The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 118 Killing Gold Thieves

Beggars were ordered not to spread the news.

But such an order is simply nonsense...

They had just left the venue of the Beggars' Gang Conference and immediately spread the news to Jimo County.

At first, the rumor was that "a prince escaped from the Jin Kingdom", but later it became more and more abnormal, and it became "a certain prince single-handedly killed ten thousand Jin soldiers, picked the head of the Jin general from among the thousands of soldiers, unfortunately he was shot in the back, fell into the sea, and floated to Jimo County."

Even novels don’t dare to write like this... even storytelling doesn’t dare to comment like this... even acting doesn’t dare to act so exaggerated... only the “Dynasty Warriors” series of games dare to create such exaggerated effects.

But the beggars dared to spread the news, and those who heard it actually believed it.

Suddenly, people were talking about this incident everywhere in the streets and alleys of Jimo County...

A few days later, Su Qier arrived at Jiaoshui County and began to build the Jiaoshui branch of the Beggars' Gang. At the same time, the news that a certain prince single-handedly killed 10,000 gold thieves began to spread in Jiaoshui County.

After a few days, the news took off and began to spread to the surrounding counties along with the movement of porters and merchants.

In the surrounding Laizhou City, Laiyang County, Zhaoyuan County, and Muping County... everywhere began to spread the story of a certain prince who single-handedly fought his way through an encirclement of 100,000 Jin bandits, advancing and retreating three times, and taking out fifty Jin generals with his spear. These fifty generals, surprisingly, all had names and nicknames. The prince had fought his way through the Jin army, but was tragically shot in the back and fell into the sea, drifting to Jimo... and was now recuperating in the mountain stronghold of Prince Gong.

Five days after the news broke...

Wu Jialiang is here!
Arriving at Wangjiazhuang Fort, Wu Jialiang rushed straight to Gong Erniang and Qian Zhuoqun and said, "You two, I heard a piece of news in the county town... I don't know if it's true or not, so I came here to tell you..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw a young man in a prince's robe dining in the next room. He had a handsome face, fair skin, and an outstanding temperament, with an aristocratic air...

This setting of Wang Zhaoye is an empty shell, but an empty shell also has basic laws. Although he has no detailed personality settings such as personality and hobbies, all his behaviors are no different from those of a prince in the Song Dynasty.

Wu Jialiang only needed to observe a few of his movements to determine that this was no ordinary person's act. Wu Jialiang had seen countless ruffians, but none could have feigned such aura. Even if Wu Jialiang were to find someone else to portray him, no one could have replicated that noble air.

He was startled and quickly lowered his voice and asked, "Is that the prince in the rumors?"

Madam Gong Er pretended to be angry and said, "I have strictly ordered my subordinates not to spread this information. Where did you hear about him?"

Wu Jialiang: "It's spread all over the county! Even people in the surrounding counties know about it. What kind of strict order do you have to keep it secret?"

Madam Gong Er: “…”

Wu Jialiang secretly glanced at the man a few more times and whispered, "Is he really a prince?"

Madam Gong Er: "Guaranteed authenticity!"

Wu Jialiang: "Who is it?"

Madam Gong Er: "With Wang Zhaoye."

Wu Jialiang: "I don't think he looks like someone who has slaughtered a hundred thousand Jin soldiers."

Madam Gong Er was at a loss for words. "That's just a rumor, right? He was just an ordinary, powerless prince who faked his own death and escaped to our place. He drifted on the sea for a few days and nearly died. He drank too much water and has a bit of a memory now. How could he have defeated 100,000 Jin soldiers?"

Wu Jialiang lowered his voice and said, "The fools in the countryside spread the news, and when I heard it, it was like killing 100,000 gold thieves." Madam Gong Er said, "Well, since it has been spread out, I have no choice but to make it public."

Wu Jialiang: "No! We must not make this public. If we do, the Laizhou governor will definitely send someone to invite him to the state capital and then escort him back to Yangzhou. If we don't let him go, we will be accused of having ulterior motives and will ruin our reputation as a chivalrous man."

Madam Gong Er: "Then what should we do?"

Wu Jialiang gritted his teeth and said, "Wait! Wait until the day the Jin thieves actually attack before announcing it. Before that, let the news fly for a while. Oh, by the way, Ma must have heard the news too. She'll definitely come to ask about it in a few days. You must not let Ma know the exact news. They're not like me, they wouldn't dare do anything out of the ordinary."

Wu Jialiang left after he finished speaking. He didn't dare to stay here any longer. He couldn't let others know that he knew about the existence of Prince Zhao Zai in advance.

But just as he left, Ma Sheng and Ma Congyi, his uncle and nephew, arrived. They arrived at Wangjiazhuang Fort and, just like Wu Jialiang, quickly found Gong Erniang and Qian Zhuoqun. The first thing they said was, "We heard that there's a prince..."

However, Madam Gong Er stopped him and refused to let him see the figurine, making excuses and saying that the prince was not there.

When Ma saw Gong Erniang's attitude, she knew there must be something fishy going on.

But Ma didn't dare say anything to Gong Erniang, so she had to go back obediently and continue preparing for the war against the Jin.
-
October!

News came from Jinan Prefecture that the Jin army was arriving.

This news was spread by an express messenger who traveled eight hundred miles from north to south, shouting all the way through states and prefectures, heading towards Yangzhou.

After the prefect received the news, he immediately arranged for messengers to forward it to the surrounding counties.

For a moment, the entire Shandong area was shaken!

The rich quickly moved south with their families.

Those who were unable to migrate knelt down and kowtowed before the gods and Buddhas, praying that the Jin army could be stopped by the city of Jinan.

Everyone thought that this time the Jin bandits would do the same as the previous three times, attacking the Song Dynasty once and then withdrawing. No one knew that this time the Jin army would not be in a hurry to leave after defeating the Song Dynasty. Instead, they would support Liu Yu, the governor of Jinan, to establish the pseudo-Qi Kingdom and officially separate the Shandong region from the territory of the Song Dynasty.

As soon as Yue Wenxuan got up that day, he saw Wu Jialiang coming to Dongmiaozi Village.

Madam Gong Er came to greet him and they were sitting together discussing something.

Wu Jialiang: "The Jin army has reached Jinan! I don't know when they will come to us. I have an old brother named Guan Sheng, the Great Sword, who is now a general in Jinan City. He is a capable fighter and should be able to hold off the Jin thieves for a while. If Jinan City can hold out, that would be the best... If not, the Jin army will come to our Jiaodong."

Before he could finish his words, Yue Wenxuan appeared from nowhere and shook his head at him, saying, "Jinan can't hold out. It won't be long before the city of Jinan surrenders. Furthermore, the Jin army won't remain in Jinan forever. They'll bypass Jinan and head straight for Yangzhou."

"Huh?" Wu Jialiang's face showed an expression of disbelief. "How is this possible? Jinan City may be captured, but my brother Guan Sheng will never surrender to the Jin thieves."

Yue Wenxuan: "He won't surrender, but Jinan Governor Liu Yu will. And when he surrenders, he will definitely kill Guan Sheng, the one who refused to surrender. Guan Sheng won't live long."

Wu Jialiang was anxious: "Master Yue, do you have any basis for your statement?"

Yue Wenxuan smiled strangely: "If I say I saw this by observing the sky at night, would County Magistrate Wu believe me?"

(End of this chapter)