The study was pitch black.
Occasional faint rays of light from the lanterns in the crowd outside shone into the room.
Using this dim light and her extraordinary memory, Gong Xiaohua quickly surveyed every corner of the study, analyzing swiftly to discover anomalies in several areas.
Gong Xiaohua investigated each of these unusual spots, finally discovering several secret letters and an account book left on the desk in a hidden compartment of a bookshelf.
The cover of the account book was titled "History of Dai Prefecture". The first dozen or so pages were just like the real historical text, but after those pages, it became abnormal, recording where massive amounts of silver had gone from the county government over the past few years, including disaster relief and tax revenues.
The reason Gong Xiaohua discovered it was because the book cover looked new, but the bottom right corner was slightly curled.
If it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn't have noticed anything unusual about the book.
Too bad for him, he was up against Gong Xiaohua, a super spy from the modern era. She was destined to end his life.
For the magistrate to leave such an important account book sitting out on his desk showed that he was not only extremely bold, but also very clever.
Suddenly, voices were heard from outside.
"Sir."
"Did you find anything abnormal in there?"
"Reporting sir, nothing abnormal detected."
Then the sound of the door opening could be heard, and Gong Xiaohua immediately leapt onto the ceiling beam.
The person who entered was a middle-aged man with a beard, medium build, somewhat gaunt.
He held up a lantern, first inspecting the place where Gong Xiaohua had found the letters and ledger, and saw that they had not been disturbed.
Still holding up the lantern, he looked around all the corners of the room, also not noticing anything amiss.
Relieved, he tidied up his disheveled clothes and walked out the door.
"Guard this place well. If anything is missing, I won't let you see tomorrow's sun."
"Yes sir."
Gong Xiaohua had already put the letters and ledger back where she found them and restored the markings the man had left as soon as she heard the voices outside.
After he had gone far away, Gong Xiaohua took out the letters and ledger again and put them inside her clothes.
The study was sealed tight on all sides, with the door as the only exit.
Coming to the door, she softly meowed, "Meow."
Outside, one of the men asked, "Did you hear a sound from inside the room?"
The other man pressed his ear against the door but didn't hear anything.
"What sound? You must be tired and confused."
"Could I really have misheard?" Just as he finished speaking, another meow sounded.
The two men looked at each other in surprise. It really was a cat's mew.
"Could it be Lady Xiaohua's cat got into the study again? You stand guard here, I'll go check inside." Saying this, he pushed open the door and walked in.
Gong Xiaohua hid behind the door. When the man was almost at the desk, in an instant she clamped her hand over his mouth, and with her other hand struck him unconscious with a blow.
The man outside, seeing his partner hadn't emerged for some time, called in, "Did you find the cat?"
With no response, he called again, still no response.
Then he also stepped into the room, walked a few steps, and discovered his partner lying limp on the ground. Realizing something was wrong, just as he was about to yell for help, Gong Xiaohua took him out as well.
Then she swiftly left the study, closing the door behind her, still wearing the guard's clothes she had stripped off earlier, and blended into the crowd.
Amidst the chaos as the mansion was put on fire alert, she successfully slipped out of the county government compound and rendezvoused with Xiao Fu.
"Master, did you find any clues?"
"Mm, now's not the time for talking. Let's go, or we won't be able to leave later."
Xiao Fu didn't say any more, following behind Gong Xiaohua as they swiftly melted into the night, speeding swiftly toward the city gate.
But they weren't so lucky this time. Because as soon as Gong Xiaohua left the county offices and met up with Xiao Fu, the anomaly in the study was discovered in the mansion.
So the magistrate immediately ordered the entire city locked down and searched.
When Gong Xiaohua and Xiao Fu reached the city gate, they discovered the area around the gate was now patrolled by many more guards.
"Master, what do we do now?"
Looking at the crisscrossing patrols in front of them with no gaps, it was impossible to scale the walls now.
"Let's go back to the county offices."
"Huh? Master, you're joking right?" Xiao Fu asked in surprise.
"Haven't you heard, the most dangerous place is also the safest place."
"Forgive my stupidity Master, but I have not heard that saying before. Which book is it from?"
"I'm saying it. Remember it, this is the first life lesson your Master is teaching you. Contemplate it yourself when you have time."
"Oh? Alright, thank you for the guidance Master."
Gong Xiaohua looked at her disciple, two years her junior, with a completely confused look on his silly face.
"You're welcome. Let's go, if you can't figure it out, keep thinking about it later."
"Oh."
The return trip was much harder, but not impossible.
And so the two concealed themselves in a hidden corner again, knocked out a guard who came out to relieve himself, disguised themselves, and went back into the county offices.
Most of the guards in the compound had been sent out to search, so security inside was now quite lax.
Taking advantage of the sparse numbers, Gong Xiaohua and Xiao Fu brazenly entered the county offices, even sneaking some cooked food from the kitchen, and lay low in the most remote area.
No one would have imagined the people they were desperately searching for were hiding right under their noses in the county government.
"Master, I think I understand a little of what you meant by that saying now."
They had already stayed hidden in the county offices for two days and nights, and still no one had discovered them.
When he got bored or hungry, he could even sneak out for a stroll, then go to the kitchen to filch some food to bring back.
He realized his Master truly was a Master, with an ingenious mind.
"Mm, your comprehension ability is not bad, keep up the hard work."
"Oh Master, when do you think I'll be able to fully learn all your skills?"
"Hmm, let me think... For that, you'd probably have to crawl back into your mother's womb and be remade from scratch."
"Huh? Master, you're saying I'll never have the chance in my lifetime?"
"Oh what? Get some rest soon, we can leave at first light tomorrow."
Outside the city gate.
Yu Wei paced back and forth anxiously, while constantly gazing toward the city gate.
Seeing Lord Li sitting there steadily with no hint of anxiety on his face, he couldn't help asking: "Sir, Xiaohua has been gone two days already with no return, could something have happened to her?"
Lord Li opened his eyes and said, "Don't worry. The city gates being shut means they haven't found what they're looking for in the county offices. They're safe for now."
"But this can't go on. Keeping the gates closed indefinitely, sooner or later they'll be caught."
"What we need to do now is be patient and wait. We must believe Xiaohua will return safely. It's late, you all get some rest and conserve your energy."
"Yes sir." Forming a triangle formation with the other two escorts, they surrounded Lord Li in the middle as each rested with eyes closed.
Lord Li gazed ahead. In his heart he thought, "Xiaohua, you must not have any mishaps."
Time slowly trickled by as the sky gradually brightened.
A swooshing sword sound split the air, instantly jolting Yu Wei awake. He saw a flash of silver light shooting straight at Lord Li's chest.
Then an androgynous voice rang out from above.
"Haha, finally found you!"
