Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 338: The Golden Leopard Meets the Green-Faced Beast in Yanggu

The four discussed for half a day, and Murong Yanda finally said: "We still have to fight this mountain stronghold. Even if we don't seek credit, we must give an explanation to the Grand Tutor. I will write another letter and ask the Grand Tutor to dispatch soldiers to help."

Everyone agreed and went down to deploy military equipment, count the troops and horses, and prepare to attack the Qingzhou stronghold.

Murong Yanda also wrote a letter here, asking the official who had rested well to take it back.

After sending the official away, Murong Yanda wrote another letter and asked an old man in the mansion to take two servants and ride to Tokyo on horseback to pass the message to his sister, Concubine Murong.

Not to mention the troops deployed in Qingzhou to besiege Song Jiang and his gang.

As for Yang Zhi, since he escaped from Huangnigang that day, he did not dare to stay. He had no money on him, so he just covered his head and headed east.

Passing by the place where Yong'er and Shi Wei had fought, he carefully looked at the messy horse hoof prints and wheel tracks, and finally discovered that there were two groups of people here. One group went east, and although the other group was more concealed, it could still be seen that this group went north.

Yang Zhi was unwilling to give up. After hesitating for a while, he followed the clues and chased north. After walking for a long time, he found another battlefield at the foot of a mountain. For some reason, it seemed like it had rained on the ground, and two groups of people were fighting here. Judging from the situation, it was also an ambush. Although the ground was cleaned up, the large amount of blood, the fallen corpses, and the broken weapons all showed that the ambushed group suffered heavy casualties.

Yang Zhi walked a long way and felt hungry and thirsty. He searched for food but had no clue. He went to the roadside to cut a piece of horse leg meat, built a fire by the stream at the foot of the mountain, and roasted it to eat.

While eating meat, I thought: These bastards want to shirk responsibility and let me be the scapegoat. Now I have no home to return to and no country to go to. Where should I go? It is better to go to Qingzhou.

Thinking of this, he got up and went up the mountain again. He cut more than ten pounds of good meat and roasted it. He also picked up some clean clothes, took off a few pieces of them, folded them and took them with him.

Don't take the main road, just take the small road and rush to Qingzhou.

Passing by Yanggu County, he saw no new list at the city gate, thinking that the birthday gift robbery had not yet spread. Yang Zhi could not help but go into the city to investigate. After walking for two days, Yang Zhi hesitated again, thinking about the glory of his ancestors. Now he wanted to become a bandit, but if he didn't go, he had nowhere else to go, so he was in a dilemma.

Yang Zhi first found a pawnshop and pawned all the clothes he had obtained. He then found a restaurant, found a seat by the window, ordered two glasses of wine and two side dishes.

Yang Zhi looked depressed, drinking and sighing from time to time. This behavior attracted a brave man sitting next to him to stand up and ask, "Hey, man, I see you are extraordinary, why do you act like a little girl? Can you tell me your name? If you have any questions, I will show you a place to go."

Yang Zhi looked up and saw that the man who was speaking had delicate eyebrows and sparse eyes, a thin waist and broad shoulders. The people at the same table were also strange, there were men and women, young and old, but they didn't look like they were from the same family.

Yang Zhi lowered his hat brim and didn't want to pay attention, but he heard the man sit down and say, "Are you Yang Zhi, the Green-faced Beast, the governor of Tokyo Palace?"

Yang Zhi was surprised when he heard this. He grabbed the machete on the table and asked, "How did you know?"

"I have been famous in the martial arts world for a long time. I heard that the envoy has gone to Daming Prefecture. How come he came to Yanggu?"

Yang Zhi sighed and asked, "What is your name?"

"My name is Yang Lin, also known as the Golden Leopard in Jianghu. I am currently serving as a deputy commander of the cavalry under the command of Mr. Zhao in the nearby Liangshan County."

Yang Zhi bowed and asked, "Is it Mr. Zhao Zhen, who is known as the Little Mengchang in the martial arts world?"

Yang Lin nodded and said, "The great official is open-minded and recruits talents in all kinds of ways. If you have nowhere to go, you may as well follow me to Liangshan County to have a look."

As he spoke, he invited Yang Zhi to sit with him. Yang Zhi hesitated for a moment and then sat down.

Yang Lin introduced everyone at the table, and everyone nodded in greeting, which meant they knew each other.

At that moment, Yang Zhi confessed his recent experiences and said: "This year is not a good year, I am following orders..."

The three heroes at the table were all angry when they heard this: "These greedy people..." Yang Lin interrupted: "Brother, now that you have had enough food and wine, you have rested well. If we hurry up, we can catch up with the place to stay."

After the money was exchanged, they harnessed the carriage, helped the old and weak onto it, gave a horse to Yang Zhi, and everyone mounted the horses and headed out of the city.

After leaving the city, the traffic on the road gradually decreased. Everyone mentioned the incident of Yang Zhi being framed, and several people shouted and scolded him. Yang Lin said: "Don't say that officials are as clean as water, but the clerks are as slippery as oil. Now it is not an exaggeration to say that clerks are like caterpillars and officials are like locusts. Liang Shijie is not a good person. He can plunder 100,000 strings of cash a year. If the superiors follow suit, how many of the officials under him are good people?"

Qiao Lie, who was dressed as a Taoist priest, said, "That's true. If the storekeeper hadn't invaded me wantonly, I wouldn't have killed anyone in anger. I have to hide my identity and it's hard to go home."

Wang Jin also said: "The yellow bell is broken and discarded, the earthenware pot is thundering. Slanderers are high up, and the wise men are unknown. How many wise ministers are there in the court?"

Everyone chatted along the way, and when they were about to pass Jingyang Town, Yang Lin said, "Brothers, the town ahead is Jingyang Town. The commander of the army here is called Yun Tianbiao. His relatives were against the great official, and we dealt with them. Be careful when you pass by here."

Then he said to Li San, "Brother, take the two brothers to investigate and see what's going on. If it's not right, we'll take a detour. We've worked so hard today, so we'll have to travel overnight."

After hearing this, Li San called his two attendants and rode ahead.

The three of them arrived at Jingyang Town. It was dinner time. Smoke from cooking fires rose up from the sky. Farmers were returning from farming outside the town. On the streets, hawkers were carrying their goods on their shoulders and hawking their wares. The town was peaceful and harmonious.

Li San found a restaurant and ordered a pot of wine and two dishes. When the waiter served the dishes, Li San took out seven or eight copper coins and handed them over, asking, "Brother Xiaoer, we three are outsiders, and we dare not ask if there are any rules for performing in the town?"

The waiter heard this and said with a smile, "That's not necessary. This place is now under the jurisdiction of Liangshan County. The town has a new headman named Zhu Hongji. The military chief has also been replaced by Hua Rong, the Little Li Guang, and Fu Yu, the Flying Hammer. Now the town has no more heavy taxes, and merchants are not prohibited from coming and going. But this is a small place, and you can't make much money by learning to use spears and sticks. If you have the ability, you can go to the county to work for a senior official. If you are in the eyes of the lord, you can get a position. If you are not interested, you can go to Dulonggang. There is a new teahouse there, and it is very lively."

Li San was overjoyed when he heard this and thanked the waiter.

He said to the attendant on the left: "Come with me to the military camp."

He turned to the other person and said, "Wait here. If everything is OK, I will send someone to find you."

After that, Li San and his attendant went straight to the military camp. Just as he was about to ask the guards to report, a guard recognized Li San and said, "Captain Li, I haven't seen you for a long time. Why are you in Jingyang Town today?"

Seeing Li San's puzzled expression, the man said, "I am an old man from Liangshan, and I have seen the captain walking in front of the great official."

Li San heard this and said, "Brother, I have been away on business for half a year. I came back today and heard that the person stationed here is Fu Yu, so I would like to ask you to go and inform him."

The soldier responded and turned to go to the military camp to see Fu Yu.

After a while, Fu Yu came out and saw Li San. He said happily, "Brother Li San, where are you from?"

Li San smiled and said, "Brother Yang Lin and I went to Yan'an Prefecture to move Brother Lu Zhishen's family. We are returning today and are passing through Jingyang Town. We are afraid that this is Yun Tianbiao, so we came here first to scout the way."

Fu Yu smiled and said, "This place has long belonged to the great master. Not only am I here, but the three brothers Sun An, Deng Fei, and Li Ying are also stationed here. Brother, follow me into the camp. Brother Hua Rong, the chief steward of this place, is also in the camp today and can introduce you to others."

Li San nodded and said to his companion, "Zhu Da, go with Liu Erlang who stayed behind at the hotel and tell Brother Yang Lin about the situation here."

Zhu Da responded, mounted his horse and left.

Li San followed Fu Yu into the military camp and met all the heroes. When Sun An heard that his good friend Qiao Lie was also there, he immediately said, "An old friend has come here, so I have to welcome him. I will go and greet him."

After hearing this, everyone agreed to go together. At that moment, all the heroes rode out of the town.

(End of this chapter)