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

Chapter 027: It Can Start a Prairie Fire

At midnight.

Outside the north gate of Xiangyang, Niu Gao stood inside the side gate, accompanied by two men dressed in black.

Upon seeing Yue Yinping leading her horse out from the shadows across the stone bridge, he made a hand gesture behind him.

The side gate was pushed open silently. The door hinges were oiled, and when they turned, they made only a slight rustling sound.

Li Yanxian, accompanied by three Imperial Guard soldiers, carried the coffin behind him. Niu Gao glanced at the old scar on Li Yanxian's cheek, then at the lining of his infantry armor beneath his Imperial Guard uniform, nodded, and said nothing.

They crossed North Gate Street and turned into the alley, walking south along the base of the city wall.

The night in Xiangyang is very quiet. Occasionally, a night watchman will walk by the alley entrance, and the sound of his clapper will grow louder as it approaches.

With each clapper sound, Niu Gao would raise his right hand, and everyone would stop and wait until the sound of the clapper faded into the distance before continuing.

The house next to the stable in the south of the city is hidden among a row of old houses.

From the outside, it looks no different from the surrounding houses, with earthen walls, blue tiles, low lintels, and a stone lion with half an ear missing crouching at the entrance.

Wang Zhongchen stood at the entrance of the main hall. He was in his fifties, with most of his hair turned white, and he had a limp in his left leg, walking with an uneven gait.

When he first saw Yue Yinping, he didn't bow or exchange pleasantries; he simply stood there looking at the coffin behind her.

"Girl, Yue Shuai's coffin," he said in a hoarse voice, "I've been guarding it."

Wang Zhongchen led Yue Yinping into the main hall.

The iron plate under the stove was pushed open from below, revealing a dark hole. A wooden ladder extended downwards, widening as it went down.

The cellar was about two zhang square, with walls made of blue bricks, and dozens of wooden boxes were neatly stacked in the corner.

Niu Gao raised the oil lamp and opened the top one. The lid was lifted, and the pungent smell of tung oil filled the air; it was brand new armor.

"It was sent by Dong Xian from Ezhou." Niu Gao closed the lid. "He is in charge of the logistics of the former Yue Family Army in Ezhou."

Eleven years after the Shaoxing Incident, all discontinued military equipment had to be processed and reported for damage through him. He reported more than he destroyed, and the rest eventually ended up here.

This man is incredibly stubborn. Anyone who has worked with him knows that when Marshal Yue appointed him to manage logistics, it was precisely because of his stubbornness that no one could persuade him.

After speaking, Niu Gao hung the oil lamp on the iron hook on the wall and turned to walk towards the wooden ladder. "Girl, you rest. Tomorrow I'll take you to see some of my old brothers outside the city—"

"Uncle Niu," Yue Yinping called out to him, "there's one more thing."

Niu Gao turned around. Yue Yinping didn't look at him; she looked at Li Yanxian.

Li Yanxian stood beside the wooden ladder at the entrance to the cellar.

"Li Yanxian," Yue Yinping's voice remained low, "you will return to Lin'an tomorrow. Tell Prince Pu'an about the situation here."

Li Yanxian knelt on one knee.

Tell him that there are four hundred veterans outside Xiangyang City, scattered in various villages.

The cellar contained enough weaponry to equip three hundred men, and Dong Xian from Ezhou was continuing to supply them. Sun Yan's waterway had been opened, so transport from Ezhou to Xiangyang no longer needed to detour by land.

Uncle Niu continued to act like a brute, while Qin Hui's men watched him but made no move.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Tell him that I saw the letter my father wrote to him, and another one that Uncle Niu had. Tell him that I am waiting for him in Xiangyang."

Li Yanxian kowtowed. "This subordinate delivered the message without missing a single word."

"There's one more thing." Yue Yinping took out the blank kraft paper envelope from the inner layer of her mourning clothes.

"This letter is for Li Bao. But Li Bao is in Zhenjiang, and I can't go there now. Uncle Niu is right, Qin Hui's men are watching him too closely. If I go there, it will be the same as exposing him."

When my father gave this letter to Uncle Niu, he said, "If Yinping comes, give it to her. If she doesn't come, burn it."

She turned the envelope over, and the back was also blank.

"I've come, so the letter wasn't burned. But I can't deliver it, and Li Bao can't come. This letter needs to be sent to someone who won't arouse Qin Hui's suspicion, someone who can move freely between Zhenjiang and Xiangyang."

Yue Yinping looked up at Li Yanxian and said, "Tell the Prince to pick someone from the intelligence network."

Zhijia's roster included locations in Zhenjiang—fishermen in riverside villages and the proprietress of a teahouse outside the naval base. He instructed one of them to deliver this letter to Li Bao.

She took out the two booklets from the lining of her mourning clothes and flipped through them countless times under the oil lamp at the post station. These were the last things Zhijia had left her.

She closed the two booklets and handed them to Li Yanxian. "Take this to him too."

Li Yanxian accepted it with both hands.

Li Yanxian kowtowed. "This humble servant will report to the Prince of Puan."

"Tell him that this is a list of intelligence network members left by Master Zhijia."

He can activate the key points in Lin'an later, but he can't touch Jiankang and Zhenjiang now, because Qin Hui will notice if he does.

But the Shunhe Tea Shop in Lin'an was safe; Manager Wang recognized the chipped copper coin.

Yue Yinping paused. "And the cook at the back gate of the Qin residence, she's the most dangerous person on the list."

Zhijia hammered a nail into Qin Hui's house. This nail cannot be pulled out or touched now; she must remain there.

When the day comes that we need her, let her choose for herself.

Li Yanxian kowtowed. "This subordinate will deliver the message word for word."

Yue Yinping took out the wooden bird from her sleeve; it was not the one Zhao Bozong had.

After she finished carving the words, she used the scraps from the same piece of mulberry wood to carve an even smaller one, only the size of a thumb. Her carving was hurried, and she only made three cuts to carve the feather patterns on the wings.

She handed the little wooden bird to Li Yanxian. "Give this to him; he'll know what it means."

"Tell him—" Yue Yinping's voice paused for a moment, very briefly, not even enough for the flame of an oil lamp to flicker, "tell him I'm doing well in Xiangyang. The tea in Xiangyang is more astringent than that in Lin'an, but it quenches thirst."

Li Yanxian raised her head.

He looked at Yue Yinping's face, trying to find something in it, a hint that she wanted him to take more words to Lin'an, but she had already said everything.

"Your humble servant obeys." Li Yanxian kowtowed, wrapped the letter and pages in oilcloth, and sewed them into the inner layer of his clothes.

Then he got up, climbed the wooden ladder, and stopped halfway up.

"General Niu, I have something to say."

Niu Gao looked at him.

"When I carried General Yang Zaixing's body out of Xiaoshang River, General Yang said something."

He said, "Tell Commander Yue that Yang Zaixing did his best."

At the time, I thought to myself, "I probably won't be able to deliver those words."

General Yue left first, followed by General Yang, and neither of them could hear anything.

Li Yanxian paused, "Now this humble general is carrying another coffin. From Xiaoshanghe to Lin'an and then to Xiangyang, this humble general has carried it twice. This time, this humble general has delivered the message."

Niu Gao stood beside the oil lamp. He didn't say anything, but took a few steps forward and pressed Li Yanxian's shoulder hard.

"You little rascal," Niu Gao said.

He withdrew his hand, turned to face the wall, and turned his back to everyone.

"Let's go, it'll be difficult to leave the city after daybreak."