The Second Volume of Water Margin

  For a powerful person like Sun Li, Ximen Qing would naturally not let him go and wanted to pull him over for his own use. He still remembered discussing a topic with others before, that is "Ma Jun's Five Tiger Generals".

  The original five tiger generals were entirely under the control of Song Jiang, that black three chubby, relying solely on feelings rather than strength. The most obvious example is Dong Ping, known as "Heroic Double Gun General, Elegant Marquis of Ten Thousand Households", who was impulsive and didn't consider consequences, often resorting to elopement when proposals were rejected, completely lacking the awareness of being a five tiger general.

  Such a role can be the vanguard, but cannot be the general. If Ximen Qing were to choose the five tiger generals of Ma Jun's army, he would certainly have to include Sun Li in them.

  Sun Li turned his head away, forcing himself not to express his opinion, and when he finally turned back, he saw Ximen Qing staring at him with great interest, making him feel a bit uneasy.

  "I've long heard that Ximen Qing is a charming figure, but I didn't expect him to take an interest in me, this old man with a long beard?" Sun Li's yellow face turned red, and he closed his eyes, pretending to rest, deliberately ignoring Ximen Qing's gaze.

  "Liu Tang brothers are overpraising." Ximen Qing feigned surprise and said, "The heroes of Liangshan are numerous, which one is not better than me in martial arts?"

  "One hundred men killing five hundred, without losing a single one of their own. This is not something that can be achieved just by having high martial arts skills." Tuo Tuo Tian Wang Chao Ge added: "Having one wise younger brother is better than having ten or a hundred ordinary men!"

  The other leaders burst out laughing, nodding in agreement. Chao Gai coughed and said, "You all withdraw for the time being, I have some matters to discuss with Brother Ximen. Brother, sit down and speak slowly."

  "Isn't it yourself who has some ideas to share?" Ximen Qing smiled and sat down beside Hua Guan, waiting for him to ask questions.

  As expected, after all the leaders left, Chao Gai took out an object from a nearby box, held it in his hand and looked at it, sighed and put it on the table: "Brother, now there are only two of us in the account, what do you think?"

  Ximen Qing saw that the object was indeed the poison arrow used to shoot Chai Ge, picked it up and felt it: "Brother Tianwang, don't you think it's strange? Shi Wengong's martial arts are extraordinary, why use this poison arrow? Even if using this poison arrow, why carve a name on it?"

  "I won't hide from you, brother, but since I was shot by that arrow, I've felt something is off." Chao Gai looked at the three characters "Shi Wen Gong" on the arrow shaft and slowly said: "That day when we fought against Zeng Tou Shi, each side retreated, if I were Shi Wen Gong, knowing the retreat route, he would definitely have ambushed a group of soldiers, suddenly rushing out, our army would surely suffer heavy casualties. Why? Just to shoot me with a cold arrow?"

  Hong Gai said as he spoke his eyes fell on the distance: "That night the mist in the willow forest was really not small, hiding three to five hundred people is no problem."

  Ximen Qing only then realized that Chai Ge had long been suspicious, but the sudden shot of an arrow made Chai Ge unable to think clearly. However, there is no real evidence now to link the cold arrow incident with Song Jiang and others. It's not surprising, even if it were someone else, they wouldn't believe that their own brother who drinks with them every day would suddenly turn against them and secretly plot against them.

  "There must be some ulterior motive behind this unusual matter." Ximen Qing thought for a moment and felt that it was better to guide Zhang Wuji to discover the truth himself: "However, those who ambush and shoot cold arrows are probably not Zeng Tou Shi, let alone Shi Wen Gong."

  Ximen Qing threw the arrow in his hand onto the table: "This arrow is nothing but a trick to deceive people."

  "You're right." Tota Tianwang nodded, looking at the arrow that had rolled around on the case for a few times before stopping: "In these days, taking advantage of my injury to think about it, I feel that there is still a force in the dark trying to guide me and Liangshan and Zengtou City to fight each other, and take advantage of the situation to gain benefits. It's just that I really can't figure out what kind of force it is."

  Ximen Qing secretly sneered twice: "The power, isn't it your good brother Song Jiang's black three stout? Could it be someone else? If Hua Rong has already returned, Song Jiang must be overjoyed, and is probably preparing his inaugural speech by now."

  Ximen Qing advised, "Brother, your injury has almost healed, although you still can't ride a horse, but sitting in a carriage is the same. Why not just retire and return to Liangshan to rest quietly?"

  "Brother, I understand what you're saying, but at this moment the arrow is on the string and can't be held back. Our army and Zengtou City still have a fierce battle ahead of us." Chui Ge clenched his fist and said: "If we retreat now, it would make Zengtou City laugh at us!"

  "In that case, let's make a quick decision!" Ximen Qing touched the sheep fat white jade pendant at his waist and nodded: "Speaking of which, the Zeng family is a den of wolves from Jin Guo, and they must be up to no good if they came to Lingzhou!"

  Zeng Qi had brought soldiers to massacre and rape women, which Ximen Qing had also told Tuo Tuo Tianwang Chao Gai about. Now that it was mentioned again, Chao Gai gritted his teeth and said: "That's right! If you came to Lingzhou to live a peaceful life, that would be fine, but instead you did such inhuman things, I definitely won't let you off lightly!"

  "Brother, please order that the two heads of Zeng Kui and Zeng Sheng be hung outside the camp gate. This will intimidate Zengtou Market and boost our military prestige!"

  "Not bad!" Totahwang said with a nod: "Younger brother has also been tired for a day, hurry up and rest now."

  Ximen Qing got up and bid farewell, Zhuang Ge personally escorted him out of the big tent, and whispered another sentence: "The matter of the medicine arrow has not yet come to a head, it is not permissible to make a big noise, for now, just let Zeng Tou's head be at peace."

  "I understand." Ximen Qing looked at Chong E's serious face and knew that he didn't want to stir up trouble, so he nodded in agreement.

  Tuo Da Tian Wang Chao Gai ordered the soldiers to take out the heads of Zeng Kui and Zeng Sheng, and hang them on two poles in front of the camp. The soldiers looked at it and applauded: "Thanks to General Ximen, the five tigers of the Zeng family are nothing but this, two tigers have gone in an instant! The capture of Zeng Tou City is imminent!"

  These few sentences were heard by the guards outside Zhai Village, who then borrowed some firelight to take a look and indeed saw that it was Young Masters Zeng Kui and Zeng Sheng. They were immediately frightened pale-faced and retreated in disarray towards Zengtou City.

  The conditions of the stockade were naturally inferior to those of Fahua Temple, but fortunately, Tianwang Zhuo Ge saw that Ximen Qing had many family members with him and arranged for several tents. Ximen Qing was originally moving his household to the eastern capital, so he naturally brought a lot of things with him. He immediately took out some dry rations to eat, and Liu Tang also sent over many dishes. They moved a table over and ate by the light of torches and moonlight, which had a unique flavor to it.

  As for the young women who had fallen into trouble, Ximen Qing arranged for them to be placed in several large tents, and had the personal soldiers' squad live in the outer tents at night, taking turns keeping watch to ensure safety.

  Someone was called over to bring several buckets of food, and Ximen Qing left the tent with a smile.

  These young women were hungry for half a day, and when Ximen Qing was in front of them, they were still twisting and turning, thanking him thousands of times; as soon as Ximen Qing left, they couldn't care about their image anymore, whether they were ladies or maids, they all stretched out their hands to grab some food to eat.

  Listening to the commotion inside, Langzi Yanqing expressed some concern: "Ximen brother rescued so many women, how can they be settled properly?"

  Ximen Qing had already washed off the bloodstains and changed into a clean set of clothes. When Yanying asked him, he replied: "These are all good people's daughters and maidservants who came to admire the peach blossoms but encountered this great calamity. Tomorrow, each person will be given three to five taels of silver to return home."

  Yan Qing's heart felt a pang and he said, "Most of these women were killed by Zeng Tou Shi, their families were slaughtered, those who have relatives to rely on are fine, but those who don't will be in trouble."

  Ximen Qing looked up at the dense stars in the sky and sighed, saying: "Little Yigong, I originally thought that now is still a peaceful and prosperous era, but unexpectedly, after the disaster at Fenghua Temple, there are so many people suffering. Do you think the number of people suffering on this earth is as numerous as the stars in the sky?"

  Yan Qing followed Ximen Qing's pointing direction and looked up, with countless stars twinkling in the sky.

  "Xiao Yi was ignorant and dared to ask his brother's profound meaning."

  "There are countless people suffering in the world, even if Guanyin descended with a thousand hands, it's not necessarily possible to save them all. What can we do, being ordinary mortals? Ximen Qing shook his head and said: "Since we've encountered this situation, if we can rescue them, then naturally we will. But whether they leave or stay depends on the decision of these women themselves. We've already done our part by getting to this point."

  "There's a saying that goes 'good people see things through to the end, escorting Buddha to the West.' But in my opinion, this saying is utterly wrong. If being too focused on being good leads us astray from our goals, then it's better not to be good."

  "Could it be that being a good person is just not meant to be?"

  "I'll give you an example, have you heard the story of how our dynasty's founder sent his daughter to the capital a thousand miles away?" Ximen Qing asked, looking at Yan Qing with a smile.

  "This is naturally heard." Rongzi Yan Qing stood up respectfully: "Taizu was a good man, sending him thousands of miles away, and along the way, he called Jingniang brother and sister, eating and drinking together without any chaos. Xiao Yi admired him even more."

  "That's right. One courtesan is nothing. But what if there were a hundred of them?" Ximen Qing pointed to the tent next door and asked with a smile.

  "A hundred? This... " Yan Qing hesitated: "One is also a gift, a hundred are also a gift."

  Ximen Qing laughed and said: "If these girls are living in the farthest corners of the country, it will take you several years to deliver them all. Are you going to send them or not?"

  Yan Qing, the rogue, pondered for a moment in accordance with Ximen Qing's intention and suddenly realized: "So that's the reason! Xiao Yi was so focused on being a good person that he forgot about the main event!"

  "That's right." Ximen Qing nodded in satisfaction: "Many times we focus on the small things in front of us, but forget what we really want to do."

  Langzi Yanqing had an epiphany and went on a night patrol with Drummer Shi Yong.

  Ximen Qing was just about to head back to find Xue'er and Pan Jinlian, embracing each other while gazing at the moon and stars. This feeling was just like when he was in college and went camping on a mountain, with two female friends hugging him left and right, ah...

  Just as he was about to enter, someone coughed beside him: "Boss, I'm Liu Tuizi."

  Ximen Qing came to his senses and found himself accidentally hugging Liu Renzhong, quickly letting go of his hand and saying: "This place is really dark, can't see anything..."

  Ximen Qing was called over, but he didn't expect that Liu Erbao would kowtow to him and say: "Thank you, leader, for your great kindness!"