George Brooks wrote in a letter that Charlotte Brooks spends every day in the military camp, either practicing martial arts with others or reading military books.

Little did anyone know, the former overlord of Lintao had shifted from Charlotte Brooks to Grace Brooks. However, compared to before, Grace Brooks wouldn’t bully men or women; at most, she would knock people over or trample their stalls while galloping on horseback. And every time she caused trouble, an extraordinarily ugly young boy would always come forward to pay compensation, which greatly improved the reputation of the Dong family in Lintao.

That extraordinarily ugly boy was, of course, Helen Brooks.

In his view, Grace Brooks didn’t have a bad heart—she just had a personality a bit like George Brooks, and was carefree, not caring about anything. Mischief was simply Grace Brooks’s way of having fun. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have Helen Brooks come forward to apologize after injuring someone. As for herself, in Grace Brooks’s own words: “It’s just too embarrassing to do it myself.”

Chapter 7: The Fall of Jincheng and the Qiang (2)

And so, the days passed by one after another.

In the blink of an eye, several years went by. George Brooks thrived in Hedong, even being promoted to Inspector of Hedong, enjoying great prestige.

Over these years, the hammer in Helen Brooks’s hand grew from fifty jin to one hundred and fifty jin, and his physique became burly. At just twelve years old, he stood nearly eight chi tall—by modern measurements, that’s about 180 centimeters. With broad shoulders and a thick waist, he looked almost like a young version of George Brooks. His appearance hadn’t changed much, but as he grew taller, his face gradually became more proportionate—at least, he didn’t look as ugly as he did at six or seven.

Helen Brooks didn’t like tying his hair up; most of the time, he let it hang loose.

Because of this, when he stood there, he looked like a lion, with long, narrow eyes that shone with an inscrutable light. At least in the eyes of Lady Dong, Ah Chou was becoming more and more unfathomable.

Who had the most authority in the Dong household? It was certainly the old matron and Lady Dong.

But who was the most feared in the household? Without a doubt, it was Helen Brooks. When he swung his one-hundred-and-fifty-jin hammer, even Brian Ford couldn’t withstand ten rounds. In the entire Dong household—or rather, in all of Lintao—there was no one who could match Helen Brooks.

As Helen Brooks became more and more formidable, his little maid Irene also rose in status.

In Irene’s eyes, Helen Brooks was not only her master but also her guardian deity. Once, when she went out shopping, she was harassed by a few street thugs. After coming home and tearfully complaining to Helen Brooks, this lion-like young master went out alone and dealt with all the local hooligans in Lintao, tracking down those particular troublemakers.

The result, naturally, was… one of them was tied to a horse by Grace Brooks and dragged around the city three times until he died.

After this incident, Helen Brooks received a severe beating from the old matron, and the matter was dropped. But everyone in the city knew that although George Brooks had left, the Dong family’s status in Lintao was not to be challenged. The two new generation “demon kings” of the Dong family were enough to make everyone tremble. Even the county constable of Lintao only conducted a token investigation and even gave Helen Brooks a commendation for “eliminating evil and upholding justice.”

Helen Brooks knew that as George Brooks’s official rank grew higher, things were becoming more and more like the course of history.

He had once tried to warn George Brooks through Grace Brooks, but only ended up getting a harsh scolding. It was understandable—George Brooks was currently riding high, so how could he possibly listen to the ramblings of a boy he didn’t like, who hadn’t even grown all his hair yet?

Helpless, Helen Brooks could only study and train even harder.

He had thought about taking advantage of the chaos of the Yellow Turban Rebellion to recruit some talented people before the warlords rose up. But the key problem was: who would take him seriously? Although his father was the Inspector of Hedong, in the eyes of most scholars, he was just a crude military man. If not for his father’s skillful maneuvering—pledging loyalty to Grand General John Harris on one hand, and bribing the eunuchs on the other—he probably wouldn’t have held onto the position of Inspector for long. On this point, Helen Brooks saw things more clearly than anyone else in the family.

In the first year of Guanghe, a hen turned into a rooster.

In June, a black vapor more than ten zhang high rushed into the Wende Hall, terrifying the Han Emperor; in July, a long rainbow appeared in the Jade Hall, and the rivers and mountains of the empire split apart.

The Han Emperor summoned his ministers for advice. The Consultant Arthur Lane said, “This is a rainbow falling from the sky—a warning from Heaven. The hen turning into a rooster is because women in the palace are interfering in politics.”

Unexpectedly, Arthur Lane’s memorial was overheard by the eunuch Robert Bolton. Thus, Robert Bolton and other palace eunuchs falsely accused Arthur Lane. Fortunately, Arthur Lane had considerable prestige among the gentry, and with the support of high officials at court, he was allowed to retire to the countryside.

From then on, Matthew Bolton, Peter Clark, Martin Young, Eric Gray, Richard Smith, Laura White, Raymond Hill, Dennis Wood, Walter Green, Stephen Bolton, Patrick Lee, and Albert Stone—these twelve men—formed a clique, known as the Ten Attendants, who deceived the emperor and controlled the government. Among them, the Han Emperor was especially fond of the leader, Robert Bolton, even calling him “A-Fu” (“Daddy”) and allowing the Ten Attendants to do as they pleased.

That same year, three men from Julu—Andrew Bolton, Thomas Bolton, and David Bolton—claimed to have gone into the mountains to gather herbs, where they gained the favor of the immortal Nanhua and were given three volumes of the “Essential Arts for Great Peace.” From then on, the three Zhang brothers distributed talismans and water to cure illnesses, and even called themselves “Great Virtuous Teachers.”

……

“Andrew Bolton has appeared, hasn’t he?”

Helen Brooks, with his hair loose, wearing a very loose robe, was kneeling in his room. Although he was kneeling, he looked like a crouching lion, his eyes half-closed as if dozing.