Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The sky faded away.

At Yaozhou Port, waves hit the docked ships. Occasionally, a seagull flew over and stood on the mast. Soon, another bird flew over and stood beside it, tilting its head to look at the busy humans below. They lined up in a row and chirped.

The vehicle carrying the goods rumbled across the road at the dock and bumped onto the dirt road. Amid shouts of "Steady!" from the side, the vehicle gradually drove away into the distance.

In the room of the Shipping Department at the port, noise could be heard coming in, but no one in the room was in the mood to watch the excitement. Two clerks in official uniforms looked nervously at three men dressed like gangsters opposite them who were checking the account books on the table.

The rustling sound of pages turning suddenly stopped. The man in the middle of the three raised his head and pointed at the book: "This is it."

The two people nearby came over to take a look, with strange expressions: "Buy a war horse?"

He looked up at the two clerks and asked, "Did the ship with the Yi character and Ren number mean buying war horses?"

"That's right." The clerk on the left wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled: "I remember it clearly, it is indeed what he said."

Another person added, "Although there are Song ships coming and going, few of them come to Yaozhou to buy war horses. Most of them go to Zhenhai Prefecture to buy horses. The two of us have talked to the leader about this, but they said it's okay. So the two of us have an impression of this, and it can't be wrong."

The three gangsters looked at each other, copied down the records in the book, dried them, put them away, and walked out: "Very good, let's go to the city and take a look."

Someone in the back patted the two clerks and said, "You did a good job. I'll give you credit for it. Remember to keep an eye on the boat and don't talk nonsense."

The two were overjoyed and immediately swore to heaven that they would not tell any lies. They respectfully saw the three men off and watched them mount their horses and leave.

However, he and others were unable to enter Yaozhou city. When they were halfway there, a dozen men dressed in the same martial arts style came towards them on horseback. Three of them reined in their horses and whispered a few words to the knights in front of them. "Let's go, go back and report!" A voice rang out, and more than a dozen people shook the reins, shouted "Gee--", and returned to Liaoyang Prefecture in a cloud of dust.

……

Liaoyang Mansion.

Several people dressed in black with swords hanging from their waists walked into an ordinary courtyard and hurried into the lobby. Qiao Lie was writing something at his desk. When he saw them coming in, he quickly put down his pen and asked, "What's going on?"

"Commander, we have found out everything." The leading man, who looked ordinary, came over, clasped his fists, put the excerpted paper on the table, and stepped back, pressing the hilt of his sword. "Those people came from Yaozhou Port, using the excuse of buying war horses. They stopped at the shore and rested in the city for a night, then followed the official road to Liaoyang Prefecture. They chatted with a civilian named Zhang San outside the city, then rushed directly into the city, asked our spies for directions, and then went straight to the Ministry of Rites."

"Well done." Qiao Lie stood up, put on his official uniform, took a look at the paper, and walked away: "Brothers who are going to travel later should go to the account office in the back to collect their rewards. If you finish three days earlier, each of you will be rewarded with an extra five taels of silver."

Several spies from Youshi Mansion were overjoyed. They immediately clasped their fists and bowed their heads, following Qiao Lie's movements and turning their bodies: "Thank you, Commander, for the reward."

Qiao Lie just waved his hand and hurried out, reporting first. The man stood up straight, smiling happily: "Let's go and collect the reward silver. After that, go to Cao's Restaurant for a drink. I'll pay the bill."

"Boss, you are so generous!"

Several people at the back cheered and surrounded the man as he walked out.

……

The sun hid behind the clouds.

Qiao Lie rode his horse all the way to the palace, but didn't find the master in the study, so he had to ask the guard beside him to go and inform him.

When Yu Cheng arrived, Lu Bu was instructing Qiongying on halberd techniques in his own training ground, with Yang Zaixing watching from the side. The former came over and whispered a few words, and Lu Bu straightened up and said, "You two practice first."

Then he left with Yu Cheng. After entering the study, he saw Qiao Lie waiting and smiled: "Have you found out?"

"I've checked it out." Qiao Lie nodded and handed the paper to Lu Bu. "They used the excuse of buying war horses. The people on the boat should be officers of the Pinghai Navy, and the leader should be the colleague that General Hu Yanqing mentioned last year."

Lu Bu put the paper filled with information on the table and looked up at him: "It's amazing that you still remember it."

Qiao Lie smiled modestly: "I need to have a better memory to do this." He paused and said: "I don't know why these people went to so much trouble to come here."

"Since everything is fine, let's ask them to come tomorrow." Lu Bu exhaled and thought, "I have thought a lot in the past two days. I always feel that the Song people are coming for the matter in the west."

Qiao Lie's expression changed: "Liao people?"

"It's just a feeling I have, but I have to meet him to know if it's true."

Qiao Lie was speechless, but just nodded: "Then I will take my leave first."

He retreated immediately, waved to Yu Cheng, and asked him to go and inform Yang Pu, then went back. Compared with the matter of the envoy from the Song Dynasty, his two apprentices were more worrying.

On the other hand, Lu Bu's decision to summon the envoy tomorrow was passed to the Ministry of Rites. Yang Pu did not dare to neglect it and immediately sent someone to the post station to notify him.

Ma Zheng had been waiting for several days and had become extremely annoyed. He spent the whole day wondering if he had offended the King of Qi in some way, but he felt that it was not the case. He also understood Lü Bu's path to wealth. Although there were often encirclements and suppressions, he always felt that the imperial court was the one that suffered. In the end, both the east and west routes were ravaged by him. In any case, it could not be said that Lü Bu had suffered any losses.

As for the rumor that he was oppressed by local officials and therefore disliked him, he also remembered that there were rumors that he was from Liao. This reason should not be enough to make Lu Bu hate him and others.

But if it is neither of these two, then it means that he is suspicious of the imperial court. However, like the former, he is from the Liao Kingdom. How could the Song Dynasty, as the weaker party, be envied by the powerful Liao people?
I couldn't figure it out no matter how hard I tried. I could only speculate suspiciously.

Now, hearing the person from the Ministry of Rites say that the King of Qi had summoned him, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and gave the person some small change as a thank you. Only then did Doctor Wuyi, the envoy, straighten his back.

"Everyone, cheer up. The Japanese envoys will go to the palace tomorrow. As guards, you must also show the power of our Song Dynasty. Don't let others look down on you."

"Yes!"

All the officers of Pinghai Navy clasped their fists and bowed to him. Ma Zheng then smiled with satisfaction. He immediately called someone to make some hot soup and took a bath himself. Then he made some deductions in his mind.

The next day, at the end of the Chen hour, the wind was light and the clouds were thin.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites came to invite them. Ma Zheng changed into court robes, tied a long belt, and hung a jade sword, jade pendant, and brocade ribbon on it. The guards changed into military uniforms and hung hand knives on their waists. The general also had a bag of leather armor, and with the help of others, he put on his armor and hung a long sword on it. Only Gao Yaoshi had no official position and was not a soldier. He just followed beside them in a clean brocade robe.

A group of more than 20 people marched towards the Qi Palace. When they arrived at the gate, a palace guard in iron armor stepped forward to stop them: "This envoy can only go in alone."

Ma Zheng looked at him and nodded: "Okay."

He turned around and said, "Wait here."

Then he stepped into the palace, but he didn't look at it. After he went in, the guards of Prince Qi's palace stood at the door with spears and swords hanging from their backs.

The people from Pinghai Army dispersed their ranks. Although they did not sit down, they were like loose sand.

Pharmacist Gao looked at the guards in black clothes and armor at the door, then looked at the soldiers of the Yanping Navy, his eyes twitched, and he walked away from the group of naked men, mumbling something. (End of this chapter)