This was the first time he had called himself that.

Every day, Lin Zhao called her Ah Zheng sister, But suddenly hearing the prince call her that way, Qin Zheng’s ears were caught off guard.

It has to be said, this man had quite the captivating charm.

When he was clear and cold, he was a noble young man, but when he bewitched people, he was like a malevolent spirit!

Qin Zheng didn’t know what the prince meant by asking like that.

Logically, as long as Lin Zhao didn’t let anything slip, he shouldn’t suspect her.

Qin Zheng decided to play dumb.

She glanced at the picture the prince took out and shook her head reluctantly, “If even the prince can’t understand it, then I definitely can’t.”

Stay calm, she didn’t reveal anything, even sleeping with the blueprint tucked close to her.

The prince couldn’t have seen the blueprint before this, so what could he suspect her of?

The prince met her clear and beautiful eyes, lightly pressed his temple with his slender fingers, and said, “I thought you could understand.”

As if he really just couldn’t understand the drawing and casually asked her.

Qin Zheng stood behind him, barely audible sighing in relief.

Just when she thought this matter would be passed over, the prince said, “Bring over the papers from over there.”

Qin Zheng obediently brought over the stack of papers.

The prince took out a sheet and placed it next to the engineering drawing, then asked her methodically, “Ah Zheng, does this paper look familiar to you?”

Qin Zheng: “…”

So he was waiting for her here!

Pretending to carefully examine the two sheets of paper for a while, she said puzzledly, “Aren’t all the papers the same? They all look familiar to me.”

The prince sipped his tea lightly, unhurriedly saying, “This parchment was bought by Doctor Zhao several years ago and has been unused, which is why it has turned yellow. Perhaps the paper in the old man’s house has also been bought and left unused for several years.”

Qin Zheng: “It’s possible, after all, the world has been in chaos for so long. Maybe it was bought for the younger generations at home to copy books, but then the war broke out, and there was no school to attend, so it was left behind.”

The prince put down his earthenware teacup, a rare smile appearing on his lips, “Ah Zheng, have you ever smelled this ink fragrance elsewhere?”

Qin Zheng, still holding on, replied, “Never.”

With such questioning from the prince, Qin Zheng understood why he doubted her.

After all, she was a modern person.

Before drawing this picture, how could she have expected the prince to be so sensitive to paper and ink? Moreover, she didn’t know beforehand that this blueprint would fall into the hands of the prince.

You could say that plans couldn’t keep up with changes.

With her denial, the prince wasn’t surprised.

It was just at this moment that he softly said, “That’s quite a coincidence. Yesterday, when I was preparing to write on a piece of paper, I accidentally stained it with some ink, and there are a few ink stains on this paper too.”

He paused slightly in his tone, then looked at Qin Zheng, “So where did that paper Ah Zheng received go?”

Qin Zheng finally realized what it meant to be caught in a trap.

His questioning sounded gentle, but he was waiting for her to fall in!

What can be done in the current situation?

She could only continue to struggle desperately, “Like when a match is lit.”

The prince didn’t speak for a while, just looking at her like that.

Qin Zheng felt her scalp tingling from his gaze, so she took the initiative to ask, “Does the prince suspect that I drew this picture?”

The prince didn’t directly answer, but instead asked her, “Ah Zheng, have you never seen this blueprint before?”

Qin Zheng stubbornly insisted, “Never seen it.”

The prince looked at her quietly for a while, then sighed as if resigned, “Forget it. Whatever you want to do, just go ahead and do it. Some things, you can tell me when you’re ready, it’s not urgent.”

Qin Zheng watched the prince leave, taking a while to come back to her senses.

At the moment, he only suspected that she had drawn the engineering drawing, not knowing if he had started to doubt her identity.

Qin Zheng didn’t dare to be too presumptuous.

She and the prince were nominally a couple facing difficulties, but they hadn’t reached the point of confiding everything to each other.

Although the prince respected her by not pressing her for answers at the moment, for the long run, she had to figure out a way to cover up the fact that she understood architectural engineering.

While Qin Zheng was worrying, there suddenly came a fluttering sound from outside the window.

She opened the window to find a pigeon perched on the sill, with a message tube tied to its leg.

Obviously, it was a messenger pigeon.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly.

Could this messenger pigeon have something to do with the prince suddenly preparing pen, ink, paper, and inkstone yesterday?

The pigeon on the windowsill, seeing Qin Zheng not taking the message for a long time, tilted its head and, with its green-bean eyes, looked at her, letting out a soft “coo.”

---

That night, the prince didn’t come back.

During dinner, Magpie came to take Qin Zheng to Lin Zhao’s place, saying that after the prince and Wang Biao repaired the pontoon bridge tonight, they would take advantage of the night to transport the goods back to the stockade.

Qin Zheng threw a few cabbage leaves to the two wild mountain rabbits before leaving with Magpie.

Compared to daytime, the surroundings of Lin Zhao’s yard were now heavily guarded. Qin Zheng thought of Lin Yao’s serious injury and knew they were afraid of any movements from the West Stockade.

The prince sent her here probably because he was worried she might have an accident.

There weren’t enough rooms in the yard, so Qin Zheng slept in the same room as Lin Zhao at night.

She didn’t have pajamas, so she wore Lin Zhao’s clothes after bathing.

However, Qin Zheng was two years older than Lin Zhao, so the clothes were a bit small on her.

The neckline couldn’t be fully closed, and even the cherry-colored purse inside was visible.

When Qin Zheng came out of the bathing room, Lin Zhao couldn’t help but blush when she saw her like this.

Tiny droplets of water vapor hung on Qin Zheng’s long eyelashes, and her face, freshly bathed, had a tempting pink hue.

The large area of skin on her neck was as white as porcelain, and there was a small red mole beside her collarbone, like a tiny drop of blood oozing out from being pricked by a needle.

Lin Zhao glanced at her own flat chest and silently tightened her straps a bit.

The two girls lying on the bed had endless topics to talk about and somehow ended up discussing the prince.

Lin Zhao recalled the scene during the day when the prince came to support them by stepping on people’s heads, and her prejudice against him lessened a bit.

With a face full of curiosity, she asked, “Ah Zheng sister, how did you and your husband meet?”

Qin Zheng thought about the first encounter of the prince and the princess in the book and replied in a flat tone, “We met by chance when going to the temple to burn incense.”

Lin Zhao, who didn’t know the truth, looked fascinated, “Just like what’s written in the books.”

Qin Zheng thought to herself that the initial encounter of the prince and the princess at the temple was indeed a plot in novels.

Staring at Qin Zheng’s smooth face with almost invisible pores, Lin Zhao admired, “But you and your husband look much better than those talented men and beautiful women written in the books.”

Qin Zheng realized that this little girl was quite into appearances and couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Appearance is secondary. When judging a person, you have to look at their character.”

Lin Zhao nodded in agreement, “Ah Zheng sister, your judgment is quite good. Your husband is stable and values loyalty. He’s someone worth entrusting.”

After a pause, she added, “If only he could respect you more, let you show your abilities instead of hiding them like now.”

Qin Zheng subconsciously recalled the prince’s words before he left.

“What do you want to do, just do it freely. Some things, you can tell me when you’re ready, it’s not urgent.”

He had always respected her, in fact.

Qin Zheng looked at the canopy, although she didn’t want to admit it, her heart was indeed a bit unsettled.

She rubbed her face, comforting herself that sleeping in the same bed with such a handsome guy every day might stir up some feelings even if there weren’t any to begin with.

Forget it, she should go back and sleep with Aunt Lu again.

Sleeping in the same bed with the prince would inevitably lead to trouble sooner or later.

Seeing her suddenly rubbing her face, Lin Zhao thought she was uncomfortable, “What’s wrong, Ah Zheng sister?”

Qin Zheng replied honestly, “Thinking about my husband.”

Lin Zhao blushed again, but there were two small gossip flames burning in her eyes, “Um… Ah Zheng sister, how many times a night do you…?”

Qin Zheng was dumbfounded, “Huh?”

Lin Zhao blinked, “I heard that men who practice martial arts have more energy in that aspect.”

Qin Zheng replied, “He’s injured, so no.”

Lin Zhao was a bit disappointed, “Oh, I see.”

A moment later, Lin Zhao whispered again, “What about before?”

Qin Zheng reached out and tickled her, “Are you going to sleep or not?”

Afraid of tickles, Lin Zhao quickly became obedient, “I’ll sleep, I’ll sleep.”

Because Qin Zheng tickled her, they ended up leaning close to each other.

Lin Zhao sniffed forcefully and suddenly said, “Ah Zheng sister, you smell really nice.”

After all the commotion, Qin Zheng felt drowsy, and in response, she mumbled, “Do I?”

Lin Zhao nodded vigorously, “Yes!”

She suddenly thought the prince was really lucky, being able to cuddle with the sweet-smelling Ah Zheng sister every night.

But when she found herself squeezed out of bed by Qin Zheng in the middle of the night and didn’t want to disturb her sleep, Lin Zhao, with dark circles under her eyes, silently went to the next room to squeeze with Magpie.

---

The night was dark and windy.

Two large boats were docked on the dark and steep riverbank.

Torches were lit every ten steps along the newly built pontoon bridge.

The men from the Eastern Stockade used wooden carts to transport goods on the bridge, unloading batches of goods from the boat.

A small leader stood on the deck, shouting loudly, “Faster, faster!”

Suddenly, in a split second, dozens of torches were ignited in the distant dark water, and the water bandits who had lurked there roared and rushed over.

The men from Qi Yun Stockade didn’t expect another wave of night attacks by the water bandits.

Outnumbered, they abandoned the large boats and scattered to escape.

Several large wooden crates fell off the carts, breaking the locks, and silk fabrics spilled out.

The water bandits who had hijacked two large boats immediately boarded to inspect the cargo.

After smashing open a few crates, they found they were filled with fabrics.

Their faces lit up with smiles, “This is the cargo we’re looking for! Take the boats back!”

The group of water bandits sailed away on the two large boats.

At the dam, Wang Biao watched the water bandits leave with the large boats and laughed heartily, “Brother Cheng really foresaw this! As soon as the news of us moving goods tonight after repairing the pontoon bridge was spread, the man of the Western village immediately informed the water bandits! When the water bandits find out they’ve stolen two boats full of stones, they’ll be furious!”

Someone ran over to report, “Advisor, our men have defeated the night raiders from the West Village!”

Wang Biao laughed even more cheerfully, “Tomorrow morning, I’ll drag that group of bastards to the Western Village and demand justice from that old thief surnamed He!”

The people from the Eastern Village had been feeling oppressed because of Lin Yao’s injury, but at this moment, they felt a sense of relief.

A small leader asked, “Advisor, when should we transport the hidden fabrics back to the village?”

The prince stood at the edge of the cliff with his hands behind his back.

Without igniting any torches at the dam to avoid being noticed by the water bandits, the night wind lifted his ink-colored robe, blending him with the dark night. “Don’t transport them back to the village.”

Under the puzzled gazes of everyone, he slowly spoke, “Instead, transport them by waterway to Wu County and sell them for money.”

Compared to the silk fabrics on two large boats, a group of bandits would certainly prefer gold and silver.

Everyone was excited for a moment.

The prince’s gaze swept over the big knives in their hands and then fell on the mountains hidden in the night.

Over there was Qingzhou City.

He needed to bring up a batch of military supplies.

He needed an elite force that could be relied upon.

**

After the prince returned to the small courtyard, it was already late at night, and Qin Zheng wasn’t there, only the pigeon was still perched at the window.

The prince walked over to retrieve the letter, only to find the message tube on the pigeon’s leg was empty.

Upon closer inspection, he found the pigeon’s leg was tied to the window with a thin rope, and there was scattered rice nearby.

He suddenly chuckled and pinched his brow.

Forget it, if she took the letter, it would be considered even since he had peeked at her things last night.

Aunt Lu, who slept in the side room, heard the movement and got up to ask, “Has the master returned? Madam was taken to Miss Lin’s place by Magpie. Shall I prepare water for you to wash?”

The cocks in the distance were already crowing faintly. The prince glanced at the significantly lighter night, “No need, I’ll go out for a walk.”

Aunt Lu thought it was strange for anyone to go out for a stroll in the middle of the night.

She watched for a while at the courtyard gate and found that he was heading towards the courtyard where Lin Yao and his sister lived.