How could they find anyone?

Seeing her come back alone, Lin Yao had already guessed the result and wanted this girl to learn a lesson and not act recklessly. He asked knowingly, “Did you find someone?”

Unexpectedly, Lin Shao straightened her chest and looked proud. “Of course!”

This time, not only Lin Yao, but the other dejected men also turned their heads to look at Lin Shao.

Lin Yao was somewhat incredulous.

Did Lin Zhao really find such a skilled person?

He looked outside but didn’t see anyone, so he couldn’t help but ask Lin Shao, “Where is this person? Didn’t you bring him back to the village?”

Lin Shao coughed a few times and fabricated a lie, saying, “The person is an elderly man in his seventies, not very mobile, but upright in character.

I was afraid of embarrassing him, so I didn’t mention that I’m from Liangyan Mountain.

I only asked him about the methods for building the bridge.”

Lin Yao gave her a skeptical glance. “Are you sure that old man can really repair the bridge?”

To make Lin Yao believe her, Lin Shao quickly concocted an impressive identity for the “old man”: “Of course! He used to work on fortifications in the military camp in his younger years, and now his grandson is in charge of fortifications at the Qingzhou camp.”

Wang Biao, who had been frustrated all day about the bridge repair, was eager to hear about a solution and urged Lin Shao, “Miss, just tell us how to repair the bridge!”

“Just wait a moment, I’ll draw a diagram,” Lin Zhao said.

She went into the kitchen and fetched a burnt stick, then drew on the flagstone floor the same diagram Qin Zheng had shown her during the day.

She drew it skillfully.

Before explaining how to build the bridge, Lin Yao’s previous suspicion was reduced by half.

“The old man said to dig pits near the riverbank deeper than usual and slope the sides. Drainage ditches need to be dug here.” Lin Zhao pointed at the charcoal sketch and repeated Qin Zheng’s words.

“Since the river often rises, the height of the bridge piers can’t be fixed.

We need removable wooden frames. When the tide rises, we raise the piers a bit, and when the water level is low, we remove a section of the wooden frame from the piers.

The bridge deck is nailed together as a whole and can be secured to the piers with iron hooks when needed.”

After listening to Lin Shao’s clear explanation, Lin Yao’s remaining doubts vanished.

He had a good idea of ​​his little sister’s capabilities and knew she couldn’t make up such things.

Moreover, he found her words quite reasonable.

Rubbing his chin, Lin Yao asked Wang Biao, “What do you think, Biaozi?”

Wang Biao, who had been impressed by Lin Shao’s articulate words, and was also frustrated by the Western Village’s actions, replied immediately, “I think it’s feasible. Let’s give it a try, elder brother!”

Suppressing her excitement, Lin Zhao looked at Lin Yao, waiting for his definitive answer.

Lin Yao stared at the diagram for a while, then furrowed his brows. “How do we dismantle the wooden frames for the bridge piers?”

This question hit the nail on the head. It was the same question Qin Zheng had explained to Lin Shao during the day, but she hadn’t understood it.

Lin Zhao decided to ask Qin Zheng for details tomorrow. “The old man said to use mortise and tenon joints, but since time is short, I didn’t quite understand the specifics. I’ll go down the mountain tomorrow and ask in detail.”

When she mentioned mortise and tenon joints, Lin Yao became more convinced that building the bridge this way was feasible.

He nodded immediately. “Then let’s build it according to this method. Brothers, let’s go and work hard tonight!”

Lin Shao knew that the river bandits’ activities had become increasingly frequent these past two days.

With such large cargo ships, their hiding places would sooner or later be discovered.

Lin Yao wanted to transport the goods back to the mountain stronghold before the river bandits found out.

The guys in Dongzhai were well aware of this.

In order to prevent the juicy meat from being taken back by the river bandits, they all changed their previous sluggishness and became full of energy.

At this moment, Lin Zhao’s spicy noodles were served.

She was so hungry that her front chest stuck to her back, ready to eat heartily.

But Lin Yao suddenly said, “That old man has been kind to our village. Zhao, when you go down the mountain tomorrow, take a few brothers with you and bring some generous gifts.”

Lin Zhao choked on a mouthful of noodles, coughing for a while before recovering, “No need, I can go alone!”

She refused too eagerly.

Faced with Lin Yao’s probing gaze, Lin Zhao had to grit her teeth and say, “I told the old man that I come from a poor family. My brother was taken by the government to repair the bridge.

If he fails, he’ll be beheaded. He felt sorry for me and told me all this.

If I bring a group of people tomorrow, it’ll be obvious. And… if the people from the West Village find out, I’m afraid it won’t be good for the old man.”

Wang Biao heard her concocting the story about Lin Yao being taken by the government to repair the bridge and chuckled unfairly.

Lin Yao’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, but Lin Zhao’s excuse for the safety of the old man still seemed plausible.

He just reminded her, “Be careful not to fall into the water bandits’ trap.”

Lin Zhao nodded.

0She breathed a sigh of relief only after Lin Yao and the group of brothers walked away.

Telling a lie seemed harder than fighting!

---

In a room, an old man in his seventies suddenly sneezed.

The prince, sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book, raised his eyes. His gaze was clear, just like his overly cold voice last night: “Caught a cold?”

Perhaps because it was almost time for him to rest, Qin Zheng heard a hint of “Last night you hogged the blanket alone, and you still managed to catch a cold” in his words.

She awkwardly touched her nose, “I probably didn’t.”

But still, she picked up the pot of boiling water on the table and added some water to the foot basin.

Starting from the feet, hot water baths were always effective against the cold.

But accidentally adding too much boiling water, Qin Zheng exclaimed as her feet got scalded, quickly pulling them out of the water, “So hot, so hot!”

When the prince heard her, his gaze swept over, and he saw her overly delicate jade-like feet.

However, the originally fair and smooth skin had turned slightly pink in the hot water.

From the soles of the feet upwards, the pink faded, and by the ankles, it returned to a tender white color.

Worried about her pant legs dipping into the water, Qin Zheng rolled them up to her calves.

Under the dim candlelight, the skin on her calves was as white as jade, as if emitting a soft glow.

With just one glance, the prince withdrew his gaze.

Before Qin Zheng could react, he had already picked her up and carried her out of the room, scooping a ladle of water from the kitchen’s water tank to pour over her feet.

Qin Zheng had just finished soaking her feet, enjoying the warmth, when she was suddenly doused with cold water, causing her to shiver.

The one who started it all didn’t feel anything wrong at all, still looking concerned and asking, “Feeling better?”

As he was about to pour another ladle of water, Qin Zheng hurriedly said, “No, no, I’m not scalded anymore!”

God knows, her feet didn’t directly touch the boiling water; she just accidentally added too much boiling water to the basin, raising the temperature of the entire basin.

For this level of scald, all she needed to do was lift her feet and let them cool down a bit.

There was no need for cold water!

Qin Zheng felt like crying.

The prince seemed to realize that his good intentions had gone awry.

Until they fell asleep, both of them remained in a subtle silence.

In order for both of them to be covered by the blanket, this time Qin Zheng didn’t deliberately lean against the wall.

However, there was still nearly twenty centimeters of distance between them.

This distance, neither close nor far, made Qin Zheng lie still, not daring to move. Between breaths, she could even smell the cedar scent on the prince, masked by medicine.

In one bed, things were a bit too ambiguous.

She secretly resolved to ask Lin Zhao tomorrow if there were any spare blankets in the village.

Even if they didn’t sleep on the floor, having one blanket each for her and the prince would be better.

This stalemate didn’t last long.

After falling asleep, someone kept tossing and turning, stretching their hands or kicking their legs from time to time.

After being kicked by her who knows how many times, the prince, expressionless, lifted one leg and pressed down on her flailing legs.

With her legs unable to move, Qin Zheng quieted down for a while.

Just as the prince started to feel drowsy, she began to try various ways of turning over, tossing and turning like a baking pancake.

In the darkness of the night, the prince pressed his lips tightly and furrowed his brow.

After releasing the leg that pinned down Qin Zheng, she finally turned over comfortably to sleep. However, because of her earlier tossing and turning, the papers tucked in her clothes fell out from her collar.

The prince’s gaze fell on the stack of papers folded like tofu blocks.

Narrowing his eyes, he glanced at Qin Zheng’s sleeping face before reaching out to pick them up.