The next morning, Li Ruo was running with Li Yi when Xie Xiao arrived with another fifty bricklayers.

Li Yi felt as if she had been granted a pardon. "Sister, you guys chat, I'm going to rest for a while," she said, breathless.

Li Ruo said, "Go."

Li Ruo was also panting heavily—oops, she was really out of breath. Her body was so delicate; it would fall apart if she ran for a bit. That's why she was working out harder.

Ancient people's clothes were cumbersome. She tucked her skirt up to her knees, revealing half of her trousers. She didn't think anything of it, but Xie Xiao was surprised.

Li Ruo, catching her breath while supporting her knees, looked up and saw his flushed face. Suddenly, she turned her head away and said, "Put your skirt down."

Li Ruo was puzzled for a moment, then laughed and said as she put the clothes down, "Don't the girls in your village roll up their trousers when they go to the stream to wash clothes?" Besides, she didn't roll up her trousers either.

The villagers probably aren't that particular.

He was dressed in shorts today, the hem of his shirt only reaching his knees, with long trousers underneath. His sleeves were rolled up, and he had a blade of grass dangling from his mouth. He had a roguish air about him. Who was more elegant than him?

Xie Xiao turned his head, a smirk playing on his lips. He flicked the foxtail grass in his mouth and spat it out. "I'm not some lecherous scoundrel. Who goes to look at a girl's trouser legs?"

Li Ruoke didn't have time to argue with him. She looked at the fifty people behind him and said, "Boss Xie is really efficient."

Just then, Master Liao came over with two steamed buns. "Here's your breakfast."

"Thank you." Li Ruo took the steamed buns and handed over the fifty craftsmen to him for arrangement.

At the construction site, all you could see were people; you couldn't see any walls.

Master Liao is very dedicated and a good helper. Most importantly, he doesn't talk much and isn't suspicious, unlike the person in front of me.

"You guys are having a good time here, huh?" Xie Xiao joked, his eyes slightly darkening as he leaned forward a little. "Miss Li is really something. She moved so many things from overseas up the mountain without a word, and I didn't hear a thing."

As expected of the leader, his perspective is comprehensive and his insight is sharp. Li Ruo asked with a smile, "Guess how I did it?"

"Do you have accomplices?" He had suspected it last time, otherwise she wouldn't have been so calm on her own.

If it's true, then this accomplice's abilities are indeed terrifying; he managed to evade even the spies both at the foot and on the mountain of Black Wind Stronghold.

Li Ruo: Look, everyone is good at making up excuses. She doesn't even need to think of one herself.

She neither confirmed nor denied it, saying, "You have so many brothers, don't be afraid that I will do you any harm."

"You think I'm afraid?"

Li Ruo handed him a steamed bun, "Although I also paid him, I still want to thank the boss for finding someone for me."

"Oh."

"Eat it while it's hot. My sister-in-law is a great cook, and the wild boar meat from your village is fantastic too."

Xie Xiao, holding a steamed bun, watched the woman eat with rosy cheeks and great relish, and smiled amusedly, "You're quite open-minded, aren't you? You really believe in floods?"

"If you don't believe me, do you think I'm rich and stupid enough to build this house for fun? Also, I brought my whole family up the mountain because I didn't want them to drown in the water."

Xie Xiao seemed to realize something, his smile vanished, and he just stared at her with a very strange look in his eyes.

Li Ruo asked, "What's wrong?"

Xie Xiao came to his senses and said, "I wasn't entirely convinced at first, but after hearing what you said, I'm 90% convinced now."

"You're faking it."

Xie Xiao changed the subject, "You've been out for two days, aren't you afraid Song Zhijing will suspect something?"

“I told the Song family that I was going back to my parents’ home.”

"What if he goes to your parents' house to look for you?"

Li Ruo laughed and said, "I'm not that important, and I don't think he has time."

"So you robbed the homes of those men under his command in the yamen? And the Yongtai Pawnshop?"

"This guy's got pretty good information," Li Ruo didn't deny. "Then you'd better hurry up, or I'll beat you to it."

"Ha, what a boastful statement. Let's finish this job with the Prince of Runan first." But he had to admit, he was quite shocked.

Could it be that she really has a powerful backer helping her?

The two of them went over the details of tomorrow's banquet.

Xie Xiao then pulled out a map and pointed to it, saying, "This is the storeroom, but the good stuff isn't here. This is the Prince of Runan's study; there's likely a secret door inside..."

He did his homework very well, and Li Ruo had to admire him; he truly lived up to his reputation as the male lead.

Li Ruo said, "I wasn't too worried about Grandma and the others after I went down the mountain. Why haven't you given me the two guards I asked you to find? Do you think the wages are too low or what?"

Li Ruo certainly couldn't completely trust him. She asked him for help for two reasons: first, it was convenient to "use what was available," and second, if the people he found protected them, the other brothers in Black Wind Stronghold would be more cautious and wouldn't dare to cause trouble.

Xie Xiao shook his head. "No need to look."

"Why?"

Xie Xiao chuckled slyly, "Guess?"

Li Ruo almost couldn't resist punching his nose again.

"However, considering we're about to join forces, I'll send a few brothers to protect your grandmother and the others after you go down the mountain. You can go with peace of mind." Xie Xiao said and swaggered away.

Li Ruo: ...Could it be that he wanted to remind her that her grandmother was in his hands, so that she wouldn't do anything like a traitor?

As long as it's all about protecting them, what does it matter to her?

Before descending the mountain, Li Ruo even used materials from her spatial dimension to make an extremely spicy pepper spray.

This is made by simmering more than ten kinds of spicy ingredients, including bird's eye chili, chili oil, pepper powder, and Sichuan peppercorns, for 49 minutes!

Grandma, sister-in-law, little brother, and Master Liao each had a bottle.

"If someone tries to bully you, just press this button and spray it into their eyes, and the enemy will scream in pain."

Li Ruo then demonstrated it to them, and as a result, everyone within a 100-meter radius coughed and instantly disappeared.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!