Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The news of the siege of Huanglong Mansion soon spread throughout the city with the sound of alarm bells on the city walls. Teams of soldiers, led by generals, ran up the city walls. The rumbling footsteps rang out in the streets. Wanyan Huo Nu and others hid in the corner, and only showed their heads when they saw the soldiers passing by before they ran to Wanyan Zonghan's house and hid. Then the male owner, wearing a helmet and armor, walked out of the mansion, rode his war horse and ran to the palace.

The whole city is on alert and all civil and military officials are required to be present.

In the palace, Wanyan Sheng was pacing back and forth, angry: "Treacherous Han people! This Lu Bu is really not a human being. I knew he was such a person who would disregard the alliance. I should have killed him when he came. Why did he cause Hulu's death!"

A loud voice echoed in the palace, and the walking figures made the ground thudding loudly.

The people on both sides of the room all lowered their eyelids. No one dared to answer the question, and no one met his gaze. The moving figures stopped helplessly. The one below said, "Why is no one talking? You are all the foundation of the country. You should share the country's worries at this time. After all, Jin Kingdom does not belong to me alone." He took two steps forward and looked at Wanyan Zonghan: "Nianhan, do you have any ideas?"

"Bojilie." Wanyan Zonghan took a step forward, his expression unchanged: "The Qi army has betrayed the alliance, and there must be people in the army who are dissatisfied or even angry at the King of Qi's actions, which may cause their army to be unstable. We just need to recruit more young and strong people to climb the wall, firmly guard the wall and wait for them to cause chaos, and then we can break the siege."

After saying that, he closed his mouth and lowered his head with drooped eyelids. He knew that no one would believe such nonsense, so he just lowered his head and waited for Wanyan Sheng to scold him, determined to endure it.

"You..." Wanyan Sheng's face twitched, and he pointed a finger and was about to curse.

"indeed!"

The sound made Wanyan Sheng pause, and his outstretched fingers bent down.

Wanyan Zonghan was also curious. They both looked sideways and saw a young man with an elegant appearance coming forward. It was Gao Qingyi, a scholar from Bohai. He bowed and said, "General Nianhan is right. The King of Qi's behavior is not only outrageous to both humans and gods, but also difficult for people with conscience to accept. As the saying goes, those who are righteous will have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous will have few supporters. Now the King of Qi has deviated from the principles of heaven and acted recklessly. How can he not be spurned by the gods? At this moment, there is no need for us to do anything. The gods will punish him."

With his eyes slightly widened, the muscles on Wanyan Sheng's face twitched, and he put down his arm that was pointing at Nianhan. As soon as he uttered the first syllable of the word "put down...", he heard it in his ears.

"That's right, the Qi army will be punished by heaven for such actions."

"The gods will punish those who are insincere."

"I second the proposal!"

A loud clamor arose among the court officials.

The afternoon sun shone into the hall. Wanyan Sheng felt a chill in his heart. He pointed at a few people who stood up and waved his sleeves fiercely: "Okay! I'll see how the gods punish the King of Qi. Get out of here!"

"I'll take my leave!"

Wanyan Zonghan and others bowed, then turned around and walked out, leaving Wanyan Sheng, Wanyan Zonghan, Suoli Yishi and a few others standing in the hall with gloomy expressions.

"Dad, these people are most likely rebellious. It's not worth getting angry about them." Wanyan Zonghan watched the figures walk away, and hurriedly stepped forward to help his father sit down.

“Hmph—” Wanyan Sheng slammed his chair hard. “A bunch of traitors, waiting for my defeat so they can show their loyalty to Lu Bu. I understand the thoughts of those last emperors.”

The people in the hall kept their mouths shut, not knowing what to say for a moment. Wanyan Zongpan gently stroked his father's back and spoke after a while: "Dad, why don't we send a messenger to break through the siege and let the people of Weizhou and Xinzhou rush north to defend the king. If we can disrupt the Qi army's formation, we will lead the troops in the city to fight out. With a desperate gamble, we may be able to drive the Qi army away."

"...Alright." Wanyan Sheng sighed, "Let's do it this way."

……

"Mr. Gao."

Outside the palace, Wanyan Zonghan stood under a pine tree and watched the courtiers walking out on the road. When he saw a familiar figure, he called out, "Sir, please come over here." Gao Qingyi looked around and saw that some people were looking at him, while others were walking as if they didn't see him. He then hurried to Wanyan Zonghan and said, "General, are you calling me?"

"It's not who you are."

The burly figure smiled and beckoned him to move forward. The young man from Bohai didn't know what he wanted, so he just followed him step by step, not daring to speak. After several guards passed by, Wanyan Zonghan in front of him turned his head slightly and asked, "What do you think of the King of Qi?"

Gao Qingyi looked up, then lowered his head: "I have never seen it, so I dare not make any comments."

"Oh?" Wanyan Zonghan looked up at the sky and asked, "Has anyone come to see you recently?"

Gao Qingyi looked up at him with some confusion, shook his head and said, "No one has come to see me, why do you ask this, General?"

"……Yeah?"

The figure in front smiled, stopped, and turned his head slightly: "You are quite interesting. It is a good thing to be able to judge the situation... It just so happens that I like you too, so follow me from now on."

The young man from Bohai who was standing behind him also stopped immediately and bowed to the ground when he heard the words: "Thank you, General, for your kindness."

"Not bad." Wanyan Zonghan finally turned around and patted him on the shoulder: "Come to my house in the evening."

"Yes."

……

After noon, the gate of Huanglong Mansion opened, and two hundred cavalrymen wearing double armor rushed out of the south gate under the leadership of Soli Yishi. The fortifications responsible for the south gate had just been built halfway, and the cavalry of the Jin Kingdom rushed in like a whirlwind with a resolute momentum. The Qi soldiers who built the defense line were under the command of Di Lei. Seeing this, they fired whirlwinds to call for support while rushing forward with swords and guns. However, the Jurchen cavalry on the opposite side went crazy and hacked and killed desperately. Dozens of soldiers who blocked them were killed and injured, and they watched the cavalry running away in a cloud of dust.

When Di Lei brought his troops over, there was no one in sight, so he had to order his men to report the enemy's surprise attack and escape.

In the military camp, Lu Bu had just walked into the tent and had not yet sat down when a messenger with military intelligence ran in.

"Heh, just when I sent Hua Rong to the southwest, someone broke out here." Lu Bu threw the intelligence on the table and thought for a while: "Let them go, and send a message to Wanyan Bendu to let him take the cavalry to follow Hua Rong, and wait for the Jin soldiers in the south to go north and defeat them in one fell swoop."

Tiger Eyes looked at the soldier kneeling on one knee below and said, "Tell them both that I want the head of their leader."

"Yes."

Seeing that there was no order, the messenger turned around and left the tent.

Time passed slowly as both sides waited.

That night, Sori Yishi led his troops into Weizhou, issued an order to reinforce Huanglongfu, changed horses, and continued to lead his men towards Xinzhou.

In the besieged city, a Bohai man named Gao Qingyi knocked on Wanyan Zonghan's door and ate and drank with the owner of the house and Wanyan Huonu until late at night.

On Dingchou, Suoli Yishi rushed into Xinzhou, and the Jin army was gathering. (End of this chapter)