Chapter 111 What the heck is this surprise?

At the end of the first month, Song Jiang returned to the mountain with his victorious army.

Chao Gai had received the news early and led all the leaders at home to Jinshatan to welcome them.

This is the first time such a grand ceremony has been held.

There were a total of twelve leaders from the Three Mountains, who were introduced to Chao Gai one by one by Song Jiang. Then the two of them personally led the way and took everyone up the mountain to the welcoming banquet.

Wu Song quickly left the crowd and found Yang Chang and also saw Hu Sanniang, who was indeed heroic and beautiful.

"My dear, this is Wu Song, the hero who killed the tiger on Jingyang Ridge. He is your life and death brother. Hurry up and call me Second Brother!"

"Second brother, I am polite."

"We are all brothers, so you don't have to be polite."

Seeing that Hu Sanniang's eyes were full of Yang Chang, Wu Song's previous worries disappeared immediately. He thought that the saying "beautiful women are a disaster" should disappear in his brother's sister-in-law's case.

"Sanlang is so lucky. You should treat others well in the future. If he bullies you, tell your second brother and he will definitely help you."

"Second brother, you worry too much. The master treats me very well. Even if he really bullies me, I will be willing to do it."

"Well, it's my second brother who is not tactful."

Wu Song smiled suddenly, raised his hand and pointed diagonally forward, and said cheerfully: "Let's go, let's go up the mountain with him, and we'll have a few more bowls of wine later."

Hu Sanniang kept reminding Yang Chang to marry a virtuous wife, and her understanding moved Wu Song.

Thinking back to my experience with Wu Da, I wondered what kind of women we met. Sanlang was really lucky, but I didn't know if this blessing had anything to do with kindness.

If so, then he should.

If not, my second brother would be happy for him too.

Yang Chang led Wu Song forward and found Hu Sanniang on the side, hesitating to speak. He turned around and asked, "Madam, do you have something to say? Second Brother is not an outsider, there is no need to hide anything from him."

"I have a happy event. I will tell you about it when we return to the back mountain later."

"happy event?"

"Um"

"Ok."

Seeing Hu Sanniang acting mysteriously, Yang Chang suddenly had an idea and wondered if she was pregnant.
The two have been married for nearly a year, and have fought more than a hundred battles, big and small. It is not surprising to say that they are pregnant, and Hu Sanniang has always been thinking about him.

Well, you finally got your wish, buddy is going to be a father?

It’s just that the couple’s current status makes them feel a little ashamed of the unborn creature.

Wu Song saw the two men speaking in code and Yang Chang had a strange expression on his face. He did not inquire or ask further questions, but walked forward side by side in silence.

It took quite some time to climb the slope and the stairs before we entered Wanzi City, where we saw the three big characters "Juyi Hall" on the plaque.

At this time, the original chairs in the Juyi Hall had been removed as ordered by Chao Gai and replaced with tables and benches for the banquet.

The leaders who had arrived earlier chose their seats and sat down one after another. They seemed casual but in fact there were distinctions of rank.

The leaders who were close to Chao Gai and Song Jiang, who had great skills or held high positions before joining the gang, naturally sat in a group near the main table, while those marginal and idle leaders, who were knowledgeable and interesting, stood at the door and chatted, and would take their seats after most of the people had taken their seats.

This is like the residents in the same community. The owners and tenants interact in their own groups, and the owners and tenants are further divided into many small groups based on their different units, income levels, and educational levels.

Yang Chang, Hu Sanniang and Wu Song formed a group and found an empty table near the door to sit down, leaving one seat vacant for others to fill.

Shi En, who was talking to Cao Zheng at the door, originally planned to go forward and sit at the same table with Wu Song, but Zhu Tong in the front row called out Yang Chang, and then walked straight over to fill the empty seat.

Zhu Tonggang was the only one who could sit in the front, so how could the smooth-talking Shi En dare to compete with him?

Seeing that the heroes had found their positions one after another, Chao Gai took the lead and walked to a high place with a bowl of wine, and said a lot of polite words as the leader of the village.

It is nothing more than welcoming the new leader to join Liangshan, promising to share the good and bad times, eat and drink well, and other meaningless content.

When it came to Song Jiang's "welcome speech", he spewed out such "high-end" words as "eliminating violence and upholding justice", "acting on behalf of heaven", "defending the country" and so on, and even mentioned that he hoped the court would offer him amnesty and create a bright future for everyone.

Who is strong and who is weak will be judged.

Most of the capable people in Liangshan at this time had held official positions before, and they would definitely not be able to be restrained if they were to be bandits for their entire lives.

Song Jiang openly proposed the idea of ​​recruiting people to his side, because he knew that the most stable relationship between people was common interests, but Chao Gai only cared about the outlaws.

If you don’t have enough vision, you are like a frog in a well, unaware of the beauty of the pond, let alone the vastness of the sky.

Chao Gai found the offer of amnesty to be unpleasant to his ears, but he did not embarrass Song Jiang in public. He planned to go downstairs to communicate further.

He didn't understand why he had to return to live in a cage after having already established himself in Liangshan and finally gained power and freedom. All these doubts formed a gap between him and Song Jiang.

After the 'leader's speech' ended, the welcoming banquet was about to begin. Fighting first broke out within each table, and then the fighting spread across tables.

Of the twelve new members, Lu Zhishen sat at the same table with Lin Chong, Liu Tang, and Lei Heng; Hu Yanzhuo sat at the same table with Han Tao, Peng Qi, and Ling Zhen; Wu Song sat at the same table with Yang Chang and his wife, and Zhu Tong; Yang Zhi sat at the same table with Hua Rong, Qin Ming, and Huang Xin; the remaining eight people were far less capable and could only sit at the edge of the back.

A new leader is like a new employee. When he first starts working, he is not familiar with the environment and the people. At this time, he will not take the initiative to propose a toast. This is the self-awareness as a "junior".

Wu Song has been hanging around in the streets since he was young and has developed a pair of eyes for the ways of the world. Even if he stayed where he was, he could see that the dozens of heroes in the hall were divided into at least several groups, which indirectly confirmed the complexity of Liangshan.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the leader of the camp, Chao Gai, was in decline compared to Song Jiang.

Halfway through the banquet, many leaders came to Yang Chang to toast and get to know the tiger-fighting hero.

Looking at the various people, Wu Song was surprised at Yang Chang's connections in the mountains, which included almost all aspects, including Sun Li, Li Jun, Xiao Rang, Hou Jian, and Yang Lin.
The leaders connected by Yang Chang actually formed a considerable force in Liangshan.

So much so that the leader of the village, Chao Gai, also took the initiative to come to him and toast him.

"Brother Yang, this table is really interesting. You have served under Brother Zhu and Wu Dutou, so you must accompany them and have fun."

"I will risk my life to accompany you."

"That's not necessary, just accompany me well."

Chao Gai bent over and lay on Yang Chang's shoulder, making the two of them seem extremely close.

Then he looked around at the other three and said, "Brother Zhu, Wu Dutou, please don't save your wine. As for my sister-in-law, please feel free to have her. Please, everyone."

"Brother Tianwang, please"

"By the way, sister-in-law, you haven't told Sanlang about that matter yet, right?"

"not yet."

Yang Chang was stunned when he heard the conversation between Chao Gai and Hu Sanniang before he left. He immediately thought of the scene at the foot of the mountain and thought, "Did you know that my wife is pregnant?"
"That's good."

Seeing Yang Chang's face full of question marks, Chao Gai bent down and whispered in his ear: "You will know when you go back. Brother has prepared a surprise for you. No need to thank me."

It would have been fine if Chao Gai hadn't said this, but after he said it, Yang felt even more uneasy. What the hell is this surprise?

Although he knew that Hu Sanniang would not betray him, Yang Chang still felt a little uneasy.

He really wanted to ask clearly right now, but as soon as Chao Gai left with the wine bowl, Hei Sanlang followed him with a smile.

When Song Jiang toasted, he did not say clichés. He talked about brotherhood with Wu Song, expressed his admiration and future with Yang Chang, talked about brotherly love with Hu Sanniang, and talked about gratitude and the future with Zhu Tong.

Comparing the toasting performances of Chao Gai and Song Jiang, Wu Song instantly knew who was stronger and who was weaker, and finally understood why Chao Gai was declining. When the old leaders were fully in power, the new leaders also went out one by one.

People came to Yang Chang's table to toast Wu Song one after another. Wu Song found that Yang Chang responded normally to most people, but was cold to Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang.

Wu Song regretted using the Cross Hill to train his character, and had no intention of persuading Yang Chang to recognize Zhang Qing and his wife. The atmosphere at the table suddenly became strange.

When Hu Sanniang saw that Yang Chang had a strange expression on his face, she was about to ask him the reason but was interrupted by Wu Song.

He pointed to a man with a black face and a curly beard in front of him and asked in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, who is that black-faced strong man? I saw him trying to come here to toast many times, but he changed his mind every time."

"Ok?"

Hu Sanniang turned her head and her face suddenly changed. She bit her lip and said nothing.

Wu Song looked at Zhu Tong in surprise, and Zhu Tong also frowned and looked stern. Finally, Yang Chang gave the answer.

"That's Li Kui, also known as the Black Whirlwind."

"Don't blame me, my brother really didn't know."

Wu Song took a deep breath and hurriedly bowed to Hu Sanniang to apologize, but he didn't know what the grudge between Zhu Tong and Hei Si was. He had a deeper understanding of the complexity of Liangshan.

After having a good meal and a few drinks in the afternoon, the leaders took a rest and chatted in their seats.

Chao Gai, Song Jiang and Wu Yong had made arrangements for the new leader of the mountain while they were talking at the table, and were waiting for the opportunity to announce it to everyone.

Seeing that everyone was almost not drunk, Chao Gai asked Wu Yong to announce the personnel adjustments and the stationing arrangements of the troops in the Three Mountains.

First, the demolished hotels in the outer area were rebuilt. New people joined the hotel leaders, Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang replaced Shi Yong and Zheng Tianshou, who were responsible for opening the hotel in Xishan. Zheng Tianshou was transferred to the military camp in front of the mountain, Shi Yong was transferred to the small camp in Yazuitan, and the staff of the other three hotels remained unchanged.

Secondly, Tang Long was appointed as the chief blacksmith, in charge of forging all kinds of military weapons and armor, and Hou Jian was appointed as the chief of flags, robes and clothing;

Secondly, Yang Zhi was appointed as the deputy general of Lin Chong in the dry camp on the right side of the mountain, Li Zhong was appointed as the deputy general of Hua Rong in the dry camp on the left side of the mountain, Zhou Tong and Cao Zheng were appointed as deputy generals of the military camp in the back mountain, and Hu Yanzhuo, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, Shi En, Kong Ming, and Kong Liang stayed in the big camp on the top of the mountain.

Finally, the soldiers of Baihu Mountain were incorporated into the large camp on the top of the mountain, the soldiers of Taohua Mountain were divided into two, incorporated into the dry camp on the left side of the mountain and the military camp on the back mountain, and the soldiers of Erlong Mountain were also divided into two, incorporated into the dry camp on the right side of the mountain and the military camp on the back mountain.

The twelve new leaders were settled, and the old troops of the Three Mountains were dispersed and disrupted, and completely integrated into the Liangshan family.

After this adjustment, the strength of the five villages of front, back, left, right and center has all improved, especially the Houshan village which was originally responsible for monitoring the horses, where the improvement in strength was particularly obvious.

Including the hundreds of weak soldiers who originally raised horses, the total number of people in the back mountain exceeded one thousand, and Yang Chang became the de facto leader of Liangshan.

Soon after Wu Yong announced the changes, Du Qian led his men in charge of logistics and assigned the newly joined leaders rooms that had been prepared in advance.
Yang Chang had the so-called surprise in his heart, so after Wu Song and others left the Juyi Hall, he immediately took Hu Sanniang to say goodbye to Chao Gai and Song Jiang.

As the saying goes, a short separation is better than a new marriage. Most people can understand the "urgency" shown by Yang Chang.

Watching the couple disappear at the door, Chao Gai and Song Jiang each had their own plans in mind.

The powerful network of contacts demonstrated by Yang Chang during the banquet even made his influence in Liangshan greater than that of Lin Chong, and was no less than that of a leader incorporated into the mountain stronghold.

Chao Gai was determined to pull Yang Chang into his camp, but Song Jiang relied on the double insurance of his sworn sister and Wu Song and would not let Yang Chang become a knife for others.

Yang Chang once tried to snatch a bride in public without any sense of tact, and was treated coldly by Song Jiang for a long time.

Sometimes when I think of him, I think of Wang Aihu’s misfortune, but as Yang Chang’s influence continues to grow, this indifference gradually turns into enthusiasm.

There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. This statement is eternal.

After Yang Chang and his wife left Wanzi City and had not yet reached the Beishan Pass, this guy finally couldn't help it and suddenly stopped to ask about the so-called surprise.

"My lady, what is the surprise? Could it be that you are pregnant with my child? But how did King Chao know that?"

"What did the official say?"

Hu Sanniang was stunned when she heard this, then she frowned and waved her hands, muttering softly: "If there is such a good thing, how can I wait until now without telling you? And it is impossible to tell Chao Tianwang, you will know when you reach the back mountain later."

"Not pregnant?"

Yang Changdun's head went blank. He couldn't think of any other surprises. Could it be the personnel adjustments that Wu Yong had just announced?

The substantial increase in personnel in the Houshan military camp was equivalent to giving Yang Chang more power, but if this was considered a surprise, Chao Gai would not have been so excited when he toasted.

What's more, the new deputy general Zhou Tong seems to be a lustful man. I don't know if he will cause any trouble. If he is the second Wang Aihu, it would be disgusting to me.

Yang Chang was puzzled, so he pulled Hu Sanniang's sleeve and asked, "How could there be any surprise? It should be related to King Chao? My wife, please don't keep me in suspense. I am going crazy thinking about it."

"Look, you're in a hurry again."

Hu Sanniang smiled jokingly, patted him on the back and started to preach some truths.

"The truth will be revealed when we return to the camp. The master often advises me that 'good things are worth waiting for', so I will be patient for a while. It will be a good thing after all."

"Okay." Yang opened his eyes wide, smiled bitterly and teased her: "Is this how you play? My wife has learned bad things. Now let me be patient. I will take revenge at night."

"Ah? How to retaliate?"

"Use his way and give back to him."

Hu Sanniang knew that Yang Chang would not really take revenge. She did not understand what he meant when she first heard his answer, but when she figured it out, her ears turned red instantly.

Yang Chang hugged the woman and continued down the mountain, thinking that it would not matter if he endured it for a while longer, he just wanted to see what the two of them were keeping in suspense.

At that time, cold wind blew through the mountains from time to time, but Hu Sanniang was enveloped in infinite warmth due to happiness. She leaned softly against Yang Chang's side and walked, but stopped after taking a few steps.

"what happened?"

"Sir, why can't I get pregnant? Should I ask a doctor to take a look?"

"Hmm? Why are you anxious, ma'am? I told you that this kind of thing depends on fate. I'm not anxious, so why are you anxious? Besides, I'm not in Liangshan during this period of time. If you really get pregnant, it will be a problem."

"Hate."

Hu Sanniang was suddenly in a low mood, but was amused by Yang Chang's jokes. After that, the couple went down the mountain talking and laughing.

Back at the camp tent, Yang Chang looked around for surprises, but Hu Sanniang called over her personal soldier Cheng Wang and instructed him, "The master has returned, do you know what to do?"

"Little understands."

Watching King Cheng trot away, Yang Chang walked to the couch and lazily fell down, muttering with a smile: "My wife has been waiting for most of the day, and King Chao is also very sure of what he said. I hope it is a surprise."

"I won't let you down, sir."

Hu Sanniang looked at the person on the couch, smiled, walked to the square table, bent over and wiped the dust, looking like a housewife.

Soon, a voice called out from the door of the tent.

"Brother?"

"Sanlang, is it really you?"

The former's voice is immature and timid, while the latter's voice is hopeful amidst doubt, but both are voices that exist in memory.

Yang Chang was startled when he heard this and sat up, then turned over and went to meet him.

The surprise was really a big surprise. My uncle and his family, whom the people I sent failed to find, appeared right before my eyes.

"Uncle, aunt, Xiaojian."

(End of this chapter)