Chapter Eighty-Seven: Aftermath Arrangements

  It was originally agreed in the first Shaoxing Peace Talks between Song and Jin last year that Wan Yan Kuang would represent the agreement to return Shaanxi and Henan to Southern Song.

  However, he had ulterior motives. The goal was to lure the main force of Southern Song to the northern plain of Yimapingchuan, so that in case of another war between Song and Jin, the Jin army could take advantage of its cavalry superiority and easily annihilate the main force of the Song army, which was mainly infantry.

  Therefore, in the contract, he also explicitly stipulated that Southern Song Dynasty was not allowed to replace local officials appointed by Jin Dynasty, laying a hidden danger for future Jin military invasion.

  However, this move did not gain the approval of most Jin officials, especially the hardliners among them were extremely dissatisfied, believing that doing so would cause Jin to abandon a large amount of land and suffer too much loss. Among the opponents, Wuzhuo was the most resentful.

  From last summer to the end of the year, Wuzong had been in contact with many ministers and generals of the Jin Dynasty, preparing to use force to eliminate Wan Yan Dalang and regain control of the Jin Dynasty's political power.

  At this moment, Xiao Yi saw that Wanyan Zongbi was at a disadvantage in the struggle in the Jin Dynasty court and the situation was critical. He immediately changed his mind and defected to the side of Wu Zhu, revealing many secrets about Wanyan Zongbi to Wu Zhu and offering strategies on how to deal with Wanyan Zongbi.

  At the beginning of this year, Wuzhuang joined forces with Wan Yan Zonggan and Wan Yan Xi Yin to launch a coup, killing a group of pro-peace ministers led by Wan Yan Chalan. He took control of the Jin military and political power, tore up the peace treaty, and again led his army south, dividing it into three routes to attack the Song Dynasty.

  Xiao Yi's betrayal was viewed by many in the Jin state as no different from that of a traitor, whom the Jurchen people despised and looked down upon. Moreover, he was originally an official of the Liao dynasty, which made him even more despicable in the eyes of others.

  The remaining forces of Wanyan Zongbi also tried every means to get rid of him and avenge their master. In the first half of this year alone, Xiao Yi had encountered two assassination attempts by Wanyan Zongbi's subordinates.

  Fortunately, Wu Zong was very trusting of him, not only letting him take the position of Minister of Revenue, but also continuing to let him serve as an envoy responsible for negotiating with the Song Dynasty.

  This time in the Song Dynasty, Wuzong was afraid that he would get into trouble and specially sent his four personal bodyguards to protect him. But unexpectedly, Xiao Yi still got into trouble.

  Everyone listened to Wei Liangchen finish speaking about Xiao Yi's situation, and then thought of the Ming dynasty's current imperial court, where open and secret struggles were not much better, all with lingering fear in their hearts.

  The presiding judge, who was in charge of investigating the case, nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said: "What Lord Wei said is extremely reasonable. According to the accounts of the people present at the scene, most of the weapons used by the attackers were wolf-tooth clubs and curved knives, which are all favorite weapons of the Jurchen people. It seems that the possibility of the murderer being a Jurchen person is very high."

  An hour later, the yamen runners who went to investigate various inns in the city also brought back a clue. They said that the owner of an inn claimed that a group of horse merchants from the north had entered the city two days ago and had not checked out, but both they and their horses had disappeared. However, the guards at all four city gates claimed that they had not seen any horse merchants leaving the city.

  The official thus inferred that the murderer was probably among these missing horse merchants. Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental?

  After the investigation, the case was basically settled. Liu Mingcheng and Geng Zhuo wrote a memorial to report the whole process to the imperial court and sent a copy to the Huaidong Xuanfu Si.

  Xiao Yi is now dead, and the negotiations have obviously come to an end. Qin Hui and Wei Liangchen are also unwilling to stay in Chu State any longer, deciding to rush back to Lin'an as quickly as possible to apologize to Qin Hui and discuss how to report this matter to Wuzhu.

  At the same time, Han Shizhong, upon learning of this matter, deeply understood that the situation was extremely critical and that if things were not handled properly, war with Jin would break out again. He immediately ordered the entire city of Chuzhou to enter a state of military preparedness and notified nearby prefectures and counties to strengthen their defenses in order to prevent an invasion by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty.

  Just as the chaos in Chu State reached its peak, Yue Yun and others had already appeared at the gate of Haozhou.

  They had already taken off the night-clothing they wore when they killed. In a broken temple outside the city, they changed back into their original armor and returned to their residence in Luoyang with a swagger. At this time, Yue Yun was also disguised as a small soldier mixed among the large troops.

  Yang Zhongye heard that Niu Tong and Guan Ling were back, and hurried over, scolding: "The two commanders want to go find herbs for Young Master Yue, why must you personally lead the way? Just report the names to this commander, and this commander will send someone to fetch them!"

  Niu Tong and Guan Ling exchanged a smile, then said: "My young master's leprosy can only be cured with that special herb. That's why he specifically instructed us to personally bring people to pick it, and not let others do it in our place."

  Yang Zhongye heard about it and thought that this was a secret recipe for treating leprosy passed down from the Yue family, which could not be spread to others, so he didn't dare ask more questions.

  He only wanted to get rid of this plague god as soon as possible, so he hastily asked: "Your army has been in my Luozhou for three days, when will you set off? I'm worried that Young Master Yue's grain transport back to Zhuxiantown won't make it on time!"

  Guan Ling listened and secretly smiled to himself, looked at Yue Yun who was covering his head and face with a fan-shaped hat behind him, saw that he nodded slightly before saying: "How about we set off immediately?"

  "Ah! So soon? Can't you stay a few more days?" Yang Zhongye exclaimed with a surprised face.

  "Oh, so General Yang wants us to stay a few more days? Well, we'll just have to stay a few more days then!" Niu Tong laughed and said with a big smile.

  Yang Zhongye was anxious as soon as he heard it, and secretly thought to himself that he had spoken too much. He hastily forced a smile and said: "Originally, we should have kept General Yue and the two commanders for several more days, but General Yue's military discipline is extremely strict, which is what makes our Great Song famous. Although General Yue is his eldest son, if he delays military affairs, he will still be punished. Therefore, I won't hold up your journey any longer!"

  Having said that, he didn't even dare enter Yuke Yun's residence and hastily turned around and left.

  Niu Tong and Guan Ling saw him walking so hastily, they couldn't help but secretly laugh.

  Guan Ling smiled and whispered to Yue Yun, "Young Master, Mr. Yu's plan is really clever. He said that after you were injured, unfortunately, you contracted leprosy and need a special prescription to cure it. The herbs for this prescription must be picked by me and Niu Tong in person on the mountain outside the city. This way, no one will suspect that we killed Xiao Yi. Others still think you are recuperating at the Huizhou post station."

  Yue Yun listened and couldn't help but sigh: "My reputation is ruined! How can I face people in the future?"

  "Heh heh, Young Master, what are you afraid of? Now your face is as white and clean as can be, without a single pimple. Who would believe it? If Yang Zhongye really spread the word like that, everyone would think he's just spouting nonsense." Yu Yunwen heard the voices outside the room at this time, and also walked out laughing to say.

  "Let's just forget about this matter for now. Let's hurry back to Zhuxian Town. I reckon Father Commander is still waiting for our grain." said Yue Yun.

  Before long, the fleet was ready again and set off slowly. Yang Zhongyi didn't even dare to see them off himself, but only sent his deputy to wave goodbye from a distance, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

  As he walked on the flat Jianghuai Plain, Yue Yun's mood finally relaxed. His thoughts couldn't help but fly to Lin'an, wondering how Wang Tong and his petition team were doing in Lin'an, whether they had managed to persuade the imperial court to agree to a temporary withdrawal of troops or not.

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  Recently, several friends have successively raised the issue of the weapon used by Yue Yun, believing that Yue Yun's weapon is a hammer, not a spear. Here, I would like to clarify: In the "Song Shi · Yue Yun Zhuan", it is recorded that Yue Yun's weapon was an iron spear, which also matches the traditional Yuejia Liuhe Gunfa (Yue Family Six Harmony Spear Method) that has been passed down among the people. From the Song Dynasty to the present, there has been no transmission of any "Yue Family Hammer Method", and there is no record in historical books of Yue Yun using a hammer. The only record of Yue Yun using a hammer is from the Qing dynasty's Qian Cai's novel "Shuo Yue Quan Zhuan", which shows that Yue Yun using a hammer is purely fictional.

  P.S. This book will have some fictional characters from "The Legend of Yue Fei" appear, but the basic framework is based on historical facts. The following content will be more and more wonderful, please look forward to it!