surveillance
After hearing the report, Han Shizhong said, "Nianhan sent an envoy simply to negotiate peace." He suddenly sneered, "Send the order to Jie Yuan to send our 'water ghost' out."
That night, as the Jin envoy's ship reached the mouth of the Qing River, a sudden, muffled "dong dong" sound came from beneath the ship. Before the sailors could even cry out in alarm, the entire ship had tilted strangely. A hidden underwater caltrop net had already torn three holes in the planking.
"There's an ambush!" Just as the Golden Envoy grabbed the mast, a whistling arrow flew out of the darkness and accurately shot off the golden crown on his head.
At three o'clock in the morning, a drizzle began to fall on the canal.
The Jin envoy was just ordering his men to repair the cabin when he heard the mournful sound of a Hujia (a type of Chinese horn) from the shore. Then, dozens of dark figures suddenly rose from the water, their hooks clanging and clashing against the side of the ship.
"It's the Beiwei Army of the Han family army!" The guard had just drawn his sword when he was chopped into the water by a long axe.
Liang Hongyu stood on a distant warship, watching the magnificent official ship burst into flames. The flames illuminated her icy eyes: "Take a message to Nianhan: The Huai River is still warm, so be careful when entering."
As the fire on the ship soared to the sky, the Jin envoy saw from afar a woman in red robes and armor standing at the bow of the Song army ship. The woman looked even more beautiful and heroic against the backdrop of the fire. He shouted from the boat, "I believe you are the famous female general. I am an envoy from the Jin Kingdom. I have been invited by your emperor to discuss peace talks. I hope the general will allow me to pass."
Liang Hongyu shouted at the Jin envoy who was wearing a felt hat and a dark green brocade robe, "This general has never received an edict from our dynasty to negotiate peace with your country. Are you a spy sent by the Jin people?" After saying that, she bent her bow and drew her arrow. The arrow whizzed through the sky filled with fireworks and landed on the ship's pillar next to the Jin envoy.
The Jin envoy was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he abandoned the ship and fled under the cover of his guards.
Inside the Lin'an Palace, Qin Hui hurried to report to Zhao Gou: "Your Majesty, I have received intelligence that the Jin envoys have crossed the river and arrived in Changzhou. On their way here, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong repeatedly sent people across the river to attack the Jin and gather intelligence."
"This Yue Fei is too reckless and ruined my great plan." Zhao Gou was so angry that he slammed the imperial desk when he heard this.
Qin Hui was secretly delighted to see Zhao Gou's anger. "Your Majesty, Yue Fei has restrained himself quite a bit this time. Han Shizhong actually sent boats to intercept the Jin envoys on the canal, and then even sent people to attack the Jin envoys at night."
"A sneak attack on the Jin envoy? Did anyone get hurt?" Zhao Gou said in shock.
"The Jin envoy was not injured, but a few of the personal guards on the ship were injured. Later, the Jin envoy abandoned the ship and boarded the case, and then came to Jiangnan. Now he is out of Han Shizhong's defense zone and is completely safe."
Zhao Gou finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had long been tired of these days of fighting and killing. The Jin people had finally agreed to peace talks, and he would never let anyone disrupt the peace talks.
Whenever he thought of his mother, Queen Wei, who had been exiled and brutally abused by the Jin people, he would lose his appetite and could not sleep. Now that he could finally bring his mother back and let her live out her days in peace, he could finally put his mind at ease.
A few days later, Zhao Gou ordered Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to come to the emperor for an audience.
When Yue Fei went to court, he was not wearing armor. He was dressed in a long green robe, with his hair tied up with a jade hairpin, and looked like a scholar. When he walked into the hall, Zhao Gou and the ministers were all a little surprised.
Yue Fei knelt on his knees and said, "Your Majesty, I have risen from a commoner to the rank of Grand Marshal, a meteoric rise to prominence. Your Majesty's grace is immense. Yet, to this day, we have not been able to recover the Central Plains and welcome back the Two Saints. I feel ashamed of your grace, and I beg Your Majesty to grant me the permission to retire to the mountains and forests."
Zhao Gou smiled, but his tone was already filled with dissatisfaction. "My dear minister, I know you are angry, but state affairs are no joke. You have submitted several petitions requesting retirement during your journey, and I have already issued an edict denying them. Now that you are resigning in court today, it is a violation of the moral code of a minister."
Yue Fei also understood what he meant, and remembered Li Ruoxu's words of advice when he asked him to come down the mountain: "The way of being an official is to know the difference between being upright and being upright, and to know when to advance and retreat. You should not be upright when you should hide, and you should not force yourself to advance when you should retreat." He hurriedly said, "I acknowledge my guilt."
Zhao Gou softened his tone slightly, still smiling, and said, "Song and Jin are currently negotiating peace, and there's a lot of discussion going on in the government and the country. What do you think of this?"
Yue Fei said bluntly: "The Jin people are like sheep and dogs. They have long harbored ambitions to invade the south. How can we forget this? I beg you to lead the three armies to recover our homeland."
Zhao Gou tried his best to suppress his anger and sound calm. "General Yue, I know you are the bravest of the three armies and your loyalty is unwavering. However, if you disobey the imperial orders and take up arms on your own, you will not only harm the affairs of state, but also your reputation."
Yue Fei knelt down and said, "I dare not, nor do I wish to disobey the imperial order."
After Yue Fei withdrew, the next person to be summoned was Han Shizhong. Before Han Shizhong could even stand firmly, Zhao Gou sternly said, "General Han, I have heard that you allowed your troops to block the Jin envoy's ships and attacked them at night. Is this true?"
Han Shizhong had already thought of his words before he arrived. He solemnly reported, "What your Majesty has said did happen, but it was not caused by my letting the troops do what they wanted. The army was dissatisfied with the peace agreement, and some soldiers took advantage of the opportunity to riot and attack the ships without authorization."
Zhao Gou couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. Han Shizhong was really good at shirking responsibility.
Then he asked again: "Even if you didn't know, did you investigate and punish it after the incident?"
"Your Majesty, I have many bandits under my command who I have recruited, a mixed bag. Some of them, though they have surrendered, are still ruthless and will disappear without a trace after completing their mission. I am dispatching troops to capture them and will hand them over to the court once the mission is completed."
Zhao Gou saw that his answer was flawless and did not want to criticize him, so he changed the subject and asked, "What do you think of the peace agreement between the two countries?"
"I believe the Jin people's peace talks are just a pretext. They must have a large army behind them, pressing the border with heavy troops to force the emperor to make a statement. I will stop them from where the military strength is the strongest."
"Your loyalty, my dear, comforts me, but please do not cause me any more trouble in the future."
Han Shizhong nodded quickly and said yes, then retreated.
Han Shizhong led his personal soldiers back to Chuzhou City and went to Liang Mansion.
Liang Hongyu was waiting for news at home. When she saw Han Shizhong coming in black armor, she knew that he had come here first, so she ordered Jinxiu to serve tea.
"How was your trip? Did the officials give you any trouble?"
Han Shizhong saw Jinxiu bring the tea up, took a sip, and then said: "Thank you for your concern, madam. According to what you said, we have fooled the emperor."
Seeing Jinxiu was still there, Liang Hongyu coughed lightly. Jinxiu immediately understood and retreated with a smile.
After Jinxiu left, Liang Hongyu stood up and walked over to Han Shizhong, reaching out to remove his shoulder armor. Her fingertips accidentally touched the scar on the back of his neck, which was the arrow wound he had blocked for her during the Battle of Huangtian Dang.
"Since the emperor is suspicious, we must be more cautious in our future actions." She whispered, gently removing his wrist guard. Han Shizhong suddenly grasped her wrist and pulled her into his arms.
"Hongyu," he said hoarsely, "you've been following me through thick and thin all these years..." Before he could finish, Liang Hongyu had already raised her hand to cover his lips. "General, why are you saying this?" Her eyes were slightly red, but she smiled. "Between you and me, we've long been inseparable. We'll be together through life and death."
A sudden autumn breeze blew outside the window, carrying a few fallen leaves against the window frame. Han Shizhong pulled her into his arms. His armor was cold, but his chest was burning. Liang Hongyu could hear his heartbeat, like thunder, exactly the same as her own.
"Regarding the matter of the Golden Envoy..." she whispered against his shoulder, "I have already ordered people to place secret sentries downstream of the canal."
Han Shizhong chuckled: "Madam, are you going to join me in this corruption?"
Liang Hongyu raised her eyes and said solemnly, "We will share life and death." She then pulled a scroll of silk from her sleeve and said, "This is the secret letter I copied from the Jin envoy's ship. They will arrive around the winter solstice..."
Before she could finish her words, Han Shizhong had already taken the silk and tossed it onto the table. He then held her face in his hands and said, "Let's not talk about the war today." He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "Let me take a good look at you."
Liang Hongyu pushed him away and said, "This is the Liang Mansion."
Han Shizhong then remembered that there were spies sent by Zhao Gou in the Liang Mansion who were secretly monitoring them, so he sighed and said, "Then I will come back tonight."
Liang Hongyu had to train a group of newly recruited female soldiers and was busy until very late before returning home. She first took a bath, then turned off the lights, asked someone to go down, closed the windows and went to sleep.
Just as she was about to close the window, a figure flashed in through the window. He pulled her onto the bed and pressed her under him.
A familiar smell hit Liang Hongyu, and she finally let down her guard. Han Shizhong noticed her relaxed body and chuckled, "Did you know it was me?"
"I have a nose."
Han Shizhong chuckled, bent down and kissed her, "Your nose is as sharp as a dog's."
"Who are you calling a dog?" Liang Hongyu turned over and pressed him under her.
Han Shizhong reached out his hand, held her in his arms, and said softly, "You don't belong to me during the day, only at night do you completely belong to me." He sighed and said, "Have you found the person who was watching you and me?"
Liang Hongyu played with his long hair and said, "Not yet. You came here so late at night. The people who were watching must have fallen asleep long ago."
"Then can I come here openly during the day?" Han Shizhong said with a smile.
"What do you think?" Her eyelashes fluttered up and down, making him feel itchy inside.
A night of spring is worth a thousand gold and should not be wasted. Thinking of this, he leaned over and kissed her.
Liang Hongyu was slightly startled, then closed her eyes, and gently climbed her delicate hands onto his shoulders. Han Shizhong's kiss was somewhat eager, but he was careful to control the strength.
Their breathing became increasingly rapid. His large hands caressed her waist, and he could feel the warmth of her skin through her clothes. Liang Hongyu trembled slightly, but she didn't dodge. Instead, she moved closer.
"General..." she called softly, her voice as gentle as water.
Han Shizhong chuckled and whispered in her ear: "Call my name."
"Aman..." she said softly with a red face, her voice as thin as a mosquito's, and seemed to be bewitching.
When she woke up the next day, Liang Hongyu raised her hand to touch the person next to her, but the person was gone. Liang Hongyu looked at the empty space around her and suddenly felt lost.
She suppressed her disappointment and went to wash up when she heard Qiu Feng come in and say, "Miss, the Jin envoy has arrived in Suiyang."
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