Let's have a pot of tea to satisfy our hunger.

On the outskirts of Beijing, by the lake.

Two bamboo chairs were placed side by side under the willow tree, and two fishing rods stretched diagonally towards the water.

The man in fine clothes sat on the left, his right leg stiffly placed on a footstool.

The man in black sat on the right, his straw hat pulled low, revealing only half of his chin.

Ouyang Ruiming, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and carrying a sword, stood behind the man in fine clothes, his gaze fixed on the water, as if watching a fishing float, or perhaps thinking about something else.

"Sir, Xu Xian has already located Qingzhou. Although Sun Buhai is dead, what about the mines..."

The man in the fine clothes tightened his grip on the fishing rod slightly. "Should we reschedule?"

The man in black did not turn his head, and the float remained motionless on the water.

"Your Highness is overthinking it. Sun Buhai is dead, so that connection is broken. I have already had people thoroughly clean Sun Buhai's house inside and out, and burned everything with writing on it. There will be no clues left."

"At most, Xu Xian only knew that there were people behind him, but he couldn't investigate any further. He was just a minor officer; his influence couldn't reach the Di Kingdom, and besides..."

He gently lifted the rod, and the fishing line drew a circle on the water's surface.

"Once Sun Buhai dies, he will bear all the blame: stealing the cold iron, colluding with the Di Kingdom, and silencing the governor—he did it all by himself. You and I are innocent."

"It's a pity that our business, which only accounts for 20% of our annual sales of cold iron, has been cut off so suddenly..."

The man in fine clothes suddenly lifted his fishing rod, and a palm-sized crucian carp was flung out of the water and thrashed wildly in the air.

He took the fish off the hook and held it in his hand, its tail slapping against the back of his hand.

"I have no choice but to apologize to the Khan. This Xu Xian is truly infuriating! A mere lowly bannerman, yet he has repeatedly ruined my plans! From the capital to Qingzhou, from tax silver to cold iron, he's a persistent nuisance!"

The man in black chuckled. "Your Highness, please wait a few months. You've endured for over a hundred years; in just a few months, the matter in Qingzhou will be resolved. What trouble can he possibly cause then?"

The richly dressed man threw the fish back into the lake, wiped his hands on his robe, and said nothing more.

Ouyang Ruiming stood behind him, his gaze shifting from the water to the hilt of his sword, lost in thought.

  

...

The next morning, Xu was dragged out of bed.

Hua Xi grabbed his collar with her two little hands and pulled him out forcefully. The turtle was perched on her head, its beady eyes staring at Xu Xian along with her own.

"Brother, you said you'd take me to the market! You said the candied fruit from Qingzhou is a hundred times better than what you get in the capital!"

Xu Xian kept his eyes closed as she pulled him a couple of steps before he opened one eye.

"What time is it now?"

"It's Chen Shi (7-9 AM)! The sun's already shining on a tortoise's shell!"

Hua Xi dragged him towards the door, "Hurry up! I asked my brother from the Inspection Department yesterday, and he said there's a candied fruit shop in the west of the city that's been open for decades. The shop's signboard is called Yue Ji Lao Hao, and the sugar coating on their candied dates is as thick as a fingernail!"

Xu Xian was dragged to the door by her. He glanced back at the tortoise lying on the table, and then at the lively Hua Xi.

The little girl who was curled up in bed with a pale face last night seemed like a completely different person.

Children really do have a strong ability to recover.

He reached out and took the tortoise off Hua Xi's head, placing it on the table. He flicked her forehead and said, "Let me change my clothes. If you drag me out like this, the neighbors will think my house has been ransacked."

...

Hua Xi dragged Xu Xian from the west side of the city to the east side, eating all day long.

Back at the inn in the evening, Xu Xian slumped into a chair and rubbed his stomach.

Yang Xu leaned against the doorframe, twirling a copper coin in his hand, and watched him with amusement.

"This is the first time I've seen someone get so carried away by their younger sister."

Xu Xian pointed to the pile of oil paper packages on the table, "Go and eat one and you'll see. She dragged me into four pastry shops, three candied fruit shops, two candied hawthorn stalls, and a mutton soup restaurant. Now even my burps taste sweet."

The next day, the two went for a stroll around Qingping Mountain outside the city.

Hua Xi chased a wild rabbit on the mountain path for a long time, but in the end she didn't catch the rabbit. The tortoise fell out of her arms and rolled into the grass. She then lay in the grass and searched for the tortoise for a long time.

Xu Xian sat on the rock and looked at her, and couldn't help but marvel at how the little girl had endless energy.

On the third day, we continued exploring restaurants and enjoying the scenery.

On the fourth day, the two returned from playing outside Qingzhou City. Hua Xi was holding two candied hawthorns in her hand, and the tortoise was perched on her shoulder, looking around.

As Mr. Xu was carrying large and small bags of snack boxes, he passed by a secluded alley. He had already walked past it when he suddenly turned back and looked into the alley.

A dozen or so children were gathered deep in the alley. They were all thin and dressed in tattered clothes covered with patches. Some of them were barefoot, with mud between their toes.

They were surrounding a bald man squatting on the ground. The man had delicate features and was chuckling as he pulled steamed buns out of a large bundle and handed them out to the children one by one.

After distributing the steamed buns, he took out a handful of loose silver from his bundle and stuffed it into each child's hand, muttering something as he did so.

"Spend wisely, don't buy all the candy at once. Last time I gave you two ounces, and you spent it all in less than three days, so don't take too much this time."

The child whose name was called chuckled and clutched the loose silver coins tightly.

Xu Xian led Hua Xi into the alley. The children looked over and saw the sword at his waist, and at the same time shrank back.

The bald man noticed the children's unusual behavior, turned around, saw Xu Xian, paused for a moment, then stood up, limped over, and grinned.

"Xu Xiaoqi, we meet again."

"Have we met before?"

The cripple shook his head. "Xu Xiaoqi did a great job in Kyoto, which pleased the people and made him famous. I've seen Xiaoqi from afar."

Xu Xian glanced at the group of ragged children behind him, then at the bundle in his hand that still contained a few steamed buns. "You stole this?"

"Yes, and not entirely. Stealing is a hobby of mine, and I can't change it."

The bald, lame man shoved the last steamed bun in his hand into the hands of a snotty-nosed little girl next to him, then wiped his hands on his pants.

"Helping these kids was just a side thing. Every time I finished stealing and passed by this alley, I'd see them squatting here crying from hunger, so I'd buy them some food and share it with them. Later, I realized that just sharing food wasn't enough, so I started sharing the silver..."

Xu Xian paused for a moment, then said, "If someone reports this to the authorities, I'll arrest you."

"If Xu Xiaoqi wants to arrest me, it will be quite difficult..."

The cripple chuckled softly, then suddenly his figure swayed.

Xu Xian instinctively raised his hand to block, but he couldn't block anything. Three neatly folded pieces of paper were already slapped into his arms.

The bald, lame man had retreated back to the children, bent down and patted the head of a little boy who was eating a steamed bun.

"I took it from Sun Buhai's house, and hid it very well. I thought it was a bank note, but when I opened it, it was just a few pieces of waste paper. I was so happy for nothing. I'm giving it to you now, as a way of... doing good deeds."

Xu Xian glanced down at the signature on the last line of the paper, then suddenly looked up.

The children in the alley were still eating steamed buns, but the bald, lame man was gone.

Hua Xi held his hand, somewhat surprised, "Brother, Big Baldy is so fast, I can't even catch up with him."

Xu was stunned for a moment.

He knew Hua Xi's abilities; even she said she couldn't catch up. That cripple casually flashed past him, clearly no ordinary thief.

He looked down at the paper in his hand again.

Three yellowed mulberry bark papers, densely covered with writing.

The first document is a list detailing the dates, quantities, transport vehicle numbers, and recipients of the cold iron intercepted from the mine... it's very detailed.

The second document is a draft letter that has not yet been sent; the heading is that of a government office in the capital.

The third one has a vermilion seal at the bottom.

Upon seeing the signature on the seal, his pupils contracted sharply, and his expression gradually darkened.

Hua Xi stood on tiptoe to look at his face. The turtle poked its head out from her shoulder, its beady eyes glancing at the paper.

...

In the evening, at the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment venue).

The beaded curtains were half-rolled up in the private room on the second floor.

Xu Xian and Yang Xu sat facing each other at a nanmu wood table by the window, the table cold and deserted.

Yang Xu rolled up his sleeves and slammed his hand on the table.

"Waiter! Bring on the food and wine! And please, have a pot of tea to fill your stomach first!"

The servant was carrying a tea tray when he heard this. He paused for a moment, and his lips twitched.

"Sir, you are quite particular about cleanliness. The girls have done their job well; they won't be able to stop crying from the fumes."