If he were to lose his temper and make a scene as he used to, Charles Grant would just treat him like a dead dog, drag him down from the horse, and throw him into confinement in the East Courtyard, which wouldn’t solve the problem he was facing at all.

Thinking this, Henry Foster did his best to soften his tone, fixed his gaze on Charles Grant’s eyes, and asked:

“I’ve just recovered from a cold, my body is weak, and I want to ride this horse around the manor to regain some strength. Is that not allowed?”

The young master Henry Foster’s words made Charles Grant pause for a moment. He was supposed to keep the young master Henry Foster in check and not let him run wild, but Henry Foster’s reasoning left him with no way to directly drag Henry Foster off the horse and send him back to the East Courtyard.

Charles Grant stood there in a daze for a while before calling out to the two young house guards below: “Walter, David, come over here and keep a close eye on the young master. Don’t let anything go wrong!”

After being separated from his wife and daughter, Charles Grant never remarried, but adopted two orphans to keep by his side. Now, both served as house guards for David Foster and lived at the manor.

Walter Grant was tall and handsome, with a straight posture. Even in the manor, he wore leather armor and carried a long saber at his waist, making him look even more heroic. As he walked up to Henry Foster, a trace of arrogance showed in his brows, and he didn’t look Henry Foster in the eye—perhaps deliberately avoiding his gaze.

Henry Foster was tall, but years of neglect and indulgence had hollowed out his body. Though six feet tall, he weighed only a hundred and ten jin, all skin and bones, as thin as a bamboo pole, ready to topple over in the wind.

Even sitting on horseback, Henry Foster couldn’t help but feel inferior in front of the heroic Walter Grant.

Seeing the look on Walter Grant’s face, Henry Foster knew well that if not for his father David Foster and Charles Grant, this man would never be willing to lead his horse or hold the reins for him.

If something were to happen in the future, and he had to guess who would betray him, Henry Foster’s first thought would be Walter Grant.

With this in mind, Henry Foster felt even more disgusted with Walter Grant, wishing he could lash him with his riding crop right now. But then he thought, after his father brought him to Jinling, he often squandered his time at Wan Hong Lou, and many times Walter Grant accompanied him. If any of the house guards were likely to be bought off by Yao Xishui or others from Wan Hong Lou, it would undoubtedly be Walter Grant!

Henry Foster stared at Walter Grant, but recalling how the person in his dream, Simon Blake, would never be so impatient in this situation, he forced his gaze away from Walter Grant’s face. If Walter Grant really was an inside man, probing him with words would only push him to desperate measures.

Stay calm!

He must stay calm!

Henry Foster kept reminding himself that if this dog of a servant, Walter Grant, really had a problem, he would slip up sooner or later.

David Grant had dark skin and an even more robust build, his muscles bulging under coarse clothes, hinting at explosive strength. Although David Grant was also quite dissatisfied with his young master, he didn’t bother to hide it in his eyes, but unlike Walter Grant, there wasn’t that obvious arrogance or contempt in his expression. He walked over, took the reins, and said in a gruff voice:

“Young master, don’t be fooled by how skinny A’Zi looks—she’s wild and often bites other horses, and she’s strong too. You can’t just whip her recklessly. If you get thrown off and hurt yourself, we can’t take the blame… How about you ride another horse instead? That Naiyu over there is much more docile.”

Seeing David Grant trying to get him to ride the more docile-looking dun horse nearby, Henry Foster replied impatiently:

“Just hold the reins for me. I’ll ride A’Zi for a couple of laps around the manor. It’s no big deal.”

David Grant didn’t feel embarrassed at all about holding the reins for the young master Henry Foster. In fact, he was even hoping to see the young master fall off the horse for a laugh, so he led the horse at a trot along the edge of the grounds.

Walter Grant followed behind in silence.

In the six years since coming to Xuanzhou, Henry Foster had always traveled by carriage and could barely remember the last time he rode a horse, let alone practiced archery.

Now, as Henry Foster mounted the horse and trotted a few laps around the thirty-mu manor, he was soon out of breath, the insides of his thighs rubbed raw, and he was silently cursing his misery. But thinking that even this short ride was exhausting, and that he couldn’t count on those treacherous house guards if trouble arose in the future, how would he escape?

Gritting his teeth, Henry Foster pressed on, and gradually it didn’t feel so hard.

Walter Grant soon found an excuse to leave; David Grant, however, patiently held the horse, guarding against the hot-tempered purple-maned horse going wild and throwing the young master Henry Foster to the ground.

It was just the beginning of autumn, but by noon, it was still hot in the mountains, and Henry Foster’s clothes were soaked through several times.

The maid Ethan Carter came running over and was quite surprised to see Henry Foster still sitting upright on horseback:

“Usually, after just a short ride, young master, you’d be yelling that your bones were about to fall apart. How come you’re in such good spirits today?”

Ethan Carter was originally an orphan taken in by David Foster during the war. She was only fourteen or fifteen, small and thin, but if you looked closely, her features were quite delicate. However, a dark red birthmark the size of half a palm covered her nose and most of her left cheek, looking like a hideous half-mask, especially striking.

After coming to Jinling, Henry Foster didn’t even have a pretty maid to warm his bed, and he was even more disgusted by the ugly maid Ethan Carter, scolding her whenever he was displeased.

But Ethan Carter was naturally cheerful and innocent, and would forget any scolding after half a day.