Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The fourth year of Baoda, early January.

The official astronomical bureau of Liaonan said: "Mars entering the Southern Dipper is a sign of war and disaster."

The whole court was shocked. Many court officials, with their own ulterior motives, persuaded Yelu Yanxi to move west to Datong Prefecture, but they were all refuted by Yelu Yanxi on the grounds that the troops of Datong had all crossed to Nanjing in the east, so how could there be troops to guard the city? He insisted on staying in Xijin Prefecture.

While many people were sighing with regret, some people at home were expressing their admiration.

"Your Majesty has been confused for half his life, but he finally came to his senses. We must not move the capital now. The soldiers of the new army are watching us. If we leave now, the accumulated anger of the new army will be dissipated."

It was almost noon, the sky was high in the sky, and the copper stove and brazier in the house were burning brightly, warming people. The person who was speaking was Yelu Dezhong, with an approving look on his face, as if the figure who had spoken at the beginning of his accession to the throne and said he would forge ahead with determination had returned.

The four sons in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. Yelu Zonglin touched his bald head and said, "Dad, maybe His Majesty is telling the truth. He just thinks that there are no soldiers in Datong Prefecture, so he doesn't dare to go there."

Yelu Dezhong's face darkened, and Yelu Zongyun quickly spoke first: "Silang, if you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."

Looking at his father, he chuckled, "Dad, don't be angry. I am just worried that your Majesty is not determined to fight."

The second son, Zongdian, also nodded quickly: "You are right. I am a little afraid that Your Majesty will change his mind again. There are so many treacherous people in the court, and those bastards who want to surrender to Qi State, all of them are persuading Your Majesty to go west with bad intentions. You can't be sure if he will be persuaded one day. Then the front line..."

"Humph!" Yelu Dezhong stood up, twirling his beard and taking two steps back and forth. "No, Your Majesty, I know him. If he wanted to leave, he would have made arrangements long ago. He still sits firmly in Xijin Mansion today, so he doesn't have such thoughts."

Yelu Zonglei, who had been listening but not speaking, looked up at his father, then at his three brothers: "Dad, even so..." He looked at his father's eyes and finished his words in silence: "Do you think that a warrior named Ji and Wu Yan can stop Lu Bu from going south?"

Before Yelu Dezhong could say anything, the fourth brother who was sitting there twisted his butt and stood up: "Of course I can."

The fathers and brothers in the room were all startled and looked at Yelu Zonglin. Zong Lei, who had just spoken, couldn't help but frowned: "Why is Silang so sure?"

Yelu Zonglin puffed out his chest and said proudly, "Years ago, I went to Dayansheng Temple and had a good chat with the abbot there. He told me that the guy surnamed Lu had done too many evil things, and the Buddha had long been watching him. Sooner or later, he would destroy his body and lock his soul into the underworld. I believe the abbot's words, and I will get what I want."

"hiss……"

Yelude put his hand down heavily, pulled out a strand of his beard, the muscles on his face twitched, and he couldn't help rubbing his chin with his hand.

Yelu Zongyun opened his mouth and looked at his brother helplessly: "Silang, the fact that the man surnamed Lu lived to death can be regarded as the fulfillment of his words..."

"I told you not to go to the temple to listen to the Buddhist teachings from those monks." The third elder Zong Lei rested his hands on his legs and covered his face. "The man named Lu destroyed the Buddhist temples in the north and melted down the Buddha statues to make coins. Every Buddhist would hate him to the core, not to mention the great monks in the temples. How could they not hope for his death?"

“Ah… but…” Yelu Zonglin opened his mouth and moved his eyes. His old father waved his hand and said, “Shut up! If you say one more word, I’ll break your legs!”

"I didn't say I had to talk." Yelu Zonglin muttered and sat down: "I just saw that you were worried."

"You still say! Where's the stick?"

Yelu Dezhong was furious and turned to look for his friend. The eldest and second sons who were sitting stood up immediately and helplessly repeated the words they had said countless times: "Dad, it's not that bad, it's not that bad. You should be used to it after so many times."

"That's right, Silang is a bastard, why are you angry? You have beaten him more than once for this temper, but he has not changed."

"Habit?! Good!"

Yelu Dezhong looked left and right, but didn't see any sticks. He picked up the thin-necked porcelain bottle on the table in the room and pointed at Yelu Zonglin: "I'm going to break his legs today! Let him change his ways, so he doesn't get angry all day long!"

"No, no, no, no!"

"Dad, if you hit him on the head again, what will you do if he becomes even dumber than he already is?"

"He can't be any dumber in his life!" Yelu Dezhong was stopped by his son. He jumped up and down and cursed: "Da Lang, Er Lang, don't stop me. If you let this guy go on like this, I don't know how others will look at our family in the future!"

There was a lot of noise over there. Yelu Zonglei sighed helplessly and poked his brother: "What are you doing sitting there like an idiot? Why don't you leave?"

"I am the one who leaves every time, and it seems like I am not a member of the family anymore."

Yelu Zongli stood up while muttering, and heard his father saying, "Get out of the way, I must beat him up today." He shrank his head, muttered, "A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him," and hurriedly ran out.

"Step aside……"

"father……"

creak-

As soon as the door in front of him opened, Yelu Zonglin stopped immediately, watching the door slide past his nose, and quickly took a step back, looking carefully: "Mom!"

He quickly ran over and hid behind her, pointed at Yelu Dezhong inside the house, and raised his voice eight octaves higher: "Dad wants to beat me to death!"

The noise in the room fell silent. Yelu Zongyun and Zongdian looked at each other, exhaled, and quickly put down their arms that were holding their father. Together with Yelu Zonglei who had stood up, they shouted, "Mom!"

Yelu Dezhong hid the porcelain bottle behind his back with one hand and held the other hand to his mouth. He said, "Ahem." He forced a smile and said, "Why is Madam here?"

Outside, a graceful middle-aged woman patted Si'er's hand on her shoulder and stepped in. She snorted and raised her eyebrows. "Your Highness is so arrogant. I heard you say you wanted to beat and kill me outside. What's the matter? The army can't tolerate you, right? You are showing off your power at home and even want to beat your own son. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. What did Silang do to you? Do you want to kill him?"

Yelu Dezhong had been married to her for decades, so how could he not know what to say at this moment? He quickly shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said in surprise: "How could it be? Madam must have heard it wrong, how could I say such a thing."

The woman glanced at his hand and asked, "What is your Highness holding?"

Yelu De glanced at his hand and saw the thin-necked porcelain bottle in his hand. He threw it to his eldest son who was standing next to him as if it was hot.

Yelu Zongyun took it in a hurry and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Almost fell to the ground.

"Who put it in my hand? Don't you know it could hurt someone?" Yelu Dezhong wiped his palm on the front of his shirt, then smiled at his wife: "Madam, did you come to the study to see me for something?"

The middle-aged woman glared at him and said unhappily, "I cooked some meat porridge, but I waited for you and you didn't come back. I came to take a look, but I didn't know you were showing off here."

"Rice porridge, haha." Yelu Dezhong did not respond, and hurriedly stepped forward to push the middle-aged woman out: "It's noon and I'm a little hungry. Madam is really thoughtful. Let's go back and have dinner." He glared at his fourth son and walked past him.

"Hey, let me talk to you..."

"Okay, I'm listening, but if you don't go back soon, the porridge will get cold."

"I have no objection to you teaching your son a lesson, yelling and beating him..."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

The two figures gradually disappeared from the sight of the four brothers. Yelu Zongyun breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his brothers: "Let's go have lunch too."

He strode out of the door, looked at Yelu Zonglin standing there, and couldn't help but kick him on the butt, pointed his index finger at him and said, "You kid, use your brain when you speak next time, don't say things you shouldn't say, just shut up when your father is angry." Then he turned around and walked forward. "I..."

The second oldest brother, Zongdian, followed closely behind and couldn't help but kick him and point his finger, "Damn it, I have to wipe your butt every time. Don't you know that Dad hates those monks the most? Be smarter in the future and don't always let your brothers wipe your butt for you." He turned around and followed his brother.

"I..."

Yelu Zonglei kicked him from behind, "Ouch!" He pointed at him while screaming in pain, blinked for a long time, unable to think of what to say, and poked the air hard: "Um——", turned around, and left.

"hiss……"

Yelu Zonglin rubbed his buttocks and limped forward, "Third brother, come back here, why did you kick me?"

"Third brother! Third brother?!"

……

In the sixth year of Xuanhe Period of the Song Dynasty, late January.

Smoke and dust rolled up into the sky. Teams of soldiers were training. The sounds of shouting and killing were deafening, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves, which was very eye-catching.

A dozen generals dressed as imperial guards stood outside the parade ground, watching the bustling scene inside, pointing and talking from time to time, then bursting into laughter, and no one knew what they were talking about.

Lu Junyi sat on a rock, looking at the laughing figures over there with a wooden face. He was intercepted on the road by Wu Yong and his men and taken all the way to Ruzhou. His huge family business was actually taken away by his housekeeper in collusion with Liang Zhongshu, and now the only person with him is...

"Master, please eat something."

Yan Qing stood beside Lu Junyi in a crimson military uniform, holding the meal he had just received from the fireman in both hands.

Lu Junyi was silent for a moment and sighed: "Xiao Yi, I..."

Yan Qing leaned forward and said, "Master, please take it quickly. It's a little hot."

Lu Junyi instinctively reached out to take the bowl that was handed to him. The temperature was just right. He was startled for a moment, and then he felt even more uncomfortable. He knew that he was interrupting him on purpose. He was silent for a moment, looking at Yan Qing squatting beside him, and still couldn't help but say: "Don't call me master in the future."

He laughed at himself and said, "The richest man in Hebei was usurped by someone else. I can't sleep every time I think of it. Don't call me like that in the future, so that I don't have to recall these things."

Yan Xiaoyi stopped eating and touched his mouth. "The rules cannot be broken. Xiaoyi has been raised in the Lu family since he was young. All the food and drink are provided by the master. What else can I call you if not the master?"

"Call me whatever you want, just don't call me master." Lu Junyi waved his hands in annoyance, then remembered something: "Didn't Song Xianfeng find a deputy pioneer position for me? You can call me deputy pioneer."

Yan Qing looked at him with some depression, and whispered: "I'm afraid the court has bad intentions. They recruited Chief Song but didn't give him a formal position. Instead, they assigned him the position of vanguard officer. I'm afraid the court is going to fight a war next time, and they want us to go forward to fill in the gap."

Lu Junyi smiled bitterly: "How can a newly surrendered person be granted an official title without any merit?"

Yan Qing opened his mouth and closed it again, remaining silent.

Lu Junyi used chopsticks to pick up the cold food and said vaguely: "But it's good this way. When I can make meritorious contributions and get rewards in the future, I will definitely go back to Daming Prefecture and kill the adulterer and the whore..."

Speaking of the irritating part, Yu Qilin clenched his fist fiercely: "To vent the hatred in my heart."

click-

The crisp sound made both of them look over, but it turned out that Lu Junyi couldn't control his emotions for a moment and broke the chopsticks in his hand.

Yan Qing immediately stood up and said, "I'll go get new ones for the main... and deputy vanguard."

"No need." Lu Junyi threw away a pair of chopsticks that were broken into four pieces with a bit of frustration, and moved them in his hand: "It's a little short, but I'll just use it for what it is."

"Uh-huh."

Yan Qing squatted down again with a complicated expression. He had spent quite a while in brothels recently and heard the girls there telling a lot of dirty jokes, most of which were about the height and thickness of the customers. Hearing these words, he thought of that and quickly shook his head to get rid of the ridiculous idea in his mind.

He cursed himself silently in his heart, then watched the training of the soldiers in front of him with Lu Junyi.

The clouds in the sky gradually thickened, blocking out the bright sunlight.

……

The fourth year of Jianwu in Qi Dynasty, the beginning of mid-spring.

A long black dragon stretched to the end of the sight. Flags with the names of generals such as "Du" and "Xiao" were held in their hands. The flags fluttered in the air with the cold wind, making rustling sounds.

Countless iron hooves moved briskly on the snow-covered road. White mist continued to float from the mouths and noses of horses and soldiers, obviously they had come from a long journey.

From time to time, familiar generals and soldiers greeted each other, laughing and talking about the joy of seeing each other again.

The military camp outside the city had been expanded a lot by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War. The arriving troops followed their generals into the camp and sat down under the leadership of their respective captains.

Hua Rong stood in front of the central army tent with a friendly smile, and greeted the figure who came down from the horse: "General Du, General Xiao, you have come all the way here for a long time. "

"It's just a march, what's the hard part?" Xiao Haili jumped off his horse, his face full of smiles behind his black eye mask: "I've been looking forward to this day, even if I have to kill my way through Liaodong and Zhongjing again, I'll be happy to do it."

"I don't want to be beaten through again." Du Fu jumped off his horse and looked at Xiao Haili happily: "If I do it again, I will be exhausted to death. Isn't it better to do it this way now?"

Xiao Haili rolled his eyes and said, "I was just speaking metaphorically!" Then he muttered, "Of course I don't want to do it again. It's so tiring."

"It's cold, we'd better not stand outside and freeze." Hua Rong smiled and gestured with his hand behind him: "The stove inside has been burning for a long time, why not go in and have some drinks, there will be other people coming over soon."

Du Fu and Xiao Haili were also happy to do so. As Hua Rong walked in, a personal guard brought them some hot wine. After taking a sip, they immediately shuddered: "This damn weather is so cold that it's going to kill me. I'm afraid it will take another two months for the ice to thaw."

Du Fu looked at Hua Rong and said, "Brother Hua, you are often in the capital. Do you know when His Majesty is going to send out the troops this time?"

"It should be after the thaw next month." Hua Rong put the wine glass on the table and thought for a while: "The specific details will probably have to be announced in the court after all the generals of the army are present."

Xiao Haili and Du Fu looked at each other and said, "It seems that your majesty is ready to defeat the Liao Kingdom in one fell swoop this time, but I don't know if there is enough food and grass."

"There are only two left." Xiao Haili's only eye was bloodshot. "If it were me, if there is not enough food and grass this time, we should just fight and rob at the same time."

Hua Rong chuckled: "Your Majesty hasn't said it yet, but I think he should have some ideas."

Outside, the long black dragons continued to enter the military camp, and the noisy sound entered the big tent. The sky light faded away, and more black dragons gathered in Zhongjing. (End of this chapter)