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

Chapter 396 Cai Fu: I just want to rebel, so what? [2 Updates]

Qingzhou.

Thousands of surrendered soldiers, bound hand and foot, squatted on the street, waiting for Cai Fuwang's sister to return.

It was almost dawn, but the people, having received a notice from the government, all stayed at home and dared not come out.

Liu Guangshi was also tied up.

Under the cover of darkness, he moved unnoticed to the very back of the crowd.

Kneeling on one knee and leaning back, Liu Guangshi used his hands, which were tied behind his back, to secretly pull a small knife from his boot.

Because there were so many surrendered soldiers, the Liangshan bandits didn't search them thoroughly, allowing Liu Guangshi to hide a small knife.

Quietly cutting the rope, Liu Guangshi looked around and saw that there were henchmen standing guard in almost every direction.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, Liu Guangshi slipped into a small alley.

Once they reached the alley, things became simple. Liu Guangshi leaped over the wall and climbed in.

"you--"

As luck would have it, Liu Guangshi had just put his feet on the ground when he bumped into an old man who was taking his bird for a walk that morning.

The old man pointed at Liu Guangshi and uttered a single word before Liu Guangshi rushed forward and slashed his throat with a knife!

"laugh--"

Although Liu Guangshi's knife was small, it was extremely sharp, and he cut off half of the old man's neck on the spot!

A large amount of blood gushed from the wound, and Liu Guangshi was covered in blood. He quickly hugged the old man.

He gently laid the old man down on the ground, and then, without hesitation, went from room to room to search for him.

An old woman had just crawled out of bed, picked up her clothes, and hadn't even had time to put them on yet.

Liu Guangshi rushed in, covered the old woman's mouth with his left hand, and then slit her throat with a knife with his right!

After killing the old woman, Liu Guangshi found another room where the family's daughter was still fast asleep in bed.

Liu Guangshi had no compassion for women, and besides, the girl was too ugly and too muscular...

"Pfft!"

With a single stroke, he severed her throat. Liu Guangshi then covered her face with a blanket until she stopped moving.

After killing the entire family of three, Liu Guangshi finally relaxed and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes to rest and recharge...

……

Erlong Mountain.

"We can't delay any longer."

Cai Fu glanced at the sky; the sun was already high in the sky. He then said to the heroes of Erlong Mountain:
"I have an urgent matter to attend to and must return to Qingzhou immediately. Brothers, Cai Fu takes his leave!"

"Brother, wait a minute!"

Now that Song Jiang had eaten his fill, his mind was filled with more thoughts, and he quickly called out to Cai Fu:
"I wonder what urgent business you have in Qingzhou? We are familiar with the area and it will be convenient for us to handle things here!"

"Brother, you came from afar to save us from danger. Please give us a chance to repay you!"

"Yes, brother!"

Qin Ming immediately chimed in: "I was once the Commander-in-Chief of the Qingzhou Military Command!"
"If you are going to Qingzhou on business, I am willing to serve you like a dog or a horse!"

"I'm afraid that's not appropriate..."

Cai Fu shook his head with a troubled expression:
"I have urgent business to attend to, but it could cost me my head!"

"What's the harm?"

Qin Ming looked around and chuckled:
"After we brothers were forced to join the Liangshan bandits, what we did that didn't get us beheaded?"

Xu Ning also said, "Brother Cai Fu saved our lives, even if it means losing our heads, we will do it!"

Song Jiang had a bad feeling, but he still said:

"We will repay our brother even if it costs us our lives!"

The heroes of Erlong Mountain all chimed in, and seeing this, Cai Fu sighed:

"Very well, then I'll take you all with me!"

Wu Yong asked anxiously, "Brother Cai Fu, what urgent business do you need to attend to in Qingzhou?"

Cai Fu: "Plant the flag."

Wu Yong was taken aback: "What flag?"

Cai Fu: "The banner of 'acting on behalf of Heaven'."

Wu Yong was stunned: "Brother, do you mean... to follow in the footsteps of Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La?"

"Of course!"

Cai Fu said casually, "When we came here, we passed through Qingzhou and saw that Qingzhou was indeed a very large city."

"Such a large city is perfect for starting an uprising. Once we establish our own kingdom, we can make Qingzhou our capital."

"hiss--"

All the heroes of Erlong Mountain, led by Song Jiang, couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.
Good guy!
Is this your urgent matter?
Although Lu Zhishen and Wu Song already knew Cai Fu's idea, they were still very excited to hear him say it.

Cai Fu had told them about a three-year plan: within three years, they would at least establish their own independent territory and become kings and hegemons.

It's only been a year, and Cai Fu's plan is about to begin, starting in Qingzhou!
Qingzhou was where Lu Zhishen and Wu Song started their careers, so they were naturally very happy to establish their capital there.

Song Jiang was very unhappy:

"Brother Cai Fu, this is not appropriate!"
"Whether we're at Liangshan Marsh or Erlong Mountain, we're just outlaws!"

"To capture a city would truly be a rebellion!"

Cai Fu looked at him strangely: "So you thought we weren't rebelling before?"

Song Jiang quickly explained, "Brother, please don't misunderstand. Although we have become outlaws, our hearts are with the imperial court..."

"Not me!"

Cai Fu interrupted him without any politeness:
"I just want to rebel, so what?" Song Jiang: "..."

Speechless, Song Jiang could only look at Wu Yong, who sighed inwardly and then offered his advice:
“Brother Cai Fu, the matter of rebellion needs to be carefully considered.”

"Qingzhou is a place of constant warfare, I'm afraid the imperial court..."

"Afraid of a bird!"

Cai Fu said dismissively, "We defeated the imperial army of 130,000!"
"How many more troops can he send?"

Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand?

"Besides, where can he possibly get two or three hundred thousand troops from?"

"He's transferring troops from elsewhere; no matter how many come, it's all for nothing!"

"Unless he calls in the Western Army, but isn't he afraid that the Western Xia will take advantage of the situation and invade?"

Wu Yong was speechless, because Cai Fu had just defeated the imperial army of 130,000...

"Alright, no need for further words!"

Cai Fu waved his hand and said, "If you don't want to go, then don't go. I'll just pretend you didn't say anything!"
"Brothers, let's go!"

Originally, Cai Fu didn't have high hopes for Song Jiang and Wu Yong, since they all wanted to be granted amnesty.

Anyway, I've gained people and reputation this time I came to Erlong Mountain, and now I also want to get Qingzhou.

Not worth it.

"That's not what they said..."

Song Jiang weakly explained, "We've been starving for many days and have no strength left. We'd rather not be able to help..."

Lin Chong and Qin Ming looked at each other, both of them wanting to be granted amnesty. How could they dare to go with Cai Fu to plant the flag?
Then there really is no turning back...

Although Qin Ming's nickname is "Thunderbolt," he is still very steady when it comes to important life events.

For example, when Song Jiang first tried to persuade him to surrender, Qin Ming said, "Qin Ming was born a citizen of the Song Dynasty, and will die a ghost of the Song Dynasty!"

Later, Song Jiang sent someone to impersonate Qin Ming and kill many civilians. Murong Yanda killed Qin Ming's entire family and sent someone to report to the court to arrest him.

When Song Jiang came to persuade him to surrender again, Qin Ming was furious and wanted to fight Song Jiang and the others, but then he thought to himself:
Firstly, the stars in the upper realm were in harmony; secondly, they had been subdued and treated with courtesy; and thirdly, they feared they could not defeat them, so they had no choice but to swallow their anger.

Song Jiang then married Hua Rong's sister to him. Seeing how respectful and loving everyone was, Qin Ming finally felt at ease and submitted to the Song family.

One side feared they couldn't defeat them, while the other showed such mutual respect and love—this already made everything clear:
Qin Ming's "Thunderbolt Fire" is not the real "Thunderbolt Fire".

It's just a persona.

Qin Ming longed to return to the embrace of the imperial court, so he had to suppress his fiery temper.

As for Lin Chong, in the original novel, when Liangshan captured Gao Qiu, Lin Chong's reaction was "to glare angrily, as if he was about to lash out."

But apart from glaring angrily, Lin Chong did nothing else.

Gao Qiu stayed at Liangshan Marsh for three days until he was sent back to the imperial court, during which time Lin Chong remained seemingly invisible.

If Lin Chong could tolerate the hatred of killing his wife, one can imagine how much he wanted to be granted amnesty.

Lin Chong, Qin Ming, and the others who wanted to be granted amnesty remained silent, while "Master Strategist" Jiang Jing wanted to go with Cai Fu.

However, he had previously publicly declared his surrender, and Song Jiang hadn't settled accounts with him yet.

He didn't want to say he was leaving with Cai Fu, lest Song Jiang bring up old grudges and give him a severe beating too...

Among the "Four Wastes of Huangmen Mountain," Jiang Jing was the strategist. Since he remained silent, even if "Golden-Winged Cloud-Piercing Wings" Ou Peng and "Iron Flute Immortal" Ma Lin wanted to leave with Cai Fu, they couldn't bring themselves to speak up.

Xiao Rang, Jin Dajian, and Jiang Jing are all for the same reason.

Lei Heng, Mu Hong, Kong Ming, Kong Liang, Guo Sheng, and Zhang Heng were not necessarily willing to accept the imperial pardon, but they were all Song Jiang's loyal followers and naturally could not go with Cai Fu.

So after Cai Fu got up, the heroes of Erlong Mountain fell silent for a moment.

All that could be faintly heard was Li Kui's earth-shattering snoring coming from the small bedroom next door...

Song Jiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief: Thank goodness, although he had managed to save his team in the end!

However, to his surprise, just as Cai Fu was about to walk out of the closed door, someone suddenly shouted:

"Brother Cai Fu, please wait!"

"Shh-"

Everyone, led by Cai Fu and Song Jiang, turned to look at the man who had stepped forward.

The man was not tall, with a clean-shaven, round face and a thin, dark mustache.

It was none other than "Golden Gunner" Xu Ning!
Xu Ning was originally a staunch advocate of accepting amnesty.

Because the imperial court had not wronged him, he was forced to join Liangshan by Song Jiang.

Therefore, Xu Ning never stopped thinking about returning to the embrace of the imperial court.

However, Xu Ning is also a person who values ​​relationships and loyalty.

Why was he deceived by his cousin, "Golden Leopard" Tang Long?

Of course, it's because he trusts Tang Long.

Although Xu Ning and his cousin Tang Long had not seen each other for a long time, Xu Ning still trusted Tang Long.

In this matter, Tang Long wronged Xu Ning, but Xu Ning wronged no one.

However, Xu Ning now owes Cai Fu a debt of gratitude for saving his life, even though Cai Fu saved more than just him.

Others may not repay Cai Fu's life-saving grace, but Xu Ning's upbringing did not support him doing such a thing.

So Xu Ning finally stepped forward and resolutely said to Cai Fu:
"Brother Cai Fu, I'm willing to go with you!"

"you--"

Song Jiang could hardly believe his ears. He was both shocked and furious, and his finger trembled as he pointed at Xu Ning:

Hey Xu, I've treated you pretty well!
Have you forgotten? I even appointed you as one of the "Ten Great Generals"!

【Don’t worry, there’s more to come】

(End of this chapter)