Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 296: The shameless victory, He Taishou is angry

Zhao Zhen asked Jiao Ting and Hei Sijie to accompany him, and selected two other tents to accommodate Cao Tielin, Xiu Lebo and Jin Lebo.

There was no conversation that night. Around three o'clock in the morning, Zhao Zhen heard drums and music in the distance in the camp. It was the incense officials in the temple paying their respects to the Holy Emperor. Zhao Zhen ignored them and turned over, hugged Cheng Wan'er and went to sleep.

At four o'clock in the morning, Cheng Wan'er finished washing and called Zhao Zhen to help him wash. The soldiers in the camp also got up, and Zhao Ji brought the farmhands to buy breakfast and ate it.

The crowd gathered and left the camp, and the large group of people followed the crowd to the Jianing Palace. On the left side of the platform outside the palace gate, He Taishou had someone circle a place with a great view, and Zhao Zhen and others went there to watch.

When Zhao Zhen and his companions arrived, some people had already arrived. The huge Dongyue Temple was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, and the roof beams were filled with people watching.

The mountain shed that had been set up long ago was filled with gold and silver utensils, brocade and satin. Outside the door were six fully saddled and reined horses, including one that Zhao Zhen had sent.

There was an endless stream of people burning incense, and the hundreds of servants kept scolding from time to time, thus barely maintaining peace in the temple.

After waiting for about an hour, Prefect He finally came down to the platform, escorted by a large group of black-robed officials. He beat a drum to stop the crowd of people burning incense.

Two yamen runners walked up to the platform, one in front, striking the gong a few times, and the surroundings fell silent. The other old yamen runner held a bamboo stick, first paid respect to the gods, and then shouted loudly: "Please invite the sumo wrestlers to come up to the stage and fight."

As soon as he finished speaking, a crowd of people surged, with dozens of pairs of whistles leading the way, carrying a plaque and two embroidered flags. When Zhao Zhen and others looked, they saw that the plaque read: Taiyuan Sumo Optimus Prime Ren Yuan. On each of the embroidered flags was a line of large characters: on the left: Punch the South Mountain Tiger, on the right: Kick the North Sea Dragon.

Hua Rong stood aside: "What a big tone."

Zhao Zhen said: "Let's see what he does."

Looking back, Cao Tielin saw a big man in a sedan chair. "Sir, this is Ren Yuan."

At first glance, this Ren Yuan had quite a grand presence, with thirty or twenty pairs of handsome men with flowery arms in front and behind the sedan chair, blocking the front and surrounding it.

Looking at Ren Yuan, he really has the appearance of Jie Di and the face of a Vajra. With his chest bare, he shows the might of Cunxiao beating a tiger. Sitting sideways on the sedan chair, he has the power of a king moving mountains.

Zhao Zhen couldn't help but shout: "What a brave man."

Cao Tielin, who was standing by, heard this and said, "If it wasn't a serious illness, how could he be so arrogant?"

Jiao Ting said: "Let him be so powerful."

As they were talking, they heard a loud cheer. It was Ren Yuan who had come up to the stage. He untied his shawl, took off his scarf, and left his Shu brocade jacket hanging loosely. He bowed to all around him: "East to the rising sun, west to the setting sun, two sun and moon, one universe, south to the southern barbarians, north to Youyan, who dares to compete with me?"

Ren Yuan's disciples in the audience also started to make noise.

The old yamen runner saluted and said, "I won the wrestling match last year, but you don't need to be the first this year. I will take a rest first. The winner of the wrestling match can compete with me next time."

As he spoke, he had someone bring a chair and asked Ren Yuan to sit next to him.

“In the arena, life and death are at your own risk. There’s a huge prize, who dares to take it?” Before he finished speaking, seven or eight big men rushed onto the stage.

Jiao Ting said, "Sir, I have never met an opponent for my skills for a long time. Today I will go on stage to show off my skills. If I can knock this guy down by chance, it will also bring honor to you."

After saying that, without waiting for Zhao Zhen to speak, he jumped off the platform and went up to the stage. Ten people, two in a team, soon decided five winners.

The yamen runner invited Ren Yuan to come up on the stage, took out a lottery box, and asked the six people to draw lots. Soon, Ren Yuan, Jiao Ting, and another person called Duan Jikuai won.

There were only three people left on the stage. The old yamen runner looked at them and asked hesitantly, "Would you three like to compete in pairs?"

Ren Yuan shouted, "Why bother being so long-winded? Come and compete with me. We only had one competition this year and I met a wimp. I didn't even use my strength, but he jumped off the stage on his own. The one who deserves to die this year, come and accept your death in my hands." As he said this, he glared at Jiao Ting and Duan Jikuai fiercely.

Duan Jikuai was also an anxious person: "You have never competed with each other before, so how dare you speak so arrogantly? Let me teach you a lesson." As he said this, he was about to compete with Ren Yuan.

The old yamen runner glanced at Prefect He, and seeing him nod slightly, he said, "In that case, you two will compete first. The life and death agreement has been signed, so each of you should take it seriously."

After saying that, he stepped aside.

The two men came forward fiercely, Ren Yuan was furious, Duan Jikuai was furious, and with a "bang", the two collided. They fought back and forth for seven or eight rounds. After all, Ren Yuan was tall and stronger, so he grabbed Duan Jikuai's wrist, shouted loudly, lifted him up alive, and threw him down to the stage. Duan Jikuai struggled for a long time before getting up.

Seeing this, the old yamen runner stepped forward and asked, "Teacher Ren, do you want to take a break before fighting this warrior again?"

Ren Yuan heard this and cried out, "No need for that. It's better to knock him down earlier. It won't be too late for you to rest when you go back."

Seeing that Ren Yuan was determined, the old yamen runner did not try to persuade him any further. He motioned Jiao Ting to step forward. A gong sounded, and the two men bent their waists, opened their arms, panted, and slowly approached each other.

Zhao Zhen also looked anxiously, only to see that the two men had set up their own gates. Jiao Ting did not move, but just stared at Ren Yuan's three directions.

However, Jiao Ting had already noticed that Ren Yuan had difficulty turning around and was slow to change his feet, so he deliberately let Ren Yuan come forward to attack. When Ren Yuan was halfway there, Jiao Ting quickly stepped aside, turned around a few times, and Ren Yuan suddenly lost his pace.

Jiao Ting took the opportunity to punch Ren Yuan in the chest and abdomen, knocking Ren Yuan off balance. Ren Yuan pounded the ground with both hands, stood up, and pounced on Jiao Ting. Jiao Ting jumped to the side and kicked Ren Yuan in the side, causing Ren Yuan to roar in anger.

Ren Yuan became anxious and his attacks became more and more disorganized.

Seeing the right opportunity, Jiao Ting grabbed Ren Yuan's wrist, and took advantage of Ren Yuan's momentum to lead him to the outside of the stage. Finally, he kicked him hard in the back, and knocked him off the stage.

Tens of thousands of incense officials watched and cheered in unison.

When Ren Yuan's disciples saw their master had been kicked over, they rushed forward to help him. Ren Yuan was heavy and fell from a height. Like Duan Ji Kuai, he was out of breath and could not get up for a while.

When Ren Yuan's disciples saw this, they clamored to rush into the stage to grab the valuables on the shed. When Tang Bin, Wen Zhongrong, Cui Ye, Wang Tianba, Mie Gong, Bao Xu and other heroes saw this, how could they bear it? They each grabbed a stick, rushed over, and started beating.

In the end it was too late. The shed had already been torn down, and the gold, silver, cloth and silk were snatched away by the onlookers in the chaos.

Fortunately, the six fully saddled horses at the back were still there, so we did not get nothing.

There was a lot of noise for a while, and Ren Yuan took advantage of the chaos to leave without knowing when.

The audience was in chaos. Prefect He hated the people who had been dragged to the shed and shouted, "Catch Ren Yuan and his disciples and bring them back to the government office. All the losses will be blamed on him."

After hearing this, the yamen runners behind him left half of their men to protect Prefect He, and the rest, led by two captains, got off the platform and hurried out.

The pilgrims in the temple also hurried down the mountain, and the temple suddenly became quiet after the commotion. Tang Bin and others went to the back to lead the six good horses and guarded the platform.

Prefect He sent someone to invite Zhao Zhen to come forward, and he bowed and said, "These lunatics are so bold. If it weren't for Lord Zhao's intervention, I don't know what would have happened down there. Once these bandits are captured, I must give them a good beating to relieve my hatred. Lord Zhao, rest assured, the lost property will naturally be compensated by Ren Yuan, and then sent to this brave man under your command."

Zhao Zhen said: "Master He, you are too kind. You have many soldiers under your command, so they can naturally suppress these pilgrims. We brothers are worried that our brothers on the stage will suffer, so we stepped forward to rescue them."

Prefect He nodded and said, "I will go back to the government office and take charge of the yamen. Today we will conduct a thorough investigation and recover the lost property. Lord Zhao, please return to the camp and wait for news."

The two men bowed and said goodbye. Hua Rong stepped forward and said, "Master, shall we return to the camp?"

Zhao Zhen said, "Wait for half a day. No matter if there is any letter or not, I will bid farewell to Governor He tomorrow and go to Mengxiong River in the south of Zhangqiu County to fish for pig dragons. Stay for one or two days and then return to Liangshan County."

After saying this, Zhao Zhen called everyone out of the temple and went down the mountain.

(End of this chapter)