In the second year of Jingkang, Kaifeng fell.
When a soul from a later age awoke in the body of Emperor Qinzong of Song, he was being marched north under Jin guard. Outside the prison cart came the wails of the imperial clan; inside lay the former emperor’s cold shackles.
He remembered this history: Yue Fei would be unjustly killed, Zhao Gou would settle for safety south of the Yangtze, and this splendid realm would be lost for a hundred years.
This time, he chose not to flee.
He climbed out of the prison cart and began by rallying scattered soldiers along the Yellow River, then fought his way back onto history’s game board. As Zong Ze lay dying, he gripped his hand and cried, “Cross the river!” Yue Fei asked him in the dead of night, “Your Majesty, can we still fight our way back?” Zhao Gou was sharpening his knives behind his back, while Qin Hui smiled pleasantly in court.
He had to confront not only the Jin cavalry, but the inertia of an entire age.
Over twenty years, he went from prisoner to standing atop the walls of Kaifeng.
Standing in the recovered former capital, he heard Yue Fei ask, “Your Majesty, what comes next?”
He looked toward the northern sky. “Next, we take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.”
It was the first time he had ever seen Yue Fei smile.
