Henry Cooper stood by holding a torch, but sighed and said, “It seems he wasn’t stabbed to death, but died of anger.”

“Died of anger?” James Bolton exclaimed in surprise, “Who made him so angry?”

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at James Bolton.

James Bolton looked completely baffled.

Edward Smith couldn’t help but sigh as well, “Someone like William Carter, who’s lived by the blade his whole life, a hero to the end—even if he met with misfortune, if he’d fallen to the blade of another renowned hero, he’d have nothing to say. But now, to die at the hands of an unknown like you… of course he’d be filled with unwillingness, so furious it killed him…”

Henry Cooper, ever the smooth talker, quickly tugged at Edward Smith’s sleeve and said, “Alright, alright, Brother Smith, say no more…”

Only then did Edward Smith fall silent.

James Bolton: “……”

He wasn’t sure if this counted as a personal attack.

So what if he died at my hands?

So James Bolton, still confused, said, “Did this William Carter even know the great name of me, James Bolton?”

Henry Cooper’s expression was a bit complicated, but in the end he said, “James, you don’t know this, but the Marquis of Nanhe has quite the sharp tongue. After he drove you out, he went around telling everyone you were useless, and soon it became a joke in the capital. Although William Carter is a notorious bandit, he surely has spies in the city keeping tabs on what’s happening. Maybe he heard some of those rumors.”

Great!

So my reputation is completely ruined.

James Bolton’s chest heaved, furious: “For the Marquis of Nanhe to insult me like this, I swear here and now, I’d rather die than marry into his household.”

Henry Cooper: “……”

After his righteous declaration, James Bolton’s thoughts turned back to William Carter’s corpse.

James Bolton had originally thought the best outcome would be to capture William Carter alive, but now that William Carter had died by his blade, James Bolton felt deeply unsettled.

He wasn’t being melodramatic; it’s just that taking a life always left James Bolton with an indescribable discomfort.

Everyone checked over the group—one of the temporary workers had a dislocated arm, and even Edward Smith had a cut on his calf, though thankfully it wasn’t deep.

This had been a group assault, and even a sneak attack, and now James Bolton finally understood why William Carter had been able to run rampant across Shanxi and Northern Zhili.

Off to the side, someone happily went to retrieve William Carter’s head.

Someone else fished a chest out of the trap. When they opened it, it was filled with gold and silver, as well as women’s hairpins and silver ornaments.

At once, everyone’s eyes lit up: “The value in here must be at least five hundred taels of silver.”

“See, the rumors were true. A few days ago, William Carter led his men down the mountain and attacked the Zeng family village, killed over seventy people. I thought it was just a rumor, but look at all these hairpins and ornaments—oh, and here’s a piece of jade…”

“He killed so many people?” James Bolton shuddered. He glanced into the chest and saw all kinds of gold and silver jewelry, and even some silver pendants still stuck with flesh—clearly torn straight from someone’s ear.

At that moment, James Bolton’s face turned pale. It was his first time killing someone, and also the first time he truly felt the cruelty of this world.

He felt dizzy, while Henry Cooper and the others were overjoyed. This time, the spoils were great—just the valuables William Carter carried were worth at least five hundred taels of silver. That was a fortune.

James Bolton had everyone tidy up, but his gaze fell on the site of the archaeological dig from his previous life.

James Bolton knew very well that after years of plundering, William Carter must have hidden untold wealth in this treasure ground. The treasures he brought here were just for hiding, so how much more was buried underground?

But James Bolton didn’t want to dig up all of William Carter’s years of loot just yet, because he knew he was still too weak!

A gentleman is innocent, but carrying jade is a crime!

When the time is right, he’d come back to see just how much William Carter had stashed here.

Off to the side, Edward Smith was looking at James Bolton with a strange expression.

He pulled James Bolton aside and whispered, “Third Brother, did our foster father tell you where the bandit Carter would be?”

That was the only explanation he could think of.

“If you think so, then so be it. Right now, the most important thing is to rescue our people.”

At this moment, Edward Smith couldn’t help but see James Bolton in a new light. He took a deep breath: “With the head of this bandit Carter, we can do more than just save our foster father! This is a great achievement—Carter was a threat to the capital, even His Majesty was worried. With such a great merit, Third Brother, your future is bright.”

James Bolton quickly said, “It was everyone’s effort.”

But Edward Smith shook his head, “We just did our part. I’ll go search again, see if there’s anything to prove the bandit Carter’s identity.”

After searching, they did indeed find some evidence. Edward Smith was overjoyed and immediately led the group down the mountain that very night.

……

The Forbidden City.

At this moment, in the warm chamber, a young eunuch crept in, bowing low.

The young emperor sat behind his desk, head slightly lowered.

The eunuch spoke softly, “Your Majesty.”