Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In mid-winter, the wind was as cold as a knife, the flags rustled, and a murderous atmosphere arose between black and white.

The team holding high the big flag with the word "Bian" disappeared in the distance where heaven and earth met.

At the top of the rolling hills, a figure in a white cloak stood up and said, "It's time to go back and talk to the king."

"I just hope that our people can have a good future this time."

A hoarse voice was heard, and the snow pile beside them moved. Several people, also wearing white robes, stood up, and then quickly ran down the north side of the hillside. They found the tied horses in the bare forest, shouted loudly a few times, and galloped away quickly into the distance.

The horse's hooves rolled up a thin snow dragon, and it quickly approached a small city amid the knight's shouts.

Although it is cold in winter, there are always some pedestrians making a living entering and leaving the city. When they hear the sound of horse hooves, they turn their heads to take a look, then hurriedly make way. Several fast horses rush into the city without slowing down.

Above the city gate, the two words "Xingtang" are reflected in the sunlight.

"Shut up!"

The warhorse stopped in front of a courtyard, and the rider quickly jumped off, walked in, and knelt on one knee in the house: "Your Majesty, we are back. Bian Xiang has left Danzhou and is heading west."

The figure sitting over there stood up lazily and walked past the person kneeling on the ground. Several spies turned their heads, and the sunlight from outside shone in, making them squint their eyes, and for a moment they could not see the face of their king clearly.

Several figures of different shapes were sitting in the inner seats of the room. Someone hesitated and said, "My lord, the Qi people are already strong. How can we resist their counterattack?"

"Already done?"

The wind blew in, and the charcoal in the brazier in the house was dazzling red. The figure with his back to the light stretched out his arm to close the door, blocking the howling north wind. "The Qi people have just gained Nanjing Road, and the people's hearts have not yet completely surrendered. There are still some things that can be done. Besides, it has only been ten years since they seized Liaodong, and half of that time has been spent at war. With their shallow foundation, if it weren't for the surname Lu who could suppress his temper, they would have been depleted long ago. How could they have enough food and grass for the war?"

bang bang-

The person who spoke reached out and knocked on the door: "When the time comes, as long as the Southern Dynasty can come up and station troops to defend for a year or so, even if Qi is a good fighter, it will suffer a loss in silence."

The figure turned around and opened his arms: "By then, with the weak attitude of the Southern Dynasty, we Xi people will still be able to gain a foothold in this northern land. For the sake of future generations, this must be done."

From the light in the room, it was clear that the man was Wang Xiaogan from the Xi people.

……

The walls of Miyun city are thick and solid, but there are many cracks on the outside of the ancient walls. Ropes are hanging from the top of the city walls, and corvées tied with ropes are repairing the walls.

The soldiers above were lazily walking by with their spears in their arms. An officer came up and kicked someone, "Damn it, stand up straight. If someone sees this and reports it to me, and it gets me killed, I'll make you peel off a layer of skin."

"Captain Cao."

The soldier who was kicked looked back and quickly showed a flattering smile: "That Bian guy has left, and he was just passing by. There is no need for us to be nervous all day long. The brothers have been on edge for several days and are somewhat tired."

"Bullshit, it's only been brewed for two days. You're tired after pretending for two days. Are you made of mud?" The captain who kicked him laughed angrily, grabbed the helmet on his head and shook it: "Let me tell you, I finally made it out of those poor villages and came to Nanjing Road by selling blood on the battlefield... Well, now I am in Jizhou, a wealthy place in Jizhou. If you mess it up for me, I will kill your whole family and I will take your surname Cao Mingji."

"No, no." The soldier smiled bitterly: "Captain Cao, calm down. I will cheer up the brothers."

After saying this, the figure yelled at the people standing on the city wall, "Pay attention, don't stand there like dead men." Then he walked over and kicked them viciously a few times.

Cao Mingji glanced at him unhappily, and walked towards the city gate tower with his gait. The moment he sat down, the guard of this section of the city wall ran in, looked at him and saluted: "Captain, how come you are here in such a cold weather?"

Cao Mingji rolled his eyes and said, "Do I need to report to you when I come to the city to take a look?"

"No, no, I'm just worried that the cold weather will make the captain feel uncomfortable."

"Bullshit, I'm so tired from practicing martial arts that I'll fall ill if there's just a gust of wind, right?" Cao Mingji glanced at him unhappily.

The guard lowered his head, quickly looked up at Cao Mingji, and said, "Captain, I have some new wine here. Can I heat up a jar for you?"

"Hmm?" Cao Mingji glanced at him, blinked, and straightened up: "Why didn't you bring the wine up earlier?"

"Yes."

The guard smiled, then went out, first found a jar of wine, looked at it with some pain, then took out two medicine bags from his waist, opened the wine jar and poured the wine in, stirred it with his fingers, took it out and wanted to suck the wine off his fingers, but before he put it in his mouth, he suddenly reacted and quickly wiped it on his body.

With a slightly flushed face, he looked around, thinking of Cao Mingji's arrogant look, and also thinking of how he almost made a fool of himself just now. Then he spat several times at the wine jar: "Damn it, you asshole looked down on me, now you have a taste of my saliva."

Having said this, he went out with the jar of wine to heat it up, then went out with a smile on his face, walked into the city wall, and was immediately stopped by a disgusting smell.

In his sight, Cao Mingji was sitting over there, taking off his combat boots and warming himself by the brazier below. He looked at him and said impatiently, "Why did you take so long?"

He reached out and grabbed the chicken feet on the table, took a few bites and spit them out: "Where's the wine?"

"Here." Holding back his nausea, the general quickly stepped forward and put down the jar of wine. A gust of air that was even more pungent than before came from below, causing him to blink twice quickly with some discomfort in his eyes.

"Okay, get out."

Cao Mingji waved his hand. The general, who had long been unable to bear it, retreated quickly as if he had been pardoned.

wow——

The wine was poured into the glass, and some of the turbid liquid gave off a wine aroma, which mixed with the foot odor, making the smell even more unpleasant.

"It's so rare to find a quiet place to drink..."

Cao Mingji seemed unaware, squinting his eyes and happily took a sip, then frowned and looked at the contents of the wine bowl: "Damn, what the hell, this can be considered fine wine, what an ignorant fellow."

Hesitantly, he took another sip and smacked his lips: "Yeah, that's better than nothing."

Then he ate and drank while humming a tune, looking very relaxed and contented.

Outside, the guard came out and took two deep breaths of fresh air. The cool air entered his lungs and suppressed the surging feeling in his chest.

"Commander..." Someone came over and called softly.

"There is no commander here." The guard frowned and looked back. The soldiers behind him were startled, then nodded. He didn't bother to address them, but just pointed to the tower and said, "Cao Mingji is here, let's..."

"Humph, I used the medicine and he fell asleep in a while." The guard sneered and sighed, "Damn it, I originally wanted to prepare it for some woman, but it was used on this guy."

"When we have made achievements, there will be plenty of beauties in the tribe. With your ability, you can get whatever you want."

"Hahaha, you know how to talk." The guard clapped his hands and shook his head, "You don't understand. There's nothing exciting about doing it that way. I like watching people commit suicide the most."

"...You have a good idea." The soldier paused for a moment, then just smiled and flattered him.

The two exchanged a few more words, and heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground from the tower. They stopped talking immediately and looked inside. The guard tilted his head, and the soldier went over to knock on the door: "Captain, Captain Cao?" There was silence inside the tower. The soldier turned his head and looked at the guard, then pushed the door open and walked in quickly. In a moment, he jumped out again and held the flagpole in front of the tower: "Ugh..."

"What happened?" The guard stood still and just shouted from a distance.

The soldier just shook his hands and vomited a few times before wiping away the tears he had vomited: "Dizzy... dizzy."

The guard nodded, then waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers came over and stood in front of the city wall.

The soldier came over and sniffed: "This bastard, I have never smelled such a disgusting smell in the barracks. This guy is as bad as ten people."

The guard looked at him gloatingly and said, "Okay, two packets of medicine. This loser won't wake up until night. We should prepare."

The man nodded.

After just over an hour, a cloud of snow and fog rose outside, and teams of cavalrymen rushed towards the city gate. The soldiers standing on the city watched coldly, and no one sounded the alarm.

The roar of war horses shattered the tranquility in the city. Countless screams rang out, and calls for the people to return home floated in the air.

The sky was getting darker, and the dim sunlight was shining on the top of the city. Xiao Gan came up in full armor, took a breath at the sight outside the city, and looked up at the hanging "Qi" flag. Yishi Bajin came over and said, "Uncle, do we need to take it down and replace it with a new flag?"

Xiao Gan was silent for a while, then shook his head: "No need, just hang here first, it will buy us some time."

He turned to look at the open gate, took two steps, looked at the figure curled up on the floor in the house, and waved: "Who is this guy?"

The former guard came over quickly, took a look inside, bowed and said, "Cao Mingji, this is the captain of Miyun, he was drugged and knocked unconscious by me."

"...Cao Mingji?" Xiao Gan hesitated: "This name seems familiar."

The man kept saying, "This fellow was originally a general of Nanjing Road. He was cruel and liked to rob people. He was once reprimanded by the court."

"It's him." Xiao Gan suddenly realized, thought for a moment, then waved his hand: "Wake him up."

The guard nodded and stepped into the city wall. The door had been open for some time and the foul smell had dissipated. Cao Mingji was knocked out by the drug and no one cared about him. He was huddled up in a ball due to the cold.

Several people found some cold water, lifted his head and pressed it into the water, then lifted it up and pressed it again, back and forth several times. Cao Mingji groaned and opened his eyes. He did not have time to care about the water on his face and nose, and he held his head involuntarily.

I took too much knockout drug and had a headache when I woke up.

"Cao Mingji."

The voice made the person who had just woken up stunned for a moment. He opened his eyes and looked over, looking at the face dully, and then his pupils shrank.

"It seems you remember who I am." Xiao Gan came over, squatted down and looked at him. He smelled a strange smell, frowned, stared at the opposite side and said, "Do you want to die or live?"

The corner of Cao Mingji's mouth twitched: "Of course I want to live."

"Smart man." Xiao Gan chuckled, patted Cao Mingji on the cheek twice, stood up, turned his head and looked back. Someone ran out from behind, and soon a figure covered with bruises was dragged up.

Cao Mingji looked over and his eyes twitched involuntarily. This was the current prefect of Miyun.

"Kill him." Xiao Gan said calmly, took a few steps back, and walked to the center of the guards: "From now on, you will be the general of my army."

"Cao...Captain." The governor said those few words with some difficulty, and looked at Cao Mingji with a pair of lifeless eyes.

"Give me a knife." Cao Mingji looked at the figure over there with a bitter look on his face.

Xiao Gan nodded, and a personal guard beside him drew out an iron knife and threw it over.

Dang clang——

Cao Mingji stood up tremblingly and took the knife in his hand.

"You...you want to commit treason?"

Some weak words reached Cao Mingji's ears. He looked up at the Xi soldiers surrounding him, then looked down at the wounded figure, "I just want to live..." He murmured, walked over, stabbed him with a sharp knife, and then knelt down in front of Xiao Gan: "Cao Mingji pays respect to the king."

"Very good." Xiao Gan laughed, walked over and looked down at Cao Mingji: "From now on, you will follow me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

……

The warm winter sun and the rare sunny days brought new life to the imperial palace of Xijin Prefecture. Eunuchs of all sizes ignored the cold, and with white air coming out of their mouths, they swept the snow in the open spaces between the palaces with brooms.

The rustling sound of cleaning came from the palace and spread into the city.

One by one, the men laid down their weapons and took off their armor. Some, accompanied by their wives, cleaned the snow in front of their doors, their eyes filled with relief for surviving the calamity. Some women cleaned the snow themselves with sad looks, tears sliding down their numb faces and then wiped away.

In the past few days, the captured surrendered soldiers have been screened by the Qi army and returned to their hometowns in an orderly manner. However, compared with the original, the cities in Nanjing Road lost nearly 30% of their labor force after forced conscription. Fortunately, the new emperor sympathized with the people and reduced taxes, which made the people of the new Jizhou very grateful.

The war horses crushed the ice on the ground, rolled up some frozen soil and ran past people's sight. The people who were working raised their heads and looked at the horses' backs with some fear in their eyes. Then they were pulled back home by the woman beside them.

The sound of horse hooves hit the bluestone road in front of the palace. The soldiers of the Wuwei looked at the three small red flags behind him and hurriedly made way.

"Where is your majesty?"

"Wu De Tang!"

The brief conversation did not stop the warhorse. The roar echoed in the air, and the four legs swung back and forth, and it ran into the palace at lightning speed, clearing a clean path.

Dedede——

The panting horse stopped in front of the Wude Hall. The rider rolled off the saddle and, not caring about the thick felt hat that was slightly tilted on his head, took a step forward and pushed open the door.

call--

The cold wind blew in, and several figures in the room turned their eyes over.

The man hurriedly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, took out the bamboo tube and held it high above his head: "Your Majesty, urgent news from eight hundred miles away, the Xi people have rebelled!"

"Give it to me!"

Lu Bu was stunned and stretched out his hand.

Yu Cheng walked over, grabbed the bamboo tube, and presented it to the emperor who was sitting over there. Soon, a roar came from the hall: "Cao Mingji!" (End of this chapter)