Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Cooperation? Chief Ren actually wants to cooperate with me? Isn't that a joke?"

Shi Wenbin said, "You, Ren Yuan, have more influence in Yuncheng County than I do. What do you want to cooperate with me on?"

"Oh, Magistrate Shi, you don't know this, do you? Commander Zhang Shuye, who is currently in Jiangnan, should be arriving in Yuncheng soon."

“I have something to discuss with him in Yuncheng. As the magistrate of Yuncheng, shouldn’t you offer your assistance?”

Upon hearing Ren Yuan's words, Shi Wenbin almost laughed out of anger!

No, you're sitting in my seat now, looking at the documents I've approved, and you want me to say something? What am I supposed to say?

You, a great chieftain, are meeting with a great general, and then I'm supposed to express my opinion?

What, you want me to treat you?

"What are you saying, Chief Ren? Does Liangshan not even have the money to host a banquet? Do you need a mere county magistrate like me to pay for it?"

“Magistrate Shi, you misunderstand. I know you are an honest official with no extra money. It's Zhang Shuye, isn't he? He'll probably come to you and ask for your cooperation in taking me down. So, I'd like to cooperate with you.”

Ren Yuan smiled as he looked at Shi Wenbin. This guy's thought process was really novel. He actually thought of paying for a meal.

"Does Chief Ren mean that I should cooperate with you to arrest Lord Zhang Shuye?"

Shi Wenbin snorted coldly.

"Chief Ren, you are underestimating me too much!"

"As long as I, Shi Wenbin, wear the official robes of the imperial court, I am a member of the imperial court. If Chief Ren, you wish to force me to conspire with you to murder an official of the imperial court, I am afraid I cannot comply!"

Shi Wenbin's words were very righteous and awe-inspiring, but after he finished speaking, Ren Yuan and the others looked at him as if he were a fool.

Why are you all looking at me like that?

Shi Wenbin felt uncomfortable being stared at. Why were they looking at him like he was an idiot?

"When did I say I wanted to harm Zhang Shuye?"

Ren Yuan countered with a question.

"What? You...you don't want to harm Lord Zhang? This...this shouldn't be happening!"

Shi Wenbin was a little confused. If he wasn't going to harm Lord Zhang, then what did he need to cooperate with?

"In all these years of Liangshan, have we ever killed any loyal and virtuous people?"

Ren Yuan looked at Shi Wenbin.

"If you can name a good official who was killed by Liangshan, I will grant you one request."

"You and I……"

Shi Wenbin really wanted to name someone who had been mistakenly killed by Liangshan, but after thinking for a long time... apart from his brother Qiu Yu, to whom he had no news, he really couldn't think of anyone else.

Although official rumors suggest that many loyal officials of the court have died at Liangshan, such as Qin Ming, Xu Ning, Guan Sheng, and the seven military governors, etc.

But Shi Wenbin knew that all these people were living well on Liangshan! Many of them were still on the stone tablet that fell from the sky!

“I have a brother, Chou Yu…”

Shi Wenbin tried to speak, but was interrupted by Shi Qian before he could finish.

“Magistrate Shi, Brother Qiu is alive and well, and he keeps saying he wants to see you. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to say such things about him?”

"So you just say everything's fine and that's it? I haven't seen him in ages, and Lord Zhang's two sons are in your hands too. Who knows if they're alive or dead?"

Shi Wenbin's face turned slightly red, but he was still stubbornly holding on.

"You can say whatever you want, I didn't even see the real person!"

“Magistrate Shi, if you really want to see Brother Qiu Yu, it’s not impossible. Just cooperate with us this time, and I can let you meet.”

Ren Yuan said, "Since you, Shi Wenbin, value brotherhood, I don't mind letting you reunite with your brother."

"Is Chief Ren telling the truth?"

Upon hearing that he could meet Qiu Yu, Shi Wenbin's eyes lit up immediately.

"Realer than real gold."

"Alright! Then, Chieftain, you tell me, how do we plan to cooperate?"

Shi Wenbin stated that he was willing to cooperate with Liangshan in order to confirm the safety of his good brother!

Ren Yuan was taken aback. "Oh, it went so smoothly? Then what were you doing, giving such a passionate speech just now?"

"Okay, Uncle Zhang is coming, so you do this and that, and so on..."

……

Two days later, in the morning, at the south gate of Yuncheng.

A caravan of about twenty or thirty men arrived from the south, covered in dust.

The one leading the group was none other than Zhang Shuye.

"Deng Chun, why does my heart feel more and more uneasy the closer we get to Yuncheng?"

As Zhang Shuye watched Yuncheng draw ever closer, he felt a sense of unease.

"My lord, it must be because you are too worried about the young master that you are flustered."

Deng Chun comforted Zhang Shuye.

“My lord, my elder brother is right. You are probably worried that Ren Yuan will break his promise and hurt the young master.”

"But rest assured, I have investigated Liangshan. Compared to Fang La, their conduct is still commendable."

Tao Dong also chimed in from the side.

"It's not because of that, but because I'm worried that if Ren Yuan tries to get me to agree to some unreasonable requests after we meet, what should I do?"

Uncle Zhang waved his hand.

"My lord, are you saying that Ren Yuan will use the two young masters as bargaining chips to blackmail you?"

"That can't be right, I've never heard of Liangshan doing that."

Deng Chun said that Tian Hu from Hebei and Fang La had done this job before, but he had never heard of it in Liangshan.

“The past is the past, and the present is the present. Yuncheng is close to Liangshan. If we clash with Ren Yuan here, it will definitely be disadvantageous for us.”

"But if he's going to use the lives of my eldest and second eldest sons to make me do something that would betray the imperial court, I, I..."

Zhang Shuye had understood the principle that loyalty and filial piety cannot coexist since childhood, but only now did he realize just how weighty this statement truly was.

"My lord, if Liangshan really does this, then I, Deng Chun, will risk my life to escort you out of the city! And I will expose Liangshan's despicable deeds to the world!"

"The Liangshan bandits are only able to survive in the martial arts world because of their good reputation. Without that reputation, they are nothing!"

"Brother is right! Sir, don't be afraid! I, Tao Dong, am willing to risk my life to pave a way for you!"

"Moreover, these brothers behind us are all willing to die for you, sir! Brothers, aren't you!"

Tao Dong also loudly asked the soldiers behind him.

"I am willing to die for you, sir!"

The soldiers behind them also spoke up!

With the support of his two generals, Zhang Shuye felt more confident. He adjusted his mindset and continued forward.

Soon after, he saw the south gate of Yuncheng, and there were already people waiting at the south gate!

It was a lean man dressed in the clothes of a county magistrate, leading the county yamen runners, who lined up in a row at the entrance.

"Is the visitor Lord Zhang? I am Shi Wenbin, the magistrate of Yuncheng County, here to greet you!"

"Are you Shi Wenbin?"

Zhang Shuye had never met Shi Wenbin before, but he was somewhat surprised to see the lean man in front of him.

Could it be that he's been too busy with affairs in Yuncheng and lost weight from exhaustion?

"It is indeed Mr. Shi."

The lean man smiled, bowed, and made way for Zhang Shuye to enter the city.

"Sir, please enter the city!"

……