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

The Battle of Jiaoshan lasted for three hours.

Of the eight warships of the Privy Council's navy, three were burned, four were captured, and the remaining one escaped back to Zhenjiang Wharf under the cover of river fog.

Zheng Gangzhong was captured alive and held in the hold of Li Bao's cargo ship, awaiting transfer to Lin'an for trial.

On the four captured warships, there were numerous copies of Privy Council orders and military orders. These documents bore Qin Hui's personal seal and clearly recorded the entire process of Qin Hui bypassing the Ministry of Personnel and directly commanding the local navy to suppress loyal and former subordinates.

Following Qin Keqing's instructions, Li Bao sealed the original transfer order and Zheng Gangzhong's military order together in an oilcloth bag, intending to use them as irrefutable evidence in court later.

Three days after the Battle of Jiaoshan, Yue Yinping did not return to Xiangyang.

She set up a simple military tent at the Zhenjiang dock, where four hundred veterans took turns in three shifts to assist Li Bao in incorporating the scattered naval soldiers of the Privy Council who had surrendered from Jiaoshan.

Her plain wooden spear still stood in front of the tent, and the banner of loyalty to the country hung outside the tent.

The people of Zhenjiang spontaneously sent dry rations and herbs. No one asked whether the group was government troops or a militia, but everyone knew that such discipline had not been seen in Zhenjiang for many years.

This team does not disturb the people, does not steal grain, and does not cheat merchants.

Qin Keqing sent the eighth intelligence report from Lin'an, which was passed to Li Bao by Jin Bao and then handed over to Yue Yinping.

What unfolded was a piece of bamboo paper as thin as a cicada's wing. She wrote very little on it, even less than in the first letter:

"This is to be opened personally by Yue Yinping. The victory at Jiaoshan has temporarily secured our position, but Qin Hui will not let this go easily. Please instruct your men: if they encounter anyone claiming to be from Ding'an at the back gate of the mansion, remember to say that the missing corner of the copper coin is dead—he will naturally finish the sentence."

Yue Yinping frowned when she read the words "the back gate of the mansion is Ding'an".

He held the bamboo paper close to the torch to burn it, and only said one sentence to Li Bao: "This person who wrote the letter is more dangerous than any of us. She is either our sharpest knife or our deepest landmine."

Li Bao stubbed out his cigarette: "I heard Jin Bao say something like this: every piece of information that Sister Keqing writes back is true; she even stakes it on herself. I believe her."

Yue Yinping remained silent for a moment, then gripped the gun barrel. She said nothing more.

At this moment, Qin Keqing is meeting with the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard at the post station west of Lin'an City.

She briefly informed the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard of the latest developments from the old network of the gray-clad men and the Qin family's intelligence network that she had received over the past few months, and arranged for them to replace the messengers who had been exposed in the previous round, and switch the delivery route to a new path with the western stable as the hub.

After finishing these tasks, she returned to the small house in the side courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, where she wrote supplementary notes on the results of the battle in Zhenjiang on the last page of the booklet in charcoal, and marked the time when the messenger was replaced.

Her cat jumped down from the windowsill and rubbed its head against the back of her hand. She stared at the cat for a couple of moments before continuing to write.

Zhao Bocong received the battle report from Jiaoshan in Lin'an three days later.

Jinbao divided the battle report into three parts, which were then sent to Lin'an through three different channels.

Even if you manage to capture just one of the three messages, you can't piece together the complete battle situation.

After reading it, he placed the battle report on the table and remained silent for a long time.

Then he picked up his pen and wrote a line on the paper.

This line of text was not an order to anyone; it was just a sentence he said to himself.

"The Battle of Jiaoshan was not the final battle, but the beginning of the chessboard being overturned. Qin Hui has already lost Zhenjiang, and his next move will be to launch a counterattack in Lin'an."

He's going to start building his own power base.

On the tenth day of the fifth month of the twelfth year of Shaoxing, in Lin'an.

When news of the Battle of Jiaoshan reached Qin Hui's ears, it was a full day later than when Zhao Bocong heard of it.

This was not a delay in Qin Hui's intelligence network; on the contrary, Qin Hui had planted seven spies in Zhenjiang.

From the naval captain to the clerk in the prefectural government, every department could deliver the message to Lin'an within twelve hours.

But this time, all seven eyeliner lines broke at the same time.

Three of them were captured by Li Bao at Jiaoshan and detained together. Two of them were intercepted by Yue Yinping's veterans at Zhenjiang Wharf. One of them was recognized and controlled on the spot by the old troops of the rebel army from Jiangbei at Guazhou Ferry.

He was the last one to escape Zhenjiang, but was knocked unconscious with a club at a post station outside Lin'an. When he woke up, he found himself tied up in the post station's stable with his own waist token stuffed in his mouth.

The person who struck him on the head was a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard.

At 3:45 AM, Qin Keqing received a message from the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, delivered from the post station in the west of the city.

Qin Hui's spies have all been removed, and the one-way information window from Zhenjiang can be maintained for at least seven days.

During those seven days, Qin Hui was unaware of what had happened at Jiaoshan.

But this does not mean it is safe.

Qin Hui can be deduced without relying on informants.

A naval commander of the third rank led eight warships out of Zhenjiang and disappeared without a trace within five days; this very event itself constitutes intelligence.

He didn't need to know the specific battle situation at Jiaoshan; he only needed to know that Zheng Gangzhong hadn't returned.

Then he will start preparing for the worst.

Qin Keqing sat in the small room in the side courtyard and burned the wax paper that the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard had given her by the candlelight.

She picked up her pen and wrote a line in the booklet: "On the tenth day of the fifth month, Qin Hui's seven spies will be cut off. The information window will be open for seven days, after which a counterattack will surely follow."

After finishing writing, she closed the booklet and tapped the tabletop twice with her fingertips.

The cat looked up at her from the windowsill, its tail swaying in the moonlight.

"Seven days later, he will mobilize the Imperial City Guard." Qin Keqing said to the cat, as if talking to herself, "The Imperial City Guard has several hundred inspectors, distributed throughout the various wards of Lin'an."

If Qin Hui couldn't find a source of information in Zhenjiang, he would cast a wide net throughout Lin'an, searching every possible corner where someone might be colluding with the enemy.

The cat yawned.

Qin Keqing stood up, pushed open the door of the small house, and walked towards the study in the main courtyard.

The light in the study was still on.

Zhao Bozong sat at his desk, with a map of Lin'an city spread out in front of him, marked with more than a dozen red dots in vermilion.

Every connecting line extending from the Prince's Mansion was drawn on the map with fine strokes, densely packed like a spider web.

He looked up and saw Qin Keqing, then put down his pen.

"Miss Qin, your arrival is timely. I've already received the news from Zhenjiang. The battle at Jiaoshan was fought brilliantly, but Qin Hui won't sit idly by and wait for his doom. I'm thinking—"

"Your Highness," Qin Keqing interrupted him, "we need to re-examine all the communication lines before Qin Hui retaliates."

Once the Imperial City Guard begins a large-scale search, at least 30% of the existing dead letter drop-off points will be exposed.

The post station stable must be abandoned immediately; the Imperial Guard deputy has already been exposed.

Zhao Bozong looked at her.

"What have you already done?"

Qin Keqing sat down opposite him, took out the booklet from her sleeve, turned to the page marked with a bamboo hairpin, and spread it on the table.

"After the man in gray died, Qin Hui himself cleaned up the first layer of informants he directly controlled."

However, before the cleanup, I intercepted two of the trails: one for the deputy commander of the army stationed at the west post station, and another for a messenger from the direction of Xiuzhou.

These two lines of communication belonged to the second layer of the gray-clad men's intelligence network and had not been targeted by Qin Hui.

She turned to a page, which was filled with names and locations.

"I have ordered the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard to temporarily withdraw to Xiuzhou and reunite with Manager Wang."

The post station for dropping off dead letters at the Chengxi Post Station Stable will be abandoned starting tonight, and the back wall of the former Shunhe Tea Shop site in Wazi Lane will be used instead.

I haven't used that place for over half a year; Qin Hui's men won't be able to find it.

Zhao Bozong listened quietly, and then asked a question.

"Miss Qin, when you do these things, have you ever thought about one thing? Every line, every node, and every set of codes you lay out is itself an army."

Qin Keqing looked at him but did not answer immediately.

"In the battle of Jiaoshan, Li Bao and Yue Yinping won, but they only won on the water. Beneath the surface, Qin Hui's intelligence network was still operating."

Zhao Bocong stood up, walked to the map of Lin'an city on the wall, and pointed to the vermilion mark on the map.

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if one day, instead of Qin Hui searching for us, we were the ones searching for Qin Hui—?"