Song Ning was startled and quickly put away what she was holding. She turned around and saw Li Xingwang.

"It's you! What brings you here?"

"I was just about to look for you. My aunt said you were coming this way, but did you hear a strange sound just now?"

"Strange sound? No, there isn't."

Li Xingwang muttered, "Didn't you hear that? It was really loud..."

"You must have misheard me. I've been here the whole time and didn't hear anything."

Quickly change the subject: "By the way, what did you want to see me about?"

"I've dug a pit in the east of the city. I want you to go and see if it's okay."

When the two arrived at the east side of the city, Song Ning walked into the crowd and glanced into the pit. It looked to be about two stories high.

"This depth is fine. Just dig at this depth. Dig all the flat areas outside the city wall."

Everyone got busy. Just as Song Ning turned to leave, she saw someone watching her from a distance. When he saw her looking over, he immediately lowered his head and went back to work.

Zhou Ling'an? Why is he here instead of making bows and arrows?

Digging a hole is hard work, why is a scholar like him getting involved?

Just as she was about to speak, Zhou Ling'an turned around with the shovel in his hand and moved several meters away from her.

......

What's wrong now?

Tsk, this man's mind is really hard to fathom.

Oh well, let it be.

Only after Song Ning left did Zhou Ling'an slowly raise his head.

Her bright eyes slowly dimmed, her lips pressed tightly together, and she said nothing.

He is no longer good enough for Arya.

Three days after Zheng Gaoyi left, news came from Yuanzhou City that the enemy army had reached outside Qingyang City and the situation was not good.

They need to speed things up.

Song Ning approached Magistrate Wei: "Magistrate, just in case, please gather all the yamen runners together. Starting today, we will arrange patrols on the city wall, in groups of five."

"Okay, I'll go arrange it right away."

Song Ning handed her binoculars to Gao Tiedan: "Brother Tiedan, you guard the east side. This is something that allows people to see further. Take it and report back immediately if anything happens."

Gao Tiedan knew about this thing. Back when they were fleeing famine, he often saw Er Ya wearing it around her neck, and he always craved it back then.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely keep a close eye on it."

Gao Tiedan held up the device and explained its ingenious uses to everyone.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wei's expression lit up, and he then asked in confusion, "The enemy is coming from the north, shouldn't we place this thing in the north?"

“We all know that the enemy is coming from the north, so we will definitely defend the north gate. But we know that they will also know that they will not come from the north gate. The west is a mountain road, which is not convenient for troops to cross the border. The south is too far away. They can only come from the east. We must defend the east.”

When she was drawing the map of Tianxiang County, she studied the terrain.

The enemy forces that were able to capture two of their cities in succession could not have been incompetent fools who did nothing; they must have done their research beforehand.

County Magistrate Wei was stunned. In recent days, he finally understood why the county magistrate had left the official seal to this young girl. She was calm in the face of danger, far-sighted, and quite courageous.

"Miss Song is very thoughtful."

"Lord Wei, I'm leaving the news from outside to you. If anything changes, please inform me immediately."

"good."

Back home, Song Ning collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and sighed.

She had done everything she could; now it was just a matter of whether she could withstand the iron cavalry of Beiliang outside.

"Er Ya, how's it outside?" Liu Yuelan asked worriedly.

"There's no news yet; we'll see how long Qingyang can hold out."

Given the locations of Yuezhou and Qingyang, it would be difficult for outsiders to send reinforcements.

I heard that the army closest to Yuezhou was on its way to provide support, but it was intercepted by another enemy force.

Yuezhou is now besieged on both sides, and it can't even get its supplies in. In this weather, it probably won't last much longer.

"Sigh, we finally got to live a good life, and now things are in turmoil again..."

The whole family kept their heads down and didn't say a word. These days, no one dared to sleep at night, for fear that the enemy might invade at any time.

Grandma Liu said angrily, "These damned bastards, they're not even in their own homes, yet they're thinking of taking over our land. What's wrong with their own homes? Did God strike them down?"

War between nations has always been a problem. The Northern Liang state was a nation that conquered on horseback, was warlike and always eyed its neighboring countries with hostility.

In recent years, the Jin Dynasty has clearly declined, and they felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it.

The law of nature dictates that the strong prey on the weak.

I can only hope that the soldiers in the North can hold on. If they really fall, the whole north will suffer.

By then, countless people will have died or been injured, and Xie Linzhou will probably not survive either.

Song Ning didn't speak for a moment. What she was worried about now was that they couldn't protect this place that they had poured all their efforts into.

However, we cannot give up before things are resolved. Holding this place will at least lighten the burden on the soldiers at the front.

Aunt Zhao's family, the Sun family, and Song Xiu'e's family also came and gathered together to talk.

"We'll just have to do our best and leave the rest to fate. If it still doesn't work, we'll just have to accept it."

However...we survived the hardships of fleeing famine before, so we can definitely do it this time too.

For the next few days, there was no news. The pits outside the city were all completed, with pointed branches stuck in the ground, covered with straw mats, and then covered with a thin layer of soil. Even the heavens seemed to be on their side, as it snowed that very day.

The traps were covered by snow, so you couldn't see anything.

Everyone continued with their lives as usual. That night, Song Ning was asleep when she suddenly woke up with a start, her heart pounding.

Unable to fall asleep any longer, I had just stepped out of the yard when I heard a knocking sound at the door.

Song Ning hurriedly went out to open the door. It was Gao Tiedan, panting, who said, "Er Ya, there's movement."

Song Ning didn't have time to ask any more questions. He quickly woke up his family: "Father, Mother, go and wake up all the people in the city. Remember, be very quiet. Don't shout. After you get up, don't run around. First, gather in the east of the city."

"good."

Song Ning quickly went to the east of the city with Gao Tiedan, but there was no Yue Lian, only pitch blackness.

Song Ning specifically instructed that no lights should be lit at the city gate at night.

The two men made their way up the city wall in the dark. Gao Tiedan pointed to the distant firelight and said, "Look, those should be it."

Song Ning took the binoculars and looked into the distance. A group of people was heading towards Tianxiang County. In the firelight, Song Ning could see their banners, black with tiger stripes, indicating that they were from the Northern Liang army.

"Er Ya, what do we do now?"

Song Ning, his face grim, watched the approaching flames and said calmly, "Proceed according to plan."