Moma Liangshan

Chapter 172 My worthless son and wicked servant, looking north towards the Liao Kingdom

At Gao Qiu's residence, Gao Yanei lay on the bed, receiving treatment from the imperial physician. After a long while, Gao Qiu asked with concern, "How is my son's injury?" The imperial physician replied, "Young Master Gao has two broken ribs. Fortunately, no internal organs were damaged, but he still needs to stay in bed for a hundred days!" Upon hearing that two of his ribs had been broken, Gao Yanei was instantly filled with rage. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest caused him to lose strength halfway up and fall back onto the bed. Gao Yanei could only turn his head and look at Gao Qiu, shouting, "Father! Your son has been beaten like this, you mustn't let that scoundrel off!" At this moment, the imperial physician saw this and said, "I have already prescribed a medicine for you, Yanei. As long as you take the medicine on time, there will be no aftereffects!" Gao Qiu took out a silver ingot and put it in the imperial physician's medicine box, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Imperial Physician!" The imperial physician picked up his medicine box and said, "Grand Commandant, you are too kind. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave!" Gao Qiu said, "I have a lot to do here, so I won't see you off, Imperial Physician!" The imperial physician said, "Grand Commandant, please wait!" After saying that, he walked towards the door.

After the imperial physician left, Gao Qiu said uncertainly, "Perhaps Zhu Heng's actions were unintentional!" Gao Yanei retorted, "How could it be unintentional? If that scoundrel hadn't shown you such disrespect, I wouldn't have personally attacked him!" Gao Qiu knew Gao Yanei's character well. This boy was weak and frail, and while he often bullied men and women, his henchmen always subdued them first before he took advantage of the situation. Gao Qiu thought to himself, "Zhu Heng is a soldier, far superior to those young women. This boy dared to attack Zhu Heng; there must be a reason." He asked, "Tell me the whole story!"

While complaining, Gao Yanei tried his best to smear Zhu Heng, saying, "The Li family has many properties in Dongjing (Kaifeng). They wanted your help, so they gave Zhu Heng a full five thousand strings of cash. But this fellow thought that once the Li family got on my father's good side, he couldn't continue to demand benefits from them. Guess what happened? He first had the Li family send him to Dongjing. But once he arrived, shouldn't he have paid his respects to you first? But what did he do? He stayed at the Yanlou (a brothel) and played with girls for five days and five nights and still wasn't satisfied, claiming he wanted to play for ten days. The girls at Yanlou kindly reminded him not to forget your kindness to him, but this fellow actually spoke rudely, saying, 'I have served Grand Commandant Gao for many years, but I can only be a powerless county magistrate. What have I done for you?'" "What gratitude can you speak of? 'I couldn't stand this scoundrel's arrogance, so I broke down the door to teach him a lesson. But I didn't expect him to be so ruthless, actually trying to kill me to silence me!'" Gao Qiu, wary, asked, "How did you hear these words?" Gao Yanei stammered, "I'm a regular at Yanlou. Zhu Heng spent five days and five nights there; how could I not know?" Gao Qiu cursed, "You unambitious wretch!" Gao Yanei knew Gao Qiu was always all bark and no bite when it came to him, and said, "When I inquired, I discovered he was actually one of our family members! But then I thought, if he's one of our family members, why didn't he come to pay his respects to Father when he arrived in Dongjing? So I tested him! As for the result, you know!"

Regardless of Gao Yanei's character and abilities, he is Gao Qiu's adopted son and the sole heir to Gao Qiu's vast fortune. Gao Qiu had no choice but to believe him. After a long while, he said, "Zhu Heng has been in Jiaozhou for almost a year now. It's said that Wang Hao has been treating him like a pig?" The steward replied, "Wang Hao has absolute power in Jiaozhou. Although Zhu Heng has the title of county magistrate, he can't even get through the gates of the Jiaozhou camp!" Gao Qiu pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, let's handle this according to official procedures!" The steward said, "I understand!" The steward led several constables to the woodshed of the Gao residence and said, "Zhu Heng has abandoned his post and injured my son. The Grand Commandant has ordered that this be handled according to official procedures!" The constables who were summoned were also seasoned veterans of the officialdom. The leader said, "Zhu Heng is the county magistrate of Laoshan County. According to regulations, he should be escorted to the Eastern Circuit Judicial Commissioner's Office!" The steward said coldly, "When you send him to Qingzhou, just leave him half-dead!" Qingzhou was the location of the Eastern Circuit Judicial Commissioner's Office.

When the news reached Jiaozhou, Wang Hao thought to himself, "Li Rou'er of Yanlou is truly a remarkable person. If my sister hadn't told me the truth beforehand, I would have mistaken it for a real 'dog-eat-dog' drama!" With everything settled, the plan to travel to the Liao capital with the Shu princess was put on the agenda. As the saying goes, "While parents are alive, one should not travel far!" But Wang Hao spent almost all his time on the go. On a moonlit night, in the Wang family courtyard, a banquet was set up for only two people. Since arriving in Jiaozhou, Wang Lun had been filled with emotion, saying, "I never dreamed our family would be where it is today!" Wang Hao, however, felt an increasing sense of urgency and asked, "Father, what do you think of the atmosphere in Jiaozhou?" Without hesitation, Wang Lun replied, "Vibrant and prosperous, a place where people live and work in peace and contentment!" Wang Hao nodded, but said, "All this beauty may soon be ravaged by war!" Wang Lun was not a great ruler, but he was a good father, asking, "Will the Jin really attack the Song?" Wang Hao answered, "Yes!" Wang Lun then asked, "Will the Song really be defeated?" Wang Hao answered, "Yes!" Wang Lun continued, "So you want to visit the Liao, to allow the Khitan as a buffer to hold out for a while longer?" Wang Hao replied, "Yes!"

Wang Lun took a sip of wine and said, "Although I haven't experienced war, I understand the principle that 'when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.' I will take good care of the family!" Wang Hao suddenly asked, "Back in the mountain stronghold, did Father ever think of acting on behalf of Heaven?" Wang Lun was somewhat surprised and said, "Why do you suddenly ask about this?" Wang Hao was a little confused and said, "When I went to Fujian, I sensed instability in Jiangnan!" Wang Lun took another sip of wine and said, "In the more than one hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, various rebel armies have risen and fallen, but none have ever achieved great things." Wang Hao asked, "Why?" Wang Lun said, "In the Song Dynasty, as long as you don't declare yourself emperor, you can often be recruited by the government in the end. At that time, you can get an official position, big or small, which is better than starving to death!" Wang Hao suddenly thought of the rebel armies of Song Jiang and Fang La. Wasn't Song Jiang a typical example of a rebel army being recruited? As for Fang La, because he declared himself emperor and established a country, he had to be beheaded and his head displayed to the public. Based on the timeline, the Fang La Rebellion and Chao Gai's clever robbery of the birthday gifts should be imminent!

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