He wanted a mighty and domineering pattern. As soon as he heard about the ‘Golden Spear Battling Three Thousand Formations,’ he liked it so much that he lay down without even looking closely at the design, shouted for someone to start embroidering quickly, and when he got up to take a look, it turned out like this…”

The speaker’s name was Andrew Scott, courtesy name Jingzhi.

This Andrew Scott Philip Scott was the “old bookworm” that James Brooks had mentioned, about sixty years old, with a head full of white hair and a thin, small build.

Andrew Scott was fond of chatting. After bringing food to William Thompson, he sat in the room and idly conversed.

The two of them unknowingly talked for quite a while.

William Thompson only occasionally guided the conversation, but most of the time it was Andrew Scott who spoke…

“Where are you from, Mr. Han?”

“I don’t deserve to be called ‘Mister’ by you. I’m just a prisoner.”

“Why do you say that?”

“My life has been adrift. I don’t even know which country I belong to. My hometown, for over a hundred years, has belonged to the Song, to the false Qi, to the Jin. I don’t even know whether to call it Guide Prefecture, Nanjing, or Yingtian Prefecture.

Though my ancestors were Song people, I myself spent the first forty years of my life as a Jin subject, born and raised in Jin. It wasn’t until more than twenty years ago, when the Song and Mongol alliance destroyed Jin and the Song army retook Guide Prefecture, that I became a Song subject again. But I fear this Song court is about to repeat the old mistake of allying with Jin to destroy Liao…”

Listening to Andrew Scott, William Thompson gradually gained some understanding of the era he was in.

He wasn’t well-versed in history, only knew some general facts, and could barely deduce the current time from certain events.

In short, it should be the late Southern Song period.

According to Andrew Scott, Genghis Khan had been dead for almost thirty years.

And Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai—the one who would destroy the Southern Song—was now in his prime.

So the word “should” could be omitted; it was indeed the late Southern Song…

However, there seemed to be something off about this dynasty compared to the Southern Song he knew.

Up to a point, everything was the same: the fall of the Northern Song, the southward flight during the Jianyan era… The previous emperor was Emperor Ningzong, and the current emperor, though he didn’t yet have a temple name, after his death—oh, after his passing—should be posthumously titled “Lizong,” right?

The problem was, he had never heard of the era name “Xingchang.”

Of course, there were many era names in the Song, and William Thompson wasn’t very familiar with history, so it was normal not to have heard of it.

In any case, according to Andrew Scott, after the twelfth year of Chunyou, the era name was changed to “Xingchang,” and now it was the fourth year of Xingchang, the year of Bingchen.

Perhaps this meant it was a parallel universe…

Shifting his focus back to the current mission, William Thompson guided Andrew Scott to discuss the situation in Kaifeng.

Currently, the Great Mongol Khan was Möngke.

Möngke was also Genghis Khan’s grandson, and Kublai’s elder brother by the same mother.

More than five years ago, after Möngke ascended the throne, he appointed Kublai as “General Overseer of All Military and Civil Affairs South of the Desert,” with his headquarters in Kaifeng; later, he also granted Kublai the fief of Jingzhao Prefecture, that is, Chang’an.

William Thompson finally understood that the place they were heading to was the territory governed by the future founding emperor of the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khan.

…

“I don’t know what we’re going to Kaifeng for this time, but it can only be a few possibilities: seeking peace, espionage, assassination, or rescue.”

As Andrew Scott spoke, he continued slowly, “But the possibility of going to seek peace is the smallest. Just look at us—you’re a condemned criminal, I’m a prisoner of war, all people who can’t be put on the table. Even if we die up north, officially we’re not people of the Song.

I hear the situation is tense now, with the north looking to break the peace treaty and march south. As for us going over this time, no matter how I think about it, it’s… sigh.”

William Thompson asked, “You don’t really want to go, sir?”

“It’s not up to me.” Andrew Scott let out a long sigh, patted his knees, stood up, and said, “It’s getting late, let’s end our chat here for tonight. When we set out the day after tomorrow, I hope Little Thompson Brother will look after the two of us, grandfather and grandson…”

…

After Andrew Scott left, William Thompson pondered for a long time, and understood more clearly what Henry Clark meant by “going out on a mission with that one is definitely not a good thing.”

However, he had long understood that he was trading “certain death” for a “one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival.”

The next day, John Foster came and brought William Thompson a long sword, and also brought someone else… Henry Clark.

“Get ready, we leave before dawn tomorrow.” John Foster casually tossed the long sword to William Thompson.

Then he said to Henry Clark, “If you dare run, your mother’s life is forfeit,” and turned to leave.

William Thompson played with the ancient sword in his hand, secretly shaking his head at John Foster’s way of doing things.

All day long, it was either “your brother is in my hands,” or “your father is in my hands,” or “your mother is in my hands”—so unrefined.

Henry Clark looked very dejected. He sat down in William Thompson’s room and started sighing.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you not coming?”

As soon as William Thompson spoke, Henry Clark remembered that this guy was a ruthless killer, and now he was even holding a sword.

He quickly backed away a few steps, only relaxing when he saw the iron chain on William Thompson’s feet.

“That guy.” Henry Clark curled his lips, gesturing in the direction John Foster had left, and said, “Looks like a praying mantis… He said he thought I looked clever at first glance, and just happened to need a craftsman, so after thinking it over, he decided to take me along for a job.”