Qin Zheng squatted by the side, watching them mix the “concrete” to fill the trenches.

She noticed it was mainly lime mortar.

In the world where Qin Zheng originally lived, before the Song Dynasty, large buildings were constructed using yellow clay.

Even the Great Wall at that time was made of rammed earth.

It wasn’t until the Song Dynasty that lime mortar began to be used, and by the Ming Dynasty, glutinous rice juice was added to the lime mortar.

It was said that structures built with this kind of adhesive were so strong that even modern excavators couldn’t bring them down.

Qin Zheng wanted to mention this, but she knew it wasn’t the right time.

The stockpile of food in the village was tight, with barely any coarse rice left, let alone glutinous rice.

If she suggested using glutinous rice juice now, she would be met with nothing but scorn. It was better to get through the current crisis first; there would be plenty of opportunities to bring it up later.

Explosives were detonated simultaneously on both sides of the cliff.

When the blast echoed with a loud “boom,” the soldiers stationed at the foot of Yan Pit were also alarmed.

In the cabin of the ship, Shen Yanzhi was reading urgent reports from the capital when the disturbance outside caused another commotion.

He frowned, his delicate, harsh eyes barely concealing his annoyance. “What’s happening outside?”

Chen Qing hurried into the cabin, clasping his hands in a salute. “It’s Qi Yun Village. They’ve started throwing explosive bombs at the opposite cliff again. Master, how should we respond?”

Shen Yanzhi tossed aside the letter in his hand and strode onto the deck.

Across the river, rocks were tumbling down the mountainside, and the water was churning violently, as if the sky were falling.

However, the official ships were moored against the walls of the two embankments and remained unaffected.

He sneered, “The food supply on the mountain has run out. These bandits are just desperate. Pass down the order: have the cooks slaughter pigs and sheep tonight and roast meat on the ship.”

Chen Qing responded, “Master, you are wise.”

Those bandits hiding in the mountains might still be able to confront them now, but when the evening wind carried the smell of roasted meat up the mountain, it would surely shake their morale.

Back in the cabin, a delicate maid was tidying up the documents on Shen Yanzhi’s desk.

Seeing her, Shen Yanzhi’s expression instantly darkened. “Who gave you the guts to touch my things?”

Hongye fell to her knees in fright. “Forgive me, Master. I was just straightening the papers on your desk; I didn’t look at them.”

Her explanation only made things worse.

Shen Yanzhi grabbed her delicate throat. “Who do you think you are?”

Having reached his current position, he would rather kill ten thousand innocents than let a single one go.

A little more pressure, and this audacious maid would be a dead body.

But she managed to choke out, “Mistress… mistress will return… I still… need to serve her…”

Shen Yanzhi had brought her along for the siege of Yan Pit solely to have someone to take care of Qin Zheng once he brought her back.

He knew Qin Zheng was sentimental, and this maid had served her diligently in the past, so he had kept her.

Hongye fell to the ground, her face and neck flushed red, the marks on her neck burning painfully.

She coughed, tears streaming down her face, but she ignored her physical pain and kowtowed to Shen Yanzhi. “Thank you, Master, for sparing my life. Thank you, Master, for sparing my life…”

Shen Yanzhi’s eyes showed more disdain. He called out impatiently, “Chen Qing.”

Chen Qing entered the cabin. “At your service.”

Shen Yanzhi didn’t even look at the kneeling Hongye. “Take her away and teach her some rules.”

He took a wolf hair brush from the brush holder, his sleeve brushing lightly, and dipped the tip into thick ink.

His movements were graceful, and the slight smile on his lips was full of mockery and coldness. “She will return tomorrow. If her eyes are gouged out and her hands chopped off, she truly won’t be able to serve her. But she must endure other punishments to learn a lesson.”

Hearing this, Hongye trembled violently. Her face, previously red from lack of oxygen, was now as pale as paper.

Chen Qing dragged Hongye out with one hand.

She was in pain but didn’t dare to scream.

Bound tightly like a zongzi, she was thrown overboard.

Unable to struggle, when she opened her mouth to cry for help, river water filled her mouth and nose, pulling her down.

With one end of the rope still on the ship, Chen Qing pulled her up and coldly asked, “Who sent you here as a spy?”

The prefect of Qingzhou was dead, so Hongye’s superior couldn’t be him anymore.

Hongye, hanging against the ship’s side, coughed and choked, tears streaming down her face. “I’m really not a spy…”

She had merely been fooled by Shen Yanzhi’s elegant demeanor these past days.

Often seeing him stand alone on the deck at night, staring at the moon, despite wearing those brightly colored official robes, his back always seemed melancholic and fragile.

Hongye knew Shen Yanzhi was thinking about that lady.

Sometimes she pitied Shen Yanzhi, feeling that he had been good enough to the lady, so why did she still leave?

Last night, seeing him alone again, she had mustered the courage to comfort him.

When Shen Yanzhi turned to look at her, she had never seen such a lost and fragile expression on his face, as if he had suddenly lost his way.

He sat on the deck, asking her to recount what the lady used to eat and do every day in the other courtyard.

She recounted everything one by one. In the end, Shen Yanzhi fell asleep leaning against the mast, his brows still tightly furrowed, his moonlit face showing a heartbreaking sense of fragmentation.

It was then that she felt sorry for Shen Yanzhi.

Thinking about how the lady had left him decisively to join a group of bandits, she felt it was unfair to Shen Yanzhi.

Given his status, what couldn’t he get? Why was he so fixated on a married woman?

The words Green Luo had said often echoed in her ears. She knew her status was low and she should keep to her place, but she couldn’t control the thoughts growing wildly in her heart.

Sometimes admiration can more easily destroy a person’s rationality than anything else.

Her appearance wasn’t bad, and she was still a virgin.

She wanted to try her luck, not for fame or profit, but simply because she had fallen for Shen Yanzhi.

Now, Hongye regretted her foolishness. Why did she think it was a good idea to tidy up his documents?

Chen Qing, of course, didn’t believe her excuses.

He ordered her to be dunked in the water repeatedly. By the time they were done, Hongye was half dead, crying, “I really… admire the young master. Tidying the documents was just a thoughtless act…”

When Chen Qing returned to report, Shen Yanzhi was painting something on a piece of white xuan paper.

Chen Qing carefully conveyed Hongye’s confession.

Shen Yanzhi’s brush paused, his expression unchanged. “No need to spare her life.”

Keeping such a potential threat around would only upset A-Zheng. It was best to eliminate it early.

After Chen Qing left, Shen Yanzhi finished the final stroke on the epiphyllum in the beauty painting. Looking at the cold and moonlit figure in the painting, a trace of softness and stubbornness appeared in his eyes. “A-Zheng, we will see each other soon.”

---

In the back mountain, Qin Zheng suddenly shivered.

Lin Zhao asked with concern, “A-Zheng sister, is it getting chilly in the evening?”

Qin Zheng rubbed her arms. “It’s okay.”

The posts had been set, and after waiting an afternoon and lighting a fire beside them, the lime mortar had completely solidified.

After fastening the iron chains, the previous main rope was removed and used as a tow rope.

The Lu family brought a large iron cage, into which they threw bags of grain.

They tied it with the towing rope, and Qin Zheng and the others pulled it to their side of the cliff to unload the rice bags.

Then the other side used another towing rope to pull the cage back and continued to load it with grain.

The people of Qiyun Village were grinning ear to ear at the sight of the grain.

Lin Zhao immediately instructed a few people, “You guys carry some bags of rice back to the village. Let everyone have a good meal tonight!”

Several men from Qiyun Village each carried two bags of rice on their shoulders and walked back with a spring in their step.

The grain transported via the cableway had piled up into a small hill. After unloading the last cage of grain, a few whistles sounded from the opposite cliff.

After Lin Zhao responded with a short whistle, he said to Qin Zheng, “Brother Yang Yi said this grain will last us at least half a month. They won’t return to the village for now as it’s more convenient for them to run errands outside.”

Qin Zheng wasn’t surprised, as it was obviously Chu Chengji’s plan.

Lin Zhao said, “It’s getting dark, let’s head back. There are brothers guarding here, and I’m sure my brother will send people over soon to transport all the grain back to the village.”

The people Lin Zhao had sent to deliver the grain would certainly have informed Lin Yao that they had succeeded.

Qin Zheng nodded and followed Lin Zhao back. She had been at the back mountain the whole day, having only gnawed on a piece of bread at noon, and now she just wanted to go home and have a hearty meal.

As they were walking halfway, they saw one of the men who had carried the rice running towards them, clearly in a hurry.

Seeing them from a distance, the man shouted, “Young lady, strategist’s wife, don’t go back yet, there’s a fight in the village!”

Lin Zhao’s face changed. “A fight? What do you mean?”

The man, panting, said, “Some of the other stronghold men, one of them tried to force himself on a woman in the village.

After being severely punished by the strategist, he was discontent and claimed there was no food in the village.

Coincidentally, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain were roasting meat to persuade us to surrender.

Everyone has been drinking porridge for days, so the morale is low. Some troublemakers are trying to force their way into the village…”

Lin Zhao cursed and grabbed her whip, ready to teach them a lesson. “These dogs, eating and drinking from Qiyun Village, and still daring to bully our people?”

“A-Zhao, the urgent matter now is to transport all the grain back to the village.

The reason morale is shaken is because the people on the mountain are afraid of starving.

Once they know there’s grain in the village, no one but the troublemakers will cause any more issues,” Qin Zheng said, holding Lin Zhao back.

Lin Zhao quickly instructed Xi Que to go to the back mountain and have the grain transported back to the village.

Seeing Lin Zhao calm down, Qin Zheng asked the man, “Since Qiyun Village integrated people from various strongholds, the chief specifically ordered that women should not leave the village lightly. How did the other stronghold men encounter a lone woman?”

The man, looking indignant, said, “Today, people from the village went to deliver tiles to those outside the village.

Mrs. Wang’s granddaughter went along. There shouldn’t have been any trouble with the villagers, but she got separated from the group and ran off to deliver mountain spring water to the chief, only to be blocked by a few troublemakers.”

Hearing that it involved the Wang girl again, Qin Zheng’s eyelid twitched instinctively.

Learning that she was going to see Lin Yao, her expression turned subtle.

Lin Zhao looked as if struck by lightning. “What? She went to see my brother again?”

Lin Zhao had never liked either He Yunjing or that Wang girl who hung around her brother.

If He Yunjing was the kind who pretended to be a lady, the Wang girl was even worse, behaving one way in front of people and another behind their backs, which made Lin Zhao seethe.

He Yunjing awkwardly tried to please people, but the Wang girl would flatter you in person and stab you in the back.

Lin Zhao had made her lose face once, and she had gossiped behind her back, saying that no one would want to marry Lin Zhao because she always wielded weapons.

Lin Zhao wiped her face. “My brother really has no luck in this matter…”

Qin Zheng sighed. “First, let’s transport the grain back to the village and stabilize the morale.”