Chapter 73

Ma Bao, an ordinary Manchu descendant who grew up in the heart of Beijing, had never enjoyed much luxury nor suffered much hardship. In the eyes of the Manchus, he was just a middle-to-lower class individual, but to the Han people, he was already considered a person of high status.

From a young age, he was a street urchin, getting into fights and causing trouble in his youth. As he grew older, he learned to frequent teahouses, brothels, and to flatter and curry favor. How could such a Manchu playboy ever have seen such a bloody massacre? Seeing the dark red blood flow like a river on the ground, and the severed limbs spinning in the air, Ma Bao felt waves of nausea, but he couldn't even bring himself to vomit.

Now he didn't even have the strength to curse. He was thrown off his frightened warhorse and his good leg was sprained. He sat on the ground, staring blankly at the nightmare-like scene.

"How could this happen? Why can't I figure it out? How did the sky of the Great Qing change so suddenly..." As he mumbled to himself, 150 heavy cavalry had already completed the massacre. Out of the 700 Green Standard soldiers, fewer than 50 escaped, and the rest were all dead. The harbor was deathly silent. The cavalry slowly formed a semi-circle, with Ma Bao and his remaining dozen or so bodyguards at the center. These bodyguards weren't unwilling to run, but they couldn't. They were completely terrified, and some were even scared into a stupor.

The hellish scene not only stunned all the Chinese present but also frightened the foreigners on the merchant ships. The merchants and sailors, not being regular soldiers, frantically crossed themselves, muttering, "Too brutal, too brutal, are these soldiers from hell?"

The captain of the Lucky, Corsica, quietly signaled to his sailors, meaning they shouldn't get involved in the Qing internal conflict. These Xiang Army soldiers were not to be trifled with.

The foreigners were very practical. Over the years of the Taiping Rebellion, they were very familiar with the combat capabilities of the Longhairs and the Xiang Army, especially the Xiang Army's reputation for massacring cities. To say they weren't afraid would be a lie. Especially today, after witnessing the cruel combat power of the Ji Army, the foreigners present were all silent, and many merchant ships quietly closed their gun ports.

The situation had now reached its peak of chaos. The rioters in the city, who had just tried to make a move at the dock, were immediately frightened by the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood and turned to run. No one was foolish enough to think they could gain any advantage here.

There was no longer any need for everyone to seek refuge on the Lucky. Xiao Letian and the Ninth Marshal slowly approached Ma Bao, and the merchants, though terrified, had to harden their hearts and move forward under the control of these killing gods.

They walked until they couldn't put their feet down on the ground, and then Zeng Guoquan stopped. He nodded to the Eagle, and Huang Juren and Xiao Bian Sun were suddenly thrown out of the crowd, landing in the blood.

Everyone knew that the event was coming to a close, and the Ninth Marshal was about to make his final judgment. The merchants looked at the once arrogant Huang Juren and Xiao Bian Sun, who were now completely terrified.

"Tianjin is a place where Chinese and foreigners live together, and the local customs must be upright. However, there are always people who, for their own selfish reasons, try to disrupt the peace and stability of the Great Qing... Huang Juren, as a scholar, instead of serving the emperor and stabilizing the people, incited a civilian uprising. This is intolerable. Take him away, interrogate him strictly, and execute him after obtaining a confession!"

"Xiao Bian Sun, a ruffian by nature, dared to assist in the crime and will be punished along with Huang Juren!"

"Xie Tai Ma Bao, who accepted bribes and attempted to rob the Lucky Trading Company of 400,000 silver dollars, driven by greed, even mobilized troops to create chaos in the city. I ask you, why did you attack the trading company instead of dispersing the rioters? Are the Qing troops your private army? Don't think that because you are a Manchu descendant, I won't dare to kill you... Men, shoot him to death, and let it be considered a battle death to save face for his master..."

At Zeng Guoquan's command, over a hundred cavalrymen raised their crossbows, and the finely crafted triangular armor-piercing arrows were already on the strings. Just as the Eagle was about to give the order, a loud voice suddenly came from the roof to the west, "Hold your fire, don't kill him, Ma Bao has hostages..."

Xiao Letian, recognizing Xiang Shaolong's voice, immediately grabbed the Eagle's hand and said sternly, "Wait, don't shoot, there's a change..."

Xiao Letian had a vague sense of unease. Since the mysterious alarm flares appeared in the western sky, he had been on edge. This was the only unknown variable in all his plans, the biggest flaw.

The Eagle looked at the Ninth Marshal and ultimately did not give the order. Soon, a large group of people appeared on the street to the west.

Xiang Shaolong and over twenty trading company guards, with tense expressions, surrounded several figures. The group was slowly moving towards the dock, and it was clear that both the captors and the captives were very wary of each other.

Xiang Shaolong and his men's eyes were bloodshot, and they all clutched their weapons, but no one dared to make a move. Dragon Master's right hand held a revolver, and his left hand held several poisoned copper darts, but he dared not attack.

Suddenly, a terrified and trembling voice rang out from the crowd, "Master Huang! Master Sun! It's Dirty Rat... Are you two there? Xie Tai Ma, save me, save me..."

"I've captured Xiao Letian's two wives, we have hostages..." Dirty Rat's shrill cry made Xiao Letian jump up.

"My wives? Could it be Hu Niu..." From a distance, Xiang Shaolong's face turned red as he shouted, "I failed, when I arrived, Miss and Elder Qing's sister were already in the hands of the enemy..."

Xiao Letian rushed over in a frenzy, pushing through the crowd to see Hu Niu and Fu Hui, the two women, who were bound and dazed, being held by Dirty Rat's men.

"Hu Niu! Sister Hui!" Xiao Letian shouted and tried to rush forward, but at this moment, Dirty Rat had become hysterical. His dagger was tightly pressed against Hu Niu's neck, and he shouted like a madman, "Back off, back off... I want to live, I don't want to die, who wants to kill me? I'll take you all down with me..." As he spoke, the dagger grazed Hu Niu's skin, and a trickle of blood ran down her neck.

The pain made Hu Niu more alert. She looked up at Xiao Letian and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Brother Xiao, I've caused you trouble again... Don't worry about me, you're a man, you can't let this kind of person blackmail you..."

"Hu Niu!" Xiao Letian's tears streamed down his face. "What do you want? Just say it, I'll agree to everything..."

Dirty Rat was on the verge of a mental breakdown. From the moment he started robbing on the dock, his men had been dying one after another, and the enemies seemed endless. He thought that capturing the two women would be his protection, but he never expected Xiang Shaolong to appear again and threaten him with the Green Gang's code.

Only then did Dirty Rat realize that these two women were like hot coals, something he couldn't handle. Gradually, more and more outlaws gathered around Xiang Shaolong, forming a large circle that tightly surrounded Dirty Rat and his men.

Dirty Rat was truly terrified. He had tried several times to release the hostages to save his own life, but when they joined a group of fleeing Green Standard soldiers, he knew he had to continue the charade.

"Master Rat... Don't release the hostages. Now Master Huang, Master Sun, and Xie Tai Ma are all in danger. The dock is a sea of blood and bodies, and Xiao Letian has brought the Xiang Army to massacre the city... Don't lose your protection..." Several fleeing soldiers hadn't finished speaking when they were hacked to pieces by Dragon Master's men.

Dirty Rat realized that these two women were their last means of survival and must not be lost. Thus, the two groups remained in a standoff, slowly moving towards the dock and eventually joining up with Master Huang and the others.

At this point, Master Ren and Xiao Bian Sun, who knew they were doomed, suddenly perked up. They struggled against the soldiers' control, making incoherent noises.

"Release us, Xiao Letian, release us... or your women will die too!" Master Huang, like a tied-up dog, struggled forward. Xiao Bian Sun, with his jaw broken, drooled uncontrollably and made incoherent noises.

"Marshal, release them immediately..." Xiao Letian roared. He didn't care about the potential failure; his eyes were only on his women. A man who couldn't protect his woman had no reason to live.

The Ninth Marshal sighed and ultimately released them. Master Huang and Xiao Bian Sun, covered in blood and bodies, rushed forward and finally joined Dirty Rat in front of Ma Bao.

"Good brother, as long as we can survive, we will share the wealth together, wailing..." Master Huang, ignoring Dirty Rat's status, hugged him and cried.

Ma Bao, who had survived half a life, shook his head and grabbed Master Huang's arm, cursing, "Old man, this is all your fault. What do we do now? Tell me what to do..."

Master Huang, shaken by Ma Bao, was dizzy. "Go to Beijing, we go to Beijing, take the hostages to Beijing... Only the court can protect us, no one else can save us..."

Everyone agreed. Taking the hostages to Beijing, or even just to Tianjin, would ensure their safety. They needed to contact the Qing loyalists and the royal family.

"Right, right, right, let's go... Xiao, arrange carriages for us immediately, no tricks, or we'll all die together..." Ma Bao struggled to his feet, determined.

"Give them carriages! I'll give you anything, but remember, if you harm a single hair on my women, I'll dig up your graves and kill your nine generations..." Xiao Letian's face was livid with anger.

At this point, Ma Bao, with his bodyguards and the few ruffians brought by Dirty Rat, had a total of about twenty people. They formed a tight circle around the two women, who were their means of survival and must not be taken away.

"Da Bao? Is it Da Bao..." Suddenly, a weak voice came from behind Ma Bao. No one except Ma Bao heard it clearly.

Huh! Who is this, and how do they know my nickname?