The White Dragon Path, still somewhat distinct amidst the bushes, was now clearly illuminated by the twilight.

Considering the terrain and the retreat route he had seen from the direction of the granary, he nodded.

While there were two good routes to reach the granary from the Black Mountains, carrying bags of grain would be challenging.

Rapid withdrawal meant there was only one road left, which was precisely the White Dragon Path forbidden by Qiao Yan for ambush scouts.

If they wanted to ambush in the middle of the road, this was indeed a good place.

This was the road selected based on the location where she had set up the grain depot.

Cheng Li immediately saw Qiao Yan reveal a malicious expression and said with a hint of mischief, “But I won’t hide it from Mr. Cheng, this mountain road climbs upwards, and it’s not until you reach the bottom of Hengling that you will come to a fork in the road.

You can set up an ambush at the back of Hozhang Peak, or you can set up an ambush at Dajingou, but I prefer the former for another reason.”

“At the side of Hozhang Peak, under the Yanwang Cliff adjacent to the White Dragon Path, although I don’t believe in any superstitions, since this will be my first battle after becoming the Marquis of Le Ping, I naturally want to start off on the right foot.”

No matter how Cheng Li looked at it, he felt that Qiao Yan’s words were quite childish, but…

“Beside Hozhang Peak, under the Yanwang Cliff, it does indeed sound somewhat like a military expedition. In that case, Lady Qiao seems to be determined to win this battle.” Cheng Li said with some emotion.

As soon as Cheng Li said this, Qiao Yan came up with a follow-up, “Naturally, so the task of ambushing in the middle of the road will be entrusted to Mr. Cheng and General Bao.”

“…” Although he was momentarily choked up by this follow-up, Cheng Li really had no reason to refuse this arrangement.

He thought about it and realized that this was not like the Battle of Quyang, where Qiao Yan needed to be the bargaining chip herself to deceive the enemy and open the door.

She definitely wouldn’t risk getting into a night-time melee in this situation.

Therefore, to ensure the ambush was secure, it was natural for this strategist to go up the mountain and adapt to the situation.

For Qiao Yan, this was her first proper battle since arriving in Le Ping.

For Cheng Li, it was an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities.

“I wonder how Lady Qiao plans to arrange for Dian Wei and Zhao Yun?” Cheng Li thought for a moment and asked again.

After some thought, Qiao Yan replied, “Dian Wei has the power to break through enemy lines. I will leave him to be assigned by Mr. Cheng. If he sees anyone among the bandits on the White Dragon Path who looks like the leader, let him capture him. As for Zhao Yun…”

Qiao Yan once again gestured with her hand, pointing to another mountain ridge north of the palm-like mountain.

“I want to ask him to catch a bird at the foot of Phoenix Mountain.”

Cheng Li smiled.

This sounded like another good omen.

The names of the mountains in Le Ping were quite interesting.

Of course, the location of the grain depot chosen by Qiao Yan was even more interesting.

…..

After receiving the information brought back by his brothers who went to scout ahead.

The grain depot being located at the southernmost end of Le Ping County, not far from the mountains to the south and east, raised some doubts in Chu Yan’s mind.

“Is it too convenient for us?” Chu Yan didn’t believe in free lunches.

To him, this seemed like a trap.

“That’s not true, Second Master. This is actually a suitable location for storing grain.” The scout replied, “To the south of Le Ping County, there is a small lake. The grain depot is located to the east of the lake, not far away. If the depot catches fire, they can quickly fetch water from the lake.”

“Furthermore, beyond the city wall not far from here is a sunny slope where the terrain gradually rises.

There are few residential buildings at the edge of the county, which makes it convenient for the county lord to station guards there, avoiding interference from nearby houses.”

“This is a common problem among high-ranking officials,” Zhang Niujiao chuckled. “They don’t realize that being overly cautious only benefits us.”

Chu Yan still had some doubts, but if what the scout said was true, it didn’t seem impossible.

After some thought, he asked again, “Have you seen any county officials guarding the surrounding mountains of Le Ping?”

“They don’t have that many manpower,” the scout waved his hand. “There are some guards on the southern sunny slope because there are two villages on the mountains.

There seems to be some activity recently, and the mountain road passes through the villages.

I didn’t dare to pass through rashly to avoid being noticed. But I didn’t encounter anyone on the eastern side after walking back and forth twice.”

Zhang Niujiao was pleased. “Very well, then we’ll take that path.”

After hearing this explanation, Chu Yan suppressed his doubts, thinking that this was probably just a coincidence.

Moreover, with one party advancing and the other coordinating, there was some margin for error.

Considering the difference in numbers between the two sides, they had an advantage in their situation.

When Zhang Niujiao assigned tasks to the men, Chu Yan did not make any objections.

Instead, he took on the task of guarding the rear.

However, little did they know that the scout’s two trips back and forth had actually been observed by five or six pairs of eyes, exposing his actions clearly.

Once the scout disappeared from sight, one of the county officials hidden under the leafy uniforms reported back to Qiao Yan.

Of course, Qiao Yan had deliberately allowed the scout to find the grain depot.

She not only intended for these people to reach the depot but also for each of them to carry away a grain bag!

Otherwise, how could she prevent these laborers from reacting quickly when the ambush was sprung?

Since the storage place for grain has already been inspected by the Black Mountain Bandits themselves, it should be about two days before they arrive.

Qiao Yan decided to help them again.

She went to the county government’s backyard where the brewing equipment was located.

The three men who had been hired back by Yang Xiu were now, as she had said before, not continuing to study the production expansion of this supplementary material fermentation method, but rather the update of the wine categories and the improvement of quality based on this.

The other two, although they had experience working in the winery, could not resist the fact that they had little contact with the core engineering.

At this point, they were somewhat directionless.

Qiao Yan’s mention of pea sweet wine puzzled them.

Peas had now become an important part of the wine koji, along with sorghum and mung beans, but they had never seen it used as a raw material for wine.

But Qiao Yan remembered drinking this kind of strong sweet wine before.

She thought that since it could be made in Vietnam, and peas were also available here after Zhang Qian’s mission to the Western Regions, they should naturally be able to make it here too.

The wine enthusiast seemed quite interested in this fanciful idea and creatively chose to ferment the peas directly in the clay pot.

Regardless of whether it would work or not, his daring attitude to try it out undoubtedly impressed Qiao Yan.

However, she wasn’t here to see the results of the brewing, but to take two jars of wine.

Just as she was leaving with the wine jars, Xi Zhicai looked at her back for a long time.

He was somewhat hesitant about whether he should reveal his identity.

After all, two days ago, after Yang Xiu came back from Qiao Yan, he sat in the brewing courtyard for a long time muttering something like “indeed incomparable.”

Xi Zhicai didn’t know what had triggered him.

He had managed to ask about it indirectly earlier.

The child had seen a special model in a room in the front yard of the county government.

But if he asked further, it would clearly expose his ulterior motive, and with Yang Xiu’s intelligence, he would undoubtedly notice something unusual.

Moreover, apart from those permitted by Qiao Yan, no one else could enter that house.

This really aroused Xi Zhicai’s curiosity.

He wondered what Qiao Yan had put there…

And if he hadn’t guessed wrong, since the bait of temptation had been cast, with Qiao Yan holding the fishing rod steadily, the fish would probably arrive in these two days.

This was obviously closely related to her plan to eliminate the Black Mountain Bandits.

But since he didn’t intend to reveal his identity for the time being, all he could do was witness the confrontation between the two sides under Qiao Yan’s control.

As if guided by some intuition, Xi Zhicai walked out of the side room in the backyard on the third night.

He looked up, intending to see the moonlight, but instead saw Qiao Yan sitting on the roof of the county government, with her hands spread towards the distant mountains.

It was at this moment that the drum rang out in the Third night of Le Ping County.