Chapter 69

At noon, when the streets should have been filled with the aroma of cooking, it had instead turned into a hell of wailing and howling. All the streets were filled with chaotic crowds. The ignorant peasants, who had been incited from the countryside, had already lost control the moment the gunfire sounded. The followers of Xiao Liantian, who had been leading them, had disappeared, leaving only a group of unorganized rioters.

"Where is the Lietian Trading Company? Who the hell led us here, how did we end up by the sea..."

"Coming to the seaside is right, I heard the trading companies are all near the docks..."

"You're talking crap, have you ever been to Tanggu? Do you even know how many shops there are in the town? Stop pretending..."

"Who are you calling out, you stinky shit cleaner, if you have the guts, lead the way..."

"Stop arguing, I know where it is, it's around the seaside building, find the seaside building and we'll find it... Overthrow the traitor Xiao Lietian..."

The chaotic crowd surged left and right, and before anything happened, they started arguing among themselves. Those who had always been a bit dirty took advantage of the chaos to roll up their sleeves and start cursing. More and faster chapters can be found at.

The frenzied crowd did not notice that a group of unfamiliar faces had mixed in among them at some point. These people were dressed very simply, blending in with the crowd without standing out. At first glance, they seemed no different from the others, but if you paid attention to their eyes, you could see the sharpness that indicated they were trained in martial arts.

These people had a very special identity. They were carefully selected by Xiao Lietian from the disciples of Taibai Peak, Xiang Shaolong's troops, and the intelligence organization under Chun Shisan's command. They were a special forces unit directly controlled by Xiao Lietian.

Today, their task was very challenging: to sow discord among the rioting civilians, diverting their attention so that Xiao Lietian would become a secondary target. The key to completing this task was the greed and blind obedience of the crowd. More and faster chapters can be found at.

Two young men in the crowd exchanged glances and nodded. They then lifted a heavy doorstop from the street and smashed it into a door. With a loud bang, the newly installed door was shattered. The two young men crouched down and slipped inside.

The surrounding civilians were still confused when they heard two strange cries from inside the shop: "Fellow villagers, come and see, there's money, lots of money..." Then, handfuls of golden copper coins and silver pieces flew out of the hole, rolling all over the street.

The civilians were stunned, and after a three-second silence, a volcanic eruption of shouts erupted: "Money..." With a loud crash, the wooden door of the pawnshop was completely smashed.

Hundreds of people rushed into the pawnshop like hungry wolves. Despite their usual timidity, once they were gathered and led by a few, they quickly turned into a greedy pack of wolves.

The pawnshop's clerks and assistants cowered behind the counters and in the corners, too frightened to even breathe, as the mob stuffed the money and pawned items into their clothes. Some were so scared that they wet their pants.

"Silver! This is my silver... Jewelry, I need to give it to my wife... Get out of my way, if you try to take it, I'll kick you to death..."

"Copper coins, strings of copper coins! Hahaha, I'm rich, I never thought this day would come..."

"A wolf fur coat? This is real black wolf fur, it's mine..."

This was one of the properties of Mr. Niu, and under the direction of these conspirators, it was completely looted by the mob in less than ten minutes. The neighboring oil and grain store, silk shop, and silverware shop were also smashed open and looted, with the sounds of women's screams indicating that some were taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble. More and faster chapters can be found at.

Xiao Lietian had infiltrated over a hundred special forces soldiers into the crowd of tens of thousands of rioters. These men, skilled in creating chaos, had been personally trained by Xiao Lietian, turning the planned civil unrest into a chaotic and violent farce in less than half an hour.

"Damn, these stinky merchants dared to conspire against the military advisor. Today, I'll start with their properties, especially that Niu family. We'll smash all their properties and let the people loot them. Whatever they can't take, we'll burn..."

Countless special forces soldiers, harboring a deep-seated anger, led the civilians into one after another of the trading companies, warehouses, and shops. Floating wealth, valuable goods, and even daily necessities became the targets of the looting. At that moment, everyone forgot their original purpose for coming to Tanggu, as if their only goal had been to rob.

When the magistrate Zhou Mingkui tried to organize the civilians with his constables, he found that Tanggu was no longer the Tanggu he knew. The civilians, in a frenzy, had forgotten the authority of the officials, and there were even instances of constables being beaten.

"Rebellion! Oh my God, these stinky civilians are rebelling... You dare to rob... Who kicked me?" Before he could finish, a special forces soldier in the crowd kicked the constable in the chest. The kick was vicious, sending the constable flying over two meters and crashing into a hotel, breaking numerous tables and chairs.

"Fight, fight, fight, anyone who dares to stop us from getting rich, even the Son of Heaven, will be fought..." The crowd was completely frenzied, surrounding the remaining constables and beating them until they were no longer breathing.

Magistrate Zhou Mingkui was stunned. He felt his legs trembling and his crotch growing wet. He was trying to hold it in, knowing he was about to wet his pants.

The bizarre scenes on the street revolved before his eyes like a carousel. A beggar wrapped in silk was running wildly, an old man with a silver tray on his head was running as fast as the wind, and even a small-footed old lady had rushed into a jewelry shop, wrapped a few hairpins in a handkerchief, and disappeared into a side alley.

"Rebellion, this is rebellion! Is this still the land of the Great Qing? Is this still the Emperor's Tanggu city?" As he trembled, a half-brick flew past his forehead, and the scholar Zhou Mingkui couldn't hold it in any longer, feeling a warmth in his crotch as he wet his pants.

"Sir, we can't stay here. We are a civil office, and we only have about a hundred constables and assistants. We are no match for the mob. We must return to the office and defend it..." The constable, with a large bump on his head, rushed over to support the magistrate and flee.

"Yes, yes, protecting the office is important. We must retreat..." Zhou Mingkui was not foolish; he knew he couldn't handle this mess. This was now the responsibility of the military, and he would let Ma Bao deal with it.

When the magistrate, with wet pants, returned to the office under the protection of his subordinates, the steward of the back hall rushed over. "Sir, a guest has come to visit..."

"What kind of nonsense guest? At a time like this, to add to the chaos!" At that moment, a tall and robust man approached, bowed, and said, "Magistrate Zhou, my master, out of respect for our past as classmates, has come to save your life. Why are you trying to drive me away?"

"Classmate? Messenger? Who are you..." The man smiled slightly. "I am Wang Hu, the constable of Yixian, and I bring a message from our county magistrate..."

Zhou Mingkui, upon hearing it was a classmate, remembered that Liu Bian and he had once studied in the capital, and their relationship had been quite good. However, after he had achieved a higher position, their contact had diminished. Today, Liu Sanbian had sent someone to see him at this critical moment, leaving Zhou Mingkui puzzled.

The magistrate waved his hand, dismissing his subordinates. When Wang Hu whispered a few words in his ear, Zhou Mingkui was so frightened that he wet his pants again. "Is what you said true? You're not lying to me?"

"Sir, who am I to dare lie to you... Do you know who the distinguished guest on the second floor of the Lietian Trading Company is? It will shock you, it's General Zeng Guoquan..."

Indeed, Xiao Lietian was standing in a private room on the second floor of the trading company, smiling at the distinguished guest, Zeng Guoquan. The general, facing him, was so angry that his nose was almost out of place. If not for Ying, who was holding him back, he would have already attacked Xiao Lietian.

"Don't hold me back, I'm going to beat this kid, to think he even included me in his plan! You little scoundrel, are you trying to drag me into this? I won't let you, you stinky rascal... I'll beat you to death!"

The general lunged forward, but Ying quickly held him back. Xiao Lietian, with his usual smug look, didn't seem to care about Zeng Guoquan's curses.

After a while, seeing that Zeng Guoquan was exhausted from cursing, Xiao Lietian quickly poured him a cup of hot tea. "General, calm down. There are now two to three thousand rioters outside. I've come up with a plan to hold them off, but it can only buy us some time. Will you come with me?"

"You're talking nonsense, I won't! Do you want me to appear before the people? You just want to drag me into this. I tell you, I won't play your games. Ying will carry me out, and I don't believe I can't leave this small town of Tanggu."

"I believe you, of course I do. But even if you don't show yourself, I will still tell everyone that you were my guest. Do you think the wise men in the Forbidden City will believe me? If they find out that you were in Tanggu during the riot and secretly escaped without doing anything about it, what do you think the Emperor and Empress Dowager will think of you?"

"Oh! Damn... Ying, don't hold me back, I'll beat this scoundrel to death. He's shameless, he's got 'shameless' written on his forehead, he's driving me crazy..."

At that moment, the floorboards creaked, and Luo Huo rushed in. "Sir, Ma Bao's troops are approaching. We can already hear the sound of the cavalry. What should we do next?"

At this point, Xiao Lietian put away his carefree attitude. He knew that Ma Bao's cavalry unit numbered about two hundred, and these highly mobile troops were not something thirty riflemen and a few dozen infantrymen could handle. They needed to move, board the ship, and get on the French merchant ship, the Lucky.

"Ha ha ha, a great general like you has so little courage? This morning, you tried to recruit me, saying that you could hold back