New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

It was the seventh year of the Xuanhe reign of the Song Dynasty, in early winter.

Thirty miles south of Youzhou City, a convoy, shrouded in snow and ice, trekked through mountains and rivers towards this ancient city, which had just been ravaged by war and was now a scene of devastation.

Tang Qian sat in the carriage, feeling the violent undulations brought about by the wooden wheels rolling over the uneven frozen soil. His body swayed from side to side with the carriage, and the endless rugged mountain road made him feel inexplicably irritable.

Reaching out to pull back the curtains, Tang Qian felt a biting wind mixed with snowflakes sting his face like a knife. He tightened the fur coat he was wrapped in, but still felt no warmth whatsoever.

"Where are we?"

Outside the carriage window, a black steed snorted and puffed out a cloud of white smoke as it slowly approached. The young man on horseback looked into the distance through the wind and snow and said, "Reporting to you, young master, we should be entering the territory of Youzhou ahead."

"We're almost there." Tang Qian lowered the curtains, rubbed his hands, which were almost frozen, and breathed out a breath of warm air. His worry deepened. "So, what should we do next?"

Due to a drowning incident, Tang Qian's soul unexpectedly traveled back to the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago, and has been attached to the body of Tang Shuo's son, the Vice Minister of Revenue, for half a year.

After figuring out the era he was living in, Tang Qian considered running away.

It should be known that in the seventh year of the Xuanhe era, the capital of the Song Dynasty, Tokyo, was an isolated city that could be besieged by the Jin people at any time. He had no intention of sacrificing his life, which he had only been given a second chance at, for the Northern Song Dynasty.

Unfortunately, his father, Tang Shuo, held a high position and was therefore under close surveillance by the imperial court. If he were to escape, it would surely implicate the entire family. In addition, he himself was still recovering from a serious illness and was in poor health. Even if he wanted to escape, he would have to recover his health first.

Could he persuade his father to bring the whole family along? Tang Qian, who had previously been ignorant and unambitious, only knew how to live a life of debauchery and wasting his time, was not believed by Tang Shuo at all by the alarmist talk of such a useless son.

"Now that our Great Song Dynasty has allied with the Jin Dynasty to fight against the Liao people, how could they possibly break their promise and besiege the capital city of Kaifeng?"

If it were during the reigns of Emperor Renzong or Emperor Shenzong, Tang Qian might have been able to defy fate with his own methods and memories of the future. However, the Northern Song Dynasty was already terminally ill, with only a few years left to live. In addition, with figures like Cai Jing and Tong Guan controlling the government, even if he wanted to make a difference, it would be too late to reverse the situation.

After much deliberation, Tang Qian felt that the only feasible solution was to wait until two years later when Zhao Ji fled south and escaped from the chaos in Tokyo. Only by preserving his life in the chaos could he have any chance of planning for the future.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The Jin Dynasty used the return of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun as bait to sign a maritime alliance with the Song Dynasty to jointly resist the Liao army. Now that the Song Dynasty has sent troops to contain the Liao army in Yunzhou, the Jin army was able to successfully capture Youzhou City, and the southern war between Liao and Jin came to an end.

Seeing that the Liao army had retreated to Zhongjing and the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun had all fallen to the Jin Dynasty, the Song Dynasty felt that the time had come to recover the lost territory. Thus, this Song Dynasty delegation braved the wind and snow to make a difficult journey towards Youzhou City.

Although the mountain road was difficult to travel, every member of the delegation was overjoyed. Their purpose was to urge the Jin side to fulfill the contract and return the old Central Plains. If they succeeded, it would be a meritorious deed that would be remembered for generations, and they would surely be remembered in history.

It was for this reason that Tang Shuo, the Vice Minister of Revenue, used his connections to force Tang Qian, who had no official position, into the delegation, in order to pave the way for his future career.

The old father thought this was just a trip to make a name for himself, but little did he know that in Tang Qian's eyes, Youzhou City was a den of dragons and tigers. It was easy to get in, but getting out would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Along the way, Tang Qian had the idea of ​​escaping more than once, but unfortunately he was just a young playboy with no strength to even kill a chicken. In such a cold winter, even if he really escaped the delegation, with his current physical condition, he probably wouldn't survive more than three days in the snow-covered and desolate Yanshan Mountains.

After traveling for more than ten miles, the narrow mountain road ahead gradually became flat and wide. After turning around the foot of a mountain, the view ahead suddenly opened up, and at the end of the heavy snowfall, a dark gray city was faintly visible.

Tang Xiaoqi, the bodyguard, gently tapped on the window frame: "Young Master, we have arrived at Youzhou City."

On the city tower of Youzhou, where banners fluttered, the garrison officer, at the signal of the squad leader on duty, looked into the distance and indeed saw a convoy slowly making its way towards Youzhou from the depths of the snow outside the city.

He hurriedly descended the city wall, mounted his warhorse, and galloped through the city streets until he arrived at the temporary residence of Wanyan Xun, the commander of Youzhou: "There is a caravan outside the south gate intending to enter the city."

Wanyan Xun held his sword in his right hand and poked the tip of the sword in the brazier, turning the previously dim charcoal back into a bright, scarlet red.

“If I’m not mistaken, this should be the Song Dynasty delegation that has come to negotiate.” Wanyan Xun’s lips curled into a cold smile. “We went through so much trouble to conquer Youzhou, but they only made a feigned attack on Yunzhou. They didn’t lose a single soldier, yet they came to plunder our victory. These Song people are really good at scheming.”

"Your Highness need not trouble yourself with this matter. Just leave it to me. Since the visitors are hostile, let's resolve this once and for all."

Wanyan Xun turned his head and looked at his capable general who had fought on the battlefield: "General Wu, your ability to conquer cities and seize territories is not bad, but your brain is not very bright. Now Jin and Song are allies. The entire Song delegation died on the way to Youzhou. Do you think my Jin can get away with it?"

The man surnamed Wu curled his lip: "The Song army's combat strength is not worth mentioning at all. At worst, we can fight them on the battlefield."

"With the war in the north still unresolved, are you planning to break with the Song Dynasty now and put our army in a situation where we are attacked from both sides?"

Sensing Wanyan Xun's gaze turning cold and deep, the man surnamed Wu immediately suppressed his hostility and stepped aside: "I am just a brute, naturally not as shrewd as Your Highness. I was just talking nonsense, please don't take offense, Your Highness."

"You can say these drunken ramblings in front of your own family, but if others hear them and it leads to your death, I won't be able to save you." Wanyan Xun knew his subordinates' character very well. There were no outsiders here, and he didn't intend to pursue the matter. Turning to the guard who came to report the news, Wanyan Xun ordered, "Arrange for the Song delegation to stay temporarily at the post station outside the city. Have a team of soldiers guard them strictly under the guise of protection. Without my order, no one in the delegation is allowed to leave Youzhou."

Outside the south gate of Youzhou City, the convoy stopped on the official road in front of the city gate. A guard rode forward, dismounted in front of the city guard, and took out a document from his pocket and handed it over: "Li Ye, Vice Minister of War of the Great Song Dynasty, has brought a delegation of twenty-seven members to discuss the ownership of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun at the invitation of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty. Please enter the city to announce our arrival."

In order for the other party to understand, the guard repeated it in Jin language.

The city guard glanced at the document and then cupped his hands to the guards: "Upon learning of the arrival of the Song Dynasty delegation, my young prince has already given instructions. The delegation has traveled a long way and must be exhausted. Please rest for a while at the post station outside the South Gate. When you enter the city, you will be received by a special person."

Upon learning of the Jin Kingdom's arrangements, Vice Minister Li nodded in satisfaction. The journey had indeed left this third-rank Yuan official, who usually felt tired after walking just a few steps, feeling quite weary: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since you have made such arrangements, we will head to the post station to rest."

The so-called post station was just an empty courtyard consisting of four or five side rooms. Youzhou was a harsh and cold place, and there were not many merchants coming and going, so it was reasonable that the post station was not large. In addition, with the constant war, the uninhabited post station was even more dilapidated, and there was not even a complete room to shelter from the wind and rain.

Looking at the drafty house, before the officials could even utter a word, Tang Qian was the first to lose his temper: "Is this a place where people can live?"

The Jin official in charge of receiving them immediately bowed and smiled obsequiously: "Young master, please calm down. Youzhou City was recently embroiled in a major battle, and the buildings within the city were so badly damaged that almost none survived. Compared to the city, this post station is a much better place to rest. The city garrison commander has also given the order that the Great Song is a friendly nation of ours, and since the delegation has come, our Great Jin will do everything in its power to fulfill our hospitality. Whatever requests you gentlemen may have, I will do my utmost to satisfy them."

With this somewhat respectable statement, the officials' expressions finally improved: "In that case, bring up a few charcoal braziers so we can warm ourselves by the fire."