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

Chapter 641 Song Jiang's Moral Bottom Line [2 Updates]

"Your Majesty, although the people of the martial world call me a divine physician, capable of curing all diseases, with medicine that can bring the dead back to life and heal flesh and bones, but—"

An Daoquan sighed, "Even a clever cook can't cook without rice."

Although An Daoquan put it very tactfully, Cai Fu immediately understood, and it seemed that Li Kui's talk of the world was all nonsense.

Turning back to Li Kui, An Daoquan asked for his opinion:

"Just cut them off, there's no point in keeping those two."

Li Kui had cried all his tears, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Let's keep it here, it's better than having nothing at all..."

An Daoquan had no objections; if Li Kui wanted to be kept, so be it. It would be good to have a counterweight.

After An Daoquan cured Li Kui, Cai Fu instructed Sun Xin:
“Send this fellow back to Yangzhou.”

Sun Xin was taken aback: "Why is that?"

Cai Fu smiled slightly: "He's Little Fatty's confidant. If we don't send him back, Little Fatty will be heartbroken."

Sun Xin subconsciously looked at Hu Sanniang, but Hu Sanniang handed over the heads of Kong Ming and Kong Liang to Sun Xin as well:

"Have the black-clad servant deliver these two heads to Little Fatty Blackie, and say it's a big gift from Hu Sanniang to him!"

Sun Xin saw that the heads of Kongming and Kong Liang had already been tanned and had not rotted, which showed that they had been prepared in advance.

So Sun Xin accepted the order and carefully placed the heads of Kongming and Kong Liang in an exquisite box, as if they were worth a thousand pieces of gold.

……

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Song Jiang, along with Wu Yong, Qin Ming, Bao Daoyi, and others, fled in panic and finally escaped back to Yangzhou.

After all, setting aside his positions as the Chief Administrator of Pingnan and the Vanguard in the Campaign against Fang Jinzhi, Song Jiang's primary job was as the Military Commander of Yangzhou Commandery.

But when he set out, he had 30,000 troops, but when he returned, he had only a few hundred small fry. It was as if Song Jiang had just had a nightmare.

In his dream, Cai Fu was riding on his head and defecating and urinating on him. It was so disgusting!
Zhang Heng, Chai Jin, and Yue Zhen have already escaped back to Yangzhou, which finally gave Song Jiang, who had suffered heavy losses, some comfort.

The only question is where Kongming and Kongliang are.

These two were Song Jiang's disciples, his most trusted followers, and he was truly worried about them.

"I am useless and have lost the city. Please forgive me, brother!"

Zhang Heng, Chai Jin, and Yue Zhen had already made an appointment; upon seeing Song Jiang, they would be moved to tears and bow down in respect.

Song Jiang helped them up one by one and said with emotion:
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."

Losing Guo Sheng had already saddened Song Jiang greatly; he only had a handful of his men, and each death meant one less to go.

Moreover, the return of Zhang Heng, Chai Jin, and Yue Zhen gave Song Jiang hope that Kong Ming and Kong Liang would return as well.

After all, they were all his apprentices whom he had personally taught. How could they die so easily?
The biggest problem now is how to explain this to the imperial court...

No one mentioned it when they were fleeing for their lives, but now that they've survived, Bao Daoyi couldn't help but ask him:
"Chief Steward Song, how are we to explain this to the imperial court?"

Song Jiang sighed: "Celestial Master, the only option now is to plead guilty to the imperial court."

"Let's gather our strength and make a comeback..."

"Excuse me?"

Bao Daoyi rejected it without hesitation:
"I cannot apologize!"
"The imperial court recruited us because we are useful. Wouldn't pleading guilty prove that we are useless?"
"We are useless people, and we have no connections in the court. Is there any chance that the emperor will give us an important position?"

"Ah this..."

Song Jiang had to admit that Bao Daoyi's words made perfect sense:

"But we've lost the battle, so how can we tell the court we've won?"

"Even if I told them, the imperial court wouldn't believe me..."

"Why don't you believe it?"

Bao Daoyi retorted, "We have prisoners in our hands!"

Wu Yong, understanding the implied meaning from the music, remained silent and covered the lower half of his face with his goose feather fan.

Only a pair of large, darting eyes were visible. Song Jiang was taken aback: "Where are the prisoners?"

"that is not?"

Bao Daoyi pointed to Fang Tianding, who was still oblivious to his impending doom, eating snacks nearby.

Fang Tianding had endured countless hardships on his escape, and now that he had finally arrived in Yangzhou, he longed for a good meal.

I was enjoying my meal when I suddenly felt the atmosphere change, and a chill inexplicably ran down the back of my neck.

What's wrong?
Fang Tianding, his mouth stuffed full, looked around in bewilderment:

Why are you all staring at me?
Song Jiang nodded and smiled at him, indicating that it was none of his business, then pulled Bao Daoyi outside and whispered:
"Celestial Master, this is not appropriate!"

"Firstly, Fang Tianding surrendered to the court himself, and he has already redeemed himself through meritorious service!"

"Secondly, if we hand him over as a prisoner, wouldn't that be deceiving the imperial court?"

Bao Daoyi frowned: "Then let me ask you, he has redeemed himself through meritorious service, but what is his merit?"

Song Jiang was stunned: all the cities we occupied had been taken by Cai Fu, so now talking about merit was just empty talk...

"No merit?"

Bao Daoyi scoffed: "The so-called redemption through meritorious service means that without merit, he will still be a criminal!"

"Since he is guilty, what's wrong with handing him over to the court as a prisoner?"

Song Jiang still couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart: "But I guaranteed his life would be safe..."

Did you make that promise?

Bao Daoyi said with a half-smile, "Make Fang Tianding tell me himself!"

Hey?

Song Jiang suddenly remembered that Fang Tianding was mute and blind, and had almost no chance to prove his innocence.

Bao Daoyi spread his hands: "You're guaranteeing his life will be safe after he redeems himself through meritorious service, right?"
"He is still a criminal, so your guarantee is not a guarantee. You don't need to feel guilty about it."

"Chief Steward Song, Fang Tianding is the Crown Prince of the Southern Kingdom, the Prince of Nan'an. Presenting him to the imperial court would be an immense achievement!"

"Not only will we not have to apologize to the court, but the court will also promote us and grant us higher ranks and titles!"

Song Jiang was still worried: "But the eight prefectures of the South still exist, and we're only taking Fang Tianding back to claim credit..."

"Isn't it convincing?"

Bao Daoyi chuckled:
"What's so difficult about that?"
"We have presented Grand Tutor Cai with generous gifts, and ask him to speak on our behalf to the Emperor!"

"As long as Grand Tutor Cai puts a good word for us in front of the Emperor, what are these trivial matters worth mentioning?"

Song Jiang was tempted.

It must be said that Bao Daoyi's words made a lot of sense and were entirely beneficial.

The only thing preventing Song Jiang from making up his mind was his moral bottom line.

He still has a moral bottom line, it's just that that line has been lowered again and again...

Just then, "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng excitedly reported:
"Brother, look what I brought you!"

When Song Jiang saw this, he saw that Lei Heng had brought a long string of scholars whose hands were tied together with hemp rope.

Lei Heng introduced them to Song Jiang one by one: "This is Lou Minzhong, the Left Prime Minister of the Southern Kingdom, and that is Zu Shiyuan, the Right Prime Minister..."

Lou Minzhong and Zu Shiyuan hurriedly cried out that they were innocent:

"I'm innocent, my lord! I've come to surrender to the imperial court!"

Are they all high-ranking officials?
Song Jiang subconsciously exchanged a glance with Bao Daoyi.

Bao Daoyi gave him a wink and snorted coldly:
"What surrender!"
“You are clearly traitors we have captured. Throw you all into prison and await your fate!”

"what?"

Lou Minzhong and Zu Shiyuan were dumbfounded, and they were dragged to the prison by Lei Heng while crying and wailing...

(End of this chapter)