The burly man pleaded for mercy, but Lin Zhao showed no signs of stopping.

She continued to whip him mercilessly, causing him to be covered in cuts and bruises.

Magpie, apparently aware of some inside information, hurried down the stone steps and shouted, “Miss Lin, please stop! You might kill him if you continue!”

Although she seemed to be pulling Lin Zhao back, she discreetly kicked the man twice more.

Qin Zheng watched in shock.

Lin Zhao, feeling a bit tired from the beating, turned around with the whip in hand and saw Qin Zheng standing not far away.

Qin Zheng stood in a patch of bamboo shade, with golden sunlight filtering through the leaves, creating a dappled pattern on her, highlighting her beautiful features.

Lin Zhao was momentarily stunned, and the fierceness on her face disappeared instantly.

She hid the whip behind her back and put on a harmless smile, happily approaching, “Sister? What are you doing here in the village?”

Qin Zheng had just witnessed the girl’s ruthless side, but seeing her innocent smile now, she was a bit slow to react. She replied, “It’s a long story…”

She briefly explained how she and the crown prince encountered Lin Yao’s group on the river and added, “My husband was seriously injured. Fortunately, the patriarch arranged for a doctor to treat him. The doctor said it might take more than a month for him to recover, so we’ll have to trouble the village for a while.”

Learning they would be staying in the village for nearly a month, Lin Zhao was delighted, “It was an emergency that day, and I didn’t have a chance to ask for your name.

I planned to thank you properly when we met again. It seems like fate brought us together.

Treat this village as your own home. If you need anything, just tell me! Please don’t stand on ceremony!”

Qin Zheng found it hard to resist the girl’s enthusiasm. She smiled and said, “Everything in the village is fine. There’s nothing lacking.”

Lin Zhao scratched her head sheepishly, “My name is Lin Zhao. You can call me A Zhao. May I ask how I should address you?”

Qin Zheng hadn’t thought of a pseudonym yet and was afraid of revealing her identity prematurely without informing the crown prince. She replied, “I use my husband’s surname, Cheng, with the name Zhen.”

“Then I’ll call you Sister A Zhen from now on!” Lin Zhao agreed cheerfully.

Without waiting for Qin Zheng’s response, a man in brown hurried over, “Miss, the Chief heard that you’ve returned to the village and wants you to come over immediately.”

“Troublesome!” Lin Zhao frowned with dignity.

She glanced at Qin Zheng and said, “I’ll go to my brother first. I’ll find you later.”

Qin Zheng nodded, her smile gentle, “Miss A Zhao, please go ahead.”

Lin Zhao instructed Magpie, “Magpie, please take good care of Sister A Zhen for me.”

Magpie nodded eagerly.

The men eating outside the kitchen had only heard that the Chief had brought back a beautiful woman that morning.

Seeing Qin Zheng, they were surprised not only by her beauty but also by Lin Zhao’s attitude towards her.

Lin Zhao was like a little tyrant in the village, second only to Lin Yao. No one could control her except Lin Yao.

Seeing Lin Zhao so close to this woman, the men dared not make trouble and secretly observed Qin Zheng.

Magpie glanced at the men around the beaten man and snorted disdainfully, then led Qin Zheng towards the kitchen.

The men were all from the West Village. Seeing Qin Zheng entering the kitchen, they looked at each other with different expressions.

One skinny man muttered, “I’ve heard that the Chief treats the woman he brought back this morning differently.

Her husband is barely breathing, and this woman looks like a disaster.

Even the Miss is close to her.

She’s probably waiting for her short-lived husband to die so she can become the village’s mistress! I have to inform our Miss quickly!”

Although Qi Yun Village was now divided into East and West, with Lin Zhao being the only Miss in the village, everyone still referred to her as Miss, even the daughter of the second-in-command.

---

Qin Zheng was new to the village and didn’t want to get involved in what had happened to Lin Zhao when she was captured by the river pirates.

However, Magpie immediately said upon entering the kitchen, “There’s not a single good person in the West Village! But Madam, you don’t need to worry. This is the East Village, and the people from the West Village dare not cause trouble here.”

Qin Zheng asked the question that had been on her mind, “Since the village is divided into East and West, why do people from the West Village still come to the East Village to eat?”

Speaking of this, Magpie became even more annoyed, “That group of freeloaders used to come over to eat and drink for free. Later, the Chief ordered that anyone from the West Village coming to the East Village kitchen to eat must pay.

After that, fewer people came over.

But they treat the East Village kitchen as a small tavern at the foot of the mountain. If they have spare money, they come over to relax.”

“The West Village doesn’t have its own kitchen?” Qin Zheng was curious.

Magpie looked disdainful, “Those people from the West Village are all no good.

Who would be willing to lower themselves to manage three meals a day?

When they’re hungry, they just steal and scavenge.

We’re different in the East Village.

The Chief has taken in many families with mouths to feed over the years. When they’re not raiding down the mountain, every household has a few acres of good farmland to grow crops.

Even the single men who haven’t married yet have the kitchen to feed them.”

Qin Zheng now had a clear understanding of the East and West Villages.

She felt the eyes of the few West Village men still lingering on her from the dam outside.

She asked quietly, “What if the people from the West Village eat here and refuse to pay?”

Magpie smiled mysteriously, “Refuse to pay? Unless they’re itching for a beating! Aunt Wang is fierce!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a loud voice came from outside the kitchen door, “Magpie, what nonsense are you spreading about me behind my back?”

Qin Zheng looked over and saw a stout woman carrying a basin of clean radishes walking in from the back door.

The woman’s figure was almost as big as the man who had been beaten earlier, with a stern face and a fierce look.

She was carrying a basin of radishes, estimated to weigh a hundred or so pounds, but she didn’t look the least bit strained.

She seemed like a tough woman.

The woman saw a beautiful young woman in the kitchen and couldn’t help but glance at Qin Zheng, but quickly looked away.

Magpie stuck out her tongue at Aunt Wang and said, “I’m not spreading anything. I was praising you! This is Aunt Wang, who manages everything in the East Village kitchen.”

She thought for a moment and added, “The man who came back with you earlier is Wang Biao, Aunt Wang’s only son.”

Qin Zheng thought to herself that Wang Biao, the man with the stubble, seemed to be highly valued by Lin Yao.

It seemed that Aunt Wang’s position in the village was not simple.

Out of politeness, Qin Zheng nodded in greeting to Aunt Wang, but Aunt Wang only glanced at her and showed no other reaction, her attitude cold.

Magpie pulled Qin Zheng to a stove and said to Aunt Wang, “Aunt Wang, the kitchen over at Pear Orchard can’t be used right now. Mrs. Cheng wants to cook some soup for her husband. Can we borrow a pot and stove from you?”

Aunt Wang was chopping pig’s trotters with a big knife on the chopping board. Without looking up, she said, “Use the stove next to it.”

“Alright!” Magpie replied loudly, then whispered to Qin Zheng, “Aunt Wang is just like that. Most people in the village are afraid of her.”

The kitchen was large, and they were speaking quietly in a corner by the stove. Unless someone had exceptional hearing, it was not easy to overhear them.

Qin Zheng said, “She sounds like a heroine from a novel.”

Magpie helped to light the fire at the stove and chuckled softly at Qin Zheng’s words, “Now I understand why Miss is so happy talking to Mrs. Cheng. Being praised by such a beauty, I’d be happy too.”

Qin Zheng smiled lightly, “I’m speaking from the heart.”

Magpie was momentarily mesmerized by her smile, then quickly focused on lighting the fire, “What soup does Mrs. Cheng plan to make?”

Qin Zheng saw several freshly killed chickens in a wooden basin on the chopping board.

Thinking it wouldn’t be too much trouble to use the available ingredients, she said, “Let’s make chicken soup.”

Unexpectedly, when Aunt Wang heard her, she said to Magpie, “Magpie, go to the vegetable garden and catch a chicken.”

Magpie muttered, “Don’t we have one ready?”

Aunt Wang glared at her, “Those are for the banquet to entertain the Chief and the others. Take one for this lady’s soup, but you must bring one back for me.”

Qin Zheng felt embarrassed, “I can make bone broth instead.”

Seeing that this young lady was beautiful and seemed timid, Aunt Wang tried to adjust her facial expression to appear more gentle, but she clearly failed, looking even more eerie and fierce,

“Madam, no need to be shy. There are plenty of chickens in the vegetable garden, but I don’t have many here.

The chickens in the wooden basin are all prepared. Please feel free to use them.”

With everyone saying this much, Qin Zheng could only nod humbly.

Mainly because this woman looked truly fierce!

Magpie went to catch a chicken, and Qin Zheng remained silent, trying not to trouble the somewhat difficult Aunt Wang.

The chicken in the wooden basin was a whole chicken.

Qin Zheng took a cleaver from the rack and quickly chopped it into the pieces she needed.

It wasn’t that Qin Zheng was particularly strong, but the knives in the kitchen were really sharp.

Aunt Wang saw that her fingers were as tender as spring onions and thought she might be a pampered rich girl who never touched a knife.

She wanted to help but was surprised to see how skillfully Qin Zheng handled the knife.

In her past life as an engineer in Africa, Qin Zheng was used to enduring wind, sun, and rain.

She wasn’t a delicate flower.

For 365 days a year, she spent 360 days living on the construction site.

As one of the first group of people to participate in African aid, the base there hadn’t been built yet.

The living conditions were not great, so Qin Zheng could only satisfy her appetite by watching videos on her phone and learning to cook hometown dishes after work. Over time, she learned quite a few recipes.

After chopping the chicken, Qin Zheng saw a basket next to her filled with dried shiitake mushrooms.

After hesitating for a moment, she asked Aunt Wang, “Auntie, can I use these dried mushrooms?”

Aunt Wang glanced over and simply said, “Madam, use them as you please.”

Qin Zheng picked some mushrooms and washed them in a basin, then soaked them in warm water.

She then blanched the chicken pieces in cold water to remove the blood, rinsed them with clean water, and placed them in a sand pot along with the soaked mushrooms.

She added a few slices of ginger, tied a knot with a green onion, and placed them in the pot to stew together.

Chicken stewed with cold water on low heat will have a richer flavor, and the meat will be more tender.

This was something Qin Zheng had learned from her previous experience of making soup.

She turned off the fire in the stove, thinking that the chicken soup stewing on the small stove would take a while to be ready.

Just as she was considering whether to go back and check on the Crown Prince first, an unexpected guest arrived in the kitchen.

“Aunt Wang, I heard that Brother Lin and the others seized the bandits’ cargo ship and returned with a full load.

We are preparing a banquet tonight to celebrate. I brought some people to help!”

The woman who entered the room was wearing an apricot-colored silk dress, the finest fabric Qin Zheng had seen since entering the village.

She had many pearl hairpins in her hair, and she didn’t look like a girl from the village but rather a young lady from a wealthy family down the mountain.

Although her face was full of smiles, as soon as she entered, her sharp gaze fell on Qin Zheng with obvious hostility.