Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 89 Aftermath
Not long after, he arrived at the Yamen Office, met the Yamen servant guarding the gate, glared at the two who wanted to ask something, and walked in quickly.

At this time, Li Yuan was approving official documents, and he couldn't help frowning when he heard anxious footsteps outside the door. Before he could ask who it was, he heard the door knock, and a figure ran in.

Li Yuan hurriedly looked up, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Zhao Dutou, you...how did you look like this?"

Zhao Neng knelt down with a puff, and said with a mournful face: "My lord, our army... has been defeated!"

"Ah?!" Li Yuan was taken aback, let go of his hand, and dropped the brush on the paper. He stood up tremblingly and asked, "Where are the rest? What about your Erlang? Where are Zhu Dian and Lei Heng?"

"They were all captured, and the thieves only let me come back to report." Zhao Neng burst into tears, and knocked his head on the ground: "Please help my second brother, my lord."

"They're all captured..." Li Yuan sat back on the chair, his eyes were blank, he muttered Zhao Neng's words to himself, and he stood up suddenly and shouted: "I don't believe it!"

Immediately, his body swayed, his eyes fluttered, and he fainted.

"Dong Weng, Dong Weng!" Jiang Yao was startled when he saw it, and ran to Li Yuan and rubbed his chest to relieve his breath.

"My lord, my lord." Hearing the voice, Zhao Neng raised his head quickly, seeing that Li Yuan had passed out, he was also anxious: "Come quickly! The magistrate has fainted!"

The yamen was in chaos in an instant.

……

The time of day changes, the sky is covered by darkness, the thick cloud still hasn't dissipated, and the night is getting darker due to covering the stars and avoiding the moon. A few night owls flapped their wings and flew through the air, fell into the forest and disappeared, only making a few strange noises. cry.

At night, Liangshan is lit up with little lights, just like these two days, the dinner is very rich, but unfortunately the meat has long been exhausted and people can't enjoy it, but fortunately, Ruan Xiaoer's wife is here today, this fishing village The woman's movements were nimble, which helped Zhou Darong a lot, and also made the cooks in Liangshan accept the existence of this woman, so tonight's meal had a lot more flavor of the fishing village, and everyone who ate it felt satisfied.

"Brother, I'm back." Ruan Xiaoer strode into the temporary gathering hall.

After all, this building that Lu Bu thought was useless was put on the construction schedule. The increase of the leaders on the mountain also highlighted the importance of this hall.

"Brother is back, thank you for your hard work." Lu Bu nodded, pointed to the seat next to him, and motioned Ruan Xiaoer to sit down. Today's sitting is relatively casual. Although they all sat in a disordered order, most of them were old people on the mountain with newcomers. Joining the leaders together, this is also to promote the relationship with each other quickly.

When the evening was approaching, Qiao Lie asked him to bring a few people to throw Zhao Neng back to Yuncheng County. It was a deterrent and at the same time told the officers and soldiers that they would not kill them here. If the battle goes against them next time, they can surrender. And people don't have the heart to fight to the death when they know that they will not die, so why not do it if you can disintegrate the opponent's fighting spirit so effortlessly?
Ruan Xiaoer greeted everyone with a smile, found a vacant seat and sat down, someone sifted the wine for him and asked him to share the wine.

"Brother." The flickering light of the fire shone on Qiao Lie's face, and this unruly Taoist drank the wine: "Nowadays, there are too many leaders going up the mountain, but there are not enough soldiers in this village."

Lu Bu's heart was moved when he heard this, and he silently calculated that there were as many as 16 leaders, but the soldiers in the village were still in their early [-]s. The other people on the mountain were lent to them by Chai Jin to build the village, and they would be sent back later.

"So, it is indeed a troublesome matter." Lu Bu nodded. It was convenient for him to recruit soldiers in the past, and La Zhuangding was like that. Now that his identity has changed, he doesn't know what to do: "Brother, do you have any ideas?"

Qiao Lie thought for a while and sighed: "Brother's reputation is still small now, and Yuncheng County has gained a foothold in the surrounding area after defeating today. The younger brother has sent people to spread rumors around Yuncheng, so there will be some people who are not satisfied with their past. Throwing mountains, just..."

Lu Bu frowned: "Just what? Brother, just say it."

"It's just that I don't have anyone to pick me up. Even if there are those who throw mountains, there is nowhere to find them." Qiao Lie spread his hands and felt helpless.

"Brother, why don't we take the brothers in the navy to swim near the shore every day, and monitor the movements on the shore by the way." Ruan Xiaoqi, who was next to him, had been listening to the conversation between the two. I couldn't help but interjected a sentence.

"Huh?" Lu Bu was taken aback when he heard the words, then hesitated and said, "Doesn't it mean that you have to stay on the boat every day?"

Ruan Xiaoqi patted his chest and said with a smile: "My boat is my home, I'm used to staying on the boat all day long."

Lv Bu nodded slowly, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Are all the ships seized today still there?"

"They're all there, do you want to use them?" Ruan Xiaoqi, as the current commander of the navy, is naturally very sensitive to ships.

"I don't need it, I just want to return the boats in Shijie Village, so that people can't cut off their livelihood." Lu Bu said, picked a piece of fish and ate it.

Ruan Xiaoqi was overjoyed when he heard the words, and quickly bowed down and said, "Thank you, brother."

Over there, Ruan Xiaoer and Ruan Xiaowu saw their brothers bowing down, thinking what happened, they hurried forward to inquire, and after Ruan Xiaoqi explained, these two tower-like men also quickly bowed down: "Brother Renyi, we Thank you for the people in the village."

Lu Bu hurriedly got up and helped the three of them up: "Don't thank me so much, it will make a lot of people."

The three members of the Ruan family laughed and laughed happily. Qiao Lie was watching, and suddenly his heart moved, and he said to the three of them: "Is there anyone in Shijie Village who has a bad life? Why don't we bring them up the mountain together? Waiting for hands."

The three members of the Ruan family met and exchanged eye contact, Ruan Xiaoer nodded fiercely, and said to Lu Bu, "Don't worry, brother, this matter is on our shoulders."

"Then I will ask the three brothers." Lu Bulang laughed, and greeted the three of them to rejoin the table, but they couldn't help but feel a little out of sorts.

Qiao Lie at the side saw Lu Bu's thoughts, so he couldn't help but took a sip of wine and said, "Brother, don't worry, there are some people who can't survive the Song Dynasty."

Lu Bu turned his head to look, under the flickering lights, the smile on the corner of his mouth was a bit ferocious: "Where are those soldiers?"

Qiao Lie's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded slowly as he watched Lu Bu.

……

The night is like ink, the moon disappears and the stars disappear.

Someone wakes up with a splitting headache.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, only to feel his head jumping suddenly, and his eyes couldn't see clearly for a while, as if everything had become blurred.

"Dong Weng is awake."

There was a voice, which he recognized, it was the voice of his own staff, and then someone helped him up, and a faint fragrance came into his nose.

It's madam.

Li Yuan could tell again, but his tongue seemed to be sealed and unable to speak. After a while, the scent of medicine mixed with the scent of powder floated into his nose. He put a spoon by his mouth, and then poured the warm medicine into his mouth. I don't know how much he ate, but Li Yuan felt his stomach was full with the medicine, so he stopped feeding medicine.

"oops……"

I don't know if the medicine has taken effect, or it is time for Li Yuan to recover. With a groan, Li Yuan opened his mouth and let out a sound, and then the figures and objects in his sight became clear. Things in the evening were like sporadic pictures, slowly come to mind.

"Dong Weng, Dong Weng? Is ye feeling better?" Jiang Yao asked cautiously standing five steps away.

Li Yuan's face was pale, and the blood on his lips had faded to no redness. A thin layer of white skin appeared, and he said tremblingly, "This afternoon... is what Zhao Neng said true?"

Jiang Yao smiled wryly: "Dong Weng, it's true, all the soldiers in this county were lost on Liangshan, and Zhao Neng is waiting outside right now."

"Ah...my head..."

Li Yuan raised his arms and covered his head. With just these two words, another layer of white sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Officer, why don't you take a good rest first, and talk about things tomorrow." Li Yuan's wife felt distressed seeing him like this, and couldn't help persuading him.

"Sir, don't say that." Li Yuan waved weakly at his wife, then reluctantly turned his head to Jiang Yao: "Mr. Hard Work, go prepare some presents, and rush to Beijing to send them to your lord this evening. explain……"

Jiang Yao waited for a long time without waiting for the next sentence, so he couldn't help but look at Li Yuan: "Dong Weng?"

"Hey!" Li Yuan sighed, "Just say that I don't adapt to the climate in Jingdong, and I want to find another place to be an official."

Jiang Yao understood, Li Yuan was about to run away, frowned and said, "Then... the captured person on Liangshan?"

Li Yuan turned his head back and waved it weakly: "He waited for Zhao Neng to come back, assuming he had no intention of killing, don't worry, just go down."

Jiang Yao had no choice but to answer, turned around and left the room.

Li Yuan looked at his back and murmured: "I can't stay here anymore, I can't stay here..."

"Official?" Li Yuan's wife tilted her head and looked at him.

Li Yuan's face was cloudy and uncertain, and he said weakly for a while: "Pack up your things, hurry up!"

The woman didn't say anything, she got up and hurriedly cleaned up the things.

After a while, Zhao Neng's voice sounded from the courtyard outside: "How can you do this, my lord?"

……

The next day.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. The rumor of the failure of Yuncheng County to conquer Liangshan seems to have swept through Xiacheng Village in Yuncheng County overnight. People can hear people talking in the streets and alleys. Everyone looks a little panicked, as if It was because they were afraid that Liangshan bandits would come and break the city and hurt them.

However, this kind of worry did not happen until noon, and people gradually shifted the topic of Liangshan's possible destruction of the city, and began to scold their own sergeants for their incompetence, scolding them for being useless, and some well-informed people said this The bandit suppression this time was facilitated by the county magistrate, and everyone scolded the magistrate for wanting merit and going crazy, but their voices inevitably became low.

That is to say, amidst the scolding, it was reported that Lu Bu beheaded the murderous thief Li Mian in Hebei, broke him into a rich and heartless rich family, and distributed food to the poor and poor.There are even rumors that he was the reincarnation of Marquis Wen at the end of the Han Dynasty. He was a general sent by heaven to help the Song Dynasty fight against the Liao Kingdom. Don't retreat to the territory of Song Dynasty to wait for the time and so on.

All kinds of remarks, with their noses and eyes, inspired the people who didn't know the truth. This means that there are fewer people talking about Liangshan, but more people talking about Lu Bu.

Song Jiang heard these remarks when he was walking on the street. When he was hungry and sat in the hotel to eat, his ears could not help filling up with various versions of rumors. No one would care about rebuttals, and besides, his knowledge is limited, so he still doesn't know what to use to refute.

"Ah! Brother Gongming, you are here."

A familiar voice sounded not far away, and Song Jiang hurriedly looked sideways, just in time to see Zhao Neng standing at the door looking at him in surprise.

"Zhao Dutou." Song Jiang quickly stood up and bowed his hands, a sincere smile appeared on his black face.

"Brother Gongming, you're being polite." Zhao Neng quickly returned a salute, and looked at the waiter standing beside him: "Do you have a private room?"

"Yes." The waiter bowed, "Dutou, this way."

"You wait."

Zhao Neng made a gesture, walked quickly to Song Jiang's side in three steps at a time, bowed and said, "Brother Gongming, it seems that the meal has not been served yet, why don't you go to the private room to have dinner with me?"

Then he patted his chest and said: "This meal is mine, don't shirk it."

Song Jiang was taken aback. Zhao Neng and Zhao De relied on being brothers and holding nearly half of the soldiers and horses in Yuncheng County. Except for the county magistrate who has always had his nostrils upturned and has never had much contact with him, he came to invite him today. He ate together, and couldn't help but feel moved, could it be for his captured brother?
Like this, it's just right.

Song Jiang narrowed his eyes. He was about to inquire about Liangshan, but he fell asleep and bumped into a pillow. He stood up immediately and said, "Then respect is worse than obedience, please."

"Please, please." Zhao Neng was overjoyed, and hurriedly held Song Jiang, beckoning the waiter to lead the way, and the two entered the private room together.

Sit down according to priorities, Zhao Neng could return the waiter from the shop to Song Jiang's dishes, ordered two of the pickers, ordered a catty of cooked meat and a fresh fish, and sifted two pots of hot wine, Zhao Neng picked them up. The wine cup opened the chatter box: "Brother Gongming, I always listen to your name, but it's a pity that the villain army is busy and I don't have time to pay a visit. Since I met you today, let's toast you."

"I can't be a word of respect, hehe, Xiao Ke always heard that Zhao's Kunzhong is mostly busy with military affairs, and they are the pillars of Yuncheng County. Let Xiao Ke respect you." Song Jiang took the wine glass with both hands calmly, Facing Zhao Neng said.

Zhao Neng shook his head again and again: "Where is it, I should respect you."

"It should be Xiao Kejing's head." Song Jiang looked sincerely.

Zhao Neng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "If that's the case... then the head of the capital respects the chief, and the general respects the capital."

Song Jiang chuckled: "Dare not to obey orders."

At that moment, the two of them drank together with their hands covered, and then talked about the meeting at the Yamen's gate.

Zhao Neng offered another two glasses of wine to Song Jiang, wiped his mouth, picked up some meat with chopsticks, chewed it for a while and swallowed it, then said: "Brother Gongming, I really don't know what to do with you this time. , someone gave advice, saying that brother Gongming couldn't help the villain, and hoped that brother Gongming could save his life."

After speaking, he stood up, moved away from the table, and bowed to the ground.

Song Jiang was shocked when he saw it, and he quickly got up and bowed to Zhao Neng, saying, "I dare not accept this great gift, I just say it out loud, if Xiao Ke can do it, I will definitely help."

Only then did Zhao Neng give a wry smile, straightened up and sat down again: "Brother Gongming, you should know that we have lost a lot in encircling Liangshan this time."

"Xiao Ke has heard a little about how our army was defeated." Song Jiang also returned to his seat.

"Alas!" Zhao Neng sighed, probably to ask for help, and told the whole story of what happened along the way, and finally said: "After I was captured, I only met Zhu Du in the prison cell. Toutou and Lei Dutou, both of them were seriously injured, one was covered in blood, covered in a white cloth and still oozing out, the other was holding his stomach and couldn't get up."

Song Jiang gasped: "Is this group of people so extravagant?"

Zhao Neng smiled wryly: "Isn't that so? It's just that the villain can't figure out why he didn't throw back the heads of the two seriously injured, but brought back the villain's beard and tail."

Then the whole person leaned forward: "Brother Gongming, you must save my second brother."

"It's natural." Song Jiang agreed first, then stroked his well-cultivated short beard, and said thoughtfully: "If the thief wanted to kill Zhu Dian, they would have chopped them down with a knife, and they would not leave them there to live on their own." Self-destruction, could it be..."

"Could it be something?" Zhao Neng asked anxiously.

Song Jiang frowned and tilted his head, and said uncertainly: "Could it be that you want a ransom? Otherwise, why did you stop the bleeding of the wounded and imprison him again?"

Zhao Neng thought for a while, then patted the table and said: "It must be the place, otherwise why would these bandits let the villain back."

After finishing speaking, he drank the wine in the glass in one breath, put it heavily and said: "If you want money, you don't say it early. Let people guess and guess. I'm really anxious to death."

Song Jiang smiled when he heard the words, took the wine pot and poured another glass for each of them: "This is just Xiao Ke's nonsense, what those bandits think, but I can't be sure."

But Zhao Neng shook his head: "A group of thieves and grassroots, what else do they want besides money? I just don't know how to find them and wait for them to pay for ransom."

Song Jiang bowed his head and thought for a while, "There may be a turning point in this matter, and those bandits can't hold it and let it go."

Hearing this, Zhao Neng just bowed his head and said nothing, took two sips of mulled wine and slapped the table: "Thank you brother Gongming for clarifying the confusion today, the villain is worried about my second brother, I still have to go to the waterside."

After hearing this, Song Jiang stood up quickly and said: "Since this is the case, if you and I go together, Zhu Dian and Lei Heng are both alive and dead, and Xiao Ke is also worried."

Zhao Neng was overjoyed: "This is good."

At that moment, the two had another random match, Zhao Neng paid the bill, and the two went out to the edge of the water.

(End of this chapter)