It turned out this man was the Shopkeeper Thompson from the grain shop. He was emotionally agitated, raising his head to the sky and letting out a long sigh. “Fellow villagers, my shop is finished! The court’s lackeys have stolen my grain and burned down my shop! My wife—she’s dead too!” Shopkeeper Thompson wailed in grief, “Let the court’s lackeys come! I’ve been an honest man for most of my life, never a rebel. Just as well, before I die, I’ll have a taste of it!” As he spoke, he rushed forward to help collect the corpses, paying no heed to the filth and blood.

The others saw this and felt as if their eyes were stung, a fire burning in their chests!

Never mind the The Harris Family, but Shopkeeper Thompson—what a good, honest man he was! If even he can’t survive, how can we?

Enough!

Enough!

“Lai, go tell the yamen!”

“We’re all rebels now!”

One, two, three, four... more and more commoners joined in collecting the corpses. Even more people brought planks from home, some brought white cloth, candles, and paper money—they were determined to give the The Harris Family a proper funeral!

To infuriate those callous, life-taking, greedy officials!

Chapter 8 William Harris Arrives

Ralph had once been prosperous. He used to own a cart business, transporting goods for shops in Kaifeng. Four years ago, when the Khitans invaded Kaifeng, Ralph eagerly attached himself to them, helping transport military supplies for the Khitans. He thought he’d found a powerful backer and would rise to success, but who knew the Khitans would only stay a few months before fleeing, with even the emperor dying on the road. Ralph had bet on the wrong horse, and the merchants and commoners of Kaifeng all despised him.

Not only did his business collapse, but his home and shop were burned down by others, and he ended up on the streets, begging for a living.

Seeing how pitiful he was, the people were kind enough not to drive him to death. But Ralph was not content; he would often run to the yamen, reporting on this person today, framing that person tomorrow, living off the occasional reward.

The yamen never respected him, treating him like a dog. The commoners despised him even more, but didn’t want to offend the yamen, so Ralph continued to live like a mangy dog.

But his luck had run out. Albert King and two imperial guards caught Ralph.

“Didn’t you want to report to the yamen? I’d like to see how you do it now!”

As he spoke, Albert King placed Ralph’s leg on a log and stomped down hard. With a crack, the leg bone snapped, white bone protruding from the flesh. Ralph was in such pain that he blacked out, but the next second, he woke up from the pain again—his other leg had also been broken by Albert King!

The other two imperial guards dragged Ralph aside and tossed him away like a torn sack, without a moment’s hesitation. Then they turned and joined the others in cleaning up the corpses.

Edward Clark was working with full concentration, and after handling several corpses, his technique became more and more skillful.

Washing, stitching, makeup, beautification... he did each step methodically. The once hideous corpses, after Edward Clark’s hands, became peaceful and gentle, their features and complexion looking as if they were still alive.

The commoners helping to collect the corpses stared wide-eyed, full of surprise and curiosity. So even corpses could be made to look so good—amazing!

The people had always valued funerals, preparing burial clothes, coffins, and all sorts of grave goods to ensure their ancestors departed peacefully, but had always neglected the aspect of beautification.

Everyone thought, if one day their own ancestors passed, they would also ask Edward Clark for help, to make their loved ones look beautiful and peaceful in eternal rest. That was what a filial descendant should do.

Unknowingly, Edward Clark had pushed funeral culture forward by a big step... He kept busy until dusk before finally finishing with the corpses. With everyone’s help, they were all sent to Jixiang Nunnery. Albert King and a few brothers stayed to keep vigil, waiting for the city gates to open so they could take them out for burial.

Everything was arranged. Edward Clark let out a long breath. He was just about to wash up when someone suddenly cried out, “Where’s Ralph?”

At that shout, everyone realized that the Ralph with two broken legs, who had been lying in the corner, had disappeared. He was nowhere to be seen in any direction. Edward Clark was startled and ran over. Looking closely, he found a trail of crawling marks on the ground, along with some fresh blood.

“He ran off this way!”

He led the way, everyone following the trail. They ran across a street, but suddenly, the trail vanished. Looking around, all they saw were blue-brick courtyard walls, eight feet high. With both legs broken, Ralph couldn’t possibly have climbed over. So where did he go?

Edward Clark’s eyes darted around, sensing something was wrong.

“Uncles, elders, fellow villagers, your righteous help is admirable. But the city is in chaos right now. Everyone should go home and look after your families, lest something happen.”

Hearing this, the crowd also felt uneasy and hurried away.

But they hadn’t gone far before they were surrounded by yamen runners coming from all directions.

Among these yamen runners, two people stood out.

One was Grace’s brother, Harvey, and the other was Ralph, lying on a stretcher, his face twisted in pain!

A few days earlier, Harvey had been searching for the whereabouts of William Harris’s young son, but found nothing. The new prefect, Simon Bennett, even wanted to kill him. However, since he was familiar with Kaifeng and they needed people, he was only given forty strokes and told to keep searching. If he still found nothing, then he’d be killed later.