The old country squire was extremely embarrassed. He was just a small landlord with a few hundred mu of barren, poor fields—where could he possibly get so much money? Even scraping together a hundred or two silver leaves was no easy feat. Besides, the harvest was bad this year, and money was even scarcer. If it weren’t for the fact that he had fathered a son in his sixties or seventies, whom he doted on immensely and wanted to secure a good future for, he would never have spent this sum to send his son to the grand Herbal Hall in Zhuqi County.

The poor old squire had never even considered what difference there was between the inner and outer halls of the Herbal Hall, or whether his son could endure the hardships of being an outer hall herb-gathering boy. This money was destined to be wasted.

Seeing the old squire’s awkward expression, Mr. Bolton the Steward also knew he couldn’t come up with any more money, so he impatiently took the silver, and directly led the chubby boy through the side door into the Herbal Hall. The old squire, delighted to see his son following Mr. Bolton the Steward into the mansion, finally drove off in his donkey cart.

Within half an hour, at least a dozen more children, all around eight or nine years old, were brought into the Herbal Hall by some city commoners. However, they all entered through the main gate, unlike the old squire’s son, who went through the side door.

Only then did Henry Clark feel certain that the Herbal Hall was indeed recruiting, and recruiting quite a few. The two gatekeepers barely asked about the children’s backgrounds, letting them in directly. As for the adults, they were all kept outside the mansion and not allowed in.

Henry Clark saw that it was getting dark, and if he didn’t go now, it would be too late.

He mustered his courage, pulled Big Ben along, and timidly shuffled up to the two gatekeepers, not daring to look up, only saying, “Is—is the Herbal Hall recruiting herb-gathering boys?”

The two yellow-robed gatekeeper guards burst out laughing, looking down on them. “Ha! Two little beggars want to be herb-gathering boys? Do you think our Herbal Hall is a den for beggars?”

“Hurry up and get lost, don’t dirty the steps of the Herbal Hall!” The two gatekeepers, probably afraid of getting their hands dirty, didn’t even want to bother driving them away themselves.

They hadn’t finished laughing when a man in his forties, dressed in blue, walked out slowly from inside, sweeping a cold gaze over the mansion gate.

The two gatekeeper guards immediately stopped laughing, hurriedly cupping their hands in salute.

“Dr. Foster, what brings you out here, sir!”

“There’s just the two of us watching the gate, is there something you need, sir?!”

Herbalist Foster clasped his hands behind his back and snorted.

“Don’t you know the rules of my Herbal Hall? When we recruit herb-gathering boys, we never care about their background—anyone who comes is accepted. What are you two doing? Driving away the children who come to apply?”

The two gatekeeper guards broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to argue, only begging for forgiveness.

In the Herbal Hall, the hierarchy was strict.

The status of an apothecary was extremely high; there were only a few dozen people in the entire Herbal Hall. They were not people two gatekeeper guards could afford to offend.

Herbalist Foster didn’t even look at them and said, “Take these two little ones inside and prepare them for tomorrow’s trial!”

“Yes, yes!”

Given the order, the two gatekeeper guards no longer cared about the filth and stench on the two little beggars. Each grabbed one, seizing Henry Clark and Big Ben by the neck, and strode into the Herbal Hall.

Henry Clark was stunned, not knowing what had just happened. But he heard clearly that this Herbalist Foster intended to take them in, so he didn’t struggle. Big Ben was even more frightened, not daring to move as he was carried by the neck.

“Wait!”

Herbalist Foster suddenly noticed something and stopped them.

The two gatekeeper guards halted, at a loss, not knowing why Herbalist Foster had called them to stop.

Herbalist Foster walked up to Big Ben, glanced indifferently at the two holes in Big Ben’s lower leg.

“The calf muscle was probably bitten by a wild dog, making it hard to walk. He’ll most likely be a useless cripple in the future. Throw him out! Take the other one inside!”

The two gatekeeper guards immediately understood, secretly admiring Herbalist Foster’s sharp eye. One quickly tossed the injured little beggar outside, while the other carried Henry Clark inside.

Henry Clark had not expected this sudden turn of events at all. He and Big Ben were separated, and he panicked, struggling and shouting, not caring about anything else, kicking fiercely at the gatekeeper, trying to break free.

But the gatekeeper was not someone easy to deal with; he ignored the kicking and fussing, slung Henry Clark over his back like an eagle grabbing a chick, and rushed through the main gate of the Herbal Hall, heading deep into the courtyard.

Henry Clark cried out in near despair, “Big Ben, don’t go, wait for me!”

“Qin ge’er!”

Ben Carter was thrown outside the Herbal Hall’s main gate, crying and struggling, but under the cold gaze of the gatekeeper, he didn’t dare approach the gate at all. He lingered near the mansion all night, and when he realized he would never see Henry Clark again, he finally limped away, destination unknown. The two companions from the same hometown were separated—one inside the Herbal Hall, one outside.

While Henry Clark was kicking and struggling, the gatekeeper carried him off somewhere inside the Herbal Hall, dumped him into a small courtyard, and left him alone, locking the courtyard gate again.

There were also guards watching the courtyard gate.

Henry Clark scrambled up from the ground, just about to think of a way to escape, but when he saw the situation inside the small courtyard, he was stunned.