Xiao Zhixing stopped cultivating. "Do you need me to come over?"

Bai Feng said, "No need. Your arrival would alert him. It's safe for us to follow. He definitely won't notice us."

A tiny black mouse the size of a thumb and a hummingbird the size of a finger—the other party would never have imagined that such wondrous beings existed.

The two of them kept her updated, "He went from the South District to the East District, tsk, and then he went to the North District again in a different guise..."

Finally, he entered a small courtyard.

"Damn it, he's changed locations again. Is he a rabbit?" Bai Feng cursed. She thought they had finally arrived at their destination, but the man changed his appearance and crawled out from the back.

I almost lost them.

"This person must be a master at espionage."

Finally, the man in gray transformed into an ordinary middle-aged butler and entered a two-courtyard house.

At the junction of the West and North districts.

When Xiao Zhixing saw the nameplate on the mansion, he exclaimed, "Luo Mansion?"

Sure enough, her damned intuition told her that Shi Jiaowu had mentioned the gray-clad man had a master surnamed Luo.

When she first saw Luo Xiuchuan, she not only felt that he looked familiar, but she also remembered the surname Luo.

Although there are many people with the surname Luo in the world, she had a gut feeling that the person was someone special, and Zhao Yunqi also appeared that day.

She didn't believe it was all a coincidence.

Bai Feng added, "We dared not get too close. This person handed a scroll to the owner of this mansion, and the owner burned it immediately after reading it."

A quarter of an hour later, the man in gray quickly left the Luo residence and departed Shengjing overnight.

"You all continue to follow him. I'll arrange for someone else to keep an eye on things at the Luo residence."

Clearly, the man in gray is an important character, and sooner or later he will be brought to meet his master.

Xiao Zhixing didn't send Yin Yi's men, but instead had the Ghost Guards keep an eye on everyone in the Luo family, as a form of training.

Time flies, winter days are short, and people are reluctant to go out because of the cold. It's a rare treat to sit around the stove, brew tea, and spend the day leisurely.

Xiao Zhixing consistently topped the monthly and minor exams at the Gentlemen's Academy, while Zhao Yunqi always shared everyone's exam papers with the court officials for evaluation.

The officials were numb and had become too lazy to even try to figure out what the emperor was thinking.

However, the other teenagers have made visible progress, which is their only consolation.

Aside from the dramatic events of early spring and the turmoil in all directions, there were no major incidents at the end of the year. Dasheng was a peaceful and prosperous era, seemingly a time of tranquility and peace.

In this atmosphere, five days after the Southern Barbarian envoys arrived late, New Year's Eve arrived.

Xiao Zhixing and Xiao Yuanshan had to go to the palace to attend the emperor's annual banquet.

(Thanks to @冰悉 for the first like and tip!!)