Lin Yao smirked, revealing a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, “Lin Zhao, feeling itchy, huh?”

Lin Zhao showed no fear, “With you like this, who knows who will end up teaching whom a lesson!”

Qin Zheng witnessed this sibling banter for the first time and couldn’t help but find it amusing and perplexing.

When Lin Zhao went to get wood and tools, Lin Yao expressed some apology to Qin Zheng, “I made Mrs. Cheng laugh.”

Qin Zheng chuckled, “How could that be? It’s clear that the Lord and Lin Zhao get along well.”

After Lin Zhao handed the wood and tools to Lin Yao, she took Qin Zheng to see the villagers planting rice in the fields.

“Let’s bring a bucket. During this season, there are plenty of crabs and eels in the mountain streams and rice paddies. If we catch some, we can have a feast tonight! And in some rice paddies, you might even find arrowhead plants!”

“Sister Zheng, have you ever eaten arrowhead plants? They’re crispy and sweet! The children in the village like to pick arrowhead plants by the fields as snacks.” Lin Zhao’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.

Qin Zheng replied with a smile, “Yes, I have. They’re great for making dumplings or steamed buns.”

Lin Zhao looked surprised, “You can make dumplings or steamed buns with arrowhead plants?”

Qin Zheng nodded, “Yes, you can. If we find a lot of arrowhead plants, I’ll make some for you tonight.”

Lin Zhao became excited.

When they approached a rice paddy, he sweet-talked the homeowners and mentioned that they had come to dig arrowhead plants.

The homeowners directly gave them all the arrowhead plants they had dug up.

Qin Zheng found Lin Zhao’s behavior both amusing and perplexing.

There was an elderly couple also planting rice.

Due to their age, they would bend over to plant a few shoots before occasionally rubbing their lower backs.

Seeing this, Lin Zhao immediately kicked off her shoes and went into the field, “Granny Song, let me help you plant rice.”

Granny Song smiled broadly, “It’s you, Xiao Zhao! Take the noble guest around. We old folks can manage.”

Qin Zheng hurriedly said, “Granny, I’m not a noble guest.”

She also kicked off her shoes and joined in planting rice.

Initially, the elderly couple was apprehensive, but as they saw Qin Zheng planting rice skillfully, they seemed to feel that she was different from the wealthy families they encountered before, and they became more friendly towards her.

With Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao’s help, the elderly couple found the task much easier.

The old man seemed to have an old ailment in his back and would occasionally hammer it with his hand.

Granny Song scolded him for drinking yesterday and said it served him right to have a sore back today.

But seeing the old man in pain, she quickly went to support him and led him to sit on the embankment.

Lin Zhao smirked as she said to Qin Zheng, “Don’t be fooled by Granny Song’s harsh scolding. She’s the one who worries about Grandpa Song the most.”

Qin Zheng nodded, “Old folks are tough on the outside but soft on the inside.”

Lin Zhao shook off the mud from her hands and suddenly said, “Sometimes, when I see you and your husband, it feels strange, unlike the couples in our village.”

Qin Zheng thought for a moment, trying to recall her interactions with Chu Chengji, “What’s strange about it?”

Lin Zhao pondered for a moment and then came up with three words, “It feels unnatural.”

She looked at Qin Zheng and continued, “You two are too polite to each other, like you’re acting out a script.”

Qin Zheng was taken aback. Did she and the prince really give off such a vibe?

Lin Zhao shook her head and sighed, “Honestly, Sister Zheng, you and your husband don’t seem like a typical couple. If I didn’t know that you two were married early on, I would have thought you were just traveling companions.”

Qin Zheng thought to herself that Lin Zhao was close to the truth.

After all, she and Chu Chengji were essentially companions who had joined forces on their journey.

But Lin Zhao quickly reconsidered and denied her previous statement, “But considering both your and your husband’s personalities, you wouldn’t be traveling companions either. Maybe that’s the difference between couples from wealthy families and ordinary couples in our village. After all, there’s a saying, ‘mutual respect like guests.'”

The unintentional remark struck a chord with Qin Zheng.

If even Lin Zhao could sense that something was off between her and Chu Chengji, then others probably could too.

She realized that she needed to appear closer to him in public, at least to avoid raising suspicions.

Suddenly, a firework exploded in the sky.

Qin Zheng snapped back to reality and looked up to see the same kind of fireworks as during the previous attack. She turned to Lin Zhao and asked, “Is the village under attack again?”

Lin Zhao also noticed the fireworks and frowned, “The brothers in the village went down the mountain early this morning. An attack at this time is not good.”

Qin Zheng tried to reassure her, “There are no villagers at the foot of the mountain, so the attackers shouldn’t be able to breach the defenses.”

But Lin Zhao’s frown didn’t ease. “There have been incidents at the dam before. I’m still worried. I’ll go with some people to check it out.”

With that, she quickly put on her shoes and hurried down a path.

Qin Zheng was concerned that Lin Yao might not know about the situation and would worry, so she decided to go back and inform him that Lin Zhao had gone to the dam.

Upon hearing the news, Lin Yao’s expression turned extremely grim.

“The bottom of the dam is a cliff over ten meters high, traditionally impervious to attacks. But Wu Xiao fled from the rear mountain, and I fear he may lead his men to attack from that direction.”

With injuries keeping him bedridden, and Wang Biao and others accompanying Chu Chengji down the mountain, Lin Zhao taking the rest to the dam, Lin Yao found himself without any able-bodied men by his side.

After a moment’s hesitation, he turned to Qin Zheng and said, “Could I trouble Lady Cheng to run an errand? Ask Madam Wang to gather some people and go guard the rear mountain.”

Understanding the urgency of the situation, Qin Zheng readily agreed.

She found Madam Wang, who wasted no time gathering a few people and heading to the rear mountain.

Coincidentally, Magpie, who had gone to deliver prison food to He Laozhi, heard about the situation and rushed to inform Lin Zhao.

She was instructed to take some people to guard the rear mountain.

---

The two large boats of the river bandits were anchored by the riverbank.

Several lackeys hurled insults at the men guarding the dam, calling them cowards and the like.

However, despite their loud curses, there were few people on the boats.

At this moment, most of the river bandits, including Wu Xiao, had appeared under the cliff at the foot of the rear mountain.

Docking the boats below the dam for a verbal confrontation was Wu Xiao’s idea.

With so many men, their presence would surely be detected if they approached the mountain directly.

It was better to launch an attack on the dam openly, drawing the attention of Qi Yun Village’s forces, while they circled around to attack from the rear mountain.

The leader of the river bandits glanced at the wooden beams protruding from the cliff every few meters, gasping in shock.

“Are those Qi Yun Village folks monkeys? How the hell can they climb up here?”

Wu Xiao threw the rope ladder with grappling hooks attached, securing it to the wooden beams.

He chuckled and asked the leader of the river bandits, “The big boss now knows how we got up the mountain, right?”

The leader of the river bandits, elated, exclaimed, “You’re good, kid! Only someone who has stayed in Qi Yun Village knows these tricks.”

He held a crossbow in his hand, sneering, “Among the weapons we looted, this one’s the best. Let’s see if those Qi Yun Village fools dare to mess with us again. If the Lin siblings don’t pay a price, the leaders of the various mountain factions in Qingzhou might think I’ve turned into a sick cat!”

Wu Xiao complimented a few words on the surface, but in his heart, he was already figuring out how to get the water bandits to help him deal with the man named Cheng, while he himself would capture the woman and run away.

Just the thought of not only avenging himself but also getting a hundred taels of gold made him feel like his blood was boiling, and he couldn’t wait for even a moment.

Leading the way, Wu Xiao and the water bandits who joined him this time almost all carried crossbows tied to their waists, with a quiver strapped behind their backs.

Not long ago, they had used these newly looted weapons to rob a hilltop.

That hilltop didn’t have natural defenses like Qiyun Village, so a group of peasants with swords and knives fought them bravely, but they were shot into sieves with crossbow bolts.

Rope ladders weren’t like other stairs; they swung unsteadily from the crossbars, and it took some effort for the group to climb up.

As they neared the top of the cliff, Wu Xiaozui finally saw a bamboo spear wall erected on the edge of the cliff.

Sharp bamboo spears, more than ten feet long, pointed densely towards the bottom of the cliff, making it impossible for them to get closer.

“There’s a bamboo spear wall built here?” The leader of the water bandits cursed angrily. “Wu, are you fooling me?”

Wu Xiaozui hadn’t expected the defensive fortifications to be completed so quickly.

He hurriedly explained, “Boss, I escaped from here the other day. There was no bamboo spear wall here then. The terrain here is too high, and there are shrubs growing on the cliff. From below, it’s hard to see that it’s actually a bamboo spear wall…”

The leader of the water bandits directly aimed the crossbow in his hand at Wu Xiaozui.

“If you dare to double-cross me, I’ll turn your head into a hornet’s nest!”

Wu Xiaozui pleaded for mercy repeatedly.

A bald water bandit hanging under the rope ladder said, “Boss, for the current situation, bring some buckets of oil from the boat and pour them on the bamboo spear wall. Setting fire to it is the solution.”

The group of water bandits hung on the rope ladder like ripe persimmons.

It would definitely take a while for them to climb down.

They passed the message down one by one to those who hadn’t climbed the ladder yet, asking them to bring oil.

Their commotion also alerted the sentry behind the bamboo spear wall.

A makeshift watchtower had been built behind the bamboo spear wall, much higher than the bamboo spear wall, allowing them to see some of the situation outside the cliff.

The sentry climbed up the watchtower and, upon seeing a string of water bandits hanging on the cliff, was so frightened that his legs began to shake.

Just after firing a signal flare, he was shot dead by the water bandits’ crossbow bolts.

The speed and force of the crossbow bolts were terrifying, even many skilled archers probably couldn’t match such accuracy.

The oil was poured down onto the bamboo spear wall, and when a torch was thrown up, the bamboo spear wall instantly caught fire.

---

In Qiyun Village’s hidden arsenal, where they had just broken in, people were picking their favorite weapons from countless boxes.

“This knife is sharp enough!”

“On the battlefield, weapons are all about being an inch longer and stronger. I’ll go with the Red Tassel Spear!”

“In my opinion, it’s better to have the strength to wield a halberd. Aren’t those big generals skilled in using halberds?”

…

As they chattered and picked weapons, Chu Chengji never looked at those weapons.

He glanced at the gloomy sky, feeling restless, as if something big was going to happen today.

Just then, Wang Biao, who had finished counting the weapons, ran over in a panic. “Strategist Cheng, it’s bad!”

“Five boxes of crossbows have been sent to the water bandits’ lair. I just interrogated a water bandit, and damn it, he said they were taking them to attack Qiyun Village! He also said there’s someone from our village leading the way. It’s probably that scoundrel Wu Xiao!”

The people in Qiyun Village who were still picking weapons were in an uproar.

Chu Chengji’s eyes darkened suddenly.