Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Time goes back one day.

In the last month of summer, in the year of Guiyou, it is Huanglong Palace.

Five fast horses came running from a distance. The guards at the door did not check them carefully because of their obvious Jurchen makeup and hairstyle. They just asked a few questions and then went in.

The whole Huanglong Prefecture has become tense. There are fewer traveling merchants on the streets. These merchants with a keen sense of smell have smelled the scent of war and have long since left this city, which is one of the best in the north. Now, only recruited young men and soldiers are walking around. They look at the five men who walked into the city with strange expressions on their faces.

If such strong laborers enter the city, they will sooner or later be dragged to the top of the city walls to be used as coolies. If they are unlucky, they may even die here.

The five people ignored the gazes and wiped the sweat off their heads with white towels. The leader turned around and said, "Let's find a place to store the horses and then split up. I'll go find Nianhan."

The others had no objection, nodded, and took the horses to the hotel to store them before leaving.

……

The sun warmed the house. The adults sat in the courtyard in light clothes. The lady gently patted the sleeping child in her arms. The child screamed "Ahhh..." and waved his limbs. The woman happily hugged the child tightly and looked at her husband who was sitting beside her drinking. "Today, Bojilie summoned all the ministers for a ceremony. Can you not go?"

Wanyan Zonghan stopped drinking and smiled: "He would rather I not go. Just look at how he gave my military power to his son Puluhu. I know that he has lost trust in me now."

The woman patted the child's hands for a moment, then comforted him, "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Bo Jilie just didn't think it through at the moment. When he thinks it through, he will definitely ask you to lead the army again."

"I don't have that ability." Wanyan Zonghan snorted, picked up the wine pot with water droplets on it, poured out a glass of wine, opened his mouth and drank it, and exhaled: "Times are different now. Whoever wants to lead the army can go, I won't go and die."

The woman's expression changed slightly: "Has the situation gotten so bad?"

"Wuqimei wanted to dig Wanyan Loushi here, and the people he sent probably ran into the Qi people." Wanyan Zonghan smiled happily as he poured wine: "You didn't see how he looked in the court, jumping up and down and scolding Loushi and Qi Wang Lu Bu, saying that they harmed Hulu."

He took a sip of wine and put the cup beside him: "In fact, if he hadn't sent Hulu, Hulu wouldn't have died, and Qi wouldn't have found an excuse to attack Huanglongfu. Now, stupid people always stand behind donkeys."

The crying of a child suddenly came from the woman's arms. The woman quickly stood up, holding the child and shaking him a few times, coaxing Silver Bullet to calm down again. Then she looked at her man and said, "Then... is there any way to avoid it?"

"Difficult..." Wanyan Zonghan shook his head and sighed, "Puluhu is guarding the city wall now. People are allowed to enter but not leave. It is difficult to avoid it even if we want to, unless..."

"Unless what?" the woman came over and sat down with the child in her arms and asked.

"No, nothing." Frowning, Wanyan Zonghan shook his hand and repeated, "Nothing."

"When asked, he doesn't tell me. It's frustrating."

The woman complained, and they heard hurried footsteps. The two turned around and saw that it was the steward of the mansion. He ran up to them and said, "Master, there is a visitor outside."

"……visit?"

Wanyan Zonghan sat up straighter. The woman next to him looked surprised: "At this time?" She glanced at her husband at the table and saw that he also had a puzzled look on his face.

"What is it for?"

The steward lowered his head and said, "Just say that you are an acquaintance, and that the matter is urgent. I will tell you when I see you."

"Let him go back..." He raised his hand to drive him away. Wanyan Zonghan didn't want to make trouble at this time, so he changed his mind and put his arm down: "Forget it, let him come over."

"Yes." The steward responded and quickly retreated. The woman next to him patted the child gently and turned to look at him: "Is it okay to meet people at this time? You say..." Hesitantly, she tilted her head in another direction: "Could it be..."

Wanyan Zonghan put his hand on hers and said, "It shouldn't be." He patted her twice and said, "Don't think too much."

"Then I'll go in first."

The woman stood up holding the child and turned to go into the house. Wanyan Zonghan watched her go in from behind and then turned his gaze to the side. There, the steward was walking over with a young man with his head lowered. The man sitting in the seat suddenly widened his eyes.

"Master, the guests have arrived."

The steward still stood in front of him with his hands hanging and bowed.

Wanyan Zonghan waved his hand and said, "Go down first, I'll call you back."

"Yes."

The steward didn't dare to ask more about the master's family, and turned away immediately. Wanyan Zonghan watched him walk out of the yard, then stood up and grabbed the man's arm: "You are so bold, you dare to enter the city, aren't you afraid that Wuqimai will see you and kill you?"

"He is busy with his own business now, how can he possibly come to arrest me?" The man shrugged and raised his head. It must be Wanyan Huo Nu. The young man smiled and said, "Even if he catches me, he won't dare to do anything to me."

"You are quite confident." Wanyan Zonghan slowly released his palm and looked outside: "No one followed you?"

"Don't worry." Wanyan Huonu walked over, grabbed the wine pot and took two sips, then exhaled a cool breath: "I have been a scout in the army for a long time, and no one can follow me without being discovered."

Wanyan Zonghan thought for a moment, his expression softened, he walked over and sat down, and suddenly smiled: "I didn't expect that when I saw you again, I would actually worry about your safety. If it was a month or two ago, I would have wanted to kill you."

Wanyan Huonu's heart was moved, and she also felt a little emotional: "Two or three months ago, we were still surrounding Huanglong Mansion and thinking about how to break in. Who would have thought that now they just changed their clothes and ran in. It's really..."

“It’s just easier to get in than to get out.”

"I didn't intend to leave immediately."

The two men, one older and one younger, looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Wanyan Zonghan leaned back in his chair and said, "You came here because your father and son have surrendered to the King of Qi, right?" He looked at the young man opposite him nodding repeatedly, leaned forward with his arm on the table, and asked curiously, "What is your official position?"

"My father is now the General of the Western Army, and his title is the tenth-level Zuo Shuchang. I am just a lieutenant, and I still follow my father in the army."

Wanyan Huo Nu said that she didn't care, but the listener was moved: "Then... But the King of Qi asked you to come to me?"

"Of course." Wanyan Huo looked at the familiar man opposite her and laughed: "Without the order of King Qi, I dare not come to this tiger's den casually."

Looking at the expectant man, she slowly put away her smile: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi said that if you are willing to surrender, you will be granted the title of General of the Righteous Army, and the rank of the ninth-level Fifth Officer." Seeing the other man breathe a sigh of relief and smile, she added: "And you can be reunited with your son Danzi."

"…Balls?" Wanyan Zonghan stood up with a bang, knocking his head against the table. He quickly leaned over and grabbed Wanyan Huonu's shoulders: "My son is still alive?"

"In Liaoyang Prefecture." Wanyan Huo Nu didn't mind, she just nodded and said, "When Alubu and the other two escaped from Huanglong Prefecture that day, they took him to Liaoyang Prefecture."

"God bless you!" Wanyan Zonghan closed his eyes and expressed his gratitude to the sky. Then he relaxed and said, "What does the King of Qi want me to do?" (End of this chapter)