Chapter 52: Prison Encounter
Just as Yang Chang expected, when Song Qing came to invite him again, he bluntly told Yang Chang what Song Jiang had hinted at.

"Brother said in the letter that my third brother had served as an archer and a team leader in Yanggu, but he resigned from his official duties and left because he was ostracized and oppressed. Brother asked you to come to Yuncheng to look for opportunities?"

"Brother Gongming did say that, but I came here mainly to deliver a letter home, and I don't intend to settle down here."

"Ah, that's wrong." Song Qing shook his head and clapped his hands, which was a double denial. "Brother has always been generous and has done his best to help the heroes of the world. Since my third brother has experience as a public servant, I will take care of your affairs in Yuncheng, but it will take some time."

"Fourth brother, there's really no need to bother."

"It's really not a problem. Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, two captains who are familiar with the Song family, were sent out on official business by the county magistrate not long ago. If you send your brother to work in the government office now, I'm afraid he won't be taken care of accordingly. So we don't need to rush for a moment. You can just stay at home and wait."

“This is inappropriate.”

Yang Chang was still planning to remain modest when Song Qing urged him to attend the banquet, saying that Song Taigong was already waiting in the front hall.

Listening to Song Qing's introduction of his father, it was known that when Song Taigong was young, he also worked as a clerk in Yuncheng for many years, and his mind was full of ideas about being loyal to the emperor and serving the country, and ennobling his wife and children.

After three rounds of drinking.

The old man was probably drunk, so he preached to the two of them at the table, and Yang Chang and Song Qing had no choice but to nod in agreement.

When Song Taigong was talking, he suddenly slammed the table and complained to Song Qing: "Silang, your brother has done something wrong. He can't hide away forever. He has lived in Maojiazhuang for half a year and Qingfengzhai for half a year. Will he come back to Yuncheng? Do you want to live with me until the end of your life?"

"Dad, my brother remembers you, otherwise why would he let Brother Yang deliver the letter?"

Song Qing gave Yang Chang an awkward smile, and hurriedly pulled Song Taigong aside to ask in a low voice: "Are you too drunk to handle the alcohol? I will take you back to rest first."

"I'm not drunk."

Song Taigong raised his hand, stood up shakily, and said in a sonorous tone: "Write a letter to Qingfeng Village immediately and ask that beast to return to Yuncheng to surrender and be punished. I heard that His Majesty has just appointed the Crown Prince and has issued a pardon to the prefectures and counties. Sanlang will only be sentenced to exile. If he returns to surrender early, he can start a new life sooner. When will he stop hiding from place to place?"

"How can one send his own son to exile?"

"Ok?"

Song Qing didn't want to argue with his drunk father, so he just went along with what he said.

"Okay, kid, I got it. I'll take you back to your room to rest."

"Let Third Brother laugh at me"

"No, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop, the son wants to take care of his parents but they are no longer there, I will help Fourth Brother."

"Well, the so-called filial piety is both filial piety and obedience."

Yang Chang helped Song Qing to help his drunk father back to the house, and the welcoming banquet came to an abrupt end.

In fact, from Song Taigong, Yang Chang somewhat understood Song Jiang's complex personality. On the one hand, he had a good relationship with the gangsters in the world, but on the other hand, he was bound by the concept of monarch and subject.

But Yang Chang doesn't care about all this.

Whether it was the Song Dynasty or Liangshan, he just wanted to pick up corpses and become stronger.

As for whether there will be an invasion by the Jin people in this Water Margin world, everything is unknown. Only the strongest will have more choices.

Song Qing settled his old father down, and outside the house, he smiled and sighed to Yang Chang: "Don't be surprised, third brother. My father had high expectations for you. He originally wanted to help you win fame, but the incident with Yan Poxi happened."

"Uncle's drunken words don't count, right? Brother Gongming has a high reputation in the martial arts world. He almost couldn't get away from Maojiazhuang that day. Even if Fourth Brother really wrote a letter to Qingzhou, I guess Huazhi Village would not let him go easily."

After listening to Yang Chang's analysis, Song Qing shook his head and explained: "That was not drunken talk, but my father's sincere words. Don't worry about this matter, third brother. I have my own way to earn you back home. I will write to you later."

"Haha, that's great."

After Yang Chang agreed, he paused and thought that since Zhu Tong and Lei Heng were not there, the job of delivering the letter would probably have to be mine. He wondered why he was doing Dai Zong's job.
But it was good to run some errands so as not to get bored in Yuncheng. He was not used to being with the father and son of the Song family all day, so at worst he would not think about Hu Sanniang. He thought that he would not return to Qingzhou this time, and would go directly to Liangshan with Wu Song.

"I am familiar with the road to Qingzhou. Anyway, there is nothing to do in Yuncheng. I will send it to Brother Gongming?"

"you?"

Song Qing shook his head like a rattle. "My third brother has just traveled a long way, so I can't trouble you all the time. I have my own arrangements for delivering the letter. You can just stay at home and wait for Zhu and Lei to return. I will recommend you to work in the government. When my brother comes back to turn himself in, you might be able to take care of him."

With such a clear mind, how dare you call him a waste? At least Yang Chang didn't believe it.

The next day, when Song Taigong sobered up, he remembered his misconduct at the banquet yesterday, and hosted another banquet to entertain Yang Chang. He also instructed Song Qing to entertain the guest wholeheartedly and not to lose his manners.

Perhaps Yang Chang had worked in the government before. Compared with the previous heroes in the underworld, Song Taigong was more polite to him. He often invited him to drink and chat, and shared many of his work experiences with him.

Yang Chang had no way to repay the Song family for being their guest, so he used the cooking skills he learned from Wu Da to cook a lot of delicious pasta himself, which won unanimous praise from the Song father and son.

The wintersweets have not yet faded, and the spring flowers are blooming.

After staying at the Song family for more than ten days, the first month of the year passed in the blink of an eye.

Yang Chang was getting along well with the old man when Song Qing suddenly brought back news that Zhu Tong had returned from Tokyo.

"Zhu Tong has returned to Yuncheng? This person has excellent character and has helped Sanlang a lot."

Song Taigong took over the conversation and halfway through introducing Yang Chang, he seemed to remember something and asked, "The county magistrate has recently transferred the two brothers Zhao Neng and Zhao De to be the captains. What about Zhu Tong's position as the captain?"

"Of course he lost his job and was appointed as the warden of the prison."

"Being a prison lord? Not as good as being a captain."

Song Qing spoke with a serious face, and Song Taigong also frowned and shook his head.

Yang Chang disagreed and said to himself: "Although being a prison guard is not as prestigious as being a captain, aren't the two positions the same?"

"Sanlang, do you think it doesn't matter? I wanted to wait for Lei Dutou and arranged for you to start as an archer. If you really want to be a jailer, I will immediately find Zhu Tong to plead for you. I don't think there will be any problem."

Song Qing was embarrassed at first, but he didn't expect Yang Chang to mind at all.

"Sure, I'm not picky."

"Great, Xiao Yang has great ambitions, he will definitely become something great!"

Yang Chang's answer was generous, which drew the approval and praise of Old Master Song. However, he did not know that Yang was just a transitional person, and that being a jailer was more suitable for him than being an archer. If he met a death row prisoner in prison, he could also pick up some rewards.

So, under Song Qing's arrangement, Yang Chang became a jailer under Zhu Tong.

Guarding the cells and keeping company with the prisoners every day is a simple and straightforward job compared to being an archer exposed to the wind and sun. Moreover, Zhu Tong gets along well with him, and they soon become friends of superior and subordinate, similar to how Yang Gu is under Wu Song.

In mid-February, Yang Chang had been working as a jailer for just half a month when Zhu Tong suddenly called him over.

"Brother Jieji, you are looking for me."

Before Yang Chang finished his words, he saw the familiar face behind Zhu Tong.

"Brother Gongming? Why are you here?"

"The bailiff has returned to the city to surrender. It will take several months for the prefecture to issue a verdict. Since Sanlang has a history with the bailiff, I will leave him to you to take care of. You must not neglect him!"

"Don't worry, brother. Yang Chang definitely won't do that!"

(End of this chapter)