Yuan Long's and Lei An's eyes lit up. They had been ready to leave for the eastern frontier for a long time.

Yuan Long said, "Just give the word, my lord prince, and the Ning'an Army can march anytime."

Lei An chimed in right after him. "My lord prince, the grain and fodder were gathered long ago. Nothing will hold us up."

Ning Chen gave a slight nod.

Yuan Long and Lei An had never let him down. He could always count on them.

"Yuan Long, Lei An, get ready... Three days from now, at the hour of the Rabbit, the army sets out."

The two answered as one: "This officer takes the order!"

Then the three of them got down to discussing the march and how to attack Xiangzhou.

It wasn't until Xiao Yanxi came to call them to dinner that they realized it was already dark.

"My lord prince, this officer will take his leave, then!"

Ning Chen said, "Dinner's ready. Eat before you go!"

They went to the side hall to eat.

Meanwhile, in Kang Baobao's room in the west side courtyard...

A maid for the rough work came in carrying a tray.

"Miss, your meal's here!"

The maid called through to the inner room.

With a scrape of chains, Kang Baobao, cuffed and in leg irons, lifted the curtain and came out of the inner room.

She walked slowly to the table, but instead of sitting down, she took a secret letter from inside her robe and handed it to the maid. "While everyone in the residence is at dinner, get this out right away."

The maid gave a slight nod and took the letter without a word. Then she turned and left.

What neither of them knew was that Xie Siyu was hanging upside down from the eaves like a bat, taking in everything they did.

Once out of the room, she went to the south annex courtyard, where the servants lived.

A little later, a carrier pigeon flew out of the residence under cover of night.

Like a white ghost, Xie Siyu leaped from…