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

Just then, the eunuch Hua in Tokyo was planning to marry off his nephew Hua Zixu. Through a matchmaker, Li Ping'er married Hua Zixu as his principal wife.

Afterwards, Eunuch Hua retired and returned to his hometown. Hua Zixu and Li Ping'er followed him to Qinghe County, and their residence was next to Ximen Qing's house.

......

Now that Liangshan is under my control, I don't know when I will be able to attack Daming Prefecture.

Zhao Yuan was pondering whether he might be able to collect all the parts of "Jin Ping Mei".

Qiongying suddenly called out to him,

She saw Zhao Yuan staring intently at Pan Jinlian.

I suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

After the girl called out, seeing that Zhao Yuan hadn't recovered yet,

He then raised his hand to pinch Zhao Yuan's cheek.

Unexpectedly, he caught Zhao Yuan's gaze.

The room was completely peaceful; there was none of the lecherous feeling one might expect from the men around me.

Qiongying was immediately puzzled.

When this brother looks at Pan Jinlian like that, is it really not because of her beauty?

Pan Jinlian felt somewhat uncomfortable under Zhao Yuan's gaze.

I also felt a little strange.

She was exceptionally beautiful from a young age.

Most men like to point and whisper when they see her.

Or pretend to steal a few glances at her casually.

Or he would simply stare at her with a lewd grin.

Few people possess such a calm gaze as the man before them.

It's baffling; no one can guess what he's thinking.

In truth, to Zhao Yuan, Pan Jinlian was beautiful, no matter what.

But no matter how beautiful she is, she can't compare to Li Shishi!

He had long been accustomed to Li Shishi's unparalleled beauty.

Looking at Pan Jinlian now, she naturally seems quite ordinary.

He didn't have many feelings in his heart, so his gaze was naturally not as lewd as that of an ordinary man.

The reason I kept looking at Pan Jinlian was...

Zhao Yuan was only thinking about Li Ping'er.

As for Pan Jinlian, Zhao Yuan originally did not intend to take her in.

After all, the reputation of being the greatest harlot in history is truly unforgettable!

Fortunately, because of Li Ping'er, he had just remembered the story in "Jin Ping Mei".

If this Pan Jinlian is indeed the one from Jin Ping Mei,

That way, I wouldn't have been beaten by that middle-aged woman and threatened to sell the bark to that short, ugly man!

This is the story of Pan Jinlian from the Water Margin!

In the novel *Jin Ping Mei*, Pan Jinlian and the wealthy Zhang family took advantage of the situation to engage in illicit relations.

After the mistress found out, Zhang, in order to maintain his affair with Pan Jinlian,

He deliberately gave her to Wu Dalang as his third wife.

Wu Dalang was timid and cowardly, and since Pan Jinlian was originally Zhang the landlord's woman, he turned a blind eye to their illicit affair.

Until Zhang the landlord died of illness,

Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian were only forced by the matriarch of the Zhang family to...

We're moving away from Qinghe County and heading to Yanggu!

The Pan Jinlian in these two stories are completely different!

Pan Jinlian in Water Margin was quite self-respecting in the early stages.

At the very least, they dared to resist the encroachment of that wealthy household.

Judging from the situation on the street just now

The Pan Jinlian before me is clearly the one from the Water Margin!

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Inch-Size Tree Bark

"Young lady, now that you've saved her, what are your plans for settling her in?"

Zhao Yuan looked at Qiong Ying and asked,

"Don't forget, we're heading to Cangzhou. This woman looks very delicate; how can she possibly ride with us?"

"this......"

Qiong Ying immediately looked troubled.

"Brother, why don't we find a family in Qinghe County to settle her down?"

Upon hearing this, Pan Jinlian gritted her teeth.

Suddenly, he stood up, knelt and kowtowed to the two men, and cried out,

"My two benefactors, please take me away from here! The Zhang family is wealthy and powerful in Qinghe County. If I stay here, the Zhang family will definitely come to harass me every day. If Madam Zhang finds out, she will definitely have someone beat me to death!"

"Sister, please get up!"

Qiongying quickly helped Pan Jinlian up.

She glanced at the young woman, then at Zhao Yuan.

"Brother, I have a good idea!"

"You're not planning to do something reckless again, are you?" Zhao Yuan asked, somewhat helplessly.

"How can this be considered nonsense?"

Qiongying chuckled and said, "Sister Shishi only has Chunmei as her maid right now. Don't you think that's too few? Why don't we let Jinlian also become Sister Shishi's maid?"

If Pan Jinlian and Pang Chunmei were both made maids for Li Shishi, and then Li Ping'er were added, wouldn't Jin Ping Mei be complete?

Zhao Yuan glanced at Pan Jinlian and saw that she looked anxious and had tears on her face.

Seeing how pitiful they looked, they could only nod in agreement.

"Alright, since you've already saved her, you might as well go all the way. Take her with you."

"Thank you, brother!"

Qiongying immediately beamed with joy and ordered a bowl of glutinous rice balls for Pan Jinlian as well.

After the three had eaten, since Pan Jinlian was from Qinghe County,

Zhao Yuan and Qiong Ying then asked her to lead the way.

The three of them were admiring the lanterns on the street.

Pan Jinlian had just changed masters and was unaware of Qiongying and Zhao Yuan's personalities.

All I could do was be attentive and careful as I introduced the various places in Qinghe County.

The three walked along the street and came to a street corner.

But then they saw a large crowd gathered in front of them.

Qiongying, being a lively girl, immediately went in to watch the excitement.

Worried about getting separated from her, Zhao Yuan also protected Pan Jinlian and squeezed into the crowd.

As soon as they arrived, they saw several hooligans surrounding a short, stocky man who was selling steamed buns from a shoulder pole.

The man was less than five feet tall, with an ugly face, a large head and a small body, and a long upper body and a short lower body. Just looking at him made him look extremely ridiculous.

“Sir, the short, stocky man who sells steamed buns is surnamed Wu. Because he is the eldest in his family, the people of Qinghe County call him Wu Dalang. He also has a nickname because of his unusual appearance: Three-Inch Ding and Gushupi.”

Pan Jinlian introduced them to Zhao Yuan in a low voice,

"That Madam Zhang just now said she wanted to sell me off cheaply, that's her!"

First he met Pan Jinlian, then he met Wu Dalang.

Today's luck is really hard to say whether it's good or bad!

Zhao Yuan sighed inwardly.

The hooligans surrounding Wu Dalang didn't attack immediately; instead, they spoke first.

"Wu Da, don't blame us for bullying you! It's because your brother injured the confidential document; we were just following orders!"

"If you don't want to suffer this injustice, send a message to your brother as soon as possible and urge him to come back quickly! As long as that secret agent can vent his anger, this matter will be over!"

After the ringleader finished speaking, he winked at the other scoundrels beside him.

They immediately stepped forward and kicked over the short, stocky man's steamer.

The steamed buns inside immediately spilled all over the ground.

Seeing that the ruffians had kicked over the steamer and were about to punch Wu Dalang,

Zhao Yuan quickly stepped forward and blocked Wu Da's path.

"Gentlemen, you've already ruined someone's business, and now you want to hurt them? Isn't that going too far?"

"Who do you think you are, daring to meddle in our business?"

A few thugs came over and were about to attack.

The ringleader, seeing Zhao Yuan's wealthy and powerful attire, worried about offending someone rich and powerful.

He quickly reached out and stopped his companions.

“Master Wu, this man’s brother injured a county official and then ran away. We were just following orders from that official to teach him a lesson and force his brother to come back. You’d better not meddle in other people’s business!”

Just as Zhao Yuan was about to speak, Qiong Ying, who was standing to the side, started shouting and jeering.

"In broad daylight, on the street you dare to bully people? Is there no law anymore? You virtuous gentleman, teach them a lesson!"

The crowd of onlookers was also making a noisy commotion.

"It was Wu Er who hit him, why are you causing trouble for Wu Da! Is there no justice in this world?"

"Wu Da is just a pancake seller. If he's so capable, why doesn't he go and get revenge on Wu Er?"

"The brothers Wu Da and Wu Er are very close. You injured Wu Da, but when Wu Er comes back, you'll be in big trouble!"

......

Despite having already provoked public outrage, the ringleader of the hooligans showed no fear whatsoever.

"What's the use of arguing with us? This is a secret order from the county government. If we can't teach Wu Da a lesson today, we'll all be locked up in the county jail tomorrow. Will you feed us then?"

He shouted to the surrounding crowd.

The ringleader then said to Zhao Yuan with a forced smile,

"Fine, you meddlesome fellow, since you insist on meddling in other people's business, don't blame us brothers for being ruthless!"

Having received the leader's signal, the other scoundrels rolled up their sleeves.

Then he walked towards the two of them.

Although Wu Da was timid and cowardly, he trembled as he spoke to Zhao Yuan.

"Sir, thank you for speaking up, but this is a matter for the Wu family. You should leave quickly, lest they hurt you!"

"Haha, no problem, I'm really going to meddle in this mess today!"

Zhao Yuan burst into laughter.

Although Wu Da was ugly, he was indeed kind-hearted.