Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In the eighth year of Jianwu, in the twelfth month, the weather was clear and the cold wind was biting.

The arrival of the empress and imperial concubines with their children in Hejian was a rare occurrence for the people of Hebei, who had never seen an official of the rank of prefect or higher in their entire lives.

Now that the Qi State's imperial family has arrived, although travel is somewhat inconvenient, it cannot stop the people of Hejian from boasting and joking.

For a time, taverns and restaurants were packed with people, all claiming to have seen the Empress and imperial concubines of the Great Qi. However, as empty wine jars piled up, the number of people gradually increased from four to ten. By the time the establishment closed, the rumor that the Emperor of Qi had eight thousand concubines in his harem and slept with one hundred concubines every night had become the mainstream.

"...a hundred people, one night they could neither sleep nor sleep, they just kept changing rooms and taking off their pants, and they still couldn't finish sleeping by dawn."

Tsk! Eight thousand, even a god couldn't withstand that..."

Snapped--

He casually tossed the document recording the rumors onto the table, pinched his throbbing temples, and leaned back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand.

He had heard all sorts of outrageous and near-truth rumors throughout his past and present lives, many of which featured him as the protagonist, but none were as outrageous as today.

"Pfft!"

Wu Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud, but when she saw the glare her man gave her, she suppressed her laughter and pretended to be serious: "This is extremely disrespectful. Why doesn't Your Majesty order someone to arrest the person who spread the rumors and give them a beating as a warning to others?"

"Stop being sarcastic." Lu Bu rolled his eyes and leaned back. "Let them say what they want. It's not like I'll lose anything. If I take such comments seriously, I've wasted all these years."

He suddenly chuckled, his tone slightly flippant: "That's fine then, at least it demonstrates my bravery."

The smile vanished from the woman's face, and Wu Qing rolled her eyes at him: "I think you'd love for the rumors to come true."

"Hmm... Ah?" Lu Bu replied casually, then suddenly looked up, somewhat bewildered, wondering what he had said wrong.

dong dong——

The knocking interrupted the emperor and empress's intimate moment. Wu Qing got up and went to sit behind a screen. Only then did Lü Bu speak: "Come in."

Su Yi pushed open the door and came in, stepping forward to put down the battle report in his hand: "Your Majesty, a victory report has arrived from Taiyuan Prefecture."

Lu Bu glanced down, then turned to look at the other side of the screen: "Read it, keep it brief."

This is probably because he didn't want to tell the Empress again later.

Muttering to himself, Su Yi nodded and stepped forward to pick up the book again: "General Du Xue reports that the Southern Dynasty has sent troops to aid Taiyuan. Just then, the Vice Minister of War, Shi Gugong, was inspecting the troops. So, we used his plan to let their vanguard enter the Taiyuan Prefecture area and defeat the enemy vanguard southeast of Shouyang in order to plan for their reinforcements."

"The vanguard entered Xiongling to await reinforcements. The bandit general Zhong Shizhong led his warriors to break through the encirclement but was annihilated by Aliqi's troops. The vanguard Zhong Shizhong was killed in battle, and the rest surrendered."

"General Du and General Sun An intended to ambush the main force of the rebel army and the reinforcements from Fenzhou, but unexpectedly neither of them arrived. Instead, their army gathered at Weisheng Army. On the day of Ren Chen, our army was about to attack Taiyuan again when our scouts discovered that the rebel generals Yao Gu and Zhang Hao had left Weisheng Army."

"Our army fought fiercely with the Song army for five days ten miles north of Pantuo. The Southern Dynasty's troops were defeated, and 5,700 Song soldiers were captured. Zhang Hao, the commander of Fenzhou, was captured, and Yao Gu retreated to Longde Prefecture."

"Afterwards, Generals Du and Sun mainly used the surrendered soldiers, and the elite troops in the army were all dressed in Song army uniforms. Unfortunately, they failed to open the city gates by trickery. Later, they ordered the surrendered soldiers to persuade them to surrender. When the reinforcements were all defeated, their morale was low. Generals Du and Sun then led their troops to launch a fierce attack on Taiyuan. They first broke through the north gate of Taiyuan, and then captured the prefect Zhang Xiaochun. The defending general Wang Bing refused to surrender and fought to the death."

"In this battle, our army lost more than 6,000 men, most of whom were surrendered soldiers who died in the siege. Now that Taiyuan has been captured, General Du intends to head south to recover Fenzhou and Weisheng Army before the end of the year, in order to prepare for the southward advance next year."

The voice stopped, and Su Yi raised his head, his eyes flashing with excitement: "Your Majesty, the months-long battle in Taiyuan has finally come to an end, and we have won."

A faint sound came from behind the screen, but Su Yi kept his eyes closed and pretended not to hear it.

Lu Bu adjusted his posture and exhaled: "Finally, we've taken Taiyuan. That Wang Bing was indeed a capable general; he held off Du Xue for months. What a pity..."

Su Yi chuckled and stepped forward to put the report down again: "That's right, it would be better for us to surrender than to follow the Zhao family. By the way, the prefect of Taiyuan, Zhang Xiaochun, and the commander of Fenzhou are father and son. General Du has already sent them to Zhengding, where they are being guarded by General Shi and General Mi."

"Just leave them there and see if they're willing to surrender. They're local officials after all, and if they surrender, they can share some of the pressure." Lu Bu thought for a moment, then wrote a few documents and handed them to him: "Give them to Li Ying and Fang Xuedu, and tell them to prepare the army and provisions for attacking Song next year as soon as possible, and to march south immediately after spring."

"Yes!" Su Yi cupped his hands and turned to leave.

After the door closed, Wu Qing emerged from behind the screen, glanced at the man sitting in deep thought, and gracefully walked over to sit down in front of him: "My lord, will you continue the southern expedition next year?"

"Yes."

Lü Bu nodded: "Now that the war has come to this point, we must settle things once and for all. Just as the first emperor of the Song Dynasty himself said, 'How can I allow others to snore beside my bed?'"

He patted the handrail and stood up: "I feel the same way now, Qi and Song..." He turned around, bent down and looked at the woman: "There can only be one."

"What you say is true, my lord. I wholeheartedly support you." A smile appeared on her pretty face, and Wu Qing looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes.

Lu Bu straightened up, his expression unfriendly: "Besides, I still need to settle accounts with those two rogue father and son from the Zhao Song family. They never keep their word, and their ideas keep changing, playing tricks on me."

bang——

He slammed his hand on the table: "Now that I've met these two bastards, I'm going to ask them what's going on in their heads!"

Wu Qing pursed her lips: "Why should my lord get angry over such a scoundrel? It will only ruin your mood. You should know that anger harms the liver."

She stood up and took Lü Bu's arm: "But if that's the case, it will be a long time before we see each other again. You should spend some time with us recently."

Lu Bu glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and reached out to pinch the woman's chin: "Shouldn't I be keeping you company?"

Wu Qing laughed and playfully slapped him: "How annoying! Of course I have to accompany you, but as the Empress, I also have to consider the sisters in the harem."

Lu Bu laughed heartily, and with a gasp, reached out and picked up the woman: "That's right, after so long in battle, it's time to rest. It's only right that the Empress serves the Emperor, isn't it?"

"Put me down first, this place...this place won't do."

The sounds of meals and daily activities caused the guards in the courtyard to spontaneously move further away. The young guard Cao Ning blushed and unconsciously reached out to pinch the money pouch at his waist.

That should be enough time to go to the brothel after today's shift...

The young lady I met when I went with General Wei He last time had a pretty smile. I think she likes me too.
Well, it should.

……

The cold wind whipped up the white clouds in the sky, pushing the oddly shaped clouds to the horizon, allowing the sunlight to shine down from the high sky.

On the plains, horses swished their tails, black warhorses chewed on bean cakes, puffed out white steam, and disappeared into the air. Sunlight cast shadows across the ground, and a force of 30,000 men rested on the spot. The sound of conversation hummed in the air as several generals gathered in a circle, discussing their next route.

“We’ve just passed Baodu Mountain, and ahead lies the territory of Xiangzhou. We’re all familiar with that place.”

Tang, holding his spear, looked at the group and said, "The army is running low on food supplies. Brother Wang's women, children and elderly cannot have their food rations reduced any further, or they will likely fall ill from the cold after only a short distance."

Wang Shan looked up at him and muttered, "I told you not to bring it..."

“Even if we don’t take them with us, those able-bodied men won’t leave.” Wang Gui curled his lip and directly mocked, “You want these people to abandon their wives and children to pledge allegiance to you? Aren’t you afraid they’ll rebel and chop you up?”

Wang Shan straightened his neck as if to say something, but then saw Yue Fei glancing at him sideways, so he shrank back and said, "I can't be bothered with you."

Wang Gui and Zhang Xian both curled their lip in disdain.

"Alright, let's solve the food problem first." Seeing that Wang Shan had calmed down, Yue Fei turned to look at the group and drew a simple map on the ground with a twig. "We're in Longde Prefecture, but the Western Army has just been defeated, so General Yao probably won't bother with us. Let's go to Xiangzhou instead. I heard in Gaoping City that the court ordered the Ninth Prince to recruit troops here. If we bring our troops and surrender, he won't ignore us. He'll at least settle the people down."

The others looked at each other, and Zhang Yong was the first to agree: "Let's go to Xiangzhou. It's been a long time since I've been home. Maybe I can find time to go back."

"You talk like you have connections," Wang Gui retorted, then nodded, "I also agree to go to Xiangzhou. Our family is waiting for you." Zhang Yong glared at him, but when he saw Yue Fei, Zhang Xian, and Tang Huai all nodding, he calmed down and said, "As long as we go to Xiangzhou, that's fine."

I don't want to go, it has nothing to do with me...

Among the crowd, Wang Shan looked left and right, but couldn't bring himself to say the words that were swirling in his mind. It was a pitiful situation; the notorious bandit from Hedong had been forced into a corner.

"Then it's settled." Yue Fei's gaze swept over everyone with a smile: "But who knows how long we'll be able to go like this? Brother Tang, Brother Zhang Yong, you two go to Xiangzhou and find the Ninth Prince. Tell him that we are willing to surrender our entire army. Please ask the Prince to send someone to make arrangements."

Tang Huai and Zhang Yong exchanged a glance, then nodded in agreement.

Under the warm winter sun, men, women, and children were once again urged to set off. The vast crowds, like ants passing through, swarmed eastward into the daylight.

Xiangzhou.

Zhao Gou and Geng Nanzhong led their men for a long time, recruiting many righteous people from the common people, and some who did not look like good people were also recruited into the army.

Now is not the time to be picky. Everyone knows that the State of Qi in the north will definitely invade the south again next year. Every extra person is a good one. Who cares what they did before? Anyone who is willing to join the army now is a hero.

While his subordinates were busy, Zhao Gou himself was not idle either. Xiangzhou was not far from Daming Prefecture, and he was really worried about his own safety. On the one hand, he discussed with Wang Boyan, the prefect of Xiangzhou, how to defend against the army of Daming Prefecture that was so close at hand, and on the other hand, he was thinking about a way out and preparing to leave this precarious place at any time.

Under such circumstances, the pressure on him naturally increased greatly, not to mention that he had recently received a battle report from Taiyuan Prefecture in the west, in which the Western Army suffered a major defeat, Zhong Shizhong was killed in battle, Yao Gu was routed to Longde Prefecture, and Taiyuan fell.

Each and every piece of news was terrifying, making it impossible for anyone to stay indoors. Therefore, the Ninth Prince often took walks in the courtyard and in the streets of Xiangzhou.

As luck would have it, Tang Huai and Zhang Yong rushed to Xiangzhou to find him, but Zhao Gou was staying at Wang Boyan's residence. The gatekeeper there, who was already looking down on people because his young master was the prefect, became even more arrogant when the Ninth Prince arrived. He grinned and looked down at the two men, asking, "You've come to see the Ninth Prince? Do you have a visiting card?"

Tang Huai and Zhang Yong looked at each other, and the former shook his head: "No."

"Do you have any recommendations?"

"No."

Do you have any money?

"……No."

"Is he an old acquaintance of the prince?"

"No."

"What do you mean you're not here? What are you doing here?" The gatekeeper's face darkened further. He snorted and looked the two dusty-looking men up and down with disdain: "A pair of country bumpkins, two poor bastards. You dare to come looking for the Ninth Prince after hearing some rumors from who-knows-where? Don't you even take a piss and look at yourselves? Even a beggar on the street would find your clothes filthy. Hurry up and go, you stinking bastards, do you think you can see the Emperor's face?"

"You!" Tang Huai pointed at him, suppressing his anger: "We fought to the death for the court. How could a scoundrel like you know anything about us? If we hadn't risked our lives on the battlefield, would you still be standing here? You would have been beheaded by the Qi army and used as a chamber pot long ago."

The doorman got annoyed and rolled up his sleeves: "Hey, you little brat, you're asking for a beating, aren't you? Want to get a pat from your grandpa? Come on, move closer!"

Before Tang Huai could speak, Zhang Yong, already impatient, stepped forward and kicked him squarely in the chest. "Ouch!" Tang Huai cried out and flew backward.

bang——

It slammed against the door.

Zhang Yong drew the iron knife he was carrying and threw it to Tang Huai. He then walked over, gripping the scabbard, and said, "Damn it, I'm going to teach you a lesson today, you snobbish bastard."

Tang Huai quickly took it, not stopping him, but only saying, "Don't kill him." He watched Zhang Yong raise the scabbard with a cold face.

"what!"

"Ouch!"

……

Zhao Gou was standing in the courtyard, lost in thought, gazing at the sky with his hands behind his back. The commotion ahead startled him awake. He frowned and went outside. Before he even reached the gate, he saw many servants from the Wang family rushing over. A group of people were blocking the front yard, pointing and whispering. He quickly went over and asked, "What's going on?"

"Your Highness." The servants bowed to him immediately, and one of them pointed outside: "Someone has come to cause trouble."

"Causing trouble?" Zhao Gou was stunned for a moment, then realized the meaning of those two words. He was immediately furious and walked out with a livid face: "I want to see who has the guts to do this!"

A crowd of onlookers quickly parted to make way, and Zhao Gou rushed out. By this time, there were already quite a few people outside. Five guards from the mansion had been beaten and were lying on the ground. In front of them stood an ordinary-looking soldier holding a long spear upside down, clearly the work of this man.

Another gatekeeper was crying out, "Grandpa, spare me!" while desperately trying to escape, but a big man whipped him with a scabbard, leaving him powerless. He could only curl up, protecting the spot where he was being hit and howling in pain.

"stop!"

Zhao Gou called out and stepped out. The guards on the ground, seeing him emerge, quickly struggled to their feet.

Seeing this, Tang Huai did not stop him, but simply withdrew his stance.

Hearing the shouts, Zhang Yong angrily slapped the gatekeeper again. "Ah!" he cried out in pain and stopped, straightening up.

Zhao Gou glanced at the five guards, all of whom had only minor injuries. Considering that Tang Huai had held the spear upside down, it was clear that he had shown mercy. His anger subsided by three points, and he stepped forward and spoke in a friendly tone: "Judging from your attire, you two are soldiers. I wonder why you are causing trouble here."

Tang Huai and Zhang Yong exchanged a glance. Seeing that the five guards in front of them were very respectful to the man, they had some guesses in their minds. They bowed first, and then the former spoke: "We have important matters to discuss with the Ninth Prince."

Pointing to the steward groaning in pain on the ground, he said, "I never expected to be stopped by this despicable man, who then mocked us as being worse than beggars. We are men who have fought against the Qi army, and we cannot bear such humiliation, so we acted impulsively."

He paused slightly, then cupped his hands and said, "Judging from your figure and bearing, you are quite extraordinary. May I ask who you are?"

Zhao Gou's eyes lit up as he glanced at the gatekeeper on the ground: "So he's someone who has served the country. In that case, this villain truly deserves a beating." He stepped forward and smiled: "I am the Ninth Prince. May I ask what business you two have with me?"

Tang Huaizhang was overjoyed and quickly clasped his hands in greeting: "We have come to seek your help on the orders of Yue Bingyi."

Zhao Gou's smile faltered slightly.

Tang Huai pretended not to see it and continued, "We have subdued a lot of rebels, and we have about 12,000 soldiers at our disposal. However, we still have many family members with us. We hope that Your Highness will lend a helping hand and bring the elderly, weak, women and children over."

"Is this true?" Zhao Gou's smile returned, and he hurriedly stepped forward to pull Tang Huaixiu's robe: "There are indeed as many as twelve thousand people?"

"We dare not deceive you."

"Okay, okay, great!"

Zhao Gou clapped his hands in delight. He had been worried about the small number of soldiers, but now that he had more than 10,000, he felt much safer. He quickly waved his hand to summon the guards behind him, took out a jade token and handed it to them: "Quickly, take this token to Prefect Tang and tell him to arrange for people to take over the people as soon as possible."

The guard nodded and quickly turned and ran away.

Zhao Gou smiled at Tang Huai and Zhang Xian and said, "I see you two are quite skilled. May I ask what your positions are in the army? And who were you previously under?"

Zhang Yong didn't dare to speak, and Tang Huai quickly lowered his head: "I was originally a military commander. I joined the army with Yue Fei, and before that, I was under the command of Zong Ze."

“…Zong Ze.” Zhao Gou sighed, “I’ve heard of him. He was a rare talent, but unfortunately he was killed by the Northern bandits. It was just bad luck.”

Seeing that Tang Huai was somewhat sad, he rolled his eyes and said, "Since you are all warriors under Zong Ze, you must have some skills. Let Yue Fei come and see me."

"Yes." (End of Chapter)