"Ha! Drink!"
Early in the morning, the sound of soldiers drilling was deafening.
Everyone who was sleeping soundly was woken up. Su Qinghe was the first to get up, put on her outer robe, and opened the tent.
"stop!"
Outside the tent, two soldiers with crossed spears blocked Su Qinghe's way.
Su Qinghe gave the two women a harmless smile. "Excuse me, ladies, where is the outhouse?"
The two men stared at her expressionlessly. "There's a chamber pot inside the tent; you can use it there."
Su Qinghe looked innocent. "The chamber pot is full."
Upon hearing this, the two frowned. "Weren't there four inside? Are they all full?"
Su Qinghe lifted the curtain.
"If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. There are more than a dozen of us! We ate a bit too much last night, even four of us..."
As she spoke, she looked troubled.
The two women looked even worse after hearing this; naturally, they wouldn't look at something so disgusting.
"Lord Luo instructed that no one is allowed to go out before breakfast begins. Hurry inside, I'll go get you a new one."
Seeing their firm attitude, Su Qinghe didn't waste any more words. She smiled, thanked them, and turned to go back.
It seems Luo Pinzheng won't let them move around freely, so she'll have to find another opportunity.
Su Qinghe sat back down on her bunk, took out a water bottle from her bundle and drank some water, staring blankly at something.
She needs to quickly find out how many troops are here. They're not allowed to move around during the day, so it seems the only option is to act at night.
Having made up her mind, Su Qinghe silently filled the kettle and lay down again.
The deafening sounds of drills filled the air; judging by the scale, there were quite a few people involved.
No one knows how the person behind it managed to bring so many soldiers and weapons up the mountain so quietly, and the counties and prefectures on the other side of Ziyun Ridge didn't even notice.
Thinking of the prefectures and counties on the other side, Su Qinghe frowned, and an idea suddenly came to her mind.
If they could be tricked and controlled by Luo Pinzheng by the same method, wouldn't the others in other prefectures and counties have been controlled even earlier?
She couldn't think of a more reasonable explanation than this.
According to Qin Anmin, they received a message from the mountain two days before they went up the mountain, which means that her soldiers were replaced in five or six days.
With so many people, even if they go up the mountain in batches, it would still take five or six days for each group to make it up.
For so many days in a row, so many people have been going up the mountain together every day, and they haven't come down. It's impossible for them not to be discovered by people in the city.
Unless everyone who can manage things is unable to manage them.
Connecting her thoughts, Su Qinghe suddenly understood that she had figured out the person behind the scenes' tactics and purpose.
Tianhe County is located in the central part of Dawu County, and has the Ziyunling Pass, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If someone wants to rebel, they only need to cut off the central part and slowly strike at the heart of the enemy.
If the same methods are used to deal with people in other prefectures and counties, that person will quietly gain control of half of Dawu, while the others remain completely unaware.
"Sigh~"
Su Qinghe buried her head under the blanket and sighed deeply.
She just wants to enjoy her retirement peacefully, why is that so difficult!
Whether for her own sake or for Qin Anmin's, she couldn't ignore it.
Thinking about the pile of troubles waiting for her behind her, Su Qinghe scratched her head in frustration.
After lying there silently for a while, the tent was finally opened.
"A new chamber pot."
The man said something, put his things down, and went out again.
Su Qinghe didn't even look, and silently lay there like a corpse.
After waiting a while longer, someone came from outside the tent to say that breakfast was ready, and the group was then allowed to leave.
After the meal, everyone was only allowed to move around in a limited area for a short while before being sent back to their tents.
The same thing happened for lunch and dinner; everyone was kept under tight surveillance and had no chance to go anywhere.
...
As night fell, the tent was filled with the sound of long, even breathing; everyone was fast asleep.
Su Qinghe opened her eyes, quietly lifted the quilt and stood up, then quietly put on her outer robe.
Then she opened her palm, and a long, thin, smoke-like object appeared in her hand.
She took out a tinderbox, lit it, and carefully approached the gap in the tent.
Flickering sparks shimmered in the darkness, and wisps of white smoke drifted out through the gaps in the curtains.
The fire burned for about a minute, then a dull thud of something heavy falling to the ground was heard outside the tent.
Su Qinghe stubbed out her cigarette and peeked out from behind a corner of the curtain.
Seeing that the two guards had fallen to the ground, she wrapped her blanket around herself as if someone was inside, and quickly slipped out of the tent.
To make the two people outside appear to be asleep naturally, she deliberately controlled the amount of drugs, so that they would wake up with a tap if the patrolling personnel discovered them.
She had paid special attention in her tent last night; the patrol's footsteps came almost every half hour, so she had to get back within half an hour.
Su Qinghe held a small luminous pearl in her hand and moved lightly through every corner of the camp. Whenever she heard someone approaching, she would immediately put the pearl into her bosom.
And so, Su Qinghe hurriedly toured most of the camp and returned to her tent before the patrol team passed by.
She had just covered herself with the blanket when she heard the sound of footsteps outside.
"Smack!"
The leader slapped the man on the head.
"What's wrong with you two? Do you want to get a beating?"
Seeing the two sleeping so soundly they were drooling, the leader slapped them again.
"ah!"
"team leader!"
The two men were startled by the blow. When they saw their captain standing in front of them, they quickly wiped the drool from the corners of their mouths and stood up in a panic.
"You dare to sleep on such an important task? Are you tired of living?"
The two looked completely innocent after hearing this, "We don't know how it happened..."
"Huh?" The leader's expression changed, and he abruptly lifted the curtain.
The torch in her hand revealed the entire scene inside the tent, and she looked carefully; nothing was missing.
The leader's face turned extremely ugly, and after he left, another person slapped him.
"You scared the hell out of me! If I catch you again, you'll be in for a world of hurt!"
She gave the two men a good scolding, and without lingering, led her team off to another location.
After everyone had gone far away, Su Qinghe turned over and found a comfortable position to go to sleep.
She had only explored half of the place, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to drug the person again, as that would arouse suspicion. She planned to go for the rest tomorrow night.
...
The following evening.
Su Qinghe left the tent with practiced ease. This time, she had a clear purpose and headed straight for the left.
The tents for ordinary soldiers in the camp all looked pretty much the same. Su Qinghe didn't see any differences last night. She went into several tents and found that there were an equal number of soldiers inside.
But this time she found four or five tents just like hers.
There were soldiers guarding those tents as well. She only knocked out one of them, and when she went inside, she found that they were all large communal sleeping areas.
These people seem to be just like them.
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