Chapter 43: The Advantage is on My Side

Lately, the name Li Chang'an had remained at the eye of the storm, undeniably the most sensational figure throughout the whole of the imperial court and common society.

Consequently, the news of the Taiping Rebel Army fleeing in headlong panic spread with exceptional speed.

Seeing the Taiping Army, upon whom they had pinned such high hopes, disperse like wild beasts and birds without offering the slightest resistance.

Innumerable ambitious opportunists across the central plains, all eager to try their fortune, were disappointed to the absolute extreme.

Originally, they had counted on Li Chang'an to act as the bird that sticks its head out, drawing the enemy's fire for them so that they themselves could flourish in obscurity!

Yet they had never imagined this first bird would collapse on its own before even being struck.

It was simply the greatest joke under heaven!

...

Outside Sanhuang County town, inside a temporarily pitched military tent.

The expression on Ha'erchi’s face shifted between clarity and darkness as he sat upon his grand armchair, remaining silent for a very long time.

Just a few hours ago, he had still been busy transporting siege engines from various regions, preparing to launch an assault on Sanhuang County, which served as the Taiping Army's headquarters.

He was determined to crush the Taiping Rebel Army in one fell swoop and take Li Chang'an’s head back to the capital to report his success.

However, just a few hours later, the scouts sent out to gather intelligence informed him of the news that the rebel army had abandoned the city and fled in panic.

When he first heard it, Ha'erchi was fundamentally unwilling to believe it.

Having fought so hard to capture several cities, to turn around and abandon them without making the slightest resistance.

What was the point of risking one's neck and braving death to live?

Even if they truly intended to abandon the cities, they should at least put up a token resistance for appearance's sake, right?!

Who ever heard of fleeing at the mere sight of the wind without so much as a greeting?

However, several subsequent waves of scouts dispatched afterward all proved the veracity of this news to him.

Li Chang'an had not only abandoned Sanhuang County, which served as his base of operations, but the rebel army had vanished without a trace even from Qingpu County and Pingdong County, which had only recently been captured.

Even after racking his brains, Ha'erchi could not figure out Li Chang'an’s purpose in doing this.

At this moment, he could only stroke his chin, his face filled with perplexity as he muttered, "What is going on? These mud-legged peasants were so audaciously bold before, daring to proclaim to the world the slogan 'The cycle turns in the Jiazi year, great fortune under heaven.' How could they suddenly surrender without a fight now?"

Hearing his words, which carried a slight sense of questioning reality.

Below the commander's seat in the tent, a military strategist pondered for a moment and immediately spoke with a smile, "Lord Governor, that boy is merely the son of a lowly carpenter. In these rural wilds where sages do not appear, he might still have the courage to commit outrages. Now, hearing that you, Lord Governor, are personally leading hundreds of thousands of elite troops to suppress the rebellion, it is only normal that he has been scared out of his wits and fled in terror!"

Flattery never goes out of style.

Although this strategist was suspected of sycophancy, the guess he made was not entirely without reason.

The Demonic Qing Court had actually sent only fifty thousand elite soldiers, yet they claimed three hundred thousand to the outside world.

Ten thousand rebels against three hundred thousand government troops.

Any normal person hearing this exaggerated ratio of enemy to self would feel faint-hearted.

Li Chang'an being directly scared out of his soul and fleeing in panic was not altogether impossible!

Ha'erchi nodded, yet he was in no hurry to express his attitude on the matter. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the other strategists in the military tent, gesturing for them to voice their opinions as well.

Swept by his gaze, another strategist from the central plains stepped out from the crowd, kneeling respectfully on the ground to kowtow and salute, saying, "Lord Governor, your servant believes the reason the rebel army fled without a fight is that Li Chang'an feared the strength of the soldiers under our command and could not suppress their internal strife!"

Several strategists stood up one after another, analyzing the possibilities of this matter from various angles, yet Ha'erchi’s tightly knitted brows still did not unwrinkle.

If Li Chang'an were truly just an ordinary rebel leader, it would be fine; with his status, he would hardly bother with so many messy details.

But at Li Chang'an’s hands, Ha'erchi had not only lost a squad of lower-ranking officials from the Prison Suppressing Bureau, but had also lost dozens of highly powerful bounty hunters.

One must know that these were no mere cats or dogs.

They were among the strongest forces that Ha'erchi could deploy during normal times.

If one also added the disturbances on the surface of Lake Tai some time ago, and that name which made him feel a faint, lingering unease just hearing it...

No matter from which angle one looked at it, it indicated that the power held in Li Chang'an’s hands was quite mysterious and formidable.

It was not nearly as simple as it appeared on the surface.

So the question arose: would a youth whose background even he could not fully fathom flee without a fight because he could not suppress the internal opinions of the rebel army?

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed problematic!

Just as Ha'erchi was utterly lost in thought, a clear, resonant voice suddenly came from outside the military tent, saying calmly, "Lord Governor, no matter what that boy is plotting, I will capture him and bring him back as quickly as possible. Whether to execute him or cut him to pieces will be entirely up to your disposal!"

Hearing the voice from outside the tent, Ha'erchi startled out of his contemplation, quickly rising to his feet and saying courteously, "Master Sang, this matter is full of peculiar things. I really must trouble you to take action!"

Accompanying his welcome, the curtain of the military tent was pushed aside, and two figures dressed in black robes embroidered with gold cloud patterns entered.

Although Ha'erchi was the maternal uncle of the current Emperor, holding the power of an entire province with the authority over life and death, he did not dare to show the slightest arrogance before these two individuals.

If Li Chang'an were present, he would discover that behind this emaciated middle-aged man whom Ha'erchi addressed as Master Sang followed the Martial King-level expert who had hunted him across the waters of Lake Tai last time!

...

After the rebel army broke into small groups and hid themselves within the mountain forests, the government army led by Ha'erchi easily took custody of Sanhuang, Qingpu, and Pingdong counties.

Because everything went far too smoothly, it caused many soldiers to become somewhat conceited. After occupying the county towns, their speech was filled with extreme disparagement and complete disdain for the Taiping Rebel Army.

However, when these words of abuse and disparagement reached the ears of the common people, something that left everyone astonished and bewildered occurred.

——The common people actually organized themselves into groups of dozens or hundreds, throwing rotten eggs and decayed vegetable leaves across various areas where the government troops were stationed. What was more, some even dared to spit at the government soldiers, using this to express their disdain and resentment!

At this, let alone the soldiers who suffered this baseless loathing, even Ha'erchi, as the Governor, began to doubt whether he had wandered into the wrong place!

They had only just entered the town and had not yet offended these commoners!

How had these commoners become so violent and aggressive?

Immediately, several even more hot-tempered soldiers rushed forward, seizing the commoners who spat at them and dragging them to the prison for interrogation.

The captured commoner was not only unafraid, but instead cursed roundly, "You pack of bandits, just wait. The Taiping Immortal Master will return! When that time comes... all of you will face judgment and die a horrible death!"

Seeing him captured, the surrounding commoners temporarily suppressed their temper.

But clearly, they were not subdued in their hearts!

At first, the soldiers did not know where these mud-legged peasants derived their confidence, only feeling that the stubbornness of these peasants was somewhat inexplicable.

But before long, disaster began to descend upon their heads.

On this day, while several hundred elite government soldiers were searching everywhere for traces of the rebel remnants, a band of "mountain bandits" of unknown origin suddenly charged out from among