I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 144 A Counter-Inflicted wound: Sowing discord among surrendered generals of Yan and Yun

"Unexpectedly, Commander Han guessed pretty accurately. On the surface, those who controlled Wang Kai were Han Chinese military men who had fled overseas and established themselves, but in reality, they were all mysterious Han Chinese sea merchants from the south."

I really don't know who's behind these maritime merchants. That useless Song emperor in Tokyo is truly deaf and blind; he doesn't even realize that ambitious figures have emerged within his own borders.

After infiltrating the Songyue Mountain Palace with over fifty skilled swordsmen from Yanyun, the Jurchen general Jiagu Atuhan, who was in charge of supervising, searched in the dark for a while and soon discovered that the Han family father and son's initial guess was correct, because the most important palaces in the palace had not been assigned to King Gae of Goryeo.

There were some people who appeared to be Han Chinese merchants living in the palace, and it was unclear how they managed to isolate themselves from the outside world and control the puppets to issue orders.

At the same time, the palace guards did not seem to be very strict, and the guards' martial arts skills were not very high.

Little did they know that this was because Zhao Zicheng didn't really need a highly skilled guard to protect important figures.

On the contrary, because Zhao Zicheng's family included a madman, in order to avoid the guards knowing that he was protecting a madman, and also to avoid the madman's abnormal behavior being seen by more people, Zhao Zicheng had deliberately reduced the number of staff in certain palaces to a minimum in the past two years, only ensuring basic living and serving, and not arranging for anyone to patrol at night.

Then, Jia Gu Atuhan approached the palace inside Songak Mountain, which originally belonged to the king of Goryeo, with relative ease.

Logically, if they hadn't found any trace of King Gae of Goryeo, Jia Gu Atuhan and Han Chang should have quickly moved their men to another location to scout, gather intelligence, and collect information. They shouldn't have lingered in battle.

However, Jia Gu Atuhan was a bit stubborn. Tonight's situation seemed unusual. After taking a few more glances, he suddenly noticed a strange old man in the king's bedroom. He was wearing a python robe, had an eccentric and arrogant demeanor, and exuded an air of nobility in every gesture. His hair and beard were already a bit gray. He couldn't help but become curious.

"How dare this person wear such an out-of-line robe in the palace? This should be the king's sleeping quarters. King Gae of Goryeo is clearly a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, how could he be an old man with white hair and beard? Could it be that a member of the Goryeo royal family or a collateral branch of the royal family is secretly adept at political maneuvering and controls the king as a puppet? This doesn't make sense..."

However, Jia Gu Atuhan had no time to think further, because the old man soon looked in their direction, then leaped several feet, even drawing a sword from his waist while still in mid-air, and took the initiative to attack the Liao heroes of Yanyun who had surrendered to the Jin.

Seeing this unusual reaction, Jia Gu A Tu could only wave his hand, signaling for a swift and decisive victory to kill the old man before seeking out Wang Kai. At this point, their only option was to launch a forceful attack and seize the hostage.

In fact, even without Jia Gu Atuhan's order, Han Chang, who was in direct command, had already seen that an accident was inevitable, so he took the initiative to lead a group of people to surround and kill them.

The old man with white hair and beard was actually a master swordsman with a stern and measured sword technique. In the blink of an eye, he swiftly stabbed four Yan Yun swordsmen under Han Chang and killed them.

Jia Gu Atuhan and Han Jian were also greatly alarmed by the sight.

The fifty swordsmen under Han Qinghe and his son Han Chang were all originally Han heroes from the Yanyun region of the Liao Kingdom, and their martial arts were comparable to those of the sixteen Yanyun riders recruited by Guo Yaoshi at great expense.

In the Liao-Jin War a few years ago, Han Qinghe had a record of killing more than 300 Jin soldiers with 50 swordsmen, and Guo Yaoshi's Yanyun Sixteen Riders also killed more than 100 Jurchen elites. They were by no means easy opponents, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that their martial arts were unparalleled in Hebei.

These were not mere rumors; at least they were later recorded in the "Compilation of Treaties Between the Three Dynasties and the Northern Alliance".

This group of elite experts was actually killed one by one with a single sword strike, four of them in a row. Just who is this strange old man dressed in outdated clothes?!

As the mad old man killed people, he arrogantly cursed, "You Tuoba barbarian dogs, how dare you rebel!"

As the sounds of slaughter and screams rang out, the royal guards from the nearby palaces of Goryeo rushed over. Han Chang had no choice but to make a quick decision and send out more than a dozen men to block the royal guards. With the old man killing several more people, the number of men left to surround and kill the strange old man was reduced to about twenty.

Fortunately, Han Chang and Jia Gu Atuhan have completely abandoned their underestimation of Han Chang. Both of them are fierce generals who can kill bears and tigers with their bare hands. With them personally joining the battle, they should be able to stabilize the situation and seek victory through stability.

As Han Chang drew his sword and stepped forward, he quickly glanced back and saw his youngest and most promising swordsman still observing, seemingly disdainful of joining the attack. Han Chang was both surprised and furious, and shouted an order:

"Dugu Jian! What are you waiting for? Let's attack side by side!"

It turns out that the young swordsman named Dugu Jian was a trusted confidant whom Han Chang had recently recruited. Two years ago, when the Jurchens invaded Yanyun, Dugu Jian was only eighteen years old. In order to defend his hometown, he joined the private army recruited by the Han family.

During the Battle of Yanjing, the Han family's fifty swordsmen killed over three hundred elite soldiers, but also suffered considerable losses themselves. However, after the battle, the Han family recruited skilled Han Chinese warriors from Yan and Yun to replenish their numbers. At that time, Dugu Jian alone killed more than twenty Jurchen elite soldiers, making him one of the most skilled among the Han family's fifty swordsmen.

Moreover, at such a young age, his martial arts skills have improved far faster than others. Now, after two more years of growth, his swordsmanship has advanced by leaps and bounds. Now, at the tender age of twenty, he has already surpassed the other fifty swordsmen of the Han family by a precipitous margin.

However, this person also had a martial arts obsession. He enjoyed sparring with others to improve his skills and was single-minded in pursuing the highest level of martial arts. He disliked chaotic battles, ganging up on enemies, and relying on numbers to win.

Han Chang, recognizing his exceptional swordsmanship and recognizing him as a rare talent, had usually been lenient with him. This time, on his mission to Goryeo, Han Chang even used some rumors circulating in the martial arts world to persuade him, saying...
"I heard that when Song Jiang and other Han bandits attacked Goguryeo a couple of years ago, there were some fierce generals among the Han people who could be the first to charge, kill enemy generals, and do it all in one go. The Goguryeo soldiers were terrified when they heard their names and dared not resist them. Since you are so fond of swordsmanship, why don't you go to Goguryeo and see whether the swordsmanship of our Han people in Yanyun is superior or that of the Han people in the Southern Dynasty?"

Because Yue Fei's identity could not be revealed, Zhao Zicheng kept his whereabouts in Goryeo very secret. Therefore, Han Chang and others had not found out Yue Fei's name before. They only knew that the Han people had produced a rather legendary and fierce general when they fought against Goryeo the year before last.

Dugu Jian is obsessed with martial arts, which is why he came to Goryeo to test his skills.

He had just witnessed the strange old man's unparalleled martial arts skills and his exquisite swordsmanship, which captivated and impressed him. He subconsciously assumed that this old man was the Han Chinese general who had subdued Goryeo two years prior.

Besides, otherwise, how could this old man be qualified to live in the Goryeo royal palace and even usurp the sleeping quarters that originally belonged to King Gae? It must be because he defeated the Goryeo army and seized power!

Out of a martial artist's dignity, Dugu Jian initially disdained participating in the siege and only wanted a fair exchange. However, after being harshly scolded by Han Chang, and considering that he had indeed been favored and won over by Han Chang in the past two years, he could no longer care about such empty reputations. He immediately swung his sword, drew it, and thrust it out in one swift motion.

His sword was about four feet long, gleaming with a bluish light, a truly formidable weapon. Moreover, his swordplay was fierce and ruthless, seemingly invincible. Amidst the swift, lightning-fast thrusts, a chilling glint flickered, accompanied by the roar of wind and thunder, as he cleanly and decisively aimed for the mad old man's back.

"Cousin! Time has changed!" At that moment, a middle-aged woman emerged from behind the screen in the bedroom. She was nearly fifty years old, but judging from her appearance, others thought she was at most thirty or forty.

The beautiful woman was none other than Duan Yuyan. She had already drawn her sword and stood ready when she heard the commotion, but she knew that her martial arts skills were far inferior to her husband's, and that going out rashly would probably only cause trouble, so she only sought to protect herself for the time being. It was only when she saw that there was a master on the enemy side launching a sneak attack that she spoke up to warn them.

Moreover, Duan Yuyan was well-versed in martial arts and had seen much of the world. When she watched the young man's movements, she felt a faint sense of familiarity. After a moment's recollection, she remembered that this person seemed to have some similarities with the swordsmanship of "Changbai Sword God" Zhuo, whom she had seen thirty years ago. Her cousin had also fought with him back then, but they had not been able to determine a winner.

Duan Yuyan thought to herself, "Back then, Zhuo Bufan was already over fifty years old. If he were alive today, wouldn't he be nearly ninety? He would definitely be dead by now. Zhuo Bufan spent decades honing his swordsmanship in Changbai Mountain, and after leaving the mountain, he operated in the Hebei area. This shows that he spent most of his life in the Jin and Liao territories. Few martial artists from our Great Song Dynasty ventured into Yanyun and Liaodong, which allowed him to dominate the region."

Since this young man served the Jurchens, he was at least from Hebei, or even further north. He might have been a disciple of Zhuo Bufan in his later years, or perhaps received instruction from him by chance. But he was clearly extremely talented, not bound by his master's teachings. Perhaps his skills were not yet profound in his youth, but in terms of comprehension and adaptability, he had already surpassed his master.

My cousin's cultivation level was higher than Zhuo Bufan's back then. Now that he has encountered Zhuo Bufan's disciple, as long as he is familiar with the other party's style, he will naturally not be difficult to deal with. As Duan Yuyan was pondering, the mad old man on the other side heard her reminder and his mind became much clearer. He immediately used a move that was extremely subtle and skillful. As he turned around, his sleeves fluttered, his long sword circled, and he smoothly placed it on the sharp green long sword that Dugu Jian handed over, and sent it out diagonally.

His method of deflecting force was so ingenious that no one else could understand it. Dugu Jian, who had just reached the age of twenty, was still inexperienced and had never seen such a strange move in his life. The sharpness of his longsword did not diminish, and he directly killed two Jurchen warriors. The remaining force did not weaken, and he also cut the right arm of the Jurchen general Jiagu Atuhan who was responsible for monitoring everyone.

Jia Gu Atuhan was the bravest of the Jurchen warriors who came today. He was highly skilled in martial arts. He instinctively dodged to the side and desperately blocked the sudden attack of Dugu Jian's longsword, thus avoiding being pierced through the chest. Even so, he still lost an arm in an instant.

A severed arm, spurting copious amounts of blood, was sent flying into the air. Jia Gu A Tu Han let out a miserable howl and spat out in fury, "You dog! Traitor!"

After uttering those words, Jiagu Atuhan fainted due to the gushing blood and excruciating pain from his severed arm, losing consciousness completely.

Dugu Jian was momentarily unable to comprehend how he had killed two and injured one, while also accidentally wounding three allies, causing his momentum to falter and his subsequent attacks to stall. He was at a loss as to how to continue his offensive.

Taking advantage of this sudden turn of events, the mad old man eliminated two of the enemy's main fighting forces in one fell swoop. For a short time, the only powerful generals he needed to face were Han Chang and a dozen or so Yan Yun swordsmen. With the pressure greatly reduced, the mad old man naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip by. His swordsmanship was like a god, flying left and right, and he killed several more people in succession.

Especially after he used the enemy's own methods to suddenly kill several enemies, it was as if he had completely broken free of his shackles. His subsequent methods of maneuvering and deflecting enemy attacks came one after another, flowing smoothly and skillfully.

The technique of using the enemy's own methods against them is extremely suitable for melee combat and for inducing the enemy's attacks to deflect and accidentally injure comrades. Therefore, when facing a large group of relatively weak opponents, those skilled in the Murong Clan's martial arts have a significant advantage.

For a moment, all the Yan Yun swordsmen in the arena were still dumbfounded, not knowing what had happened or why their comrades had suddenly betrayed them and started swinging their swords at their fellow warriors. In the heat of the battle, some of them even lost their temper and took the initiative to slash at the comrades who had just been slashing at them.

Even if the mad old man stopped using his retaliatory attack, some of the Yan Yun swordsmen would still fight amongst themselves because they were caught up in the chaos. In this confusion, the number of Yan Yun swordsmen besieging the mad old man was quickly reduced to less than ten.

Most importantly, even Han Chang, the leader of this group of swordsmen, was injured by the mad old man. He was stabbed in the thigh and immediately fell to the ground, unable to move. If the mad old man could just jump away in time and get out of his attack range, he could then leisurely finish off the other swordsmen.

By this time, even if Dugu Jian had regained his senses and roughly figured out the strangeness of the mad old man's martial arts and knew how to be careful to avoid accidentally injuring his comrades, it was too late to change the overall situation. The scene had become Dugu Jian and a few comrades fighting against the mad old man together.

After Duan Yuyan offered her husband some pointers from behind, a sudden inspiration struck her, and she vaguely came up with some ideas. She quickly spoke up to give further instructions:

"Cousin, you focus all your efforts on taking down the one with the blue-green longsword! Leave the rest to me!"

After saying that, Duan Yuyan bypassed the battle circle and quickly circled around to Han Chang, who had fallen to the ground with a sword wound to his leg. She stabbed him in the wrist and knocked his weapon away. Then she put the sword to Han Chang's neck, forcing him to order the other swordsmen to put down their weapons.

"Since you are Han Chinese from Yan and Yun, why are you serving the Jin dogs! Lay down your weapons and abandon the darkness to join the light, and we may spare your lives! Otherwise, we have plenty of ways to wipe out your entire families!"

Duan Yuyan knew that she needed to act swiftly and decisively. She would strike Han Chang again if he didn't agree immediately, her movements resembling Ren Yingying torturing Yang Lianting in front of Dongfang Bubai. A few Yan Yun swordsmen, seeing their young master being held hostage, rushed to her aid out of concern, but Duan Yuyan suddenly killed one of them with a single sword strike, thus calming the situation.

Han Chang was in excruciating pain and could not bear it for a moment. In addition, he knew that he had completely lost today. In his pain, he did not have time to think about whether his family left behind would be purged by the Jurchens. So he blurted out his willingness to surrender.

On the other side, the mad old man was increasingly recalling the swordsmanship of the young man before him, which seemed to resemble that of an old rival from thirty years ago. The mad old man used familiarity against unfamiliarity, naturally gaining the upper hand. After more than ten moves, he finally subdued the disoriented Dugu Jian and knocked his weapon away.

Young man, you still need to practice! With your swordsmanship at just twenty years old, you can at most compete with the so-called heroes of Hebei, but expecting to be invincible is still a long way off.

Subsequently, the royal guards of the Goryeo palace attacked from both flanks. In the end, more than twenty Yan Yun swordsmen could only surrender or be wounded and captured, while the rest were killed or wounded.

This farce in the Goryeo royal palace on Songaksan Mountain has now come to an end.

Because of his exceptional martial arts skills, Dugu Jian received special attention from Duan Yuyan.

Duan Yuyan had her husband disarm the other party, then had him bound hand and foot and locked in a cage with all five sides made of molten iron except for the cell door.

The walls of the cast iron cage are several inches thick, making it a small, dark room that is impossible to escape by hand.

……

Since Zhao Zicheng had been in mourning for nearly two years and had been living in seclusion in Goryeo for a long time, his wives and concubines no longer needed to travel between the two places. Instead, they could all live in Goryeo and enjoy harmonious family life every day. The Murong sisters, of course, also lived in the Goryeo royal palace.

Although Zhao Zicheng was very abstinent during his mourning period, being able to eat and live with his wives and concubines every day, even without doing certain things, was enough to comfort their hearts. Moreover, the Murong sisters had only been separated for a little over a year after giving birth, so their needs were not obvious, and their minds were still mainly focused on taking care of their cubs.

The elder sister, Murong Qiu, had to take care of Zhao Bozong, the nominal legitimate son, while the younger sister, Murong Yan, had to take care of two daughters (one born to her and one born to her sister). These two tasks took up a lot of their energy every day, and they were happy as long as their husbands could help them take care of the children.

With such a big incident in the palace tonight, after the assassins/robbers were either killed or captured, Duan Yuyan naturally thought of her eldest daughter, Murong Qiu, and came to discuss countermeasures with her.

The son-in-law is estimated to be back in Kaesong in another day or two, so we should discuss a solution with our daughter as soon as possible.

Murong Qiu knew her husband's plan and what he was worried about recently. After hearing the cause and effect, a plan quickly came to mind.

"The Jin people obviously set their sights on us after destroying the Liao. My husband said before that the Jin dogs are never idle. They will always find a pretext to frame us. After they finish fighting the Liao, they will definitely find another excuse to fight another neighboring country."

If nothing unexpected happens, the Jin people should prioritize attacking the weaker Song Dynasty. However, if the Goryeo region appears unusually weak and is seen as an easy target, then it is possible that they would first target Goryeo.

Now the Jurchens have even considered spying on the forces behind Wang Kai, and even want to kidnap him and use the king to incite the various states of Goryeo to respond to the Jurchen army. Even if we kill the assassins, it will be of no use..."

After listening to her daughter's analysis, Duan Yuyan sighed and said, "Who can argue with that? What use is killing a few dozen people in a conflict between two countries? The Jurchens are powerful; could they have completely set their sights on this region?"

Murong Qiu frowned and pondered for a long time. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she exhaled a long breath: "As for now, killing won't solve anything, unless the Jurchens realize that luring them to attack Goryeo was a vicious scheme, or that someone else is trying to divert trouble, or..."

I was also confused and didn't know how to achieve this. I should wait for my husband to come back and then discuss how to use the plan. However, I did think of something that could be used. I heard that the Jurchen general was accidentally injured by my father's move of "Shifting Stars and Deflecting the Stars" which deflected the fierce sword of Dugu.

"Given Father's extraordinary martial arts skills, that Jurchen general certainly couldn't have discerned the subtlety of it. He might have even thought that Dugu Jian had betrayed them and was deliberately attacking his own people. Why don't we detain that Jurchen general separately and wait for my husband to return to see if we can devise a counter-espionage plan to sow discord among them? Then we can discuss the rest further."

(End of this chapter)