Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The moonlight on the bluestone road was broken into mottled silver flakes, and when the leather boots of the right guard soldiers rolled over them, the spots of light trembled in fear. The old monk in the front row stumbled forward and fell, and the arm wearing five-ring mail stretched out from behind, grabbed the old monk's arm and pulled him up.

Further behind, a pale-faced young novice monk suddenly felt his legs go weak and he collapsed to the ground. Amid the scolding and insults from those around him, he trembled and shed tears. In the end, he was helped forward by his good fellow disciples.

The team turned a few streets and the footsteps of a large number of escorted monks, soldiers of the Right Guard, officials, and yamen runners could be heard. Some people on both sides opened the window to take a look, then retracted their heads, then opened the window again, looked down carefully, and watched the team go away with a puzzled look on their faces.

There were also those who were curious and brave enough to put on their clothes, hats, and hands and run out the door. They looked at the officers following behind them and ran over: "Excuse me, sir." They smiled and handed over a piece of warm naan: "Excuse me, what are you doing so late at night?"

The officer had been waiting outside Longfu Temple since dusk, and had not eaten or drunk anything until now. It would have been fine if he hadn't seen the naan bread, but now he was so hungry that he took it and said, "Can't you see it? We are escorting a prisoner!"

"This……"

The man looked at the group of people passing by in front of him, then looked at the dim light reflected from the bald head in the firelight behind him, and scratched his head: "So many prisoners? And they are all monks?"

He looked at the direction of the team and asked, "Is that Longfu Temple over there? Are all the people in the temple being captured?"

"Where."

The officer was tearing the naan bread vigorously. A colleague saw him and came over to listen to him. He replied, "There are still some elderly people and pilgrims who haven't taken any."

He patted the one who was eating and said, "Hey, give me two bites."

"My goodness, aren't they all arrested?" The busybody muttered to himself, "How serious a crime is this? Is this a rebellion?"

"It's almost like a rebellion if not a rebellion." The officer whose naan was snatched away by his colleagues wiped his mouth, chewed hard and swallowed it, "Did you hear that the old locust tree in their temple is bleeding today?"

"I heard that many of our neighbors here are Buddhists, and they are saying that the Buddha is angry."

"Oh! What Buddha is angry about? These people hid a lot of land deeds in the locust tree, and also a poem." The later officer took a few bites, handed the food back to his former colleague, and repeated the poem in his mouth, and then said: "I don't know which generation of abbot or head monk wrote it. Now all of them have to go back and be questioned."

"Is it so serious?"

"It's not serious. Our leader said that there is no law in this dynasty that punishes people for speaking out. But you did this in front of hundreds of people, so you have to give an explanation. So I took him back to ask. It's probably nothing serious. After all, we don't know who is rebelling."

"Oh……"

The curious one blinked his eyes, rolled his eyeballs in his sockets, and asked no more questions. Seeing that he didn't say anything, the officer didn't stay any longer, just said hello and left.

There were many such good-hearted people along the way, near and far. After all the monks from Longfu Temple were put in jail, the soldiers and officials of the Right Guard were dispersed.

In the darkness, figures returning home hurried past. Dozens of figures walked into a courtyard one after another and knocked on the door. Qiao Lie, dressed in brocade clothes, was sitting under the lamp, reading a book. The brazier under his feet burned fiercely when the door opened, and sparks flew upwards.

"Commander."

The man in yamen uniform stepped forward and said, "The brothers are back."

Snapped--

Putting the book down gently, Qiao Lie looked up at everyone and smiled: "Is it done?"

"In total, 27 people went out to inquire. We informed them of the matter as you said." The yamen runner said respectfully, "But I don't understand why you didn't raid Longfu Temple today. Anyway, we have a ready-made excuse."

"It's not the right time, and the heat is not high enough." Qiao Lie shook his head: "This is the decision of the court, it's not for you to ask."

"Small overstepping of authority."

"Nothing." Qiao Lie stood up and walked two steps to the center of the room. "You guys have worked hard today, go down and get some reward money later."

All the spies from the Youshi Mansion were overjoyed: "Thank you, Commander, for the reward."

Qiao Lie waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's go to the next room to eat. I've prepared some midnight snacks for you. After you finish eating, you can go back to your homes."

The joyful expressions on everyone's faces froze, and they rubbed their stomachs with their hands, with sad expressions on their faces.

Qiao Lie said "Hmm?" and looked at the spies in surprise: "Why do you look like that?"

"...Commander." Someone laughed bitterly, "We have already eaten and drunk enough."

"Those idlers who are curious about the news come out to get water or naan bread. We have to take the opportunity to spread the news quickly. Now our stomachs are full of cool water, cool air and naan bread, so we can't even eat delicacies from land and sea."

"...All of them?" Qiao Lie looked at this one, then that one, and saw that everyone in front of him nodded in agreement. After a long while, he smiled and said, "Then it seems that you will not have this good fortune."

He waved his hand and said, "Okay, go and collect your reward!"

The crowd then bowed and hurried away, happily taking the money.

……

The cold wind swept across the frosty dock, carrying ice chips. The ebony-made Haiqiu ship docked with the sound of ice floes colliding. The sailors running on the deck exhaled white mist. The captain in the felt hat shouted loudly, his leather armor covered with thawed water vapor, and his eyes swept across the faces of those who were tired from the long voyage.

At the wooden railing at the bow, two sailors were tying up a paulownia wood box with hemp ropes. The box contained sundries and they would untie the ropes and take out the items when they set sail next time.

The old boatman stood by the pier with his back hunched, his cloudy pupils reflecting the sparkling waves. With his calloused hands, he took the rope thrown from the boat and tied it to the stone pile with skill. A wide and sturdy gangplank extended from the bow and was placed on the dock with a loud bang.

The transport supervisor who was standing in the distance and chatting with others became excited. He clapped his hands and shouted, "Get to work! Get to work!" The young and strong men in winter clothes blew into their palms twice, and under the leadership of their respective team leaders, went to the bottom of the ship to welcome the arriving soldiers and more cargo.

The salty sea breeze kept blowing into my clothes. On the deck, the sailors in thick winter uniforms were carrying and picking up wooden boxes, shouting slogans as they moved them down from the ship step by step and stacked them on the ground.

The young men who were waiting came forward to load them onto the vehicles. The crisp sound of whips vibrated the air, and the wooden wheels rolled over the cold and hard dock planks. One by one, the carriages set off towards the nearby dirt road. Ruan Xiaoqi stood on the ground wearing official boots inlaid with jade, stamped his feet, stabilized his slightly shaking body, and pinched his waist with both hands: "Tsk, I'm really a little uncomfortable getting off the boat."

He turned around to check on the person behind him, and heard a cry of "Hey!" A dark figure leaned forward. Ruan Xiaoqi grabbed him without thinking: "Oh, 'Second Brother', you are so kind as soon as you get off the boat. I can't accept it."

Li Tianrun listened to the teasing voice, raised his head and rolled his eyes: "After sailing for a long time, who wouldn't be unable to stand steadily on the shore? How dare you think I'm here to pay you homage?"

"Hey~" Ruan Xiaoqi was so angry that he laughed. He pulled Li Tianrun up and slapped him on the shoulder: "You were dying when you first got on the boat, but now you are so proud of me."

“Bah…” Li Tianrun blushed, moved his shoulders, and looked a little unnatural: “I was just depressed for a while, now I’ve figured it out and everything is fine.”

"That's also thanks to big brother." Shi Bao came over from behind, his swaying body clearly showing that he was not very used to the long voyage: "Without him accompanying us to drink these days, would you still be so stubborn?"

Li Tianchun rolled his eyes at him angrily.

Ruan Xiaoqi laughed: "What's the big deal? Who made the three of us kowtow to the ground? Since I am the older brother, I must take care of my brothers."

He waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the sentry post at the dock and drink some hot soup to warm up. You have been sailing on the sea for more than two months, and I think you are tired of drinking fish soup."

These words made the faces of several Southeast heroes who were getting off the boat or were about to get off the boat turn green. There were not many vegetables in winter. Although they carried dried vegetables and preserved fruits to ensure their health, most of the time they carried various fish caught from the sea.

Not to mention Li Tianrun, Shi Bao, and Wang Yin, who practiced martial arts and ate meat, even Lou Minzhong, who prided himself on being a scholar with a broad mind, felt his face turn pale and his stomach churn when he heard the word "fish".

Of course, words like shrimp and shellfish also make your stomach churn.

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at the expressions on the faces of the few people, grinning, and felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction in his heart. There are not many opportunities like this to bully people in person...

Although he was a little tired of eating it.

"Of course I have to eat." Wang Yin nodded, looked at the sailor who had led his BMW down from behind and thanked him, then went up and grabbed the reins himself, looking at the horse swaying slightly, he smiled bitterly and said, "But I think we'd better stay here for a while before going over.

If you walk now, you might get tangled and fall down."

"Then wait." Ruan Xiaoqi laughed and put his arm on Li Tianrun's shoulder: "It is said that southerners are good at boats. You guys are far worse than brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun."

"Bullshit." Li Tianrun looked at him unhappily. "You spend all day on the sea. Even if we take a boat, it won't take more than three days. The rest of the time we spend on land. Who is like you? Going into the water is like going home. I've been almost suffocated to death in the past two months. I even wanted to jump into the sea."

Wang Yin beside him also nodded frequently: "Brother Li is right, I almost jumped into the sea because of holding it in."

"I like to hear that." Ruan Xiaoqi was not annoyed by being blocked, but laughed and patted his shoulder: "Even if you jump into the sea, I can pull you all out."

"Thank you very much!"

Several people were chatting and laughing. They had been eating and drinking on Ruan Xiaoqi's boat during this period. They were all rough and generous people, so they got along well naturally without any life-and-death feud. Only Pang Wanchun was there, supporting the younger sister Pang Qiuxia, who looked even more embarrassed, and comforting her softly.

After standing there for a while, these people got used to the land, and Ruan Xiaoqi took the lead and walked towards the sentry post at the dock. Liu Yun saw that Lou Minzhong was recovering slowly, so he pulled him back and said, "Brother Lou, you should come with me."

"Ashamed."

Lou Minzhong smiled bitterly and did not refuse. Compared with these warriors, he really had not recovered yet. While walking, he looked at the orderly flow of people on the pier and could not help but say: "I don't know when this port was built, it looks quite spacious."

"About two years ago." Liu Yun answered casually, looking at Xie Ning who was talking to Bai Yanshou over there, and continued: "Haibei Prefecture is close to Zhongjing, and this is the estuary of the Daling River. Ships can go all the way to Xingzhong Prefecture from here, so the port was built here for the purpose of conquering Zhongjing. Now that Zhongjing has been captured, the Daling River will probably be used as a canal to connect the east, west, south and north."

Lou Minzhong turned around and looked at Liu Yun in surprise: "Brother Liu is thinking very far ahead."

"I was just thinking about it when I had nothing to do." Liu Yun said calmly, "When I was in the southeast, I was just training soldiers. There was nothing else to do, so naturally I thought about it a lot."

Behind them, Pang Wanchun was walking with his sister. Maybe it was because of her physical condition, but Pang Qiuxia still looked depressed. She tightened her cloak and said, "...Is it colder here than at home?"

"The bitter cold of the north is naturally much colder than where we are."

Pang Qiuxia looked at her brother's face and was silent for a moment: "...I miss home a little."

Pang Wanchun walked for a while in silence, then patted her arm and said, "Home is where we are, brothers and sisters."

The girl over there forced a smile, which made the man who was watching her feel even more uncomfortable.

A few people talked and walked for a while, and soon, Ruan Xiaoqi pushed the wooden door in front and said, "We're here."

creak-

The door opened on both sides, and a wave of heat rushed out. Several people hurriedly stepped in. Liu Yun, the last one, closed the door. A captain on duty came forward and said, "General Ruan, the hot meal is ready. Please follow me."

He extended his hand and led a few people inside. The aroma became stronger as they walked. When the door of the room was opened, there were two tables full of food and wine, all cooked by land animals and air birds. Some dishes were rare green leafy vegetables. The eyes of several men drifting on the boat suddenly lit up.

"This is good. It doesn't smell like the sea at all."

Li Tianrun laughed and pulled Ruan Xiaoqi forward: "Brother, please take a seat quickly. If you don't sit down, how can we eat?"

"Damn it, I'm the big brother now." Ruan Xiaoqi laughed angrily, cursed a few words and sat down, inviting the people who were traveling with him to sit down: "There is no big table here, everyone, don't think too much, just sit down."

The group smiled, and Shi Bao went to sit next to his two brothers. Bai Yanshou and Wang Yin also sat over there. Xie Ning went to a table at the back. Liu Yun, Lou Minzhong and the Pang brothers and sisters who came later sat together.

The group ate and drank that day, satisfying their cravings for more than two months, and slept soundly that night.

The next morning, everyone who didn't want to continue sailing declined Ruan Xiaoqi's invitation to continue sailing. Led by Liu Yun, they rode on horses and got in carriages, and headed along the Haibeizhou to Zhongjing Road. (End of this chapter)