"The person who most deserves a lesson is you!" Although he still had some doubts about Edward Bennett's words, Henry Carter nevertheless decided to let today's matter end here. After all, nothing too serious had happened, and besides, although Walt Whitman was a famous name, he wasn't particularly influential in the official circles of Chang'an. Offending him was no big deal; it wasn't worth falling out with a good friend over someone like him.

"I've already been taught a lesson—look at how he hit me." From Henry Carter's tone, Edward Bennett knew he had once again muddled through, so he pointed to his bruised eye and complained in a low voice.

"Serves you right!" Henry Carter said, a bit exasperated, "Who told you to have no gambling ethics? You tried to set a trap and got caught red-handed instead! All the losses at Changle Ward today will be deducted from your year-end bonus. And if anything happens to that guy named Gao, you'll be paying for all the medicine yourself! Don't even think about dragging me into it again—I don't want a brother who can't keep his mouth shut!"

"But—but my family of over forty people is counting on that bonus for the New Year!" Edward Bennett panicked as soon as he heard this, immediately jumping up to protest.

"Doesn't your family have four hundred mu of land by the Weishui River?! Don't tell me your estate had another disaster this year and didn't harvest a single grain!" Henry Carter curled his lip, mercilessly exposing him.

"Isn't that so? There was too much rain this summer, the Wei River flooded, and many houses were washed away. You know me, I’ve always been soft-hearted—I can't stand to see the tenants with nowhere to go, so I..." Edward Bennett put on a bitter face, trying to climb up the pole.

"Get lost, you so-called soft-hearted Eldest Master Bennett!" Henry Carter slapped him, sending Edward Bennett drifting far away. "If you’re soft-hearted, then there are no bullies left in the world. Get out of here, and don’t let me see you again today!"

With that, he ignored Edward Bennett's pleas, mounted his horse, and headed home.

Although everything had been said, he still felt rather upset at being tricked by a close friend into acting as muscle for no reason. So he had no interest in bothering Alice Clark anymore, and, taking a few trusted attendants, headed straight home.

By now, it was already mid-autumn, and night fell quickly. By the time the group arrived at the ancestral home in Chongren Ward, lanterns were already hanging in front of every household. One after another, bright and colorful, they outshone the stars in the sky.

The The Carter Family ancestral home had only five courtyards, not particularly large for the Chongren Ward area, but it boasted a long history and auspicious feng shui. It was said the house was built in the early Northern Zhou dynasty. Later, it survived the transition from Zhou to Sui, and then from Sui to Tang. In the Wude era of Emperor Gaozu, it was bought by Henry Carter's great-grandfather, Olivia Carter, and had been passed down ever since. (Note 1)

Perhaps because too many people were killed at the end of the Sui dynasty, the The Carter Family lineage had always been thin. So no one ever asked Henry Carter's grandfather or father to split the family estate. And both his grandfather and father were contented by nature; over the years, their noble rank only declined, never rose, so there was never a chance to bring glory to the family name. But this also allowed the The Carter Family to avoid the complicated factional struggles during the Yongchang, Tianshou, and Jingyun eras, and remain safe and sound. Unlike the Cheng, Xu, and Gao families in Chongren Ward, who had changed owners countless times—only the swallows on the beams returned year after year as always. (Note 2)

By the end of the Kaiyuan era, Henry Carter's father, Young Lord, finally realized that the court had returned to normal. If his family didn't produce a prodigy soon, by the time of his great-grandchildren, they would become commoners again. So he hired famous scholars at high salaries to guide his son at the The Carter Family. But William Carter himself was a carefree person, and his friends were even more unruly. So when it came to teaching Henry Carter, the standards were low and the requirements lax. As a result, Henry Carter read plenty of books and studied under many famous teachers, but ended up neither a scholar nor a warrior. He could only strut around the east and west markets with a group of noble youths, but had no real skills to offer the imperial family.

Fortunately, the world had been at peace for a long time, and many of the old rules set by Emperor Gaozu at the founding of the dynasty were now enforced only half-heartedly by the authorities. So although Henry Carter was left with only the title of viscount, the family’s landholdings had grown to several times what they were in his great-grandfather’s day. Thanks to the good connections his father had built, he partnered with the descendants of Duke Hu of the State of Qin, David Foster and Samuel Foster, the two brothers; with the descendants of Duke Ying, Thomas Bennett, namely Edward Bennett; and with the descendants of Count Ma of Gaotang County, Charles Morgan, to run the famous cockfighting arenas at Changle Ward and Baisheng Pass in the capital. In addition, several prosperous businesses in the East Market—Linfeng Tower, Jinxiu Pavilion, Baochangyuan, and others, including restaurants, silk shops, and pawnshops—were also secretly owned by the The Carter Family.

With all these estates and shops that would take generations to squander, Henry Carter lived a life of unimaginable comfort. To curry favor with local officials, he never personally inspected any of the shops; instead, the managers would come to report on business at regular intervals. His father's concubine, Aunt May, was the eldest daughter of a merchant family and had a natural eye for detail, so even though Henry Carter's father had been dead for four or five years, the The Carter Family business was more prosperous than ever.