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

The snow stopped on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Xiao Bieli got up at dawn.

Footsteps came from the other end of the corridor, and Xin Qizong limped over, leaning on the old gun barrel he had brought from the old camp in the southern suburbs.

His left leg aggravated an old injury on the night of the 28th of the twelfth lunar month.

"Xiao Xianfeng," Xin Qizong sat down on the corridor railing, resting his gun barrel across his lap, "there's something I need to tell you."

"explain."

"Tian Ruyi's thatched cottage has been found."

Twenty li upstream from the Qiantang River, beside a wild ferry crossing called Baisha Ferry, I sent two fast horses to fetch you, only to find the thatched hut already empty.

Xiao Bieli's brows furrowed slightly. "When did you get free?"

"It looks like it's been empty for at least half a month. The ashes in the stove have all clumped together, the rice jar is empty, and most of the books on the table have been moved away."

But there were a few things on the wall: a map of Lin'an city, with at least a dozen locations marked in cinnabar, several of which were our drop-off points for the suicide notes, and a name.

Xin Qizong took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and spread it on the corridor railing.

The paper had a name written on it: Qin Keqing.

"There's another line of smaller print below," Xin Qizong said, tracing the name with his finger.

"The gauze lantern at the back gate of the Qin residence is out; this woman must be inside. Tian Ruyi discovered Miss Qin's identity half a month ago."

Xiao Bieli stood up, his other hand, which was gripping the hilt of the bamboo-sheathed sword, had turned white.

"Does she know about this?"

"I haven't had a chance to tell her yet." Xin Qizong's voice deepened. "Yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, she reviewed all the evacuation records of Xiuzhou by herself, and then received news from the palace. She stayed up all night. I couldn't bear to add another worry to her mind."

"But she'll find out sooner or later," Xiao Bieli said. "If Tian Ruyi finds out her identity, it's the same as Qin Hui finding out sooner or later."

The Imperial City Guard now has someone who can piece together fragments of intelligence to form a complete battle plan; this person may know more than he realizes.

"That's why I've come to tell you." Xin Qizong leaned on the old gun barrel to stand up, his left leg slightly limping.

"Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. According to custom, the Imperial City Guard will not make any major moves, but it's hard to say what will happen after the third day of the Lunar New Year."

"I have already instructed Ma Zhong to upgrade the standby level of the rapid response team at the old camp in the southern suburbs by one level. Starting tonight, at least twelve men will be on duty every night, and each man will have his horse ready at the camp gate, so they can enter the city in a quarter of an hour."

Xiao Bieli nodded, turned and went into the room, and pulled out the broken bamboo-scabbard knife from under the bed.

Xin Qizong stood in the corridor watching him finish wiping the knife, and suddenly asked a question.

"Xiao Xianfeng, today is the second day of the Lunar New Year, what are your plans?"

"Have some dumplings with my sister." Xiao Bieli sheathed his knife. "Starting tomorrow, clean everyone's knives."

Xin Qizong's lips twitched slightly, then he propped up his gun barrel and walked away.

At the end of the corridor, Xiao Jinluo finally finished combing her hair and ran out of the house, holding up a plush rabbit and saying to Xiao Bieli, "Brother, don't you think my hairstyle looks especially good today?"

Xiao Bieli looked down and saw that her hair was combed crookedly, and the red ribbon was tied in a tight knot, obviously she had combed it herself in front of the water vat.

"nice."

......

The third day of the Lunar New Year.

There was an unwritten rule in the officialdom of Lin'an: from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year, no political affairs were discussed; officials only paid New Year's visits, ate banquets, and visited relatives.

Eleven years after the Shaoxing era, Qin Hui took this rule to the extreme. Every year from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year, the Qin Mansion's gates were kept tightly closed, and no visiting cards were accepted. Even Wan Qixie could only slip a New Year's greeting card under the door and leave.

But this year is different.

Early on the third day of the Lunar New Year, the gauze lanterns at the back gate of the Qin residence were lit again.

Footsteps echoed all night in the narrow alley behind the back gate. People came and went in plain clothes, not on horseback or in sedan chairs, all walking with their heads down, as if they were hiding from something.

The message that Feng Yi sent from Deshou Palace was only one sentence: "Qin Hui met with five groups of people today, the first of whom was Dong Xian."

Zhao Bozong was organizing documents in his study when he received the news.

He neatly stacked the copper boxes one by one, put them in the tin cabinet in the corner, locked it, and then handed the key to Liu An.

"If I don't come back this afternoon, give the key to Miss Qin. She knows what to do."

Liu An took the key, his fingers tightening on the cold bronze surface. "Where is Your Highness going?"

"Go to the Ministry of Personnel to offer New Year's greetings." Zhao Bocong stood up and straightened the cuffs of his imperial robes. "According to court custom, members of the imperial family should go to the Ministry of Personnel on the third day of the first lunar month to offer New Year's greetings to the prime minister."

"After the eleventh year of the Shaoxing era, Qin Hui abolished this rule, but I didn't abolish it. I could choose not to go, or I could go; this year, I've decided to go."

Liu An stood there, gripping the key handle, speechless.

He was a guard in the Prince's mansion and one of Zhao Bozong's most trusted henchmen in Lin'an City.

For twelve years since Shaoxing, he had shielded Zhao Bocong from spies of the Imperial City Guard, delivered Qin Keqing's secret letters, and received Xiao Jinluo's rag doll rabbit at the city gate. But never before had he felt as keenly as he did now that the knife in his hand was not fast enough.

"Your Highness, what if Qin Hui—"

"He won't touch me in the Ministry of Personnel. It's a rule set by Emperor Taizu that members of the imperial clan are not subject to arrest in the Ministry of Personnel."

Qin Hui hasn't changed this rule to this day because the Emperor is still alive, the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs is still alive, and the Emperor Taizu's memorial tablet is still enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Zhao Bozong hung the jade sword at his waist and paused as he stepped across the threshold of the study.

"If he really intends to make a move against me in the Ministry of Personnel, you don't need to be polite. After all, we also have three knives at our disposal."

The three knives Zhao Bozong mentioned were Xin Qizong's 36-man rapid response squad in the old camp in the southern suburbs, the death message drop point in Lin'an City after Qin Keqing's reorganization, and the knife that the Empress Dowager had kept hidden in Cining Palace for sixteen years before finally drawing its sheath.

None of the three knives were in the Ministry of Personnel, but they were all in Qin Hui's blind spot.

As I stepped out of the palace gates, it started snowing again.

The snow in January wasn't heavy, but it was very dense, like crushed salt hitting people's faces.

Zhao Bocong covered half of his face with his sleeve, walked quickly across the Imperial Street, and headed towards the Ministry of Personnel.

When officials who recognized him saw him coming, they quickly made way for him, their whispers hushed in the snow.

"Is the Prince of Puan going to the Ministry of Personnel?"

"Wasn't it said that members of the royal family no longer need to pay New Year's visits? —"

"Why did he suddenly come this year?"

Zhao Bocong ignored the noise. He stopped in front of the main gate of the Ministry of Personnel, straightened his clothes, and then said something to the gatekeeper.

"Prince Zhao Bocong of Puan County, in accordance with ancestral custom, sends New Year's greetings to the Prime Minister."

The clerk hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran inside to report. He emerged in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, his face grim: "Your Highness, please come in. The Prime Minister is in the signing room."

Qin Hui's office was very large, and behind his desk hung a calligraphy scroll that read, "It is easy to bind a tiger, but difficult to release it."

When Zhao Bocong entered, Qin Hui was sitting behind his desk reviewing documents, with two people standing in front of him.

A middle-aged scholar in a blue robe and a military general with a scar on his face.

The general's scar ran diagonally from his forehead to his chin; it was deep, as if it had been made by a blunt knife.

Zhao Bocong recognized him.