Chapter 216: One Pot Kill (6k)

"Who are you talking about? How is it possible?"

"I dare not lie to you, brother. Of the brothers who followed Lu Chengxuan to Yongning Army, only Yan Qing has taken the initiative to resign and retire. The rest have been appointed to important positions."

"But why? Yan Qing is Lu Junyi's only confidant, why is he the first to jump out?"

"Brother, please allow me to report." Dai Zong clasped his fists and bowed, then slowly said, "Brother Xiaoyi had been close to General Su in order to recruit him. During the two days when General Su was in Zhending, Brother Xiaoyi often visited him to ask for advice. Maybe he found another way? So he followed him to the capital?"

"Eun-sang? No."

Song Jiang frowned and waved his hands, muttering: "The new emperor ascended the throne, and Prime Minister En himself has no connections, so he can't arrange a way for Yan Qing. No, the capital..."

"What's wrong with the capital?"

"According to Prime Minister En, in order to raise compensation for the Jin army, Your Majesty borrowed money from officials and civilians throughout the capital, even from Jier Lane. Now Tokyo City is in ruins and the people are having a hard time."

"Chicken Lane? That's not a place for fireworks."

When Dai Zong was shocked, Song Jiang frowned and added: "Li Shishi is the most beautiful woman in Tokyo, so the government naturally bears the brunt of her wealth. Yan Xiaoyi must have sacrificed her beauty to ask for her help. Now that he heard that the beauty was in trouble, he might have felt pity for her."

"Although Li Shishi had an affair with her ex-sister, she is still a prostitute after all. As the saying goes, a pair of jade arms has been rubbed by thousands of people, and a little bit of red lips has been tasted by thousands of people. What does Xiaoyi want?"

"Who knows? But I have always taught you that lusting after beauty will lead to mistakes."

Song Jiang sighed, his eyes empty and he sneered coldly: "Regardless of whether Yan Xiaoyi went to look for Li Shishi, his departure must have had a great impact on Lu Junyi. This betrayal must have been unpleasant. This reckless man actually had the guts to imitate Yang Chang and fight me, without even knowing his own weight."

"Brother, then I will..."

"If we continue to communicate with the Yongning Army, and the others follow suit, Lu Junyi will soon be out of work. How can he lead an army then? To maintain stability, the court may allow me to lead the Yongning Army as well, and give me the same treatment as Ma Kuo and Yang Chang, and promote me to the governor of two towns."

"Then shouldn't my brother wear a purple robe?"

Seeing Dai Zong swallowing hard, Song Jiang patted him on the arm and said earnestly: "If I were a military governor, would I treat my brothers badly? One day everyone will wear a scarlet robe."

"Thank you for your support, brother, but how can I let the court..."

"Don't worry, Dean. I already know what's going on."

Song Jiang was reminded by Su Yuanjing that Zhan Du was highly valued by the emperor. He thought that as long as he could make friends with this man, why would he be worried about not being able to rise in the future?
Most of the thirty leaders assigned to Lu Junyi were mediocre people in Liangshan. These people liked to follow the crowd. As long as someone took the lead and left, the others would follow suit.

Song Jiang made this distribution deliberately in order to bring down Lu Junyi. If the Liangshan army assigned to him then fell into chaos, Song Jiang would have to take charge.

In Song Jiang's eyes, sworn brothers are nothing more than a stepping stone to promotion.

In an age of great strife, the only way to achieve your ideals faster is to step on your brothers to rise to the top.

Song Jiang was suspicious and had proactively and generously divided his troops. Now, not only would he not help Lu Junyi, but he would also add fuel to the fire in order to bring him down.

However, things are always unpredictable.

Song Jiang thought that the Shaohua Mountain and Dengzhou factions would leave soon, but after waiting for a long time, he found that they were having a good time in Yongning Army.

Although Lu Junyi is not good at playing political games, he has some experience in commanding troops and knows how to make use of capable brothers.

Zhu Wu, Sun Li and others were originally inconspicuous when they were a whole in Liangshan, but now they were under the command of Lu Junyi, they immediately became outstanding and thus obtained important positions in Yongning Army.

As Lu Junyi, who is unrivaled in the world with spears and sticks, usually does not put on airs when it comes to mediocre people like Du Qian and Bai Sheng. In addition, there are no cronies of his in the team showing off their power, which makes these evil spirits feel respected.

Song Jiang guessed wrong about the person who stayed in Yongning, but guessed right that Yan Qing would not go to his hometown to retire, but go to the capital to find the beauty Li Shishi.

From Su Yuanjing, Yan Qing learned that the people in the capital were having a hard time. It was difficult for the fireworks vendors to do business at this time, and it was probably difficult for them to even have enough food.

In the past, even if you spent a lot of money, you might not be able to touch a beautiful woman’s hand, but now, just a pancake can make her your guest.

Yan Qing is a smart and loyal person. Apart from Lu Junyi, he has almost no real friends in Liangshan, but Li Shishi treats him very well and helps him when he is in trouble.

Fearing that the beauty would be humiliated, Yan Qing bid farewell to Lu Junyi and hurried south, arriving in Tokyo in late April.

After returning to Beijing after a long absence, Bianliang City is no longer prosperous.

The bustling crowds, the vendors driving carts everywhere, and the dazzling array of goods are all sealed in my memory at this moment.

In the real Bianliang, people walking in panic in search of food, hungry people sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall can be seen everywhere, and there are a large number of soldiers patrolling the city. It seems that it is not as good as the small town of Zhending.

The security of the capital city had fallen to the point where it had to be maintained by the army, which shows how miserable the people were.

If the iron hooves of the Jin people crushed the backbone of the Song Dynasty, then the indemnity paid by Olib drained the blood of the people in the capital.

At this time, Tokyo Bianliang was like an octogenarian in the withered wind, trembling all over while leaning on a crutch.

Yan Qing found Jier Lane, only to find that the lane was deserted and most of the brothels were closed.

There are still some small restaurants in business, but without their madams and servants, most of them are run by several women who work together to entertain customers and are struggling to make a living.

Yan Qing had a very high emotional intelligence and found out everything in no time. Then he went straight to Li Shishi's private residence.

Knocking on the door, Li Shishi was shocked and stammered, "Brother Xiaoyi?"

"Sister, are you okay?"

Yan Qing threw away his headscarf, clasped his fists and sang a big "no".

"Aren't you following General Song to resist the Jin in Hebei? Why?"

"The capital was in trouble, and the people suffered. Yan Qing was worried about my sister, so he came back to visit her. Here is my sister."

Seeing Yan Qing's eyes wandering around, Li Shishi welcomed him in and closed the door. Then she said leisurely, "Under an overturned nest, how can the eggs remain intact? Hong Xiao and Li Mama have gone to make their own livings. Now I am the only one living here."

"My sister has suffered, what are you doing?"

As soon as Yan Qing entered the room, he saw a bulging bag on the table by the window.

Li Shishi led Yan Qing to sit down and poured him tea while explaining, "These houses will be taken back in two days. I have asked someone to make arrangements and I am going to become a nun at Ciyun Monastery."

"Becoming a monk? Didn't my sister buy this house?"

"Our savings of many years vanished overnight. I had no money to send off the girls and servants in the shop, so I had to sell the house and send them away. Fortunately, the buyer was kind and allowed me to stay for two more months."

Yan Qing slapped his forehead and muttered, "Sister, you were so prosperous in the past, but now you have to sell the house to make a living. After you sent everyone away, I guess there won't be much left. I wonder how you have been living during this period?"

"I have some old customers, and I take care of them from time to time, and..."

Bang bang bang.

Before Li Shishi could finish her words, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Yan Qing stood up with a start, thinking, it's not even noon yet, and there are already customers rushing in?
My sister might be like the girl in the alley, who went from being an unattainable famous prostitute in the capital to a cheap secret prostitute.

Li Shishi reached out to open the door, and Yan Qing stepped aside and asked softly, "Sister, do you want me to hide for a while?"

"No need, Brother Xiaoyi knows them."

"Huh? Them?"

Yan Qing originally wanted to take her away from the capital and find a deserted place to spend the rest of his life, but when he heard the word "they", his mind suddenly became confused.

They? How many people?
Do you have any bottom line? Even if you want to make money to survive, you won't spend money like this?
With a creak, the door opened.

Yan Qing's face was as gloomy as water, and Li Shishi's voice was pleasant.

"You guys are really here?"

"Li Xingshuo is leaving Beijing today, how can we not come and see him off?"

"Yeah, eh? Yan Xiao"

"It's you guys!"

Seeing Le He and An Daoquan appear outside the door, Yan Qing's head started buzzing as if a bell was struck, and he couldn't hear anything.

Judging from Li Shishi’s voice, these two seem to be regular customers?

How can I get over this psychological hurdle in the future?
"Brother Xiaoyi, why don't you speak?"

"Yes, weren't you fighting in Hebei? Did you go back to Tokyo with Brother Gongming?"

"Please take a seat, brother Xiaoyi has come all the way to visit me."

Li Shishi invited the two to sit down, and at the same time reached out to wake Yan Qing up, saying, "What's wrong, Brother Xiaoyi? Are you stunned by seeing your old brothers?"

"Since Brother Xiao Yi has come to the capital, are you still going to become a monk at Ciyun Monastery?"

"It's still unknown, but this house will be taken back in two days, and I can no longer make money with you two."

"Make money together? You guys?"

After hearing this, Yan Qing finally came to his senses and looked around in disbelief.

Seeing this, Le He clasped his fists and explained awkwardly, "Brother Xiaoyi, please don't blame me. During the catastrophe in the capital, Captain Wang fled with the emperor, and I lost my livelihood for a while. I rely on Li Xingshou for food."

"Brother, are you here to play music for the guests?"

"Yes."

Seeing Yan Qing's surprise, Le He added with a bitter face: "Now Li Xing is about to become a monk, and the capital is exhausted after the war. I am afraid I have to leave the capital. By the way, how are my brother-in-law and his family? I want to go and seek refuge with them, but I am afraid I will not be able to see Brother Gongming."

"turn out to be."

Yan Qing did not answer Le He, but looked at An Daoquan standing beside him and asked curiously, "Mr. An is an imperial physician, and you have a salary from the court to support you. Are you also worried about your livelihood?"

"Brother Xiaoyi guessed right. Although I work in the Imperial Hospital, I am not favored by the current emperor because I served the retired emperor. In addition, the imperial doctors and palace maids who were rewarded by the royal family during the last fundraising event not only handed over the rewards they received, but also borrowed the surplus property at home. There was no deadline for returning the money, and life was difficult. I had no choice but to go out to practice medicine, and Li Xingshou has a wide network of contacts."

"hiss"

After hearing An Daoquan's sigh, Yan Qing showed a puzzled expression and said, "I didn't expect the court to be so difficult. As the saying goes, a tree that is moved dies, and a person who is moved lives. Brother Le is going to join Sun Tixia. Are you going to join Song Gongming as well?"

"no no no"

An Daoquan waved his hand hastily and corrected himself, "I won't go to Hebei. I met Censor Wen a few days ago and he said Qinzhou was well governed. I have a friendship with him in Liangshan, so I plan to go to Qinzhou to join Yang Chang."

"It is said that Yang Chang is a skilled warrior who stopped Marshal Nianhan's army from advancing southward. Now he is highly valued by His Majesty and has been appointed as the governor of Weisheng and Pingbei. It is a pity that I have no chance to meet such a hero."

Li Shishi suddenly spoke up, which made Yan Qing think about it. He immediately responded, "I am also friends with Yang Jiedu. Since you want to make a living by becoming a nun at Ciyun Temple, why don't I take you to Qinzhou?"

"I am only a woman, and my beauty is not as good as before. If Xiaoyi wants to go somewhere good and meet a great hero, I will follow you."

"That's great, we can go together."

An Daoquan clapped his hands happily and added, "By the way, Jin Dajian's situation is also very bad. He often receives my help. The other 20,000 royal horses were seized by the Jin army. Huangfu Duan is now unemployed at home. We can simply call them to go to Qinzhou to seek refuge with Brother Yang. He will definitely accept them because of our past friendship."

"It's settled then." Yan Qing clapped his hands excitedly and agreed. At the same time, he looked at Le He and said seriously, "It's not a good idea to go to Sun Tixia. Why don't you just go to Qinzhou with us?"

"But why?" Le He looked puzzled.

Yan Qing looked at Li Shishi and hesitated for a moment, but finally made up his mind and answered: "On the first day of the first month, the Taiwei arrived in Zhending to pass on the imperial edict, and Song Gongming and my master were respectively conferred titles."

"Is there such a thing?"

After hearing the details of the Liangshan split, Le He stood up excitedly. He frowned and muttered to himself: "The court has written off the previous merits? All the brothers are still civilians? Isn't this a rogue? And Song Gongming took away all the brave generals, leaving only Lu Yuanwai and a group of evil brothers. If the Jin army goes south again one day, won't Yongning Army be in danger? I have to go to Yongning Army and persuade my brother-in-law to leave early."

"Cough cough."

Yan Qing pulled Le He to sit down and said earnestly, "Brother, please be patient. Sun Tixia is very skilled in martial arts and has a good relationship with Yang Jiedu. If he wants to defect to Qinzhou, he will probably leave without any persuasion. My master will not make it difficult for him."

"What Xiaoyi meant."

"Yang Jiedu has many talented people under his command. I think Sun Tixia is afraid that he will not be able to use them if he goes there. So it's better for you to go to Qinzhou first and find out clearly before going to Yongning Army."

"Alright."

Le He just nodded in agreement, but suddenly he became worried again, "Brother Xiaoyi's reminder is very correct. Instructor Lin, Master Lu, Wudutou, etc., Yang Jiedu has many talented people under his command. I am really afraid that I will not be able to gain a foothold if I go there."

"Brother, you worry too much. Yang Jiedu really treats his brothers well. You should still remember Zhou Tong, right? In order to help him get revenge, Brother Yang chased him for hundreds of miles until he killed the crown prince of Jin. The brothers who died in battle with Song Gongming cried for nothing. I suspect that Han Tao and Xuan Zan, who left a farewell letter in Jiangnan, also followed Yang Jiedu."

"Brother Xiaoyi, don't doubt it. When I heard that the Imperial Secretary returned to Tongdi City, he had already met Xuan Zan. I'm afraid Han Tao was also there."

"So what are we waiting for?"

Yan Qing stood up excitedly and said in a sonorous voice: "Contact Jin Dajian and Huangfu Duan quickly and ask everyone to pack their bags as soon as possible. It would be best if they leave tomorrow."

"Well, let's go."

An Daoquan and Le He looked at each other, and immediately bowed to Yan Qing and Li Shishi and said goodbye.

After the two left, only Yan and Li were left in the room, sitting in silence.

After a while, Li Shishi smiled and asked, "What are you looking at, Xiaoyi?"

"Sister is so pretty."

"Don't praise me so much, my sister is getting old and not as pretty as when we first met."

"Sister is too modest."

Yan Qing took out a bronze mirror and carefully placed it in front of Li Shishi. He looked at the person in the mirror and comforted her: "Sister, you are still as beautiful as ever. Besides, now that we are in Qinzhou, you don't have to entertain people with your beauty anymore."

"Not entertaining people with sex? Are you supporting me?"

"I'll support you."

"You." Li Shishi turned around, smiling, and asked, "Recently, I often hear people praising Yang Chang. This man is young, handsome, and full of vigor, but he has achieved the high position of Jiedushi. Brother Xiaoyi, please tell me about it first, so that I won't be neglected by the local authorities."

Yan Qing held Li Shishi's shoulders and consoled her with a smile, "Don't be so reserved, sister. Brother Yang is a humble and polite man. He won't embarrass you."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, actually, when we went to the capital to seek amnesty, it was Brother Yang who was in charge of the command."

After listening to Yan Qing's brief introduction, Li Shishi suddenly felt a little disappointed and said sadly: "Yang Jiedu is a martial arts expert and handsome. It seems that I am not worthy of his attention and I am unwilling to come to see him."

"Sister, please don't be like this. Brother Yang was already married at the time, and he had other important matters to attend to, so he sent me in."

"His wife must be a stunning beauty?"

"How should I put it? Although both sisters-in-law are outstanding in appearance, in my heart, my sister is the most beautiful."

When Li Shishi heard this, she was amazed. This Yang Changguo was different from other heroes. Other heroes with great martial arts skills treated beauties as ferocious beasts, but Yang Changguo did the opposite.

After discussing it that day, they started packing their bags and left the city together the next day.

Yan Qing and his companions headed northward, and all the cities they passed through were looted by the Jin army. Everywhere they looked was still desolate, until they crossed the Yellow River and climbed over the Taihang Mountains and entered the territories of Zezhou and Luzhou, only then did they see the golden crops all over the fields.

The two states had Yang Chang blocking the Jin army in the north, and were naturally separated from Huaizhou by Taihang Mountains in the south, so they were completely unaffected by the invasion of the Jin Kingdom, allowing the people to live and work in peace.

Arrived in Qinzhou in mid-May.

Everywhere you look, you see fields of ripening wheat, full of prosperity.

Arriving at the south gate of Tongdi City, An Daoquan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile: "We are finally here. After more than ten days of travel, I found that Qinzhou is the best governed. It is really the right place to come."

"What about Qinzhou? Look up there."

Le He pointed at the word "威胜" on the city wall, reminding everyone that Qinzhou was already a "威胜军", and joked to Jin Dajian: "These two words are not very good, I look forward to seeing you show off your skills, brother."

"If Yang Jiedu needs help, I will help him."

"Let's go, enter the city as soon as possible, we have important matters to report."

Reminded by Yan Qing, everyone strode into Weisheng City and saw the streets bustling with people and hawkers hawking their wares everywhere. It was a picture of peace and prosperity.

Later, he arrived at the provincial government office, but was stopped by the guards and not allowed to enter.

It was a scorching hot day, and a group of people stood at the door, roasting themselves until oil was gushing out. After a long time, no one came out to greet them.

Le He was so thirsty from waiting that he started to complain and say some discouraging words.

"We have been standing there for a stick of incense, but no one has come to greet us. Maybe Yang Jiedu has forgotten about our brothers from Liangshan because he is in a high position, or maybe he despises our weak abilities and is using this method to politely reject us. It is better for us to just leave and avoid being accused of being tactless."

"Even if you really have to leave, you have to report that important matter. How about you guys go somewhere to escape the heat first, and I will stay here and wait alone?"

"This"

"Brother Xiaoyi? Mr. Jin? Doctor Anshen"

Yang Jian suddenly stuck his head out and saw these familiar faces. He couldn't help but scream in surprise.

"Yang Jian?"

"What are you doing here, brothers?"

"us."

“We’re just passing through.”

Jin Dajian was about to answer, but Le He took the initiative to answer in order to avoid embarrassment.

Seeing this, Yan Qing nodded in agreement and said, "We are indeed passing by. We have something important to tell Yang Jiedu, but we have been waiting for a while and he didn't come. How about you just tell him?"

"You are in such a hurry to leave? If my brother knew, he would definitely blame me, but he is really stuck with something important at the moment. So, I will take a few brothers to my brother's house to wait."

"Is this appropriate?"

"Brother, why do you say that? Brother will receive other people in this state government office, but you are brothers from Liangshan, he has always treated you as his own, so he will meet you at home. Let me give you a few words and then I will take you there."

After Yang Jian finished speaking, he did not enter the door. Le He reminded everyone with a worried look on his face.

"Would it be too abrupt for us to go directly to Yang Jiedu's residence? Is there any deeper meaning behind this?"

"What deep meaning can it have? Yang Jian is a simple person. It is unreasonable to come from afar and not see him in person."

Jin Dajian and Xiao Rang have a good relationship. Yang Jian used to study and write with Xiao Rang, and the two of them communicated a lot, so he is more relaxed than Le He.

Li Shishi leaned close to Yan Qing's ear and whispered, "Aren't you going to support me? Where are you going to go after leaving Qinzhou?"

"How could that be possible? I haven't even met Brother Yang yet. It's Brother Le who is a little reserved."

"Let's go."

Before Yan Qing finished speaking, Yang Jian had already walked out of the state government office. "Brother, Second Brother Wu and the others are busy now, but the three sisters-in-law are at home now, and will definitely entertain you well."

Li Shishi was very surprised to hear this, thinking that Yang Chang only married two wives, but Yang Jian said that he had three sisters-in-law. It seemed that Yang Chang took in another wife after his promotion.

Which high-ranking official in the capital does not have many wives and concubines? Although Yang Chang is a hero, he is also a real man.

It's just that his three women are really as good at martial arts as Yan Qing said, but not as pretty as himself? I'll have to take a closer look later.

After a while, everyone came to the front hall of Yang Mansion, and Yang Jian invited Hu Sanniang out.

When Li Shishi saw Hu Sanniang, she couldn't help but look at Yan Qing, thinking, this is called not as good-looking as me? If we don't play any musical instruments or sing, at most they are equally good, right?
Of course, when Yang Chang returned home and held a banquet, she followed Hu Sanniang to the back hall to eat. When she saw Zhao Fujin, she sighed that she was not as good as her.

Ever since Yang Chang took over Pingyang Prefecture, he has been short of staff.

When he heard that several Liangshan brothers had arrived, and that they were all the brothers who stayed in Tokyo, he immediately glanced at the distinguished guests and asked Wen Huanzhang and Wu Song to accompany them, and he excitedly rushed back home alone.

As soon as he entered the front hall, he clasped his fists and apologized, saying with a smile: "Please forgive me, brothers. I was just stuck on something important. I really didn't mean to be negligent."

"Yang Jiedu is too modest."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

"My brother is busy with official duties, how can anyone blame him?"

Seeing that everyone was restrained, Yan Qing took the initiative to clasp his fists and reminded them: "I passed by Zezhou a few days ago and saw tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathering. I guess they were ordered to help Taiyuan. I hope this news will be helpful to you."

"hehe."

Yang Chang smiled and said, "General Yao Gu, the governor of Hedong, is in the Weisheng Army Office right now. I was just discussing something with him. Brother Yi guessed it right. The court has decided to send troops to Taiyuan, but I don't have the energy to send troops to help. I can only cooperate and borrow the passage."

"Ah? So my brother already knew about it."

Yan Qing looked around and smiled awkwardly, then clasped his fists and said, "Since brother already knows, then let's..."

"Since you guys are here, why don't you stay and help me? WeSing is in need of talent right now."

"Ah? Us."

"That `s a deal."

Yang Chang made the decision without further ado, and the deterrent power made no one dare to refute. Jin Dajian, An Daoquan, Le He, and Huangfu Duan not only wiped out all the leaders who stayed in Bian Jing, but there was even an unexpected surprise. Yan Qing brought Li Shishi with him, and had obviously left Lu Junyi.

"Where is Yang Jianren? Didn't he come back with us? Have you arranged a welcoming banquet?"

"Uncle has already made arrangements. He seemed to have something to do at home just now, so he hurried back."

"This boy"

As soon as Hu Sanniang finished speaking, Yang Chang asked everyone to sit down and chatted with them enthusiastically, quickly eliminating the previous barriers.

Soon, the wine and food were served and the welcoming banquet began.

Everyone was toasting each other, as if they were back in Liangshan.

After three rounds of drinks, Yang Jian finally arrived.

"Why did you come?"

"Brother, something happened at home."

"what's up?"

"Dad just found me and said that there seems to be something wrong with the two acres of soybeans you ordered. The leaves are weird and there are no fruits."

(End of this chapter)