"Shan Bian, what's wrong?"
The sergeant looked at him as if he had been startled.
The man with the bald head waved his hand and quickly said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Why did the foreman suddenly bring up Sang Xuanqing?"
The foreman looked around, met their questioning gazes, and said seriously, "Let's see if she has any ideas."
"Her? Impossible. She just happens to know a little about ingenious wooden crafts, but this matter is completely different. Even the old craftsmen are at a loss for a problem. What could a greenhorn like him know? Could he even understand the construction drawings?" Lei Gong sneered.
The young worker also disagreed: "She is indeed a bit surprising, but which carpenter doesn't hone his skills day after day? She is too young, and I'm afraid she hasn't even made a few pieces of furniture. She definitely won't make it."
In fact, Lai Li Tou also thought that Sang Xuan Qing was no good.
It's understandable that she knows how to assemble hidden weapons since she's a spy, but a carpenter's skill can't be faked by luck.
During the time they were in hiding, she didn't do any woodwork herself; it was all done by the eldest son of the Sang family.
Given his usually poor relationship with Sang Xuanqing, he was bound to object now: "Her? If she can actually build the trench camp's defensive structures, I'll eat shit on my head!"
He made a nasty bet on himself the moment he started talking.
All eyes immediately turned to him.
After a long pause, the foreman also realized they had a point, and shook his head dejectedly: "Then what can we do? Are we really just waiting to die...?"
——
After discovering that he was actually a double agent, Zheng Quchi was so agitated that he couldn't sleep for two nights.
So she took out a carving knife and started carving the wood.
She was distracted, but the wood in her hands was being removed step by step from the outside in, gradually revealing its initial outline.
Dongyang wood carving is now considered a national intangible cultural heritage, especially since it uses openwork double-sided carving, which is very particular about techniques and knife skills.
As it gradually took shape, it was as if she was gradually removing the impurities from her heart, and her state of mind became calm and gentle.
This is one of her ways of getting rid of bad moods. Her friends have teased her, saying that she's like an artist, able to use her bad mood as inspiration to create works of art.
Are you carving?
Most of the people in the barracks were fast asleep after a long day of work, snoring away. Just then, the boy from the next bunk came over.
He was a strange person; he usually ignored everyone, but he paid special attention to her.
What are you carving?
He tilted his head and asked her curiously.
The sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy still had a touch of childishness in his features, a very clear voice, and because he had few facial expressions, he was sometimes quite adorable.
The craftsmen recruited here were not all carpenters; there were also stonemasons, blacksmiths, lumberjacks, and laborers who carried goods.
The boy was serving in the military, but since there was no fighting for the time being, he was transferred by the county to do hard labor.
"eagle."
Upon hearing this, the boy's eyes lit up: "An eagle? I like that, can I have it?"
Zheng Quchi felt that he was somewhat shameless.
"This is a gift."
She gave a perfunctory reply.
After a moment's hesitation, the boy reluctantly said, "If you give it to me, I'll grant you one request."
Zheng Quchi wanted to laugh when he heard this.
What can you do for me?
At this moment, the boy stared at her with a strange look, and then said something surprising: "Didn't you have Shan Bian contact me and say you wanted to see me?"
Zheng Quchi suddenly looked at him.
He lowered his voice: "It's you?"
She immediately realized that the barracks was not the place to talk, and pulled him outside.
"The orders from above are that I cannot meet with you unless absolutely necessary, but for the sake of this eagle, can you tell me what you want to see me for?" The boy's eyes were like water, clear and deep, yet unpredictable.
She looked around warily.
As if sensing what she was thinking, the boy said, "There's no one around; I can sense that."
She had heard that people in ancient times knew martial arts. Could this young man in front of her be like those in martial arts novels, able to fly over rooftops and scale walls?
Out of curiosity, she asked a question that nearly got her murdered.
"Can you beat Yuwen Sheng?"
The boy's face went from expressionless to surprised, and finally his face turned as dark as a gloomy sky.
He puffed out his cheeks in anger: "If I could beat him, would I need to come all the way to Ye and move stones every day?"
That's true.
Seeing that he had almost bullied the child to tears, Zheng Quchi's lips twitched, and he began to doubt whether he had made the wrong guess.
"I asked the wrong question. I'm here to discuss something important. Did you... attack me before?"
"Yes," he answered surprisingly readily.
But Zheng Quchi was stunned for a moment.
"Why?"
The young man looked at her calmly: "Because you secretly contacted people from the Kingdom of Julu and even tried to kill Shan Bian to abandon the mission, it was said that if you commit any acts of betrayal, you will be executed immediately."
"..."
Things seem to be more complicated than she thought.
Zheng Quchi was furious. One problem after another had arisen. How did another person from the Kingdom of Julu suddenly appear?
Just how many secrets does this traitor Qing Ge'er still have?
At this point, a flicker of doubt crossed the boy's usually expressionless eyes. He asked in confusion, "Didn't I kill you? Why are you alive again? I've examined your body. You're not disguised, and you're not poisoned."
Zheng Quchi's heart pounded.
She could tell that the boy was stubborn, so she first offered him a wooden carving as a bribe to divert his attention, and then said, "Oh, maybe it's because I took the antidote before. Now you know that I haven't betrayed the Mo family, right? I'm actively getting close to Yuwen Sheng to steal Master Chen's mechanism box from him."
The boy clearly really liked the wooden eagle carving; he couldn't put it down.
"Yes, but I will still keep a close eye on you. If you show any signs of betrayal, I won't give you a chance to be resurrected next time I make my move."
His voice was flat, but Zheng Quchi could tell he was serious.
Although he may seem naive and inexperienced, he is a competent swordsman who is absolutely obedient to orders.
——
After meeting the monitor, Zheng Quchi realized that he could finally say goodbye to insomnia.
Although a knife is still hanging over her head, at least it's in the open and is still within her control and observation for the time being.
The next day, Zheng Quchi, full of energy, walked out of the barracks, only to find that the surroundings were quieter than usual. Stonemasons were still laying stones, and stonemasons were hammering rocks. But upon closer inspection, he found that only the defensive fortifications had stopped.
She asked a passing stonemason, "Why aren't the carpenters working?"
"I heard the watchtower collapsed again, and they dare not start construction now."
Zheng Quchi understood. She crossed the training ground and saw all the carpenters who had been rated as skilled workers in the county gathered together under a simple low shed, worrying about their situation.
With less than half a month left, she had thought that it would be good to take shelter under the big tree, but now it was clear that if she lay flat, she would just wait for Yuwen Sheng, the living Yama, to sacrifice them to the heavens.
"Let me take a look at the blueprints."
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