Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

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The calloused palms slapped on the stone, but the bluestone did not move at all. The flickering firelight illuminated a group of dejected figures.

"That fellow Zhai Jin... is too much of a bully. We didn't even go to Henan Prefecture to avoid him, but he still went south to Ruzhou to chase us. It's really..."

In the mountains near Lushan County, the meeting cave was still there. The atmosphere was sad and solemn, and the leaders sitting on both sides below did not interrupt.

Two days ago, they were ambushed at Duanyun Cliff and two to three thousand people were killed in a fierce battle, but more of them fled on their own. It seemed that Song Jiang had a high reputation among the people, and one or two defeats were not enough to make these leaders flee.

But if there are more...

Song Jiang looked at the faces of the people under the torchlight and forced a smile: "I am sorry for losing my composure and making you all laugh."

"Brother, there is no need to be like this. Victory and defeat are common in the military. We will come again."

Wu, who was sitting at the bottom, twirled his beard with his hands, glanced at Li Jun, Lei Yingchun and his wife, then glanced at Mu Hong and Shi Jin for a while before smiling and standing up: "We have only lost some newly joined troops, and your elite soldiers have not been lost. As long as we stay in Ruzhou for a while, we will naturally be able to gather more troops..."

Under the torch, the short dark figure placed his hands on the stone table in silence for a while, then opened his eyes and looked at Wu Yong: "Military Advisor is right, it is Song Jiang who is not confident."

When Wu Yong heard him speak, his eyes lit up. He knew that this was a way of putting an end to his previous misjudgment of Zhai Jin. He bowed silently to thank Song Jiang for his magnanimity.

“Brother, brother——”

Someone ran in from outside. It was Liu Tong. He looked at the silent figure in the cave, then bowed to Song Jiang and said, "Brother Ji Sansi is back with three hundred men."

Song Jiang stood up suddenly: "Let him in quickly."

Liu Tong followed the order and went out. Not long after, a figure with a tired face, covered in dust and blood came in and knelt on one knee: "Ji Sansi greets brother. I am very ashamed of being a defeated general. Please punish me."

Song Jiang hurriedly took two steps and helped him up: "I'm glad you're back, brother. Victory and defeat are common in the military. If anyone is to punish someone, they should punish Song Jiang first."

Ji Sansi still looked ashamed. Seeing this, Song Jiang smiled and shook his arm: "Brother, I am very happy to see you back. I wonder how the others are doing?"

Ji Sansi lowered his head and said, "Brother Huang Zhongshi was killed by a surprise attack from Zhai Jin, and Brother Lei Heng is missing. I heard from the people under Brother Heji that Brother Heji was shot off his horse by Zhai Jin, and was taken back by Brother Qian Bin and Qian Yi. I don't know whether he is alive or dead."

Song Jiang sighed, and wanted to say something, but found that there was nothing to say. After a while, he patted his arm and said, "Sit down first."

Ji Sansi thanked him and turned to find a place to sit nearby. Zhang Yinggao, Jing Chenbao and Lu Chengneng, three of Lei Yingchun's men, patted him on the shoulders without saying anything.

Song Jiang looked around at everyone, thought for a while, and decided to give everyone some time to adjust their mood. He then said, "Brothers, go back and rest first, and we'll talk about it tomorrow.

Brother Dai Zong, please take some time to go down the mountain to look for Brother Lei Heng, Brother He Ji and the others to see if there are any clues."

The Speedy Guardian stood up and responded respectfully.

The people in the cave slowly stood up and walked out. Before Li Jun, who was closest to the outside, could leave, Liu Tong rushed in again, saying, "Brother, the two leaders Lei Heng and He Ji are back."

Song Jiang's eyes slowly widened, and then he laughed out loud with ecstasy: "Quick, let my brother in."

Everyone in the cave was also stunned, and then they all showed joy on their faces, especially Zhu Tong, who ran out excitedly and walked in side by side with Lei Heng soon.

"Brother Lei Heng, Brother He Ji!"

Song Jiang was overjoyed when he saw the two people coming in. He quickly took two steps forward to meet them. At the same time, he greeted the brothers Qian Bin and Qian Yi who were behind him, which made the four people who had returned from the defeat feel relieved.

Even though he prepared a big gift later, thinking it would make Song Jiang happy, he still didn't like being blamed in person.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." Song Jiang held the two men's arms and squeezed them, then looked at He Ji's injury and asked, "How's your injury, brother?"

"It won't be useless." He Ji grinned, then looked behind him and said, "Brother, don't rush to talk about this. We have invited a distinguished guest back for you."

"Oh?" Song Jiang smiled, not caring, but still asked, "Who is this distinguished guest?"

"The Grand Commandant in front of the palace, Su Yuanjing, is here to offer amnesty."

The noisy sounds in the cave stopped for a moment.

Song Jiang's hands trembled: "Quick... please come in!"

……

The forest was silent. Birds flew over the branches, chirping clearly. A stream flowed down from the mountain. An unknown wild flower grew between the cracks of the rocks.

A pair of booted feet stepped down, and then several pairs of booted figures followed behind, sitting by the stream and under the trees. Song Jiang looked around and saw that there was no one around. He put his hand in the stream and wiped his face with the water. Four figures were reflected on the broken water surface: "General Su came to offer amnesty, this is a good thing."

He paused for a moment, with a strange look on his face covered with water drops: "But we can't accept the order of amnesty right now, we must be fully prepared. I don't want to be pushed into the battlefield in the future when I go to the court, but I have no ability to save my life. Now the people below can only rely on Sun Li to train, but he can't fight."

Looking at Tang Long, Wu Yong, and Dai Zong who were sitting in the front: "Brother Tang Long."

"My little brother is here."

"You, the military advisor, and the Dai Zong brothers should set off for Bianliang immediately. If you can persuade your cousin to come and join the rebellion, it will be a great achievement for you."

"Don't worry, brother." Tang Long raised his eyebrows and patted his chest: "I will definitely bring him here."

Song Jiang stared into his eyes and nodded, then looked at Wu Yong: "We are currently lacking a capable and good leader. No matter why the court wants to recruit us, there must be a place where we can contribute. Otherwise, why would it issue an order to recruit us? Military Advisor, you can go out and find out if there are any famous warriors. Song Jiang doesn't want to meet someone like Zhai Jin in the future, but he has no power to fight back."

Wu Yong stroked his beard and thought for a while: "It is difficult for us to recruit experts from the army, so we can only start from the rivers and lakes."

Song Jiang frowned, then sighed: "It's fine if he can fight and kill. We should recruit him first, and then recruit him to be an official. It's better than hanging around in the outlaw forest."

Dai Zong and Tang Long nodded repeatedly, but Wu Yong looked up at the sky and said after a while: "If that's the case, I do have a candidate in mind, but it's hard to get this person." Song Jiang looked confused: "Who?"

"Brother, have you heard of..." Wu Yong stroked his beard and spoke slowly: "Have you heard of the Three Wonders of Hebei?"

Song Jiang suddenly realized something and slapped his thigh, "Yes, I actually forgot about this guy. He is indeed a master."

……

The golden sun moved westward, shining over the open space in the forest. Wu Yong, Dai Zong, and Tang Long, who were carrying their luggage, and Le He, Qiu Xiang, and Shi Jun, who were chosen to be their companions, hurriedly set out on their journey, heading towards Bianliang.

Song Jiang, who stayed on the mountain, entertained Su Yuanjing while sending people to stabilize Zhai Jin. At that time, the Dang brothers who had escaped had already found the magistrate of Longxing County. Upon learning that the imperial envoy had been lost, the magistrate was so frightened that he quickly sent the two men to Zhai Jin and Zhai Xing.

Originally, the Zhai brothers wanted to pretend they didn't know and continued to attack the remaining forces of Song Jiang. However, they were interfered by the two men from the Dang family and could only sigh in despair. They controlled their troops obediently and sent people to see if Su Yuanjing was still there. At the same time, they ordered the brothers Zhai Liang and Zhai Cong to ride horses to the capital to report the situation, hoping to get an order to rescue people.

However, in early mid-autumn, the envoys to Qi returned with Qi's commitment to attack Liao together with the Song Dynasty, and also presented the alliance signed by the two countries, stipulating that as long as Song Dynasty prepared money, food and cloth to be sent over, Qi would cooperate in sending troops.

The king and his ministers of the Song Dynasty were delighted to hear the news. Zhao Ji immediately ordered the preparation of all the tribute items, euphemistically calling it "giving money and food to our allies to attack Liao and show that our Song Dynasty is vast and rich."

At the same time, he ordered the Privy Council to issue a military order to gather troops in the capital area with the intention of conducting training there.

When the two nephews and nieces of the Zhai family came to Beijing again, they looked at each other in surprise when they heard this, and sighed at the same time. They were too lazy to stay in Beijing, so they rested for a night and returned to Ruzhou with the guards they brought with them.

It was at this time that no one knew that a group of people who should have been recruited long ago came to the capital.

"Is your cousin not in the capital?"

Wu Yong looked at Tang Long in surprise. Golden Leopard also had an incredible look on his face. He exchanged glances with Le He, who was out to gather information with him. Le He nodded and said, "I couldn't believe it when I heard the news."

Look at Tang Long: "You decide."

The man who came to look for his brother said helplessly: "It was all because of the treasure. My cousin had a family heirloom armor called Sai Tang Ni. I didn't know that it was targeted by a big shot in the court. He used some tricks to make my cousin lose his job and sent him to prison. At the same time, he forced my sister-in-law to hand over the armor, saying that she would release him if she handed it over.

My cousin's wife was a woman and could not resist the coercion, so she had to give the armor to the man in exchange for my cousin's life."

"What happened next?" Wu Yong stood up: "Did you kill him after you failed to get him?"

Tang Long scratched his head and said, "No, it's just that my cousin was so angry that he left the capital."

Dai Zong looked at him: "Where did you go?"

Tang Long spread his hands and said, "It's in the countryside outside of Beijing, but I don't know the exact address. You have to look for it carefully."

Wu Yong twisted his beard and looked at everyone for a while: "Let's do this, time is running out, I and brother Qiu Xiang will go to Daming Mansion to see that man and think of a way to make some money from him.

Brother Dai Zong, you will coordinate here, and work with brothers Le He and Shi Jun to help Tang Long find Xu Ning."

Dai Zong did not refuse and nodded directly: "I don't need to worry about it, military advisor."

At that moment, the bandits split into two groups. Wu Yong and Qiu Xiang went to Daming Prefecture, while Dai Zong and the others went to the surrounding villages.

However, the capital area is quite large, and Dai Zong and his three companions searched for nearly a month before they got some news. They hurriedly ran to the place they had found and saw the wife of the Xu family feeding chickens in the yard. They told her the purpose of their visit, and the woman knew that she was Xu Ning's cousin, so she quickly opened the door to welcome him in.

When Tang Long saw Xu Ning, his eyes widened. His cousin, who was so charming and arrogant in his memory, was now very depressed. His beard had not been trimmed for several days. He was drunk and incapable of doing anything when the sun was high in the sky. He was immediately furious: "How did he become like this!"

The Xu family lady standing next to them had a sad face: "Uncle, you don't know, your cousin has been like this since he lost the precious armor. He doesn't talk all day and only knows how to drink. He has almost drunk up all the remaining money in the family."

Tang Long stamped his feet. He had hoped that Xu Ning would go to Ruzhou to help Song Jiang train his troops. Seeing him like this, he was immediately furious and blurted out, "Who is the bastard who harmed him to this extent? I'll kill him tomorrow."

The Xu family's wife thought he was just talking in anger, but was relieved that he had a deep brotherly love. She sighed and said, "Brother, don't be upset about this. How can a small person like me compare with the current prince consort? We have to bear it."

Tang Long didn't know how to comfort him, he just sighed and rolled his eyes: "It's not a good idea to stay here, why don't you go somewhere else with me first, I can also take care of my cousin, so that you don't spend all your money and you two go hungry."

Mrs. Xu thought about it for a while before agreeing. She cleaned up the house. She and her husband and son lived here without much stuff, so they were ready in a short time.

Shi Jun rented a car and got a mule and horse, and the eight of them followed the official road to Ruzhou.

On the other side, Wu Yong took Qiu Xiang and rented a carriage to rush to Daming Prefecture.

The three best of Hebei refer to Jade Unicorn Lu Junyi. The Lu family is very famous in Daming Prefecture, and any passerby can know that.

Lu Junyi's family was wealthy, he was a skilled martial artist, and he had a high reputation in Hebei, so he naturally attracted attention. Wu Yong was used to tricking people into giving him questions, so he found out everything in a short time.

Mr. Lu has a wife and a son, and countless servants. Only Li Gu is valued. Originally, he also had a servant named Yan Qing, but he was driven out of the house for some reason after Mrs. Lu gave birth to a child.

But Yan Qing was a playboy. All the prostitutes and ladies in the city loved him very much, so he lived comfortably in brothels.

Wu Yong thought for a while, then stood up and said, "Let's go to the brothel and meet that playboy first."

Qiu Xiang was only there to protect him, so how could he have any objections? He followed Wu Yong and the other two towards the brothel, his still young face flushed with excitement along the way.

Growing up, according to his family background, he could easily go to brothels and get to know the prostitutes. However, before he could put his plan into action, his wife got into trouble and went up the mountain. As a result, he still doesn't know which way the door of the brothel faces.

This time, following the military advisor, I can get such a benefit, which is really a pleasant surprise.

The two of them were not searching aimlessly. Yan Qing was very famous in the red-light district, and he knew the direction by dragging a few eunuchs and maids along the way.

Soon, two people in a hurry stood in front of the two-story building called "Yicuixuan". (End of this chapter)