Night fell.
Jiaxing Garden fell silent.
A warm, faintly fragrant wind swirled fallen flowers and leaves around, scattering them across the empty courtyard.
Red lanterns, specially hung to welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival, dangled from the eaves of the two wooden buildings.
Their reddish glow bathed the wooden buildings in a hazy light, outlining their silhouettes.
It was now close to eleven o'clock.
The croaking of frogs was loud and clear, echoing throughout the garden.
But Xiao Wan'er, in her room upstairs, seemed not to hear it at all, still bent over her desk writing.
Two oil lamps illuminated the Phoebe Wood desk.
To her left were two stacks of account books.
To her right was a Geomancy Map of Shu State Prefecture City.
Writing in fits and starts, she would occasionally flip through an account book or find a specific location on the Geomancy Map and jot it down.
Her elegant, small characters filled line after line.
