"Zhenla? I heard that the Ministry of War has trade with Zhenla, could it be that the Zhenla people refuse to pay? Friedrich asked, somewhat confused.

Chenla was too far away from Austria, and the deal between the Ministry of War and Jinla was also kept secret, and if it weren't for Friedrich's discovery that the Ministry of War had called in the navy's barge, he wouldn't have known about it.

"No, I think they've sent all their money, but the Church fleet has been warned by the Vietnamese government. There is a private territory in Kampong Son Bay that belongs to Ambrosius, which was legally acquired from the Chenla government.

Now that the Vietnamese have taken control of Chenla, they do not intend to recognize the legitimacy of this territory, and are even preparing to expel the parishioners from it. Since last year, there have already been two battles. ”

At the end of 1835, the Vietnamese gave up their plan to make the eldest daughter of Anzan the king of Chenla, because the eldest princess rejected the "kindness" of Emperor Minh Minh of Vietnam and did not marry the son of Emperor Minh Minh.

The following year, the Vietnamese prepared to send the Chenla royal family to Zhenxi City, and at the same time appointed three Khmer spies of Cha Long, Ren Yu, and Luo Jian to control the Chenla court, preparing to completely eradicate the forces loyal to the Chenla royal family.

Guan Jin Pan, Parasu, and the commander of the forbidden army, Hung Bu Phuoc, led the army to launch an uprising in order to survive, but unfortunately they were betrayed by spies, and the Vietnamese general Zhang Minh Kou sent troops to suppress it, and the rebel army fled all the way south to Kampong Sang.

At the time of the uprising in the city, Ambrosius was still intoxicated with the games with several princesses.

Although Princess An Mei has nominally become the queen of Chenla, she still lives a quiet and secluded life with her sisters in the palace in Phnom Penh.

The Vietnamese were so busy measuring the land in Chenla and eliminating the resistance that even the Khmer spies and nominally peaceful courtiers did not bother to put on a show.

It's just that the desperate fight of Guan Jinpan, Parasu and others pushed Ambrosius to the center of this storm.

Phnom Penh Royal Palace, Cold Palace Imperial Garden.

Ambrosius, still unaware of the approaching danger, was playing hide and seek with the princesses when suddenly a little eunuch broke into the garden.

"Oh no, no, Mr. Ambrosius, hide yourself. Zhang Ming said that the general sent someone to take the princesses away, don't let them see you, if they see you, you will die! ”

The little eunuch is a close confidant of the eunuch surnamed Li, and the eunuch surnamed Li is the good half-brother of Guan Jinpan, and his words are absolutely credible.

The four princesses all looked panicked, as the ministers loyal to Chenla had been instilling in them the idea that the Vietnamese would kill them to prevent them from causing trouble.

However, the dignity of being a royal family made them refuse to escape, and instead opened the secret passage of the palace for Ambrosius to escape.

Ambrosius saw that several girls were looking at death as if they were at home, and for a moment his anger and blood surged, and he drew his pistol and prepared to fight for his dignity.

The little eunuch hurriedly said.

"Mr. Ambrosius, they won't do anything to the princesses, but they will definitely kill you, because Lord Guan Jinpan and they have rebelled, and it is only a matter of time before Zhang Ming's army destroys them! Run! ”

Ambrosius wanted the princesses to flee with him, but the princesses refused, as their childhood education did not allow them to escape.

After weighing the pros and cons, Ambrosius resolutely jumped into the secret passage, but there were already Vietnamese soldiers waiting at the exit of the secret passage.

It seems that these Vietnamese soldiers did not know the location of the exit of the secret passage, who betrayed the princesses? It's definitely not a little eunuch, because they were still together just now, which means that the other party has long known about the existence of this secret passage.

Ambrosius breathed a sigh of relief, it was better not to be betrayed by the people around him.

Although those Vietnamese officers and soldiers have not yet found the location of the exit of the secret passage, it is only a matter of time.

Ambrosius felt that he couldn't be inferior to a few women, just now he chose to run away because there was still hope of living, and it was not worth losing his life for it, but now that the back road was over, it was time to show his courage.

Ambrosius looked at his two vintage revolvers and patiently loaded the primer.

This is an old-fashioned revolver that requires a hammer to be reloaded after each shot, and then a trigger is pulled for continuous fire.

Ambrosius seized the opportunity, burst out of the hole, fired six shots in succession, and after killing three Vietnamese soldiers, he dropped the first revolver in his hand and took out the second.

The Vietnamese officers and soldiers, who had been killed in an instant, were briefly disorganized, but instead of being frightened, they rushed towards Ambrosius excitedly, as if they had seen a bag of gold.

Ambrosius killed two more Vietnamese soldiers with his pistol, then drew his swift sword and continued the fight, stabbing two Vietnamese soldiers to the head and losing consciousness.

When Ambrosius came to his senses again, a general in a crimson official robe was sitting in front of him, playing with his pistol in his hand.

"Who are you?"

Ambrosius moved his hands and found that his hands were tied behind his back, and he could not break free on his own.

He felt some pain in his head, it should be the one on his head before, his knee seemed to be injured, and his ribs hurt when he took a deep breath, but overall it was not a big problem.

As soon as he heard the other party ask this, Ambrosius felt that there was still hope, the official Jin Pan had not yet confessed his identity, he didn't want to be captured as a hostage and become a bargaining chip for the other party, it was better to die a glorious battle than that.

Ambrosius replied carefully, wanting to see how the other party reacted.

"I'm an Austrian businessman."

"What are you doing in the palace?" The general in the crimson official robe continued to ask, only generals above the second rank and civilian officials above the third rank can wear crimson official robes in Vietnam, and the other party is undoubtedly the governor of Chenla, Zhang Ming.

Ambrosius lowered his head and feigned deference.

"I am the governess of Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Zhang Mingjiao suddenly said sharply: "You lie!" ”

"I didn't!" Ambrosius replied.

Suddenly, the general in the crimson robe pressed Ambrosius' head and pressed the muzzle of his gun to his temple.

Ambrosius closed his eyes and waited for death to come.

"biu~biu~" The general in the crimson robe laughed wildly.

"A little daring, worthy of a warrior who killed eight people. It's just that I want to ask you, why kill them? ”

"If someone were to force you with a knife, would you wait to die?" Ambrosius asked rhetorically.

The crimson-robed general kicked Ambrosius in the stomach, and Ambrosius fell to the ground in pain.

"Don't be ignorant, look at me like that again, and I'll gouge out your eyes. Let me tell you the truth, I Zhang Ming told me that I have heard your story, I admire you very much, and I heard that you still have twenty very loyal servants? ”

Ambrosius pretended to be surprised, but in fact he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

It turned out that Franz had already made arrangements for Ambrosius to separate his guards so as not to be served by the pot.

Ambrosius had a total of fifty people in Phnom Penh, but for the sake of safety, he did not let all of them live together, and usually relied on letters and secret sentinels to communicate.

Ambrosius usually spent time with a group of twenty people, and another group of thirty people pretending to be French merchants to do business in Phnom Penh.

Unbeknownst to Ambrosius, however, there is also a group of weird Catholic Christians and Vietnamese, who are also secretly protecting Ambrosius.

This group of people was specially arranged by Archbishop Rauscher, which was what Franz meant, because Franz felt that Westerners would attract the attention of the Vietnamese no matter how they disguised themselves, and it was not difficult to see through the disguise as long as the other party paid a little attention.

In the same way, even if you find a team of real people to face the ground snake, it is easy to see through it, but when there is an obvious flaw, that less obvious flaw is much easier to hide.

As for why he didn't tell Ambrosius, of course, it was for secrecy, and only secrets that even the parties didn't know were the most difficult secrets to discover.

"Please let them go, they have nothing to do with it." Ambrosius had his hands tied, and he only had to get up with his head and pestle.

"I said I appreciate you, but how can I explain to my brothers that you killed my people." Zhang Ming said.

The person you want to kill is me, my country will redeem my body, and if you kill everyone, you will not get any money." Ambrosius replied.

"Money? You Austrians, Francos, all of you are philistines who only know money. I, Emperor Ming Ming of Vietnam, have gathered 150,000 troops, and one day we will break through Zhennan Pass and unify the Central Plains, and then you Western barbarians will not even be qualified to be slaves for us.

But I'm so gracious right now that I can play a game with you and your people. If you can win, I will not only let you go, but I will also recognize your status as a merchant, and from now on you will be a merchant of my Dayue Kingdom.

But if you fail, you will die, and your corpses will be turned into nourishment in the land. ”

Outside Phnom Penh, an abandoned ancient temple.

Ambrosius was taken to an abandoned ancient temple, where he saw at a glance the Church Astarte friars and several officers sent by the Austrian Army to protect him, along with weapons.

On a pagoda, you can look at the entire ancient temple, Zhang Ming's deputy general shouted.

"Welcome to the Temple of No Return, where you will face a thousand vicious prisoners. The victors will be pardoned, and the losers will remain here forever. ”

Ambrosius and his party did not answer, but silently checked their equipment, and Captain Villaphon proposed to kill the killer with a single shot.

But Ambrosius shook his head, and on the way he saw purgatory on earth, where the whole city was burning, where soldiers were slaughtering from house to house, and even pulling women into carriages to commit violence, he felt that he had to do something, and for that he had to live.

"Can we get out alive if we win?" Ambrosius shouted in Vietnamese.

"Of course, I swear to the Buddha!" Zhang Ming said with a smile.

(End of chapter)