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

When the group arrived in the courtyard, they saw that the ten carts they had brought were now fully loaded.

"Brother, it's already past midnight, we should go," Shi Qian reminded him.

Zhao Yuan nodded, and the group pushed the cart, about to leave,

But Old Man Liu suddenly blocked their way.

"My lords, you won't go back on your promises to this old man, will you?"

The old man agreed to let Shi Qian become a spy for Liangshan, but there were conditions attached.

His condition was that Liangshan help him take revenge.

Just as Shi Qian was about to speak, Zhao Yuan stopped him and personally guaranteed it.

"Don't worry, sir. Your enemies are Liang Zhongshu and his wife, as well as that Steward Xie. Liang Zhongshu and his wife are involved in many things, and we can't take their lives yet. But Steward Xie will definitely not return to Daming Prefecture alive after he goes out to escort the birthday tribute this time."

"As for Liang Zhongshu and his wife, we will definitely help you get justice when the time is right."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Liu's eyes immediately reddened, and he bowed deeply, saying...

"This old man is powerless and dares not avenge his daughter. I entrust everything to you Liangshan kings!"

........

Pushing the cart back to the inn, Zhao Yuan arranged the night watch order and then went to sleep.

More than an hour later, the crowing of a rooster woke Zhao Yuan.

He got up and went to the courtyard, where he saw Han Bolong asking Jiao Ting for advice on sumo wrestling techniques.

"Brother!" The two greeted each other with clasped hands.

Before seeing Shi Qian, Zhao Yuan asked a question.

"After we came back, Brother Shiqian was worried that something might have happened at the prefectural government office, so he kept a close eye on its movements," Han Bolong replied in a low voice.

He had barely finished speaking when he saw the flea on the drum yawning and walk into the courtyard.

Seeing his exhausted face and bloodshot eyes, Zhao Yuan quickly urged him on.

"Brother, you've worked hard all night. Go and rest. We'll leave Daming Prefecture after noon."

"Brother's up?"

Shi Qian smiled and said, "Perfect, brother, come with me to see what's going on first, and then I'll go and rest when we get back."

Zhao Yuan was somewhat confused, but he followed the flea on the drum out of the inn.

Arriving at a market street, the two found a breakfast stall and each ordered a bowl of wontons.

While the shopkeeper was putting the wontons in the pot, Shi Qian whispered, "Brother, this street is the only way after you come out of the prefect's yamen. I just saw that Blue-Faced Beast Yang Zhi leading his men into the prefect's yamen. I suppose they will pass through here soon."

After finishing their respective wontons, the two ordered a bowl of soup noodles, which is what we now know as soup noodles.

I had only eaten half of it when I saw seven or eight dilapidated handcarts emerge from the back alley of the prefectural government office.

Most of the handcarts were haphazardly loaded with various odds and ends, but the lead one carried an old man with a sallow complexion and dark circles under his eyes.

Besides the person pushing the cart, there were also four or five men carrying loads on shoulder poles.

Another person, who was neither carrying a load nor pushing a cart, but simply carried a broadsword and a bundle, walked on either side of the group.

The man was muscular, with a blue birthmark on his face, and a pair of fierce eyes that constantly scanned his surroundings.

Seeing that the man was looking towards the breakfast stall,

Neither Zhao Yuan nor Shi Qian showed any unusual reaction; they simply observed the group with the same slight curiosity as before.

The man's gaze swept over the breakfast stall, past Shi Qian, and finally settled on Zhao Yuan.

This man is tall and strong, and doesn't look like an ordinary villager! Could he be a spy from somewhere, here to gather information about the birthday tribute?

The man with a birthmark on his face had just begun to have some doubts when he saw Zhao Yuan smile and cup his hands in greeting.

The man instinctively returned the greeting with a cupped-hand salute, then realized he might have overreacted.

If this person were truly a spy for the bandits, how could he be so casual and at ease?

Their eyes probably wanted to see right through the suitcases on their bike racks!

Little did he know the contents of those carrying baskets.

Zhao Yuan and Shi Qian had not only seen it before, but they had also put it in themselves, so naturally they had no interest in it now.

After the group of people passed by, Shi Qian whispered, "Brother, the man with the blue birthmark on his face just now was Yang Zhi, the Blue-Faced Beast."

Zhao Yuan sighed, "The descendants of loyal ministers and generals have actually fallen so low as to deliver bribes to treacherous officials. I wonder what the old General Yang would think if he knew this in the afterlife!"

......

In the afternoon, after everyone had rested enough,

Only then did Zhao Yuan order the journey to begin, returning to Liangshan.

Those handcarts have been replaced with horse-drawn carriages, and the valuables on them have all been transferred to the carriages using version 2.0.

Zhao Yuan had Shi Xiu and Shi Qian load nearly 30,000 strings of cash onto a cart and send it to Lu Junyi's residence.

Upon hearing from a servant that someone had come to deliver gifts to Master Lu, Yan Qing, as the steward, immediately came out to greet them.

Upon seeing Shi Xiu and Shi Qian at the door, Yan Xiaoyi was naturally somewhat surprised.

"Brothers, what brings you here?"

"Brother Yanqing, this is a generous gift from our elder brother to your Master Lu."

Shi Qian patted the wooden box on the cart: "Remember, you can only open the box to check when it's just you and Master Lu!"

"this......"

Before Yan Qing could ask what had happened...

Shi Qian and the other man had already turned and quickly left...

Chapter 222 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Yan Qing had the boxes moved into the hall.

After Lu Junyi returned from Jieku, he immediately told him about this in a low voice.

"A generous gift from Chief Zhao?"

Lu Junyi, like Yan Qing, was somewhat puzzled.

Upon entering the hall, Lu Junyi went to open the wooden box.

Remembering Shi Qian's instructions, Yan Qing quickly sent all the other servants out.

When they opened the wooden crate, both of them were immediately stunned.

The wooden box contained gold nuggets, silver ingots, pearls, and gemstones.

"Strange, why did Chief Zhao give me so many things?" Lu Junyi wondered.

Yan Qing had already figured some things out, and he quickly checked the valuables in the wooden box.

"Master, these valuables amount to approximately 30,000 strings of cash."

Thirty thousand strings of cash?

Lu Junyi also began to understand: "Xiao Yi, could this be...?"

"Just as the master wanted,"

Yan Qing nodded and said, "It must be that Chief Zhao returned to Daming Prefecture this time and learned about the extortion of the 18 people by Liang Zhongshu. Because this matter is related to Liangshan, he sent this money as compensation."

"...Even without the Liangshan incident, how many years has Liang Zhongshu extorted money from us?"

Lu Junyi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said,

"No, we can't accept this money! Chief Zhao is a man of honor, and we can't let ourselves be laughed at!"

"Liangshan is currently developing and is certainly short of gold and silver. Xiao Yi, you lead the way, and we'll go find Chief Zhao together to return this money to them!"

The master and servant, accompanied by a servant pushing a cart, arrived at the inn where Yan Qing had met Zhao Yuan and the others the day before.

However, they learned from the shopkeeper that Zhao Yuan and the others had already left almost an hour ago.

"Master, what should we do now?" Yan Qing asked.

"Take the box back and seal it with tape,"

Lu Junyi thought for a moment and said, "Once the epidemic subsides next year, I will go to Shandong myself and find that marsh to return the money!"

........

Zhao Yuan and his group left Daming Prefecture City much later than Yang Zhi.

After leaving the city, although they tried to choose routes with fewer people,

But because there were horse-drawn carriages, they naturally couldn't take those shortcuts or paths.

Furthermore, with the birthday tribute already in hand, and after more than half a month of hard work,

Zhao Yuan didn't want everyone to suffer any more, so he traveled for two days and rested for one day.

This put them quite a distance behind Yang Zhi and his group.

When Zhao Yuan and his group first entered Yunzhou territory,

Yang Zhi and his group have already entered Jizhou and are almost at Huangnigang!

........

Chao Gai quickly learned that the birthday gifts had entered Jeju Island.

That day, King Chao summoned everyone back to the manor, and the group reconfirmed their action plan.

That evening, Chao Gai and his men hid their broadswords in the carts, filled seven carts with Jiaozhou dates, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Princess Tianshou, on the other hand, was discussing with He Zhongbao and He Chai what to do after they had robbed the birthday tribute.

"Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Liu Tang, and Gongsun Sheng are all people you shouldn't associate with,"

Princess Tianshou said worriedly, "We mustn't let our efforts be in vain."

"Your Highness, please rest assured,"

He Zhongbao assured, "When Wu Yong went to get the sleeping potion, I followed him to the herbal medicine shop and bought the same herbs according to his prescription."

"In the past two days, I have tested the effects of the medicine on pigs and dogs."

"Tomorrow, after we rob the birthday gifts and return to the manor, Chao Gai and the others will surely drink to celebrate. We will then slip sleeping potion into their drinks to knock them all out, and then we can take the birthday gifts and head north to return home immediately!"

Seeing that He Zhongbao had arranged everything properly,

Princess Tianshou was relieved. After the three of them cleaned their weapons, they went back to their rooms to rest.

The next day, very early in the morning,

After a good night's rest, everyone was refreshed and got up together to pack their things.

Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Liu Tang, Gongsun Sheng, and He Zhongbao disguised themselves as customers selling dates.

Princess Tianshou, with her fair skin, did not look like a laborer, so she disguised herself as a scholar, while He Chai was her servant and attendant.

The two men took the lead and rode their horses towards Huangnigang.

The remaining five men, including Chao Gai, pushed the cart, avoiding the main road and taking only a side road.

They arrived at the inn at the foot of Huangni Ridge before dark.

Princess Tianshou and He Chai were drinking in the main hall.

Upon seeing Chao Gai and the others, she nodded slightly, then pretended not to recognize them, and they all went to rest.

On the third day, before dawn,

Chao Gai and his party got up, pushed the cart carrying dates, and walked along the path into the depths of Huangni Ridge.

Princess Tianshou and He Chai waited until the sun rose.

They then left the inn and went up to Huangni Ridge.

The two waited on a high slope in the forest, looking down at the path below.

They stayed until noon.