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

Qin Keqing raised her head and looked at Xin Qizong, her eyes showing a slight hesitation.

"Zhu Fu was the last transport commissioner accompanying Yue Fei's army. In December of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei was imprisoned, and the transport commissioner was one of the last Yue Fei's army organizations to be eliminated by Qin Hui."

If Zhijia hid the list of military contacts in the transport department's ledger, Zhu Fuzhen might be the only one who knew where the ledger was.

"Where is this person now?" Zhao Bocong asked.

"I don't know," Xin Qizong shook his head.

"He disappeared after the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Shaoxing."

Xin Qizong continued, "Some say he returned to his hometown in Jiangxi, some say he was exiled, and others say he changed his name and started doing business in the Ezhou area."

However, there is one clue: after Yue Shaobao's death, all the transport department's account books were confiscated by the Privy Council, except for one box of account books that disappeared the night before the confiscation.

Qin Hui ordered an investigation that lasted for six months, but they couldn't find him, and the matter was eventually dropped.

If Zhijia's list of military contacts is indeed hidden in that ledger, then Zhu Fu is the second key we're looking for.

Only after activation can the full view of the "Center Line" be displayed.

Qin Keqing has already written down the new task line in the booklet.

Li Bao searched for Zhu Fu's whereabouts along the Han River as he traveled north. Yue Yinping conducted an internal investigation among the veterans around Xiangyang. In the direction of Ezhou, Zhao Bocong accessed the old archives of the Transport Department through the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.

The final step, once Zhu Fu's location is confirmed, is for Xiao Bieli to personally go and meet him. Because Xiao Bieli was originally a vanguard officer, he can identify which numbers in the transport department's ledgers are the actual quantities of grain and which are information from Yue Fei's old troops that Zhi Jia has coded into the ledgers using numerical codes.

After the meeting on the twelfth day of the first lunar month ended, Xiao Bieli returned to his small house alone.

The room was dark, with only one lamp lit. Xiao Jinluo was asleep, lying on the table, still holding a blade of grass in her hand, obviously weaving something with the dry grass again.

As Xiao Bieli carried his younger sister to bed, she instinctively tugged at his sleeve in her sleep. "Brother, today Sister Shen asked me what our family used to be like."

Xiao Bieli was silent for a moment. "What did you say?"

"I said I forgot, but I didn't. I just can't draw it." Xiao Jinluo pulled the blanket over her face, her voice muffled from under the covers.

"Brother, let's go back to Xihe after the war is over, okay?"

"Xihe is gone."

"Then let's go to Jiaozhou." Xiao Jinluo peeked half her face out from under the covers. "Sister Qin said there are fish in Jiaozhou. She lived in Jiaozhou when she was a child."

Xiao Bieli remained silent and did not respond.

He tucked the blanket back in, which his sister had kicked askew, placed the plush rabbit next to the pillow, and then stood up and walked to the window.

The moon outside the window was obscured by clouds, leaving only a crescent-shaped hook. Jiaozhou was too far away. To get from Lin'an to Jiaozhou, one had to travel across most of the Song Dynasty, passing through Jinghu North Road and Kuizhou Road, before finally reaching Jiaozhou in Chengdu Prefecture.

There were checkpoints of the Imperial City Guard along the way, Qin Hui's spies, and Jin spies.

But at this moment, his sister said, "Let's go to Jiaozhou after the war is over," and he did not reply as usual, "Let's talk about it after the war is over."

He reached into his sleeve and touched the faded red rope.

"Okay," he said.

Xiao Jinluo was already asleep, but a faint smile appeared on her face.

At the same time, Qin Keqing sat in the small house in the side courtyard, with a cat curled up on her lap, dozing off.

She had finished transcribing all the minutes from today's meeting, but she didn't close the book; Zhijia's two pages kept swirling in her mind.

"The wooden bird has three wings: one wing in the capital, one wing in the field, and one wing in the army."

The capital is Lin'an, the wilderness is Xiangyang, and the army is Ezhou.

These three wings correspond to three lists. The list from Lin'an is in Zhao Bocong's hands, and the seven copper coins with missing corners are the seven keys.

The list of soldiers is in Ezhou, and it is very likely hidden in the old archives of the Transport Office. The "Zhu Zi Ling" that activated it points to Zhu Fu.

The list of Ye is in Xiangyang. Yue Yinping may know something, or she may not. This means that before Zhijia went to prison, he had already divided the intelligence network of Yue Family Army's old troops into three separate lines.

Even if one is breached, the other two can still operate independently. The communication lines and death message drop points that Qin Keqing laid out on her own between May and September of the twelfth year of Shaoxing have actually covered the core nodes of these three wings without anyone noticing.

She didn't build the network from scratch; instead, she reactivated the old lines that were scattered around the world, one by one.

When Zhijia led her from the side courtyard of the Qin family to the path of intelligence four years ago, he may have already foreseen this step.

......

The fifteenth day of the first month of the thirteenth year of Shaoxing was the Lantern Festival.

The city of Lin'an began to bustle with activity from the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

The Imperial Street was lined with lanterns of all colors, including rabbit lanterns, lotus lanterns, and revolving lanterns, stretching from Yongjin Gate all the way to Lizheng Gate.

The acrobatic troupe in Wazi Lane set up a new stage, and the storyteller in Xihefang turned Yue Fei's last words into a riddle. Those who guessed correctly could get a lantern with the words "Serve the country with utmost loyalty".

But to Zhao Bozong, this lively atmosphere was like a thin layer of sugar coating.

Beneath the sugar coating, the number of Imperial City Guards' inspectors was twice as many as usual. They weren't wearing uniforms and mingled among the crowds of people watching the lanterns, pretending to be ordinary citizens enjoying the lanterns.

The newly transferred hunting dogs from the Imperial City Guard were also led out onto the street for the first time tonight, silently weaving through the crowd by plainclothes officers.

Xiao Bieli bid farewell to Zhao Bozong that evening.

He received a handwritten reply from Xin Yue Yinping in Xiangyang two days ago.

He wrote only one line: "The bell tower of Baima Temple has been spied on by unidentified individuals. The liaison point in the suburbs is still safe. We urgently need a messenger who can independently identify the markings."

After reading the letter, Xiao Bieli remained silent for a moment, then went to the kitchen to find Xiao Jinluo, who was helping Aunt Li make glutinous rice balls.

"A-Luo, I need to go to Xiangyang."

The glutinous rice ball in Xiao Jinluo's hand fell into the glutinous rice flour with a thud. She bent down, picked it up, patted off the flour, and carefully sealed it. Only then did she speak, "How long will it take?"

"It could take as little as a month, or as long as two or three months."

"It takes longer than going to Xiuzhou."

"Um."

Xiao Jinluo didn't say anything more. She placed the glutinous rice ball in her hand on the bamboo tray, picked up a new dough sheet, and scooped a spoonful of sesame filling into it.

But her hands were shaking, and she squeezed the dough too tightly, causing the filling to spill out from the seal.

"elder brother."

"Um."

"Could you take me with you when you go to Xiangyang this time?"

Xiao Bieli remained silent for a moment. He squatted down, used his rough hands to roll up Xiao Jinluo's sleeve, which was covered in glutinous rice flour, and then used the cuff to wipe the white powder off the tip of her nose.

He had done this countless times, from the Jin camp to the road of exile, from Guazhou Ferry to Lin'an. Every time Xiao Jinluo got dirty, he would squat down like this and wipe her face with his sleeve.

"Xiangyang is very cold, colder than Lin'an."

"I'm not afraid of the cold."

"There are Imperial City Guard checkpoints along the way."

"I know how to pretend to be mute." Xiao Jinluo placed the last glutinous rice ball on the bamboo tray, wiped her hands clean, and then reached out to grab Xiao Bieli's clothes.

When she looked up, there were no tears in her eyes, only something she had learned since she was five years old in the Jin camp: not crying did not mean she was not sad.

"Brother, every time you say 'I'll tell you later,' you end up doing something very dangerous. Last time you said you'd tell me later, but you went to Dali Temple to find me. This time you said you'd tell me later, so I won't ask anymore. But you have to promise me one thing: no matter how cold Xiangyang is, you have to come back alive."

Xiao Bieli lowered his head and looked at his sister's face for a long time.

"……good."