Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 534 Cover up
However, after Zhao Zhen finished counting the wealth and goods, he planned to take the left and right cavalry battalions back to Liangshan temporarily.

Unless there are any accidents in Qingzhou, there will be no more wars.

Before Zhao Zhen gave the order, Wu Yong in Dengzhou ordered Shi Qian to deliver the bodies of Song Qing, Mu Hong and Mu Chun at full speed.

Before Zhao Zhen could speak, Shi Qian said, "Sir, we didn't mean to kill these three people. It was because Song Qing saw that Daoyu Village was empty and there were no warships left. He was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot. When we surrounded them, Song Qing, Mu Hong and Mu Chun had already died of the poison."

"Committed suicide by taking poison?" Zhao Zhen asked.

Shi Qian shook his head repeatedly: "Husband, this poison was given by Song Qing."

"What?" Zhao Zhen exclaimed.

"The military advisor received the message from the prime minister and naturally wanted to capture these three alive. However, Song Qing was probably afraid that we would use him to threaten Song Jiang, so for the sake of Song Jiang's reputation, he vomited blood and took poison. Brothers Mu Hong and Mu Chun were also deceived by him and drank poisoned wine."

"Look, sir. The three coffins outside have been preserved with spices. You can still tell what they looked like back then."

As he said this, Shi Qian led Zhao Zhen outside to see the bodies. When they opened the coffins, they saw that the three bodies all had purple-black faces, blood in their seven orifices, and teeth marks on their lips. It was obvious that they died of poisoning.

After Zhao Zhen read it, he paused for a moment and said to Shi Qian, "Brother, do many people know about this?"

Shi Qian said: "Only the soldiers who collected the bodies knew about it. They rode as fast as they could along the way and never told anyone else."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen said to Shi Qian, "Brother, please bear with me for a while. I will write a letter and you can deliver it to Yidu City and present it to Song Jiang in secret."

Shi Qian said: "Don't worry, sir, I will take care of this matter."

At night, several men with their heads covered and their faces covered came to Linqu City. The leader, a short man, asked his attendants to leave, and asked Shi Qian to have someone open the coffin, and he personally went forward to take a look.

This person is none other than Song Jiang, the leader of the Qingzhou bandits. Today, Shi Qianqian went to the government office and presented Zhao Zhen's letter. It clearly stated that Song Qing and the other two died of poisoning, not being killed by the Liangshan army. It also pointed out that Mu Hong and Mu Chun were poisoned by Song Qing.

After reading this, Song Jiang's face suddenly turned gloomy.

Song Jiang had anticipated Song Qing's taking poison. When he sent Song Qing to Dengzhou to rob a ship, Song Jiang had said that he must not fall into the hands of the government troops, lest they use him as a threat.

At that time, Song Jiang would be in a dilemma. Whether he saved Song Qing or not, it would damage Song Jiang's reputation. It was Song Jiang who handed the arsenic to Song Qing and asked him to carry it with him.

However, Song Jiang never thought that Song Qing would also kill Mu Hong and Mu Chun.

This matter must not be spread out.

Once the news got out, wouldn't all the heroes who followed Song Jiang be in danger? Not only would he die, but he would also have to take his brothers with him.

Song Jiang calmed himself down and said to Shi Qian, "Brother, I also want to see the great official. Please inform him."

Shi Qian nodded, and soon led Song Jiang to a mansion.

Song Jiang took off the veil and said to Zhao Zhen with a smile: "My dear, when we were in my hometown, although we were only a hundred miles apart, we had a shallow fate and had never met each other. I never thought that we would meet here today."

Zhao Zhen also said: "When I was in Xixi Village, I only heard of the reputation of [Xiaoyi Heisabalang], but the village was always busy, so I never paid him a visit."

Song Jiang said: "Although we have never met, I have long admired your name. It is fate that we can meet here today. When Brother Yong'er returns to Yidu, we will naturally have official positions."

"Speaking of which, I would like to thank you for your mercy, sir. Otherwise, we would have disappeared long ago, and it would be impossible for us to meet here. Song Qing and the other two were suddenly infected with the epidemic and died in Dengzhou. It was also fate. I would like to ask you to cremate the three people to prevent the spread of the disease. Please also treat the soldiers in Dengzhou."

"I will go back and prepare another 100,000 strings of gold and pearls to thank you for returning my brother's bones." After hearing this, Zhao Zhen admired Song Jiang's decisiveness.

Of course, this guy was also sure that Zhao Zhen would not make things difficult for him, so he offered a high price of 100,000 strings of cash to deal with the aftermath.

Zhao Zhen said, "Okay, I'll have someone prepare firewood and burn the three people's bones tonight. Please ask Chief Song to take them back and put them to rest."

Song Jiang was delighted when he heard this. This Zhao Zhen was indeed a man of honor. It was a pity that he had no chance to meet him.

Lai Yong'er wants to persuade Gao Qiu to let him and others fight against King Qing of Huaixi, but he doesn't know whether they will have the chance to meet again in the future.

At that moment, they lit a fire to burn the bodies of the three men, picked out the large pieces of bones, put them in each jar, and handed them to Song Jiang who was waiting by the side.

Song Jiang took the jar without saying anything, and told his servant to take it carefully. Song Jiang and his men rushed back to Yidu overnight.

After returning to Yidu City, Song Jiang informed everyone of the news that Song Qing, Mu Hong and Mu Chun had contracted the epidemic and died.

Then he said, "Brothers, we never expected that Dengzhou would be struck by an epidemic. Now all my troops have been killed or wounded. The remains of three brothers have been sent back, but the rest of the soldiers are buried in a foreign land."

"We have been fighting for a long time. Now we have a clear idea of ​​surrendering, but Song Qing and the other two have died of an epidemic. This time, perhaps it is because of the weapons that were used everywhere in the past, killing people, and there is no way to absolve them, so we have suffered this disaster."

"I want to hold a Luotian Grand Ceremony to thank the gods of heaven and earth for their blessings, and pray that all brothers will be happy and healthy in the future, and have a good future after being recruited."

"Let's pray for the souls of the brothers who died in Dengzhou, and all the innocent people who died suddenly, burned or drowned, so that they can all find a good way. I want to do this, but I don't know what you think, brothers?"

All the leaders praised: "This is a good thing, brother, your opinion is not wrong."

"In that case, we will ask Brother Fatong, the Iron Arhat, to preside over the ritual and summon the monks and Taoists in the city. Then we will ask a leader to buy all the necessary incense, candles, paper horses, flowers and fruits for sacrificial ceremonies, vegetarian food, and all the necessary items. We will perform good deeds for seven days and nights." Song Jiang said.

After that, he said to everyone, "At the beginning, we agreed with Mr. Zhao that we would redeem all the captured brothers. Although Ma Yuan and other brothers are now imprisoned in Linzi City, they have never suffered. Once the imperial edict of amnesty arrives, they will be released."

"Song Qing is my brother. Mu Hong and Mu Chun have been with us for only half a year. Now the three of them are dead, but it is not Liangshan's fault. From now on, we will serve in the same court as Liangshan, and the ransom we agreed on at the beginning cannot be calculated. I have to find a way to get the money from the public treasury, and the ransom for the three people will come from my private wealth."

[Aiye Baozi] Di Lei said: "Brother, now Song Qing and the other two are dead, why do you still need to give money to this guy?"

Song Jiang looked at them and sighed, "Brothers, we all have a grudge against Zhao Zhen for killing our relatives. It's just that we have to bow our heads when we are under someone's roof. As the saying goes: If you keep the green mountains, you won't be afraid of running out of firewood. If we try to please this guy now, one day, we will have to fight him again."

Ruan Zhaoer asked, "Will we be able to rebel again in the future?"

Song Jiang sneered twice and said, "You have seen it too. This fellow is not a good person. What Mr. Zhao did is not what a loyal minister would do."

【The sky is collapsing】Yin Tai said: "Brother is right. But I can't let you bear the 30,000 strings of cash alone."

After hearing this, everyone agreed that they should contribute.

Song Jiang said, "Brothers, don't mention it anymore. I bought my brother's body out of selfishness. I just wanted to bury him and comfort my father. I invited Mu Hong and Mu Chun from thousands of miles away. I thought we could share the wealth and honor together, but they both died. Naturally, I have to pay for their resettlement."

At this moment, Song Jiang persisted.

Seeing that Song Jiang was so clear about the distinction between public and private affairs and put loyalty first, everyone had no choice but to follow his lead.

(End of this chapter)