Someone shouted loudly on the street: "I saw the head knight student with red hair and a burly figure. He should be a Westerner who trained the army for the king."

"So it's a Western devil!" The monk shouted loudly: "The disciples who hurt the Buddha are the enemies of the Buddha, the devil! After death, they will fall into the animal realm and never be reborn! Even the king is no exception. Let's go to the palace now and ask the king to give us an explanation!" After that, he held his master's body and walked towards the direction of the palace with his head raised. The onlookers made a deafening response to him, making way for him, and following behind him, the soldiers guarding the city put down their weapons one by one and lowered their heads in awe.

In the palace, Meng Ji was sitting in front of the desk, reading a document. In front of him, there were documents transferred from all over the country, waiting for his review.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Dioke quickly walked into the house, his face was anxious, and Duncan, who was already sweaty and heavily-shirted, was immediately followed by: "The big thing is wrong. The Shun people suddenly attacked the dock last night and have occupied it!"

"How could this happen!" Meng Ji widened his eyes. He stared at Duncan behind Dioc, and asked, "Didn't the dock berthed with three imperial gunboats? Don't they control the Irrawaddy River? Did the Shun people attack the dock by land? Then why didn't I get any news?"

After hearing the translation, Duncan replied in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the people of Shun have attacked the dock by water. They used tricks to seize one of our gunboats, and then pretended to be our people to board the docks, and used a sudden attack to occupy the artillery and the remaining two gunboats. All this happened so suddenly that I did not have enough time to organize the troops to launch a counterattack."

Meng Ji listened carefully to Duncan's answer and asked: "Major Duncan, if I didn't understand it wrong, what do you mean is that the Shun people not only occupied the dock, but also completely seized the three gunboats of the Imperial Squadron?"

Duncan's face showed a humiliating red, but he nodded firmly and said, "Although this made me very ashamed, I have to admit this reality. The gunboat, the turret and the entire dock fell almost intact into the hands of the Shun people, as well as the grain stored in the warehouse near the dock, military uniforms and boots for 4,000 people, and a large amount of other materials had fallen into the hands of the Shun people. The recruits trained at the dock have also fled, but fortunately, when I left, I had ordered the burning of the three thousand rifles and ammunition stored in the warehouse, and the remaining company of local soldiers were also brought back!"

After listening to the translation, Meng Ji sat back into the chair with a dull butt. Now everything was clear. The Shun people not only occupied the dock, but also the three warships and a large amount of material fell into their hands. With the three gunboats and turrets, it was impossible for him to retake the dock in a short time. They could load all their troops onto the ships, land on the dock easily, and then attack Bagan. The only bargaining chip left in his hand was the less than 3,000 recruits outside the city who had just trained for less than two months. Many of these recruits did not even have a decent rifle in their hands. Thinking of this, Meng Ji couldn't help but lower his head in despair.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to report to Yangon as soon as possible. The Shun people attacked the Empire's squadron, which means challenging the Empire's authority. The Empire will fully intervene in Myanmar and drive the Shun people back to their lairs!" Duncan said loudly. The shame of escaping from the pier was like a brazing iron rolling on his ribs, which made him feel extremely painful: "With the help of the Empire, you will soon return to Mandalay and re-assemble your throne!"

Meng Ji lowered his head and silent for a while, as if he had not heard the translator's words. At this time, a sound came from outside, as if countless people were shouting outside. Meng Ji raised his head in surprise and said to Diocke: "Diok, go out and see what's going on outside!"

"Yes, your Majesty!"

After a while, Dioke returned to the house, his face was full of panic, and he bowed slightly to Meng Ji, saying, "Your Majesty, the big thing is wrong. The palace gate is full of people. They ask Your Majesty to kill the Buddha's enemy and punish the sinners around you!"

"The enemy of Buddha? Sinner?" Meng Ji was shocked when he heard this. Since he ascended the throne, he has been very generous to the temples and monks.

"Your Majesty!" Dioke glanced at Duncan, who was beside him, and after confirming that the other party did not understand Burmese language, he whispered: "The people gathered outside the palace to ask His Majesty to deal with the Buddha enemy. The sinners were talking about Major Duncan and the others. When they just entered the city, they hit and killed the master of the Mohe Bodhi Temple. The monks in the temple carried the body of the master and were outside the palace gate. I was afraid there were thousands of people!"

"What? Is it? Is the honorary teacher of Mohe Bodhi Temple killed?" Meng Ji was shocked when he heard this. Mohe Bodhi Temple is the only famous temple in Myanmar that imitates the Indian Bodhi Gaya Temple. It was built in 1218 AD and has a history of more than 600 years. It has great prestige in Bagan and even the entire central region of Myanmar. It is not a trivial matter to kill the honorary teacher of the temple even when his throne is stable, let alone his throne is now drooping. Simply put, if he cannot give the monks of the temple a satisfactory reply, his Burmese king will definitely not be able to stay in Bagan.

"Your Majesty, please make a decision!" Dioc whispered, and kept shooting Duncan on the side with his eyes. Obviously, he was reminding Meng Ji to drag Duncan out to pay the crime quickly. But Meng Ji hesitated at this time: In the current situation, if he handed over Duncan, he would definitely be killed by angry monks and Bagan citizens. Not to mention the British aid and support, even the British barracks would definitely turn against each other, at least they would not continue to fight for themselves. Faced with the upcoming Shun Army, without the protection and support of the British, the monks and citizens of Bagan alone could not defeat them, so there was only one choice in front of him.

"Diok!" Meng Ji stood up and his face turned cold: "Take my guard out of the palace immediately and order the monks and mobs to disband immediately!"

"Your Majesty!" Dioc opened his eyes wide in surprise. He could not believe his ears.

"If these mobs are still stubborn, I will allow you to order the shooting!" Meng Ji continued, as if he had not seen his subordinates' surprise and disappointment, "Okay, go and execute the order!"

Dioc looked at Meng Ji, as if he had seen the person in front of him for the first time. The surprise in his eyes gradually changed into clarity and despair. Finally, he bowed slightly to Meng Ji, and turned and left without saying a word.

Seeing his confidant turn and leave, Meng Ji's face gradually returned to normal from coldness. Finally, he turned around and said to Duncan: "Now, Major Duncan, let's talk about how to resist the invasion of Shun people!"

Outside the palace gate, thousands of Bagan citizens and monks filled the square in front of the palace gate. In front of the crowd, dozens of monks surrounded a stretcher, and the body of the master who was killed not long ago was placed on it. The monks bowed their heads and recited Buddhist scriptures, and the whole scene was depressed and sad.

Suddenly, a trumpet sounded at the palace gate, and then the palace gate opened, and hundreds of Indian soldiers who were armed with guns and live ammunition were rushed out of the inside. An official in luxurious clothes walked out of the ranks, and the crowd's eyes immediately gathered on the official, and the whole scene seemed to have stagnated.

Dioc took a deep breath, and countless grief and angry eyes were gathered on him on the other side. He seemed to feel the invisible pressure. He stepped forward a few steps and tried his best to shout in his greatest voice: "The Holy Majesty, the shadow of the gods, the darling of the Buddha, and the great King Mengji ordered that all monks and subjects must be disbanded immediately and leave the square, otherwise they will be considered as thieves who violate the saint's orders and will be severely punished by the law!"

The square was calm. A middle-aged monk walked out of the crowd and shouted loudly: "Since the king claims to be the shadow of the gods and the darling of the Buddha, then the Buddha's servant was killed by the devil and let him escape from the law. Is there any reason?" As soon as he finished speaking, a startling response came from the crowd. People waved their arms angrily and made all kinds of vicious curses. Some excitement people picked up the stone pills on the ground and threw them at Dioc and the soldiers. Dioc hurriedly protected his head with his hands and retreated. He was about to order the soldiers to shoot into the sky and disperse the crowd first. Then, a gunshot suddenly came from his ears, and he couldn't help but be stunned. The gunshot sounded like a signal. A heavy rain sounded in Dioc's ears, and the crowd in the square immediately fell.

"Shooting, shooting!" The square suddenly became chaotic, and people fled back in panic, pushed each other, trampled on each other, screamed, cursed, and gunshots formed an indescribable chaos, stirring everything together, and then poured it on the square suddenly.

Dioc looked at all this in amazement, and then he seemed to suddenly wake up, shouting loudly at the Indian soldiers who were covered in black cloth, "Stop shooting, stop shooting! You bastards, I want you to stop shooting, have you heard?"

Finally, the gunshot stopped. After the white smoke produced by the black gunpowder was blown away by the wind, Dioc saw that there was no one standing in the square, only corpses everywhere. The stretcher carrying the corpse of the master also fell to the ground. There were more than ten monks corpses lying around, and the air was filled with the smell of spicy gunpowder.

"Oh my God, why is this happening?" Dioc covered his eyes with his hands in despair, as if this could save everything.

At the same time, in an alley not far from the Palace Gate Square, several young monks were half lying on the ground, panting and looking in a shock. After a while, they got better and looked at each other and found that one of them was sitting on the ground with their eyes straight. Seeing this, the people hurriedly shouted their companions' names while checking on their companions for gunshot wounds.

"Newen, Nawen, are you okay? Why don't you answer us?" The companions shouted for a while, but the young monk named Nawen still looked demented. Seeing this, one of them gritted his teeth, sued him, rolled up his sleeves and slapped Nawen on the face. Nawen was in pain and screamed, then woke up, looked at the people around him, and said strangely: "Where is this? Where is the master's body? And the brothers and sisters?"

"You are really demented. The dog official ordered us to shoot us in the square. If we hadn't dragged you away, I'd be dead there now!"

"What?" Naiwen's eyes were confused. It took a while to recall the chaotic scene in the square just now, and cursed loudly: "I actually ordered a shot at the monks. The tyrant and the dog official will definitely be sent to hell after their death and will never turn over!" Naiwen looked around, his face changed drastically, and asked, "Where is the master's body? And the leader of Senior Brother A Song?" The senior brother A Song in his mouth was the middle-aged monk who led the stretcher of the monk who was hit and killed to gather for petition. He was profound in Buddhism, and he acted very enthusiastically on weekdays. He had a prestige among the monks in Mohe Bodhi Temple, so this time the incident was so big.
Chapter completed!