At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongolian cavalry pressed on the territory, and Hulagu's heavy troops went south.
Jianmen Pass was the last life-and-death barrier in the southwest of the Song Dynasty.
Lin Zhao has been guarding Xiongguan alone for three years. When he was young, he followed his father to travel through thousands of mountains and valleys outside the pass. His father taught him the directions of all the secret passages, rock crevices, and culverts in Yingchou Stream. Before his death, his father left only one reminder: There is a piece of physical evidence hidden at the bottom of the stream that can shake the court. It must not be opened easily until the country is overturned and traitors collude with foreign enemies.
There was an endless stream of scouts outside the pass, and hundreds of Xu Liegu's personal guards, the White Wolf Guards, successively damaged the mountain road. This was all because Lin Zhao was familiar with the terrain of the entire area, and any roundabout route of the enemy army could not escape his prediction.
Duan Qingya, a woman claiming to be a refugee from Fengxiang, suddenly broke into the pass. She transcribes documents peacefully every day, is meek and humble, and appears to be defenseless, but the callus on the tiger's mouth that holds a sharp edge all year round, and her late-night spying in the culvert of Yingchou Stream, all reveal her hidden murderous intentions and purpose.
Her soft skin was all disguise, and she tried every step of the way, just to find the evidence of Jia Sidao's treason with the enemy that was sealed deep in Yingchou Stream by Lin Zhao's father.
Hulagu urgently needed this piece of evidence to pin down the powerful officials of the Southern Song Dynasty and speed up his cavalry southward; undercurrents surged in the Lin'an court, and all forces wanted to hold the evidence in their hands.
On one side is the guarding commander who knows the mountains and terrain well, has laid out clear and covert tactics to kill, and has the overall situation in hand;
On one side is a dark chess piece that carries a secret destiny, is dormant, and is lurking around, waiting for opportunities to move.
The two of them face each other every day, every casual conversation is a calculation, and every silence is a game.
The sky is covered with wind and snow covering Jianmen, and a life-and-death chess game involving the life and death of the north and the south has officially begun.
