In the vibrant, grassy fields of early spring, a war-torn land unfolded. Remember the address for mobile users of 【Complete God Station】:

The time was the thirteenth year since the Jurchen's first southward invasion, and the eleventh year since the Southern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty, once magnificent and leading the way for over two centuries in history, was now a mere shell of its former self.

The force that maintained the last vestige of the Song Dynasty's bloodline named this year the first year of revitalization. In these war-filled years, the new emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhou Junwu, who bore the ambition of revitalization, did not temporarily become the focus of the era.

In the first month, the Princess's fleet, arriving in Fujian, swiftly captured the key town of Fuzhou with the help of Cheng Zhouhai and others. By mid-month, a grand fleet of dragon boats sailed north along the coast, picking up the main force of Junwu's troops, assisting their southward journey. The fleet even entered the mouth of the Qiantang River, approaching and threatening Lin'an.

Considering that the plan to hunt down Zhou Junwu was difficult to achieve in the short term, as the snow melted and ice thawed in early February, Zong Fu and Zong Bi announced the victory of the southern expedition. After leaving some troops to garrison Lin'an, they led a mighty force and marched north.

Considering the goals of this southern expedition, Zong Fu and Zong Bi, as the Eastern Route Army, could already return triumphantly. The Song Dynasty's small court in Lin'an had been fragmented under the operation of the Jurchen forces over the past six months. Failing to capture Zhou Junwu and completely eradicate the Zhou clan's bloodline was just a minor flaw. Abandoning it was regrettable, but continuing to pursue it had little appeal.

On the other hand, the Western Route Army, which had aggressively prepared to wipe out the southwest, was mired in a quagmire of war, which was good news for Zong Fu and Zong Bi. Although they were of the same clan, Zong Fu and Zong Bi still hoped that Zong Han and others would win – and they would inevitably win – but the more battered they were before the victory, the better.

The war in the southwest, by now, had become the core focus of the entire world's attention. Some gloated, while others were anxious. During this period, the corresponding Battle of Changsha also attracted much attention. Considering the balance of power between the two sides near Changsha, when it came to an end at the end of February of this year, many people were stunned by the reported results.

The soldiers involved in the entire Battle of Changsha, on the side of the Jin Dynasty, numbered tens of thousands, of which the elite Jin Dynasty troops led by the veteran Jurchen general Yin Shu Ke, numbered more than thirty thousand. Half of these thirty thousand were cavalry that Xiyin had obtained from Zong Bi. In addition to Yin Shu Ke's troops, more than three hundred thousand surrendered Han soldiers arrived successively.

In the Chinese army, the Miao troops led by Chen Fan numbered only ten thousand. Even with the addition of two thousand elite special operations forces, plus various miscellaneous troops and local militia led by patriotic Han generals such as Zhu Jing, the overall number did not exceed forty thousand.

Although in the early stages of the war last year, Chen Fan used seven thousand elite soldiers to launch a rapid raid, quickly defeating more than one hundred thousand Han soldiers led by Li Tou He, Yu Gu Sheng and others in a short period of less than a month, the subsequent Battle of Changsha, which lasted about half a year, was extremely difficult for the Chinese army.

Chen Fan once abandoned Changsha, then attacked and broke through Changsha with a counter-attack, then abandoned Changsha again... Throughout the entire operation, Chen Fan's troops consistently employed mobile warfare based on the terrain. Zhu Jing's residence in Ju Ling was once captured and massacred by the Jurchens, after which they were constantly fleeing and transferring.

Looking back, the overall situation of the entire Battle of Changsha, even within the Chinese army, was generally not optimistic. Chen Fan's operational principle was to rely on Yin Shu Ke's unfamiliarity with the southern mountains for continuous guerrilla warfare, seizing an opportunity to quickly defeat one of the enemy's troops – his military tactics and leadership abilities were brought out by Fang Qi Fo in those years, plus his own accumulation over the years, his combat style was stable and decisive, showing extraordinary speed during raids, extraordinary keenness in capturing opportunities, extremely fierce attacks during strikes, and never dragging his feet when retreating if things did not go as planned.

Even under the pressure of Yin Shu Ke's pursuit, Chen Fan also achieved several brilliant victories in the cracks surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops, one of which even defeated Yin Shu Ke's detachment, swallowed nearly six hundred elite Jin soldiers and left.

But even the best commander could only do so much. If he faced all the Song Dynasty troops who had surrendered, Chen Fan, leading ten thousand people, might be able to kill seven in and seven out of Jiangnan, but facing a Jurchen veteran of Yin Shu Ke's level, being able to occasionally gain an advantage was already the limit of military tactics.

Within the Chinese army, the prediction of the overall trend was also that Chen Fan would gradually enter the depths of the Miao mountains after constant maneuvering and persist in resistance. Not being wiped out would be a great victory.

No one expected that the Battle of Changsha would end with Yin Shu Ke's defeat and death.

No one expected that among the Song Dynasty's army, there would appear a "heterogeneous" like Yu Mingzhou who was so resolute and ferocious.

****************

The Battle of Changsha ended on February 24th of this year.

Wanyan Qingjue was captured on the evening of February 21st. He remembered the smoke filling the air, the setting sun turning red, and the area southeast of Changsha, near Liuyang County, where a major battle had actually unfolded. This was an ambush and interception of Zhu Jing's troops, with the fundamental purpose of swallowing Chen Fan's troops that came to the rescue.

In that setting sun, the young Song Dynasty general, who was both violent in character but whom he quite liked, suddenly knocked him off his horse with a punch.

Wanyan Qingjue was not even mentally prepared. He fainted for a moment, and when the buzzing in his head became clear, he turned his head and reacted, and the scene before him was a massacre. Yu Mingzhou on horseback looked down from above, his face bloody and ferocious, and then he drew his saber.

This was Wanyan Qingjue's last memory of that day. Afterwards, someone knocked him unconscious and stuffed him into a sack.

This was the second time Wanyan Qingjue had been captured by the Chinese army.

When he woke up, he was imprisoned in a simple camp, and everything around him still seemed chaotic. At that time, the war was still going on. Someone was guarding him, but they didn't seem to care much – this "not caring much" meant that if he escaped from prison, the other party would choose to kill him rather than knock him unconscious.

Wanyan Qingjue failed to find an opportunity to escape. He didn't know how things were developing outside in a short period of time. Except for the evening of February 24th, he heard people cheering outside saying "Victory!" On February 25th, he was escorted in the direction of Changsha City – before he fainted, Changsha City still belonged to his side, but obviously, the Chinese army had launched another counter-attack and captured Changsha for the third time.

On the way, the soldiers escorting the prisoners seemed to have forgotten the threat of the Jin soldiers – as if they had won a complete victory – this should not have happened. Even if the Chinese army had won another victory, it was impossible for the elite troops led by Marshal Yin Shu Ke to be completely wiped out, after all, victory and defeat were common in military affairs.

He remained silent all the way, not asking about it. It wasn't until the sunset of the 25th that he approached Changsha City. The setting sun poured down into his vision like orange-red blood. He saw Yin Shu Ke's armor hanging on the flagpole in Changsha City. Next to the armor hung Yin Shu Ke's ferocious human head.

There were other pedestrians on the road, and soldiers coming and going. Wanyan Qingjue staggered and knelt down on the side of the road: "What... what's going on..."

He asked in a hoarse and weak voice, but the hilt of a knife struck his back, urging him to move forward. Wanyan Qingjue's eyes were bloodshot, and he pointed to the head on the flagpole and looked back at the soldiers guarding him, his expression terrifyingly ferocious. The soldier raised his foot and kicked him hard in the face, knocking him over into the mud.

No one explained anything to him. He was imprisoned in the Changsha prison. The tide of victory and defeat changed, the regime changed, and even in prison, he could occasionally sense the turmoil outside, from the mouths of the passing jailers, from the shouts of the criminals being escorted, from the murmurs of the wounded... but he couldn't piece together the whole picture of what happened. It wasn't until the afternoon of February 27th that he was escorted out.

Leaving the prison, he passed through a long corridor, and then came to a courtyard behind the prison. Here, he could already see many soldiers, and there were also prisoners being held in concentration digging the ground and doing things. Two men who should be members of the Chinese army were talking under the corridor. The one in military uniform was a middle-aged man, and the one in a long robe was a young man with slicked-back hair. Both of them looked serious. The young man with slicked-back hair slightly cupped his fist towards the other and glanced over. Wanyan Qingjue felt that he looked familiar, but then he was escorted to an empty room next to him.

The empty room was simple and spacious, with a window that allowed him to see the soldiers standing guard in front and behind. After a while, the young man who looked slightly familiar walked in. Wanyan Qingjue narrowed his eyes, and then remembered: this was a follower of that treacherous Yu Mingzhou, not Yu Mingzhou's most trusted right-hand man, and that was why Wanyan Qingjue had only seen him once or twice in the past.

The young man was good-looking, like an actor. Recalling his past impressions, he even thought that this person was a gigolo raised by Yu Mingzhou – Yu Mingzhou was impatient, violent, and had the habits of a pleasure-seeking aristocratic son, so it wouldn't be surprising – but at this moment, Wanyan Qingjue couldn't see too much from the young man's face. The young man's eyes were calm, with a hint of gloom. After opening the door, he closed it again.

He walked over. Wanyan Qingjue's hands were tied to the table, unable to move. He raised his head and struggled slightly, then gritted his teeth and said: "Where's the little dog Yu? Sending a subordinate to deal with me at this time is impolite, isn't it, he..."

At this moment of confrontation, considering Yin Shu Ke's death and the defeat of the Battle of Changsha, Wanyan Qingjue, who had been proud of being Xiyin's disciple for half his life, had completely let go, putting life and death aside, and was about to say a few sarcastic swear words. The young man standing in front of him and overlooking him flashed a fierce light in his eyes.

A violent punch landed on Wanyan Qingjue's face.

With a buzzing sound, Wanyan Qingjue's whole head rang. His body twisted to the side, and when he reacted, his mouth was full of blood. Two teeth were knocked out and fell from his mouth, and the teeth on half of his mouth were loose. Wanyan Qingjue struggled to spit out the blood in his mouth.

"Ugh... you..."

"Yu Mingzhou said a long time ago that sooner or later, he would personally punch that smug face of yours, so that you would never be able to laugh again."

"Cough... let him come..." Wanyan Qingjue said with difficulty.

"He can't come, so after finishing my business, I came to see you."

"Beast!" Wanyan Qingjue raised his head, "He even sold his own father..."

"He only sold all of his family's belongings. Uncle Yu didn't die..." The young man sat down opposite him, "These things were forced upon him by you."

"Let him come and see me, and tell me in person. He's a big man now, he's amazing... He's just a dog in front of me." Wanyan Qingjue said, "He doesn't have the face to see me, he's afraid of being brought up by me, he's a dog!"

The young man's hands were placed on the table, slowly rolling up his sleeves, his eyes not looking at Wanyan Qingjue: "He's not a dog..." He was silent for a moment, "You've seen me, but you don't know who I am. Let me introduce myself, my name is Zuo Wenhuan, courtesy name Jia Zhen. Do you have any impression of this surname, Young Master Wanyan?"

"Go! To! Hell! Kill me!" Wanyan Qingjue struggled desperately.

The young man named Zuo Wenhuan flashed a sad look in his eyes: "Compared to your teacher Wanyan Xiyin, you are indeed just an insignificant纨绔子弟 (wan ku zi di - good for nothing son of a wealthy family), and you are far inferior to Mingzhou. Zuo Jiyun is my clan uncle, and one of my clan grandfathers is called Zuo Duanyou. You also offered a large reward to kill him back then."

Wanyan Qingjue reacted.

The Zuo family, a large clan of the Song Dynasty, followed the Jianshuo court to Jiangnan after the Southern Migration. It is said that the great Confucian Zuo Duanyou had been to Xiaocanghe several times, and sat and discussed Taoism with Ning Yi, but failed to reach an agreement. Later, although he was based in the Jiangnan Song Dynasty, the Zuo family had always had a good impression of the Chinese army in Xiaocanghe, and it was even rumored that the Zuo family had private collusion with the Chinese army.

Such rumors may be true, but they have never been conclusive. One reason is that Zuo Duanyou was highly respected in the Song Dynasty's Confucian circles, and his family roots were deep. The second reason is that since the Jianshuo Southern Crossing, the Crown Prince and Princess have also had a good impression of the Chinese army, and the calls for revenge for Zhou Zhe have gradually decreased. Some families even started trading with the Chinese army, hoping to "learn from the barbarians to control the Jurchens". Rumors about who had a good relationship with the Chinese army have always been just rumors.

Only the Jurchen side had once offered a reward for Zuo Duanyou's head, not only because he had indeed been to Xiaocanghe and received Ning Yi's courtesy, but also because Zuo Duanyou had a good relationship with Qin Siyuan before. The two reasons added up to the reason to kill him.

Zuo Duanyou ultimately did not die at the hands of the Jurchens. He died naturally in Jiangnan, but throughout the process, the Zuo family did establish countless connections with the Chinese army. Of course, it is still not clear to what extent this connection is.

After Zong Fu and Zong Bi joined forces with Xiyin to break through the Jiangnan defense line, Xiyin once paid attention to the Zuo family, but at that time, the entire Zuo clan had quietly disappeared from people's eyes, and Xiyin only felt that this was the wisdom of a large family to avoid disaster. But now, such a member of the Zuo clan has come before Wanyan Qingjue.

Wanyan Qingjue recalled for a moment and said: "The victor is always right, I was one step short, and now you can naturally say whatever you want..."

He was targeting Zuo Wenhuan's evaluation of him as a "wan ku zi di", and Zuo Wenhuan looked at him for a moment and said: "I am a soldier of the Chinese army."

"...All of you little dogs are naturally soldiers of the Chinese army. Hehe, do you know what Yu Mingzhou has done..."

Zuo Wenhuan shook his head: "The reason I came to see you today is to tell you this, I am a soldier of the Chinese army, and I once studied in Xiaocanghe and was taught by Mr. Ning. But Yu Mingzhou, who gave you this disastrous defeat, was never a member of the Chinese army from beginning to end. From beginning to end, he was a soldier of the Song Dynasty, concerned about the Song Dynasty and loyal to the millions of people of the Song Dynasty. He was heartbroken by the situation of the Song Dynasty..."

Zuo Wenhuan stared at him, word by word: "You remember – you and Yin Shu Ke were defeated by such a person."

Wanyan Qingjue tilted his head. The previous punch had made his thinking extremely slow, but at this moment, in the other party's words, he finally realized something...

"Haha... Yu Mingzhou... how is he?"

What flashed through his mind was Yu Mingzhou's violent gaze from the war horse on the evening of February 21st.

Smoke filled the air, and the setting sun was like fire. Some hatreds of some years, people will never be able to repay.

So some moods will become clear in such emotions...