Chapter 87: Volunteer to Pick Up Equipment

Seeing Zhu Tong's bewildered face, Chao Gai immediately explained why Wang Ying was castrated and reminded Zhu Tong not to instigate others.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Tong remained calm after hearing this. He stroked his beautiful beard and warned Chao Gai, saying, "I often hear people say that Liangshan has many heroes, but they accept lechers like Wang Aihu and reckless men like Li Kui who kill innocent people. This may not be beneficial to the mountain stronghold in the long run. Brother, you should be careful about this."

"Brother Zhu, you don't know that I have my own difficulties. Many thieves and robbers have come to Song Gongming to surrender. If I don't accept them, I am afraid that they will lose face."

Zhu Tong was startled when he heard this, and quickly added with a fist: "Brother, you don't have to be like this, I just said this."

"I will try my best to restrain myself in the future. Brother Zhu should share my worries."

"Brother is the leader of the village, so I will naturally obey your orders."

Zhu Tong had worked in the government office before, so how could he not understand Chao Gai's obvious gesture of goodwill? He immediately clasped his fists and answered calmly.

He was originally lured to the mountain, so how could he be willing to become a pawn in a fight?

After exchanging a few pleasantries at Zhu Tong's residence, Chao Gai invited him to the Juyi Hall for tea.

The Juyi Hall is spacious and well ventilated, and many leaders come here to cool off in the summer.

Although it is close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the autumn heat is still severe.

Chao Gai and Zhu Tong entered from the back door and saw Song Jiang, Wu Yong, Lei Heng and others were there.

Before everyone had time to say hello, a young officer from the foot of the mountain came running up to report that Li Kui had returned to the mountain from Cangzhou overnight and had important matters to report to his brothers.

Chao Gai, Song Jiang and Wu Yong looked at each other, thinking that Li Kui might have caused trouble again by staying at Mr. Chai's manor.
When Zhu Tong heard that Li Kui had returned to the mountain, he suddenly became furious. He saw a broadsword standing in the corner, so he stepped forward with the sword in his hand and ran out of the Juyi Hall angrily.

"Quick, stop him!"

"Brother Zhu, calm down!"

Song Jiang and Wu Yong shouted one after another, and Lei Heng, Shi Xiu and others nearby followed.

Li Kui was sweating profusely after running, and was about to go to the Juyi Hall to drink some wine to quench his thirst, but he saw Zhu Tong coming towards him with a knife, so he drew out his axe and fought with the other party outside the house.

That day, Yang Chang visited Zhu Tong but came back empty-handed. He returned to the back mountain and took a nap in his tent.

Hu Sanniang sat on the bedside, fanning herself, and stared at the man lying on his back with a smile on her face. She felt that she couldn't get enough of seeing him even if they were together every day.

While he was daydreaming, Cheng Wang, a personal soldier outside the tent, suddenly rushed in and announced loudly: "Chao Tianwang has gathered his generals on the top of the mountain. Please go quickly, leaders!"

"Keep your voice down!"

Hu Sanniang turned her head and glared at King Cheng, muttering to herself, "It must be a new member joining the group, and we need to prepare a banquet to welcome him. Go and tell the person who came that the master is not feeling well and will not go today."

"Well, it doesn't seem like a banquet, and you have to go too."

Before King Cheng finished speaking, Yang Chang had already sat up and asked with empty eyes: "Are you going to fight a war?"

"I don't know the details, but I heard that Zhu Tong and Li Kui were fighting in front of the hall, and King Chao asked the leaders of each camp to rush to the Juyi Hall."

"understood."

Yang Chang waved his hand to send King Cheng away, and then began to put on his clothes. While Hu Sanniang helped him change his clothes, she murmured to herself: "That Li Kui is Song Jiang's confidant, and Zhu Jieji actually dared to take action. Could it be that he has killed the black man, and King Chao wants to punish him in public?"

"It shouldn't be possible. I think we will have to fight an external battle. Anyway, let's go up the mountain as soon as possible."

"Oh well"

Hu Sanniang dressed Yang Chang, and the two of them hurried to the gathering hall.

When they arrived, they found Zhu Tong and Li Kui were there. It turned out that Liangshan's benefactor Chai Jin had lost Gaotang Prefecture. Chao Gai and Song Jiang were preparing to send troops to Gaotang Prefecture to rescue people and plunder money and food, just like they did to Zhujiazhuang.

Seeing the eight stronghold leaders gathered, Chao Gai made an impassioned speech: "Master Chai has always been kind to the stronghold. Today he is in trouble and I have no choice but to save him. I want to lead the army down the mountain myself. All brothers must fight hard."

"Brother, the leader of the mountain stronghold, you can't move lightly."

Song Jiang did not wait for Chao Gai to finish, and interrupted him with a fist, and volunteered: "Master Chai has also done me a favor, I am willing to go down the mountain for you."

"This..." Chao Gai couldn't refuse, so he looked at the military advisor Wu Yong.

"Although Gaotang Prefecture is small, it has a large population, abundant resources, and sufficient food. We must not underestimate the enemy." Wu Yong paused in the middle of his words, then looked up and glanced at the leaders in the hall, then bowed to Chao Gai and said, "Please give the order to Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Zhu Tong, Li Jun, Lu Fang, Guo Sheng, Sun Li, Ou Peng, Yang Lin, Deng Fei, Ma Lin, and Bai Sheng to lead 5,000 cavalry and infantry as the vanguard; the commander of the central army, Song Gongming, Wu Yong, as well as Hua Rong, Lei Heng, Dai Zong, Li Kui, Zhang Heng, Zhang Shun, Yang Xiong, and Shi Xiu, to lead 3,000 cavalry and infantry to support."

Chao Gai was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "Military Advisor, why didn't you understand my intention? Why did you directly deploy troops?"

"Brother, there's no time to lose!"

"Brother Tianwang."

“There is no time to lose.”

Song Jiang led Dai Zong, Hua Rong and others to advise him, and Chao Gai had no choice but to agree.

Wu Yong selected the twenty-two leaders, and Yang Chang and Hu Sanniang were not among them. But how could Yang give up the opportunity to pick up the corpse?
After the leaders dispersed and left, he asked Hu Sanniang to visit Song Taigong, while he sneaked to Chao Gai's residence.

Chao Gai was tricked by Wu Yong and was wondering what went wrong. He was about to find Wu Yong to ask him in detail, but he saw Yang Chang appear at the door.

"Chief Yang?"

"Brother Tianwang."

"What's up?"

"I want to help my brother, and I also want to go down the mountain to join the expedition to Gaotang Prefecture."

Yang Chang's words warmed Chao Gai's heart. It had been a long time since someone showed loyalty like this. He immediately welcomed Yang Chang in warmly and said earnestly, "I have just finished calling the generals. Next time I will personally lead the troops down the mountain, I will definitely bring you along."

"Brother, you are the leader of the village. It should be okay to send another leader, right? I just want to gain more experience. I have learned how to ride a horse in the past few months."

"hehe."

Although Yang Chang used provocation, his sincere expression did not make Chao Gai feel uncomfortable. Instead, he affirmed and reminded him, "Brother Yang is so ambitious. I should agree to your request. However, the minions in your camp are weak and not suitable for charging into battle. I will transfer some better ones when I return. It will not be too late to go into battle then."

"To be honest, I learned how to ride a horse, and I found that I was in need of a handy weapon, and also a piece of armor, so I thought of going to the battlefield to pick one up."

"Go pick them up? Isn't there any in the mountain stronghold?" Chao Gai was surprised, and then added: "I will help you coordinate tomorrow. How can a leader be without armor and soldiers?"

Yang Chang smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, don't bother. I have already looked for Hou Jian. Now the village is short of forging materials. It is easier to just pick up the ready-made ones. Besides, I don't need to lead the troops. I can just follow one of you brothers."

"That's it"

Chao Gai frowned and stroked his beard, subconsciously asking: "Who do you want to follow?"

"How is Brother Jieji? I worked for him in Yuncheng County Prison before."

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

"Thank you, brother."

Yang Chang originally wanted to follow Lin Chong, but was afraid that the chief of the stronghold would have too much thoughts, so he chose Zhu Tong as a second choice. Seeing that he was so confident, Chao Gai agreed.

Chao Gai later found Wu Yong to discuss the use of troops and calmly mentioned the arrangements for adding temporary personnel. Zhi Duo Xing kept it in mind and did not dare to refute.

After saying goodbye to Chao Gai, Yang Chang went to talk to Zhu Tong. Finally, he met Hu Sanniang in the north of the mountain and returned to the village.

"Sir, have you volunteered to join the battle?"

"Well, I'm in need of weapons and armor, so I plan to go to Gaotang Prefecture to pick up a set."

"The swords on the battlefield are merciless. I am worried about you, sir. How about I go in your place?"

"What do you think?"

"Then I will go too."

(End of this chapter)