Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 115 Lei's Mother Advises Her Son on Changing the Family's Behavior, Saying the Chi

"There's no shortage of wine on this mountain, but excessive drinking is ultimately bad. May I ask what Dr. An needs the wine for?"

Li Hanxiao couldn't help but ask.

"Firstly, to make medicine; secondly, to brew some medicinal wine; and thirdly, to conduct some experiments..."

The "miracle doctor" An Daoquan didn't explain, but Li Hanxiao insisted on getting to the bottom of it, "What kind of experiments?"

"You wouldn't understand matters concerning medicine..."

Seeing that the "miracle doctor" An Daoquan remained silent, Li Hanxiao didn't bother to ask any more questions. Seeing that "Soaring Eagle" Li Ying was alright, Li Hanxiao went back to rest.

Upon returning to Liangshan Marsh, there were many matters to resolve, the most pressing being the placement of the newly appointed leaders and the issue of seating arrangements.

Before dealing with this problem, Li Hanxiao had one more thing to do: to find a way to persuade all the prisoners currently held at Liangshan Marsh to surrender, and then arrange their seating order.

Among the prisoners currently at Liangshan Marsh is Peng Qi, the "Tianmu General" whom Li Hanxiao captured in Yingzhou. He was the first prisoner and has been imprisoned on Liangshan for several months. Li Hanxiao has never tried to persuade him to surrender, and he's probably grown moldy in the cell.

In addition, there were three more prisoners: two from Jeju Prefecture, one being Zhu Tong, the cavalry commander of Yuncheng County, nicknamed "Beautiful Beard," and the other being Lei Heng, the infantry commander of Yuncheng County, nicknamed "Winged Tiger." There was also a prisoner from Zhujiazhuang named Luan Tingyu, nicknamed "Iron Rod."

Of these people, in Li Hanxiao's opinion, the easiest to persuade to surrender was "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng, because he had an old mother. After capturing him alive, Li Hanxiao sent people to the upper and lower levels to find a way to trick Lei Heng's old mother into coming to Liangshan.

It wasn't that Li Hanxiao intended to use Lei Heng's mother as leverage, but rather that he knew that if he didn't bring Lei Heng's mother up the mountain, she would probably starve to death at home.

After all, Lei Heng and Zhu Tong had been captured and brought to the mountain. Almost all of Lei Heng's men had died in battle. Moreover, Li Hanxiao had inquired about it and found that Song Jiang, the "Honorary Protector," was away on official business and had not returned. Lei Heng's mother was an old woman in her seventies or eighties. How could she be left without anyone to take care of her?

Furthermore, since we're going to invite Lei Heng to join us, and his mother is staying at the foot of the mountain, it will be too late to fetch her later.

Therefore, Li Hanxiao decided to start by persuading "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng to surrender. If he could successfully persuade Lei Heng to surrender, he could then ask him to help persuade "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong to surrender, which would be killing two birds with one stone.

It was the height of summer in the fourth year of the Xuanhe era. Lotus flowers were in full bloom in the pond in front of the Zhengda Guangming Hall of Liangshan Marsh. Li Hanxiao sat upright in a tiger-skin chair, lightly tapping the celadon teacup on the table with his fingertips, looking down at the bearded man who was tied up with his hands and feet.

The man was seven feet five inches tall with a face as red as a begonia. He was none other than Lei Heng, the "Winged Tiger," the infantry captain of Yuncheng County, who had been brought here by others.

"Does Commander Lei recognize this item?"

Li Hanxiao suddenly took out a faded silk handkerchief from his sleeve.

Lei Heng was about to yell and curse, but when he saw the word "Lei" crookedly embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief, the stitches were exactly the same as those his mother had sewn under the oil lamp twenty years ago, and he was instantly struck as if by lightning.

"You bastard! What have you done to my mother?!"

Lei Heng, nicknamed "Winged Tiger," was a filial son. In the original story, he committed murder while beating Bai Xiuying with shackles for his mother, and had no choice but to go to Liangshan Marsh. When he recognized his mother's belongings, he realized that Li Hanxiao probably already considered his mother a hostage!

Lei Heng gritted his teeth, wishing he could rush forward and swallow Li Hanxiao whole. Li Hanxiao smiled slightly and waved his hand. Then, the sound of a cane tapping the ground came from behind the screen. Two maids helped an old woman with white hair out. It was Lei's mother.

Wearing an ochre brocade jacket, with two jade bracelets clinking together on her wrists, Lei's mother burst into tears upon seeing Lei Heng. She said, "Heng'er, that day you went with the government troops to attack Liangshan. I heard you were captured alive, and I was so worried I nearly collapsed at home. No one came to my aid. I thought I was going to meet your father in the underworld, but then Chief Li's men found me at home, saved my life, and brought me up the mountain to treat me well…"

The old woman walked shakily to Lei Heng, stretched out her arms and hugged her son. The mother and son, who had been separated for many days, embraced each other and wept bitterly.

"Men, untie Chief Lei and set him up!"

As soon as Li Hanxiao gave the order, the henchmen untied the ropes binding Lei Heng. Li Hanxiao was no longer worried about him escaping. Firstly, there were countless experts on Liangshan Marsh, so he was not afraid of Lei Heng escaping. Secondly, even if Lei Heng could escape, his mother would not be able to.

Two soldiers brought over a soft couch for Lei's mother to use. Lei Heng first helped his mother over and lay down. A maid then brought over warm medicine and instructed Lei Heng, "It's time for the old woman to take her medicine."

"Okay, I'll do it!"

Lei Heng's eyes were now filled with his mother, and he had long forgotten that this was the Zhengda Guangming Hall of Liangshan Marsh, as if he were at home.

Above the east wing of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the fragrance of angelica wafted. Lei Mu leaned against a soft couch, murmuring: "Chief Li personally prepared this medicine for me; the fritillaria cirrhosa must be simmered over a low flame for six hours..."

Lei Heng knelt before the bed, serving the medicine, and carefully observed his mother. He noticed that his usually frail and sickly mother had become quite plump and healthy during her time at Liangshan Marsh. Clearly, she had not been mistreated, but rather had received excellent care...

"Chief Li, I can never repay the kindness you showed my mother, even if I die ten thousand times!"

Thinking of this, Lei Heng kowtowed three times to Li Hanxiao, causing blood to seep from his forehead and cracking the blue bricks on the ground.

Just then, Li Shishi lifted the curtain and entered, carrying a bowl of almond milk: "Madam, it's time for your tonic."

Lei Heng was taken aback when he saw the stunningly beautiful Li Shishi, and then asked, "Who are you, young lady..."

"My wife too."

Li Han smiled and said.

"I am terrified!"

Lei Heng already felt indebted to Li Hanxiao, so he dared not let his wife go through any more trouble. He took the almond milk and fed his mother himself.

"Miss Shishi has taken care of me no less than you have, Heng'er. Chief Li and his wife have shown me immense kindness. He told me that he knows your abilities, considers you a close friend, and wants to work with you to accomplish something great. This Liangshan Marsh only acts on behalf of Heaven for the people and does not harm them, therefore they treat me like family. If you are grateful and reasonable, you should follow Chief Li..."

At this point, the old woman lowered her head and wept again, saying, "Yesterday, Chief Li went to persuade your brother Zhu Tong to surrender, but he resolutely refused and went on a hunger strike to show his resolve, saying he would rather die than be a traitor... If you don't try to persuade him, I'm afraid he'll lose his life sooner or later..."

"what!"

Lei Heng, nicknamed "Winged Tiger," was shocked to hear this. He hadn't expected Zhu Tong to be so determined to die. The two of them were sworn brothers, how could they just stand by and watch Zhu Tong starve to death?

"Chief Li, where is Brother Zhu Tong? I'm going to persuade him..."

Lei Heng said.

"What advice should you give him?"

Li Han smiled and asked back playfully.

"Try to persuade him to eat..."

"anything else?"

Li Hanxiao continued to press for answers.

"Persuade him...persuade him...persuade him to join me and go to Liangshan..."

So Li Hanxiao went to bring over "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong, while Lei Heng sat alone in the Wangyun Pavilion to wait.

On the stone table inside the pavilion was the unfinished thousand-layer sole of Lei Heng's mother's sewing. The stitches were as fine as when she used to sew clothes when she was young, which showed that her eyesight had improved a lot. Originally, Lei Heng's mother was going to wait with Lei Heng, but it was noon and the scorching sun was very strong. The old lady could not stand the heat and had to go back to her room to cool off, leaving only "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng alone.

A moment later, Li Hanxiao returned, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Chief Zhu won't leave. You'll have to go and persuade him."

As Li Hanxiao spoke, he waved his hand, and a henchman handed Lei Heng a food box.

Deep inside the dungeon, Zhu Tong sat cross-legged on a straw mat with his eyes closed, his three long strands of beard trembling with his breath.

As the oil lamp flickered on and off, Lei Heng pushed open the iron gate, carrying a food box.

"elder brother!"

“Brother, you’re here!”

When Zhu Tong saw Lei Heng arrive, he didn't seem surprised at all; on the contrary, he was quite calm.

"Why be so stubborn, brother?"

Lei Heng opened the food box, laid out the wine and meat, and looked at "Beautiful Beard" Zhu Tong with a very pleading expression.

Zhu Tong then spoke up, “Brother, you have an old mother to care for, so I was certain you would join Liangshan. But I am different; I have no attachments and refuse to betray the court.”

"I, Zhu Tong, am called 'The Handsome Bearded Man' because I look very much like the Righteous and Valiant Prince Wu'an. I usually follow the example of the Righteous and Valiant Prince Wu'an, emphasizing loyalty and righteousness. If I were to kneel and surrender now, how could I be worthy of the title 'The Handsome Bearded Man'? My mind is made up, brother, don't try to persuade me anymore..."

No sooner had Zhu Tong finished speaking than "Winged Tiger" Lei Heng immediately retorted, "Brother, what you say is incorrect. Guan Yu also surrendered to Cao Cao, although he surrendered to Han but not to Cao Cao. In the end, he still surrendered. So why is he not scorned? It's because his heart was with Han even though he was in Cao Cao's camp. He knew that Cao Cao was not a good person, so he continued to join Liu Bei. He rode alone for a thousand miles, passing five passes and slaying six generals, which is why he is remembered for all time. This shows that loyalty is not about whether you surrender or not, but about whether you really do something for the people!"

Zhu Tong was utterly astonished. He hadn't expected that Lei Heng, who was usually so tongue-tied, could speak so eloquently and philosophically. He was quite surprised. After a moment of astonishment, he realized what was going on and said, "So, Chief Li told you to say these words?"

"Exactly!"

Lei Heng lowered his head.

"I see... Brother, there's no need to say any more. You go your way, and I'll uphold my principles, how about that?"

Zhu Tong's mind remained unchanged.

“This… Brother, Chief Li instructed me before that if you insist on dying, you should attend the banquet. Chief Li respects you as a true man… After the banquet, Chief Li… will personally see you off…”

Lei Heng said those words hesitantly.

“Alright, since Chief Li is willing to grant my request, I will go to the banquet. Brother, lead the way.”

At this moment, Zhu Tong, known as "the Magnificent Beard," appeared generous and heroic, ready to face death.

So, under Lei Heng's guidance, Zhu Tong willingly walked out of the prison this time. At the banquet, Li Hanxiao had put a lot of thought into the meal, with eight dishes and eight bowls, plus rare seafood and delicacies, giving Zhu Tong plenty of face.

However, what is most puzzling is that a precious sword is placed right in the center of the banquet dishes.

"Commander Zhu, I admire your loyalty and righteousness, hence this banquet. Since you have come, you are doing me, Li Han, a favor. Please take a seat!"

Li Han smiled and greeted "The Bearded Gentleman" Zhu Tong with clasped hands.

"Greetings, Chief Li. Oh, and this precious sword is..."

After exchanging pleasantries with Li Han, Zhu Tong turned his attention to the precious sword on the table. The jade inlaid on the hilt was truly dazzling.

"Does Chief Zhu know the origin of this knife?"

Seeing that Zhu Tong was quite interested in the knife, Li Han smiled and couldn't help but ask a question.

"I don't know, I'd like to hear the details."

"This knife originally belonged to Yang Jiye, the old general of the Golden Knife, when he served as a bodyguard in the Northern Han Dynasty. It was passed down from generation to generation and eventually came to Yang Zhi, the military commander."

Li Hanxiao said that this sword was the Yang family's treasured sword. Yang Zhi used this sword to fight and kill Niu Er in Kaifeng Prefecture. At that time, it was sealed and stored in the treasury of Kaifeng Prefecture. Later, Li Hanxiao ordered "Street Rat" Zhang San and "Green Grass Snake" Li Si to sneak into Dongjing City and spend a lot of money to bribe the official in charge of the treasury to retrieve the sword. It has just been transported back to Liangshan and has not yet been shown to Yang Zhi. If Yang Zhi knew, he would probably be so excited that he would burst into tears.

"So it's the treasured sword of General Yang! Zhu Tong has always held General Yang in the highest esteem. Today, let us pay homage to the sword as if we were paying homage to General Yang himself!"

After saying this, Zhu Tong placed his sword on the incense table below the plaque inscribed with "Upright and Honorable," and respectfully knelt and kowtowed three times and nine times, as a way of expressing his respect for the loyal and heroic Yang family.

Seeing Zhu Tong stand up, Li Han smiled and asked, "Chief Zhu, you said that the Yang family generals were originally subjects of the Northern Han, but they rebelled against the Northern Han and followed the Song Dynasty. They have become models of loyalty and good generals. I don't know why no one says they are disloyal?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Tong immediately frowned and retorted, "Chief Li's words are utterly wrong. It is true that the Yang family generals were originally subjects of the Northern Han Dynasty, but when Yang Gun, whose courtesy name was 'Volcano King,' was alive, he saw that Liu Zhiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty was not a good person. He was jealous of the virtuous and capable and did not know how to care for the people. Therefore, he made an agreement with our Emperor Taizu to exchange a copper hammer for a jade belt. If the Northern Han Dynasty were to fall in the future, he would have his son Yang Jiye surrender to the Song Dynasty. Later, the Northern Han Dynasty was corrupt and its ministers were incompetent and could not love the people. That's why General Yang followed our dynasty and served the country with utmost loyalty. At the Battle of Jinshatan, seven sons went and six returned. General Yang died by crashing into the Li Ling Stele, which shows his loyalty and bravery. Later, the nine generations of heroes of the Yang family continued to serve the country with utmost loyalty. If such people cannot be called loyal and righteous, then who can be?"

Li Hanxiao wanted to hear these words. He laughed twice and then asked, "If that's the case, why did you, Commander Zhu, choose to die loyal to the court? Back then, Commander Yang killed himself by crashing into the Li Ling Stele because the Khitans were a foreign tribe that had invaded the Central Plains. As a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, how could he kneel and surrender? Even if he suffered hunger during the day and was exposed to the wind at night, he never knelt. Now, a foolish emperor is in power, treacherous officials are in control, the people are suffering, border troubles are rising everywhere, and there are all sorts of evil policies such as rice paddy taxes and the tribute of rare stones. Doesn't such a court deserve to be overthrown?"

Zhu Tong hadn't expected to fall directly into the trap set by Li Hanxiao, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.