The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 286: Evil people still need to be punished by evil people

When the ministers heard that Yikuang had arrived to help them, they immediately became excited.

Yikuang is now a high-ranking official in the Qing Dynasty and is deeply trusted by Empress Dowager Cixi. It seems that the Qing general in front of him would not dare to offend such a powerful person.

With the help of this iron-hat prince, the soldiers from various countries guarding the embassy area will have a great hope of being rescued along with them and no longer have to endure the tormenting life of captivity.

However, with a "bang", Teng Yuzhao slapped the armrest of the chair heavily and stood up, and the hearts of these foreign ministers suddenly sank.

What made Teng Yuzhao angry was that Yikuang arbitrarily released the foreign soldiers in the embassy area without his consent, and even dared to injure his people. He completely ignored his existence as the general director of the Beiyang Zhili Military Affairs. As for the temporary job of being responsible for the defense of the capital, that goes without saying.

Teng Yuzhao glanced at Dou Nale and others with an angry look on his face, and said while suppressing the anger in his heart.

"Sir Donald, now that you have met me and we have had a frank conversation, your goal has been achieved. You should hurry out of the city. Otherwise, once it gets dark, you may be accidentally injured by your own people."

"Damn it, who has the guts to hit my people?"

As soon as I arrived at the front yard of the Ministry of Revenue, I heard Liu Shijiu's angry curses from the street outside in the distance.

Then a dry, hoarse, old voice was heard shouting in frustration, "Come here, help me to close the mouth of this bastard."

Then two screams were heard, followed by Liu Shijiu's vicious roar.

"Someone, come here! How dare you let your slave commit crimes and beat up an official in the street? This is outrageous! Smash this old dog's sedan chair. If anyone dares to stop you, I will break their dog legs."

Then the old hoarse voice sounded again, but this time it no longer had the aggressive tone it had just now, and was replaced by a nervous and fearful voice.

"You are so bold that you dare to kill the imperial officers and soldiers in the street and insult me. Do you know what crime this is? Is there no law in this capital city?"

Listening to this strong-looking but weak voice, Teng Yuzao knew that this must be Yikuang. It was bad luck for him to meet Liu Shijiu today.

Teng Yuzhao took a step forward and strode out of the gate of the Ministry of Revenue.

There was tight security outside the gate of the Ministry of Revenue.

Not only were there rows of vanguard soldiers holding rifles with sharp bayonets standing on the steps, but there was also a Maxim heavy machine gun with a long ammunition chain mounted in the very center of the steps. The thick copper-cased bullets on the chain shone with a crimson red glow in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Anyone who sees this light will feel a chill down their spine.

There was still a row of soldiers holding rifles at the bottom of the stairs, blocking the gate of the Ministry of Revenue tightly. Anyone who wanted to force their way up the stairs would first face their sharp bayonets.

On the spacious street, leaning against the opposite side of the street, there was a long row of people squatting in various clothes. Among these people, there were men and women, foreigners in Western suits and Western-style long dresses with open chests and backs, and Chinese men and women with braids, wearing Ma褂, long gowns, Chinese clothes and trousers, or Western suits, and even children of foreigners and Chinese.

Although these people were dressed differently, they had one thing in common: no matter what kind of clothes they wore, whether they were men, women, or children, their clothes were all wrinkled and shabby, and everyone's face was full of fatigue. Being trapped in the small embassy area, they had to worry every day, and many people even had to take up arms to resist the attacks of the Boxers. Even the most sophisticated Western gentlemen and ladies would not have the heart to spend time and energy on this.

In the middle of the street, a group of young Boxers wearing red or yellow scarves and holding gleaming swords had long since put away the excitement on their faces and were craning their necks to look towards one end of the street.

Standing on the steps, Teng Yuzao also looked towards the other end of the street.

There was a large group of people blocking the street, and next to these people, there was a long line of foreign soldiers wearing various military uniforms, but these people had no weapons and were being guarded by a large group of vanguard soldiers and Boxers holding rifles and swords.

However, all the captives looked towards the middle of the street in surprise.

On the street, Liu Shijiu, with a bandage still wrapped around his head, had the sleeves of his military uniform rolled up long ago. He was holding his waist with one hand and holding his ghost-head sword in the other, staring fiercely at a skinny old man in prince's clothes who kept retreating.

As the old man kept retreating, the large group of people dressed as Goshahas and servants surrounding him also kept retreating with the old man, and no one dared to step forward to cover for the old man.

This skinny old man must be Yikuang without a doubt.

On the street between Liu Shijiu and the skinny old man in prince's attire, two men who looked like servants were lying down. However, the two men lay there motionless, as if they had already died.

On the street beside them, a group of young and strong Boxers had overturned a carriage used exclusively by the prince and were hacking at it with their swords.

Next to Liu Shijiu, there were two vanguard soldiers who seemed to have just been injured in the head and were being bandaged by several soldiers.

Soon, a servant who turned back to look for a way to retreat discovered Teng Yuzhao and the group of foreigners behind him standing on the steps. Then the servant squeezed his way to Yikuang's side and said something.

Yikuang then turned around and saw Teng Yuzhao standing on the steps just looking at this side, without saying anything to stop his subordinates and the Boxers. This made Yikuang extremely furious. This was the first time that someone in the capital, or even in the entire Qing Dynasty, dared to ignore the majesty of him, Prince Qing.

Yikuang pushed away several servants who were trying to support him, and walked towards Teng Yuzhao with a menacing look.

According to the rules of the Qing court, an iron-hat prince like Yikuang was a first-class noble rank in the court. Not to mention Teng Yuzao, who was a second-rank military official, even high-ranking officials like Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Liu Kunyi, and even Zai Yi, who was extremely powerful in the court, had to lower their ranks to greet Yikuang when they met him.

What's more, even though Teng Yuzao was the Prince's Guardian and the Earl of the Ministry of War, his status and respect were far from enough in front of Yikuang, the iron-hat prince.

However, Teng Yuzao still did not move a single step, let alone come down to greet him, which made Yikuang, who was striding forward, even more furious.

He was about to move closer, but the vanguard soldiers standing in front of the steps with rifles, encouraged by Liu Shijiu, ignored him as a prince. Holding their rifles with bayonets, no one made way for him. On the contrary, the few soldiers facing him not only had anger in their eyes, but also pointed the blades of their bayonets at his chest.

Yikuang was so angry that he stretched out his shaking hand, pointed at Teng Yuzao on the steps and shouted angrily, "Are you Teng Xingfu?"

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(End of this chapter)