Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Your benefactor, Instructor Wang Jin, is on my mountain right now. How about it, do you dare to come?"

Ren Yuan asked Ling Zhen with a smile.

"Is this true? Would you dare to tell me your name?"

Ling Zhen's previously dejected expression suddenly turned serious and earnest.

"What's there to be afraid of? Ren Yuan of Liangshan, the brothers in the Jianghu gave him a nickname: Optimus Prime."

Ren Yuan announced his name.

"Ah, I didn't expect it to be Brother Ren Yuan!"

Ling Zhen was also greatly shocked. Although he was a gunner, he was also skilled with sticks.

In recent years, Ren Yuan's name has been incredibly prominent.

"So, now, do you dare to come?"

“I naturally trust what you say, brother, but brother, could you tell me how my benefactor is doing now?”

Ling Zhen truly had feelings for Wang Jin; even in his current state, he still made sure to ask Wang Jin first.

"My senior brother was chased by Gao Qiu and was seriously injured. Now that the divine physician An Daoquan is treating him, he should be fine. His mother is also on the mountain, so he can fulfill his filial duties. It's just that he lacks a few particularly close and intimate people."

“Ling Zhen, since you have such a good relationship with my senior brother, why don’t you just come with me to Liangshan? It would be perfect for you.”

"Alright! I trust Optimus Prime, the one who commands half the world, he won't lie to me, I'll go with you!"

Ling Zhen agreed very quickly, without the slightest hesitation, which even made Ren Yuan wonder if he had long since given up on working at the armory and was just waiting for him to invite him.

"Congratulations, Brother Ling! Don't worry, once you get up the mountain, you'll see that our stronghold is full of heroes!"

Shi Qian greeted Ling Zhen with a cheerful smile. Seeing the village thriving made Shi Qian especially happy, as it also made him appear more professional. Why? Because everyone around him was a professional, so of course he looked professional too!

"Then go back and get ready, we're heading back tonight."

"Tonight? So soon?"

Ling Zhen was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, we're here on a mission."

Ren Yuan and Ling Zhen explained that they were there for Instructor Lin's family that night.

"I see, then brother, count me in!"

Ling Zhen naturally knew about Lin Chong's situation. He immediately expressed that he wanted to join in as well.

"Are you feeling alright right now?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat curious.

"Don't worry, brother, this little bit won't make you drunk."

Ling Zhen walked to the water vat, then plunged his head into it. After a while, he suddenly pulled his head out, shook it, and appeared remarkably clear-headed.

"Alright, then go back and get ready. We'll meet here tonight."

Ren Yuan took one look and thought, "Wow, this guy is ruthless. He's so ruthless to himself. I admire him."

"Brother, have you prepared your armor for this mission?"

Ling Zhen suddenly asked.

"Armor?"

Ren Yuan was taken aback. "Aren't we going to war? Why are we wearing armor?"

"It's better to be prepared. If you don't have any, I'll bring a few sets of paper armor over tonight."

"Ling Zhen, are there many suits of armor in the armory?"

Ren Yuan suddenly realized that Liangshan was currently lacking in armor, mainly because they didn't have any particularly good blacksmiths.

"The Tokyo Armory is managed fairly well."

Ling Zhen thought for a moment, "In other places, there will be discrepancies in the count to some extent, but Tokyo is different. The armor store is inspected every month. As far as I know, every month a new batch of iron armor, leather armor, and paper armor is brought in, and a batch of old ones are discarded."

"There are still some that get eliminated?"

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised. Was the Song Dynasty so wealthy that it could replace its armor every month? This was something he hadn't expected.

"Actually, it's not entirely like that. They just take some old armor, re-grind and polish it, and put it into the warehouse as new armor. In this way, the money meant to make new armor is embezzled."

"Can this still happen?"

Shi Qian and the others were dumbfounded. Wasn't this just putting something from the left pocket into the right pocket?

"Hmph, no wonder the Imperial Guards' fighting strength has been declining year by year. It's because there are too many of these petty and despicable things happening!"

Lu Zhishen originally came from the Western Army, so he was well aware of some of the unpleasant things that happened in the army.

He had heard of such acts as arsenal operations.

This leads to a situation where, sometimes on the battlefield, soldiers wearing new armor can have their armor easily breached by the enemy.

It was because of this iron armor that it was worn through more and more, until finally only a thin layer remained!

"Let's figure out a way to raid the armory later, since Liangshan is currently short of armor."

Ren Yuan gestured for Ling Zhen to leave first, and then he continued to discuss the specific situation with Lu Zhishen and the others.

Shenshi (3-5 pm) is coming soon.

The side door of Instructor Zhang's house creaked open.

With a wary expression on his face, Coach Zhang, whose hair was half-gray, quickly scanned his surroundings. After confirming that there was no movement, he quickly closed the door, walked into an alley, and prepared to go shopping.

"Instructor Zhang, where are you going?"

But before he had gone far, several of Gao Yanei's lackeys appeared, surrounded him, and looked at him with hostility.

"Hmph, I'm here to buy food, you'd better get out of my way."

Although Coach Zhang is old, he is still a coach, and his skills are not weak.

"Instructor, we can't get so angry. We're old acquaintances. After the young master becomes your son-in-law, we'll see each other every day, won't we?"

The lackeys grinned as they watched Instructor Zhang fool around.

“My daughter is already married. Go back and tell Gao Kan that in this life, my son-in-law is only Lin Chong. There is absolutely no possibility of him.”

"Hey, Instructor Zhang, don't be so absolute! Actually, anything is fine!"

"That's right, Instructor. Even the young master doesn't look down on your daughter, so stop pretending."

"Exactly! If you marry the young master, you'll have connections with the Grand Commandant. Who knows, you might even become the Chief Instructor of the Imperial Guards someday! Right? Think it over!"

"You'd better shut up, or I won't hesitate to break your legs!"

Instructor Zhang was furious, but he couldn't do anything about these scoundrels, and he couldn't really break their legs.

That Gao Kan is just putting on a show for the sake of appearances; he doesn't believe that guy can maintain his so-called composure.

Fortunately, her son-in-law is fine now. The people who contacted her a few days ago told her that her son-in-law is currently in Liangshan and is very safe.

Now, we must keep our family stable and find a way to send our daughter to Liangshan later.

"Instructor, let's go. Don't keep an eye on your daughter anymore. Girls grow up and leave home. Come drink with us and let the young master consummate his marriage soon."

Seeing that Instructor Zhang remained silent, the thugs became even more arrogant, but they did not notice that several figures had quietly appeared behind them.

"Snapped!!"

Several men struck at the same time, forcefully hitting the back of the thugs' necks. Their bodies went limp, and they passed out!

"Who are you?"

Instructor Zhang was shocked. They actually dared to attack Gao Yanei's men directly? Were these people suicidal?

"Instructor Zhang, Ren Yuan of Liangshan, on behalf of my senior brother Lin Chong, invite you to come up the mountain for a reunion."

"Are you my son-in-law's people?"

Instructor Zhang was overjoyed. "That's wonderful! My son-in-law is indeed alright!"

"Of course, Instructor Zhang, your senior brother is waiting for you at the mountain stronghold."

Ren Yuan smiled broadly; this operation had gone unexpectedly smoothly.

"Brother, what should we do with these people?"

Shi Qian asked.

"Tie them up together with Du Fei from before, but arrange for a few brothers to guard them. Use as many ropes as you can. If anyone wakes up, knock them out again."

"Then, our own people, disguised as servants, lured Gao Yanei into the trap."

"Wait a minute, brother, will this work?"

Shi Qian was a little unsure. Although Gao Kan, the son of a high-ranking official, was indeed ignorant and incompetent, he shouldn't be a fool, right?

"Let's give it a try. Of course, we'll ask around first to see if any of these people are willing to cooperate with us. If they are, then we can succeed."

Ren Yuan knew, of course, that this method wouldn't be easy to implement, but he had to give it a try.

"Then I'll go ask in a bit." Shi Qian quite liked this kind of defection work. In his words, getting rid of people like this would give him a break.

"Suit yourself. They're just a bunch of petty hooligans. If they don't have any lives on their hands, just punish them."

"I understand, brother."

"Instructor, please take me to see your wife. I have a letter from my senior brother here, one for you and one for your wife. After she reads it, she should be completely at ease. Actually, Instructor, my senior brother doesn't really want to divorce his wife; he just wants to protect you and your wife."

“I know, that’s why I disagree.” Instructor Zhang sighed, took the letter Lin Chong had written to him, read it, and was deeply moved.

“My son-in-law, you could say we all watched him grow up. His father died early on the battlefield. Later, he was taught martial arts by Teacher Zhou from the Imperial Guard’s martial arts school. After Teacher Zhou left the Imperial Guard, it was us old guys who helped him and watched him take over his father’s position step by step.”

“We know this child’s character better than anyone else. He’s certainly not the kind of person who would abandon his wife for no reason. But this child is too tolerant. Although it’s normal for military men to be tolerant in the Song Dynasty, he sometimes tolerates too much.”

Coach Zhang actually knew very well what kind of person his son-in-law was.

"Wait a minute, Coach, what was my sister-in-law doing when you came out?"

Ren Yuan suddenly remembered that in the original novel, Lin Chong's wife committed suicide.

If Coach Zhang were home, he certainly wouldn't let his daughter commit suicide, but if he weren't home...

"She's at home, with her maid Jin'er by her side... No way..."

From Ren Yuan's eyes, Coach Zhang understood what he was trying to say and was immediately alarmed.

"Instructor, hurry! Go back!"

Ren Yuan's expression also changed; he had thought of a terrible situation.

"go!"

Coach Zhang was also sweating profusely and quickly ran with Ren Yuan.

"Shi Qian, you're good at light footwork, hurry! Otherwise your sister-in-law will commit suicide."

Ren Yuan also rushed forward, while signaling Shi Qian to run ahead.

"Oh, Coach Zhang, where do you live?"

"There's an alley ahead! Turn left!"

……

At this moment, in Zhang Jiaotou's house, Lin Chong's wife, Zhang, was talking to her maid, Jin'er.

"Jin'er, go brew me a cup of fresh tea."

"But the master said that I should keep an eye on the young lady."

Jin'er was also a lovely maid who had been with Zhang Shi for many years and was always treated like a younger sister by Zhang Shi.

"Go on, I'm thirsty, Jin'er, you're the one who listens to me the most, right?"

Zhang was a very gentle woman. She had been married to Lin Chong for many years and had always been very kind, whether to Jin'er or to the poor.

"Then, I'll be back soon, Miss, please wait for me."

Jin'er thought for a moment. Making tea would be quick, so she would just go and come back quickly.

"Okay, we'll drink together when you get back."

Jin'er lifted the hem of her skirt and ran downstairs.

She knew that her mistress was very sad recently because her master's fate was unknown, so she wanted to spend more time with her.

But what she didn't know was that her young lady was actually a very determined person.

Once she's determined to do something, practically no one can stop her.

Just like now, she has decided to say goodbye to this world.

Because she felt that her husband was probably no longer alive.

That scoundrel Gao Yanei keeps harassing her, and her own father is having a hard time stopping him.

Moreover, there are now many different versions of what she says about her husband.

Father thought that if he wasn't told, he wouldn't know, but he forgot that Jin'er could easily reveal things unintentionally.

Since everything started because of me, then it will all end once I die.

She imagines that her husband is waiting for her underground.

Zhang slowly walked to the dressing table, looked at herself in the bronze mirror, and seemed to see the scene of her husband dressing her up.

"My husband, we will meet again soon."

Zhang took out a pair of scissors from the table and pointed them at her neck.

Two lines of clear tears flowed silently from Zhang's eyes.

Father, your unfilial daughter bids farewell.

"Sister-in-law! No!"

"Shi Qian, give me a hand!"

Just as Zhang was about to stab herself with the scissors, she suddenly heard a different sound coming from outside the window.

Then, the next moment, a burly man smashed through the window and rushed in!

Zhang was startled and immediately pointed the scissors at the person who came.

"Sister-in-law! Lin Chong is my senior brother. He's alive and well. I have a letter from him!"

After the man smashed the window, he seemed to lose his balance and fell to the ground. But he immediately spoke and took out a letter from his pocket.

The next instant, another figure darted through the window! It was Shi Qian!

"Brother, your lightness skill is a bit lacking."

Shi Qian looked at Ren Yuan who had fallen to the ground, shook his head helplessly, and then helped Ren Yuan up.

"Sister-in-law, this is my Liangshan chieftain, Brother Ren Yuan."

Shi Qian quickly introduced himself:

"I am Shi Qian, the intelligence chief of Liangshan. I can vouch for what my brother said. Instructor Lin is his senior brother, and he is currently in Liangshan, waiting to meet my sister-in-law!"

"You, you guys... are you telling the truth?"

Zhang found it hard to believe.

"What they said is true! My daughter! How could you be so foolish!"

At that moment, Coach Zhang rushed in from the door and snatched the scissors from his daughter's hand!

There was nothing I could do; the old man, though physically strong, was even worse at light-footed movements and could only walk through the doorway.

When Zhang saw that her father said the same thing, she felt relieved, hugged him tightly, and burst into tears.

Ren Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, he made it in time!