Finally, as soon as the Jin people left, the Emperor of Great Chu, Philip Scott, invited back Empress Monroe (Empress of Emperor Zhezong of Song, who had twice been deposed), who was then living as a Taoist nun in widowhood, and in the name of Empress Monroe returned the throne to James Harrison, who at that time had fled to Nanjing (Shangqiu) to observe the situation.

John Harrison suddenly understood; he remembered this person now. It seemed that the history books mentioned him briefly, but only said that during the Jingkang era, he opposed Abraham Thompson and was a surrenderist, with nothing said about what happened afterward. Of course, that's what John Harrison thought now as well. As for whatever Henry Carter was chattering on about—how Philip Scott proclaimed himself emperor and then returned the throne—he didn't pay much attention... For people like this, calling him spineless is fair, saying he was incompetent is also fair, but at that time, from the emperor on down, the entire city of Tokyo had surrendered. With a knife at your neck, it's hard to blame anyone. If you really started killing people just for being weak, there would be no end to it.

Of course, if you really wanted to kill him, there were reasons: one, as a high official, he chose to surrender; two, he became emperor. But no matter what, you had to kill him at the start—there's no reason to exile someone for several months and then find an excuse to kill him. Otherwise, what would the other ministers who fled from Tokyo think?

“Did I not say anything to this fellow at the beginning?” Whether it was muscle memory or not, John Harrison now, as soon as he opened his mouth, used all sorts of odd phrases.

“You did.” Henry Carter composed himself and answered seriously. “When Your Majesty ascended the throne, you promised him peace and prosperity, and even gave him the position of Grand Preceptor…”

“Then why was he exiled later?” John Harrison felt it was even stranger. “And these days, when I chat idly with the guards, we talk about all sorts of things—why has no one ever mentioned this fellow?”

Henry Carter lowered his head and said nothing.

“Speak plainly, Minister.” John Harrison couldn't help but frown.

“To be honest with everyone.” Perhaps knowing he couldn't hide it, Henry Carter replied in a low voice, finally speaking a few truths. “When the Zhang clan proclaimed himself a false emperor, many advised that he should be eliminated. But even so, out of consideration for his returning the throne, everyone only sent him to be settled in Tanzhou. Only later, when it was discovered about his affair with Lady Jinggong... everyone was enraged. At that time, you, Your Majesty, told us not to forget to remind everyone: after some time, when things had settled down, we must issue an order to execute Philip Scott.”

“Lady Jinggong?” Mr. Harrison was even more confused.

“She was a member of the Daojun Retired Emperor’s palace.”

Henry Carter lowered his voice even more, as if afraid that the guards outside, like Charles Young, would hear. “When Philip Scott became the false emperor and entered the inner palace, the Jin people bestowed Lady Jinggong upon him as empress. Lady Jinggong not only repeatedly sent fruit to this scoundrel, but it’s said they also met privately, she called him ‘everyone’, and there were one or two unspeakable affairs. When Zhang the traitor left the inner palace, Lady Jinggong even held his arm to see him off, and spoke words criticizing the Retired Emperor. Now, Lady Jinggong has already been arrested and is being held at the traveling palace, just waiting to be interrogated and executed together. It’s just that, unfortunately, Your Majesty fell into trouble at this time…”

“Utterly absurd!” Now that John Harrison finally understood what was going on, he suddenly slapped the table and spoke out, startling both Charles Young inside the door and several guards outside to turn their heads.

“Truly absurd!” Henry Carter quickly bowed his head in agreement.

“How can people be killed over such things?” John Harrison was clearly furious.

Henry Carter nearly bit his tongue, clearly forcing himself to swallow some words.

“If you wanted to kill Philip Scott, you should have done it openly at the start for surrendering to the Jin as a high official—what would the world have to say about that? Why change the reason for something like this?” John Harrison was indignant. “Besides, what did Lady Jinggong do wrong? In that situation, if Philip Scott hadn’t protected her, what would have happened to a weak woman like her? Would it have been a better outcome for her to be captured by the Jin? Criticizing the Retired Emperor and developing feelings for Philip Scott is only natural under those circumstances, isn’t it?”

Henry Carter hesitated to speak.

“Release that lady and let her go find Philip Scott!” John Harrison came back to himself, feeling it was all pointless. “Philip Scott can be killed, but at this point, it’s pointless. Have that lady deliver a message: he is to be confined in Tanzhou for life, never to show himself again—just treat it as imprisonment.”

Henry Carter was silent for a long time, until the emperor turned to look at him coldly, and only then did he nod.

Seeing Henry Carter agree, John Harrison was about to look at the memorials again, but suddenly realized: “How many palace women are still here in the traveling palace?”

“Not many, three to five hundred, perhaps…”

“In that case,” John Harrison said slowly, “since both Emperors have been taken north as captives, and these women are truly innocent, and considering that many ministers and officers who escaped from Tokyo, Hebei, and Hedong have had their families scattered, let the palace women be given to them… choose the older, more virtuous ones… it’s the best of both worlds.”

This time, Henry Carter still bowed his head in silence.

“What do you mean by this?” John Harrison was tired of playing guessing games with him. “If there’s something I don’t know, just say it.”

“Among them, there are one or two hundred who, after Your Majesty’s ascension, were specially sought out in Tokyo and Nanjing as ‘laundry maids’…”

“This… John Harrison… was I really that depraved?” As the other spoke halfway, John Harrison suddenly realized, and then blurted out in astonishment.

After ascending the throne, which was only a few months ago, right after the Jingkang humiliation had just ended, where would Old John Harrison have found the mood for such things?!