Chapter 21: Longing
Under the temporary directive to solve survival problems set by Liu Shanhe, these "bandits" who gathered in the mountains and forests basically went out for a robbery every ten days or half a month. They didn't do it for wealth, but just to fill their stomachs. In this way, the most basic survival crisis was finally overcome.
Liu Shanhe found a mountain cave for himself as his residence, which was also the place where he gathered some important generals to discuss matters. During the day, Liu Shanhe would walk into the mountain cave and patrol among his soldiers who were practicing their martial arts skills, occasionally giving them personal guidance. In those years when he mixed with those street gangs, he had learned some superficial swordsmanship and basic fighting techniques, which was originally just for self-defense, but unexpectedly, it also played a certain role today, otherwise, he would have been just watching the excitement.
Of course, among these people, there were also many skilled fighters, especially the dozen or so who had rebelled with him. They were all serious offenders. Thinking of this, Liu Shanhe called on those with exceptional martial arts skills to be coaches and trained his group of men every day until they looked like a real army.
Since Li Gang brought in more than 50 people, Liu Shanhe divided his team into three teams, each with its own camp. When there was nothing to do, the three teams would stay within their respective camps for training. The locations of these three camps were also carefully considered by Liu Shanhe, distributed around the cave where he lived, roughly in a triangular formation, supporting each other. In case of an emergency, the three camps could respond quickly. Liu Shanhe was still relatively satisfied with this arrangement.
At ordinary times, those soldiers could barely get enough to eat. Because of Liu Shanhe's orders, those who went out to rob were not daring to rob too much each time, whether it was robbing rich merchants or landlords, or those wealthy travelers on the road. Because Liu Shanhe knew that in order to start a rebellion and do great things in the future, the support of the common people was most important. If he lost the hearts of the people because of his greed for current small gains, then it would really be not worth it. This account, Liu Shanhe still calculated very clearly.
However, in comparison, his own food was still quite good. Because in this mountainous area, there were some wild animals that could be caught, such as rabbits, pheasants, and wild boars, which could all be eaten. Generally speaking, his soldiers would occasionally send him a few dishes of game, already skinned and gutted, with some even roasted before being sent over. Eating the exceptionally delicious game and drinking fine wine bought from the nearby market, life was truly enjoyable.
"If I weren't shouldering the responsibility of re-traversing Liu Bang's road to unify the Jiangshan, I would rather live quietly here forever. This wild stuff tastes great! Ah, ah! If this were in my previous 21st century, it wouldn't have such a fresh and delicious flavor. The environment was already polluted back then, and the vegetation in the mountains had been destroyed! Hehe, hehe, it's better to go back to ancient times, it's better to go back to ancient times!"
Of course, the treatment of eating wild game will not be limited to Liu Shanhe alone. Especially after the hunt, everyone can eat the wild animals caught during the hunt. As for the hunt, Liu Shanhe is still very supportive. This suggestion was made by Zhang Ping. Zhang Ping said that if they just practiced like this, the soldiers would feel tired and bored, so it's better to organize a large-scale hunt every now and then. In this way, almost everyone's physical strength, willpower, and combat effectiveness will be fully demonstrated during the hunting activity, so it will naturally have a better training effect. Moreover, each hunt will yield many prey, which is just right for improving the brothers' food supply. Isn't this method of hunting a win-win situation?
Then Liu Shanhe took Zhang Ping's suggestion on hunting, which was about once every ten days or half a month. As a result, every time they went hunting, the soldiers were all excited because this kind of hunting with real combat brought them too much stimulation and benefits, and naturally attracted them strongly.
As time went on, more and more people came to join them, today ten people, tomorrow eight people, sometimes even nearly a hundred people or over a hundred people came to join at once. In this way, the team under Liu Shanhe's command grew bigger and bigger, until it reached over 500 people!
There were many people, but that old problem was still plaguing Liu Shanhe, which was the food and weapon problems. He didn't know how he suddenly thought of his wife Lü Zhi. If, if Lü Zhi were by his side, then perhaps these problems would be easily solved. In terms of management and planning, his wife Lü Zhi was a genius! This was something Liu Shanhe had to admire. But what about his wife now? Was she okay?
Indeed, since he led the crowd to escape into the mountains and forests, he has been walking on the line between life and death, dancing on the tip of a knife. The extremely harsh survival environment made him forget everything, even his parents and his wife and children. Now, everything seems to have had a preliminary settlement, and he no longer needs to hide from east to west all day long, so he finally has time to think about other things. And what he first thought of was his wife and children.
Yes, Liu Shanhe finally remembered Lü Yu. He recalled the image of her working alone in the fields, and the way she looked when she was sewing clothes for him by lamplight. The dense stitches, the serious expression, and the flying needle and thread had all once captivated him.
There was the fragrant food that had reached his own mouth, and there was her smile that was as fleeting as a glance, and there was her shallow anger that appeared because of his own movements, all of which suddenly surged into Liu Shanhe's mind.
Can't forget, can't forget the look on her face when Liu Shanhe lifted up her red veil in the still of night. Can't forget, can't forget the moment he saw a beauty that surpassed even the heavenly nymphs. Can't forget, can't forget how she looked at him with eyes that didn't blink, revealing a natural beauty without any pretence. He couldn't forget, couldn't forget how he pushed Lu Wei onto the bed and quickly stripped off her clothes, revealing a perfect body so white and curvaceous, shining with an otherworldly glow under the red candlelight. Can't forget, can't forget how he mounted her like a wild bull, thrusting into her body as she let out a cry that was music to his ears, a sound more beautiful than the heavens themselves...
All of this has now become a thing of the past. But at that time, when I was facing a survival crisis and didn't have the luxury to think about it, it was okay. Now that I finally have some spare time, I can think about my own affairs. But once I start thinking, I almost can't extricate myself from it. Eria, Eria, when will we be able to meet again?
Liu Shanhe suddenly remembered something, and this thing also made him feel guilty towards Lv Wei. The only thing was that before he married Lv Wei, although he had already gained a reputation as a playboy, at that time he didn't have a wife, so there was no question of whether he deserved Lv Wei or not. However, after marrying Lv Wei, if such things happened again, his heart wouldn't feel so comfortable. After all, Lv Wei was a rare good woman, with both character and looks. She was indeed a lady from a good family, and whether it was her treatment of him or her parents-in-law, there was nothing to criticize. This was something that the villagers would all praise in unison! Liu Shanhe's own mother, Gao Ai, also kept calling out "good daughter-in-law", with happiness and joy written all over her face. Every time he saw this, Liu Shanhe's heart would feel warm, and he would secretly congratulate himself on his good fortune in marrying such a wife.
And what about Father? In the past, as soon as he returned home, he would scold him harshly and make him regret coming back. Either he was saying that he was useless and didn't do his job properly, or he was talking about someone else, how they took care of their family and were good at managing farm work, telling him to learn from them. These words almost made Liu Shanhe's ears grow calluses. Anyway, in the past, he rarely returned home, and when he did, Father would never give him a kind face, and once even almost cut off their father-son relationship. Alas, this old man!
Even if he had become the head of the Liu family, his father had never shown him a smile. But after he married Lü Zhi, his father's attitude towards him suddenly changed by 180 degrees, which made him unacceptable, and even wondered if his father had gotten some kind of magic disease. Later, when he thought about it carefully, it was no wonder that his father's attitude towards him had changed so much. Firstly, Lü Zhi was the daughter of the noble family of Lü Gong in their county, and being able to marry into a family like Lü Gong's was something that even his father dared not dream of! What kind of status did Lü Gong have? And what about himself? He was just an ordinary farmer, and even within his own clan, he was only somewhat respected. But most importantly, Lü Zhi had a good temperament, and since she entered their household, she had taken charge of all the big and small matters, putting everything in order, and suddenly freeing up his father and Liu Yu. This made his father almost unable to believe his eyes.
It stands to reason that a young lady from a big family should be incompetent in household chores. But this nephew of mine is really something else! He wouldn't even lift a finger when the oil bottle fell over, and at home, he's always used to being waited on hand and foot by others, with an air of superiority about him all the time. But strangely enough, none of these traits can be found in Lü Yu's character! Haha, I never thought that this Liu San would have such good fortune to marry a wife who is as rare as a phoenix!
Taigong's heart was now at peace, his mind was relaxed and the knot in his heart had been untied. Naturally, his attitude towards Liu Shanhe also underwent a great change. Moreover, Taigong sometimes thought: It seems that the precious sign people talked about when Liu San was young still has some truth to it. As the saying goes, "A lucky person doesn't need to rush", a noble person is destined by heaven!
Whenever Liu Shanhe thought of these things, he would always feel a lot of emotion. Yes, yes, he had a lovely wife at home, and she was also a virtuous one. Moreover, she had given birth to a son and a daughter for him. He almost had everything that one should have in life. And all of this was given to him by his wife, Lyu Rui. What more could he be dissatisfied with? But actually, he would often feel somewhat unfulfilled. As the saying goes, "A snake that is not satisfied will swallow an elephant." It seems that it's indeed true.
When he thought of himself, having such a delicate wife, yet still relapsing into his old habit, he took a liking to a beautiful woman named Cao. She was also a widow, whom Liu Shanhe met while solving a case. One day, Liu Shanhe received a report of a theft, saying that a certain village's Cao woman was often harassed by one of her neighbors. According to the Cao woman, the neighbor was a bachelor who had often flirted with her even when her husband was still alive, and since her husband was born honest, this only further encouraged the neighbor's arrogance. After her husband died of illness, the bachelor neighbor became even more arrogant, frequently running to her home to flirt with her, and even sometimes using violence. The Cao woman was really fed up, so she reported it to Liu Shanhe, the head of the local police station.
As the leader of the pavilion, Liu Shanhe was naturally responsible for managing all matters within it. Those few days happened to be quiet, and from the moment he saw Cao, he felt as if his soul had been swept away. Good heavens, there were actually women so breathtakingly beautiful in this world! Liu Shanhe thought he had encountered many women before, including Lv Lian, but never one who excelled in both appearance and spirit like Cao. He couldn't help but think that anyone would be smitten with her at first sight.
It's said that beautiful women have an easy time when asking for favors. This statement is indeed reasonable. Liu Shanhe, wanting to take another look at the extremely beautiful Cao Shi's face, led a group of people to quickly capture the neighbor who had been harassing Cao Shi and brought him back to his own office for trial on the same day. The neighbor, a single man, confessed to his crimes without hesitation, which made Liu Shanhe somewhat appreciate this guy. Hmm, men being lustful isn't a big problem, and from a certain perspective, it's even normal. Yes, if a man remains unmoved by a beautiful woman, that's when he's truly abnormal.
Of course, you can't just see a woman is beautiful and then treat her like an animal. According to the attitude of that rascal, Liu Shanhe only ordered his subordinates to beat him ten times with a stick, and warned him that if he didn't change his ways, next time Liu Shanhe caught him, it wouldn't be just ten sticks. Hope he can take care of himself and become a good person, and not do such things as teasing Cao Shi again in the future.
At the beginning, that bachelor didn't think that the saucy Cao would actually report to the authorities. But when he was really caught by Liu Shanhe, he was so scared that he almost peed his pants. After all, he was just an ordinary person, although he had some lustful thoughts, but he didn't have the guts to act on them. Otherwise, maybe Cao would have been taken advantage of by him already. Maybe, if he really took advantage of her, she wouldn't even report to the authorities anymore.
But that guy was caught by Liu Shanhe in the pavilion, and at that time, he was so scared that he thought he would be beaten to death. He thought that even if he was lucky, he would still get a hundred or more slaps! However, he didn't expect that the pavilion owner, who looked quite majestic, only gave him ten slaps! For him, this was already the lightest punishment he could have hoped for. So, after the scoundrel got up from the ground, he kept bowing and thanking Liu Shanhe profusely.
As for the lady Cao, Liu Bang had already taken a liking to her, so he comforted her in every way and gave her some money, saying that if she ever needed anything, she could come to his pavilion and he would definitely help her out, seeing her through to the end.
From then on, Liu Shanhe would visit the Cao family's home every now and then, bringing some daily necessities each time. Sometimes, after just receiving his salary, he would also take out a few dollars to help the Cao family out. As time passed, not only did the Cao family feel grateful towards Liu Shanhe, but they were also attracted to him because of his handsome appearance and robust physique. This was especially true for Mrs. Cao, who was not only beautiful but also had been without a man for a long time, making her particularly vulnerable to Liu Shanhe's charms. Finally, one day, after visiting the Cao family again, Liu Shanhe did not return to the Ting estate that night.
Once Liu Shanhe had a relationship with Cao's family, he couldn't stop himself anymore. Almost every day, he would run to Cao's house and stir up trouble until late at night, leaving Cao exhausted but exhilarated. Both of them were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Since the village where Cao lived was far away from Liu Shanhe's hometown, Lv Wei had no idea that her husband had already done something wrong outside.
As for Liu Shanhe, although Lü Yu was also a rare wife who possessed both virtues and beauty, after all, one woman has her own unique charm, especially those beautiful women, each with their own unspoken and inexpressible sense of wonder. Later, Liu Shanhe also had a son with that Cao woman. It was this incident that made Liu Shanhe feel guilty towards Lü Yu for a long time. Especially now, hiding in the mountains, his nerves were always tense, spending every day in anxiety and loneliness, he couldn't help but think of Lü Yu's many good qualities. Moreover, what he had done back then became a sharp sword that made Liu Shanhe feel remorse towards Lü Yu, making him unwilling to forgive himself, feeling that he was worse than a beast.
Now, Liu Shanhe didn't know what had happened to his wife, Lü Zhi. Of course, he knew that after he committed the crime, the government would not let Lü Zhi off. The Qin dynasty's law of collective punishment for a single person's crime, how could he not know? Thinking about his wife being arrested and suffering in prison because of him, Liu Shanhe's heart felt like it was being clawed by a cat, unbearably painful.
And his own children! How lovely they are, but now they must be suffering with their mother. Liu Shanhe couldn't help but think of the two kids' mischievous looks; he thought of how they had grown up and always liked to do things that pleased their parents. They would often look at their parents' faces, observing whether they were happy or not. If their parents were happy, they would naturally feel very happy too. And if they sensed that their parents were in a bad mood, they would also feel sad.
And when he returned home from the pavilion, he would always see two children waiting by the roadside early on, gazing far into the distance. And when they finally saw him, they would run over from afar, competing to call out "Dad, Dad". That scene, he would never forget for his whole life!
Alas, whether it's his wife, children, or parents, they've all suffered greatly with him. If one day he really does ascend to the dragon throne, then those who followed Liu Shanhe through thick and thin will also share in the glory and wealth of the world! Even if it's just for the sake of his loved ones, he must strive to fulfill the mission heaven has set out for him!
Thinking of this, Liu Shanhe's fists had already been tightly clenched, with flames bursting in his eyes, as if he was about to blast open a huge hole in the world and turn it upside down!
Another morning. The sun has just risen, but the mountains are still shrouded in mist. Liu Shanhe also got up early, he was originally a good sleeper, but now it's not possible, the situation is pressing! He had to get up early and make a round of inspections everywhere, otherwise, as the highest leader of this group of people, how could his heart be at peace?
