Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"Li Ying, Li Ying, your life is short!"

"Li Ying, Li Ying, you coward!"

Zhu Hu led his men in a shouting and cursing spree at Li Family Village. The noise was so loud that it startled Li Ying, nicknamed "Soaring Eagle," who was still lying in bed.

Li Ying was furious and shouted, "Raise your guns and prepare your horses!"

As a result, given his current state, he couldn't possibly be angry and instead spat out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing Li Ying's situation, Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," was also speechless. If no one resisted now, the low morale would lead to the Li Family Village being easily defeated.

"Uncle, rest and recover. Your niece will lead the troops to hold them off for a few rounds!"

The entire defense of Li Family Village fell on Hu Sanniang's shoulders. She had no choice but to go, and Li Ying could only gasp and say, "Be careful..."

Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," felt as if many things had happened overnight. The once willful and capricious girl had grown up in an instant. This growth was brought about by the sudden loss of her family and loved ones, a heavy and painful experience...

Once she reached the top of the city wall of Li Family Village, Hu Sanniang looked around and saw that the Zhu Family Village had mobilized at least three thousand soldiers to attack Li Family Village. The whole mountain was filled with people.

She also recognized that the more than one thousand people on the left were likely the servants of their Hu Family Manor. Clearly, the Zhu family held the lives of Hu Taigong and Hu Cheng in their hands, and these servants had no choice but to obey the Zhu Family Manor.

Looking at their positions, Hu Sanniang could tell that the Zhu Family Village wanted to use their Hu Family Village's soldiers as cannon fodder to fill the gaps!

In siege warfare, the attacking side will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. By placing the Hu family's forces at the forefront, the Zhu family was essentially using the Hu family as cannon fodder, thus conserving their own strength.

Once the people of Hujiazhuang have worn down the defenses of Lijiazhuang, the people of Zhujiazhuang will send their own people to reap the rewards. Their intentions are despicable.

"Attack! All troops, charge!"

Zhu Hu roared and drove the troops of Hu Family Village forward to charge into Li Family Village. Seeing that her own men were about to fight her to the death, Hu Sanniang felt terrible.

"Gentlemen! Look who I am!"

In desperation, Hu Sanniang stood on the city wall and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"It's the eldest lady!"

"It's the eldest lady!"

……

The men from Hu Family Village stopped instantly upon seeing Hu Sanniang and stood still.

"The Zhu family is full of wolves and wolves; they want to send everyone to their deaths. Don't go forward!"

Hu Sanniang's shouts did indeed stir the hearts of the villagers of Hu Family Village. They had never wanted to attack Li Family Village in the first place, and now they were all retreating instead of advancing.

"Anyone who dares to push back will be executed without mercy!"

Seeing this, Zhu Hu was furious. He swung his steel knife to kill a few people as a warning to others, but Zhu Biao stopped him.

"Second Brother, no! With just a few words from Hu Sanniang, the people of Hu Family Village have already become uncontrollable. If we provoke a change of events, we will suffer more losses than gains!"

Zhu Biao saw it very clearly: as long as Hu Taigong and Hu Cheng were still in the hands of their Zhu Family Village, the people of the Hu Family Village would be under their control.

However, if they are pushed too hard now, these people from Hujiazhuang might defect to Lijiazhuang instead, which would be a loss for them.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Withdraw your troops immediately, so as not to give these Hu family people a chance to defect. When we attack again, let our own Zhu family members take the lead!"

Seeing this situation, Zhu Biao had no choice but to settle for second best and temporarily call it quits.

Amidst the resounding clang of the retreating troops, Hu Sanniang watched as the Zhu Family Village's army withdrew to their camp and gradually disappeared into the distance, but she felt no joy whatsoever.

Although they had temporarily repelled the attack from the Zhu Family Village, the next wave of attacks would come sooner or later. After all, Hu Sanniang was still just a teenage girl and couldn't handle things. Faced with this situation, she had reached her limit and was completely at a loss.

Hu Sanniang could only ask Li Ying and Du Xing to see if they had any plans.

"Sigh... Now that things have come to this, there really is no one who can get out of this predicament..."

Li Ying, nicknamed "Soaring Eagle," lay on his bed, reflecting on his network of connections. He realized that almost none of them had the power to help them defeat the Zhu Family Manor. He regretted not cultivating relationships with more mountain strongholds and bandits; at least they could offer assistance in this critical moment…

Li Ying mainly befriended wealthy merchants and bigwigs, using their connections for personal gain. These people didn't have any armed forces. As for the government, Li Ying disdained to associate with them. However, his Zhu Family Village colluded with the government, paying them a lot of tribute. Even when the authorities came, they would side with the Zhu Family Village.

Meanwhile, the butler, "Ghost Face" Du Xing, who was also recovering from his injuries, seemed to remember something and said, "Master, if we go to the officials now, they'll probably help the Zhu family instead. But the forces of the common people probably can't do anything to the Zhu family. Why don't we seek help from the underworld..."

Du Xing's intentions were clear: the officials in the legitimate world certainly wouldn't help them, and ordinary people weren't capable of helping either.

The only ones with the power and the potential to help right now are the underworld.

"But I don't usually have much contact with people in the underworld, so where am I supposed to find help? And why would anyone be willing to help me..."

This is no small matter. Zhu Family Village is a powerful local force with over ten thousand people and several thousand soldiers. Even among the bandits, there are very few forces that can rival them.

At least, within the mountainous areas that met the requirements, Li Ying and his group had no interaction.

“Master, I used to have some connections with a leader who is now at Liangshan Marsh. He was a soldier who guarded the Yangtze River, named ‘Golden-Winged Cloud-Piercing’ Ou Peng. I once saved his life. I recently heard that he has joined the Liangshan outlaws and taken a seat in the leadership. Why don’t we go and find him…”

"Liangshan Marsh in Jeju Prefecture?"

Li Ying asked.

"It is Liangshan Marsh. The new chieftain, Li Hanxiao, is said to have gathered several thousand men and defeated two thousand government troops a few days ago."

Du Xing replied.

"Although you have done this person a favor, he is not the leader of Liangshan Marsh, so I'm afraid he might not be willing to come..."

Before Li Ying could finish speaking, "Ghost Face" Du Xing said, "Master, that's not how it works. A gentleman understands righteousness, while a petty person understands profit. If we ask them to come to our rescue empty-handed, Li Hanxiao will naturally refuse. But if we offer them gold, silk, and grain, and tell them that as long as they can defeat the Zhu Family Manor, we will repay them with everything we have, they might be tempted. We have plenty of money."

Li Ying thought about it and agreed. He wasn't short of money; as long as the price was right, he wasn't worried about them not coming...

"Alright, I'll write a letter to Li Hanxiao. If he can resolve our crisis, the three villages of Dulonggang will be willing to be at his beck and call from now on!"

Li Ying understood that he had no other choice. Now that the Zhu Family Village was connected to the government, it would be useless for them to seek help from the government.

Once you're associated with Li Hanxiao and his group, it's hard to clear your name.

But now their only chance of getting help is from Li Hanxiao's Liangshan Marsh. If they don't get involved with Liangshan Marsh, they'll lose their lives.

Between two evils, choose the lesser; living is more important. Li Ying had heard of Li Hanxiao's reputation before; he was a formidable figure who could repel the imperial army's expeditionary force.

If they really can't make it on Dulonggang and can't fight, they can go and join Liangshan. With Li Ying's wealth, even if they just invest, they can still get a better seat in the examination hall.

However, even if they decided to go to Liangshan Marsh, the Zhu Family Village was currently besieging the Li Family Village, and it wouldn't be easy to break through the encirclement to deliver the message.

"It can only be Miss San Niang who goes!"

Du Xing said that only she had a chance of breaking through the encirclement and heading to Liangshan.

"Me? I've gone, to the city guard..."

Hu Sanniang's words were interrupted by Du Xing, "Even if the Zhu Family Manor attacks us relentlessly, it will take them about ten days to break through the manor. We must fight to the death and hold them off. Only if you can break through the encirclement and seek help from Chief Li of Liangshan will we have any hope..."

Hu Sanniang nodded, then asked, "But how do I get out?"

Yes, the Zhu family village has surrounded the Li family village like an iron barrel, how can she get out?

"Got it, let's go downstairs and get out!"

Du Xing's "ghost face" meant that getting out from the ground was unlikely, so they had to find another way.

A sewage ditch had been dug in Lijiazhuang before, leading directly to a small river outside the village. Because it was used for sewage disposal, it did not attract much attention.

While the Zhu Family Village attacks the Li Family Village again, and their attention is drawn to the front, Hu Sanniang can crawl out from here to deliver the message.

Although it sounds disgusting, Hu Sanniang had no other choice. She was now carrying the safety of two villages on her shoulders. Even if there were knives growing in the ditch, she would still have to climb it!

The next day, the Zhu Family Village sent troops to attack the Li Family Village again. "Ghost Face" Du Xing ordered the villagers to quickly defend themselves while leading Hu Sanniang to the sewage ditch.

"Girl, our lives depend on you, but we don't know if Chief Li Hanxiao will actually come..."

Du Xing, nicknamed "Ghost Face," already had little room for further decline in appearance, but now, with his grim face, he looks even less human...

"Then... what should I do?"

Hu Sanniang was not afraid of suffering herself, as long as she could save Hu Family Village and Li Family Village.

However, she absolutely did not want to see any results after all that effort.

"Everything in this world has its own price. As long as the price is right... there's no deal that can't be made. We can only offer money, but I'm afraid that money might not be enough to sway Li Hanxiao..."

At this point in Du Xing's speech, even Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," realized that Du Xing's words were implying something...

"Then... what could possibly move him?"

Hu Sanniang looked at Du Xing with her curious little eyes.

"If he's a man, there will naturally be something that can move his heart..."

Du Xing thought for a moment, and was about to blurt out those lewd words, but he still felt that it was not appropriate to say them so directly to Hu Sanniang, who was only a teenager.

So, he decided to put it more tactfully and asked again, "Young lady, are you willing to save the people of our two villages at any cost?"

"Of course!"

"But Li Hanxiao and the people from our two villages are not related. Even if we offer him money, he might not get involved. Think about it, there are not many people in this world who are genuinely willing to help. Most people add flowers to brocade, but few offer charcoal in the snow, unless they are related to each other."

"What do you mean?"

Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," still didn't understand the meaning behind Du Xing's words, leaving Du Xing anxious and helpless.

“In the past, the Han emperor married a princess to the Xiongnu king to make peace, turning enemies into friends and relatives. If the Xiongnu come again, it will be like a son-in-law attacking his father-in-law. It’s the same principle. If Li Hanxiao is not moved by the money, you have to find a way to make that chieftain Li one of your own, to make him turn saving your father and brothers into saving his brother-in-law and father-in-law… If a man doesn’t love money, he’s just fond of wine and women…”

Du Xing, the "ghost face" mascot, had already made his meaning quite clear. Hu Sanniang, the "one-zhang-green" mascot, clearly understood what he meant and blushed.

This is to make her use her body...

"This...this...it's the only thing we can do. If there's really no other way..."

"One-zhang-green," Hu Sanniang whispered.

She is now all alone and hates Zhu Biao because he bullies others by abusing his power.

But she also understood that without sufficient strength, it would be difficult to even gain a foothold in this world. Otherwise, how could the Hu family village have been so easily controlled by the Zhu family village?

Regardless, judging from Li Ying and Du Xing's words, this Li Hanxiao is quite a figure; at least he can defeat the imperial army's punitive expedition and can serve as a backup for the Hu family village...

A proud and arrogant young girl was forced by reality to the point of almost offering herself up...

"Since you have such thoughts, it seems that Chief Li is very likely to send troops. Come, leave this place quickly. Once you leave, we won't be able to prepare a horse for you, so we can only give you some silver. Leave Dulonggang quickly and buy a horse!"

Du Xing, nicknamed "Ghost Face," gave Hu Sanniang a bag of silver to take with her; this was the only thing he could do to help her.

Hu Sanniang tightened her grip on her twin swords and red brocade lasso, then climbed out of the ditch. Luckily, she was very slender; otherwise, a man of normal build would not have been able to climb out of there!

Of course, although the sewage ditch was not very long, the smell was really not good. It was indeed very unpleasant for Hu Sanniang, a delicate young girl, to go through this. But thinking of her father and brothers still suffering, she endured the discomfort in her stomach and crawled forward.

Fortunately, Hu Sanniang, nicknamed "One-Zhang-Qing," was not afraid of filth. After crawling for a long time, she reached the small river. She saw that although the Zhu Family Village was surrounded, the security was not very tight, so she had room to escape.

Taking advantage of the enemy's inattention, Hu Sanniang secretly made her way to the edge of the blockade line of Zhu Family Village, escaped the encirclement, and immediately headed straight for Liangshan to seek help.