Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Sun Li was not happy. Ever since his defeat at the hands of Liangshan, his position as the commander of the army had come to an end. Even though it was later reported that all the troops had been defeated by Liangshan, he was still demoted to the bottom. The reason was that he had no one to support him.

However, there were also people in the army who felt sorry for his martial arts, so they looked for an opportunity to let him come back after half a year. He became a city gate officer who could only guard the city gates. He had to open and close the gates according to the time of day and endure the cold words of others, which made him very depressed.

His wife, Mrs. Le, did not blame him at all. She was still busy with household chores every day, but not as well as before. She also took on some work such as washing clothes and sewing shoe soles to earn some pocket money to supplement the family income.

At night, Sun Li walked back with a dejected look on his face. When he saw the door of his house, he straightened up, pinched his cheeks with his hands to make himself look more energetic, and then walked into the house: "I'm back!"

The moment he opened the door, he was stunned. In the hall, Sun Xin and Mrs. Gu were helping to set up the food and drinks. Hearing the noise, he turned around and the young man smiled and said, "Brother, you are back. I hope I didn't disturb you by coming to visit you."

Sun Li smiled awkwardly. He was no longer a military commander and didn't like seeing acquaintances. But since he was his brother, there was no reason for him to leave. He sighed in his heart and said, "How could that be? We are all family. There is no point in disturbing him."

When he came in to wash his hands, he saw his wife coming over and whispered, "What are Erlang and his family doing here?"

"I don't know. Uncle just said he wanted to discuss something with you, but he didn't specify what it was."

"Oh……"

Sun Li pondered and wiped his hands with a white towel. He still didn't get the point. He came over and sat down to drink with Sun Xin and his wife. During the meal, he heard Sun Xin talking about the heroes in Shandong area. He first recommended Song Jiang, which made the sick Wei Chi laugh: "Brother, you are only talking about now. In the past two years, Lu Bu was here. No one in Shandong and Hebei dared to jump. If there is a ranking, he should be the first on the list."

"He is no longer in Shandong, so he can no longer be counted as an entry." Sun Xin shook his head and looked at him in surprise: "So, brother has already let go of the burden?"

Sun Li took a sip of wine, his expression normal: "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Two armies confront each other, and I lost, that's all." He put down the wine glass, looked at the almost finished food, and couldn't help but asked: "What are you doing here today? If you need help with anything, just tell me."

Sun Xin looked at Mrs. Gu, got a look from her, and turned around to say, "Brother is right. We are from the same family. I am in trouble now, and I hope you can help me."

Seeing that he looked troubled, Sun Li frowned and did not dare to take on too many responsibilities like he did when he was the commander of the army: "What is the difficulty? Tell me about it."

“It’s hard to save people.”

Sun Li frowned even more: "It's strange, someone you know is in jail? How come I haven't heard of it?"

Mrs. Gu said, "Uncle, this is not the prison in Dengzhou, but the one in Jiangzhou."

"Then I can't help you any more." Sun Li shook his head, somewhat helplessly: "How can the prison he is in sell my face?"

Madam Le stood by in silence, also looking at her sister-in-law strangely.

"I can help." Mrs. Gu sat up straight. "It's urgent. We are going to go south overnight so that we can rescue the people and leave. Uncle has good martial arts skills, so he can help."

"You guys are planning to rob the prison?" Sun Li's eyes widened. "Who is worthy of you..." Then, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he asked in disbelief, "Could it be Song Jiang, the timely rain?"

"That's Brother Gongming." Sun Xin nodded, and Mrs. Gu continued, "Brother Song Jiang has been framed and imprisoned. If no one rescues him, he will surely die. My husband and I, together with Jie Zhen, Jie Bao, and the uncle and nephew Zou Yuan of Dengyun Mountain, have decided to go south to rescue him immediately." She glanced at Mrs. Le and said, "Your brother Le He also knows about this, and he is willing to give up his job in prison and go with us."

The Sun Li couple stared with eyes wide open, and then they heard the mother tiger say proudly: "As the saying goes, 'brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight in battle'. We, the heroes of Dengzhou, will work together to save Brother Song Jiang from danger."

"Nonsense!" Sun Li stood up and looked at the two people opposite him: "Is it worth sacrificing your innocent body for an outsider?"

Sun Xin kept silent, but it was Mrs. Gu who spoke up: "Uncle, you don't know that ever since you resigned from the post of military commander, my wife and I have been having a harder time. Today, Captain Zhang came to eat and drink and demanded money, and tomorrow Captain Li came to eat and take away money and demand business taxes." She sneered: "We are just small businesses, where do we get so much money to give to others? Even if we have a mountain of gold and silver, it can't stop people from squeezing us like this, so we have long wanted to climb the mountain."

Sun Li glared: "Why didn't you tell me?" Sun Xin opened his mouth and turned his face away. Mrs. Gu looked at the eye disease Yuchi: "Uncle can't take care of himself, how can he help the two of us?"

Sun Li moved his lips twice and sat down dejectedly.

Mrs. Gu took the opportunity to say, "Now we have already discussed and decided to go to Jiangzhou to help Brother Gongming, and then we will all go to Dengyun Mountain. However, we are afraid that something will happen in the future and burden uncle, so we two have come to invite you to go together. If uncle is unwilling to go, we will go to Jiangzhou to act on our own. You are all officials, you should know that it is a dark place now. Those who leave will be fine, but those who stay will be sued. As the saying goes: 'The closer you are to the fire, the first to burn.' Uncle and Mum will be sued and imprisoned for us, and no one will send food to save you and your wife at that time..." She pursed her lips and said, "What do you think, uncle?"

Sun Li struggled with his face: "I am an officer of Dengzhou, how dare I do such a thing?"

"What future does a city gate official have for uncle?" Mrs. Gu shouted, pulling out a sharp knife from her bosom and stabbing it on the table: "Since uncle won't agree, why don't you kill my husband and me right now?"

Sun Xin also chimed in: "Brother, I'm really fed up with being exploited. I've long wanted to rebel. I'll take this opportunity to save Brother Gongming and do great things together. Isn't it better to live happily in the mountains than to struggle in this chaotic world? If you still don't agree..." He tore open his clothes and exposed his chest: "Kill me here, and your reputation as a loyal king will be preserved."

Sun Li was anxious, scratching his head fiercely, cursing inwardly, what kind of thing is this? I have heard of people being forced to split up their houses and property by their brothers, but I have never heard of people being forced to break out of prison and become bandits by their brothers. Could it be that they really want to kill their brothers for something that hasn't happened yet? He couldn't do such a thing.

"Forget it, forget it. If I follow your lead, I won't end up having to face lawsuits for you in the future." Sun Li let out a long sigh: "But if we want to rob the prison, we have to go to Jiangzhou to investigate first."

Sun Li and Mrs. Gu were overjoyed: "Don't worry, brother (uncle), we will listen to you."

After eating and drinking with the two of them, he helped pack their luggage and belongings. Not long after, Le He knocked on the door and came in with a package. Sun Li and his wife saw that their brother-in-law had indeed done something with Deng Yunshan, and they completely gave up.

They waited until the city gates were opened early the next morning, and everyone went out of the city and headed straight for Dengyun Mountain. At this time, Zou Yuan's uncle and nephew, and the Xie brothers were already waiting in the camp. Then they were overjoyed and hurried to pack up.

That afternoon, Zou Run was left behind to guard the camp, while Zou Yuan gathered 150 followers and set out on the road south to Jiangzhou together with Sun Li, Sun Xin, Gu Dasao, Jie Zhen, Jie Bao, and Le He.

At the beginning of the first lunar month, Dai Zong found Chao Gai and his gang. At that time, Fangshan had already grown to a considerable size, with more than half a million followers and a dozen heroes sitting in the seats. Two powerful men with great martial arts skills, Qian Bin and Qian Yi, had joined them, and the whole stronghold was very prosperous.

Hearing Dai Zong talk about Song Jiang being framed and imprisoned, everyone was furious. Chao Gai immediately selected more than 300 capable followers, and went out with Wu Yong, Liu Tang, Wang Dashou, Qian Bin, Qian Yi, Qiu Xiang, Liu Tong, Shi Jun, and the three sisters of the Duan family. They left Bai Sheng and Fang Han at home, and then hurriedly traveled by land and sea, heading south for Jiangzhou.

Dai Zong finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, secretly thinking that with so many people perhaps there would be a good outcome. He prayed to the heavens, then packed up and slowly headed for Bianliang. It was already late autumn when he found the prime minister's residence.

It was also Song Jiang's destiny. At that time, Cai Jing was busy with the Flower and Stone Gang incident. He spent the whole day figuring out how to get money for Zhao Ji to squander. He had no time to care about Dai Zong. He just hurriedly read the letter without thinking much. He then wrote a reply, allowing his son Cai Jiu to take Song Jiang to the capital and behead him. By the way, he also praised Cai Jiu and Huang Wenbing. Then he let Dai Zong return to Jiangzhou with the letter.

This Speedy Guardian was afraid that if he returned too quickly, he would miss the heroes from Jingdong and Jingxi, so he left Bianliang on purpose and stayed in Yingtian Prefecture for a few days before setting out for the south. As soon as he reached the foot of Jieyang Ridge, he was kidnapped by Liu Tong, Sun Xin and Tong Wei, who knew him.

However, Chao Gai and Sun Li's gangs had already arrived nearby. With their large numbers and powerful forces, they naturally attracted the attention of the local tyrants Li Jun and Mu Hong. When the three sides met, they realized after a few words that the other party was Song Jiang's brother and was ready to rescue people. They were all overjoyed and decided to join forces and find a place to set up camp. They sent people to inquire about the information in Jiangzhou city while discussing how to break into the prison.

It happened that Dai Zong ran back at this time and was caught red-handed. Several people stopped the man and dragged him up the mountain. After reading the letter, Wu Yong and others were overjoyed and kept saying "good". They urged Dai Zong to go back.

At the beginning of mid-autumn, Cai Jiu was overjoyed when he received Cai Jing's reply, and immediately ordered his men to escort Song Jiang to the capital. Even though Huang Wenbing was as cunning as a devil, he had no idea that Dai Zong could have done so many things behind their backs, so as usual, he only sent 300 soldiers to escort him.

Just after leaving Jiangzhou, three parties of troops rushed out and rescued Song Jiang. Seeing the light of day, Song Jiang remembered that he was tortured half to death by Huang Wenbing in class. He told Zou Yuan and others that he would return to Jiangzhou to kill the hornet. Chao Gai and Mu Hong were also hot-blooded, and shouted to join them, and put Li Jun on the fire. Song Jiang had no choice but to attack the city with everyone.

Also caught off guard, Jiangzhou was immediately broken into by these people, and countless civilians were killed and injured. Li Kui had originally wanted to follow Song Jiang, and was overjoyed when he saw this. He carried Dai Zong away, making the Speedy Walker so angry that he felt dizzy. However, there was nothing he could do as he had been exposed and could only go on the same path with Song Jiang until the end.

After a fierce fight, Huang Wenbing was not found. Then someone said that this guy was in Wuwei Army. Song Jiang waved his hand and killed him again. Xue Yong was in the city, and he and his apprentice Hou Jian acted as an insider and killed all the members of Huang Wenbing's family. Li Kui felt that the killing was not enough, so he set a fire, which immediately burned half of the city.

Then everyone withdrew. (End of this chapter)