Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The Imperial Palace of Xijin Prefecture.

The sky was gloomy. The wind blew through the temple, and fine snowflakes swirled and blew on people's faces.

The lights in the Purple Palace were lit, and a man in a black dragon robe walked in with the gait of a dragon and a tiger and sat down behind the long desk. Behind him, several civil and military officials of Qi came in one after another and took their seats in turn, with relaxed and happy looks on their faces.

The eunuch fiddled with the candle flame to make the room a little brighter.

"...After years of fighting with the Liao Kingdom, it's time to end it." Lu Bu looked at the eunuchs and palace maids who brought in hot drinks, and his tiger eyes swept over everyone's faces: "But before that, let's first decide on new names for these territories."

The big hand pointed to the hanging geomancy map and said: "Restore the land of Youzhou. All the extra land in the north will be designated as the Northern Frontier Protectorate. The counties in Nanjing Road will be restored to Jizhou, and the area over Xijing Road will be Bingzhou."

After a pause, he said, "This matter should be announced to the world as soon as possible. Let the Ministry of Personnel send officials to take up the post as soon as possible. In addition, the counties under each state should also be determined as soon as possible."

"Yes." Zhang Lin, Qiao Lie and others nodded slightly.

Lu Bu stretched his muscles and looked at the generals who followed him in from behind: "The next step is to capture the remaining land and pursue Yelu Yanxi."

Mi Xian, Bian Xiang, and Sun An straightened up instantly. Lu Bu glanced at them, then looked at the cavalry generals Du Fu, Xiao Haili, and Shi Wengong. He thought for a moment and hadn't spoken yet, when two figures stood up from their seats at the same time.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to pursue Yelu Yanxi!"

The two figures standing up were stunned for a moment after the words were spoken in unison.

Everyone turned their attention to the two of them, one was Yelu Yudu, who had shaved his head for raiding the Song army, and the other was Wanyan Loushi, the current commander of the Jurchen army.

The former walked out of his seat, bent his legs and knelt down: "Your Majesty, the old villain Yelu Yanxi slandered me for treason and wanted to kill my three clans. Unfortunately, my son is only thirteen and not yet an adult. This hatred is irreconcilable. I hope Your Majesty will have mercy on me and allow me to find his whereabouts and capture him."

Wanyan Loushi also went out and clasped his fists and bowed: "Your Majesty, we Jurchens and the Liao Kingdom have been enemies for hundreds of years. I hope Your Majesty will give us a chance and we will definitely take the old thief back."

Lu Bu looked back and forth between the two men, narrowed his eyes, and nodded: "Okay, since you two are willing to track him down, that's great. So go back and prepare your troops, bring food and livestock, and set out early tomorrow morning."

The two were overjoyed. Yelu Yudu even bowed his head to the ground, remained silent for two breaths, stood up and turned to walk out.

Li Ying opened his mouth behind him, and couldn't help raising and putting his hands down, closing his eyes and not looking at their backs.

Du Fu, Xi Sheng, Bian Xiang and other generals stood up and clasped their fists: "Your Majesty, please leave the capture of the remaining cities to us."

They did not argue about the matter of Yelu Yanxi, mainly because they knew that the two men had a hatred for each other as deep as the sky and the earth, and they could not afford to take away the opportunity of revenge for the sake of grabbing credit, so they gave in, but they did not want to miss out on the remaining credit.

Li Ying glared at several people fiercely from his seat.

"The remaining land is only north of Xijing Road. Why do I need to send all my generals out? Besides, this is not just a matter of the northwest." Lu Bu smiled and waved his hand, looking at Qiao Lie: "Minister Qiao, please tell us."

"Yes." Qiao Lie stood up in response. Several generals looked puzzled as they walked to the geomancy map and pointed with a wooden stick. "Some time ago, Zhang Jue and Wanyan Chanchun, the surrendered generals from Pingzhou, sent people south to the Song Dynasty many times. Although we don't know what they want to do, it's nothing more than selling out the country. So, generals, don't look away from now on."

He turned around and smiled: "The cities occupied by the Song people in the south may also need to be recovered."

"No way..." Xiao Haili blinked his one eye: "I admit that these guys are as fast as the wind on the battlefield, but when it comes to a battle between two armies, they can't even attack Xijin Prefecture, which is short of soldiers and generals. How can they want to provoke us?"

Assistant Li twisted his beard, looked over and said with a smile: "General Xiao, don't forget that our Liangshan was 'destroyed' by Tong Guan. Perhaps the ministers in their court are still dreaming of annexing our dynasty."

Du Fu, Xi Sheng, Wang De, Han Shizhong, and other military officers nodded slowly upon hearing this, and whispered softly, "This is very possible."

"Let's not talk about things that haven't happened yet." After wanting to say something several times but stopping himself, Li Ying finally couldn't help but stand up and said, "Your Majesty, the national treasury is not well-off after several battles. I thought Xijin Prefecture would have some inventory, but it turns out that their inventory is cleaner than a dog licking a plate. If we continue to fight, then perhaps our army will fall into a disadvantage due to lack of food and grass."

"I will not start a war right away, but..." Lu Bu waved his hands expressionlessly and looked at the geomancy map: "People have no intention of harming tigers, but tigers have the intention of hurting people." He turned his eyes to Li Ying: "Do you think the Song people in the south will not covet this Yanyun area?"

Li Ying immediately shut his mouth. He was not a woman who never left the house. Whether he was hanging out in the underworld when he was young, or later when he built Lijiazhuang and dealt with wealthy people, he could not help but talk about world affairs. Yanyun has been a thorn in the hearts of Song people since the time of Taizu. Whenever it was mentioned, they would sigh and regret, not to mention that Tong Guan had now led his army to capture several cities. If he said that the Song court was willing to stop, he would absolutely not believe it.

"So it's not me who has to fight, it's us who have to fight against the Song people." Lu Bu spread his hands, looking at Li Ying's sad face, he was a little amused: "Don't be so pessimistic, think positively, the Song army is not immortal, they need to eat, if we go to war and seize their food and grass, won't it also reduce our pressure?"

Li Ying blinked and forced a smile: "Then I will wait for good news from the army."

Lu Bu smiled and turned to look at the others: "Now that Sun An is still in Bingzhou, let him stay there temporarily. Bian Xiang will take a rest. Three days later, we will go north from Danzhou to Luanhe River and watch over Pingzhou from behind."

"Send another order to the navy, order Wei Zhaode, Li Bao, and Hu Yanqing to prepare to go to sea, and if Pingzhou makes any move, attack from the coast."

"Your Majesty..." Below, Han Shizhong looked at the geomancy map and touched his chin: "What about the Song army? Our army is now gathered in Xijin Prefecture. Even if Pingzhou is willing to join, they will not move rashly, right?"

Lu Bu nodded and looked at Li Ying with a smile in his eyes: "So all generals should be prepared to make a move to rebel against the north."

There was a hint of pain on Li Ying's face.

The people in the palace were all veterans of battle, and they immediately understood what he meant. Du Fu reached out and touched his long beard: "Then your majesty has to move too."

"I will pretend to go to Datong Prefecture." Lu Bu leaned back and said, "The defense of this city will be handed over to..."

His eyes swept across everyone's faces, and finally stopped at the face of the figure who had been drinking: "Wang Zheng, you are in charge of the affairs here."

Wang Zheng, who was lying prone, sat up straight immediately, rolled his eyes twice before he relaxed helplessly: "I obey your command."

……

East of Lu County. The sky was dim, and the clouds were thick, blocking the sunlight. Occasionally, the wind blew, and the pedestrians on the street hid their heads and faces in their warm clothes. Outside the city, it was covered in silver, and smoke rose from the deserted villages.

After leaving the Song army, Li Jun and Duan Sanniang found a village to live in. The reason was that most of the south was the Song army's territory. If they ran back now, they would most likely be discovered and pushed onto the battlefield again. It would be better for them to stay in the north and perhaps wait until peace. By then, the sky would be high and no one would be able to do anything to them.

On the other hand, Qi State was vast and sparsely populated, and after the final chaos, there were even fewer laborers. Even if officials came to the village where they settled, they would not say anything. At most, they would scold them and write down their hometown information, and then they would have to accept it with a pinch of their nose.

As long as taxes can be collected and people are required to perform labor service, I believe local officials will not insist on arguing over who is first, second or third.

For Li Jun and others, staying here and avoiding the wind, snow and cold winter is better than walking on the snow-covered ground with their own legs, which is a waste of time.

Walking through the small paths in the village, white smoke was floating above the houses and sounds of playfulness could be heard from time to time. Many men with unfriendly faces ran quickly into the houses from outside with their hands clasped together, followed by sounds of laughter and scolding.

Duan Sanniang rubbed her red nose from the cold, looked at Duan Er who was cowering due to the cold, smelled the delicious smell of fish soup in the air, cursed inwardly, and then knocked on the door in front of her.

The door opened with a bang, and Tong Wei was startled when he saw the woman outside the door: "Why are the Third Lady and the Second Brother here? Is there something wrong?"

Duan Sanniang rolled her eyes and said, "Why can't you come over if you have nothing to do?"

"No, you can come, please come in."

The man who opened the door stepped aside, Duan Sanniang stepped in, and Duan Er jumped in with his hands clasped together, looking at the large bowl of fish soup and the steaming nang pancake on the table: "Wow, it's not bad to eat."

"It's just fishing, our strong point."

Li Jun sat at the table, watching the woman come in, then turned to Shi Quan and said, "Add a set of bowls and chopsticks for the Third Lady and Brother Duan." He shook the wine on the table and said, "We found this in the cellar. Would you like to drink some together?"

Duan Sanniang and Duan Er were not polite either. They sat down and smiled at the wine. "That's great. Thank you very much, Brother Li."

Tong Meng stood up and poured her some wine. The woman tilted her head back and poured it all into her mouth. She smacked her lips and said, "The wine from the village in the north has a unique flavor."

Duan Er didn't say anything. He scooped up a spoonful of hot fish soup, blew on it and drank it. He shuddered with a "Ha--" and looked very relieved.

Li Jun smiled but didn't say anything. He just raised his wine bowl and drank with the two of them. But after three or five bowls, the woman saw that he didn't say anything and couldn't help but said, "Brother Li, why don't you ask me what I'm doing here?"

"Miss San will say it naturally if she wants to." Li Jun spat out the chewed fish skull and took a sip of wine: "I am not an impatient person. I can wait."

Duan Er looked at Duan Sanniang and said nothing. This woman has the final say in their Duan family now, so even he, as her brother, has to shut up and listen.

Duan Sanniang curled her lips and said, "You just have a bad temper." She put the wine bowl on the table and tilted her head to look at him, "Where are you going next, Brother Li? Are you going to leave the North?"

Li Jun didn't say a word. He slowly scooped up the fish from the basin and put it into his mouth. The hot soup made him sigh a few times: "What are you going to do next, Miss San? Are you going to stay in this northern land?"

There was a sound of barking outside. Duan Sanniang frowned and said angrily, "Brother Li, you are so unhappy. I really want to ask you what you are going to do next." She paused and looked at Li Jun, "If I knew what to do, I wouldn't bother you."

Li Jun looked at him with the wine bowl in his hand, then glanced at the brothers at the table, and nodded after a while: "The Third Lady is straightforward, so I won't hide anything. The situation is not clear now, so I haven't decided where to go."

Seeing Tong Meng stand up and pour him a glass of wine, he put down the wine bowl and rubbed his beard: "One thing is certain, we can't go back to the south for the time being." He picked up the full glass of wine and took another sip: "If the Third Lady has any ideas, you can tell me. We can advance and retreat together."

Duan Sanniang frowned, grabbed the naan with her sturdy fingers, tore it apart and threw it into her mouth. She chewed it for a while and swallowed it before speaking: "Qi State's Light Chariot General Pan Zhong and Jianzhong General Liu Yuan have been hanging out with my brother for a while, but their friendship is not very deep. But it should be no problem for them to find a place to stay."

Then he looked at Li Jun and said, "Brother Jun, I have revealed all my secrets to you. Lü Bu once visited your Jiangzhou. Don't you have anything to say?"

The people eating at the table stopped for a moment, looked at the two people who were looking at each other, then lowered their heads and stretched out their chopsticks to pick up the food, but the noise of eating was much quieter.

Li Jun looked at the big nest of insects looking at him with frowns, and smiled for a while: "Miss San is a straightforward person." He pondered for a moment and said: "The two brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun, the navy of Qi State, are old acquaintances of ours."

Duan Sanniang showed satisfaction on her face and stood up immediately: "What are we waiting for? We have so many ways to go and find someone to help us."

"Madam San, please be patient." Li Jun smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "Do you know where your two friends are?"

The smiling face on the other side froze for a moment, and Li Jun sighed softly: "You don't even know where the two on the ground are, so how can I find any trace of the two swimming in the water?"

Duan Sanniang sat down with a thud, and the rattan chair under her butt creaked. "We can't just wait like this, can we? Why don't we go to Xijin Mansion and look for him? Maybe we can get some news."

Li Jun smiled bitterly: "It's not that easy. The war just ended over there. If you and I rush in and get caught as spies, we will be beaten up."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Wait a minute." Li Jun picked up the wine bowl again and said to Duan Sanniang: "With so many brothers from our two families here, we won't starve to death. I think things will calm down after a while. It will be better for us to look for the past then than to act rashly now, right?"

Duan Sanniang pondered for a while, then raised her hand and picked up the wine bowl.

Slightly——

The wine bowls clinked lightly.

"Okay, just wait a few more days."

This time, they both raised their heads and drank together. Perhaps because they had shared some secrets with each other, they were more enthusiastic and kept inviting each other to drink and eat fish. (End of this chapter)