Chapter 1860
The Late Northern Song Dynasty
Empress Dowager Xiang was unaware that Zhang Dun had tampered with things and believed that Liu Tong was already dead.
Therefore, she did not tell Zhao Ji about this matter.
Zhang Dun died six years after Zhao Ji ascended the throne, but before his death, he told this story to several important ministers in his lineage.
Furthermore, several of Zhang Dun's confidants were aware of Liu Tong's existence.
However, these people did not know where the living young prince was or what identity he was using.
Seeing how incompetent Emperor Huizong was, they had longed for the wise Emperor Zhezong of Song all these years. However, they had never considered having Zhezong's posthumous son replace Emperor Huizong.
Liu Dong wrote down the names of these people, and when the time was right, he would visit these ministers.
Among these names, there were several that Liu Dong recognized.
Of course, I found all of this from historical records, except for one.
This was the first time Liu Tong had seen this person's name, but his surname made her care.
Liu Dong pointed to the name and asked Shi Qian, "Where is this General Hua Yufeng from?"
Shi Qian: "General Hua was from Qingzhou, Shandong. He had left the court and returned to his hometown. His son and daughter-in-law were killed by bandits, leaving behind his grandchildren, who were raised by General Hua and his wife."
Liu Dong confirmed that this old general Hua must be Hua Rong's grandfather.
Many of the bandits in Liangshan were truly evil people, disgusting to behold.
However, many others were tricked by Wu Yong and Song Jiang and had no choice but to join Liangshan.
Hua Rong was one of them.
Liu Tong always thought Hua Rong was a fool. He was tricked by Song Jiang into joining Liangshan and went from being a descendant of a loyal general to a bandit, yet he was still loyal to him and treated him like a brother.
Could they have been brainwashed by Song Jiang?
Liu Tong thought for a moment, then took out paper and pen and wrote a letter, which he asked Shi Qian to deliver to General Hua.
Shortly after Shi Qian left, Liu Dong entered the examination hall and participated in the Ministry of Rites examination.
He possesses strong willpower and a photographic memory; over the years, he has achieved considerable success.
Therefore, the Ministry of Rites examination was not difficult for Liu Dong, and he passed it with ease.
Then came the palace examination.
When Liu Tong saw Zhao Ji, she pretended to be surprised, which made Zhao Ji very happy.
Although Liu Tong was literate, he was not as talented as the geniuses of ancient times, and his writings could only be considered mediocre.
But Liu Tong caught Zhao Ji's eye and became the third-ranked scholar.
Liu Tong entered the court as a minor official, but most of the time he actually accompanied Emperor Huizong in studying calligraphy and painting.
There were quite a few officials like that, but Liu Dong was Zhao Ji's favorite because of his handsome face.
I thought he would stay in the capital for two or three years, but unexpectedly, he flapped his wings and got the opportunity to develop his career outside the capital.
He sent Shi Qian to Qingzhou to deliver a message. After delivering the message, Shi Qian encountered Lu Zhishen.
He had known Lu Zhishen for a long time and admired Lu Zhishen's character.
Lu Zhishen was very happy to see Shi Qian and invited him to stay at Erlong Mountain for a while.
Shi Qian agreed.
However, there was no good wine on the mountain, so the two went to a restaurant to buy some.
As a result, they encountered Murong Yanda, who was trying to abduct a beautiful woman.
After beating up Murong Yanda, the two realized they had attacked the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, the highest-ranking official in Qingzhou who could mobilize troops to destroy Erlong Mountain.
Not wanting to cause trouble for Erlong Mountain, Shi Qian announced his identity: "We are from Qingfeng Mountain. If you dare, come find us for revenge!"
After saying that, he grabbed Lu Zhishen and ran away.
They ran for ten miles before stopping. Lu Zhishen said reproachfully, "It was clearly the two of us who caused this trouble, how could you frame Qingfeng Mountain?"
Shi Qian: "Brother Lu, even you bandits of Erlong Mountain have your code of honor, but you don't know that the bandits of Qingfeng Mountain don't have such chivalrous hearts. They rob everyone who passes by. That Dwarf Tiger Wang Ying is a lecherous man. Whenever a woman passes by, he will defile her. He is jealous of men who are taller and better looking than him, so he will rip out their hearts and use them to make soup."
Lu Zhishen was furious: "How could there be such a despicable and vicious person?"
The slight dissatisfaction with Shi Qian for shifting the blame eastward disappeared, and Lu Zhishen felt that Shi Qian had done a good job.
Neither side is a good person, so it's good to let them fight each other.
Murong Yanda was furious and ordered his troops to attack Erlong Mountain.
At that time, Hua Rong received a message from General Hua and asked for leave to go home.
Liu Gao, the magistrate of Qingfeng Village, took on the important task and led his troops to attack Qingfeng Mountain.
Although Qingfeng Mountain was wiped out, Yan Shun Wang Ying and Zheng Tianshou escaped.
The three were unaware that Shi Qian had shifted the blame onto them; they only resented Murong Yanda for attacking them without cause.
The three men hated Murong Yanda so much that they decided to teach him a lesson before heading to Liangshan to join him.
The three men sneaked into the city and then stealthily approached Murong Yanda.
Yan Shun and Zheng Tianshou only wanted to teach Murong Yanda a lesson; they did not intend to kill him.
But Wang Ying saw that Murong Yanda was handsome—after all, he had a beautiful concubine sister, so as her brother, he would naturally be good-looking too—and his jealousy twisted, so he made a move against Murong Yanda.
Murong Yanda died, and the three of them didn't escape either.
Qin Ming and Liu Gao hated them to death.
You must know that if the prefect dies, these military officers will be guilty of failing to protect him and will be punished.
Liu Gao, in particular, was tasked with wiping out Qingfeng Mountain, but failed to capture its leader and even allowed them to kill their superior. He bears the greatest responsibility for this.
In order to mitigate their guilt, the two were determined to either capture or kill the three people from Qingfeng Mountain.
They relentlessly pursued Wang Ying and his two companions, and even blocked their escape route to Liangshan.
In the end, Wang Ying was killed by Liu Gao, but he was no pushover. Before he died, he dragged Liu Gao down with him.
The two perished together.
Yan Shun and Zheng Tianshou were both injured and imprisoned.
When the news reached the capital, Liu Dong was by Zhao Ji's side, watching him paint.
Zhao Ji frowned: "My beloved consort must be very sad. I must go and keep her company. As for who will succeed her as the prefect of Qingzhou..."
He looked at Liu Tong beside him and said, "Let Minister Liu take over."
Liu Tong: "..."
Liu Tong quickly bowed and said, "Liu Tong obeys."
Liu Dong was very happy to be going to Qingzhou.
Although Qingzhou was not his original base of operations, since Zhao Ji appointed him as the highest-ranking official there, he decided to make Qingzhou the birthplace of his career.
Although Qingzhou is not far from Liangshan, in the original novel, the people of Liangshan once invaded Qingzhou and killed the prefect of Qingzhou.
But Liu Tong wasn't afraid. In fact, if things went well, Liangshan could become a useful tool in his hands.
Liu Tong packed his belongings and headed to Qingzhou to take up his new post.
Passing through Yanggu County, Liu Dong went to see Lady Wang and asked her to go to Qingzhou with him.
Madam Wang refused. The tea shop was doing very well, and Madam Wang was so engrossed in making money that she didn't want to give up such a thriving business.
However, Wu Song accepted Liu Dong's offer of service and went with him to Qingzhou, where he became a military officer. (End of Chapter)