“Of course I understand this principle!” Henry Carter could still maintain courtesy toward the two chief ministers, but showed clear impatience toward Edward King, even though the latter was the dignified Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army and the actual military leader of the current small court. “I am an inner attendant, and I need this Emperor in the rear hall even more than you do! Without this Emperor, you would merely lose your positions, but what would become of me? Even if exiled, you would be sent to Qiongzhou Island, but I would be sent to Shamen Island! But after the Emperor fell into the well, his mind changed, as if something clouded his judgment, and now he’s actually thinking of staying in the Central Plains to resist the Jin. But it’s the truth.”

Everyone in the side room was instantly speechless.

There was nothing to be done—this was just too much. The Emperor used to be so good; how did he turn out like this just from falling into a well? And there was no way to post a notice in front of the main hall of Mingdao Palace, asking all the civil and military officials in the traveling court to anonymously give their answers.

Little did they know, these days, while John HarrisonMr. Harrison felt stifled, these few people felt as if the sky was falling!

“So what does Mr. Carter think we should do?” After a long silence, Prime Minister Thomas Howard forced himself to adjust his mood and spoke again, still unconsciously treating Henry Carter as the main consultant.

“I understand the gravity of the situation too.” Henry Carter thought for a moment and then gave the bottom line for how to respond. “But no matter what, we must find a way to get through the present, and then safely escort the Emperor to Yangzhou. Once in Yangzhou, a thousand miles away, there will be no need to worry about the Jin army, and naturally the Emperor won’t care about the words of those rebels who talk about resisting the Jin all day… At that time, we can serve the Emperor well, let him settle down and be happy, and then everything will naturally be resolved.”

“But how are we supposed to get through the present?” Thomas Howard was still uneasy. “We can’t block the Emperor’s requests, and we can’t bear the charge of isolating him from the outside world. By then, we won’t even need the Emperor to act—the Hanlin scholars and censors in the traveling court could send us to Qiongzhou Island themselves.”

“That part is actually straightforward.” Henry Carter replied solemnly. “First, we must let the Emperor know that most of the civil and military officials in the traveling court still want to go to Yangzhou. Those rebels in the Chixin Corps are just a few wild men from Liao, and don’t represent the will of the people. Second, we must remind the Emperor and make him understand that people like Abraham Thompson and Andrew Bennett are far less loyal than you and me…”

“The first part is easy enough. Since the Emperor’s injury, he rarely asks about state affairs, and most memorials go through us. Now that the Emperor wants to open up the channels for advice, we just need to be extra careful, remind those who might say something foolish, and then carefully check everything again in the Privy Council.” Thomas Howard also became serious. “But the second part…”

“Don’t you understand the second part, Mr. Howard?” Henry Carter sneered. “Just over a month ago in Nanjing, how did you kill Ethan Brooks? How did you drive away Abraham Thompson? The Emperor may have forgotten the past, but have you forgotten too?”

Thomas Howard was speechless, but understood.

As the saying goes, to err is human; and as another saying goes, repeated rumors become fact.

Since ancient times, petty men at the center of power have used their access to information at the ruler’s side to their advantage. Once they understand the ruler’s character, they present the things the ruler cares about or hates most, and naturally, some people will suffer… This has always happened in history, and will surely happen in the future.

Of course, as chief ministers and key figures in the inner court, and given the Emperor’s recent impatience with the five people in this side room, there were certainly some things they could not do themselves.

“Pick a good candidate!”

Henry Carter reminded the Song prime minister in the room once more, then finally clasped his hands and turned to leave. Charles Young dared not be negligent and actually followed him out, personally holding up a paper umbrella as a noble attendant to shield this chief of the Song inner attendants from wind and rain.

The three remaining in the room looked at each other, saying nothing.

Chapter Six: Idle Talk

“The Ministry of Revenue says there’s no money, the Imperial Army says there are no troops, the prime minister says there’s no one, several scholars say it can wait, and the censors… are all impeaching Abraham Thompson, asking for him to be punished? And someone even suggests killing Philip Scott?”

As the rain gradually subsided, for the first time since his crossing, John Harrison managed to break free from the isolation imposed by those five key officials by throwing a fit, and by the second night had officially received a large number of memorials from the civil and military officials in the traveling court. Yet the situation seemed unchanged, as if everyone was in favor of surrender.

But interestingly, John Harrison didn’t seem to care much.

“Just so Your Majesty knows, this is the will of the people!” By the lamplight, Henry Carter, standing by the desk, hurriedly bowed his head to explain, his attitude far more humble than in previous days.

“Who is Philip Scott?” John Harrison asked curiously. “The name sounds familiar.”

Henry Carter was at a loss for words, and could only set aside the ‘will of the people’ for now and give a brief explanation.

It turned out that Philip Scott had been the prime minister under Emperor Qinzong of Song, and could be considered the last official prime minister of the Northern Song. During the Jingkang Incident, he mainly did the following things:

First, acting on Emperor Qinzong’s orders, he replaced Abraham Thompson as head of the government and went out of the city to negotiate surrender to the Jin;

Second, perhaps because he spoke well, looked handsome, and the then Jin commander-in-chief Wanyan Woli was not a cautious man, after the Jingkang disaster, when the Jin army withdrew, they supported him to the throne, hoping he would serve as the Han emperor and a vassal to the Jin;