At 5:45 a.m., the wind and sand of the northwestern desert scraped against the station's window paper like blades, whipping the old, accumulated snow on the window lattice into fine, crystalline shards. Jiang Wan held the final petal of a withered plum. The scorched edge of the petal formed an irregular, serrated pattern that matched the Zhusha mark for "Wind-Eroded Fort" on their map perfectly. She looked up at Lu Jingyuan, who was rubbing his fingertips across the Wolf-Head Token; the notched edges of the token cut into his palm, leaving faint red marks.
"Mr. Zhou's secret report says that the family of Wu Mingyi’s wet nurse lives in the Plum Blossom Manor outside Wind-Eroded Fort," she said, pressing the petal onto the plum tree icon on the map. "The ink plums in that manor bloom at the winter solstice every year. They should have withered by now, yet they suddenly burst into full bloom three days ago."
Lu Jingyuan pressed the token firmly onto the footnote marked "Lonely Smoke in the Desert," his fingertips tracing the folds of the parchment map. "Ren Yao’s three hundred cavalry are already lying in ambush in the red willow forest outside the fort. We will take twenty secret guards, disguise ourselves as a salt merchant caravan, and enter the city precisely at 3:00 p.m." He suddenly reached out to press his hand against Jiang Wan’s abdomen, a flicker of worry crossing his eyes. "But you must stay at the station."
Chapter 278