Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

In mid-winter, Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Loushi had a decisive battle in the area from Yizhou to Ningjiangzhou. Both sides sent out nearly 40,000 troops and recruited more than 70,000 young and strong men. They fought endlessly in this area of ​​100 miles every two or three days. Both sides suffered casualties, but Wanyan Sheng and Wanyan Gao never called for a halt. Instead, they kept sending additional generals, making the fighting even more chaotic.

The cumulus clouds stretched across the east and west for thousands of miles. From time to time, snow fell and piled up on the bare branches and the cold ground.

The man led the horse, walking in the snow with a creaking sound, passing through the dead woods under the hill. The snow fell from the branches onto the figure's hat and shoulders, making the man tremble, and then he quickened his pace to the place where the voice came from.

The intermittent words came from a cave in the middle of the hill. Shi Qian was wearing thick clothes, with a fur coat covering his vital parts and two short swords on his waist. He handed the reins to a spy guarding outside, straightened his back and entered the cave entrance which was a head taller than him.

The voices of people talking became clearer, and the light of the torches illuminated the internal environment. Compared with the not-so-tall cave entrance, the space inside was unusually large. Several stubborn stones were scattered in the cave, with sturdy figures sitting on them. A bonfire was burning in the middle, and the air flow from outside blew in, causing the flames to shake.

Du Lisan had some kind of animal fat smeared on his face. He was pointing at the geomancy map and talking. When he heard footsteps, he turned around. Many people looked over and laughed, "Shi Qian is back."

Someone threw a water bag over and said, "Hurry up and drink some wine to warm yourself up, and make room for Brother Shi."

Then someone stood up from the fire and walked away.

Shi Qian took it, uncorked it, gulped down a few mouthfuls, wiped his mouth, and exhaled: "Ha - the wine here is still strong enough."

Everyone burst into laughter: "Indeed, compared to the wine in Songdi, the wine here is quite spicy."

Shi Qian went to sit on a rock and warmed himself. The warm feeling made him squint his eyes. Du Lisan put down his hand and asked, "Any important news?"

"Yes." Shi Qian nodded. "When I went there today, Wanyan Gao was setting up a mourning hall. They said a great general from the royal family named Shengguo had died. Damn, Jurchen is so difficult. Fortunately, I learned it well, otherwise I wouldn't understand what they were saying."

"Rope fruit..."

Ignoring the complaining words, Du Lisan looked at the other person. The spy took out a booklet from his pocket, flipped through it for a long time in the light of the fire, and pointed with his hand: "Got it! It's Wanyan Zongjun, the eldest son of Wanyan Aguda."

A strange look appeared on the face of the person illuminated by the firelight. Du Lisan touched his chin and asked, "Which one is this?"

"Five." The spy holding the booklet picked up a blackened stick and scratched a line on the page: "Wanyan Zongchao and Wanyan Zongjie from Wanyan Sheng's side, Wanyan Zongqiang and Wanyan Olu from Wanyan Gao's side, plus this Wanyan Zongjun..." He closed the booklet in his hand and smiled strangely: "Many descendants of Wanyan Aguda died in this war. I'm afraid that by the time the two sides are done fighting, the remaining ones will have died."

"What a good plan." Du Lisan sighed and threw a branch into the fire. "I wonder if the two sides have discussed this beforehand, using a war to eliminate the people who threaten them."

"It's possible." Shi Qian took a sip of wine and tilted his head: "It doesn't seem right, except for Wanyan today... Zongjun?" He turned to look at the person holding the booklet, who nodded, and continued: "I heard that this person has a great reputation. Almost all the generals from Wanyan Gao's side are here. I haven't heard that the others have any ability."

"Haha...interesting." Du Lisan muttered softly, narrowed his eyes, turned to look at Shi Qian and said, "Thank you for your hard work, brother Shi. Take a rest for the next two days and we will set out to explore the day after tomorrow."

Shi Qian nodded in agreement. He quickly wrote a series of words on the paper and beckoned another sturdy man over: "Take this and send it to General Du Fu on horseback. Ask him to rush it to the king at a distance of 800 miles."

"Yes."

The firelight flickered and someone strode out.

...The war in the north is still going on. Huanglongfu and the Kingdom of Jin are fighting endlessly. Every few days, war reports are sent from there to the south.

In Prince Qi's mansion, the snow on the green pines had all fallen off, and the sunlight shone on the rare green in the cold winter, making the other bare branches in the courtyard look particularly desolate.

The petite rabbit with snow-white fur ran twice on the ground, then huddled up into a ball shivering. It was picked up by the staggering Lv Wen and wrapped in her little fur blanket. A smile appeared on her rosy face, and her smile, like a silver bell, rang in the yard, attracting several women to look at her with love.

The last day of mid-winter passed, and the first day of sunshine came in late winter. The weather was getting colder day by day. King Lu Bu of Qi sat in his study, leaning back in a chair, listening to his daughter's laughter outside. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He looked at the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in his hand that was almost torn to pieces, and occasionally leaned over to write something.

He had a relatively comfortable life these past few days. Su Liang, Hu Cheng and Du Xing followed Han Duo to Nanjing Road. With the help of Han families such as the Lu family and the Han family, they bought a lot of food. Two days ago, they received news that they were about to set off for the return journey.

On the southern sea, Ruan Xiaoer, Li Bao and Huyan Qing joined hands to attack the Goryeo pirates one after another, which temporarily dampened the pirates' arrogance. Instead, Wei Zhaode, Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi, who were disguised as pirates, burned, killed and looted along the coast of Goryeo, which attracted the Goryeo navy. However, they did not receive Lu Bu's order for the time being, so the three of them just avoided fighting. Counting the days, the order to attack the Goryeo navy should be soon. I don't know how Yang Pu is doing now.

Among the people, poor families in various states were organized to work for relief, and many old official residences were renovated and looked brand new, which in turn saved some money on charcoal, which was a pleasant surprise. As for labor, it was just as Zhang Lin had expected. Although this winter was difficult with the money, the number of people who died of hunger and cold was much less than in previous years.

"This is a good start..." He recalled a few familiar faces in his mind, sighed, put the book on the table, pinched his nose, and just looked up at the beams, muttering: "It's been so long, this shouldn't be a dream...right?"

Outside, Yu Cheng came over with a few guards, followed by a maid carrying hot ginger soup.

He opened the door and signaled the maid to put down the ginger soup. Yu Cheng came over and said softly, "Your Majesty, the military advisor is here."

Lu Bu lowered his head, reached out to close the book on the table, folded up what he had written and put it on the page, took a sip of the ginger soup, and a warm current spread from his stomach: "Let him in."

The weather was too cold. The servants in the palace were wearing thick clothes and walking quickly with white air coming out of their mouths. Wang Zheng walked past the guards standing guard on the side and entered the courtyard. Without turning his head to see where the noise was coming from, he went straight into Lu Bu's study.

"Your Majesty, I am your humble servant, Wang Zheng."

Lu Bu motioned him to stand up and pointed to his seat: "Military Advisor, you are very hardworking. I thought you would stay in the mansion in this weather."

"Zheng does want to." The young man smiled bitterly and sighed, "But I'm not destined to wait."

Walking over and sitting down, Yu Cheng took the book and put it aside, handed the heater to Wang Zheng, and went out and closed the door.

Lu Bu drank ginger soup and looked at the young man who was sitting more casually. "Let me guess, is it because of the incident in the north that you came here today?"

Wang Zheng nodded: "Your Majesty's guess is correct."

After looking at each other, they both laughed. What Wang Zheng had been doing recently was no secret to Lu Bu. After all, the guards who escorted him to the prison were all from the royal palace. Saying so was just a joke between the monarch and his subject.

"The news from the north is a different kind of torture for those in prison." Wang Zheng slumped in a chair, holding the heater in his arms. "I thought that the hope of being released from prison and the miserable current situation of the Wanyan family would allow Wanyan Zongbing to make a decision within a few days. I didn't expect that he could hold it in. The news was only sent to me today..."

He paused and looked at Lu Bu: "My king, do you want to raise a vicious dog?" (End of this chapter)