Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Brother Du, you flatter me. We're all just fellow travelers in this world, what's the trouble?"

After hearing Du Xue's words, Sun An laughed loudly:

"We Liangshan uphold justice on behalf of Heaven and value brotherhood above all else. Du Xue, just stay here with us. Come on, come on, let's go up the mountain together!"

"Thank you, Commander Sun An. However, we are, after all, under the command of the King of Huaixi Chu, and our identities are still somewhat sensitive. If we were to come up the mountain, would Liangshan not mind?"

Liu Min has lost weight and gotten much darker these past few days. If you don't look closely, you really can't tell that she's the same scholar-like strategist she used to be.

"The King of Huaixi Chu? What King of Huaixi Chu is there now?"

Sun An was clearly surprised after hearing Liu Min's words.

Who is this?

"Chief Sun is joking. My king is as famous in the martial arts world as Chief Ren of your stronghold..."

Liu Min was somewhat displeased. Although Ren Yuan's reputation was indeed greater than Wang Qing's, how could you, Sun An, belittle our king right in front of us?

"Brother, are you all unaware of what happened in Huaixi?"

Sun An looked at Liu Min's serious expression, and then at Du Xue and the others who also had somewhat puzzled expressions, and he was also puzzled.

Did Du Xue and the others not know about the situation in Huaixi?

What are they doing at Liangshan? Aren't they here to climb the mountain?

"Brother Sun An, what has happened to my king?"

"To tell you the truth, we were betrayed by a villain and ended up surrounded by the Western Army. After we fought our way out, we spent the last few days taking shortcuts to avoid being hunted down by the Western Army. We only relaxed when we arrived in your Liangshan territory."

"Brother Sun An, has a traitor truly emerged in Huaixi? What about my king?"

Du Xue explained, and it was clear that he truly did not know what had happened in Huaixi.

"It seems you really don't know. Someone, bring us a copy of our underworld tabloid."

Sun An instructed his soldiers to fetch a copy of a local gossip newspaper, which was, of course, something Ren Yuan had put together. It was published every two weeks and contained content including, but not limited to, gossip and anecdotes, important notices from Liangshan, interviews with Liangshan leaders, illustrations, and so on.

As soon as this product was introduced, it became popular among the people of the entire mountain. Firstly, it was cheap; secondly, the contents on it were quite interesting and could help pass the time; and thirdly, there was no fear of not being able to understand it, because Liangshan had special soldiers who would read newspapers to the illiterate villagers, and even encouraged the children studying at the Liangshan School to read newspapers to the adults.

Therefore, although this product has only been on the market for less than two months, the people love it very much.

"Chief Sun, this is..."

Du Xue and the others were somewhat puzzled as they took the papers handed to them by Sun An.

"This is a newspaper run by my older brother. It contains some information about the underworld. Here, this is the latest issue. It explains things about Huaixi quite clearly."

Upon hearing this, Liu Min immediately took the newspaper from Du Xue, opened it, and saw that at the very top of the newspaper, in very eye-catching large characters, it read:

"One of the Four Heroes of the Green Forest, Wang Qing of Huaixi, has accepted the imperial amnesty with 30,000 troops! He has been appointed as the Huaixi Military Commissioner!"

!!!

"What? This is impossible! My king, how, how could he..."

Liu Min looked incredulous, and then questioned Sun An:

"Commander Sun! What is the meaning of your chieftain Ren's actions? Why are you spreading rumors to slander my king!"

Although Du Xue wasn't as excited as Liu Min, he was still full of doubts!

The king has offered amnesty? Huaixi is gone?

“We’re not making this up. You don’t believe us? Fine, you can settle down at the foot of Liangshan Mountain first, and then you can send people to inquire yourselves. The whole bandit community should know about this in the last few days. You’ll find out the truth as soon as you investigate. Oh, and give me back the newspaper.”

Sun An shrugged. "If you don't believe me, then don't believe me. Why are you yelling at me? I wouldn't even bother mentioning the mess your boss made!"

We shouldn't have let you read the newspaper!

"Get on the ship. I have been ordered by the strategist to find you a temporary place to stay. You can gather information on your own in the next few days and then decide on your next move. Don't worry about food these days; Liangshan will provide it."

The news of Wang Qing's surrender was delivered to Liangshan by the Tianmu Legion with utmost urgency. The three strategists who remained behind held a meeting that day to prepare for accepting any troops that might come from Huaixi, because they were certain that not everyone in Huaixi was interested in surrendering.

Therefore, Sun An still values ​​Du Xue and his group quite a bit, even though it seems that they are still kept in the dark.

This also made Sun An feel incredulous. Wang Qing wanted to be recruited by the emperor, but he didn't tell his most capable fighter.

"Then thank you very much, Brother Sun, and thank you Liangshan for lending a helping hand."

Du Xue quickly expressed his gratitude, after all, their group of four or five thousand people were like rootless duckweed.

"Brother Du, you flatter me. Let's go."

Sun An signaled the remnants of the Huaixi army to board the boat, and Zhu Wu and the others left them a place to settle on a small island in the marsh. Of course, there were also Liangshan soldiers guarding the area.

After the remnants of the Huaixi army landed on the island, the first thing they did was to go to sleep without even setting up camp.

They were exhausted; several days of fleeing had pushed their nerves to the limit.

Now that they are finally safe, they don't care about anything else and just want to get a good night's sleep.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Brother Sun."

Seeing his men like this, Du Xue first breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Sun An.

"It's alright, that's how it is now that we're finally safe."

Sun An waved his hand:

"Brother Du, please rest for a while. I will have someone deliver ten days' worth of provisions to you later. You can settle down here for now. Of course, if you want to go out and gather information, just let us know, or we can leave you a few boats."

"Thank you, Brother Sun. I'm not questioning your character, it's mainly because of His Majesty..."

Before Du Xue could finish explaining, Sun An stopped him.

"Brother Du, there's no need to say more, I understand."

Sun An said to Du Xue:

"You can stay here in peace. The people from the imperial court wouldn't dare to act recklessly at Liangshan."

After Sun An left, Du Xue and the others also set up camp. Although they were now suspected of being dependent on others, the Liangshan soldiers treated them very politely.

Liu Min was curious, so he pulled a soldier aside and asked why. The soldier told him that it was the chieftain's requirement: to treat friends with the warmth of spring.

After hearing this, Liu Min's opinion of Ren Yuan rose even higher, but he was also sensible enough not to ask any further questions.

After the soldiers recovered, Liu Min sent several of his trusted confidants to inquire about the situation. During the waiting period, he was anxious every day, wishing he could know news about his king immediately.

He truly couldn't believe that the person who had told everyone in Fangshan that he was going to start a business had actually secretly surrendered to the government!

Your Majesty, what Liangshan said was false, wasn't it?

……

A few days later, the men Liu Min sent out returned. They all looked very dejected, and when they got off the ship, they were all crestfallen.

"How is it? Say something!"

"Yes, speak up, what happened? Has something happened to the King?"

Liu Min, Du Xue, and the others had been waiting for them on the shore. Seeing the expressions on these people's faces, they had a very bad feeling.

My king, is he really gone?

After being urged, the trusted confidants looked at each other and finally spoke:

"Strategist, Elder Du, what Liangshan said is all true..."

"Strategist, Boss Du, we've been betrayed! The King has already accepted the offer of amnesty!"

"Strategist, Boss Du, Huaixi is gone! Gone!"

……