That night.
Moonlight spilled over the snow, turning night into day; even the backs of the walls were dyed with snow-white moonlight.
All of a sudden, a figure appeared outside the enclosing wall.
His shadow, under the shine of the moonlight, fell slantwise across the wall.
On the steps before the main gate more than ten zhang away, a plaque hung in plain sight.
Three large characters were carved on the plaque.
County Governor's Mansion.
Jiang Ning glanced at the enclosing wall ahead. With a shift of his body, he vanished from where he stood.
County Governor's Mansion.
Wang Qingtan, dressed in plain long sleeves and trousers, stepped barefoot across the wooden floor to the window.
She pushed the window a little wider. Though a slight cold wind poured in, the charcoal fire indoors was burning vigorously at that moment.
As the gap in the window she propped open widened, the cool moonlight slanted in through it, forming a bright pillar of light on the floor inside.
The moonlight refracted off the wooden floor, brightening the room by a few degrees.
"Is he still not here?" she looked at a corner outside the window and murmured softly.
"What, did you miss me?" Jiang Ning's voice suddenly sounded by her ear.
She whipped her head around, her glossy black hair swishing, and saw Jiang Ning, who had appeared inside her room.
At that moment, Jiang Ning was dressed in a white fitted outfit, his posture tall and straight, his full head of long hair tied up with a white hairband.
"How did you get in?" Wang Qingtan looked at Jiang Ning, somewhat surprised.
"Just like this!" Jiang Ning smiled faintly.
"Just like this?" Wang Qingtan murmured. She glanced at Jiang Ning, then at the bolted door, then at the window