The knight nodded lightly, then smiled and said, “Of course. Just now, he fought the wild bull alone to save someone—no ordinary person could do that.”

After chatting with the children for a while, the knight still gave the short sword to those children before leaving.

“General, what do you think?”

He mounted his horse, and a knight behind him came forward and asked, “That boy has such great strength and remarkable courage—he’s quite a character.”

“Unfortunately, he’s an Annie.”

“Huh?”

“He’s the son of the county constable of Changping, but for some reason, he lives alone at the foot of this Tiger Valley Mountain.

Forget it, we’re here on an important mission, so let’s avoid alerting anyone. If you’re really interested, after this is over, you can ask the county constable about it… All right, let’s hurry on. We must reach Changping before dark.”

……

The setting sun sank in the west.

William Harris rode his ox, stepping through the twilight, and slowly arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain.

This was a nameless little village, with a population of just over a hundred at most. It was about ten li from Changping County town, adjacent to the official road. Forty or fifty li to the north was Juyong Pass; more than fifty li to the northwest was a dependent prefecture.

The time: the first year of the Shengli era.

The Holy Mother Divine Empress, that eternal female sovereign Wu Zhao, had been on the throne for seven years.

After countless bloody massacres, the political situation at court was gradually stabilizing. However, the Holy Mother Divine Empress, already past her seventieth year, was showing signs of decline. She sat in the divine capital, ruling the world, but could never fully pacify the borderlands.

There was no other way. Back then, to stabilize the court, she had no choice but to carry out a bloody purge.

Countless valiant generals died under trumped-up charges, and though this brought stability to the court, it also led to the decay of military preparedness. At the same time, the collapse of the equal-field system caused the fubing (militia) system to face ruin. And as a series of foreign wars ended in defeat, the empress grew increasingly suspicious of the military commanders at court.

Thus, the empress could only rely on the Wu clan to strengthen the military, hoping to reverse the decline one day.

But all this felt especially distant to William Harris.

Changping was on the frontier, under the jurisdiction of the Youzhou Governor’s Office. Since ancient times, Youzhou had been a bitterly cold land, a thousand li away from the bustling divine capital. So, the changes at court had little to do with him. Perhaps for the high officials and nobles, this was a dark era. But for ordinary people, it wasn’t all that bad.

The two hundred mu of official land under Robert Harris’s name lay around the little village.

When William Harris rode his ox into the village, he saw smoke curling from kitchen chimneys, and the village exuded a sense of peace and tranquility.

Chapter Three Brian Harris (Part One)

William Harris’s home was at the back of the village, beside a small stream. Across the stream was the vast Tiger Valley Mountain.

A standalone courtyard, with three buildings, five rooms, and seven beams.

The main hall was in front, the side rooms at the back, forming two courtyards in a row, giving the place a unique sense of elegance and simplicity.

William Harris stopped in front of the door. Before he could call out, the gate opened a crack, and a petite, graceful figure darted out from behind the door.

“Brother Sizi, why are you back so late?”

The figure threw herself into William Harris’s arms, followed by a sweet, childish voice.

William Harris couldn’t help but smile, a trace of indescribable tenderness showing in his eyes as he hugged her.

“Da Huang was acting up today, so I came back a bit late… Hehehe, was Emily good at home today?”

In William Harris’s arms was a little girl, about eight or nine years old, with double buns in her hair and rosy cheeks like a ripe apple—very cute. This little girl was named Olivia Harris, with the childhood name Emily. She had no blood relation to William Harris; she was the daughter of the family’s cook, and William Harris had watched her grow up since she was little.

About nine years ago, a pregnant woman fainted at the gate of the The Harris Family.

At that time, William Harris’s grandfather, David Harris, took pity on her and took her in. A few months later, the woman gave birth to a girl—now the Olivia Harris in William Harris’s arms. After Olivia Harris was born, the woman stayed in the village and became the The Harris Family’s cook. As for who Olivia Harris’s father was, The Harris Family never said, and David Harris never asked.

In short, Olivia Harris took her mother’s surname and became William Harris’s little shadow.

After David Harris died, Robert Harris ignored William Harris, and The Harris Family held the family together.

The little girl in William Harris’s arms said crisply, “Emily was very good today. I even helped Mama wash clothes for Brother.”

“Really?”

William Harris showed a look of praise and lifted the little girl high.

“Emily is amazing.”

The little girl giggled, her laughter crisp and echoing in William Harris’s ears.

At this moment, the courtyard door opened, and a middle-aged woman came out from behind it. She wore a cloth skirt, a wooden hairpin in her hair, and a floral cloth apron tied around her waist. Seeing William Harris, a kindly look appeared on her face, and she said softly, “Eldest boy, you’re back a bit late today. Emily was just crying, saying she wanted to go look for you.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Aunt. I’ll be sure to come back earlier tomorrow.”

The woman was Emily Harris’s mother, The Harris Family.