I traveled back to the Southern Song Dynasty and was actually outmaneuvered by Yue Fei.

Zhao Bocong stopped breathing.

Jiang Shixiong, who was standing beside him, remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "The night before Fengbo Pavilion, General Yue wrote two letters in this prison cell. One was to Miss Yue, and the other was to the Duke of Jian Guo."

The letter to the Duke of Jian Guo contained only twelve characters: "My young friend Bo Cong: If you see Yin Ping in the future, please believe her."

Lord Zhou took the letter and hid it behind a brick in the corner of the cell.

Jiang Shixiong's voice grew softer and softer, "But Yue Shuai wrote more than just these two letters here. There's another one, written to himself."

Where is that letter?

Zhao Bocong asked urgently.

Jiang Shixiong's gaze shifted to the hole in the northwest corner of the wall. "Lord Zhou said he didn't take the letter. He left it here."

Zhao Bozong turned to look at the hole in the wall. It was the empty space left after the blue bricks had been removed, lined with coarse cloth, which was completely empty.

Kui Shun's fake list has been removed, and there's nothing left in the cave.

Zhou Sanwei said "waiting to take," not "already taken," but "waiting to take."

He left Yue Fei's last letter in this hole in the wall, waiting for Zhao Bocong to retrieve it, but now the hole is empty.

"The letter has been taken." Zhao Bozong's voice was calm.

Jiang Shixiong's expression changed. He squatted down in front of the hole in the wall, reached in and felt around, then held the oil lamp close to the opening to shine inside. The hole was indeed empty, with only a cloth remaining.

His fingers froze on the coarse cloth. "I checked it three days ago. It's still there." For the first time, panic crept into his voice.

"On the afternoon Lord Zhou died, I glanced at it when I brought in the water. The letter was still under the cloth."

Zhao Bocong took the oil lamp from Jiang Shixiong and shone it into the hole in the wall.

There was a thin layer of ash on the blue bricks of the cave wall, and several very shallow scratches on the surface of the ash, which were marks left when the paper roll was pulled out.

The scratches are fresh; the thin layer of dust hasn't settled yet. It happened within the last day or two.

The last person Zhou Wei saw before his death was Jiang Shixiong.

Jiang Shixiong brought in water, and Zhou Sanwei told him that they were going to take the Northwest. Then Jiang Shixiong went out, and Zhou Sanwei picked up a dagger.

When Jiang Shixiong reached the end of the corridor, he heard the sound of a dagger falling to the ground. When he returned, Zhou Sanwei was already dead.

He said he would take the northwest, then with his last strength looked towards the northwest corner. He was confirming that the letter was still there. He confirmed it, then closed his eyes.

Afterwards, this cell was sealed off by Qin Hui's men. The main entrance was sealed off, and no one was allowed to enter.

But someone came in. Not through the main entrance—through a vent, through a drain, through some entrance that Zhao Bozong didn't yet know about.

That person knew the location of the hole in the wall, what was inside, and who Zhou Sanwei had left it to.

He snatched the letter before Zhao Bozong could.

"Are there any other entrances to this cell?"

Jiang Shixiong's forehead was beaded with cold sweat. "Yes. There's a narrow passage outside the vent leading to the woodshed in the backyard. The seal only covers the main entrance; the passage isn't sealed."

Does anyone know the location of this hole in the wall?

Jiang Shixiong remained silent; the answer was one they all already knew.

Jiang Shixiong stood before Zhao Bozong. Who else knew? The fourth person on the list was in Xiangyang, and the fifth person was in Zhenjiang.

Who else is left in Lin'an? Zhu Fu has already left, and Zhi Jia was silenced before Qin Hui could make his move.

There is one more person.

When Zhou Sanwei handed the blueprints to Li Yanxian, there were four red circles drawn on them.

The side gate drainage ditch, below the stone steps of the long corridor, in the corner of the cell, and in the northwest corner of the deepest cell.

The first three were marked "cleared", "transferred", and "sealed", while the last one was marked "pending retrieval".

Before this drawing was given to Zhao Bocong, who handled it?

Zhao Bozong turned towards the prison door. Li Yanxian stood in the shadows outside the door.

"Li Yanxian." Zhao Bozong's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the cramped cell. "How much time passed between Lord Zhou handing you the blueprints and you handing them to me?"

Li Yanxian paused for a moment. "One hour."

"Who had the blueprints during this past hour?"

"It's in my hands."

"Who did you show it to?"

Li Yanxian knelt on one knee. His knee landed on the stone slab with a dull thud. "This humble general has not shown it to anyone."

Zhao Bozong looked at him. Li Yanxian knelt there, his back straight. Zhou Sanwei had handed him the blueprints before he died. He handed the blueprints to Zhao Bozong; the bloodstains on the blueprints were still wet.

"Get up."

Li Yanxian stood up.

"I believe you," Zhao Bozong said, "but someone saw the blueprints. Not because you gave them to me, but because someone saw them from you. Where were you during that hour?"

Li Yanxian's expression clearly froze for a moment. "In the duty room of the Third Division of the Left Wing of the Imperial Guard. I kept the blueprints hidden close to my body and never took them out. But there were other people in the duty room."

"Who?"

Li Yanxian's expression changed slightly. "It's in the duty room of the Third Division of the Left Wing of the Imperial Guard. I've kept the blueprints hidden on my person and haven't taken them out, but there are other people in the duty room."

"Who?"

"Zhang Heng, the deputy team leader, and two other brothers on duty."

"Whose people are they working for?"

Li Yanxian fell silent.

The Third Division of the Left Wing of the Imperial Guards, led by Captain Li Yanxian, was a former subordinate of Yue Fei's army. However, he didn't know whose side the deputy captain, Zhang Heng, belonged to.

While the Imperial Guards were being incorporated into Yue Fei's old army, Qin Hui's men also infiltrated their ranks.

People from all walks of life, including Zhao Gou's and Qin Hui's factions, planted their own spies in the Imperial Guard.

Li Yanxian thought everyone in the duty room was one of his own, but the word "own" was the most luxurious thing in Lin'an City during the twelfth year of Shaoxing.

Zhao Bozong placed the oil lamp at the edge of the hole in the wall.

The flames shone into the cave, magnifying the scratches left by the paper rolls on the cave walls, making them look like extremely fine grooves.

Someone beat him to it and took Yue Fei's last letter.

That person knew the location of the hole in the wall, knew Zhou Sanwei's markings, and knew what "awaiting pickup" meant.

That person could be Zhang Heng, the deputy captain; he could be Qin Hui's man; he could be Zhao Gou's man; Ye could be anyone living in Lin'an.

Where is the letter now? If it falls into Qin Hui's hands, what will he do with it? If it falls into Zhao Gou's hands, will he open it and read it?

Zhao Bozong reached his hand into the hole in the wall, touched the cloth, and pulled it out.

There was something under the cloth, which had been covered by the coarse cloth. Jiang Shixiong hadn't lifted the cloth when he touched it.

It was a wax pellet, about the size of a thumb, sealed with white wax, and covered with fine dust.

Zhao Bozong crushed the wax pellet, and inside the wax shell was a very thin piece of paper, the same kind of bamboo paper as the wax pellet in the prison cell.

Unfolding the text reveals that it is not Yue Fei's handwriting, but Zhou Sanwei's.

"Duke Jian Guo: General Yue's final words have been moved elsewhere. This place is unsafe, and they may fall into Qin's hands. When the time is right, someone will return them to you. Sanwei stays."

Zhao Bozong folded the note, stuffed it into his sleeve, and placed it together with Wei Shun's fake list.

Zhou Sanwei took away Yue Fei's last letter. When he drew that drawing, he marked it as "to be retrieved" in the northwest corner, but he changed his mind before he died.

When he had Jiang Shixiong deliver the message "Waiting to take the Northwest," the hole in the wall was already empty. He only wanted Jiang to remember the location of the prison cell. What he left for Zhao Bocong was not Yue Fei's last letter, but a note.

He sacrificed his life to ensure the safe transfer of his suicide note.

"Jiang Shixiong." Zhao Bozong stood up. "Before Lord Zhou died, he was looking at the northwest corner. He wasn't reading a letter; he was looking at you."

Jiang Shixiong's breath stirred slightly.

"He moved the letter without telling you. Because he didn't know if you could withstand Qin Hui's interrogation."

He wasn't protecting the letter, he was protecting you. If you didn't know where the letter was, you wouldn't tell anyone.

Jiang Shixiong's eyes reddened. Zhou Sanwei looked at him before he died, his lips moving but no sound came out. Jiang Shixiong thought he was saying "waiting to take the Northwest," but Zhou Sanwei said something else.

He might be saying—Don't cry. Or—Live on. Or—It's your turn.

But no one will ever know.