When love draws near, it's like snow

Chapter 31

The incident happened so suddenly that I quickly spread my arms to shield Xiaofeng. I sternly scolded her, "Watch your mouth! Open your dog eyes and see clearly! This is my little sister! Not some courtesan, Shen Yunxian!"

"You damned scholar! Get out of my way!" Surprisingly, despite his drunkenness, he was surprisingly strong, easily shoving me to the ground. "You dare try to steal a woman from me, Ma Juncai? Don't you know your own strength? Humph! You stinking woman, you won't listen to reason, you'll have to drink the penalty cup! Men, grab her for me!"

With a few loud shouts, four or five servants rushed out from behind him, grabbed Xiao Feng, and carried her away. I was furious, anxious, and regretful—if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have sent Huaiyuan back!

"Let me go! Let me go!" Xiao Feng's heart-wrenching cries echoed from ahead. "Brother Qingyang, please save me!"

"Stop! Stop!" Ignoring my legs, which were already bleeding from the hard impact, I staggered after them. "You bastards! Openly snatching people in the middle of the street, aren't you afraid of the law?"

The streets were bustling with people, but everyone just pointed and whispered, not daring to lend a helping hand—it seemed that Ma Juncai had quite a bit of influence in Jiangning, and probably usually bullied the villagers.

I watched in despair as they walked further and further away, turning the corner and disappearing from my sight. Seeing that I could no longer catch them, I was filled with grief and rage, and roared to the heavens, "God, are you truly blind?!"

However, I absolutely could not give up. Knowing it was impossible, I could only grit my teeth and chase after them—perhaps God finally heard my accusations? Just when I thought I had no chance of catching up with them, I saw that the group of people had been blocked by a young man wearing a brown arrow-sleeved shirt at the corner.

Overjoyed, I rushed over, helped up Xiaofeng, who had been thrown to the roadside and was unconscious, and slapped her face hard. "Xiaofeng, wake up!"

After a long pause, she let out a soft moan and finally opened her eyes. "Brother Qingyang? Is that you?"

"It's me, it's me!" I nodded joyfully—thank God!

"You brat, you're asking for trouble! How dare you meddle in my business!" Ma Juncai commanded his servants to surround and attack the young man in brown.

"If the road is uneven, someone will trample on it; if there is injustice, someone will take care of it!" The man in brown was tall and broad-shouldered, and he single-handedly dealt with five or six burly men without batting an eye, appearing completely calm and composed.

Seeing that he had easily beaten the group of servants to a pulp, Ma Juncai realized the situation was bad and turned to run away, muttering to himself, "You little bastard, don't run away if you have the guts, leave your name here!"

"Hahaha!" The man in brown laughed heartily. "Grandpa, I don't change my name or surname. I'm from Tangyin, Xiangzhou, and my given name is Yue Fei. I'm staying at the Yunlai Inn, room number four, and I'm always ready to teach you!"

"Yue Fei? You really are Yue Fei?" I jumped up with unbridled joy, grabbed his hands, and shook them vigorously—Yue Fei! Seriously? The national hero whose name is etched in history! I'm actually holding his hands? Good heavens, is this a dream?!

"Absolutely genuine." Yue Fei looked at me with a beaming smile. "However, forgive my poor eyesight, but I don't remember where we've met before?"

"It's okay, it's okay, it doesn't matter if you don't recognize me. It's enough that I recognize you!" I smiled and shook his hand, having long since forgotten the apocalyptic panic I felt a quarter of an hour earlier. I couldn't help but ask again, "But, are you really Yue Fei? You're not lying to me?"

"What, is Yue Fei that famous? I've never heard of him." A suspicious voice suddenly rang out—it turned out that Yan Zongwang had walked up to us at some point.

"Don't you know? He's the most famous general in our dynasty." I told him, unable to contain my joy. "It's a blessing we've accumulated over several lifetimes to know him!"—No, perhaps it should be called a blessing for a thousand years. Could it be that Heaven sent me to the Northern Song Dynasty so that I could rewrite Yue Fei's fate?!

"Really? I've heard a little about Zong Ze, Zhong Shidao, Zhang Shuye, and Han Shizhong. But Yue Fei... I've never heard of him." Yan Zongwang pondered deeply, his expression extremely serious, as if he wouldn't give up until he understood.

You never show up when something's going on, but then you suddenly show up after it's all over? I snapped back at him, annoyed, "We have countless generals in our dynasty, don't you find it strange? I've heard of Wanyan Zongwang, but I have no idea who he is!"

I rolled my eyes, too lazy to say anything more to him—anyway, in a few years, when Yue Fei is famous throughout the world, he will know that what I said today was not just empty talk!

"Brother, you jest. I'm just a lowly captain, how could I be considered a famous general?" Yue Fei looked at me with a haughty expression—What an idiot! You will be one from now on!

"Although you're just a captain now, I've heard you're incredibly strong, able to draw a 300-pound bow. With your abilities, a promotion is just a matter of time!" I muttered to myself—how heartbreaking! If only I had brought my phone, at least I could have taken a picture with Yue Fei and shown it off, wouldn't that make a lot of people envious? So sad!

Turning my head, I saw the towering Sang Man standing behind me with a flushed face and a strange expression. My heart skipped a beat, and I smiled and waved to him, "Brother Sang Man, could you please take my little sister Xiao Feng to the villa in Jingyou Mountain Villa?"

Sang Man only glanced at Yan Zongwang furtively, and only after Yan Zongwang nodded in agreement did Sang Man obediently accept the order and leave.

"Wanyan Zongwang? Judging from the name, he seems to be from the Jin Dynasty. I wonder what Young Master Ye knows about him?" Yan Zongwang glanced at me with a half-smile, seemingly lost in thought—did he think I made up a name on purpose to annoy him?

"Wanyan Zongwang, whose original name was Wulubu, was the second son of Emperor Taizu of Jin. He was a man of great wisdom and resourcefulness, and a brave and skilled warrior. He followed Emperor Taizu in his campaigns, making many great contributions and can be considered the embodiment of the Jin army. The most famous story is that he was surrounded by 25,000 Liao soldiers with only a thousand cavalry, yet he remained calm in the face of danger, leading his troops straight at the Liao emperor, causing the Liao army to collapse." I spoke fluently—because of reading "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," I had done some research on the history of the 'Jingkang Incident,' so who was I afraid of?

"Judging from your tone, you seem to admire him quite a bit? You know he's actually a Jurchen. Aren't you afraid of incurring public wrath by saying that?" Yan Zongwang's eyes were bright and radiant.

“Brother Yan, you are mistaken!” Yue Fei interjected with interest. “If what Brother Ye said is true, this man is indeed a rare talent, one in a hundred years! He is worthy of respect and learning, and we need not be bound by the distinction between the Jurchens and the Han people!”

"Besides, as the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' In my opinion, war between the Song and Jin dynasties will break out soon. Wouldn't it be better to understand the enemy better and take precautions early?" I began to speak arrogantly, relying on my knowledge of history.

"Oh? Is war about to break out between the Song and Jin dynasties?" Yan Zongwang seemed quite surprised, his eyes flickering uncertainly. "Brother Ye, what is your basis for saying this?"

"Based on... well, there isn't any." I was startled, realizing I'd been too complacent. After all, these were things that were about to happen, and saying them ahead of time might arouse suspicion. So I had to change the subject. "However, the Jin Kingdom has always been eyeing our borders covetously. Besides, they just recently destroyed the Northern Liao, and their morale is high. It wouldn't be surprising if they came to invade with their troops!"

"In your opinion, Brother Ye, when will the Jin army invade our borders?!" Yue Fei nodded repeatedly, showing interest as well.

I glanced down and calculated the time. It was early August of 1125 AD. The Jin Dynasty's first attack on the Song Dynasty seemed to have been in October. I couldn't be too sure, but I couldn't be too far off either: "In my humble opinion, there should be war within half a year."

"Oh, really? As far as I know, Brother Ye seems to rarely leave his house. How did you find out about these things?" Yan Zongwang's gaze suddenly became incredibly sharp.

"Uh," I said, my eyes darting around, and an idea came to me. "Actually, it's a friend of mine who just came back from Yanjing. He said that the Jin army has been moving around frequently lately, and the two countries are probably going to war again. Hehe."

"The friend you mentioned, are you referring to Jiang Mohui, the master of the number one manor in the world?" Yan Zongwang asked with a knowing look.

"It's him, hehe." I chuckled and dodged the question—after all, Huaiyuan's whereabouts were always uncertain, so who would dare ask if he had arrived in Yanjing?

"Enough of that. Look at the stars and moon shining brightly tonight. It's such a beautiful night. We've met kindred spirits. Why don't the three of us follow the example of the ancients and become sworn brothers? Maybe it will become a legendary tale." I quickly changed the subject, afraid he would ask more questions.

"Really? There are many stars, but where is the moon?" Yue Fei, that simpleton, actually looked up at the sky and asked the question.

"Of course the moon exists, it's just hidden by clouds so we can't see it." Ugh! I'm practically sweating. "Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right? Just tell me whether you'll worship it or not!"

"Yes, of course we'll pay our respects! Brother Ye has spoken, how dare we disobey?" Yan Zongwang looked at me with a mocking expression—thankfully, he knew better than to argue with me further.

Yan Zongwang was thirty and ranked first, while Yue Fei and I were the same age, both twenty-two. Fine, considering he was a great hero, I'll take a small loss and be third.

I smiled broadly at the two tall, handsome men standing on either side of me, and finally couldn't help but burst into laughter! —Haha! I've hooked up with Yue Fei! As an only child, I finally have my own brother!! From now on, who in the world will dare to bully me?!

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PS: In the Song Dynasty, the organization was generally based on 50 men per team, 2 teams per du (100 men, officers called dutou), 5 du per camp (500 men, officers called zhihuishi), 5 camps per army (2500 men, officers called du zhihuishi), and 10 armies per xiang (25,000 men, officers still called du zhihuishi, but xiang were not always established; sometimes they were established under the army, such as the upper four armies). — Baidu Tieba

The stories about Wanyan Zongwang and other related historical figures are all from the internet and will not be explained further hereafter.

This book was first published on Xiaoxiang Novel Original Website. Please retain this information when reprinting!