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

It's almost noon.

It was still under the urging of the wet nurse and her husband at the prefect's residence that...

Cheng Wan'er then reluctantly waved goodbye to her sisters.

Watching the passenger ship slowly sail north,

Seeing that Cheng Wan'er had disappeared without a trace,

Li Shishi was about to lead Jinlian and the others back to the mountain.

Unexpectedly at this time,

Suddenly a fast boat appeared,

They quickly approached the dock.

A small red flag was flying from the flagpole of the speedboat.

Li Shishi did not understand the meaning.

Qiongying immediately understood.

"It's a spy from Brother Shiqian! He's even hanging a red flag, something urgent must have happened."

To avoid important intelligence being delayed by the soldiers at the checkpoint,

Zhao Yuan ordered Shi Qian's spies to...

A small red flag was prepared.

In case of an emergency,

When a decision needs to be made on the mountain as soon as possible

Then they hung up a small red flag.

Although Li Shishi was the wife of the leader of Liangshan,

But Zhao Yuan had already set the rules.

The inner quarters must not interfere in the affairs of the mountain stronghold.

So the soldier who brought the news

He simply bowed to Li Shishi from afar.

They hurriedly crossed the pass.

They went up the mountain to find the two strategists, Wen Huanzhang and Xu Guanzhong.

now,

Zhao Yuan is not on the mountain.

But then an emergency arose.

Li Shishi was deeply afraid that something had happened to Zhao Yuan outside.

He hurriedly instructed Qiongying.

"Sister, go quickly to the two strategists and find out what happened."

"Don't worry, Senior Sister, I'll head up the mountain right away."

Qiongying, as the leader of the mountain stronghold,

If something really happens

Of course, she couldn't be avoided.

Seeing Qiongying leave,

The sorghum here,

But she already had a plan in mind.

She made her decision yesterday.

Before leaving,

She would repay the kindness of Liangshan for saving her father.

Now that something has happened to Liangshan...

That might be her chance to contribute!

Thinking of this,

Gao Liang then sent her four maids to find out more information.

Look at Liangshan,

What exactly happened?!

........

In the Hall of Gathering Righteousness,

After reviewing the intelligence presented by their spies, Wen Huanzhang and Xu Guanzhong...

They immediately summoned all the leaders of Liangshan.

"Two strategists, now that most of the brothers have arrived, tell me quickly, what exactly happened?"

Li Kui, that dark-skinned fellow, was the first to burst out shouting.

"But which landlord or tyrant dares to oppose us Liangshan? Let me, Tie Niu, go and chop them down!"

"Tie Niu, stop fooling around! Let's hear what the two strategists have to say first,"

Lu Zhishen stopped Li Kui from talking nonsense.

"Mr. Wen, Scholar Xu, what exactly happened that made you summon all the brothers from the mountain?"

"With the two strategists being so cautious, could this matter be related to the Zhao brothers?"

Lin Chong asked the question.

"This matter is indeed related to Chief Zhao,"

Wen Huanzhang nodded.

"It's about the Hu family village. According to the intelligence, three days later, the third daughter of the Hu family village, Hu San Niang, will marry Zhu Biao of the Zhu family village!"

"What? This is impossible!"

Li Kui immediately jumped up.

"That Lady Hu and Brother Zhao are already a couple, how could she possibly marry someone else!"

"This woman is fickle and dares to betray Brother Zhao! I, Tie Niu, will go down the mountain right now and chop off her and that dog Zhu Biao's heads to avenge Brother Zhao!"

"You black bastard, stop talking nonsense!"

Qiongying glared at Li Kui.

"Sister Hu is not that kind of person. There must be some misunderstanding here."

"This is indeed a bit strange,"

Lin Chong frowned and said,

"After Hu Sanniang returned from the south, she originally said she was going home to visit, and that she would be back in three to five days."

"Unexpectedly, he never returned to the mountain after that trip."

"I also think there's something wrong here,"

Ruan Xiaoqi also spoke up.

"Third Sister and Brother Zhao were deeply in love, and when we went south, they secretly pledged their lives to each other."

"Furthermore, Third Sister has always looked down on the Zhu brothers, so how could Zhao Hao possibly agree to marry Zhu Biao?"

.....Half.

The crowd discussed it for a long time.

Everyone felt there was something strange about this marriage.

Xu Guanzhong and Wen Huanzhang exchanged a glance.

The former said loudly,

"Brothers, in the message Shi Qian sent back, he also suspected that Hu Sanniang was forced by her brother to agree to marry Zhu Biao,"

"Privately speaking, this matter concerns Chief Zhao's family affairs, and we brothers cannot ignore it."

"From the public's perspective, once the Hu Family Village and the Zhu Family Village unite through marriage, it will ultimately be a considerable problem for Liangshan."

"Therefore, although the chieftain is not here, Mr. Wen and I have decided to send troops to Zhu Family Village..."

Chapter 389 Joint Defense by Three Villages

"The Zhu Family Village is located on Dulong Ridge."

"There are three villages on that hill: Zhu Family Village, Hu Family Village, and Li Family Village."

"There are three brothers in Zhu Family Village, known as the Three Heroes of the Zhu Family: Zhu Long, Zhu Hu, and Zhu Biao."

"These three brothers are skilled in martial arts. They had a minor grudge against the chieftain on Jingyang Ridge."

"The man Hu Sanniang is to marry this time is Zhu Biao, one of these three brothers."

"Hu Family Village in the Three Villages is where Hu Sanniang lives. There are only her and her brother Hu Cheng in the house."

“Hu Sanniang is quite skilled in martial arts, and her elder brother Hu Cheng is also quite steady in his work.”

"The last of the three villages, Li Family Village, also has two men who are famous in the martial arts world, namely Li Ying, the Sky-Soaring Eagle, and Du Xing, the Ghost Face."

"This Li Ying is skilled in using a steel-tipped iron spear and carries five throwing knives on his back. It is said that he can kill a person from a hundred paces away and appears and disappears like a ghost."

"His steward, Du Xing, with his ghost face, is not very skilled in martial arts, but he is tall and has a fierce temperament, so he is quite capable."

"Among these three villages, the Zhu Family Village is the most powerful, has the most land, and the largest population."

"The remaining 277 are Hu Family Village and Li Family Village. Although they have some influence, they are far inferior to Zhu Family Village."

"Besides, the Hu Family Village and the Li Family Village had business dealings with Liangshan before, but recently, for some reason, they suddenly lost contact."

"In recent years, due to the rise of bandits and the establishment of numerous mountain strongholds in various places, Zhujiazhuang, Hujiazhuang, and Lijiazhuang have not only organized local militias and trained soldiers to protect their villages, but have also formed a joint defense among the three villages."

"The three villages are closely connected, with Zhu Family Village as the leader, and together they fight against external enemies."

Although the decision to send troops has been made,

But as the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.

Wen Huanzhang and Xu Guanzhong then addressed the various leaders of Liangshan.

The situation in Dulonggang was briefly described.

"These three villages, in terms of military strength, amount to no more than three to five thousand men, which is not worth mentioning."

"The only troublesome thing is that the road in front of the Zhu Family Village is a winding path."

“In the countryside, there was a saying that goes, ‘What a Zhu Family Village! It’s all winding roads. It’s easy to get in, but hard to get out.’”

"After Liangshan rose to power in the marshland, the Zhu Family Village, fearing that Liangshan would attack, buried bamboo spikes and scattered caltrops on the dead-end road in the winding path."

“In the past few months, many outsiders have been killed or injured because they did not know the way and went into dead ends.”

"However, the Zhu Family Village went to great lengths to create this winding road, but it doesn't really affect us,"

Xu Guanzhong laughed,

"The brothers Shi Qian and Shi Xiu have already thoroughly investigated the entire Zhu Family Village."

"The winding road in front of Zhu Family Village may seem complicated, but if you want to enter the village, just turn left when you see the poplar trees."

"If you leave the village, it's the opposite. If you encounter Bai Yang, just turn right and you can leave."

"The only troublesome thing is the joint defense of these three villages."

Wen Huanzhang said slowly,

“If we attack the Zhu Family Village directly, the Hu Family Village and the Li Family Village will surely come to our aid.”