I traveled back to the Southern Song Dynasty and was actually outmaneuvered by Yue Fei.

Chapter 026: Xiangyang

Outside Xiangyang City.

Yue Yinping reined in her horse, and the group stopped on a small earthen slope beside the official road.

The chestnut horse was panting heavily as it traveled 1,400 li from Lin'an to Xiangyang.

She couldn't remember how many days she had been traveling. She left Lin'an on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, encountered two heavy snowfalls along the way, was trapped in Xuancheng for three days, and waited for a boat at the Wuhu ferry for another two days.

After passing Wuhu, the caravan headed west along the official road on the north bank of the Yangtze River, passing through the snow of Caishiji, the freezing rain of Jiankang, and the mud of Ezhou.

The hemp rope used to bind the coffin broke three times.

On the last stretch of the journey, she was so exhausted on horseback that she could barely see the direction. She could only recall the hot ginger soup that Sun Yan had handed her when he met her somewhere in the Yangtze River.

Now she has finally arrived in Xiangyang.

In the distance, the garrison on the Xiangyang city wall changed shifts, and a somewhat faded Song Dynasty flag rose from the flagpole of the corner tower.

Niu Gao lived in this city.

Yue Yinping did not go directly into the city. Zhijia's notebook contained records of the rendezvous points in Xiangyang, and she needed to go there.

Beside the official road outside the south gate of the city, there is a teahouse called Shun'an.

Yue Yinping asked Li Yanxian to wait for her at an abandoned mule and horse inn outside the city with the coffin, while she led the horse to the teahouse.

The teahouse wasn't large. A faded cloth banner hung in front of the door, and a brazier burned inside. The smell of charcoal ash mixed with the astringent aroma of tea wafted out from the gaps in the curtain.

When Yue Yinping pushed open the door, a shopkeeper in his fifties was standing behind the counter. He was wearing a gray cloth short jacket with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his lean forearms.

The shopkeeper noticed the straw rope around her waist when she pushed the door open, and also noticed the chipped copper coin she had placed on the table.

His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, then he turned and took out a rough earthenware teacup from deep within the cabinet, filled it only seven-tenths full, and pushed it in front of Yue Yinping.

A few broken tea leaves floated on the surface of the tea soup, and there was something at the bottom of the bowl.

She pressed the object to her lips with the tip of her tongue; it was a small roll of wax paper.

She tucked the wax paper into her sleeve, picked up the teacup, and took a sip.

Since leaving Lin'an, she has drunk well water, river water, and rainwater at the post station. This is the first bowl of tea she has ever tasted from Xiangyang.

The shopkeeper behind the counter never uttered a word. After wiping the teacups, he turned to the kitchen, his back to the door, as if no one special had ever been to this shop before.

After a short while, the curtain to the back door was lifted from the inside.

When Niu Gao came out, Yue Yinping almost didn't recognize him.

During the Battle of Yancheng in the tenth year of Shaoxing, Niu Gao was the vanguard of Yue Fei's army. He charged into the enemy lines with double maces, and the Jin soldiers fled at the sight of his banner.

Back then, Niu Gao's voice was as loud as a bell, his laughter as thunderous, and he drank wine from a bowl, not a cup.

On the Xiangyang training ground, he stood alone on the command platform, shouting to the thousands of soldiers below, his voice shaking the dust off the flagpoles.

Now, Niu Gao's temples are streaked with gray, and his face is thinner than I remember. He wears a gray short-sleeved brown robe.

But his gaze remained unchanged, still sharp and piercing.

He sat down opposite Yue Yinping, without ordering tea, and simply placed his hands on the table.

"Young lady," Niu Gao's voice was low, "is General Yue's coffin outside the city?"

"Yes," Yue Yinping replied in a low voice.

"At midnight tonight, I will bring you into the city from the north gate."

"There are Qin Hui's men watching me in Xiangyang, so I can't openly meet them. But the house has already been arranged; it's in the south of the city, next to the former Yue Family Army stables."

"The owner of that house was named Wang Zhongchen. During the Battle of Yancheng, his left shinbone was broken by the Jin soldiers' spiked clubs."

The cellar contained a cache of military equipment and provisions. These were sent by Dong Xian of Ezhou, and the costs were gradually deducted from the official granary inventory over the years, then written off in the books; no one knew they still existed.

After saying this, Niu Gao remained silent for a while.

Then he reached into his pocket and took out a letter.

The envelope was made of kraft paper, without any writing or signature. It was sealed with wax, which had turned slightly yellow and the edges were curled up.

A fingerprint was pressed on the wax surface.

Yue Yinping recognized the fingerprint. It was exactly the same as the one her father had pressed on the back of the wax-ball letter.

"This letter was written by Yue Shuai to Li Bao before he went to prison. Li Bao is now in Zhenjiang, in charge of the navy. This letter can get him to help you."

Niu Gao pushed the letter in front of Yue Yinping, "But I advise you to go see him later."

Qin Hui has planted spies in the navy through the Privy Council. Thirty percent of his troops have been transferred away. If you go to see him now, you'll be exposing him.

Yue Yinping tucked the letter into the lining of her mourning clothes, pasting it next to the two notebooks Zhijia had left behind. "What did he write in the letter?"

"I didn't dismantle it. No one but you and Li Bao should know."

"What is he waiting for?"

"We were waiting for your father's letter. Now the letter has arrived. All that's left is for you to go."

"Uncle Niu," Yue Yinping pushed her teacup aside and placed her hands on the table, "Why have you been publicly advocating for a Northern Expedition all these years in Xiangyang?"

Niu Gao did not answer immediately. People walked by on the street outside the window, their wooden clogs making a clattering sound on the stone slabs.

He waited until the sound completely disappeared before speaking.

"It was your father who told me to call him that."

"In July of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, after receiving the imperial edict to withdraw his troops, he stood alone for a long time at the Xiangyang drill ground."

I went to find him, but he had his back to me and was looking north. He said, "Niu Gao, I'm going to Lin'an, and I probably won't be coming back."

I told General Yue, "Don't worry, Xiangyang won't fall." He replied, "I wasn't talking about Xiangyang. I was talking about the roots of Yue Family Army."

Then he turned around. The setting sun shone on his face, and his eyes were red. He said to me, "Niu Gao, after I leave, you continue to shout for the Northern Expedition in Xiangyang. Shout as loudly as possible."

Don't be restrained or low-key. Don't be afraid of Qin Hui's eyes and ears. Let Qin Hui think that the main force of Yue Fei's army is in Xiangyang, and that you are the only reckless man left.

The louder you shout, the less he'll notice anything else.

"Where is 'elsewhere'?" Yue Yinping felt a lump in her throat.

"He didn't say. He only said that there would be other places. People elsewhere would do other things."

You and I don't need to know who they are. We just need to do our own thing. I'll be my reckless self, and you'll do yours—your business, which we won't know for sure until many years later.

"You've been calling for a Northern Expedition for almost two years, and Qin Hui hasn't done anything to you."

"It's not that I don't want to make a move, it's just that the time hasn't come yet. Marshal Yue has just died, if he makes a move against me, it would be telling the world that the remnants of Yue Family Army are still around."

He needs to cleanse the Dali Temple first, stabilize the court, and make the emperor feel that the world is at peace. "Once these things are done—" he paused, "he will come."

"What will you do then?"

Niu Gao did not answer the question. He picked up his teacup and finally took a sip.

"Girl, your father's coffin has been brought back. What's the next step?"

"Rebuild the Yue Family Army," Yue Yinping said.

Where is he/she?

"On the way."

Niu Gao looked into her eyes.

He saw another person in those eyes, the one who stood on the Xiangyang drill ground in July of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, with his back to him and looking north.

That person's eyes were also red, but there were no tears.

"Your father said you would come. He said that if one day he couldn't come back, Yinping would take his coffin back to Xiangyang."

I didn't believe it at the time. How old were you back then? Thirteen? Fifteen? What could a teenage girl do?

Could they withstand Qin Hui's purge? Could they reach Xiangyang? Could they carry Yue Fei's coffin back from Lin'an?

He paused.

"I was wrong, you're even more like him than your father described."