"Your Majesty, we are about to enter the city!" Seeing the city walls protecting the inner crossing just ahead, and the watchtowers on the walls brightly lit, Yang Yizhong suddenly turned back to remind him. "According to those who came earlier, there are burned boats and wooden barriers in the river, and several water gates are damaged. Someone needs to guide us through. Your Majesty, please refrain from speaking for the time being."

"Zhengfu, as you wish," Zhao Jiu replied, holding the food box in his arms, unconcerned.

"You dare to come to Xiacai?" Seeing the boats approaching, and hearing the Song soldiers calling out, the soldiers guarding the Xiacai water gate immediately cursed. "You turtles are eating and drinking well in Henan, leaving us grandpas here. Do you have any conscience?"

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Before Yang Yizhong could speak, an officer-looking figure flashed out from the watchtower on the city wall, even more direct. "If any more turtle eggs dare to bother me, I'll just shoot them with arrows!"

"Is that Li Laosan from Hezhong Prefecture?!" When Yang Yizhong heard the man's voice, he was immediately furious. "Who gave you the courage to be so disrespectful to me? I'm carrying an imperial decree to see Grand Commandant Zhang. Send someone down immediately to lead the way, and find Commander Tian (Shi Zhong) to meet us at the inner crossing. Don't cause any trouble!"

The man apparently recognized Yang Yizhong's voice. After a moment, he sent someone to report and personally came down with a lantern to guide the way. However, as he reached the water gate, he couldn't help but mutter on the shore: "Sir Yang is now a favorite of His Majesty, naturally his aura is fierce. How could he know our hardships? We were abandoned here, and the inner crossing was burned. It's like we have no parents..."

"Li Laosan!" If it were any other time, Yang Yizhong might have just ignored his nonsense. But today, with the Emperor in the boat, how could he let him ramble on like this? "His Majesty has already executed Liu Guangshi. In the current situation, the ministers on the other side have repeatedly advised His Majesty to leave first, but His Majesty refuses to leave, isn't it because of you? Now that things have come to this, what is there to complain about? In your position, you should look at the imperial dragon flag on the opposite bank!"

"Go this way, no need to pull the water gate. It's mostly burned here, the boat can pass directly..." Li Laosan stood on the shore inside the gate, directing the boat to enter the city, but couldn't help but deliberately mutter loudly, "Who knows if it's just a dragon flag? Maybe His Majesty himself has already run to Yangzhou? I heard Yangzhou is full of gold and silver... And Liu Guangshi, he just knows how to fool us. A Grand Commandant is even bigger than Grand Commandant Zhang? His own father was a Grand Commandant, how could he be killed? Who are you fooling? Bring his head here for me to see!"

Yang Yizhong was half-dead with anger, but seeing that the Emperor didn't make a sound, he had no choice but to pretend he didn't hear.

Thus, the boat entered the inner crossing protected by the city walls through the water gate. Although it was temporarily open, the water conditions were complicated, winding and turning for a long time. They also heard Li Laosan's complaints all the way before finally finding a suitable place to dock... At this time, Tian Shizhong, a senior general under Zhang Jun, was already waiting there.

"Don't make a sound, and don't look around. His Majesty is here," Yang Yizhong said, grabbing his former colleague as soon as he stepped ashore, whispering to him. "Don't alarm anyone. Take us to see the Grand Commandant quickly."

Tian Shizhong was surprised and suspicious, but dared not say much. He turned back and ordered his subordinates to bring some horses. Then he couldn't help but steal glances at them, until he saw Zhao Jiu himself holding the food box. Only then did he quickly turn around. Soon the horses arrived, and he led the way in silence.

This time, perhaps because it was late at night and the snow was quite deep, the road was not very congested. Almost in a moment, the group arrived at a wide mansion that had already quieted down.

Now, Tian Shizhong was one of Zhang Jun's most trusted confidants. So there was no need for any announcement. The front sent someone to wake Zhang Jun up, and Tian Shizhong directly led Zhao Jiu and Yang Yizhong all the way to Zhang Jun's bedroom in the backyard. At this time, the lights in the bedroom had just been lit.

After a short wait, a maid opened the door, and Zhao Jiu stopped hiding and directly entered with the food box.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Jun was half-naked, with two naked concubines in his bed. When he saw the newcomer, he wanted to scold him, but when the other party put down the food box and took off his helmet, he was so shocked that he quickly turned over and knelt down. "How did Your Majesty come here? The Prime Minister, the Censor, the Eunuch, and Yang Yizhong should all be executed!"

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu first waved his hand to signal the two frightened concubines and other maids in the room to leave wrapped in quilts. He waited until Yang Yizhong and Tian Shizhong, who 'should have been executed', cleared the scene and closed the door. Only then did he shiver and sit down by a brazier in the room:

"The weather is cold. I crossed the river, and my hands are freezing. I won't help you up. Grand Commandant Zhang, get up and sit down quickly... I'm just here to deliver a few things and chat for a few words. I won't stay long!"

Zhang Jun hurriedly got up, found a delicate silver brazier on his bed, and handed it over. Then he awkwardly fastened his clothes and carefully sat opposite Zhao Jiu, his mind still blank.

"Open it and take a look," Zhao Jiu said, nodding towards the food box on the table.

Zhang Jun dared not neglect it. He opened the food box, but was stunned to see that there was a salted duck with one leg missing inside. He didn't know what to say.

"Today is New Year's Eve. I held a banquet at the northern Luan of Bagong Mountain in Huainan to entertain the civil and military officials in the mobile palace. This was specially prepared for me by Lin Jingmo, the Prefect of Shouzhou," Zhao Jiu said, holding the brazier. "I ate one leg and suddenly thought of our words at the Dongtai Pavilion at North Fei River. I thought I had to send it to you no matter what... It's not very tasty now, steam it tomorrow morning!"

Zhang Jun opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"There's another layer below!" Zhao Jiu continued to nod.

Zhang Jun quickly pulled out the interlayer, but fell back in shock. It turned out that the bottom of the food box was covered with a layer of snow and ice. On top of the ice was a frozen, hard head. The head was lifelike, and it was Liu Guangshi, the Grand Commandant Liu! It could only be said that it was a pity for a man from a family of Western Army generals for generations, who died and ended up in a situation not even as good as a duck, truly regrettable.

"Actually, I didn't want to bring Liu Guangshi's head," Zhao Jiu continued quickly. "It's the New Year, bringing this would be disappointing. But if I didn't bring it, I didn't know what else to bring..."

"Liu Guangshi is really dead?!" Zhang Jun finally couldn't help but ask, not knowing whether it was a sigh or a question.

"Really dead," Zhao Jiu answered frankly. "He died on the night of the river crossing. I had Wang De hold down his left hand and Fu Qing hold down his right hand. I personally took the knife and killed him in front of me... Then I cut off his head and showed it to the three armies. I specially brought it here tonight for you to take a look, just in case you didn't believe it."

Zhang Jun looked embarrassed: "When the imperial decree was sent from the other side about this matter, I thought it was just a false rumor."

"Let's not talk about these things," Zhao Jiu said, putting down the brazier and taking out another object from his arms. It was a string of frosted grapes. When he put it on the table, it rattled. "This is also for you."

Zhang Jun reached out to touch it and realized that these lifelike grapes were made of glass. Needless to say, it was an extremely precious treasure.

"This is something that the Prefect of Yangzhou presented," Zhao Jiu continued to explain bluntly before Zhang Jun could thank him. "This time, many good things were sent by the armies and prefectures in the southeast. Prime Minister Lü advised me to smash them all to show simplicity... If Prime Minister Li (Li Gang) were here, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to avoid smashing them. But since it was Prime Minister Lü, I said it wasn't necessary, so I kept them. During the day, I took advantage of the New Year and rewarded them all. I estimated that this string of grapes should be the most valuable one. I also heard that you are good at everything else, but you are greedy for money, so I left it for you separately."

Zhang Jun opened his mouth, still not knowing what to say.

"Actually, these past few days, the civil and military officials on the other side have been discussing, saying that you will definitely surrender, and advising me to leave here and go to Yangzhou," Zhao Jiu continued, holding the brazier. "And I also thought so, because greedy people are bound to be afraid of death... And in the current situation, if you suddenly surrender or abandon the city and run away, I really have nothing to say."

Zhang Jun quickly wanted to kneel again, but Zhao Jiu reached out and grabbed his arm. The former dared not move again and could only reluctantly sit back.

"Grand Commandant Zhang, I came here today to reassure you, but I don't really know if this trip is of any use. But if I don't come to send you this duck, this head, this string of grapes, and say these few words of nonsense, what else can I, this Emperor, do?"

At this point, Zhao Jiu put down the brazier with one hand and sighed. "That's the point of coming here today... First, to send you New Year's gifts and take the opportunity to reiterate the promise of Dongtai Pavilion. As long as you can resist the Jin and fight, I will not be stingy with what I can give you. Second, I want to make a gentleman's agreement with you. Liu Guangshi committed a great crime, making Xiacai City an isolated city. So if you can defend this city, then defend it. If you can't defend it, and you plan to surrender or abandon it, I won't blame you. But if my dragon flag is still on the opposite bank at that time, please, for the sake of today, give me a heads-up in advance! That's all!"

Saying that, Zhao Jiu didn't delay any longer. He directly got up, put on his helmet, and was about to leave.

Zhang Jun got up blankly, preparing to follow, but Zhao Jiu raised his hand to stop him. He could only let Zhao Guan Jia come and go in a hurry... And after another half an hour, when the sky was already starting to brighten, Tian Shizhong, who had sent Zhao Guan Jia back to the ship, returned and found that Grand Commandant Zhang was still sitting at the table, staring at the salted duck that was starting to melt into oil, the head that was melting into blood, and the string of grapes that would never fade.

"Grand Commandant, what's wrong with you today?" Tian Shizhong entered, first glanced at the head, and after a long time, swallowed his saliva and recovered. He couldn't help but look puzzled. "Sir Yang and I sat outside and listened for a long time. His Majesty was indeed sincere. And if the Grand Commandant wants to leave, why not take the opportunity to say so? If you are determined to defend, why not take the opportunity to express your loyalty? Why were you so hesitant all day, and didn't say a word?"

"I'm still in a dream!" Zhang Jun suddenly raised his head, revealing two red eyes. "Xiao Tian, do you think such a sincere person, with a soft and hard approach, is really the Zhao Song Emperor?"

Tian Shizhong was instantly silent.

After a full incense stick of time, Tian Shizhong said with emotion: "I have another small matter to tell the Grand Commandant... Sir Yang secretly asked me for Royal Censor Zhao in the courtyard before. I privately arranged for someone to send Royal Censor Zhao to the ferry to wait."

"That's right," Zhang Jun answered casually.

"Then, after Royal Censor Zhao saw His Majesty at the ferry, he was unwilling to return to the south. Instead, he temporarily stamped his feet and made a decision, saying that he wanted to stay and help the Grand Commandant defend the city. And His Majesty rewarded him with the position of acting prefect of Shouzhou... He is now Prefect Zhao."

Zhang Jun stared blankly at Tian Shizhong, but was speechless.

It is said that after a night of heavy snow gradually stopped, before dawn, two small boats met again remotely in the Huai River. The outlines were clearer, but they still didn't pay attention to each other. Instead, they each carried the important figures on their boats back to their camps.

When the sky turned white, the second year of Jianyan officially arrived. The Song army on the south bank continued to break ice along the river as usual, and the Jin army galloped to scout as usual. Most of them didn't know what their respective commanders had done at night. Even Xiacai City, which had passed a frustrating New Year's festival, finally began to gradually become active.

In the morning, the Jin army suddenly sent an envoy into the city to persuade them to surrender... In any case, the situation continued to change, just like the Huai River never stopped. The rhythm of war never changed, just like Bagong Mountain had not shaken for thousands of years.

ps: Good night everyone