novelzi Chapter 25.1
Chapter 25.1
Lin Zhao and Magpie took a few men to get green tiles.
Qin Zheng, carrying a quilt, followed but found it inconvenient, so she went back to the small courtyard where she and the Crown Prince were temporarily staying.
Aunt Lu had just finished breakfast and hadn’t gone to the fields yet. Seeing Qin Zheng, she immediately asked, “Madam, have you eaten?”
In wealthy households, women are often referred to as “Madam,” while common folks prefer “Madam.”
Those unfamiliar with Qin Zheng in the mountain stronghold would respectfully call her “Madam Cheng,” but Aunt Lu, who was familiar with her, found it more intimate to call her “Madam.”
“I’ve already eaten, Auntie doesn’t need to worry about me,” Qin Zheng said as she entered the house and placed the quilt on the bed.
She then went to the window to look for the pigeon with its leg tied up, but found that it was gone.
She wondered if the Crown Prince had let the pigeon go.
Seeing her looking out the window, Aunt Lu said, “Madam, are you looking for that pigeon? This morning, I saw it leaving a lot of droppings on the windowsill, so I put it in a cage used for chickens. It’s placed by the wall in the courtyard!”
Qin Zheng had only been concerned with tying up the pigeon earlier, forgetting about this matter.
She blushed and smiled, “Thank you, Auntie, you’re so considerate.”
“What’s there to thank for, it’s nothing!” Aunt Lu, not seeing the Crown Prince, asked, “Didn’t your husband come back with you?”
Qin Zheng, fearing rain later, moved the pigeon cage under the eaves and replied, “He went to the western stronghold with the brothers from the eastern stronghold.”
She then tossed a few pieces of vegetable leaves into the cage beside her, and the two wild mountain rabbits there reacted calmly, immediately eating when food was available.
Aunt Lu sighed, “Your husband came back only at the fourth watch last night, didn’t even have a sip of water and went straight to the stronghold leader’s place. He hasn’t closed his eyes all night, just hoping there won’t be any more trouble in the western stronghold.”
Qin Zheng was surprised to hear that the Crown Prince went to Lin Yao’s place last night at the fourth watch?
She had thought he had at least slept for an hour or two.
Recalling how he looked this morning, there was actually a hint of fatigue in his expression, wasn’t there?
With the situation being so urgent now, he couldn’t solely rely on the Lu family.
He had to have his own power.
His mind must be constantly on alert. He usually appeared too indifferent.
If he hadn’t told her those things this morning, Qin Zheng wouldn’t even know he had quietly planned so much.
The more Qin Zheng thought about it, the more complicated her mood became, mixed with a hint of inexplicable heartache.
The Crown Prince followed Wang Biao and a group of people through the dense forest in the back mountains.
Suddenly, he felt his earlobes heating up and discreetly pinched them.
One of the men from the eastern stronghold behind him noticed this odd movement and asked, “What’s wrong, Advisor?”
The Crown Prince lowered his hand and simply said, “Nothing.”
Along the way, they saw many broken branches, and Wang Biao spotted traces of someone slipping on a moss-covered rock ahead, with blood along the edge.
The bloodstains and marks were fresh, indicating that someone had been injured here not long ago.
Wang Biao cursed, “That scoundrel Wu Xiao must have fled from the back mountain trail!”
The Crown Prince glanced at the traces on the stone and asked, “How many people can the back mountain trail accommodate side by side?”
Wang Biao replied, “Even one person walking is precarious! The bottom of the back mountain is also a tens of meters high cliff, not a solid rock, but the rocks on that cliff are as loose as flour.
Even if you use eagle claws, you can’t hold onto them.
A few years ago, the stronghold also built a plank road there, but when wooden stakes were driven in, the rocks on the cliff peeled off layer by layer like bamboo shoots when force was applied, and many brothers died from falling.”
If there is any action from the western stronghold tonight, the eastern stronghold may not be able to respond in time.
Leave a few people here to build the bamboo spear wall, and the rest go back to rest.
Be on high alert for the western stronghold tonight.”
Seeing that he had considered everything, Wang Biao sincerely agreed, “We’ll follow Advisor’s orders!”
As they returned, the sky was already drizzling, but dark clouds were rolling in, indicating an impending storm.
None of them had brought umbrellas.
As they emerged from the dense forest of the back mountain, they could see several thatched cottages situated halfway up the mountain.
Most of these mud-walled houses with green-tiled roofs were built on the flat ground at the bottom of the sinkhole and had been constructed decades ago.
These cottages were temporary structures built by people who had come up the mountain and had nowhere else to live.
Not far away came the loud voice of a woman, “Hurry up! Throw the thatched grass up, it’s going to rain heavily soon!”
The Crown Prince fixed his gaze and saw Lin Zhao standing on the roof of one of the thatched cottages, while several men were throwing bundles of thatched grass up to her using ropes.
And on the side of the cottage, he caught sight of a familiar figure – Qin Zheng, dressed in a dark blue long dress, seemed to be directing a few men to dig trenches.
Wang Biao was already accustomed to such renovations on the roofs and shouted loudly, “Miss, helping the people in the stronghold to build roofs again, huh!”
Because of his loud voice, Qin Zheng, who had been watching the men digging drainage ditches, also looked over in their direction.
Seeing the Crown Prince, she surreptitiously took two steps aside, as if to prove that the drainage ditch she was digging had nothing to do with her.
The Crown Prince clearly saw her little movement, and a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.
He didn’t know she was so afraid of him?
But her guilty look was quite interesting to watch.
Lin Zhao also noticed them and asked in confusion, “Weren’t you going to the western stronghold? How come you came down from the back mountain?”
Wang Biao still had some brains and didn’t mention the back mountain trail incident in public.
He just said, “Wu Xiao ran away, and He Laozei said he would personally cut off the head of someone surnamed Wu before coming to apologize to the stronghold leader.
When I came back, I took the Advisor around the stronghold to familiarize ourselves with the terrain.”
He saw the deep ditch dug by several men and asked, “Why are you digging drainage ditches at this time?”
The man wielding the hoe replied, “The drainage ditch outside Aunt Kang’s house hasn’t been cleared for many years and is almost filled.
When it rains, the water accumulates, and the base of the outer wall has been soaked and eroded by rainwater, causing a lot of soil to wash away.
If this continues, the wall might collapse. Miss instructed a few of us to dig this drainage ditch deeper so that the water won’t reach the base of the wall.”
Wang Biao saw that indeed, the base of the mud-wall had been eroded by rainwater over the years, and part of the wall had sunk.
He was quite surprised and praised Lin Zhao unexpectedly, “I didn’t expect our Miss to understand all this!”
Everyone was looking at Lin Zhao, but the Crown Prince’s gaze fell quietly on Qin Zheng.
Qin Zheng pretended not to notice and avoided his gaze, looking elsewhere as if admiring the misty mountains in the distance.
Lin Zhao naturally wouldn’t sell Qin Zheng out.
She stood on the roof, hands on hips, and said to Wang Biao, “It’s not like you repair roofs for the stronghold every rainy season. Naturally, you wouldn’t understand!”
Wang Biao didn’t expect that his praise would be rebuffed by this lady.
Thinking that doing some manual labor might make her feel better, he asked, “Miss, do you need any more help here?”