Henry Foster racked his brains but could think of nothing, and couldn’t help but dejectedly think, maybe he should just let it go. As long as his father David Foster didn’t foolishly go and submit some damn memorial to admonish Emperor Tianyou at this time, as long as his father David Foster wasn’t caned to death by the emperor in front of the Wenying Hall, he might still be able to live freely for another two or three years. Even if the final outcome couldn’t be changed, at worst he could prepare a cup of poison for himself and drink it first, dying quickly and avoiding the punishment of being torn apart by chariots.

Henry Foster, in his muddled, live-for-the-moment state, had just recovered from severe poisoning and had endured another day and night without rest, so he was truly exhausted to the extreme. He went into the inner room, pulled back the thin quilt, lay down, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Charles Grant, Kyle Sullivan, and the other family soldiers of the Han family grinned more ferociously than executioners, sneering as they looped the blood-soaked, blackened ropes around him...

The sound of horse hooves galloping down both sides of the street pounded out a rhythm like the tremor of death, making one’s soul shudder...

The tightening ropes drew in, the body stretched like a bowstring pulled ever tauter, until in an instant it snapped, and guts and filth splattered in all directions...

All around the long street were countless excited eyes, not shying away in the slightest from the blood and filth that sprayed their way...

Henry Foster suddenly jolted awake. The sky outside the window was already turning pale. Thinking of the terrifying scene in his dream, his heart spasmed slightly, and he stared blankly at the Black Cloud Bow hanging on the east wall.

The Black Cloud Bow wasn’t particularly exquisite; its body was carved with ancient, rugged cloud patterns, possessing an indescribable wild beauty. At the grip, the characters “Black Cloud” were engraved.

This Black Cloud Bow was something his father David Foster had obtained while serving as an adjutant in the Chuzhou Defense Command during a campaign against bandits, and then brought back to Xuanzhou for him to practice archery.

Henry Foster still remembered that when he first got the Black Cloud Bow, he was not yet twelve years old, but could already fully draw a two-stone strong bow. But after that, he neglected his training, and six or seven years passed. Though he had grown a head taller, even using all his strength, he could now only draw the Black Cloud Bow halfway.

Henry Foster couldn’t help but think, if he hadn’t neglected his training these past years in Xuanzhou, if he had kept up daily practice in riding, archery, and martial arts, then even now, at the very least, he could have taken the Black Cloud Bow and fled far away, unafraid of that little bitch Yvonne Bailey coming after him!

How did he end up wasting away these years in Xuanzhou?

Facing the dreadful fate about to descend, the usually carefree Henry Foster reflected on his own recklessness for the first time in years!

At this moment, Henry Foster still remembered what life was like before he turned twelve, living with his father David Foster in Chuzhou. Back then, his father served under the Chuzhou Defense Commissioner, the second prince Eric Young who had been granted the title Prince Xin, and was just an ordinary prefectural adjutant, attended only by the old family retainer Samuel Foster and the family soldier Charles Grant.

However, after his mother died of illness and Chuzhou was frequently raided by Liang soldiers, his father David Foster had no choice but to send him back to their ancestral home in Xuanzhou, entrusting him to the care of his second uncle Daniel Foster.

As soon as he arrived in Xuanzhou, his second uncle Daniel Foster assigned his maid Nancy King to look after his daily needs.

Nancy King was plump and beautiful. Henry Foster still remembered the dazzling sight when he first saw Nancy King; he almost didn’t have the courage to look up at her strikingly beautiful eyes, and that night he tossed and turned, unable to sleep, thinking only of those lovely eyes.

At dawn, that soft, warm, jade-like body embraced him from behind.

Even though six years had passed, he still remembered that moment—his heart was pounding so hard it nearly stopped, his hands and feet frozen in fear, and for the first time, passively, he tasted that ultimate pleasure...

From then on, Henry Foster became hopelessly addicted to that voluptuous, maddening body.

Three years later, Henry Foster accidentally saw Nancy King, her clothes disheveled but full of charm, coming out of his cousin John Foster’s room.

Even though three years had passed, he still remembered the heart-wrenching pain he felt at the time. He grabbed a knife to kill his cousin John Foster, but was kicked to the ground by him.

After that, Nancy King went to serve in his cousin John Foster’s room.

Although two more beautiful maids were assigned to Henry Foster’s room, never again did a woman make him so completely obsessed.

Later, led by the family servant Jack Sullivan, Henry Foster began frequenting the various brothels and pleasure houses of Xuanzhou city, until earlier this year when his father David Foster was transferred to a post in the capital and brought him to Jinling for a family reunion.

At this moment, Henry Foster was suddenly startled, realizing that in the six years since he returned to Xuanzhou, he had never once gotten up early to practice riding, archery, or martial arts as he should have. Even though, according to family rules, he was supposed to attend lessons in the study hall every morning, it seemed he had never spent a day there not dozing off...

Chapter Four: Peril on All Sides

Henry Foster sat there in shock, sweat streaming down his forehead. The thin robe draped over him was soaked with sweat in an instant!

Until the night before last, Henry Foster had been full of resentment toward his father David Foster for his strict discipline.

Not only had he been sent to the Qiuhu Mountain villa, but Charles Grant, that old mutt, had been ordered to watch his every move, and his daily needs were attended to by the ugly maid Ethan Carter, whose face was covered with a birthmark and who was frail and weak. He was locked in the study all day, not allowed a shred of freedom, making him long for the carefree, domineering days he had enjoyed in Xuanzhou.