Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The moonlight was hazy, and there were not many furnishings in the newly tidied mansion. The wardrobes and furniture added in the past two days were carefully selected by the hostess. As for other items, she would have to wait until tomorrow when she was free to buy them.

The dinner for several young boys and girls had ended long ago. The boys and girls went home with full stomachs. Wanyan Zonghan sat in the main seat with a rosy face. No one accompanied him to drink in the evening, so he drank a little by himself but did not get drunk. At this moment, he was looking at his eldest son who had been lost and found again with great interest.

The woman who had been coaxing her youngest son to sleep came out, walked over to Wanyan Sheyema, hugged him in her arms, and kissed his smooth scalp: "My son has suffered."

Jin Danzi was drinking honey water. Hearing this, he looked at his mother in surprise and said, "I'm not miserable. I'm not happy with my father except that I can't see him. At the beginning, my uncle and others made things difficult for me. But after I met Sister Qiu, everything became fine."

The woman's expression froze, she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away a little, looking at him: "How can you be so heartless, kid?"

Wanyan Sheye Ma didn't dare to say anything. He just looked at the honey water on the table and licked his lips. For some reason, his instinct told him not to drink it now.

"Oh? You and Qiu, um..." Wanyan Zonghan took a sip from the wine bowl, narrowed his eyes and changed his words: "The young princess has a good relationship?"

“Yes.” Wanyan Sheyema nodded: “If it weren’t for Sister Qiu, I would probably still be bullied by my uncle.”

The woman holding his shoulders first looked at him, then turned to look at her man. Wanyan Zonghan knew what the woman meant, and felt a little reluctant. The woman's eyes became sharper, but she finally put down the wine bowl, leaned forward, and smiled: "Then...how does the little princess treat you?"

"Very good, often taking me out to play, and buying food for me."

Wanyan Zonghan raised his eyebrows. Knowing his son's character well, he was too lazy to beat around the bush: "Is she engaged?"

"Yes." Wanyan Sheyema nodded: "I heard from Niu Tong that there is a man named Yang Zaixing, who is also a disciple of the king. He and Sister Qiu have a close relationship. Who knows, they may become a couple in a few years."

"Oh..." Wanyan Zonghan had a look of pity on his face. He looked at his wife and said calmly, "It's getting late. You should go to bed early. Didn't you agree with Miss Qiu to go out tomorrow? If you get up late, you won't be able to go."

"Oh." Wanyan Sheye Ma didn't hear anything wrong in his words, so he said, "I'll drink the honey water and go to sleep." He picked up the bowl and drank it, then went back.

"What a pity..." The woman watched him walk out and sighed, "That makes sense. Someone like the enemy's young lady is already married."

"It's not a pity." Wanyan Zonghan picked up the wine bowl and drank it all: "For us, the final result still depends on the merits we have gained on the battlefield. It is not stable to rely on women's crotches..."

The woman rolled her eyes.

Wanyan Zonghan pretended not to notice: "Don't think about it. We just arrived in Liaoyang Prefecture, so we should be careful. Look at Lou Shi. He has not left his house in recent days. He is just waiting and watching."

The woman nodded and then sighed, "I'm just worried about Jin Danzi. He's not very smart to begin with. What will he do in the future?"

"What's the big deal?" Wanyan Zonghan didn't care. He picked up the wine jar and poured a bowl of wine: "He is a good candidate for martial arts training. He had no time because of fighting before. I will train him well in the future. With his talent, he will be extraordinary. When he joins the army, he will have the opportunity to gain merit. Besides..." He put the wine jar on the table and took a big sip: "He knows so many young men in the army. He won't suffer any loss in the future."

The night is quiet and filled with the chirping of insects.

Late at night.

...The people and events of Qi State developed on their own, and in the south, the news that Qi State had destroyed Jin State and eliminated the name of Jin State blew into the ears of those who were interested along with the cold autumn wind.

Previously, Jin invited Qi to attack Wanyan's tribe, and many people speculated that Qi would turn around and eat them up on its return. Now, the news of the delayed arrival confirmed people's speculation, and the discussion spread all the way to Bianliang. Zhao Liangsi, who was sitting at home, hurried into the palace to ask for an audience upon hearing the news.

"After Qi destroyed Jin, it will certainly have a dispute with Liao. Yelu Yanxi was dissolute and immoral, and there are many treacherous people in the court. It is bound to perish. I dare to ask the emperor to send someone to Liaodong to discuss the matter of destroying Liao with Qi."

"Qi destroyed Jin, how can we know that Liao will not take this opportunity to destroy Qi and save its own territory?"

Zhao Ji was in a good mood today. He was admiring a piece of strange stone sent from Jiangnan. When he heard him calling it over, he walked along the stone and said, "If Qi is destroyed and Liaodong returns to Liao, wouldn't it be a waste of my time?"

"I don't think so." Zhao Liangsi shook his head: "Your Majesty, if Yelu Yanxi wanted to send troops, he would have sent troops when Qi went north. Why wait until Jin was destroyed and Qi took over the land? Moreover, I know that this man is a ridiculous emperor. He must be obsessed with hunting and ignore the government." He pursed his lips: "As always."

He stopped walking, put his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky. Seeing this, Zhao Liangsi continued, "Your Majesty, Yanyun was taken away by the Khitans for more than a hundred years and has always wanted to return to the Song Dynasty. The righteous men in Yanzhao have been praying day and night for the royal army to march north. Until today, Yelu Yanxi has neglected state affairs, and officials and people are suffering. If your Majesty can send troops to the north, in accordance with the will of heaven and the will of the people, there will surely be a great banner and people will respond. The recovery of Yanyun is just around the corner. In this way, we can comfort our ancestors in the ancestral temple and show it to the world; we can exempt the annual tribute and save money for the country; we can boost people's morale and promote the prestige of our Song Dynasty throughout the world. Once this opportunity is lost, it may be hard to find it again. I hope your Majesty will understand."

"Exempt the annual tribute..." Zhao Ji muttered silently, looked back at him, lowered his head and thought for a while, and then continued walking for a long time: "My dear minister, what you said is true, but we must not let the incident of Dengzhou happen again."

Zhao Liangsi let out a breath.

"Tomorrow is the court meeting, you can bring it up." Zhao Ji lost the mood to look at the stone for a moment, and walked out: "This time I send the court officials out, they can't come back halfway."

Zhao Liangsi in the back quickly bowed and responded.

The next day.

The news that the Jin Dynasty was destroyed and the Qi State occupied the entire territory of the Liao Dynasty's Dongjing Road exploded in the court. It was shocking that the Liao Dynasty, as a powerful enemy that had been looming over the Song Dynasty for a hundred years, lost a piece of territory so easily.

Zhao Liangsi took the opportunity to propose a plan to ally with Qi to destroy Liao. He had been active in the Song Dynasty for a long time since he came to power. Many people stood up to support the proposal. Seeing that Zhao Ji did not look surprised at all, the prime minister Cai Jing also stepped forward and said, "This old minister believes that it is a great shame that Yanyun was taken away by Liao for a hundred years. If the emperor can take it back now, the achievement will be no less than that of our Taizu and Taizong, and will be close to that of Zulong."

Zhao Ji's face lit up with joy, and just as he was about to open his mouth to agree, a voice came from below: "No."

Then a figure came out of the class. Everyone looked and saw that it was Prime Minister Zheng Juzhong. They saw this person walked to Cai Jing's side and said in a stern voice: "You are a minister and a senior official of the country. You can't abide by the alliance between the two countries and you always create trouble. This is really not a good plan."

Cai Jing glanced at Zhao Ji and saw that he frowned. He then lowered his eyes and said, "Who wouldn't be tired of an annual tribute of 500,000?"

Zheng Juzhong stared at him and said, "Don't you think about the cost of war during the Han Dynasty? Millions of lives were lost, and you did it." He turned to Zhao Ji and said, "Sir, it would be a pity if the century-long peace between the two countries was easily broken."

Zhao Ji looked a little impatient: "Alright, I got it, that's it for today."

He threw off his dragon robe, stood up and left.

"Retirement——" (End of this chapter)