But the way things turned out was truly beyond his expectations.

"Go!" Philip Brooks, who had just gotten out of the carriage, grabbed the dazed young servant still standing by the shaft and tossed him onto the cart. Then, with a sharp flick of the whip, the startled horse reared up and charged forward.

The rough men standing by the two piles of goods were also stunned by the sudden turn of events. Inside the city, fireworks erupted, while outside the docks, crowds surged forward.

"Get out of the way! Find your own escape! Are you really going to wait here and die?"

With a furious shout, Philip Brooks finally snapped everyone out of their stupor. The two rough men stumbled and scrambled toward the docks, probably to look for someone in charge.

At this point, Philip Brooks couldn't afford to worry about anything else. He lashed the whip repeatedly, and the horse, stung by the blows, galloped wildly, driving the carriage straight ahead.

"Uncle You, what do we do now? Can we get on a boat?" Brian Brooks asked, barely able to spare a glance for the young servant Nathaniel, who was lying on the shaft in pain with red-rimmed eyes. He took a deep breath and asked.

"It's too late." Although Philip Brooks didn't know exactly what kind of trouble had broken out in Linqing City, his years of outwitting Tartar cavalry on the frontier had given him a nose for the thick scent of conspiracy hidden here.

To dare rebel right under the nose of the Linqing garrison—if there wasn't something else behind this, he wouldn't believe it.

"Then should we head into the city first?" Brian Brooks glanced at the dock, now a scene of utter chaos. His mind was already racing. "Should we go into the inner city?"

"I'm afraid we can't get in." Philip Brooks shook his head.

If he were the commander, he would have already sealed the inner city gates by now. Until the situation outside was clear, no one would dare open the gates lightly.

Inside were the prefectural office, the military supply office, the garrison headquarters, the academy, the Censorate's mobile office, the provincial administration's branch—an assortment of officials and their families, plus the inner city's granaries. In such circumstances, who would dare open the gates so easily?

If the rioters managed to break in, it would truly be a disaster, the loss of the city and the ruin of the entire clan.

The dock was already in complete chaos.

Laborers and porters were running everywhere, along with panicked peddlers and shopkeepers from various businesses, all scattering like startled sparrows.

Some wanted to board boats, but the river had already been sealed off, not a single plank allowed to leave the shore. All the sailors had been driven ashore, and in such urgency, there was no time for anything.

Earlier, when they arrived, the market had seemed much quieter than usual, but now, all of a sudden, it was bustling again—only this time, it was a scene of wild panic and utter confusion.

Linqing Prefecture was a bit different from other places. Originally, following the old Ming system, the city was built of brick during the Hongwu era. But with the opening of the Grand Canal, shipping and commerce flourished, and soon a bustling marketplace sprang up on Zhongzhou, southwest of the brick city, surrounded by the canal.

But during the Zhengde years of the late Ming, when Liu Liu and Liu Qi rose in rebellion in Shandong, the once-prosperous Linqing was swept up in the turmoil. The Shandong bandits, famed throughout the land, besieged the city, which was then only surrounded by earthen walls, and captured it, seizing large stores of grain, cotton, silk, cloth, tea, and military supplies, reviving their momentum.

According to a certain unofficial historian, if Liu Liu and Liu Qi hadn't taken Linqing and regained their strength, the Ming army might not have been pinned down in Shandong and Hebei, and the Great Zhou might not have been able to leisurely take Jiangnan and Huguang, thus laying the foundation for the Zhou dynasty.

A stream of people surged out from Suipi Street, setting fire to several shops along the line from Danning Temple to Zhugan Alley. Thick black smoke and flickering flames began to rage.

This was the busiest market in Zhongzhou, with many wooden storefronts. Once a fire started, it would likely spread in a chain reaction.

"Let's go, head east first and see if we can get the Yongqing Gate open and enter the city!" Philip Brooks was getting anxious too.

He had already realized that things in Linqing today would not end well. With such chaos, the constables at the inspection office were probably already hiding away. What he couldn't understand was why the garrison troops in the brick city hadn't come out.

The The Brooks Family ancestral home was in a side alley off Yongqing Avenue, right next to Scorpion Pit. From the alley, you could go straight north up Yongqing Avenue to reach Yongqing Gate. But the only uncertainty was whether they could get the gate open at this moment.

The The Brooks Family was considered a prominent family in Linqing, but in such dangerous times, the garrison might not care about their status.

Daniel Brooks had been dismissed and sent home three years ago and had been idle ever since. He was now seeking a way to return to office, which was why Daniel Brooks hadn't come this time and had sent Brian Brooks instead.

"To get to Yongqing Gate, we have to detour around Jindehui. I think the rioters coming from Danning Temple are heading that way." Philip Brooks wasn't too familiar with the layout of Linqing, but he knew a bit more than Brian Brooks and the young servant Nathaniel, and had a rough idea of the routes. "We might have to go by Hongji Bridge instead."

The streets were growing more chaotic. Some workers and weavers, dressed in their trade clothes, burst out from the southern market, fleeing in all directions. Fires were being set in the cotton market by Binyang Gate as well. Blazes broke out all over Zhongzhou, thick smoke billowed, and shouts and cries filled the air.

"Go!" Philip Brooks urged the horse into a gallop.

The carriage skirted a pile of burning doors that had collapsed to form a barricade. Up ahead, they could already see a group of people lifting a huge log, battering at the door of a shop.