After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

When Wang Qingyan found Baili Ce by following the "Fragrance of a Thousand Miles," she was already asleep under a big tree.

Even though it was surrounded by weeds, it was very safe and secure.

It seems that she can adapt quickly no matter what environment she is in.

in this way......

He carried her into the cave, lit a fire, and waited quietly for her to wake up. Wang Qingyan thought that perhaps one day she would be able to adapt to him quickly.

"Goo..."

Baili Ce was awakened by hunger.

I woke up to an enticing aroma.

"Drink some water first."

"Tons, tons, tons..."

The pot of water is gone.

Wang Qingyan, “…”

"Hmm, be careful, it's hot."

Wang Qingyan handed him another stick... roasted to a golden brown.

“This…” Baili Ce hesitated for a few seconds before taking the stick.

If she doesn't eat it, I bet this stick will hit her on the head.

It's like going to your death to take a bite...

Ok?

"Yam?"

"What else could it be but poison?"

"You don't actually think I'm going to feed you tree roots, do you?"

Even at this moment, she still doubted him.

"..." Baili Ce felt guilty.

There was a moment when I really wanted to say something to him.

Can--

"How's it going outside?"

She remained wary, and Wang Qingyan, knowing when to stop, replied casually, "Lin Yuchuan has arrived."

finally come.

If she doesn't come soon, she'll really defect to the enemy.

"Then... He Jinzhan?"

“The entire Cypress Village is a private army; Lin Yuchuan probably won’t be able to win anytime soon.”

"Then what about us?" Baili Ce looked like he was about to run away.

“This place is relatively safe for now,” Wang Qingyan said slowly as he roasted a yam.

Fine.

She relaxed and sat up straight. She needed to think carefully about what she would do if Lin Yuchuan lost...

"Don't worry, if I lose, I'll find a way to get you out of here first."

"..." Bai Li Ce, whose thoughts had been seen through, was too embarrassed to speak for a while.

"Do you still want to eat?"

Bai Li Ce shook his head. The roasted yam smelled good, but it was boring to eat like this.

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Bai Li Ce broke the silence, saying, "I wonder how Jiu Er is doing."

Wang Qingyan paused... and continued scraping the yam. "Why are you suddenly asking about him?"

"Oh no, wasn't he supposed to be covering the retreat...?"

Realizing he might have said something wrong, Baili Ce quickly tried to defend himself, "Although he is skilled, he can't fight against many opponents. It would be a shame if he...

"You seem to care a lot about others."

this? ?

"No, no, no, I'm afraid he'll die too quickly and we won't have a chance to escape."

Wang Qingyan's eyes lit up, and his mood inexplicably brightened. "Don't worry, he'll find a way to get out of this, and Seventeen... will be fine too."

She was just asking casually.

But, "Thank you."

"What do you plan to do with those people from Sanchengzhai?" Wang Qingyan asked again.

“Sigh…” Baili Ce was very distressed when he talked about this. “What else can we do?”

"Although these things were done by private soldiers, they were not entirely clean."

"Isn't it said that Anluo often robbed the rich to help the poor, supporting many ordinary villagers?"

"Perhaps starting from here can help alleviate some of their guilt."

"Rob the rich to help the poor? You believe that?"

"Why don't you believe it?"

"Ha, the so-called Robin Hood-style redistribution is nothing more than a slogan to satisfy one's own selfish desires. It is no different in essence from corrupt officials exploiting the people."

She's seen plenty of people who use the guise of "robbing the rich to help the poor" to do shameless things and then leave the mess for ordinary people.

Can ordinary people really profit from reckless, unsecured, or even impulsive acts of robbing the rich to help the poor? Obviously not.

For thousands of years, only the great figures of their time have truly helped alleviate poverty.

"So what are your thoughts?" He wanted to know how much affection she had accumulated for those people during this time.

Bai Lize clearly had no idea what he was thinking.

He treated it as a routine question and gave a routine answer: "Let's see if we can deal with the He family's private army this time."

If everything goes smoothly, and some of the culprits are handed over and some of their benefits are relinquished, the rest should be able to be saved.

Seeing that she had made a decision, Wang Qingyan didn't want to say anything more.

But after thinking about it, I couldn't help but remind him, "Lin Yuchuan is a man who hates evil and is very meticulous. You should be careful."

"Know"

......

"Boom boom boom!!!"

The continuous stream of oil arrows intertwined in the air, forming a rain of fire. Gravel and soil were constantly being thrown into the sky and scattered all around, causing screams of agony.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." Zheng Fu fought his way to Lin Yuchuan's side, wiping out all the private soldiers around him.

"Charge! Brothers!" Wang Yin's side was also pushing forward the battle line.

The sounds of fighting, accompanied by the clash of swords, spears, and clubs, crushed one life after another, like a battle between wild beasts that would not stop until the other was bleeding profusely.

The fierce battle raged until late at night before the Imperial Guards, led by Lin Yuchuan and Li Tong, finally entered Cypress Village and took control of all the intersections.

However, they discovered that He Jinzhan had already abandoned the wounded soldiers and fled into the deep mountains and forests.

Of the investigators who came with Lin Yuchuan, two were seriously injured, one was ambushed and killed by a female armored soldier, and the fate of the other was unknown.

Zheng Fu was the only one left, so tired that his hand holding the knife was trembling.

The Imperial Guards...

Li Tong pulled Lin Yuchuan aside and said, "I just counted them, and there are less than eight thousand people who can fight."

"The prefectural magistrate should make plans as soon as possible."

Lin Yuchuan's eyes sharpened. "What does Commander Li mean?"

Li Tong quickly reassured him, "Don't misunderstand, Prefect."

"As members of the Imperial Guard, we will obey His Majesty's orders without hesitation, even at the cost of fire and water."

Lin Yuchuan's tone softened somewhat, "So, what does the commander mean?"

"Judging from the way the private army retreated... their reinforcements are probably arriving soon."

When the battle began, Lin Yuchuan roughly estimated the enemy's strength to be around 10,000, giving them a numerical advantage.

But Bai Li Ce clearly said 50,000...

Upon further reflection, Lin Yuchuan immediately realized that they didn't have much time left.

"In your opinion, General, how much time do we have left?"

"If the intelligence from the Investigation Division is correct, He Jinzhan must be apprehended by this time tomorrow at the latest."

"Otherwise, once their reinforcements arrive, losing our lives is a minor matter; if we are later accused of 'mistaking merit for merit, killing innocent people, and slaughtering millions of civilians,' then it won't just be you and me and our families who suffer the consequences."

They falsely claimed credit for killing innocent people and slaughtered countless civilians.

If that's the case, not only will he be exhumed and his corpse whipped after he's dead.

His Majesty will also be in grave danger.

"Then... I'll lead my men into the mountains right now!"

"No way," Li Tong immediately denied.

“He Jinzhan has lived here for a long time and is familiar with the terrain. Once we enter the mountains, our people will have to be scattered, and it will be easy for him to set up an ambush and wipe out our entire army.”

"Then...fire attack?"

"Even more unacceptable."

Li Tong then explained, "Although the oil arrows were effective, the burning range and the range of the arrows were controllable, and there wasn't much oil and arrows left, so we had to save them for the next attack."

"Most importantly, this mountain range is connected to dozens of villages and towns, and it is currently the season when everything is flourishing. Once a large-scale fire breaks out, it will be difficult to contain, and the people will lose their entire year's harvest."

"So, General, what good ideas do you have?" He's good at investigating cases and arresting people, but he's really not good at fighting.

Li Tong remained silent.

Lin Yuchuan clasped his hands in a bow, firstly out of respect, and secondly to apologize for his rudeness earlier. "General, please speak freely."

Li Tong's eyes were resolute. "Defeat and escape."

......