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

Chapter 204 This Year's Birthday Gifts

"Although I've secretly learned martial arts from Wu Li over the years, and with Uncle Ye Qing's guidance, seeking revenge against Tian Hu is still a pipe dream,"

At this point, Qiong Ying suddenly became hesitant and stammering.

"So, I guess..."

Zhao Yuan helped her say what she wanted to say.

"You want me to avenge you in the future?"

"Um,"

Qiongying nodded vigorously: "Since you have great ambitions, you will fight Tian Hu sooner or later. I only hope that in the future, after you have defeated Tian Hu and Wu Li, you can hand them over to me. I want to kill them myself to pay tribute to our parents."

As she finished speaking, tears welled up in the girl's eyes again.

"Okay, don't worry,"

Zhao Yuan felt a pang of heartache seeing this and gently pulled Qiongying into his arms.

"Since you call me elder brother, I will treat you as a younger sister. I will take care of your grievances."

"Brother..."

Qiongying looked up at Zhao Yuan gratefully, then remembered something and quickly said,

"By the way, elder brother, where is Brother Shiqian?"

"What, do you need to see him?"

"Um,"

The girl replied, "I've been out here for almost half a year now. I don't need to worry about Wu Li, but Uncle Ye Qing and Aunt Ye Qing have always treated me like their own daughter. I want to send them a letter to let them know I'm safe and sound, and also to tell them about my brother... what's going on here."

"This matter is confidential. If it is leaked, Uncle Ye Qing and Aunt Ye will be in trouble. That's why I wanted to ask Brother Shi Qian to make the trip in person."

After Qiong Ying finished speaking, Zhao Yuan looked troubled.

"Sister, to be honest, Brother Shi Qian has been out on business these past two days,"

He looked around and, seeing that no one else was around, asked in a low voice,

"Does the young lady know about the birthday tribute?"

"Is this the birthday gift that Liang Zhongshu of Daming Prefecture sends to the treacherous minister Cai Jing every year?"

Qiongying's eyes lit up immediately. She grabbed Zhao Yuan's arm and asked excitedly, "..."

"Brother Shiqian went to investigate this? Is your brother planning to rob the birthday tribute?"

"This birthday tribute was originally the ill-gotten gains that Liang Zhongshu had plundered from the people of Daming Prefecture,"

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "Now, in order to treat the epidemic, the mountain stronghold provides food and lodging for the poor and waives the cost of medicine. The sheds are losing one or two thousand strings of cash every day."

"Although we have received some subsidies from the wealthy households at the inn, there are only a few who can afford to spend thirty or forty strings of cash a day. Once these people recover, and we don't know how long the plague will last, we will run out of income. The stronghold can't just sit and eat its own money."

"Robbing this 100,000 strings of birthday gifts will at least make the mountain stronghold more financially secure."

"Brother, can you take me with you when you rob the birthday gifts?"

Qiongying grabbed Zhao Yuan's arm, her expression full of pitiful pleading,

"I've been cooped up in the mountains for over a month, and I'm almost going to get sick!"

Looking at her like this, Zhao Yuan felt that her "pitiful" demeanor was somewhat contrived.

He immediately realized that this was exactly the act Liu Huiniang had deliberately put on earlier.

"You silly girl, you don't learn anything good, you only learn these things!"

Zhao Yuan chuckled and pinched Qiong Ying's still slightly chubby cheeks.

"You saw it just now, my brother doesn't fall for that."

Qiongying blushed, angrily slapped away Zhao Yuan's lewd hand, and said somewhat embarrassedly,

"I just want to give it a try... So, brother, will you agree or not?"

Hearing the girl's sweet and innocent voice, Zhao Yuan was much more doting on Qiong Ying and naturally wouldn't refuse her.

"Alright, once Brother Shiqian sends back news that the stronghold has a plan, I will definitely take you with me when we make our move."

"As for the matter you want to ask Brother Shiqian for help with, I will speak to Brother Shiqian personally after this matter is over."

......

Qiongying went to chat with Madam Lin.

Zhao Yuan went to the room where Lin Chong was recuperating and, as An Daoquan had instructed, spoke to Lin Chong from a distance of about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

"The matter of the birthday tribute involves the treacherous minister Cai Jing,"

Lin Chong reminded them, "No matter how much trouble our Liangshan cause in Shandong, as long as it doesn't involve the treacherous officials in the court, they generally won't pay any attention to us."

“But Cai Jing’s birthday gifts were robbed last year. If they are robbed again this year, Cai Jing will surely be furious. At that time, that guy may disregard the plague and send a large army to attack Liangshan.”

"Brother, rest assured, I have already considered this possibility."

Zhao Yuan replied, "The epidemic situation in Shandong has improved considerably, so we cannot allow the treacherous minister to cause further damage. Therefore, this time, we must keep a low profile, keep it secret, and I do not plan to take action within Shandong."

Although it may be inappropriate to say it this way, this plague has indeed been more beneficial than harmful to Liangshan.

By offering free treatment for the plague, Liangshan gained immense prestige among the poor people of Shandong.

Even those wealthy households, although they were swindled out of a lot of money by Liangshan,

But they all already knew that Liangshan was different from other outlaw bandits.

As long as they don't violate Liangshan's taboos or oppress ordinary people, Liangshan will not touch them.

This is undoubtedly the most important point for wealthy families who made their fortunes not through land but through business.

Many wealthy merchants were still receiving medical treatment at inns one day, and the next day they began negotiating business with Liangshan.

Other than that,

The disaster victims in Hebei, due to this epidemic, have also become completely disillusioned with the imperial court.

Furthermore, although An Daoquan and his wife did their best to treat the patients during this plague,

However, the health of the disaster victims was already poor, especially the elderly and the weak, whose conditions worsened after contracting the plague.

Most of the survivors were healthy young adults.

Many of these young men had relatives who died in floods, famines, and plagues.

They already hated the Song court to the core, and it was practically the best source of soldiers for a rebellion.

Liangshan saved the lives of these young men during the plague, so there's no need to worry about their loyalty.

Zhao Yuan had already asked Du Qian to make a rough estimate.

From this group of Hebei disaster victims, Liangshan alone could select at least six or seven thousand strong and capable soldiers.

By then, with the current cavalry, infantry, and naval forces, Liangshan will have over ten thousand soldiers, enough to dominate Shandong.

The reason Zhao Yuan chose to discreetly rob the birthday gifts was not because he feared Cai Jing would send people to punish him.

Rather, they feared that if war broke out, the plague, which they had finally managed to control, would spread again.

After operating in Shandong for some time, Liangshan had already established connections and gained prestige.

If Shandong were to be destroyed by the epidemic at this time...

Wouldn't all the hard work Liangshan has put in be for nothing...?

Chapter 205 How did Qiong Yao Nayan end up in Song territory?

Shi Qian has not yet sent back news of the birthday gifts.

Deng Fei and Yang Lin, who ran a horse market in Yinmachuan, Hebei, first sent a letter to Zhao Yuan.

After reading the letter, Zhao Yuan's expression immediately became somewhat strange.

"Brother, has something happened?" Zhu Gui asked.

"It's nothing serious. It's just that Duan Jing, the golden retriever who supplies horses to the Yinmachuan Horse Market, stole a precious horse named Zhaoye Jade Lion from the Jin people and said he would personally deliver it to me from the south."

Zhao Yuan briefly explained the contents of the letter.

"Brother, your martial arts are superb. With this fine horse, you will be even more powerful on the battlefield," Qiongying said happily.

“I don’t think my brother is very happy. Is there something wrong?” Shi Xiu asked.

"I'm naturally delighted to have such a fine horse, but with such a magnificent steed, I'm afraid it might cause trouble on the way south," Zhao Yuan said with some concern.

In the original Water Margin timeline, it was precisely this Jade Lion that sparked the conflict between Liangshan and Zengtou City, ultimately leading to Chao Gai's death.

Zhao Yuan wasn't afraid of Zengtou City, but rather that this was the time to plan the birthday tribute, and he really didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

......

But as the saying goes, things don't always go as planned.

The more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.

That day, Shi Xiu was inspecting the inn.

Suddenly, a soldier came to report that a group of men was chasing a wounded man in the distance.

Without much thought, Shi Xiu summoned a troop of cavalry and rushed over.

Upon approaching, he shouted loudly,

"Who are you? This is Liangshan territory! Private fights are strictly prohibited!"

"Liangshan?"

The wounded man, covered in blood, immediately relaxed upon hearing Shi Xiu's shout.

He then fell off his horse and immediately lost consciousness.

The group of men pursuing them from thirty or forty paces away also stopped after spotting Shi Xiu's cavalry.

Seven or eight people were gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

"Take this man to the military camp and let Doctor An treat him,"

Shi Xiu gave the order.

Two soldiers carried the unconscious man on their backs and headed towards the military camp on the north bank.

Shi Xiu led the others forward on horseback, frowning as he looked at the pursuing group.

"Who are you people? How dare you commit violence in Liangshan territory?"

The leader of that group, though dressed in Song Dynasty clothing,

However, his appearance was clearly different from that of a Han Chinese, and he asked in somewhat awkward Mandarin.

"What is Liangshan? Isn't this part of the Song Dynasty's territory?"

"You are not from the Song Dynasty?" Shi Xiu's face immediately darkened.

"I am Qiong Yaonayan, a citizen of the Great Liao Kingdom,"

The man identified himself: "That Han Chinese just now offended my master. You Song man, hand him over at once!"

"Heh, who do we have here? Turns out it's just a Liaoning dog!"

Shi Xiu recalled the Han Chinese face and clothing of the man from earlier, and immediately let out a cold laugh.

"This is Han Chinese territory. Who gave you Liao dogs the right to run wild?"

"You Song pig, how dare you insult the people of my Great Liao Kingdom!"

Upon hearing this, the Liao man, Qiong Yaonayan, flew into a rage. He swung his spear and charged towards Shi Xiu.

But someone nearby quickly pulled her back, and after the two whispered a few words,

Qiong Yaonayan glared at Shi Xiu with resentment, then turned her horse around with her companions and rode north.

"Chief Shi Xiu, should we pursue them?" a soldier asked.

"The situation is not clear yet, so don't act rashly."

Shi Xiu waved his hand: "Let's go back and report to our chieftain brother first, and then wait for the injured man to wake up and find out the reason for what happened before we make any plans."