Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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Because this Clerk Song was an old acquaintance of Chao Gai,

Although the servants found it strange, they did not stop them.

Chao Gai, who was in the backyard, noticed that the atmosphere was somber as the four of them drank.

Just as he was about to get up, to show off some martial arts skills and liven up the atmosphere,

Suddenly, a familiar figure rushed into the courtyard.

Chao Gai's face lit up with surprise, and he quickly rose to greet him.

"Sir Song, what brings you here? I've been looking for you these past few days..."

Chapter 237 Attempt to Steal a Chicken Backfires

Chao Gai did indeed have something to discuss with Song Jiang.

He robbed the birthday gifts but was outmaneuvered; although it wasn't entirely his fault.

But as the leader, he always has to give his men an explanation.

Furthermore, Chao Gai had already spent all the money he had at his estate.

They were originally hoping to supplement their income with the birthday gifts.

Now that their dreams have shattered, if they don't sell some land for some money...

It seems that Chao Gai's village will be facing a rice shortage.

The person Chao Gai was looking for when he sold the land was Song Jiang.

Given their long-standing friendship, selling the land to the Song family would result in a smaller loss compared to selling it to someone else.

"Song Yasi, I..."

Just as Chao Gai was about to bring up the matter of selling the land,

Then Song Jiang looked around in alarm.

Seeing that no one was eavesdropping,

He lowered his voice and said softly, "How can you be so relaxed and carefree, Master? Do you know that I came here this time at the risk of my life to save you!"

Upon hearing this, Chao Gai immediately had a bad feeling, but he still forced himself to continue.

"Why does Clerk Song speak like that?"

"Does the manor lord still want to hide it from me? Now that the Huangnigang incident has happened, Bai Sheng has been arrested and is in the Jeju prison. He has already implicated the four of you!"

"The Jizhou Prefecture sent a constable named He, leading several men, with a warrant from the prefecture to arrest you four. The warrant also stated that you were the ringleader of a bandit!"

"Luckily, this group of people ran into me. I just said that the magistrate was asleep and asked Inspector He to wait for me in the teahouse across from the county. Only then was I able to get away and ride over to deliver the message!"

"Master, the best of the thirty-six stratagems is to flee. If you don't leave now, when will you? You must not delay. If you make a mistake and end up in jail, what use are millions of strings of gold and silver? Don't blame me for not coming to your rescue then!"

Upon hearing this, Chao Gai was naturally filled with resentment.

He growled, "Damn government officials! Now that they've captured Bai Sheng, they must know the birthday tribute isn't in our hands. Why are they only concerned with arresting us, while remaining silent about who actually took it?"

Upon hearing this, Song Jiang was immediately filled with doubt, and thought to himself,

“I risked my life to come and deliver the message to him, why would he lie to me? If it was their birthday tribute that they robbed, how could the valuables not be in their hands? I never asked for a share of their gold and silver, why would I say such a thing?”

When Chao Gai saw the suspicion on Song Jiang's face, he immediately knew something was wrong.

Unable to discern the truth at the moment, he pulled Song Jiang to the backyard.

Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, and Liu Tang were still drinking in silence.

Wu Yong recognized Song Jiang and, upon seeing him approach, quickly bowed and greeted him.

The remaining Gongsun Sheng and Liu Tang, however, did not recognize Song Jiang and were wondering who this short, dark-skinned man was.

Then Chao Gai said, "Brothers, this is Song Jiang, also known as Timely Rain in the martial arts world. He has risked his life to come and deliver this message to us."

"Bai Sheng has been detained by the government and has implicated us. The officials from Jizhou have arrived in Yuncheng. Although Brother Song has managed to keep us in check, I'm afraid it won't last long."

"Damn it! We didn't even get our hands on the birthday tribute, why is the government so blatantly bullying us!" Liu Tang roared.

"Sir Song, may I ask how Bai Sheng was arrested?"

Wu Yong asked doubtfully, "Our actions are quite secretive, so no one should have seen what we look like. Besides, the birthday gifts aren't in our hands, so there's nowhere to flaunt our wealth."

Upon hearing the two men's conversation, Song Jiang felt even more puzzled.

"I don't know the details of this matter either. I only heard that Bai Sheng got drunk and lost his tongue in the inn, which is how he revealed his identity."

"Sigh, that day rat! He knows the government is investigating the birthday tribute these days, yet he still goes out to drink!"

Chao Gai cursed angrily, but seeing that Song Jiang still looked puzzled,

They could only reluctantly recount how they had been tricked by the Liao people.

"Sir Song, the birthday tribute has already been taken away by those two Liao people. It's probably already outside Shandong and been sent to Liaodong!"

"If it weren't for the fact that some kind hero carried us out of that dense forest, the people of Daming Prefecture would probably have already arrested us by the time they woke up."

"I was just thinking that since Clerk Song is here, I wanted to discuss the land sale with you, but who knew that the birthday tribute incident would happen!"

Chao Tianwang's words left Song Jiang speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

So it turns out that Chao Gai and his group had worked hard all day...

They actually made them scapegoats for the Liao people!

"Master, no matter what, the most important thing now is to escape!"

Song Jiang cupped his hands and said, "There are still officials from Jizhou waiting in Yuncheng. I cannot stay any longer and have to risk my life to deliver this message. Please be careful!"

Upon seeing this, Wu Yong and the other two quickly knelt down and said in unison,

"Thank you so much, Brother Gongming, for your great kindness! We will repay you with our lives!"

Song Jiang quickly helped everyone up, and then asked Liu Tang and Gongsun Sheng their names.

"Master, my three brothers, if fate allows, we will surely meet again in the future."

After saying this, Song Jiang bowed to everyone and hurriedly left the manor.

Chao Gai and the others hurriedly saw them off.

After Song Jiang had gone some distance, Chao Gai and the other three immediately began to discuss their next move.

Gongsun Sheng said, "Your Majesty, Clerk Song is right. The best course of action now is to leave this place immediately!"

Liu Tang, however, was furious and shouted...

"Grandpa won't run away. When they come to arrest us, we'll kill them one by one, two by two. After we've killed all these corrupt officials, we'll go to Daming Prefecture and behead Liang Zhongshu. This corrupt official doesn't dare to arrest the Liao people, but he only takes his anger out on us heroes!"

"In my humble opinion, the government probably didn't dare to pursue the Liao people openly because of Liao Tianshou's status as a Liao princess. This matter concerns the reputation of both the Song and Liao dynasties, and they probably don't even dare to reveal the truth."

Wu Yong sighed, "It's clear that the Jizhou Prefecture wants to use the heads of the four of us to quell the anger of Cai Jing and Liang Zhongshu!"

"Now, we have no choice but to flee!"

Upon hearing this, Chao Gai slumped back into his chair, utterly dejected.

His escape not only cost him his own thousand acres of good land, but also the three thousand acres of fertile land belonging to Li Baozheng in Xixi Village, which would also vanish into thin air.

What's even more hateful is that after taking the three thousand mu of fertile land from Li Baozheng's family in Liangshan,

Chao Gai also spent over a thousand strings of cash to bribe the officials in Yuncheng and secure land deeds for these fertile fields!

Now even this money has been thrown into the water!

They had originally hoped that by robbing the birthday gifts, each of their brothers could get tens of thousands of strings of cash.

Who would have thought that not only would their efforts have been in vain, but they would also have ended up losing more than they gained!

Chapter 238 Where is My Home?

Seeing Chao Gai's distraught appearance, Wu Yong couldn't help but sigh.

This Heavenly King Chao Gai was undoubtedly a chivalrous and righteous hero.

Wu Yong never denied this.

On that day, following Huang An's orders, the villagers led their retainers to attack Xixi Village, but were all captured by Liangshan.

It was Chao Gai who spent all his wealth to redeem their lives.

Afterwards, Liangshan gave all three thousand mu of fertile land belonging to Li Baozheng of Xixi Village to Chao Gai.

Chao Tianwang did not embezzle the land, but instead gave Wu Yong three hundred acres of land.

Then in May,

After receiving the news brought by Liu Tang from the north

Chao Gai, without any hesitation, invited Wu Yong back.

Let him help plan this big deal!

The failure of the birthday tribute incident is certainly not solely due to Chao Gai's poor judgment of character, nor is it solely his fault.

As the one who orchestrated the plan, Wu Yong did not act immediately.

He noticed the problem with the three people from the north, and it was clear that he also had to bear some responsibility for the failure.

But Chao Gai never scolded him, not even a harsh word.

As a brother, Chao Gai's loyalty and sense of brotherhood are undoubtedly commendable!

But as a leader

This King Chao is not quite qualified.

Putting everything else aside, just look at this moment.

In a time of widespread panic, the eldest brother should immediately step forward to calm people down.

But King Chao simply slumped in his chair, muttering to himself in silence.

This tells us that this person, in terms of both mindset and vision, is incapable of achieving great things.

"Wu Xuejiu, you've been deep in thought. What are you thinking about? Do you have a good plan to get everyone out of this predicament?"

Seeing Chao Gai's distraught state, Wu Yong was lost in thought again.

At this critical moment, both of them displayed such childish behavior.

Gongsun Sheng couldn't stand it any longer, so he finally asked.

Wu Yong was startled awake and saw everyone staring at him with strange expressions.

He quickly gave a dry laugh and casually said, "As I said before, the only option now is to escape. What other way is there?"

At this point, Liu Tang suggested, "Isn't there the Liangshan stronghold in this marshland? Even the government troops can't subdue them. Why don't we all go and join Liangshan?"

"this......"

Chao Gai looked bitter: "Brother Liu Tang, have you forgotten that Wu Xuejiu and I had a grudge against Liangshan? Although Chief Zhao gave us three thousand acres of fertile land, it was only because all the villagers of Xixi Village had gone to Liangshan and had no use for the land, so it was given to us."

As Chao Tianwang finished speaking, he looked at Liu Tang and Gongsun Sheng.

“If Wu Xuejiu and I go to seek refuge now, I’m afraid they won’t accept us. It would be better if you two brothers went instead, at least you’d find a place to stay!”

Upon hearing this, Liu Tang immediately raised his head.

"If Brother Chao Gai isn't going, then why should I go?"

"The eight of us planned this important birthday tribute together. Although three disloyal Liao dogs infiltrated, the remaining five of us still share the same goal,"

Gongsun Sheng said slowly, "Now that Bai Sheng has also been arrested by the government, only the four of us are still together. If we go our separate ways now, where is the loyalty we have left? Brother Chao Gai, let's not talk about separating anymore."

"Brother Gongsun Sheng is right! I misspoke!"

With red eyes, Chao Gai laughed loudly, "No matter what the outcome, we four brothers will die together!"

Seeing that the crowd was no longer as lifeless as before,

Wu Yong nodded in satisfaction, then chuckled softly.

"Master, we are not at our wits' end yet, why utter such ominous words?"

"Scholar, are you already planning something?" Chao Gai asked hastily.

"Master, although this world is vast, there are not many places for us to settle down!"