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

"No, that's not me! That's not me! What are you doing? Let me go! I'm really not me! I'm a Song person, not a Jurchen!"

"take away!"

At the checkpoint, a Jurchen man who tried to sneak through was immediately tackled to the ground by sharp-eyed guards.

Without any hesitation, the sentry took him away, then tore a portrait off the wooden sign, muttering to himself.

"Damn it, your makeup is awful, and you're wearing Jurchen hair ornaments and you dare to call yourself a Song person? Do you think I'm stupid?"

He spat out a mouthful of phlegm, glanced at the pedestrians waiting in line for inspection, and immediately said menacingly, "Listen up, all of you!"

"If you've done something wrong, you'd better come forward and turn yourself in. If I catch you, you'll have to bear the consequences yourselves. Did you all understand?"

After saying that, ignoring the strange and fearful looks from the crowd, he strode into the outpost.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Yu frowned and immediately looked around for an opportunity to pass the test.

"Next!"

With a stern shout from the guards, the carriage in front of Zhang Yu began to be inspected.

Zhang Yu's heart tightened. He looked around and saw an old man holding a little girl behind him. An idea immediately came to his mind.

"Grandpa, where are you from and where are you going? It's freezing cold, aren't you tired carrying your granddaughter all by yourself?"

"Don't even mention it. My surname is Chen, and I'm originally from Luzhou. These past two years, the Jin dogs have been causing a ruckus, so my whole family went to Bianjing to make a living."

"I never imagined that Bianjing would fall, and that my son and daughter-in-law would be killed by the Jurchens, leaving only this little girl. Now that the imperial army has recaptured Bianjing, I want to take my child back to my hometown."

"Oh, is that so? I'm also from Luzhou. We're going the same way, let's go together."

"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

"Look at what you're saying, sir. We're just going the same way. Come on, get in the car. I have some ginger soup here. Look how cold the child is."

Zhang Yu jumped out of the car, warmly invited the old man Chen to get in, and took the little girl from his arms, holding her and comforting her.

"Wow, Grandpa..."

Unexpectedly, the girl burst into tears in Zhang Yu's arms.

Old Chen hurriedly said, "This child is shy around strangers, let me do it."

But Zhang Yu showed no sign of letting go, and said with a smile, "It's alright, old man. Actually, this child looks a lot like my daughter."

Because I'm away on business most of the year, I can only come home a few times a year. When I do come home, she cries when I hug her, and when she cries, I get annoyed. But then again, after not seeing her for a while, I do miss her.

"That's true, girls are just delicate and shy around strangers."

Old Chen didn't think too much about it. After getting into the car, he asked, "By the way, what kind of business do you run?"

"Just do whatever makes money, but business has been really tough these past two years, with all the fighting and chaos."

"You bet they are! Those golden dogs are really scoundrels. We've just been honestly farming, what did we do to provoke them? Why do they have to do this?"

As he spoke, Old Chen patted the sacks on the truck and asked, "What's in here?"

"These are all dates from our Luzhou, but unfortunately we couldn't sell them because of the war, so we had to bring them back."

"Oh, jujubes! That's wonderful."

Old Chen said with a smile, "When my son was still alive, he loved to eat jujubes. First, he would steam the jujubes until they were cooked, then put them in a pot with water and boil them. When it was done, he would drink it all in one gulp. It was so comforting."

As he spoke, Old Man Chen's eyes welled up with tears.

"It's a pity that my son died in Bianjing."

Zhang Yu: "Please accept my deepest condolences, sir."

Old Chen waved his hand: "It's alright. My son died with honor. He fought against the Jurchens and died a true man. I'm proud to have such a son."

And my wife, she was also a virtuous and chaste woman. When the Jurchens attacked Bianjing and tried to harm her, she threw herself into a well with the Jurchen dog.

Old Chen was proud to have such a son and daughter-in-law. "When we get back to the village, I'll stand tall and tell everyone how courageous our family is."

Zhang Yu nodded in agreement, saying, "Truly a brave man."

Old Chen: "The men of Luzhou are all good men, but there's one scoundrel among scoundrels, that guy named Zhang... Zhang something, right, Zhang Yu!"

Zhang Yu's eyelids twitched immediately.

“That Zhang Yu is simply a beast. When the Jurchens came, he was the first to run to the Jurchen camp and beg for mercy. He even offered his wife and children to the Jurchens to enjoy. He has utterly disgraced the people of Luzhou.”

"This kind of person is better off not standing in front of me, otherwise I'll rip out his heart, liver, and lungs and let everyone see what color they really are."

"The Golden Dog is certainly despicable, but the people who serve as its dogs are even more disgusting. This Zhang Yu is nothing but a bastard, and a bastard among bastards!"

Zhang Yu's eyelids twitched incessantly. Although he had long anticipated that his defection to the Jin dynasty would be met with insults and resentment from the Song people, he found the experience quite "strange" when it actually happened before his eyes.

Just then, Old Man Chen asked again, "Don't you think Zhang Yu is a son of a bitch?"

"Yes, he's a son of a bitch!"

Zhang Yu could only suppress his displeasure and laugh along with Old Man Chen as he scolded him.

"Okay, let me go."

"Next!"

Just then, the sentry in front of him shouted, and it was finally Zhang Yu's turn.

Old Chen wanted to take the girl back, but Zhang Yu stopped him: "Old man, let's go together. Look how slow this check is."

Wouldn't separating delay our return home? What do you think?

"Okay, you're a really nice person, let's go together then."

Old Chen had barely finished speaking when the sentry's impatient voice rang out again: "Hurry up, what are you all dawdling about?"

So Zhang Yu, holding the child, ordered his servants to push the carriage to the border.

The sentry glanced at Zhang Yu and asked in a deep voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Sir, my surname is Li, I am from Luzhou, and my name is Li Erlang. I sell dates. The people in the carriage are my fellow townsmen, and we were planning to go back to our hometown together."

Before he could finish speaking, the little girl in his arms began to cry incessantly.

The sentry frowned: "What's wrong with this child?"

Zhang Yu: "Oh, this is Old Chen's child. I think he's quite cute, so I'll hold him for a while."

"Put the child down."

"Ah, sir, this..."

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to put it down!"

The Song army officer's eyes turned cold, and the surrounding soldiers immediately approached with long spears in hand.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yu had no choice but to return the child to Old Man Chen.

The sentry then got up and circled around Zhang Yu.

At this moment, the officers and soldiers who were inspecting the goods on the vehicle returned and said, "Sir, there are only some dates and dry rations on the vehicle, nothing else."

The sentry nodded, but did not immediately allow passage. Instead, he continued to circle around Zhang Yu.

"Sir, you've worked hard. Why don't you have some dates?"

He waved his hand behind him, signaling the servants to bring some dates.

"Don't eat."

The officer glared at him and returned to his seat.

"Be careful on the road amidst the chaos of war."

"Yes, thank you, sir!"

Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately got into the carriage and headed towards the pass.

"Zhang Yu!"

Just then, the sentry suddenly shouted.

"He is Zhang Yu, seize him!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu didn't hesitate for a moment, cracking his whip and shouting, "Let's go!"

In an instant, the carriage broke through the pass, leaving behind several bags of dates.

"Grab him, grab him now, don't let him get away."

The sentry blew the swan whistle, and a squad of soldiers immediately gave chase.

At that moment, on a distant hilltop, an independent brigade soldier saw this scene through his binoculars.

"Someone's attempting to break through!"

"court death!"

"Execute the execution immediately!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, an 81mm man-portable mortar began to adjust its angle.