The Huai River Victory

In September of the fourth year of Shaoxing, although it was late autumn, autumn came very late in Lin'an. The weeping willows by the West Lake were still as green as smoke, with only the tips of the leaves slightly yellowing. The tide of the Qiantang River still carried the power of late summer, and the water droplets splashed against the shore hit the canal pier.

As usual, the vendors at the dock set up their awnings, their bamboo baskets filled with freshly picked water chestnuts and lotus pods, their green shells still drenched in morning dew. A few naughty children ran barefoot across the cobblestone path, scented with osmanthus, as if on a rollercoaster.

A dragon chariot pulled by four red-chested horses was travelling on the Imperial Street, guarded on each side by four masters from the Grand Temple. Behind it were the carriages of the civil and military officials, and at the rear were three thousand infantrymen, armed with spears, their silver armour gleaming in the sunlight.

Zhao Gou in the dragon chariot opened the curtain and looked at the West Lake not far away. The blue waves were rippling, and the Leifeng Pagoda next to it was towering into the clouds. An autumn breeze blew, and although it was a bit cold, it was refreshing and pleasant.

Looking back over the past two years, the country was peaceful and the people were safe, the war was stable, and there was hope for revival. Zhao Gou breathed a long sigh of relief. He was quite worried about the recent disputes in the court and was at a loss as to what to do.

At that time, Zhang Jun was appointed prime minister and advocated war. Zhao Gou finally agreed to lead the army in person after Zhang Jun's strong persuasion.

Zhang Jun had long wanted to realize his ambitions, so he personally visited the Yangtze River to inspect the troops and presided over a meeting of generals. At the meeting, the generals unanimously agreed that the Song army had won several battles against the Jin army in recent years and that the time had come to attack the Central Plains.

Zhang Jun ordered Han Shizhong to send troops from Gaoyou and Chuzhou to attack Suining. Yue Fei took Xiangyang from Ezhou and advanced to the Central Plains. They marched towards Bianliang from the east and west, forming a pincer attack. The troops of Liu Shiguang and Zhang Jun in the middle were stationed in Luzhou and Jiankang.

On the top of Chuzhou City, the wind sounds like weeping.

Han Shizhong was wearing heavy armor, his hands on the battlements, his sharp eyes seemed to cut through the gray clouds in the sky.

"General, Zhang Shumi has an urgent order!" A personal soldier quickly ran up to the city wall and presented a wax ball that was still warm with both hands.

The hearts of the officers and soldiers around him tightened. Zhang Jun's secret order must be a matter of great military and national importance.

Han Shizhong took the wax ball, applied a little force with his fingertips, and the wax seal broke.

He unfolded the small piece of silk hidden in the wax ball, on which was written: "Li Cheng of the Pseudo-Qi is invading from the east. Gaoyou is in danger. Attack it quickly."

All the generals were shocked.

Once Gaoyou falls, the pseudo-Qi army will be able to move south and head straight for Lin'an, and half of the Song Dynasty's territory will be in jeopardy again.

Han Shizhong's face remained unusually calm, his gaze passing over the gloomy city walls to the southeast, towards the waters of Fanliang Lake. He had long anticipated that the Jin army would attack Chuzhou first, and had already laid a tight net there, waiting for the Jin troops to fall into the trap.

At the same time, eight thousand navy troops were hidden deep in the reeds of Fanliang Lake.

Jie Yuan, another trusted and brave general under Han Shizhong, was lying on an assault boat with bated breath.

The soldiers held their spears and swords tightly, the cold iron weapons gleaming faintly in the moonlight.

They are like a group of crocodiles lurking underwater, waiting for their prey to pass by.

But the real killer move is on the temporary water fortress ship in the middle of the lake.

Liang Hongyu was dressed in a red tight-fitting outfit, and she looked like a burning flame in the whistling night wind.

Behind her were hundreds of light boats filled with sulfur, saltpeter and dry firewood. The bows of the boats were decorated with straw men disguised as soldiers holding flags. From a distance, it looked like a fleet ready for battle.

This was her "Fire Kite Plan", a vicious plan that could destroy the enemy navy at the bottom of the lake.

As time passed, the moisture in the air became heavier.

Finally, the commander's flag, which had been motionless, suddenly swung to the west - the east wind was blowing!

"Now!" Liang Hongyu's clear and decisive voice cut through the night sky.

She personally took a rocket from the hand of the personal soldier beside her and put it on the bow. The firelight illuminated her resolute and beautiful face.

"put!"

At the command, hundreds of rockets with red flames trailing behind them emitted sharp whistles and shot towards the Pseudo-Qi fleet under the night sky like a meteor shower.

Li Cheng's army was immersed in the dream of breaking through Gaoyou, and the guards on the ship were sparse and lazy.

They only saw countless fire spots suddenly light up in the night sky, and before they could react, those fire spots fell accurately on the hundred disguised boats.

Fire borrows the power of wind, and wind helps the power of fire.

The dry firewood soaked in grease was instantly ignited, and then detonated a large amount of sulfur and saltpeter in the cabin.

Huge fireballs shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire lake as bright as day.

Hundreds of fire ships were like hundreds of roaring fire dragons. Driven by the east wind, they rushed towards the crowded warship array of the pseudo-Qi army without hesitation.

The screams, explosions, and the loud noise of the ship breaking were intertwined together, as if countless wronged souls were crawling out of hell.

The warships of the Pseudo-Qi were swallowed by the fire dragon, and the ships connected by iron chains became the most deadly trap at this moment. Once one ship caught fire, the fire quickly spread to all the surrounding ships.

The sailors jumped into the icy lake in panic, but found that there was a layer of burning tung oil floating on the surface of the lake. They would be burned as soon as they entered the water, and there was nowhere to escape.

"Put out the fire! Put out the fire quickly!" Li Cheng on the shore was furious. He watched helplessly as the navy he was so proud of turned into a sea of ​​fire in an instant, and he roared in anger.

He hurriedly ordered the troops on the shore to retreat in an attempt to preserve their manpower.

However, it was too late.

On both sides of the canal, countless large flags with the word "Song" on them were suddenly erected on the originally dark field.

Countless torches were lit at the same time, tearing the darkness apart.

The eight thousand spearmen led by Jie Yuan appeared from the ground and had formed a strict military formation. The dense spear tips formed a forest of death under the firelight, completely cutting off all land retreat routes of the pseudo-Qi army.

There is a sea of ​​fire in front and spears behind. There is no way to go up to the sky and no door to enter the earth.

Li Cheng's heart had sunk into a bottomless abyss at this moment.

On the city wall of Chuzhou, when the flames from the direction of Fanliang Lake lit up the sky, Han Shizhong curled up his lips into a grim smile.

He knew that Liang Hongyu had succeeded.

But he did not relax at all. A arrogant general like Li Cheng would definitely take desperate measures after suffering a disastrous defeat on the water.

The remaining army is his last capital, and the rage of revenge will make him lose his mind and attack Chuzhou City where he is at all costs.

"Pass the order down," Han Shizhong said calmly, "Order Dong Min to lead an army to set up an ambush upstream of Qinghekou. This is the first tier. Order Cheng Min to lead an army to set up an ambush downstream of Qinghekou. This is the second tier. I will lead the main force of the central army to meet the enemy head-on at Qinghekou. This is the third tier. I will make sure Li Cheng never returns!"

Qinghekou, an important tributary of the Huai River, was the only way for Li Cheng's defeated troops to retreat to their base camp.

Han Shizhong set up a "triple ambush formation" here in order to completely pin down the elite army of the Pseudo-Qi in the Jianghuai region.

A net that is larger and more deadly than Fan Lianghu's fire attack has been quietly spread.

While the flames of war were raging on both sides of the Huai River, a war without gunpowder was approaching a critical moment in the capital Lin'an, thousands of miles away.

In a private room of an inconspicuous teahouse in the south of the city, Asen sat upright. Opposite him was a middle-aged scholar with a haggard face and a fierce look in his eyes.

This man was once an aide to Qin Hui. Because he knew too many secrets that he shouldn't have known, he was ostracized and almost lost his life.

The Qingcheng Gang mobilized all their connections and means to rescue him from Qin Hui's nose.

"Are you sure that the evidence in your hands is enough to convince the government that Qin Hui is involved in financial activities?" Asen's voice was low and powerful.

The scholar took a deep breath, took out a file wrapped tightly in oil paper from his arms, and slowly pushed it in front of Asen.

"Here are not only the original secret letters between Prime Minister Qin and the Jin envoys, but also his handwritten instructions to the border generals to lie about military intelligence and delay the supply of food and fodder. Most importantly, I was the one who originally connected him with the secret envoy from Jin's Nianhan. I am willing to appear in court and testify against Qin Hui's treasonous acts in front of the entire court!"

These words made Arsen, who had always been calm and composed, have a hint of excitement in his eyes.

They had been planning for so long and taking countless risks, waiting for this moment.

A living witness who is willing to come forward and has weight can be far more effective than any physical evidence.

There is finally a glimmer of hope in bringing down the tangled tree of Qin Hui.

The Battle of Huai River ended with a complete victory for the Song army.

Li Cheng's entire army was annihilated by Han Shizhong's triple ambush formation, and he fled in a panic with only a dozen or so cavalrymen.

The noise of counting prisoners and collecting weapons lasted a whole day and night.

When everything was settled, Han Shizhong discovered that Liang Hongyu had disappeared. He rode his horse to the bank of the Huai River, only to find her standing alone by the water in the river breeze.

She placed three coarse porcelain wine bowls on the sand and lit a stick of incense beside them. The curling smoke drifted away on the wind and merged into the vastness of the world.

Han Shizhong walked silently behind her without saying a word.

Liang Hongyu didn't look back, she knew it was him coming.

She picked up the first bowl and slowly poured the full liquor toward the north. Her voice was cold and sorrowful: "This one is to commemorate the eight thousand brothers in Huang Tiandang who sacrificed their lives for their country. Their heroic souls are not far away, and they can rest in peace."

She picked up the second wine bowl and poured the wine into the Huai River flowing at her feet.

"This is a tribute to all the soldiers who died in this battle. Your blood was not shed in vain. The Huai River will remember your deeds."

Finally, she picked up the third wine bowl.

Her hands trembled slightly, and her eyes were filled with complex emotions that outsiders could not understand, such as sadness, confusion, and endless fatigue.

This glass of wine is for herself, for this endless killing and fate.

Just as she was about to drink the wine, a big hand reached out from the side and firmly grasped her wrist.

Han Shizhong had come to her side without her knowing. He snatched the wine bowl, stared at her with deep eyes, and then drank the liquor in the bowl.

The spicy wine went down his throat like a flame, burning his internal organs.

He placed the empty bowl heavily on the ground, his voice hoarse but firm, "This cup of wine should be drunk by us together. I will shoulder the burden you bear with you. Why didn't you tell me that you are not with me because of the oath you swore to the government?"

He also knew that she cared more about his safety than her own.

He asked Hu Yantong to find out the real reason why Liang Hongyu was able to leave the palace. When Hu Yantong presented him with all the information he had found, he only regretted that he could not understand the whole story. How could the emperor's concubine leave the palace so easily?

"I swear here that I will never marry anyone else in this life. If I break this oath, I will die miserably at the hands of the Jin army."

That vicious oath seemed to ring in his ears. Han Shizhong pulled Liang Hongyu into his arms and looked at her affectionately. "Since we can't be husband and wife, how about we just be lovers?"

Liang Hongyu raised her head and looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

"If we're just lovers, it wouldn't be considered a violation of our vows, right? What do you think?"

Liang Hongyu looked at the weathered but still resolute face, her eyes instantly moistened, a crystal teardrop ran across her eyes, it turned out that he already knew everything.

Thousands of words turned into this silent gaze.

"good!"

Liang Hongyu said this as she kissed Han Shizhong. It felt like she had been waiting for this kiss for a thousand years. All the grievances and heaviness weighing on her heart turned into tears of joy at this moment, melting into the dry soil.

The great victory at Huaishui quickly spread throughout the Southern Song Dynasty.

In July, Yue Fei led his troops out of Xiangyang and was invincible. Recently, he has marched to Henan Prefecture, west of Beijing.

The whole government was filled with excitement. In Chuzhou City, a banquet was also set up, and in the Han Mansion, there was a great deal of joy and excitement.

After three rounds of drinking, all the generals were drunk and staggering. Hu Yantong then realized that Han Shizhong had left the banquet at some point and must have gone back to his house to sleep.

The moonlit night was serene, the din of the celebration banquet long gone, leaving only the whispering chirps of summer insects among the grass. Han Shizhong, treading in the moonlight, climbed over the Liang residence's wall with familiar ease, landing beneath the sycamore tree outside Liang Hongyu's boudoir. A flickering candlelight shone through the window lattice, casting her silhouette against the paper. She was combing her hair, her long, black hair cascading down like a waterfall.

Han Shizhong's Adam's apple moved slightly and he knocked on the window gently.

The figure inside the window paused, and then the sound of footsteps could be heard. The wooden window creaked open, and Liang Hongyu poked half of her face out. Her eyes, as clear as autumn water in the moonlight, rippled the moment she saw Han Shizhong.

"General, what's wrong..." Before she could finish her words, Han Shizhong had already propped up the window with one hand and nimbly climbed into the room. Liang Hongyu took a half step back, but he pulled her into his arms.

"I missed you." His voice was so low and slightly drunk. He lowered his head to smell the jasmine scent in her hair, his arms tightening as if he wanted to rub her into his bones and blood.

Liang Hongyu pressed her face against his chest, hearing his heart beating fast and hard. She reached out to push him away, but her fingertips involuntarily grasped his collar. The scent of sandalwood mixed with the scent of alcohol and his uniquely cold aura.

"You're drunk." She whispered, her voice trembling.

Han Shizhong chuckled, his warm breath brushing against her ear: "Not much, just enough to give you courage." He lifted her chin, his eyes burning, "Hongyu, today we won a great victory on the Huai River. You promised to be my lover."

He had waited a lifetime for this day, most of it. He had always endured and restrained himself, even on the day he was intoxicated by the aphrodisiac incense. He thought he had done a good job of restraining himself. But when he knew her feelings, the emotions that had been suppressed deep within him could no longer be suppressed, and they were about to erupt like a volcano.

Under the candlelight, Liang Hongyu's face was flushed. She was wearing a lilac silk dress today, which made her look even more beautiful and dazzling like a peach blossom.

He raised his hand, trembling as he placed it over her peach-like face. "I already know the oath the government forced you to take." His voice was incredibly gentle. "You swore in front of the government because you were afraid it would embarrass me. But why did you do this?"

"If the emperor wanted to touch me, he would have done it long ago," he continued in a slightly hoarse voice. "You are so smart, how could you not know that I am still a useful person to the emperor? The emperor is a man of deep thoughts, how could he kill such a useful person?"

Liang Hongyu trembled all over, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Even if there was a one in ten thousand chance that he was in danger, she would try her best to protect him.

The silence and loneliness she had endured while keeping her vows alone finally found an outlet at this moment. Tears burst out and rolled down her cheeks.

He leaned over and kissed away her tears, the salty taste melting between his lips. "Not husband and wife, just lovers. Your vows didn't say you couldn't have a lover."

Liang Hongyu burst into laughter and gently hit him: "General, when did you learn to be so smooth-talking?"

"Only for you." Han Shizhong grabbed her hand and placed it on his lips for a kiss. His lips were dry and warm, and when they touched her fingertips, both of them shuddered.

The candlelight crackled, emitting a dazzling display of sparks, and she accidentally tripped over her skirt. Han Shizhong quickly grabbed her waist, and they both fell onto the bed.

The quilt was soft, and her hair suddenly fell apart, spreading all over the bed. Han Shizhong leaned over her, his eyes a startlingly deep. He slowly leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Tonight, will you let me be your lover?"

Liang Hongyu's heart was beating like a drum. She closed her eyes in shame, but nodded slightly.

His kisses fell like feathers, first on her forehead, then on the tip of her nose, and finally gently covering her lips. This kiss was extremely gentle, with a cautious cherishment. She responded awkwardly, her fingers unconsciously clenching the quilt.

"Don't be afraid." Han Shizhong noticed her nervousness.

His fingertips brushed over her eyebrows, slid down her cheek to the side of her neck, and gently lifted her collar. Her skin beneath the collar was as white as snow. His breathing became noticeably heavier, yet still controlled.

He kissed her burning earlobe: "Call me Ah Man, you haven't called me that for a long time."

"A-Man." Liang Hongyu tried to call out, her voice so soft that water could drip out of it.

This sound seemed to open a floodgate, and his kiss suddenly became passionate. He held her lips and sucked them gently, and his tongue tip had already slipped into her mouth while she was gasping for breath. A strange feeling spread throughout her body, making her tremble all over.

Her belt was undone in his hands, his warm palms pressed against her waist, and her clothes slipped off piece by piece. The summer night breeze blew across her exposed skin, but it could not dispel the heat rising in her body.

When his lips touched her collarbone, Liang Hongyu couldn't help but moan softly. The sound made her blush, and she hurriedly bit her lower lip. He only intensified his pressure, leaving tiny red marks on that delicate skin.

"Ruby..." He called her name, running his fingers through her hair, "You are so beautiful."

Liang Hongyu opened her eyes and saw that Han Shizhong had taken off his shirt, revealing his muscular chest. The scars of years of battle crisscrossed the surface, looking particularly hideous in the candlelight, yet also particularly heartbreaking. She couldn't help but reach out and touch the longest scar, which stretched from her right shoulder to her heart.

"This is......"

"Left behind in Huangtian Dang."

Liang Hongyu's eyes reddened again, and she raised her head to kiss the scar. Han Shizhong was shocked and could no longer restrain himself, carefully covering her delicate body.

Within the hazy curtains, their two bodies gradually merged. Liang Hongyu's initial pain gave way to endless pleasure, which washed over her like waves. She hugged Han Shizhong's back tightly, her nails accidentally leaving red marks on his back, only to receive a more intense response from him.

Moonlight filtered through the screen window, casting the silhouettes of the two people on the wall, sometimes embracing, sometimes rising and falling. The sycamore trees outside the courtyard rustled.

After the rain and cloud had subsided, Liang Hongyu lay on Han Shizhong's chest, listening to his heartbeat, which had not yet calmed down. Han Shizhong stroked her long hair from time to time, and his other hand intertwined his fingers with hers.

"You and him?" he asked softly. If her martial arts skills had kept her from men when she was a courtesan, then why hadn't she lost her virginity when she became the emperor's concubine? At this thought, he suddenly remembered the rumor that the emperor, after being frightened, could no longer have sex. Could it be true?

Liang Hongyu shook her head.

Han Shizhong kissed the top of her head lovingly and hugged her tighter.

"Hongyu," I, Han Shizhong, swear to heaven, one day," his voice suddenly became extremely solemn, "I will make you my wife in an upright manner."

Liang Hongyu looked up and saw the determination in his eyes. She knew what he said must be true. She reached out and touched his face, whispering, "I don't care about status, as long as I can be with you."

Han Shizhong grabbed her hand, placed it on his lips and kissed it: "I care."

Outside the window, the sky in the east was already turning pale. Han Shizhong reluctantly stood up and put his clothes back on one by one.

Before leaving, he took out a jade pendant from his bosom and placed it in Liang Hongyu's palm: "This is what my mother left behind. She said she would give it to her future daughter-in-law." He smiled and said, "For now, just treat it as a token of love."

The jade pendant is as smooth as water, and is carved with twin lotus flowers.

In the dim light of dawn, his figure disappeared beyond the courtyard wall. Liang Hongyu stood by the window, tightly clutching the jade pendant, staring at the direction he had left for a long time.