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

Qin Keqing lowered the window paper, turned to look at Xiao Bieli, and pointed outside the window. "The alleyway."

Xiao Bieli nodded and pushed open the door. He walked along the wall into the depths of the alley, his steps extremely light, and his knife remained unsheathed.

The secret sentries of the Imperial City Guard must be eliminated, but no blood must be shed. Bloodshed would be tantamount to giving Qin Hui a legitimate reason to search Xiuzhou.

It was too late when the beggar squatting in the corner of the alley heard the noise behind him.

Xiao Bieli struck him behind the ear with a palm strike, and the man groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Bieli dragged him into the shadows of the alley behind the teahouse, tied his hands and feet with his own belt, stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth, and threw him into a broken bamboo basket piled with miscellaneous items. He didn't make a sound that could be heard at the alley entrance the whole time.

The second sentry on the opposite building from the coffin shop was even more vigilant.

The man saw the commotion at the alley entrance from the window and turned to blow his whistle, but Xiao Bieli had already climbed over the wall of the neighboring courtyard onto the attic where he rented a room. He moved like a shadow against the wall, one hand gripping his throat and the other pressing on the iron ruler at his waist, striking him on the back of the neck with a palm strike.

The second person also collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Bieli tied him up, gagged him, and stuffed him under the bed. Then he looked out the window. In the alley, only the wind blew through the fallen leaves. No one noticed that the two hidden sentry posts had been cut off.

When Xiao Bieli returned to the teahouse, Qin Keqing had already helped Manager Wang to his feet.

"Both problems have been resolved, but we can't stay in Xiuzhou for long. The Imperial City Guard will eventually discover that the sentries have gone missing, and by then, they will have sent more than five people."

Qin Keqing helped Manager Wang reinforce the splint on his left arm, and then together they quickly cleaned up the residue in the backyard of the tea shop and coffin shop.

All evidence that could be used by Tian Ruyi for reverse deduction was disposed of on the spot.

At dawn, she found the representatives of the seven clansmen who had been relocated and conveyed the evacuation order to them in person.

No one asked why. They had been helping in Xiuzhou for more than half a year, and they knew this day would come sooner or later from the first letter from the Imperial Clan Court regarding the verification of land ownership.

Two of the seven representatives were elderly and volunteered to stay and "look after their homes." Their household registrations and land holdings were genuine, and the Imperial City Bureau could not find anything wrong with them.

The other five households packed their valuables overnight and dispersed according to the routes arranged by Qin Keqing.

Qin Keqing personally drew all the evacuation routes on a piece of paper, memorized them three times after drawing them, and then burned the paper.

The carriages that had been withdrawing from Xiuzhou to Lin'an set off early the next morning.

Qin Keqing arranged for three old felt carriages, completely covered up, to carry Manager Wang, representatives of the five evacuation households, and the remaining medicinal materials and supplies, to leave the city in batches along different city gates and country roads.

She and Xiao Bieli rode in the same blue cloth carriage they had come in, bringing up the rear in the last carriage.

Qin Keqing sat in the car and opened the well-worn booklet, checking and canceling all the evacuation records of key personnel on the Xiuzhou liaison line.

Then she turned to the last blank page and wrote a line in charcoal:

"On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Xiuzhou line was withdrawn. Seven households of the imperial clan were safely transferred. Manager Wang was seriously injured. Two secret sentries of the Imperial City Guard were dismissed. The window of contact can be maintained until the second day of the first lunar month at the latest. Tian Ruyi came to Xiuzhou. He can find out more than we expected."

She closed the booklet, unscrewed the bamboo hairpin, and stuffed the original paper copy of the Xiuzhou evacuation plan into it. The hairpin already contained four pieces of paper.

The carriage was quiet for a moment, then Xiao Bieli spoke.

"This Tian Ruyi knows a lot of things he shouldn't know. What are you planning to do now?"

"He will settle accounts with Qin Hui, but not tonight." Qin Keqing closed the booklet. "Tonight is New Year's Eve."

It was already broad daylight when the carriage left the Xiuzhou boundary marker.

A few sporadic firecrackers sounded from a distant village. Qin Keqing lifted the carriage curtain and glanced back. The outline of Xiuzhou city grew smaller and smaller in the thin winter fog, eventually shrinking into a gray shadow.

"Let's go." Xiao Bieli's voice came from inside the carriage. "Your sister is still waiting for you in Lin'an for the New Year."

"...Not my sister."

Xiao Bieli paused for a rare moment. "Yes, it's Miss Shen. I misspoke."

Qin Keqing lowered the carriage curtain and turned her face to the other side.

......

On the morning of New Year's Eve, a thin layer of snow fell on Lin'an City. When the sound of firecrackers rang out sporadically on the Imperial Street, Xiao Jinluo had already been squatting at the entrance of the Osmanthus Cake Shop for a full half hour.

Shen Qingci held her hand and counted the wood grain on the door panel to pass the time.

When the shop opened, she stood on tiptoe and placed three coins on the counter—"Four coins." She held up four fingers and said, "It's a holiday today, so I'll buy one more."

The proprietress smiled and wrapped up an extra piece of cake, and Shen Qingci paid the rest of the money.

On the way back from the shop, Xiao Jinluo, while eating cake, suddenly asked, "Sister Shen, will my brother and the others be coming back today?"

"Yes."

"That's good." Xiao Jinluo lifted the plush rabbit in her arms, letting the rabbit smell the sweet aroma of the cake. "Brother said he'd come back for New Year's Eve dinner, and he definitely will."

I can tell when he's lying immediately. Yesterday he said he'd tell me later, but that wasn't a lie; it just meant he'd tell me later.

Shen Qingci held her hand without saying a word, but walked even faster.

After they returned home, they lit the stove fire very brightly and stacked the steamers very high. Aunt Li was busy in the kitchen all day long, and the New Year's Eve dinner was laid out on a table full of food.

Xiao Jinluo kept watching from the doorway.

As dusk fell, Zhao Bocong came out of the study and saw Xiao Jinluo sleeping on the table, hugging the straw pony and still holding chopsticks in her hand.

Shen Qingci insisted on waiting to deliver the straw-woven pony to His Highness. When Xiao Bieli handed it to her, she carefully wrapped the pony in a handkerchief and placed it on the table in the main hall.

The handkerchief she embroidered was pressed down on the corner of the table, with the character "sister" crookedly embroidered on it.

At exactly 9:00 PM, someone knocked on the back gate of the Prince of Puan's residence.

When Qin Keqing pushed open the door, she brought with her the chill of the December night wind. Xiao Bieli followed behind her, his clothes soaked with sweat.

Zhao Bozong stood under the corridor watching them, without saying "Thank you for your hard work," but turned and took two steps toward the study, then turned back and said, "There are dumplings warming up on the stove, go and eat some first."

Xiao Jinluo was startled awake by the sound of the door opening and ran out of the main hall, rubbing her eyes.

She stopped in front of Xiao Bieli. He had a new scratch on his face, and his cotton-padded jacket was covered in dirt and tea leaves.

She pouted, grabbed her sleeve and wiped the dirt off his face, then pulled him into the main hall.

"Brother, please sit down. We have braised fish today. His Highness had extra vinegar added because you like it with lots of vinegar."

When Xiao Bieli was dragged into the main hall by Xiao Jinluo, Shen Qingci was just putting the last plate of dumplings on the table.

She looked up and saw his face, her brows furrowing slightly, but she didn't ask anything. She simply set out an extra set of chopsticks and bowls, then pushed the vinegar pot towards him.

Qin Keqing did not go to the main hall. Instead, she sat alone on the edge of the bed in the side courtyard hut, checking all the documents and evacuation records one last time by the dim candlelight of New Year's Eve.

The cat jumped down from the windowsill and rubbed its head against the back of her hand.

She looked down at the cat, then suddenly picked up a piece of osmanthus cake that she had brought from the main hall and broke it in half.

She put half in her mouth and placed the other half on the windowsill. After doing this, she continued writing with her head down.

It's a plan for tomorrow; we'll think about next year later.

In the main hall, Xiao Jinluo leaned against her brother, hugging her plush rabbit, and sighed contentedly. "Brother, this year's Lunar New Year was the happiest I've ever had."

Why?

"Because there are so many people." She held up her fingers and counted them one by one, "Sister Shen, Your Highness, Sister Qin, Rabbit—and you."

Suddenly, a burst of firecrackers rang out outside the window, drowning out all the talking in the courtyard. Xiao Bieli looked down at his sister's face for a long time.

"Aro," he said, "Happy New Year."

Xiao Jinluo raised her head, a smile appearing on her round face, her dimples reflecting the candlelight.

Happy New Year, brother. I hope you'll have a good year ahead.