Chapter 144: Brothers to Die

Song Jiang stood up, took the imperial edict, handed it to Wu Yong beside him, and then led Su Yuanjing into the tent to talk.

As soon as the two left, the silence outside the tent was broken.

Some literate leaders went to Wu Yong to observe the imperial edict, some went to congratulate Yang Chang, and more chatted with their friends, but the topic all mentioned Yang Chang.

Joy, confusion, envy, congratulations, jealousy, speculation.
Different emotions are intertwined together, blending into the season of late spring and early summer, just like the weather is changeable, with a large temperature difference between day and night.

Inside the military tent, in front of the desk.

Song Jiang helped Su Yuanjing to sit down in the main seat, and at the same time expressed his doubts in a low voice.

"En Xiang, why is Yang Chang?"

"We'll talk about Yang Chang later. There's something I want to confirm with you. Do you have any troops left in Liangshan?"

"Soldiers and horses?"

Song Jiang was stunned when he heard this, and then he hurriedly explained: "Since many of their families are still in the mountains, I left more than a thousand people to support them."

"Confused!"

Su Yuanjing frowned and said, "Since you have surrendered, you should take your families with you. If you still keep people in the mountains, won't that give others an advantage?"

"Because my whereabouts were unknown before, I didn't bring my family with me. Now I'm recommended by the Prime Minister to serve the country. Song Jiang is about to ask for permission to return to the mountain to settle the matter. First, I want to settle my family back home. Second, I want to demolish the city walls and houses on the mountain. Third, the warships are still on the water, so it's a good opportunity to take them north to cross the river." Song Jiang responded hurriedly.

"It's a thorough consideration."

Su Yuanjing nodded in affirmation and added, "By the way, there is one more thing I want to discuss with you. Tong Shumi has just led a large army northward. The court is in a hurry and cannot prepare all the food and grass for you. We have to ask you to use the Liangshan store first. When the materials from the southern states are transported to the capital, we will replenish them for you as soon as possible."

"It does not matter."

Song Jiang patted his chest and said solemnly: "We have enough food and grass for half a year. If the expedition goes smoothly, we can also take the enemy's food on the spot and try not to cause trouble to the court."

Su Yuanjing was overjoyed when he heard this, so he clapped his hands and praised, "You are truly a loyal and righteous man. When you wipe out Tian Hu, His Majesty will surely reward you handsomely."

"It is all thanks to your support, I will never forget it."

"Easy to say."

"Oh, by the way, Yang Chang."

Seeing that Song Jiang still couldn't hold back, Su Yuanjing looked up outside the tent and whispered, "It was decided by the government to make him the deputy vanguard."

"Official" Song Jiang swallowed hard, and then asked incoherently: "Could it be you, Prime Minister? But I haven't seen you."

"Cough cough."

Su Yuanjing hesitated for a long time, and felt that Song Jiang had to handle this matter, so he said earnestly: "To be honest, it was not me who chose Yang Chang, but the emperor who chose Yang Chang, so he was given the opportunity to gain experience."

"The government favored you?"

Song Jiang didn't understand at first, but he soon thought of a possibility, and looked at Su Yuanjing with his mouth wide open in shock.

"Could it be"

"It's just as you think. After all, Yang Chang's situation is special, so this matter cannot be made public. You have to control your mouth, understand?"

"I understand, but I don't understand why we have to choose him? Zhang Qing is actually not bad either."

"The divine will is hard to predict"

Su Yuanjing himself didn't understand it clearly, so he couldn't give Song Jiang an answer and could only use this answer to get by.

"I will leave the ideological work of Yang Chang to you. When you return from the expedition against Tian Hu, the government will clear his name, so you must hurry up."

"I'm afraid this villain..."

"Ok?"

Seeing Song Jiang evading his words, Su Yuanjing frowned and reminded him in a deep voice: "Song Xianfeng, are you refusing? You won't even take up a small mission?"

"No, Eun-sang, he..."

"You'd better figure out who you are working for. If you succeed, will that person treat you unfairly?"

"understood."

Song Jiang's head is like a chick pecking at rice.

Hearing this, my blood boiled.

Yes, I can help the emperor share his worries, so how can the emperor treat me unfairly? Wouldn't I be able to rise to prominence?

After calming down, he was afraid again, so he raised his hands and asked: "What if I didn't do it well in the end?"

"No ifs."

"Ok."

Seeing Su Yuanjing so serious, Song Jiang started to make plans in his mind, but he felt powerless against Yang Changzhen, so he could only find a breakthrough from Hu Sanniang.

If this woman doesn't listen to advice, we can only get rid of her at the hands of the enemy, or imitate "Chao Gai being shot by an arrow" again.

As soon as Su Yuanjing was sent out of the military camp, Song Jiang immediately gathered people to discuss the matter of returning to the mountain.

Song Jiang finally decided that he, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, Lin Chong, Yang Chang, Hu Sanniang, Liu Tang, Du Qian, Song Wan, Zhu Gui, Song Qing, and the three Ruans would take more than 10,000 cavalry, infantry and navy troops back, while the rest would stay where they were with Lu Junyi.

The troops returned to the mountains and traveled day and night without speaking a word along the way.

At the end of April, everyone returned to Liangshan and notified their families, young and old, to pack their luggage and prepare to set off.

Later, he would offer sacrifices to Chao Gai, prepare a banquet to entertain the soldiers, burn down the city's houses, etc.

While everyone was packing their bags, Yang Chang once again came to the back mountain to persuade them, but Yang De was reluctant to leave his newly reclaimed land and still did not want to move away from this paradise.

After a brief perfunctory response, Yang De picked up the hoe and continued weeding.

Seeing that his fifth uncle was stubborn and unyielding, Yang Chang became furious and stopped talking.

He took a quick step forward, snatched the hoe, and broke it with his bare hands in front of Yang De.

With a snap, the hoe handle broke.

This scene made Yang De dumbfounded. He had heard that Yang Chang was very strong, but he had no idea how strong he was.

Seeing Yang Changru break the sturdy hoe handle as easily as breaking chopsticks, he stood there in a daze, unable to utter a word.

"Listen to me, go back and pack your bags immediately. Although no one will chase you away, you really can't stay in Liangshan anymore. Someone will set fire to the city tomorrow, and the sparks will fly everywhere, which is likely to turn into a forest fire."

"This"

Perhaps suppressed by Yang Chang's momentum, the usually strong Yang De suddenly wilted. He asked cautiously: "Sanlang is going to fight the bandits, where are we going?"

"Usually they go back to Yuanzhou County, you can go back to Jingnan Township."

“I don’t want to go back.”

Seeing Yang De's embarrassed look, Yang Chang thought that Yang De had always been very concerned about his reputation and that there might be someone in Jingnan Township whom he didn't want to face, so he gave him an alternative plan.

"Or we can go to Shijie Village, which is not too far from here. I have a good relationship with the Ruan brothers, and they have a large family, so we can take care of each other."

"That's fine."

"Let's go home and pack up. I'll call a few people to help us later, and then we'll move to Yazui Beach to cross the water."

"Sanlang, our family is self-sufficient, so there are a lot of things we need to take away."

"Bring as many as you want. Shijie Village is right next to the water, and we can send it directly by boat."

"That's good, that's good"

Yang De nodded in response, bent down to pick up the broken hoe, turned around and ran towards his residence.

When Yang Chang saw his back, he thought that sometimes one really shouldn't talk too much about reason, and a simple and rough approach would be more effective.

The next morning, just as Yang De and his family got on the boat, a fire broke out on the roof.

"It's a shame to burn down such a good house."

"Sanlang, will the house in our back mountain be..."

When Yang De saw the raging fire, he felt so heartbroken as if the fire was his own. Later, Lu asked a question but stopped herself from speaking.

"They will all be burned down, leaving nothing behind."

“Why? How many people are left homeless?”

Yang Chang answered lightly, and Yang De immediately showed a puzzled expression.

At this time, Yang Jian suddenly spoke up and said, "Brother, if we leave these houses behind, is the court worried that others will come and live here?"

"Yes, that's half right." Yang Chang nodded and added, "There is a lot of infighting in the officialdom. Since we have submitted to the court, we cannot leave any room for criticism. Burning the mountain is equivalent to burning the past and letting everyone embrace a new life."

"If you ask me, the imperial court is exploiting us so much, it's better to stay here than to surrender."

"Don't talk nonsense. Sanlang is now the deputy vanguard. We can't cause trouble for him."

Mrs. Lu grabbed Yang De's arm to remind him. At this moment, she suddenly realized that something was missing. Finally, she looked at Yang Chang with surprise.

"I was just wondering what was missing. Where did Sanniang go? Didn't she come back too?"

"Old Master Song and his family are numerous, so Song Jiang asked her to help Fourth Brother escort them back to Song Village to settle down. After all, she has been an adopted daughter for several years, so now she can be considered filial."

"So that's how it is. Then you don't have to send us off."

"Of course we will meet in Jeju. Aunt, look, Xiaoqi's boat is just ahead. We will follow him to Shijie Village."

After careful consideration, Yang Chang decided to settle Yang De in Shijie Village. Firstly, the Ruan family would take care of him there, and secondly, Zhu Tong's mother was in Yuncheng, so she could keep him company if they had to evacuate in the future.

In early May, Song Jiang's army met up in Jeju, and Zhang Shuye hosted a banquet again.

Afterwards, they returned to the capital in a hurry by both land and sea.

After Yang Chang reunited with Hu Sanniang, he saw that she was worried, so he asked curiously in a place where no one was around: "What happened to you? Did something happen during your visit to Songjia Village?"

"No."

Hu Sanniang shook her head gently, and when Yang Chang turned around, she murmured again, "On the way to escort my adoptive father back to the village, my fourth brother's wife mentioned that I couldn't have children, and said that since you are now a high-ranking official, you can't let your family's incense be cut off."

"Oh? What did the lady say?"

"What can I say? Of course I will give you more concubines in the future, so that Yang Xianfeng will not be childless. Unfortunately, you are just like my fifth uncle, too stubborn."

"Madam, are you unhappy? The mouth is on someone else's face, we just don't care."

Yang Chang has a very good attitude. Song Qing's wife has good intentions, so he can't say that she is not right, right?

But Hu Sanniang's next words suddenly made him alert.

"It's fine with Fourth Brother's wife, but before he left, my foster father used the same words to provoke me. At that time, I said that the master didn't want to take a concubine, but my foster father asked me to think of other ways. I asked him for advice but he didn't say anything. What other ways can there be? Unless the master divorces me and marries again."

"Hmm? Madam, don't let your imagination run wild. Grandpa may want to adopt a child, but we are both still young. Let's try for a few more years before we see if it works. Anyway, Jiandi is still young now, so we have to wait a few more years if we want to adopt him."

"Adoption? That's also a solution."

Hu Sanniang's expression eased slightly after hearing this.

Although Yang Chang consoled him verbally, he was suspicious of Song Jiang in his heart. He thought, Su Yuanjing failed to be the middleman for the emperor, so he subcontracted this "project" to you? You really dare to make money by anything.

The emperor wants to marry his daughter, can't he be generous enough to make her a concubine? Brothers can definitely treat them equally, but it's not okay to let Hu Sanniang be inferior to others. It seems that it is imperative to find someone to brush [Disguise Feather].

Fifth Princess, please wait patiently.

After I defeat Tian Hu and return to Beijing to receive my reward, I will steal you out.

In mid-May, everyone returned to the military camp in the capital.

Before going to the battle, they had to bid farewell to the emperor, so Song Jiang sent Dai Zong into the city to inform Su Yuanjing, who then went into the palace to make a petition to the emperor.

The next day, Zhao Ji summoned Song Jiang, Lu Junyi and Yang Chang to the Wuying Palace.

At that time, the emperor gave Song Jiang instructions and responded, and then gave him a bow, horse, saddle, bridle, and precious sword. After the three of them said goodbye to the emperor and had just walked out of the palace, the eunuch in the imperial court followed and called out to Yang Chang.

Song Jiang knew that his father-in-law was going to meet his son-in-law, so he naturally took Lu Junyi and left first, while Yang Changze followed the eunuch to the imperial garden.

At that time, Zhao Ji had changed into light clothes and was playing Cuju in the garden alone.

Seeing Yang Chang passing through the Moonlight Gate, Zhao Ji immediately pushed forward with his chest, raised his foot and was about to kick the Cuju towards Yang Chang, shouting, "Yang Qing, catch it."

Zhao Ji was very good at playing Cuju, and the ball flew straight towards Yang Chang's forehead.

The ball was going very fast and it was difficult to catch a ball close to the face, but this was not a problem for Yang Chang.

He slightly turned his body and raised his foot to meet the flying ball, and as if there was glue on his shoe, he pressed the ball firmly to the ground.

"Haha, great kicking skills."

Zhao Ji clapped his hands and smiled, muttering, "Deji (Zhao Gou) said that you are an excellent kicker. I didn't quite believe it at first, but just now, that stop."

"Deji?"

Yang Chang scratched his head in confusion, thinking, isn't that young man in white Zhao Gou?

Zhao Ji then reminded him, "In the first month of the year, there was a young man in white clothes at Tang Mazi's Cuju Teahouse. Do you remember Yang Qing?"

"Well, I'd like to ask, he is..."

"My ninth prince, Prince Kang."

"I am guilty"

Yang Chang did not have the servile nature of Song Jiang. When he asked for his crime, he just clasped his fists and bowed, which frightened the eunuch beside him and widened his eyes. However, Zhao Ji did not blame him at all. Instead, he thought that this guy had personality.

"Ignorance is not a crime. I heard that you have a unique skill of hanging upside down with a golden hook. Can you let me open my eyes?"

"The minister obeys the order."

After Yang Changyan finished speaking, he picked up the ball, raised his foot in the air and hooked it with lightning speed, and the ball immediately broke through the air and flew into Feng Liu's eyes.

"Well, good kick."

Zhao Ji's eyes lit up as he nodded and praised, "This unique skill has some traces of Gao Qiu, but your strength and speed are far superior to his."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your compliments. I wonder what you want me to do for you."

This is the skill that Gao Qiu picked up. If you think it looks familiar, that's right. Yang Chang didn't know why Zhao Ji wanted to keep him, so he deliberately raised questions.

"King Kang likes you very much and wants you to be the commander of the palace guards. What do you think, Yang Qing?"

"I want to go north to fight the invaders and relieve your majesty's worries."

"Haha."

Zhao Ji was not angry but happy. He said with a smile: "Yang Qing is indeed special. I was just teasing you. With your extraordinary ability, it is a waste of talent to stay in the palace. This time, you must perform well in the expedition against Tian Hu. When you return victorious, I will reward you well. It is getting late, so leave the city quickly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will take my leave."

Give her a good reward and send her to the princess?

Yang Chang clasped his fists, bowed, turned around and left in a dashing manner.

After a while, they left the city and returned to the camp. Song Jiang and Lu Junyi did not ask any further questions, but ordered each camp to prepare to set out the next day.

The next morning, the three armies set out.

After walking for half a day, they arrived at Chenqiao Posthouse to rest their horses.

The Secretariat received an order to reward the three armies and sent two officials to distribute wine and meat.

As luck would have it, one of the two officials was Li Yuhou, who had accompanied Chen Zongshen in seeking amnesty. After Gao Qiu's death, he used his connections to work in the Secretariat.

Maybe it was Li Yuhou who deserved to die. This guy not only withheld rewards but also had a bad mouth. When the portions of wine and meat were distributed later were too small, he had an argument with He Cheng, a military school student.

The common man became angry and blood spattered five steps forward.

He Cheng was so enraged that he raised his hand and slashed Li Yuhou in the face with a knife, killing him instantly.

After that, He Cheng became angrier and angrier, and he stabbed the corpse a few more times.

Song Jiang was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly went to Wu Yong to discuss countermeasures. They quickly decided to sacrifice He Cheng, and then asked Su Yuanjing to go to the Secretariat to negotiate in an attempt to make a big deal out of a small matter.

After He Cheng calmed down, he realized that he was too impulsive.

When Song Jiang saw him, he was heartbroken, explained the righteousness to him, and knelt down humbly to ask him to die.

How could He Cheng, who was in the wrong, refuse when his elder brother forced him to do so? So he gladly admitted the crime.

At the critical moment, shouts suddenly came from behind everyone.

"Don't kill him."

Song Jiang turned around and saw that it was Ruan Xiaoqi, and immediately responded solemnly: "He has caused a big disaster, you can't save him."

“Who can protect it?”

"no one."

"I come!"

(End of this chapter)