Liver in Water Margin, outlaw madman

"Wait a minute."

Zhang Shan gently reached out and blocked Lu Zhishen.

"Brother, this man is still useful."

Lu Zhishen snorted coldly and spat at Fu An, saying, "You filthy scoundrel, I'll spare your life for now."

Fu An, having temporarily escaped death, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you all, thank you all, I am useful, I am still useful."

"Alright, tell me, where is Gao Qiu's family hiding all their gold and silver treasures?" Zhang Shan asked without hesitation.

This was also one of his purposes in kidnapping Fu An: to give Lin Chong confidence and, incidentally, to make some money.

Fu An froze, never having imagined that this was the reason.

His eyes couldn't help but dart around.

Seeing this, Zhang Shan punched him in the chest without saying a word: "Don't try anything funny, or you'll lose your life."

Fu An was still thinking about how to trick them, but before he could figure it out, he got beaten up.

"I am unaware; how could such information be known to a person of my stature?" Fu An denied it outright.

Zhang Shan couldn't help but laugh, then turned to Li Si and said, "Just hit him, as long as he doesn't die."

After saying that, he turned and left.

He was just casually making some money to spend; he didn't necessarily need to make money, nor did he necessarily want to get money from Gao Qiu's family. He just wanted to make his mind go smoothly.

"Ah." Fu An was stunned. He didn't expect the situation to change so quickly. He should at least have given himself some room to bargain.

Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen also came out.

"Third brother, if you need money, my family can raise some," Lin Chong said directly.

Zhang Shan smiled and said, "That's enough. I just feel uneasy. We killed Gao Qiu, and all this wealth just went to others for nothing. It's a bit frustrating."

"Alright, everyone go and get ready. Gao Qiu might come at any time." Zhang Shan didn't dwell on the issue.

Lin Chong turned and left to prepare money and armor.

Zhang Shan needed to arrange for someone to rent several horse-drawn carriages for travel; otherwise, relying solely on his own two legs, he didn't know when he would reach his destination.

It was one thing to not have money before, but now that I have money, I naturally upgrade my equipment.

We also need to buy some food and drinks to keep on hand.

Lu Zhishen stood there blankly, pondering what he should do.

I stood there stunned for a long time, unable to remember what I was supposed to do; it seemed like I hadn't made any plans for myself.

"Third brother, what am I doing?"

"Big Brother, go to sleep and rest, then prepare to kill!" Zhang Shan said with a smile, emphasizing that the main force has the right to rest.

Helpless, Lu Zhishen saw that it was getting dark and could only go back to his room to sleep.

A short while later.

Li Si walked over, looking somewhat excited, and whispered, "Third Brother, we found out. They said there's a cellar in the backyard of the Grand Commandant's mansion."

After listening, Zhang Shan curled his lip and said, "Si Lang, keep fighting. Ask for details, how to get to the backyard, how many people are defending it, ask several times."

"Okay." Li Si didn't hesitate and turned around to continue attacking Fu An.

"Wait a minute," Zhang Shan suddenly said, "Si Lang, what do the brothers mean?"

Hearing this, Li Si's expression became serious, and he nodded, saying, "Third Brother, everyone is willing to go with you. Big Guy is fine too. We left some money for his mother, saying he's going out to make his way in the world and will come back when he has time!"

"Alright, we're all good brothers. I, Zhang Shan, will definitely not let you down. When the time comes, we'll drink from big bowls, eat meat to our hearts' content, and everyone will be rich and powerful," Zhang Shan said excitedly.

These brothers will be his core team in the future. It doesn't matter if they are not very capable; he can train them slowly. The key is that he can trust them to work with.

"If it weren't for Third Brother, we brothers would have starved to death long ago, and who knows where we'd end up. If Third Brother were gone, who would we rely on?" Li Si said with a deliberately mocking smile. "That's why we brothers are all stuck with Third Brother. Wherever Third Brother goes, we go!"

The words may be crude, but the principle is sound: without Zhang Shan, they would lack a core and would be defeated one by one.

Who knows, they might freeze or starve to death one day, or die a violent death on the street.

While Zhang Shan and his men were busy, Gao Qiu was also busy.

Busy with Emperor Huizong's arrangements.

Despite his lack of ability, Gao Qiu was at least emotionally intelligent enough to rise to the position of Grand Commandant; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep Emperor Huizong so happy.

"Your Majesty, the Ghost Festival is approaching. Which Taoist temple shall we visit this year? Or the same as in previous years?" Gao Qiu asked in a low voice.

Emperor Huizong put down his paintbrush, took the hand towel handed to him by the chief eunuch Liang Shicheng, and said with a smile, "As in previous years, I will follow the natural way and see what my mood is like that day."

"As Your Majesty commands, Your Majesty's cultivation of Tao is bestowed by Heaven, and the Tao follows the natural order, perfectly natural." Gao Qiu, though inwardly bitter, couldn't help but flatter him.

He's going to be traveling all over Tokyo again.

Fortunately, there aren't many Taoist temples in or around Tokyo, only seven or eight of varying sizes, so visiting one a day is enough.

These tasks cannot be delegated to others.

Because this was something that Emperor Huizong cared about, and something he would ask about at any time.

Such an opportunity is something many people would kill for.

Furthermore, Zhao Ji was no ordinary emperor; the royal family also had Taoist temples, but he rarely went there.

Just like how, despite having three thousand concubines in his harem, he preferred to seek out Li Shishi.

I'm just looking for a thrill!

"My dear minister, I recently heard that your son has taken a fancy to another woman?" Zhao Ji said with a smile, his words full of gossip rather than reproach.

Gao Qiu was immediately terrified. He wondered which gossip had spread the word to the Emperor. He quickly said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My son is young and doesn't know the importance of things. He has been somewhat dissolute and has offended Your Majesty's eyes and ears."

Zhao Ji waved his hand gently: "Young people are nothing to worry about. I was the same when I was young."

Gao Qiu broke out in a cold sweat; it turned out the emperor was reminiscing about his youth.

Having spent so much time by Zhao Ji's side, he had thoroughly studied him. He quickly smiled and said, "Your Majesty is a deity descended to earth to experience human life. These women are naturally at Your Majesty's mercy to admire and play with; it is their good fortune."

The two chatted idly, thus diverting the attention from the matter.

However, from beginning to end, Zhao Ji did not believe that there was anything wrong with harassing a few women.

For him, it was a symbol of youth.

After the court session ended, Gao Qiu returned to the Grand Commandant's residence with a gloomy expression. He had managed to get by with a few jokes.

But my heart is still heavy.

This proves that someone has been watching him, watching him make mistakes. However, these people did not expect that the emperor was like this when he was young, and he is like this now. He does not care about this aspect, which is why he got away with it by chance.

Otherwise, another scolding is inevitable.

Once is fine, twice is fine, but after a while, the emperor's favor wanes, and he falls out of favor.

"Where has this matter with Lin Chong progressed?" Gao Qiu wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible and prevent it from escalating further.

"It's already been moved to the armory, and we'll begin the inspection in a few days," the old steward hurriedly said.

Gao Qiu nodded slowly: "As soon as possible, Gao Kan is not allowed to leave the house these days. Keep a close eye on him."

"Yes, Grand Commandant." The old steward didn't dare to ask any more questions, but was thinking about how to speed up the process.

Gao Qiu feared that Gao Kan would continue to cause trouble these days. Once he dealt with Lin Chong and settled things with Lin's wife, he would arrange a marriage for Gao Kan so that he could get married and have children and continue the Gao family line.

Coincidentally, he also asked for incense when he went to the Taoist temple these past few days.

May my descendants prosper and enjoy lasting wealth!