Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

The riverside road in the county town was shrouded in smoke at night, filled with the aroma of barbecue, attracting many people who came by the smell.

The barbecue restaurant Li Zhen and his friends chose was called Yilanzhai, and they heard the owner was a Hui Muslim. Their lamb skewers weren't marinated beforehand; instead, they used fresh goat meat, skewered and grilled to order. In this technological age, many lamb skewers use flavor enhancers and marinade powder, which makes them much more tender, but eating them long-term is definitely not good.

The group sat in the open-air square near the riverbank, enjoying the cool night breeze.

Fang Zhen, while eating skewers, didn't care that his mouth was full of oil: "The supplies from this afternoon have arrived. I had them put them in the warehouse. You can pick them up anytime."

Li Zhen nodded in satisfaction. He then instructed Fang Zhen to purchase a large quantity of cement and red bricks, and even a considerable amount of steel bars, intending to bring them back to the Song Dynasty for a major undertaking.

The group raised their beers: "Come on, cheers to our friendship!"

Even Zhao Yingluo was caught up in their enthusiasm and ended up drinking a whole glass of draft beer. At this moment, Zhao Yingluo's face was flushed, and she seemed to be a little drunk.

Cao Hua smiled and said to Zhao Yingluo, "Sister-in-law, do you have any cousins ​​or anything? Introduce them to Fang Zhen and me, we're both still single."

Li Zhen chuckled and joked, "You two seem to be lacking women around you, don't joke with my Yingluo. Come on, let's have another drink."

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Li Zhen got up early, put all the supplies in the warehouse into his spatial storage, and then returned home.

By this time, Zhao Yingluo had already changed into Song Dynasty clothes. After she helped Li Zhen get dressed, Li Zhen began to self-harm and travel through time again.

After a flash of white light, the two returned to their room in Li Family Village.

Judging from the sounds outside, it must be early morning here as well. The familiar aroma of rice porridge wafted over, a scent that Li Zhen recognized. When he built his house, he had placed it close to the canteen for convenience.

After the two stepped out of the house, the first person they saw was Wang Changdao, who had been waiting for them for a long time.

It's unclear how long Wang Changdao had been waiting at the door, but his eyes were swollen, clearly indicating he hadn't been getting enough sleep in the past few days.

Upon seeing the two, Wang Changdao was taken aback for a moment, then shouted, "The chief is back! The chief is back!"

The Yue brothers, Yue Peng and Yue Ying, along with Widow Zhang and others, rushed over. Upon seeing Li Zhen, they knelt down and wept bitterly.

This scene left Li Zhen, who had just traveled back in time, somewhat bewildered: He was perfectly fine, so why were they crying?

Li Zhen pulled Yue Peng up and asked him what had happened.

It turned out that during the few days he was away from the stronghold, the Song Dynasty's Imperial City Guard from the south attacked the stronghold. Because it was a surprise attack, and Yue Peng and others were out suppressing bandits, the Imperial City Guard soldiers were able to enter an uninhabited area.

Their target was Zhao Yingluo. After searching the entire mountain stronghold without success, they took away the old eunuch who had come with Zhao Yingluo. Before leaving, they left a letter, telling Zhao Yingluo to check it herself.

As he spoke, Yue Peng took out the letter and handed it to Li Zhen.

Li Zhen saw that the envelope was addressed to Princess Shunfu and handed it to Zhao Yingluo, but Zhao Yingluo did not take it.

"Husband, please take a look at the contents for me."

Li Zhen hesitated for a moment, then casually tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

On the pristine white paper, neatly written text appeared, roughly stating that upon learning Zhao Yingluo had escaped the clutches of the Jurchens, as a member of the Zhao imperial family, Zhao Yingluo should prioritize the greater good and return to Lin'an, rather than cozying up to a group of bandits in Jurchen-controlled territory.

This letter was written by Zhao Gou, the current emperor of the Song Dynasty. Because Li Zhen read it aloud as he read, the people around him also learned the contents of the letter. After hearing it, everyone's expression immediately changed, and Yue Ying began to curse Zhao Gou right in front of Zhao Yingluo.

This scene made Zhao Yingluo a little embarrassed. She didn't expect her ninth brother to be so blunt. Even though he was the emperor, he couldn't scold his savior.

Li Zhen smiled wryly and said to everyone, "Alright, everyone quiet down. Yingluo is a member of our mountain stronghold. Although Zhao Gou is Yingluo's brother, he has nothing to do with us."

"Everyone, stop standing around and hurry up and eat. Then go to the square to collect your new equipment. We also need to strengthen our defenses so that we don't let them come and go as they please."

While everyone was eating, Li Zhen filled the grain storage warehouse, which was enough to feed the entire mountain stronghold for a while.

He also took out a number of stun batons, riot shields, steel guns, and specially made assembled long machetes from the space, the same type used to deal with the Indians in the south.

Not only that, he also took out three double-barreled shotguns and some bullets, preparing to distribute them to the three captains.

After everyone finished eating and arrived at the square, their eyes lit up at the sight of the piles of new equipment, as if they had seen a stunningly beautiful woman. No, even a stunningly beautiful woman couldn't compare to the allure of this equipment.

After Wang Changdao put on the new stab-proof vest, he picked up a fine steel longsword from the ground. After testing the blade with his finger, he exclaimed, "What a fine sword!"

After everyone had finished distributing the equipment, Li Zhen gave three hunting rifles to Wang Changdao, Yue Ying, and Yue Peng.

Wang Changdao seemed unwilling to give up his longsword, and scratched his head as he said to Li Zhen, "Um, Chief, I'm actually quite comfortable using this longsword."

Li Zhen looked at Wang Changdao with a half-smile and said, "Are you sure? Don't regret it later."

As he spoke, he skillfully opened the loading port of the double-barreled shotgun and then expertly loaded two shotgun shells.

Li Zhen glanced at a spotted dove perched on a tree branch, watching the commotion.

"Bah!"

A puff of smoke rose from the muzzle of the double-barreled shotgun, and the dove landed straight down at the foot of the tree. Immediately, someone rushed forward to retrieve the dove, which had been shot dead. Everyone was still reeling from the loud bang and didn't know what had happened.

Then Li Zhen had someone find a wooden board about two fingers thick, and after everyone moved away, he fired another shot at the board, which was five meters away.

After the gunshot rang out, a large hole was blasted through the middle of that sturdy wooden plank.

Such a powerful weapon immediately surprised everyone. Wang Changdao immediately dropped the fine steel longsword he was holding tightly. The longsword was good, but it was not as good as a hunting rifle.

"Chief, I was wrong! I want the hunting rifle."

"Hahaha......"

Everyone laughed at Wang Changdao's change; just a moment ago he looked disgusted, but now he was chasing after the chieftain for it.

In addition to the shotgun, Li Zhen also demonstrated how to use a stun gun.

The stun batons ordered by Li Zhen were upgraded and extended versions, not only with ample power reserves, but also with a length of over one meter, allowing for better attacks on enemies.

Li Zhen experimented on a passing yellow dog. The dog, which had never seen an electric baton before, saw Li Zhen waving at it and, thinking there was something delicious to eat, happily ran over.

As a result, the dog was knocked to the ground with a stun gun. At this moment, the yellow dog stretched out its four legs and white saliva was flowing from its mouth.

Everyone felt their scalps tingle; if this were to touch a person, it would be terrible. This weapon was simply too amazing.

The poor yellow dog was lying on the ground, questioning its existence. It hadn't done anything wrong, so why were these two-legged people casting spells on it?

This tingling and numb sensation is so incredibly refreshing!