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

After calming down a bit, realizing her predicament, she quickly escaped from Zhao Yuan's arms.

"I'm sorry, sir, it was my fault for not watching where I was going..."

The woman blushed and said softly.

Zhao Yuan sized the other person up and down.

The woman was not tall, appearing petite and delicate, at most reaching Zhao Yuan's chest.

However, she was exceptionally fair-skinned, with an oval face and willow-leaf eyebrows, and her appearance was quite delicate.

"It's alright, young lady, next time..."

Before Zhao Yuan could finish speaking, an old woman's face appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Li Ping'er, I just asked you to fetch something, why are you being so hesitant?"

The old woman said angrily with a stern face, "You still dare to stand at the top of the stairs and flirt with a man? Don't forget who you are!"

Li Ping'er didn't dare to retort, and after glancing at Zhao Yuan,

He hurried upstairs.

Zhao Yuan stared blankly in the direction she had left, thinking to himself,

I never expected to run into Li Ping'er from "Jin Ping Mei" as soon as I arrived in Daming Prefecture!

Now that "gold" is by my side and "plum" is on Liangshan Mountain, all that's missing is the "bottle" to complete "Jin Ping Mei"!

As he was lost in thought, Qiong Ying's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

"They've all disappeared from sight, brother, why are you still keeping an eye on them!"

Qiongying pouted unhappily and complained.

"What's so great about that woman? She's not as tall as me, and she's not as pretty as Sister Jinlian!"

Pan Jinlian, standing behind her, also nodded quietly.

Shi Qian, standing to the side, joked, "Young lady, you don't know. Every man has his own preferences. Perhaps you like petite and fair-skinned girls!"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Zhao Yuan glared at Shi Qian in annoyance before explaining to Qiong Ying, "I was just looking at that woman and suddenly thought of your sister Shishi."

"Really?" Qiong Ying asked doubtfully.

"of course it's true!"

Zhao Yuan reached out and pinched the girl's cheek: "When have I ever lied to you?"

What's the difference between thinking of Pang Chunmei, who was by Li Shishi's side, and thinking of Li Shishi herself?

"It's good that my brother still remembers his senior sister!"

Qiongying blushed, like a kitten, and angrily swatted away Zhao Yuan's paw.

"When I came down the mountain, I told my senior sister that I would keep an eye on you for her!"

Despite the incident involving Li Ping'er, Zhao Yuan didn't take it too seriously.

Led by Shi Qian,

The group returned to the inn and went to rest.

......

After Yan Qing and Xu Guanzhong left Cuiyun Tower,

The two then parted ways.

The latter went home alone, while the former walked to a warehouse.

The so-called "dejieku" is a pawnshop.

The house Yan Qing entered was owned by the Lu family.

As soon as he entered, he saw Master Lu sitting in the hall.

While checking the accounts, I watched as the supervisor packed up the items.

Upon seeing Yan Qing enter, Lu Junyi spoke without even looking up.

"When will Mr. Xu depart tomorrow? Go and withdraw one hundred taels of silver from your account and give it to him tomorrow as travel expenses."

"Replying to Master, Brother Xu will not be leaving tomorrow!" Yan Qing replied helplessly.

"Not leaving? Why?" Lu Junyi looked up in surprise.

Yan Qing looked around and said in a low voice,

"Master, I have something urgent to report!"

"Come on, let's talk in the inner room!"

Lu Junyi gave a greeting, and the master and servant entered the inner hall.

Then Yan Qing explained in detail why Zhao Yuan wanted to challenge him.

"That Zhao Dalang from Tokyo who killed the tiger with one punch actually wants to challenge me?"

Lu Junyi was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.

"I've heard people mention this person a lot lately. I thought I'd never have the chance to meet him, but he's come to me of his own accord!"

"Xiao Yi, you should go and tell him quickly. I will be waiting for you at home all day tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

Yan Qing responded, then hesitated for a moment.

He also recounted the entire story of the bet between Zhao Yuan and Xu Guanzhong.

"Master, both Brother Xu and Zhao Dalang from Liangshan said that if the Jurchens destroy the Liao Kingdom, they will march south to destroy the Song Dynasty. I've thought about it and I think it's very possible! Shouldn't we start preparing as soon as possible?"

"The Jurchens were actually that powerful? (Zhao)"

Lu Junyi frowned deeply.

If an ordinary person said this, he would never believe it.

A small foreign tribe was able to destroy two great powers, the Song and Liao dynasties, in succession.

But these words were spoken by Hsu Kuan-chung.

Even Lu Junyi, who greatly respected this gentleman's talent, had to think it over carefully.

“Master, even a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Why don’t you also manage some properties for him? That way, even if there is a Jin uprising in the future, you will have a place to stay!” Yan Qing suggested.

"Yes, that makes sense!" Lu Junyi couldn't help but nod.

"And as for Zhao Dalang, the leader of Liangshan, Master, you'd better not offend him!"

Yan Qing then advised, "Brother Xu said that this man has great ambitions and wants to take advantage of the rise of the Jurchens and the chaos in the north to accomplish great things!"

"If there truly is a time of chaos, this man will surely become a powerful and ruthless figure. If we offend him now, we may face disaster in the future."

Chapter 124 The Traitor is Going to Make Things Bad

"Don't worry, Xiao Yi, I'll be careful," Lu Junyi nodded.

After the master and servant finished their discussion, Yan Qing was about to go and inform Zhao Yuan and the others.

As soon as he stepped out of the inner hall, he saw the steward, Li Gu, standing at the door with a somewhat panicked expression.

"Butler Li, when did you arrive here?"

Yan Qing asked calmly.

"Oh, it's Brother Yi! I just arrived recently. Something happened at home, so I rushed here to find you, sir!"

Li Gu hurriedly asked, "I wonder if you have any free time now, sir?"

"Owner......"

Yan Qing was about to probe further to see if Li Yougu had overheard his conversation with Lu Junyi when...

Unexpectedly, Lu Junyi in the inner hall also heard Li Gu's voice and called out.

"Is this Butler Li? Come in and speak to me!"

Li Gu ignored Yan Qing and went straight into the inner hall.

A hint of worry appeared between Yan Qing's brows, but he also knew that...

Compared to this servant, Lu Junyi naturally trusted the steward Li Gu much more.

Even if he went in and told his master about Li Gu's unusual behavior,

Li Gu would certainly immediately offer a pretext for denial, and Lu Junyi's side might not believe him either.

After hesitating for a long time, Yan Qing was still somewhat undecided.

In the end, they had no choice but to go find Zhao Yuan and the others.

......

In the inn,

Upon hearing the news from Yan Qing that Lu Junyi had agreed to a contest,

Everyone was somewhat excited.

Especially a martial artist like Xu Ning, he glanced at Yan Qing,

He subtly suggested to Zhao Yuan, "Brother's duel with Master Lu will surely be spectacular. If you miss such a duel, you don't know how long you'll regret it."

“Brother, in my opinion, why don’t we invite Brother Bianxiang and Brother Dengfei to the city tonight, and watch the battle between you and Master Lu tomorrow? As for other matters, Brother Pei Xuan is more than capable of handling them.”

"this......"

Zhao Yuan was still considering when Yan Qing, who was standing nearby, recalled noticing Li Gu's unusual behavior when they came out.

After hesitating for a moment, I decided to tell the truth.

“Chief Zhao, just now when I was talking to the master, the steward of the manor was standing outside the door at some point. This man is a troublemaker. I don’t know how much he overheard, or whether he will secretly report to the authorities!”

"However, when I came here just now, I kept an eye out and didn't see anyone following us. But I can't say for sure what will happen to our mansion tomorrow. If Li Gu really notifies the government and the government can't find Chief Zhao's whereabouts, I'm afraid they will definitely ambush us at our mansion and wait for Chief Zhao to walk into their trap."

Li Gu, isn't he the traitor by Lu Junyi's side?

If this person were to find out that Lu Junyi was fighting with the Liangshan bandits, it wouldn't just be a possibility, but he would definitely try to sabotage the situation and inform the authorities!

Zhao Yuan immediately frowned.

"Thank you for informing me, Brother Yanqing. I will keep this in mind!"

Seeing this, Yan Qing couldn't help but advise, "Chief Zhao, why don't you put aside your duel with Master Xiao Ke for now, and we can do it again when it's more convenient later..."

"I proposed the challenge first, and your master has already agreed. How can I go back on my word now?"

Zhao Yuan shook his head and said, "Furthermore, if Li Gu really reports to the authorities, and I go there tomorrow, your master can still pretend not to know my identity. But if we escape, your master might be proven to have colluded with the bandits and inform us of the news overnight."

“...That’s true,” Yan Qing nodded with some difficulty.

"In short, I will definitely keep my appointment tomorrow,"

Zhao Yuan said in a deep voice, "Tell your master that no matter what happens, he just needs to insist that he doesn't know my true identity!"

"Thank you so much, Chief Zhao!" Yan Qing couldn't help but express his gratitude.

Given the current situation, Zhao Yuan would obviously be taking a great risk by going to the appointment tomorrow.

Even knowing this, Zhao Yuan was still willing to risk his life to help Lu Junyi clear his name. This is truly a model of loyalty and righteousness!

"Chief Zhao, no matter what, please make some preparations in advance for tomorrow!"

Yan Qing bowed respectfully, then took his leave.

As soon as he left, Shi Qian couldn't help but say, "Brother, since tomorrow's competition is risky, you can simply not go. Why put yourself in danger for that Master Lu?"

"I'm going tomorrow, and not just for Master Lu,"

Zhao Yuan shook his head and said, "We have already informed others about challenging Master Lu. If we don't go tomorrow, this matter will be a half-hearted effort. Once word gets out, what will the heroes of the world say about Liangshan?"

“They’ll say my brother is a coward, that he was the one who challenged us, but he didn’t dare to keep his word,” Qiong Ying said slowly.

"But it's not worth putting yourself in danger for the sake of reputation!" Xu Ning said, somewhat puzzled.