Chapter 357 We'll stay here and wait for him to come.

“At the time, I didn’t expect Magistrate Lin to do something like this, so I didn’t listen carefully. I only vaguely heard the word ‘villagers’ and something like that. By the time I wanted to listen more carefully, the person had already left. I felt uneasy, so I gave up on going back to report to the young master and went back to Shuimiao Village to arrange for the villagers to hide in the cellar.”

"uh-huh?"

Good heavens, it seems that Magistrate Lin really is in trouble.

Sheng Sheng squinted and began to think carefully.

Based on her experience reading all the storybooks, and considering all the odd things about Magistrate Lin, including his references to "villagers" and "surprise attack"...

Could it be that they're planning to take advantage of the government's full-fledged efforts to suppress the bandits and then launch a surprise attack on Shuimiao Village, using the harm done to the villagers to force Prefect Tang to back down?

But the troops that have been mobilized are all engaged in suppression. Where did Lin Tongzhi get the manpower to mobilize under Tang Zhizhou's nose?

Unless, the people that Magistrate Lin wants to use are not government soldiers, but bandits.

As the local official responsible for the well-being of these people, what would happen if Prefect Tang, who was focused on suppressing bandits, suddenly heard that the villagers of Shuimiao Village were being massacred by the bandits he had long hated?

Should Prefect Tang choose to ignore the lives of the villagers and continue the bandit suppression, or should he give up such a great opportunity to suppress the bandits and come back to save people?

Sheng Sheng felt that neither option would be a good choice.

Choosing to continue suppressing bandits would earn one the reputation of being cold-hearted, ruthless, and disregarding the lives of ordinary people.

Choosing to save people might mean never having such a good opportunity again to take down Black Wind Stronghold's lair.

Lin Tongzhi's plan was quite clever.

Unfortunately, he overlooked one thing: today's unexpected turn of events was brought about by them.

Since Lin Tongzhi already knew her and Xie Yunshang's identities, why didn't he think carefully about what kind of ordinary guards the Crown Prince and Princess were?

Sheng Sheng quickly finalized the plan and said to Lan Yun, "Lan Yun, you did a great job. With Zhu Yue and Zhui Feng at Black Wind Stronghold, we don't need to worry too much."

Since Magistrate Lin is sending people to launch a surprise attack, it means that Black Wind Stronghold will continue to suppress bandits until they hear that Water Temple Village is in trouble.

In other words, as long as Shuimiao Village is not successfully "betrayed," Prefect Tang will not have to face the dilemma of choosing between two options, and the bandit suppression operation will proceed smoothly.

The officers and soldiers said that the previous bandit suppression operations were all planned, which is why Lin Tongzhi was able to reveal the plan to the bandits.

But tonight's events were completely unexpected and unplanned.

Without a plan, how could Magistrate Lin have revealed anything to the bandits?

Perhaps it was precisely because Lin Tongzhi lost the initiative in this matter that he came up with such a vicious plan in an attempt to prevent the government from suppressing the bandits.

Sheng Sheng couldn't help but wonder what secret Lin Tongzhi had that would make him willing to sacrifice the lives of an entire village to give a bandit a chance to catch his breath.

We don't know for sure yet, but in summary, as long as the villagers of Shuimiao Village are safe and sound, we can avoid the dilemma that Prefect Tang would face.

Without further ado, Sheng Sheng immediately asked Lan Yun, "Lan Yun, how many soldiers are in the cellar?"

They had no idea how many men Lin Tongzhi would send to raid Shuimiao Village. They were afraid that he would stop at nothing to protect Black Wind Village, so they had to be cautious when they didn't know his methods.

"Miss, the incident happened suddenly, and the government was in a hurry to mobilize troops, leaving only six soldiers behind."

"Six?" That's more than Sheng Sheng had expected.

The only people that Magistrate Lin could summon were the bandits from Black Wind Stronghold.

Black Wind Village needs to leave some people in the village to resist the government troops, so how many people can he leave to come to Water Temple Village?

Unless they are unparalleled masters, with Lan Yun here, there's no need to fear those mountain bandits succeeding.

"Lanyun, since he's trying to use this as leverage, threatening the safety of the villagers of Shuimiao Village, let's stay here and wait for him to come!"

Sheng Sheng brandished her small fist menacingly, "That Magistrate Lin, luckily he's only met Ta Ying, and doesn't know that Lan Yun, the three of you are also our personal guards like Ta Ying. He probably saw Ta Ying with my brother and only guessed that Ta Ying's identity was extraordinary, thinking you were just ordinary guards. Didn't expect that, did you? You're all incredibly capable! If those bandits dare to come, we'll make them regret it!"

"You'll regret it if you can't handle it!" Stone shouted triumphantly.

"Yes, Miss!"

Sheng Sheng's face was full of determination. After she finished explaining her plan, Lan Yun couldn't help but respond. Only after responding did she remember her worry: "Miss, perhaps I should take you back to the inn first. It's too dangerous here. I'm worried you might get caught in the crossfire."

"How can that be? Lanyun, you can't leave. What if the bandits come if you leave?"

"But……"

Lan Yun hesitated. She couldn't very well let her young lady go back alone again, could she?

No, that would make her even more worried.

"Alright, alright, I have Yan Hu and Shi Tou with me, so don't worry about me."

He patted Lan Yun's shoulder reassuringly, and was about to say something to put her at ease when Lan Yun suddenly heard the sound of wild grass rustling outside the house.

"who?"

Lan Yun instantly went on alert, blocking Sheng Sheng behind her and staring into the darkness outside the house.

Stone and Flame Amber also raised their tails and instantly switched to battle form.

Under their watchful eyes, several painful groans and muffled moans suddenly came from the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, several thin figures staggered out from behind the trees, their footsteps rustling through the wild grass.

As they emerged from the darkness, a sliver of light fell upon them, illuminating their robes stained with dust and blood.

The boy at the front had a ripped right trouser leg, and dark red blood seemed to be seeping from the wound, making that area look very messy from a distance.

With each step the boy took, he couldn't help but furrow his brow, biting his lip tightly, looking weak.

"No, don't do it! We mean no harm..."

Another, taller boy gripped his companion's arm, his voice trembling, but he tried to straighten his back. His eyes shone like those of a startled fawn in the dim light, looking at Lan Yun with a wary yet pleading gaze.

He was also in a sorry state, with a bruise on his forehead and tear stains still on his cheeks, clearly having suffered quite a fright.

Behind the two, there was a rather thin boy who looked the neatest of the three and didn't appear to be injured.

But he looked nervous and hesitant, and his gaze towards Lan Yun and the others was filled with fear.

Seeing that they were several injured children, Lan Yun relaxed her guard and asked, "Who are you?"

The boy who wasn't injured said, "We're from that village over there, our village..."