Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"Master, those Hebei refugees have only recently arrived at Liangshan. How loyal can they be to Liangshan?"

Wu Yong said meaningfully, "Even if Liangshan's military strength really increases significantly, it will only benefit us, not harm us!"

"Sir, what do you mean?"

Chao Gai paused for a moment, then suddenly understood.

"Does the gentleman intend for Liangshan and Huang An to both suffer heavy losses?"

"That's right!"

Wu Yong explained with a hint of smugness, "When two tigers fight, there has to be a winner and a loser. If Liangshan loses, Dongxi Village will have one less den of thieves. If Liangshan wins, Huang An will have lost his troops. How can he stay in Xixi Village? It would be good enough if he doesn't get punished by Jizhou Prefecture!"

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"Wouldn't it be even better if they both suffered heavy losses? Huang An could go back to Jizhou, while you, Master, could take the opportunity to seize the waterfront with your men. With such a prime location, even without resorting to robbery, you could make a fortune just by using it for private trade!"

"As for the Lord's concern about Liangshan's retaliation, that's even simpler,"

Wu Yong laughed and said, "Master, don't get involved. Just tell Zhu Tong and Lei Heng that Liangshan has plenty of money and provisions!"

"The two of them lost their troops at the hands of Liangshan last time. After returning to Yuncheng, they were severely reprimanded by the county magistrate and received a lot of beatings! They probably already harbored hatred for Liangshan!"

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"Given this opportunity, they will surely seek revenge, and will then speak to Huang An on their behalf!"

"But won't this harm them?"

Chao Gai was a man of honor, and since he was acquainted with Zhu Tong and Lei Heng, he couldn't bear to cheat them.

"The owner of the village!"

Wu Yong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Zhu Tong and Lei Heng are head constables of the county government, and they are enemies of Liangshan. Even if they don't speak up for Huang An, they will eventually clash with Liangshan. Do you think Liangshan will let them off then?"

"That's true!"

Chao Gai was finally persuaded and hurriedly sent his servants to invite Zhu Tong and Lei Heng over as guests.

These two men were in Xixi Village at the time. Originally, Shi Wenbin, the magistrate of Yuncheng County, sent them here to serve as his guides to Huang An and to help the Jizhou troops wipe out Liangshan!

Who knew that after Huang An entered Xixi Village, he refused to move again!

The two were at their wits' end and were just about to find a place to drown their sorrows when Chao Gai's servants came looking for them.

Upon hearing that Chao Gai wanted to treat the two to drinks, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng readily agreed.

Upon arriving at Chao Gai's manor in Dongxi Village, the two men made no attempt to stand on ceremony.

They all drank heartily.

As the wine flowed freely, the two couldn't help but begin to complain to Chao Gai about the frustrations they had felt working under Huang An these past few days!

Seeing this, Wu Yong reminded the two that there was a lot of money on Liangshan Mountain.

If Huang An were informed of this, he would be eager to go and wipe out Liangshan!

Even if the two don't get a share of Liangshan's wealth, they can still redeem themselves by making amends and erasing the blame for their crushing defeat at Liangshan earlier this year!

Chapter 141 Where did Huang An go?

Lei Heng was immediately tempted after hearing Wu Yong's words.

He subconsciously glanced at Zhu Tong beside him.

I wanted to see what this colleague thought.

But Zhu Tong seemed to be drunk, lying on the table and muttering nonsense.

"That Chief Zhu got drunk really fast today!"

Lei Heng shook his head with amusement, then stood up and said with a righteous expression,

"There's no time to lose. I'll go report to the militia commander right now, so that the villagers of Xixi Village can suffer less from the ravages of war!"

After saying that, the winged tiger hurriedly left.

Watching Lei Heng's departing figure, Wu Yong glanced at Zhu Tong, who was slumped over the table.

"Chief Zhu, the person has already left."

Chao Gai, still somewhat bewildered, saw Zhu Tong, who had been slumped over the table babbling incoherently, suddenly sit up, fully lucid.

“I know that my little tricks can’t fool Mr. Jia Liang.”

"Chief Zhu, you?!" Chao Gai's eyes widened.

Zhu Tong looked at him and sighed, "Master, your Dongxi Village has also been harmed by that Huang An. You want to shift the blame eastward, but you are unwilling to take the lead yourself. Why do you have to drag us into this mess?"

"this......"

Chao Gai felt somewhat ashamed upon hearing this, but Wu Yong, standing to the side, seemed completely unconcerned.

"Chief Zhu is mistaken. If you can see that this is a way of shifting the blame, how could Chief Lei not see it? But he still did it anyway, so how can you blame me for dragging you into this mess!"

"He's blinded by the wealth of Liangshan! That's why he's so obsessed!"

Zhu Tong said irritably, "This Liangshan is clearly a murky pool. One wrong step and you'll fall in and never get out! Lei Heng has an elderly mother at home. If something happens to him, how will you two explain it to his family?"

Chao Gai knew he was in the wrong, and being a man of honor, he quickly spoke up to vouch for him.

"Don't worry, Chief Zhu. If Chief Lei is really captured by Liangshan, I will give up all my family property to save his life!"

Seeing that Chao Gai had said this, Zhu Tong didn't say anything more.

After drinking two more rounds of wine at the manor, he got up to say goodbye.

"Chief Zhu, why the rush? Have a couple more drinks!"

Chao Gai tried to persuade Zhu Tong to stay, but Zhu Tong shook his head and said...

"Commander Lei must have already met Huang An by now. That fellow is greedy for money. If he's tempted, he'll probably muster his troops right away. If I arrive late, I'll get a scolding from him again!"

After speaking, Zhu Tong cupped his hands in a respectful greeting to Chao Gai and Wu Yong, and was about to turn and leave.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a farmhand from Dongxi Village rushed in in a panic.

"Master, something terrible has happened! The Liangshan bandits have already invaded Dongxi Village!"

"what?"

Chao Gai was immediately shocked. Zhu Tong, who was standing next to him, grabbed the servant's arm and asked, "What exactly happened? Explain yourself quickly!"

"These past two days, Huang Tuanlian's soldiers have been harassing the village, so the manor lord asked me to keep an eye on things in Xixi Village so we can prepare in advance,"

The servant said in alarm, "Shortly after Commander Lei returned to Xixi Village, I saw many soldiers suddenly emerge from the woods outside the village, carrying the banner of Liangshan!"

"Huang Tuanlian has more than a thousand men. Not only are Liangshan not afraid of him at all, but they also dare to take the initiative to attack?" Wu Yong asked in surprise.

"Master, please quickly gather the villagers of Dongxi Village and come with me to attack!"

Zhu Tong urged, "We're already late. If we delay any longer, Huang An will blame us again!"

Last time, Chao Gai watched as the troops of Yuncheng were defeated by Liangshan, and Huang An took the opportunity to blackmail and extort him, spending four or five thousand strings of cash to settle the matter.

This time, they dared not delay. They quickly gathered the villagers and armed themselves with weapons. Chao Gai personally led the team, heading towards Dongxi Village with Zhu Tong.

The two of them thought that, despite their hurried pace,

They can always catch up with this big battle.

But even though they could already see Xixi Village, they still didn't hear the slightest sound of fighting!

"Strange, why is there no sound at all?"

Chao Gai was somewhat puzzled, and Zhu Tong, who was standing next to him, also frowned and said, "Could it be that Commander Huang has already led his troops to defeat the Liangshan bandits?"

"If that's the case, I'm afraid we'll both be subjected to their harassment again!"

Chao Gai gave a bitter smile, and dared not hesitate any longer.

He hurriedly led his servants and followed Zhu Tong towards Xixi Village.

We've reached the village entrance and are about to enter.

Wu Yong suddenly noticed something on the flagpole at the village entrance.

The villagers' heads that Huang An had specially hung up as a protest are no longer there.

His expression changed instantly, and he hurriedly shouted loudly,

"Not good! Master, Chief Zhu, retreat immediately!"

Chao Gai and Zhu Tong hadn't reacted yet.

Then a drum sounded from Xixi Village, and immediately a hundred or so people, divided into ten or so small groups, rushed towards them!

Although the attacking soldiers did not carry flags, their peculiar infantry formation immediately made Chao Gai and his men recognize them as the Liangshan army!

what happened?

This is Xixi Village, where Huang Tuanlian led his troops to garrison!

Now, however, it was the Liangshan soldiers who broke through from within.

Then wouldn't Huang An already be...?

Chao Gai and the others dared not think any further, and there was no time for them to ponder it any longer.

The small formation of Liangshan soldiers had already reached them.

The servants of Chao Gai's manor had already witnessed the power of this formation from afar last time.

However, the soldiers of Yuncheng were the ones who suffered last time, but this time it's their turn!

The moment they made contact with the Liangshan army, most of the front-line retainers had already fallen.

Seeing their comrades in front of them fall to the ground, groaning in agony, the villagers behind them immediately recalled the tragic scene of the Yuncheng army last time.

In a panic, without thinking, he turned and fled for his life!

No matter how much Chao Gai shouted, they dared not stop!

Seeing that the servants were terrified,

Chao Gai gritted his teeth and hurriedly tried to signal Zhu Tong and Wu Yong to evacuate.

But when I turned my head, I saw...

Wu Yong had already fallen to the ground, and his two copper chains, which he always carried, had also fallen to the side.

Several Liangshan soldiers were pointing their spears at his throat, which terrified Wu Yong so much that he dared not move.

On the other side, Zhu Tong was also entangled by a burly man with broad shoulders, wielding a 2.0-meter-long mountain-splitting axe!

Chao Gai, wielding a broadsword, was about to go to Wu Yong's rescue.

Then he saw a man wielding a hooked spear blocking his way.

The two exchanged blows for several rounds.

Chao Gai was gradually overwhelmed by that strange spear technique.

Just then, he suddenly heard someone speaking beside him.

"Teacher Xu, do you need my help?"

Chao Gai instinctively turned his head to look.

Only then did they realize that Zhu Tong had been defeated without them noticing!

He was being bound with ropes by the Liangshan soldiers at that moment.

Seeing that his two companions had been captured, Chao Gai's mind went blank.

As the broadsword was swung, a weakness was revealed.

He was suddenly flicked away by the man wielding the hook-and-sickle spear.

He then deflected the broadsword, and the sharp spearhead immediately came to rest before Chao Gai's throat!

Chapter 142 All in One Piece

"Tied!"

The man wielding the hook-and-sickle spear shouted, and the soldiers beside him quickly came over and tied up Chao Gai as well.

Zhu Tong, who was standing to the side, was still somewhat dazed.