Thinking of this, Henry Carter ignored the busy Alice Clark and her servant, who were cleaning up the broken porcelain on the floor, grabbed Edward Bennett's arm, turned around and headed out. “Come with me to chase them. Even if we have to follow them to the ends of the earth today, we have to get our dignity back. You come with me first—if I’m not a match for them either, then we’ll find someone else to step in!”

Alice Clark wanted to say a few more words of advice, but was afraid of embarrassing Henry Carter in front of outsiders. She opened her mouth, but swallowed the words that had reached her lips. She watched helplessly as Henry Carter went downstairs, mounted his horse with the help of his close attendants James Carter and George Carter, and only then hurried to the window, leaning halfway out and whispering, “Second Young Master, be careful, don’t get yourself into trouble!”

“Don’t worry!” Henry Carter turned his head and gave her a grateful smile. “Aren’t they just a few outsiders? What, are they going to turn the world upside down? I’ll go check it out first, and when I get back, I’ll listen to your new song!”

With that, he gently nudged the stirrups. The chestnut horse beneath him neighed sharply. Following the same street the soldiers had just marched down in triumph, he sped off like the wind.

“What a clueless guy!” Little Grace, still holding a grudge over the grievance she’d just suffered, glared at the backs of Henry Carter and the others as they disappeared, cursing angrily.

“Men’s affairs really are troublesome sometimes!” Alice Clark shook her head and slowly closed the window.

“You’re still protecting him, sister. You know, you can’t be soft-hearted with men. The softer you are, the less he’ll care about you. It’s always best when he can’t quite get what he wants.” With no outsiders present, Little Grace’s mouth started chattering away like popping beans. “If you’d pressed him a bit more today, maybe he’d have let you into the Chongrenfang residence. You’re always thinking of him, always thinking of him…”

“You silly girl, what do you know!” Alice Clark poked her with a finger, making Little Grace clutch her head and cry out in pain. “Ever gone fishing? If the fish won’t take the bait, you can’t just force it into its mouth. You have to know when to tug the line, keep it always between getting the bait and not quite getting it. That way, it’ll bite the hook on its own!”

“I’m just afraid it’ll swallow the bait and then slip away with a swish, leaving you with an empty hook!” Little Grace sneaked a glance at her mistress and muttered under her breath.

“You little thing!” Alice Clark shook her head, slowly sat back down by the bed, and rubbed her burning cheeks with her hands. Was she really about to be left with nothing but an empty hook? She felt a bit lost. Why had she suddenly wanted to give everything to him today, with no guarantees at all? She didn’t know. She just felt that there were many mysteries in the dark, waiting for her to figure them out. Maybe in just a few days, she’d see it all clearly. Or maybe, with just a moment’s hesitation, she’d miss out for a whole lifetime.

Chapter One: The Sound of Autumn (Part Two)

Although it was already close to dusk, the East Market was still packed shoulder to shoulder. Hearing the urgent sound of hooves, the townsfolk knew that those few arrogant young masters were about to stir up trouble again, and quickly shoved and squeezed each other to the roadside, making way for the troublemakers.

Henry Carter and Edward Bennett, leading five strong servants, galloped through the crowd. The street, which had just seen rain the day before, was still muddy in many places, and the horses’ hooves splashed mud and slush all over the passersby. The townsfolk pointed and cursed at their retreating backs, but the riders acted as if they heard nothing.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the reinforcements arrived at the entrance to the cockfighting pit. Seeing the chaos inside, Henry Carter was even more furious. He pointed at one of the main attendants with his riding whip and barked in a low voice, “You just let them smash the place up like this? What are your hands and feet for, firewood? Might as well chop them off and burn them!”

“Second Master, we did our best. There were too many of them, and they were all skilled fighters. We really couldn’t keep them here!” The attendants, terrified, fell to their knees, trembling and pleading.

“Useless fools! And to think I’ve always fed and clothed you well!” Even though he knew it wasn’t really their fault, Henry Carter couldn’t accept having his place trashed. Just as he was about to pick out a couple of scapegoats to make an example of, someone stumbled out of the house, rushed up, and grabbed his reins. “Second Young Master! We really got the worst of it today. Hurry and chase them—the bastards from out of town ran off toward Qujiang!”

Henry Carter looked down and, after some effort, recognized the bruised and swollen face as his good friend Charles Morgan. This man was a well-known figure in the city of Chang’an, famous for his dashing ways, but today he’d been beaten so badly even his own mother wouldn’t recognize him—showing just how ruthless the troublemakers were. Reaching out to pat his friend’s shoulder, Henry Carter comforted him in a low voice, “Don’t worry, Brother Morgan. Even if I have to chase them to the ends of the earth, I’ll get justice for you. How are the two Qin brothers? Do we need to call a doctor right away?”

“The two Qin masters went to get reinforcements. They’ll be here soon!” Before Charles Morgan could answer, one of the kneeling attendants spoke up for him.

“No more waiting. Have them follow along this street and catch up. I’m taking people to chase the culprits now!” Henry Carter patted Charles Morgan’s shoulder again, signaling him to let go of the reins.

“Alright.” Charles Morgan wiped his tears, responding like a wronged woman.