Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

Consort Shu ran to the Imperial Study in tears and stumbles, her makeup ruined by the tears, making her look like a painted-face opera singer.

The Emperor was reviewing memorials in his study when the sudden crying and commotion disturbed him. He frowned and asked, "My beloved concubine, what's wrong? Who has bullied you like this?"

Consort Shu sobbed, "Your Majesty, that Li Kui is utterly lawless and outrageous! He's going to imprison my cousin, Yin Tianxi, and torture him severely!"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor was taken aback and quickly turned to ask Eunuch Guo, "Eunuch Guo, what exactly is going on?"

Guo Gonggong's eyes darted around, and he was already plotting his own scheme. He embellished the story, saying, "Oh, Your Majesty, you don't know! That Li Kui is a reckless and uncouth man, barging around the streets like a madman. Lord Yin only kindly offered a few words of advice, and he jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, ready to grab someone!"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor's face darkened immediately. Just as he was about to order the arrest, Chai Jin rushed in.

Chai Jin, panting heavily, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please don't listen to their nonsense! That's not how it is at all!"

The Emperor was completely bewildered by the chaotic scene and said, "Tell me the whole story quickly!"

Chai Jin caught his breath and said, "Your Majesty, it was Yin Tianxi who took money from someone and went to Zhao Tianming's restaurant to cause trouble. Zhao Tianming was doing business honestly, but Yin Tianxi insisted on picking a fight and scared away all the customers. Li Kui is Zhao Tianming's good brother, and he couldn't stand by and watch, so he stepped in to stand up for him!"

Upon hearing this, the emperor frowned even more deeply, unsure of whom to believe.

At this point, Consort Shu became furious. She stamped her foot and started throwing a tantrum: "Your Majesty, you cannot believe Chai Jin's one-sided story! How could my cousin do such a thing!"

The Emperor's head was buzzing from her commotion. He said, "My beloved concubine, please stop! Let me think this over!"

Consort Shu persisted, crying and making a scene: "Your Majesty, if you don't help me, I won't live anymore!"

The Emperor sighed helplessly, "Oh dear, my beloved concubine, I will handle this matter myself. Please have some peace and quiet for a while!"

Consort Shu still wouldn't give up, and kept sobbing on the side.

The Emperor, exasperated by her nagging, could only say, "My beloved concubine, in my opinion, Yin Tianxi was also wrong. He took the benefits from others and then went to their restaurant to cause trouble and disrupt their business. Li Kui was merely standing up for his brother, which is understandable."

Upon hearing this, Consort Shu's eyes widened: "Your Majesty, how can you speak of my cousin like that!"

His Majesty rubbed his temples, looking troubled. "My beloved consort, I'm in a difficult position! Both sides have their reasons, and I have to consider the interests of both. How about this: punish Yin Tianxi with half a year's salary and let him stay home to reflect on his actions. As for Li Kui, give him a lecture so he won't act so impulsively in the future. What do you think of this arrangement, my beloved consort?"

Consort Shu wanted to say something more, but the Emperor quickly waved his hand: "It's settled then. My dear consort, stop crying and make a fuss. Go back to the palace and rest well!"

Seeing that the Emperor had made up his mind, Consort Shu could no longer press him and could only leave reluctantly.

The Emperor watched her departing figure, shook his head helplessly, and muttered to himself, "This harem and the court, not a single day is easy for anyone to manage!"

As the Emperor was rubbing his temples, Gao Qiu arrived in a flustered manner a while later. Gao Qiu greeted the Emperor, who said irritably, "Gao Qiu, what brings you here again?"

Gao Qiu, looking aggrieved like a wronged wife, said, "Your Majesty, I have come to complain about Li Kui!"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor frowned even more deeply and said, "This, how come it's Li Kui again?"

Gao Qiu said angrily, "This Li Kui is simply lawless! He actually kicked the prefect out of the courtroom and sat in the prefect's seat himself. The scene was complete chaos!"

The Emperor slammed his fist on the table in anger and roared, "This Li Kui is utterly audacious! I will punish him severely!"

Gao Qiu continued, "Your Majesty, this isn't all! He actually said who the Empress thinks of her, and he almost beat me up!"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor nearly fainted from anger. He jumped up and exclaimed, "What you're saying is absolutely infuriating! Just who is this Li Kui? How can he be so arrogant and domineering!"

Gao Qiu added fuel to the fire, saying, "Your Majesty, he is Song Jiang's brother, and he is also very close to Zhao Tianming, Chai Jin, and those people. Who knows what kind of conspiracy is behind him!"

Upon hearing this, the Emperor realized that Chai Jin was involved again and was in a dilemma. He thought to himself that he couldn't refuse Chai Jin's request, or things would get complicated. So he said to Gao Qiu, "My dear minister, I'm issuing you an edict. Go and tell Zhao Tianming to vacate the land he bought. Oh, by the way, the Japanese football team is coming to visit, and we happen to lack a training ground. Get that arranged quickly. Also, to give them some face, release Lin Chong first."

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiu thought to himself, "I don't get along with Lin Chong. Releasing him will make me unhappy." But he still replied aloud, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Gao Qiu, holding the imperial edict, was about to turn and leave when the emperor called him back: "Gao Qiu, you must handle this matter properly. If anything goes wrong again, I will hold you accountable!"

Gao Qiu hurriedly nodded and bowed, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly handle it well!"

After Gao Qiu left, the Emperor muttered to himself, "It's never a moment of peace!"

After obtaining the imperial edict, Gao Qiu rushed back to the government office. As soon as he entered, he shouted, "Li Kui, release the prisoners immediately!"

Upon seeing the imperial edict, Song Jiang and his men hurriedly said to Li Kui, "Tie Niu, release the prisoners immediately!"

Li Kui glared at Gao Qiu and said, "Old man Gao Qiu, this matter isn't over yet! His Majesty has already agreed to release Lin Chong, and Lin Tianxi has also been fined. What more do you want?"

Li Kui continued shouting at the top of his lungs, insisting that Yin Tianxi and Lu Qian publicly apologize to Zhao Tianming and compensate him for all his losses.

Gao Qiu was so angry that he glared and said, "Li Kui, don't push your luck. The Emperor didn't tell you to do that."

Li Kui didn't care about any of that. He started yelling and shouting, "This matter can't be left unresolved!"

Song Jiang quickly grabbed Li Kui and said, "You black rascal, don't make things worse. Instructor Lin is out first, we'll deal with the rest later."

Upon hearing Song Jiang's words, Li Kui, though still somewhat unwilling, fell silent.

Gao Qiu then said to Zhao Tianming, "Manager Zhao, His Majesty has ordered you to hand over the land."

At this moment, Li Kui jumped out again and said, "This land was bought by Manager Zhao with real money. He can just take it back like that. Where did the compensation money go?"

Gao Qiu flicked his sleeve and said, "What compensation money!"

Li Kui persisted, saying, "You old man Gao Qiu, you say you want to buy land, and I say I want it and I'll give it to you however you want? Can you really give it to me?"

Gao Qiu, with his neck stiff, said, "Of course I won't give it to you!"

Li Kui chuckled and said, "Isn't that obvious? Where's the money? Bring the money to buy this land!"

Gao Qiu said, "This land is related to the honor of the Great Song Dynasty. The Japanese football team is coming to play soon, and I need to lead my team in training!"

Upon hearing this, Li Kui burst into laughter and said, "Old man Gao Qiu, you can play football?"

Gao Qiu puffed out his chest and said, "In this Great Song Dynasty, if I say I'm second to none when it comes to playing football!"

Li Kui laughed even louder and said, "And what about His Majesty? Are you trying to rebel by saying this?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiu turned pale with fright, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

Li Kui said smugly, "I've finally caught you!"

Enraged, Gao Qiu said, "What do you want?"

Li Kui put his hands on his hips and said, "Gao Qiu, if you don't pay three times the price for the land today, I'll go to the Golden Palace and accuse you of treason!"

Gao Qiu was so angry he gritted his teeth, but he was afraid that Li Kui would actually report him, so he had no choice but to pay the money on the spot.

Gao Qiu said to Li Kui with a vicious look, "Are you satisfied now?"

Li Kui handed all the money to Zhao Tianming, and everyone couldn't help but laugh. They all felt that Li Kui was shrewd despite his rough exterior, and quite remarkable.

Zhao Tianming took the silver and gave Li Kui a thumbs up: "Brother Li Kui, you're really something!"

Li Kui scratched his head and grinned, "That's right, I, Tie Niu, am not stupid!"

Song Jiang also said with a smile, "Tie Niu, we owe you a lot this time."

Li Kui snorted: "Of course, who told that old man Gao Qiu to bully people!"

Gao Qiu watched them from the side, his face ashen, but he was helpless. He could only flick his sleeves and leave angrily.

As everyone watched Gao Qiu's departing figure, another burst of laughter erupted.

After Lin Chong was released from prison, he clasped his hands in thanks to Li Kui and said, "Brother Li Kui, thank you very much!"

Li Kui waved his hand and said, "Instructor Lin, don't be so polite, we're all brothers!"

Everyone was chatting and laughing, making it a lively scene.

A few days later, the Japanese football team arrived. Gao Qiu led his players to train on Zhao Tianming's land, but they were all exhausted and their skills were terrible.

Li Kui watched from the side, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight: "With this level of skill, you claim to be the best football player? I think you're more like the worst!"

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter again.

Gao Qiu's face turned bright red when he heard the laughter, but he couldn't retaliate, so he could only hold his breath and continue training.

This farce became a source of amusement for everyone, providing a good laugh for quite some time.

When it was time to eat, Gao Qiu and his group gathered together. To show off, Gao Qiu performed a skillful maneuver, making the ball seem to have eyes under his feet, leaving everyone dumbfounded and amazed.

"Look, now that's what you call playing football!" Gao Qiu said smugly.

But looking at the players he found, their skills were all ridiculously poor.

As everyone was eating, someone suddenly discovered that there was sea cucumber in the food.

"Hey, I was wondering why you guys couldn't play football well. Turns out you've been eating sea cucumbers every day, and they've made your legs weak!" someone joked.

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

One player, with a sea cucumber stuffed in his mouth, muttered, "Can you blame the sea cucumber? It's because our technique is lacking."

"Give me a break. With this kind of food, you can't even play well. Do you think this is fair to the sea cucumbers?" another person said with a laugh.

Gao Qiu's face darkened: "Stop talking nonsense, eat quickly, and then practice properly!"