Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Qiu Qiongying and Yang Zaixing knelt down to apologize to Lu Bu, as if they were bowing to the power, at least for Qiu Qiongying, but...

The girl is also fighting back in her own way.

"Master, please let us two stay." A soft voice sounded in the house. Qiu Qiongying shook Lu Bu's arm and blinked her watery eyes: "We two will definitely promise to be obedient and not cause trouble for the generals."

Lü Bu has been increasingly unable to tolerate requests from a girl of Qiongying's age. He raised his lips, then frowned, trying to concentrate and said, "Nonsense! The battlefield is a place where you two little kids cannot stay here. You two can go back tomorrow."

Yang Zaixing lowered his head in frustration.

Qiu Qiongying had been watching the expression on her master's face. Seeing him like this, her eyes suddenly lit up and she shook his arm vigorously: "But Master, you yourself said that you hope that Junior Brother can go to the battlefield to help you in the future, but you have never brought him with you. If this continues, won't he become another Zhao Kuo, who can only talk about war on paper but doesn't even know how to command a team of soldiers."

The young man who had lowered his head over there raised it again, his eyes full of desire.

Lu Bu glanced at him and thought for a moment: "I have thought about what you said, but I was worried that your junior brother was too young to be brought to the battlefield."

Seeing that the two disciples were about to speak, he quickly raised his hand to stop them: "Don't say anything. Since Zaixing appeared here at this time, it may be God's will. Then you can stay. I am also at this age and living in the border..."

He didn't finish the last sentence and quickly closed his mouth.

Erxiao had no doubts, thinking that his master had also been to the border to fight. Yang Zaixing was delighted and clasped his fists, "I will not let the master worry."

"Worried?" Lu Bu looked at him and shook his head. "I don't have the time to worry about you on the battlefield. Follow Yu Cheng and learn about military orders and how to deal with things on the battlefield. Starting tomorrow, you can be my personal guard."

"Yes."

Tiger's eyes turned to Qiongying. This little guy was also smart and said quickly: "Master, why don't you let me be a personal soldier? I can also help you serve tea and water, record military orders, and I am always more diligent than others."

"I think you are afraid of your little wife Wu's nagging." Lu Bu glanced at her and saw her flattering smile. He couldn't harden his heart and just said, "You just wait in my tent on weekdays. If there is anything, don't say anything. Do more and talk less."

"I see. Master is indeed the best." Qiongying turned back and winked at Yang Zaixing with a smile.

Seeing this, Lu Bu shook his head, and then looked at the immature Yang Zaixing thoughtfully. It might not be a bad thing to go into battle so early, as it would be a good opportunity to see what kind of character he has. If he is afraid or panicked, why not go to Zhenhai Prefecture to find his father as soon as possible and study literature now...

It shouldn’t be too late.

The night was as dark as ink. Soon, the master and his two disciples went to rest.

The next day, Erxiao got up and went to find Yu Cheng by himself, which made the supervisor a little worried but also happy. After all, they were acquaintances they met often. He ran around to help the two of them find armor and barracks. When he asked about their weapons, he found out that the two little guys had actually disassembled their weapons, hidden them in the grain transport cart and brought them here.

Not long after, the two dressed up again and entered the main room to start their day's work.

……

There were barren hills and overgrown vegetation. Under the daylight, three galloping horses came from the west. The sunlight shone through the shade of the trees that stretched across the roadside, illuminating the outlines of the horses galloping past from time to time. The dry ground stirred up yellow dust, which rolled all the way into the gate of Jizhou.

Noisy voices rang in people's ears, and a figure leading a horse stopped in front of the restaurant.

The well-proportioned Yang Lin said, "We will wait for you here. When you come back, we will leave here and return to Liaodong. Don't delay too long."

"Got it." Shi Qian nodded and smiled: "It's just to say goodbye to a friend, it won't take much time."

The three of them walked away. Shi Qian walked all the way to the prison cell and handed over some small change. After informing him, Yang Xiong walked out with a surprised look on his face. Seeing the short and thin man outside, he hurried over and said, "Isn't this Brother Shi? Why did you come to see me today? Are you in trouble?"

Shi Qian bowed and said, "I've been grateful for Brother Yang's care for me in the past few days. Now I've found a job, but I have to stay away from Jizhou City. I came here to say goodbye. I hope you take care of yourself."

Yang Xiong was overjoyed: "This is good news. Are we going to set off right away?"

"We can set off this afternoon." Shi Qian smiled.

"Brother, wait for me for a moment." Yang Xiong said as he walked back to the prison. After a while, he walked out again and said to Shi Qian, "It's not even 9 o'clock yet. Let's go to my house and have a drink before leaving. Just consider it a farewell."

"Wouldn't that delay Brother Yang's work?" "It's okay. I've already asked for leave and will be back in the afternoon. It won't delay me much."

As Yang Xiong spoke, he pulled Shi Qian away. The two of them bought some cooked meat and some wine at the delicatessen, and followed Yang Xiong home.

The Yang family was not far from the prison, only two streets away. The yellow-faced man opened the door and let Shi Qian in: "I have been on duty for many days, and I am just returning home today with the help of my brother."

Then he opened his throat and shouted: "My dear, my dear? We have guests. Come out and get us some food."

The room was completely silent without a sound. Seeing Shi Qian's surprised look, Yang Xiong scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: "By the way, my wife must have gone to the temple to burn incense. When she came back a few days ago, she said that she would go to the temple every day to pray for the Buddha to bless the family."

"Monks and Taoist priests are not easy to get along with." Shi Qian blinked, recalled some rumors in the martial arts world, and said thoughtfully.

"Praying to the gods and Buddhas is just for peace of mind, isn't it?" Yang Xiong said as he found cups and plates and placed wine and meat on the table. He then asked Shi Qian to sit down. "Besides, Baoen Temple is also a famous place in Jizhou. I feel relieved if she goes there."

"Oh……"

"Here." Yang Xiong poured the wine into the cup and handed it to Shi Qian, then picked up a cup himself: "It's rare for us to meet in this strange place. It's fate that we met. Let's drink a full cup."

"Brother Yang, you are embarrassing me." Shi Qian stood up quickly, but Yang Xiong pushed him back down: "Sit down and talk."

He drank a sip of wine and wiped his mouth. "It's a pity that you came late. Two days ago, I met a young man named Shi Xiu, who is also from Song. His uncle was ill and passed away these two days. He ran out of money and had to go out of the city to chop firewood every day to make a living. Otherwise, call him over and the three of us can sit together."

Shi Qian shook his head: "It's unfortunate."

"Who said it wasn't true?" Yang Xiong sighed, "He and his uncle came here to buy some cattle and sheep to resell, but after being sick for a few days, he ended up spending all the money on medicine. Alas..."

"Things in life are unpredictable." Shi Qian shook his head: "Who knows if there will be a time when good times will come after bad times. Who knows, Brother Shi may become very wealthy in the future."

"Hahaha, that's good."

Yang Xiong became happy, and the two of them ate and drank while chatting about all sorts of things. One of them was a low-level official in the Liao government, and the other was a wandering thief, so they had no shortage of topics to talk about. Shi Qian also tried to keep his words to himself so that there was no dull moment during the meal.

"It's noon now. I have to go look for my boss." Shi Qian drank the last glass of wine, his face slightly red, and stood up to say goodbye: "The journey to Liaodong is long and the mountains are high. I don't know when I can see Brother Yang again."

Yang Xiong also stood up to see him off: "We'll meet again if we're destined to. If you miss me, come to Jizhou to find me."

Shi Qian blinked his eyes and laughed, "So, if Brother Yang misses me, come to Liaoyang Prefecture and find a man named Yang Lin. I work for him and he is also from Song."

"Oh? What a coincidence." Yang Xiong clapped his hands and laughed: "As expected, when you are out there, you still need to rely on friends."

As they walked to the door, Shi Qian turned around and clasped his fists vigorously: "Thank you for your hospitality today. The mountains and rivers remain unchanged, take care, Brother Yang."

"Take care, brother."

Yang Xiong punched back and watched Shi Qian walk away. Then he went home to put away the cups and plates, then walked to the prison alone to continue his work for the day.

At the city gate, three riders walked out, and rode away under the slanting sunlight.

……

The situation was improving. Yang Zaixing and Qiu Qiongying, who were in Yinzhou, quickly adapted to their new identities. In the remaining days of early summer, Xiao Haili, Han Qinghe and half of Bian Xiang's troops traveled by land to Liaozhou to meet up with Xi Sheng. They then marched non-stop to Shuangzhou on the west side of Yinzhou, freeing up Du Fu.

Wu Hu mobilized blacksmiths from various states surrounding Liaoyang Prefecture and issued military orders to each state. They worked hard and finally made the 1,500 flying axes that Wang De wanted. However, only 400 of Han Shizhong's armor-piercing spears were completed. In desperation, the newly appointed commander of the army had to take these weapons and set off north.

On this day at the end of the first lunar month, Ma Ling led 800 soldiers to station in Liaozhou. Three naval captains, Li Bao, Wei Zhaode and Hu Yanqing, led their troops into the Liaohe River and went upstream.

In the north, the Jin army also began to rush to their respective positions. The Shiwei, Tieli, Dalugu and other tribes successively led their troops across the Hunhe River and reached Huanglongfu. Together with the Wanyan tribe's own troops and the surrendered Liao soldiers, an army of more than 60,000 people gathered on this land.

In the southeast, someone was anxiously watching Wang Zheng's connections. (End of this chapter)