet met formally.

The Lu Family was currently under the protection of the Prince of Huainan and couldn’t openly support him, but they might be able to provide some silver secretly.

She thought for a while. Intuitively, Chu Chengji wouldn’t recruit soldiers and expand his influence for the time being.

After all, maintaining an army was costly.

It would be better for him to invest all the available silver into the people of Qiyun Stronghold. He needed an elite force.

Once he had brought out the men of Qiyun Stronghold, he could expand his influence in the future with these new recruits. Layer by layer, he could establish a solid management system.

As Qin Zheng pondered these things, she suddenly recalled Chu Chengji’s words, “It won’t be long,” and abruptly stopped her train of thought.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to find something to do to distract herself.

Chu Chengji had already gone to the ancestral hall, and Aunt Lu went to help the families in the stronghold plant rice seedlings.

With the sun high in the sky and most of the water on the eaves dried up, Qin Zheng glanced at the wooden basins in the house that hadn’t been taken away yet.

She found a wooden ladder from the corner where firewood was stacked and leaned it against the roof.

She intended to repair the leaky spots from last night’s rain.

Leaky roofs were often due to long-term neglect and exposure to the elements, causing the tiles to shift or develop gaps and cracks.

After climbing onto the roof and inspecting it, she re-covered all the spots that leaked yesterday.

She found that many tiles were cracked, and the most severely leaking spot didn’t even have intact tiles; instead, some broken pieces were hastily placed on top.

The heavy rain last night washed away these pieces, causing the leaks to be so severe.

When Lin Zhao rushed over to find Qin Zheng, she was in the midst of using a few banana leaves she had brought back from outside to temporarily cover the areas where there were no tiles on the roof, and she was pressing them down with pieces of broken tiles.

As soon as Lin Zhao entered, she looked up and shouted towards the roof, “Sister Zheng, is it leaking on your side too?”

Busy all morning, Qin Zheng had sweat on her forehead, and her hands were covered in mud from the tiles.

She wiped her arm across her forehead to wipe away the sweat and replied, “It leaked all night yesterday.”

Lin Zhao said, “If there aren’t enough tiles, covering them with thatched grass mixed with yellow mud would be fine. Why use banana leaves? They won’t last long.”

Qin Zheng finished covering the tiles, leaned against the ladder, and descended from the roof. “I’m afraid it will rain again tonight, so I’ll just make do for now. When the weather clears up, we’ll burn some new green tiles and replace all these damaged ones.”

The sun, which had only shown its face in the morning, had now disappeared behind the clouds again, and the sky was overcast.

They didn’t know when it would rain again.

Lin Zhao keenly caught onto a keyword. “Burn green tiles?”

Qin Zheng came down to the ground and went to the large tub in the courtyard where the rainwater from last night had been collected.

She scooped up a ladleful to wash her hands and said, “I noticed that there aren’t many houses in the stronghold with green tiles. Most of them have thatched roofs, which are prone to leaks. It would be better to replace them with green tiles.”

Lin Zhao looked pleasantly surprised. “Sister Zheng, you know how to make tiles too?”

Qin Zheng smiled wryly. “It’s not exactly a skilled job. It’s more like hard labor. There should be plenty of tile makers down the mountain.”

In her previous life, Qin Zheng’s hometown had a famous brick and tile kiln.

In the 1980s, the entire village prospered by making bricks and tiles.

Her grandfather was a skilled craftsman who spent his whole life in the kiln. After the kiln closed down, if their house needed tiles, her grandfather would make them himself.

Qin Zheng had grown up watching her grandfather do all these things, so she was very familiar with making bricks and tiles.

Later, even though the city had phased out green tiles, she hadn’t come into contact with them again after starting work.

But Qin Zheng still had an inexplicable attachment to green tiles.

Perhaps it was because the green tile eaves in her childhood memories were so beautiful in the misty rain, or perhaps it was because tiles made from yellow clay always carried the scent of her hometown soil.

Lin Zhao didn’t notice Qin Zheng’s momentary distraction and smiled, saying, “Even if there are craftsmen down the mountain, they’re not from our stronghold.

Moreover, the rebels have just taken control of Bianjing, and there are still forces in various states and counties that don’t acknowledge them.

Bandits are rampant in the mountains, and the government is doing nothing. People are being robbed every day, and survival is becoming a problem.

Who would care about a few tiles on the roofs of houses? Even if there were tile makers, they would have closed shop by now.”

Worried that Qin Zheng might misunderstand, she quickly added, “Our Qiyun Stronghold is different from those lowly strongholds.

My father was born in the Green Forest and set the rules for our stronghold to rob the rich and help the poor, specifically targeting corrupt officials.

After my father died, my brother was still a half-grown child and couldn’t suppress the second master, so he had no choice but to split the stronghold.

Over the years, the reputation of Qiyun Stronghold has been tarnished by the Western Stronghold!”

Qin Zheng listened to her and thought of the events of last night at the Western Stronghold.

She asked, “I heard that the second master and his men were taken down in a surprise attack last night. Does that mean the East and West Strongholds can be merged again?”

When Qin Zheng asked this question, Lin Zhaofeng remembered the real reason she had come to find her.

She nodded vigorously. “My brother and the others are discussing how to deal with the people from the Western Stronghold. I came specifically to tell Sister Zheng not to cook lunch.

We’re going to have a feast in the main kitchen later. You missed the celebration last time because you were taking care of your husband. You have to come this time!”

Qin Zheng remembered that the cooks in the stronghold seemed to prefer cutting meat into thick slices.

She subconsciously asked, “Is the kitchen short of help?”

Lin Zhao shook her head. “No, many aunties are helping out there. I almost couldn’t squeeze into the kitchen to get a chicken leg.”

She winked at Qin Zheng and said, “I just heard from my brother today that your husband arranged for Aunt Lu to come and help with these things because he was afraid you would get tired from cooking.

If Sister Zheng goes to help in the main kitchen of the stronghold, he might not be happy about it later.”

Qin Zheng had always thought that Aunt Lu was sent over by Lin Yao, but she hadn’t expected it was arranged by Chu Chengji.

She felt a bit complicated for a moment. “He has never mentioned Aunt Lu to me.”

Feeling a bit more favorable towards Chu Chengji at this moment, Lin Zhao asked eagerly, “When did he find out?”

“He found out this morning,” Qin Zheng replied.

Lin Zhao remembered the bruise at the corner of Chu Chengji’s eye and suddenly looked strange. “Um, Sister Zheng, did your husband get that bruise from you?”

Qin Zheng miraculously understood what Lin Zhao was thinking. “…There’s no causal relationship between these two things.”

Lin Zhao nodded repeatedly, but her eyes were full of understanding.

Qin Zheng was about to explain again that she accidentally bumped into him while sleeping, but Lin Zhaofeng suddenly asked, “Sister Zheng, now that you’ve settled down in the stronghold, do you want to bring your family from Bianjing over?”

Lin Zhao asked this because many of the men in the eastern stronghold had brought their families with them.

In her view, Qin Zheng and her husband were already part of the stronghold, so they naturally had to consider their families.

Qin Zheng thought of her family in the capital, feeling a little heavy-hearted, and said, “They can’t come for the time being.”

With the new emperor ascending the throne, the first to be targeted would undoubtedly be the families of the former officials of the old dynasty.

She couldn’t inquire about the situation in Bianjing from the stronghold, and she didn’t know how the people from the Qin Duke’s Manor and the Taishi Manor were doing now.

Bianjing, the imperial prison.

In the narrow corridor, footsteps and the clinking of iron chains echoed.

The torches on the walls seemed to cast a hazy light, and the large cell ahead was shrouded in darkness.

The chief jailer stopped in front of a cell, and a subordinate quickly opened the door.

The Duke of Qin sat cross-legged in the straw in the cell, his back straight as a cypress tree.

Even in prisoner’s clothes, he exuded a dignified aura.

The chief jailer glanced at the food bowl in front of him and asked, “Is Your Grace satisfied with this meal?”

The Duke of Qin raised his eyelids slightly. “Very good.”

The chief jailer gestured for two subordinates to open the wooden shackles and said to the Duke of Qin, who was sitting cross-legged on the straw, “Your Grace, please come along.”

The decree for the execution of the Duke of Qin and the Grand Tutor Lu had been issued by the new emperor three days ago, and today at noon was the time for their execution.

The Duke of Qin calmly raised his hand and allowed them to put the wooden shackles and iron fetters on him, as if these were not instruments of punishment, but his official robe.

It was not as if he was going to the execution ground, but to the imperial court.

Out of respect for the Duke of Qin’s integrity, the jailers handled the shackles with a lighter touch.

A man in a red official robe with a pale face and sharp phoenix eyes approached quickly.

However, his eyes hadn’t closed for a long time, and there were bloodshot streaks in them.

The man was Shen Yanzhi.

The jailers saluted him one after another. “Prince Shen.”

However, they were puzzled.

Why had Prince Shen been appointed as the executioner today? What was he doing in the prison at this moment?

Shen Yanzhi flicked his red sleeves and said in a deep voice, “Step back, I have a few words to speak with the Duke of Qin.”

Although the chief jailer hesitated, he compromised. “Prince Shen, the prisoner’s cart will soon parade through the streets. You… please make it brief.”

After giving a gesture to the subordinates, they all quickly withdrew.

Shen Yanzhi then looked at the Duke of Qin. “I have arranged for a disruption along the parade route. Someone will come to hijack the prisoner’s cart. I have also made arrangements at the city gate. After you leave, you will ride a carriage directly out of the city. My men will escort you to a safe place. You don’t need to worry about the capital. Even if I have to risk my life, I will ensure the safety of the Qin Manor.”

The Duke of Qin said, “Prince Shen, there’s no need for such trouble. These days, your emissaries have repeatedly come to persuade me to surrender. I believe they have conveyed my intentions clearly.”

Shen Yanzhi’s jaw tightened, and there was a faint redness in the whites of his eyes. “Why must you choose this path?”

The Duke of Qin, wearing prisoner’s clothes and shackles, appeared even taller than Shen Yanzhi at this moment.

He said, “The backbone of the Chu Kingdom might be broken, but it must be done uprightly. We must not bow down or bend. It’s about maintaining our dignity, even in defeat.”

Shen Yanzhi’s fingers clenched tightly, and he spoke with difficulty, “The former Crown Prince has not been found yet.”

He hated the former Crown Prince to the core, but he also knew the Duke of Qin’s foolish loyalty to the Chu Kingdom.

Bringing up the former Crown Prince might persuade him to change his mind.

However, the Duke of Qin laughed, his eyes full of vicissitudes. “The Chu Kingdom is gone. The rebels have claimed the throne.

If all the loyal ministers of the Chu Kingdom bow down, it would be a joke. What integrity would the former ministers of Chu have? We would just be slaves of two families!”

Shen Yanzhi’s face turned pale.

The Duke of Qin sought death because he considered himself the backbone of the Chu Kingdom.

By following the Chu Kingdom to its end, but still preserving the dignity of its former ministers, even if they were to betray in the future, people wouldn’t spit on them as cowards.

He went for the greater cause, and Shen Yanzhi couldn’t persuade him back.

Shen Yanzhi raised his head and covered his eyes with his hand.

As the jailer came to take the Duke of Qin away, the Duke of Qin looked back at Shen Yanzhi and said, “Prince Shen, when in a position of authority, one must act for the people. Although we are no longer fellow courtiers, I still hope that Prince Shen will be a good official for the people of the world.”

The footsteps mixed with the clinking of iron shackles gradually faded away, leaving Shen Yanzhi staring at the Duke of Qin’s calm departing figure.

At the fork in the corridor ahead, the sunlight streamed in through a small window, glaringly bright.

The Grand Tutor Lu, escorted by another group of jailers, met the Duke of Qin.

Grand Tutor Lu smiled. “Old man, we’ve fought on the court for a lifetime. It’s not too boring to continue our fight on the road to the underworld.”

The two old courtiers who had fought each other for a lifetime seemed to have put aside their grudges at this moment.

In the ordinary cell ahead, the detained courtiers knelt in the corridor and cried out:

“Grand Tutor Lu!”

“Duke of Qin!”

The mournful cries echoed one after another, like waves crashing against the entire prison.