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

Seeing that he had won, Jiao Ting immediately looked at the girl with pleading eyes.

"Young lady, I wonder when your words will be remembered..."

"Don't worry about that. Since I've promised you, I certainly won't go back on my word."

Qiongying said with a smile, "However, there is a shortcut to Liangshan right in front of us. I don't know if you would like to give it a try?"

"I'm willing to go to Liangshan as long as I can!" Jiao Ting nodded hurriedly.

Qiongying then pointed at Zhao Yuan.

"Don't let this old man's appearance fool you; he's actually a leader on Liangshan Mountain. Why don't you have a sumo wrestling match with him? If you win, Brother Zhao from Liangshan will know your skills and will naturally take you in!"

"This... I humbly request your guidance, brother!"

Jiao Ting quickly bowed to Zhao Yuan.

"You're always causing trouble with the 997 work schedule!"

Zhao Yuan glanced at Qiong Ying helplessly.

The girl tugged at his arm and said in a charmingly naive tone,

"Then why don't you compete with him? You're not afraid of losing and losing face, are you?"

"Provocation won't work on me!"

Zhao Yuan remained unmoved, while Qiong Ying let out an angry snort.

"Since you're not going to play, I'll go up and play with him!"

"Don't be ridiculous! There's no such thing as a girl wrestling with a man!"

"Then you'll take my place!"

Seeing that if he didn't go, Qiongying might actually step in herself.

Helpless, Zhao Yuan could only roll up his sleeves and walk into the arena.

"Please enlighten me, brother!"

Jiao Ting bowed, then assumed a stance.

He stretched out his hands and grabbed Zhao Yuan's belt.

He was about to forcefully throw Zhao Yuan off the field.

But suddenly, I felt my feet slip and lose their footing.

Upon looking down,

Only then did he realize that Zhao Yuan had lifted him into the air!

"Brother, what do you think?" Zhao Yuan asked with a smile.

Jiao Ting's feet were off the ground; he had no strength left.

He simply said, "Brother, you're so powerful, I admit defeat!"

Zhao Yuan put it down and just sat back down by the fire,

Then Jiao Ting knelt down and shouted,

"Please, Brother Zhao, accept me as your disciple!"

Chapter Ninety-Three: Qiong Ying Grows Up

"Huh, how do you know he's Brother Zhao?"

Qiongying asked curiously.

"Just now, when I left the city, I heard the young lady call this dark-faced, thin brother Ruan Xiaoqi,"

Jiao Ting honestly replied, "These are clearly the names of the three Ruan brothers from Liangshan. I thought I had misheard, but I witnessed the elder brother's superhuman strength during the sumo wrestling match just now."

"I've never seen such strength before in all my years. I think only Brother Zhao Dalang from Tokyo, who could kill a tiger with a single punch, could possess it. That's why I'm making this guess."

"You may look simple-minded, but you're actually quite quick-witted."

Qiongying smiled and praised her.

Zhao Yuan, standing to the side, nodded and said, "Brother, you guessed correctly. I am the current leader of Liangshan, Zhao Dalang of Dongjing!"

"Please, Brother Zhao, accept me as your son!"

When Jiao Ting saw that Zhao Yuan had admitted it, he quickly bowed twice more.

"Brother, please get up. I'll grant your request."

Zhao Yuan smiled and helped Jiao Ting up.

"We are on our way to Cangzhou to pay our respects to Master Chai. Brother, why don't you come with us first, and we can go to Liangshan together on our return trip? Is that alright?"

"I will follow my brother's arrangements!"

Jiao Ting quickly bowed and agreed.

One more person has joined the group heading to Cangzhou.

Zhao Yuan never had the chance to ride a horse with Qiong Ying again.

Instead, two female soldiers rode one horse, freeing up another for Jiao Ting.

Jiao Ting has a bad temper; if he doesn't like you, he won't even bother with you.

If they think highly of you, they can treat you sincerely.

After spending two days together,

Zhao Yuan and Lin Chong both quite liked this new brother.

Ruan Xiaoqi then pestered Jiao Ting every day.

Whenever they had free time, the two would wrestle and play around with sumo.

On this day, the group arrived at Yanggu County.

For Zhao Yuan, this was a return to familiar territory.

Because I had lived in this city for some time before,

Many people recognized him, and Zhao Yuan originally intended to take a detour.

However, by the time they arrived in Yanggu County, it was already dark.

The group had been camping in the wild for several days.

The men were alright, but the two female soldiers were already feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Although Qiongying didn't speak, Zhao Yuan felt sorry for her seeing how uncomfortable she looked.

Taking advantage of his disguise, he wanted to lead everyone into the city.

"Brother, perhaps we should take a detour,"

Qiongying reached out and tugged at Zhao Yuan's sleeve.

"You caused quite a stir in Yanggu County; what if someone discovers your identity..."

"It's alright. Back then, Lu Zhishen and I, just the two of us, were able to fight our way out of Yanggu County."

Zhao Yuan looked at the crowd and laughed, "With so many people here today, why would we be afraid of them!"

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the others stopped trying to persuade him.

The group entered Yanggu County.

Zhao Yuan deliberately chose a different inn to stay at than last time.

The shop owner indeed did not recognize him.

After checking into the room and putting down my luggage,

Qiongying and the two female soldiers immediately told the waiter to fetch hot water to prepare for their bath.

Zhao Yuan, Lin Chong, Ruan Xiaoer, and Jiao Ting,

They went to the main hall first and asked the shopkeeper to prepare some wine and meat for them to eat.

The four men were chatting and drinking when they overheard people at the next table discussing the newly arrived county magistrate.

"I heard that Magistrate Teng entered the county town this morning, learned about Ximen Qing's body, and is planning to collect it tomorrow."

Zhao Yuan was immediately somewhat surprised.

Ximen Qing has been dead for almost a month, why are they still collecting his body?

And what about Magistrate Teng? Could he be here to replace Magistrate Li, whom he killed?

Thinking of this, Zhao Yuan gave Ruan Xiaoqi a wink.

Ruan Xiaoqi nodded in understanding.

Holding the wine jar, he went to the next table and started striking up a conversation.

A moment later, he turned back.

He whispered to Zhao Yuan,

“Brother, after Ximen Qing died, the Ximen family scattered. The people of Yanggu County were angry that Ximen Qing had used fake medicine to harm people. In addition, it was the dead of winter, so no one was willing to collect his body.”

"I heard that the body has been frozen under the Lion Tower for a month, like an ice sculpture!"

"As for Magistrate Na Teng, it is said that he was originally the Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, but he was stripped of his position and demoted to the position of Magistrate of Yanggu County because he failed to apprehend the assassin who attempted to assassinate the current emperor."

“The magistrate of Teng County entered the county town half a day earlier than us. After hearing about the matter of Ximen Qing’s body, he decided to collect and bury Ximen Qing’s body the next morning.”

"So that's how it is,"

Zhao Yuan nodded, but unexpectedly, a voice suddenly spoke from the side.

"Brother, shall we go take a look tomorrow?"

Zhao Yuan turned his head and saw that Qiongying had finished bathing.

She was standing right next to him, looking at him expectantly.

“Brother, I’ve heard Sister Shishi tell the story of Ximen Qing several times. If I could see his body now, I might be able to imagine the heroic figure you were when you killed him.”

"this......"

Zhao Yuan looked into the girl's expectant eyes,

Thinking back, Li Shishi had asked the girl to come along so that she could relax and not be immersed in her troubles all day long.

After this trip, Qiongying was indeed much more lively than when she was on Liangshan Mountain.

Zhao Yuan thought about it and then agreed.

......

The next day, Qiongying got up early.

The group packed their luggage.

He then led his horse toward the Lion Tower.

When they arrived at the destination, the government officials who were there to collect the body had not yet arrived.

A considerable number of people had already gathered around to watch.

Qiongying pulled Zhao Yuan to the front of the crowd.

Then, beneath the lion tower, a human-shaped ice sculpture knelt on the ground.

A long spear was stuck in his chest, its tip piercing the ground.

The ice sculpture's features were so lifelike that one could almost see the fear in its face at the moment of death.

Qiongying examined Ximen Qing's ice sculpture corpse with great interest.

Zhao Yuan looked around and saw that among the crowd beside him...

A woman, riding a tall horse, was also watching from there.

The woman was dressed in a fiery red riding skirt and a leather-soled battle armor.

She wore elegant cloud-patterned boots, a fiery red cloak, and two precious swords, Autumn Water Swords, at her waist.