Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"Let's not talk about my younger brother for now. Brother Yang and Brother Shi, what's the problem in coming here to find me?"

Shi Qian smiled. The face that had seemed somewhat wretched in Yang Xiong's memory now looked somewhat resolute.

"It seems that the army is a good place to train people." Yang Xiong said with emotion.

How could Shi Qian know what he was thinking, nor did he know how to respond? He just smiled.

"To be honest, there was some scandal in my family, and I was so angry that I drew my knife and blood was seen." Yang Xiong's eyes twitched, "I originally wanted to flee south to Song, but I came to join you just because I remembered what you said before."

"So that's how it is." Shi Qian's eyes widened, he stood up and patted his chest: "Brother Yang came to see me because he thinks highly of Shi Qian, so of course I am willing. Now that I have made some contributions and am a noble, I have a house in the west of the city, so you can live with me first."

He then pulled Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu out of their rooms and went to live with him. The mansion of the third-class noble had three rooms and was equipped with two maids, which opened Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu's eyes. They kept saying that Qi was generous to its soldiers, and there was envy in their eyes.

For several days, Shi Qian went out in the morning and came back in the afternoon to drink and chat with the two. In their spare time, the three of them practiced with sticks and wooden swords. They were very happy. However, the two of them could not live in someone else's house with peace of mind. After a few days, they came to Shi Qian and wanted to go out to work.

"You two want to find a job?" Shi Qian looked at them strangely, thought for a while and said, "Brother Shi Xiu has been favored by Youshi Mansion, maybe someone will come to invite him in a while."

Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong looked at each other in bewilderment. After a while, the fair-skinned young man spoke up, "When did this happen? How come I don't know about it?"

"It's just a matter of the past two days." Shi Qian smiled embarrassedly: "It will take some time to deal with the aftermath over there. It may take a long time, so I didn't tell my brother."

Shi Xiu understood something after hearing this. He was afraid that the other party wanted to investigate his background, which was why it took so long.

Yang Xiong looked at him with some envy. From the way he helped him, he could tell that this brother was a careful, courageous, and ruthless person. More importantly, he was loyal and willing to risk his life for others. Now that he was favored by the people of Qi, he might become a remarkable figure in the future.

"It's a good opportunity to talk things over today, Brother Yang." Shi Qian looked at Yang Xiong over there and said, "I know Brother Yang's ability and have recommended him to the higher-ups before, but I still have something to ask Brother Yang."

Yang Xiong raised his head and looked over with a hopeful look on his face.

"Nowadays, although we have people in every government office in Da Qi, we still lack people who can do things. So it's not difficult to get in with your ability, but it's stable to work in the government office, but promotion is too slow." Shi Qian walked to the table, opened the thick cloth wrapped around the copper can, poured warm water and took a sip: "I want to ask Brother Yang, do you want to go back to your old job in the government office, or join the army and earn a name with your sword and gun."

Yang Xiong looked at Shi Qian, whose skin was much darker than when he first met him. He lowered his head to think for a moment, then looked up at him and said, "Brother, I was able to get by in Liao before because I had relatives who were officials. If I didn't have this background, I would have been forced to be ordered around by others."

Shi Qian wanted to say something, but Yang Xiong stopped him with his hand: "Brother, please listen to me." He walked to the table and sat down: "I don't have much ambition. I just want to have a job that makes money, have a little power, marry a wife and have a family. It would be even better if I could have a child to take care of me."

Shi Qian had heard him talk about his family affairs two days ago, and he and Shi Xiu looked at him with a hint of sympathy.

"But you two also know that all these have become a thing of the past." A blush appeared on the sallow face, and he slapped the table with his palm.

Peng——

"I, Yang Xiong, am unwilling to accept this! Why has the heaven been so cruel to me that I have no hope!" Gritting his teeth, the sick Guan Suo looked at the two men and said, "Since the road ahead is blocked, I will simply not go on. After all, I have practiced martial arts for two years and am not bad at using swords, guns, sticks or clubs. I am willing to fight in the army and maybe I can get rid of this bad luck!"

"Okay!" Shi Qian clapped his hands: "I know that Brother Yang is a person who doesn't like to be lonely. I will definitely support you." He rolled his eyes and said: "The army in Liaoyang Prefecture suffered heavy losses in the expedition to Jin Kingdom last year. Although they are no longer recruited, they can still be recommended to join the army. Brother Yang, would you like to join the infantry or cavalry?" "Infantry." Yang Xiong smiled bitterly: "There are not many cavalrymen, and I will be stiff if I go up, so I won't show my cowardice."

Shi Qian would naturally not refuse, so the three of them talked for a while and waited until evening. Shi Qian ordered some wine and bought some meat and dried vegetables, and the three of them had a simple meal at home.

The next morning, Shi Qian ran to find his colleagues in the army. At this time, Ma Ling and Zhou Darong's sister Zhou Xiu'er had been married at the beginning of the year and took their troops to Xinzhou. Hua Rong was stationed in Yinzhou. Han Shizhong led his troops back to Liaozhou early. The only infantry troops left were the two units of the Xianzhen Camp and E Quanzhong in Liaoyang Prefecture.

After some tests, Yang Xiong was temporarily appointed as a garrison commander in E Quanzhong's army, which made Shi Qian feel quite apologetic and a little sorry for Yang Xiong.

But Yang Xiong himself did not care. Instead, he comforted Shi Qian, "Brother, your starting point is much higher than others, so how can you not be slow? You just need to fight on the battlefield in the future and work hard to earn merit." This made Drum Flea feel relieved.

In early summer, officials from the Youshi Mansion came to Shi Qian to recruit Shi Xiu. This desperate man did not hesitate and followed them with his bag. Shi Qian and Yang Xiong did not see him until the end of the month. Shi Xiucai asked them to drink and said frankly that he was going to live in the capital and might not be able to come back in a short time. The three of them got drunk that night and stayed at Shi Qian's house again.

When Shi Qian and Yang Xiong got up the next day, Shi Xiu was nowhere to be seen. They both sighed for a while, but they were familiar with Shi Xiu's character and knew that he didn't want to make it a life-and-death separation, so they didn't blame him.

……

The spring breeze is blowing, the weather is getting warmer, and the clouds are floating in the sky.

The operation of the world did not stop because of Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu. Far away in Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Song State, a young woman screamed in pain in the room. Outside, a young soldier was circling in the yard, looking at the house from time to time with worry. Suddenly, the woman inside screamed in pain again, making the determined young man want to rush in, but he was persuaded to back off by the old mother guarding the door.

This went on for half an hour, and even the medicine for keeping the baby alive was delivered twice. Finally, a cry was heard, and the midwife came out with a look of joy on her face: "Congratulations, it's a boy."

"God bless you!"

The old woman clasped her hands together towards the sky and watched her son run in with a big smile on her face.

Inside the house, the sound of a baby crying was loud. The extremely weak woman looked at the young man who came in and said softly, "My dear, give the child a name."

"Cloud." The young man walked to the bed and knelt down, holding the woman's hand: "Today the sky is full of clouds, how about calling me Cloud?"

The woman smiled.

……

Dengzhou.

An envoy boarded the ship. Pharmacist Gao, with a bitter face, looked at the familiar general and grinned a smile that was uglier than crying: "General Liu, I am sorry to trouble you this time."

"Don't worry, I'm here, nothing will go wrong."

In the third year of Tianshun in Qi, the first year of Xuanhe in Song, and the ninth year of Tianqing in Liao, the ship carrying the ambitions of the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty slowly left the port, hoisted the sails and headed northwards for the Liaodong land. (End of this chapter)