Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, in Bianjing (Kaifeng), a snowstorm raged.

The soldiers guarding the city wall huddled together under the crenellations, shivering from the cold.

Since Yue Fei's army besieged the city, their morale had been completely worn down, and everyone's face was filled with exhaustion.

In addition, the shortage of supplies caused by the lockdown led to a sharp decline in the food and living conditions of the defending troops.

"time to eat."

With a loud shout, a group of cooks carried several wooden buckets up the city wall.

Instantly, all the guards scrambled to the wooden barrel.

Looking around at the soldiers who were like livestock, the cook finally opened the bucket lid.

A burst of hot air suddenly rose up, and the soldiers immediately started jeering and crouching down beside the wooden barrel.

But inside the bucket was rice water mixed with wild vegetables, and you could hardly see a single grain of rice.

In another bucket were small, dark-colored steamed buns, each about the size of a baby's fist, mixed with mud and sand.

This was the only ration for the defending soldiers, and their only meal of the day.

In the past, such food would have likely caused a mutiny if it had been served to either the Song or Jin soldiers.

However, the situation is different now. Bianjing is short of food, and the Song army outside the city has blocked the supply lines, making Bianjing an isolated city.

The current situation is more serious than when Zhao Ji and his son were alive. After all, Bianjing City had sufficient reserves of supplies before, so even if it was an isolated city, it would not collapse in a short period of time.

However, after the Jurchens occupied Bianjing, they had no intention of governing the city. Instead, they plundered the entire city as conquerors.

Then they planned to support Zhang Yu in establishing a puppet regime to replace the legitimacy of the Song state.

However, before the plan could be implemented, the Independent Brigade appeared on this land as if by divine intervention, completely disrupting the previous deployment.

Drinking wild vegetable porridge devoid of rice and gnawing on black flour buns mixed with mud and sand, this group of puppet imperial collaborators could only silently endure their torment.

A Jin soldier glanced around the city wall, then turned and walked down the wall.

He walked through several alleys and finally knocked on the door of an oil shop.

A short while later, the door opened, and the golden man met a pair of sinister and cold eyes.

"Don't worry, there's no one there."

The golden man's Adam's apple bobbed as he tried to remain calm.

"come in."

After confirming that no one was following, the man who opened the door stepped aside and let the golden figure into the room.

Inside, the charcoal fire burned brightly, dispelling the winter chill.

The golden man removed his hood and followed a man dressed in dark green tight-fitting clothes into the inner room.

Upon entering the inner room, a rich aroma of meat and the sound of boiling juices filled the air, constantly stimulating the Jurchens' appetites.

"Ah Han is here? Come, come, sit down and let's talk."

Jingwei Si, who was seated at the head of the table, warmly invited the Jin man to sit down.

When Ah Han saw the man, he couldn't help but shrink back.

Wang Rui was originally Shen Lang's chief officer and deputy.

Through years of hard work, he has become a centurion in the Northern Garrison Command, and is now responsible for gathering military intelligence in Bianjing.

"Yes, Lord Wang."

Ah Han walked to the table, glanced at the table full of meat and wine dishes, and the mutton hot pot still boiling in the middle, and his Adam's apple bobbed even more.

"Lord Wang, I..."

"Don't speak yet, have a sip of warm wine to calm your nerves."

"it is good."

The Jin man immediately picked up the wine bowl and drank the strong liquor in one gulp.

The spicy, pungent sensation entered his throat, instantly making him feel hot all over.

"Eat whatever you like."

Wang Rui picked up a leaf of vegetable, dipped it twice in the hot pot, and ate it in one bite, looking very relaxed.

Ah Han complied, initially a little reserved, but after a few mouthfuls of hot soup, he completely let loose and ate heartily.

The two were so engrossed in eating that Wang Rui only put down his chopsticks and picked up a cloth to wipe his mouth when half of the mutton in the hot pot was gone.

"Tell me, how has it been these past two days?"

Upon hearing this, Ah Han, who had just picked up a piece of mutton to put in his mouth, quickly put down his chopsticks and said to Wang Rui, "We can't hold out for long, at most three to five days, and then we'll probably run out of food completely."

"How do you see it?"

"Today I was in charge of delivering meals to those Song people, and I noticed that the rice water in the buckets was empty, and the dark-colored steamed buns contained much more mud and sand than usual. More importantly..."

I heard from the grain handlers that because of the grain shortage, they had been secretly sacks filled with mud and sand into the granary at night, as instructed by Lord Zhang (Zhang Yu).

Wang Rui frowned: "Are you telling the truth?"

Ah Han: "Lord Wang, you have been incredibly kind to my family. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that you could earn so much money without risking your life. Why would I lie to you?"

The price of rice on the black market has now risen to 800 coins per dou (a unit of dry measure). To be honest, my younger brother, A-Wai, sells rice on the black market.

Wang Rui smiled and said, "You're risking your life right now. Once your identity is discovered, you're doomed."

"I know, but this is still better than charging into battle and getting nothing in return, isn't it?"

When Ah Han said this, his heart was full of resentment.

What a reward of ten thousand taels of gold for the first to scale the city wall, and what a promotion of three ranks for beheading an enemy general.

Afterwards, the Wanyan high-ranking officials who shouted these slogans seemed to have collectively lost their memory and never mentioned them again.

He had never thought about this issue before, feeling that his life was worthless and that it wouldn't matter if he died on the battlefield.

Until he met this man by chance, who first beat him up severely, then threw him a bag of silver and asked him what he should choose.

At first, he was determined to resist, but after several psychological maneuvers, he came to understand a principle.

A painted cake can never satisfy you; only something you actually have in your hands.

Forget about the glory of the Golden Man, I'm surrendering to Chu!

As a result, Ahan became an unofficial member of the Northern Garrison Command, where he could receive generous rewards for providing useful intelligence.

What Ahan didn't know was that he was far from the only Jin person to become an unofficial member of the Northern Garrison.

A bag of silver coins was placed in front of Ah Han's table. Ah Han skillfully took the bag, opened it, and glanced at it. His pupils shrank in surprise. Inside, besides two ten-tael silver ingots, there were also many loose silver coins, totaling about thirty taels.

"Lord Wang, why are you giving so much this time?"

"Tomorrow, please call the grain manager here for me. I have something to ask him."

After this is over, don't come here for the next few days to avoid being discovered. We'll come looking for you if needed.

"Yes, I'll go and discuss it with the youngest brother right away."

Happily putting away his purse, Ah Han shoved the last piece of meat and broth into his mouth, wiped his mouth casually, and left through the back door.

As soon as he left, a captain whispered, "Commander Wang, what should we do next? Should we notify the Independent Brigade?"

Wang Rui shook his head: "No need. The brigade commander and Staff Officer Lin are currently focused on dealing with the Jin army on the north bank. Bianjing City is a decoy they deliberately left behind."

"Once it's confirmed that the granaries are empty, then let my Northern Garrison establish this military merit!"

Upon hearing this, the captain immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "In that case, I congratulate Commander Wang in advance. With this military merit, you will at least be a deputy commander next year."

"No problem, no problem. Once I get up here, you'll be a centurion, if not a captain."

"Thank you for your guidance, sir."