Do you have the strength to force me to join the Liangshan bandits?

Chapter 385 Liu Guangshi: Oh no, we've fallen into a trap! [3rd update, please vote!]

These are definitely government troops!

Murong Yanming's eyes welled up with tears. He had originally thought that his Qingzhou soldiers could hold off Liu Guangshi for a while...

The result was utterly ineffective; it was completely destroyed!
This left Murong Yanming feeling conflicted, and he could only vent his anger on Liu Guangshi:

"Come on, take down Liu Guangshi!"

The elite Qingzhou soldiers protecting the carriage immediately arrested Liu Guangshi, who did not dare to resist.

Murong Yanming was Emperor Huizong's brother-in-law. Liu Guangshi did not resist and honestly confessed his crimes. Perhaps Gao Qiu could have said a few good words for him and gotten away with it.

If he rebels, even his own father can't save him!

The battle was over, and several military commanders came triumphantly to find Liu Guangshi:
"General Liu, we've killed all the rebels!"

"And you lot too!"

Murong Yanming's lips trembled as he called out:

"They dare to kill my soldiers! They've gone too far! Arrest them all!"

The military commanders were dumbfounded:
Where are the supposed rebels from Liangshan?
Why is it really Prefect Murong?
While the elite Qingzhou soldiers bound him, several military commanders stared intently at Liu Guangshi:
How to do?
Liu Guangshi was almost in tears: What can I do? I'm desperate too!

Once they were all tied up, Murong Yanming snorted coldly:
"Gather your soldiers, and don't let a single one escape!"

Liu Guangshi and his men had no choice but to obediently summon the Imperial Guards.

Originally, there were 10,000 Imperial Guards, but during the surprise attack on the Qingzhou troops, nearly 1,000 of them were lost...

Of course, killing 5,000 enemies while losing 1,000 of your own is actually a pretty good record.

The only problem is that there are no enemies; whether it's five thousand or one thousand, they are all government troops.

Originally, Liu Guangshi and the others thought that after gathering the Imperial Guards, Murong Yanming would take them to see Gao Qiu.

Gao Qiu would definitely have to say a good word for them, perhaps in order to earn a chance to redeem himself.

However, to their surprise, Murong Yanming changed his mind:
"Take them all back to Qingzhou!"

"what?"

Liu Guangshi and several military officers were dumbfounded:
"Husband, why bring him back to Qingzhou?"

"I've taken it!"

Murong Yanming rolled his eyes:
"You slaughtered all my Qingzhou army, so what if I detained you?"
"Hmph! I'm not going. I'll wait for the Grand Commandant to come and demand the person before we discuss anything further!"

"Ah this..."

Liu Guangshi and the other military commanders looked at each other, speechless.

Who can blame him when he's the emperor's brother-in-law?

Putting aside his status as the emperor's brother-in-law, Murong Yanming is the prefect of Qingzhou, a civil official. Doesn't his word carry weight?

They dared not utter a sound, and the imperial guards they led dared not utter a sound either.

Thus, Murong Yanming, with only a few hundred defeated soldiers, escorted Liu Guangshi's nine thousand imperial guards back to Qingzhou...

After lowering the curtain, Murong Yanming immediately changed his tune, carefully putting on a smiling face and saying nice things:
"Good sir, I have done as you instructed. Please move your knife away a little..."

Shi Qian, sitting next to him, smiled silently and slightly lowered the knife that was pressed against Murong Yanming's waist.

Murong Yanming breathed a sigh of relief; finally, he could sit more comfortably. Just now, he had been sitting with his back ramrod straight...

It was past midnight when Murong Yanming finally brought Liu Guangshi and the others back to Qingzhou City.

Murong Yanming opened the city gates, and Liu Guangshi and the others were led inside dejectedly.

A military commander asked, "Is there still a curfew in Qingzhou? Why is there not a soul in sight on the streets?"

Another military commander said, "You still have the right to interfere in Qingzhou's affairs? We're prisoners now!"

The former military commander sighed, "Being a prisoner is fine, at least I can get a good night's sleep!" Liu Guangshi frowned, "That's not right!"

"You can pull it down!"

Several military commanders and officers said, "If you hadn't been so certain, we wouldn't have had to suffer like this!"

Liu Guangshi: (_)
All nine thousand imperial guards entered the city, the city gates were closed, and the drawbridge was raised.

All the shops on the street were closed, with only two rows of lanterns illuminating the entire street.

For some reason, Liu Guangshi felt uneasy, as if he were facing some unknown danger...

"Boom-boom--"

Just then, a deafening gong rang out!
Countless henchmen poured out of the shops on both sides of the street, and amidst the shouts of battle, one voice roared like thunder:
"Cai Fu, the 'King of the Northern Blades,' is here! Surrender or be killed!"

The bandit leader was Cai Fu?

Liu Guangshi couldn't help but gasp, and hurriedly turned around to look for the carriage, but it was nowhere to be found.

The nine thousand Imperial Guards were already exhausted. They had fought a battle with the Qingzhou soldiers, and their morale was damaged by Murong Yanming. In addition, they had walked more than ten miles at night, and Liu Guangshi and his men were captured, leaving them leaderless. Finally, they were intimidated by Cai Fu's prestige. Where was their fighting strength?
Cai Fu's 10,000 ambushing troops were truly a case of waiting in comfort to catch the enemy off guard, and they were like catching a turtle in a jar!

With fierce generals like Cai Fu, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, and Han Shizhong leading the charge, how could the Imperial Guards possibly turn the tide?

It was practically a carbon copy of Liu Guangshi leading 10,000 Imperial Guards in a surprise attack on 5,000 Qingzhou soldiers!
The Imperial Guards were either killed, wounded, or surrendered...

No one escaped, for they were trapped like turtles in a jar, with no way to escape!
Liu Guangshi felt utterly dejected.
No, I fell into a trap!

……

Gao Qiu's camp.

Two sentries stood guard, yawning.

One of the bearded sentries complained, "It's past dawn, why haven't they come to relieve us yet?"

Another sentry with small eyes curled his lip: "You expect them to come and change shifts on time?"

"Just wait! If they weren't late, they wouldn't be the ones!"

"It's too late!"

The bearded sentry was even more dissatisfied: "If there's an enemy attack, who's responsible?"

The small-eyed sentry said with a wry smile, "Of course it's ours!"
"But don't worry, there are ambushes outside!"

"If there is an enemy attack, the ambush troops will send someone to notify us!"

The bearded sentry thought about it and agreed: "But they can't always be late for their shift change. Isn't that bullying an honest person?"

The little-eyed sentry was about to answer when he suddenly pointed ahead and shouted:

"Look! Someone's coming!"

By this time, dawn was breaking. The bearded sentry looked closely and saw:
"What's the panic! They're all Imperial Guards!"

"Perhaps General Liu has returned with his ambush troops to rest!"

The little-eyed sentry chuckled: "We're doing pretty well. Look at them, they've been holding on for days!"
"They all work day and night in a daze, like ghosts!"

The bearded sentry felt much better after hearing what he said.
"We are much stronger than them!"

Tens of thousands of imperial guards, bathed in the morning light, silently approached them. Suddenly, the bearded sentry sensed that something was amiss:
"Dude, why are they so quiet..."

The little-eyed sentry thought for a moment: "You must be tired. You've been up for days. Where do you have the energy to make a fuss?"

The bearded sentry thought about it and agreed, so he waited until the tens of thousands of imperial guards were close before routinely asking for the password:

"The moonlight shines in front of the bed!"

Goodnight everyone.

(End of this chapter)