"That was all slander against His Majesty by Ethan Brooks and his associates!" Although he didn't understand what "scum" meant, Henry Carter had already grasped some of the emperor's ways and immediately offered an explanation. "When the emperor ascended the throne, how could it be done without palace attendants? Not to mention, who would serve Lady Pan and the imperial heir?"

"Ethan Brooks died because he said this?" Under the lamp, John Harrison suddenly understood, but then was left utterly speechless. "Forget it... Leave twenty people to take care of Lady Pan and the imperial heir, then keep some of the older, homeless types for laundry work in the palace. As for the rest, pick out all the young and good-looking ones and grant them to those young officers who are without families... But they can only be settled here in the temporary palace, not allowed to travel with the entourage, and certainly not to follow the army."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Henry Carter nodded repeatedly, having finally learned his lesson.

However, after agreeing to these matters, seeing that Mr. Harrison was about to continue reading the memorials, Mr. Carter slightly adjusted his mindset and finally returned to the main topic he had originally intended to discuss:

"Speaking of which, Your Majesty may not remember, but the one who most wanted to kill Philip Scott that day was none other than Mr. Thompson!"

"How so?" John Harrison put down the memorial from the Scholar of the Zizheng Hall, Arthur Lee, and opened another memorial from a censor. At first glance, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"There are some rumors about this... First, of course, is that Mr. Thompson is fiercely intolerant of evil, and was so enraged by those who could not remain loyal that he could not be satisfied without killing them!"

"And the second?"

"The second is that some say Mr. Thompson had a personal grudge against Philip Scott. At the time, the court was newly established, and he wanted to use this as an opportunity to kill and establish his authority, thereby stabilizing the situation."

"Is there a third?"

"There is..."

"Go on."

"The third is that it is said Mr. Thompson helped His Majesty rebuild the court, and while his contributions were indeed great, this man looked down on Your Majesty as a child, and it can't be denied that he intended to use this to seize power and control the court."

With the lamplight flickering, Henry Carter stood with his hands at his sides and spoke slowly. "Therefore, on that day, he had two major proposals in court. One was to go to Nanyang. On the surface, it was said that Nanyang could connect with Guanzhong and calm the hearts of the people in the northwest. But whether he actually intended to use this to suppress Your Majesty's loyal followers from the former Grand Marshal's office, who can say for sure? Because Mr. Howard and the others had already decided to go to Yangzhou before Mr. Thompson arrived, and even Chamberlain Reed had gone to the southeast early to raise funds... Your Majesty, it's not that we old hands from the Grand Marshal's office don't want to resist the Jin, but the Central Plains have no defensible terrain, and we've already made preparations in Yangzhou, so it's not easy to change plans lightly. Even Your Majesty yourself had this intention at the time, which is why Mr. Thompson was dismissed."

"I see... And then? What about Philip Scott?" John Harrison continued to look at the memorial in his hand, not even raising his head.

"Philip Scott... Actually, according to the previous debate between Nanyang and Yangzhou, Mr. Thompson insisted on killing Philip Scott. Some say he was making a show of repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chen Cang, wanting to use this to eliminate a group of old ministers from the Eastern Capital, so that he could fill the court with his own people while he held sole power."

John Harrison suddenly broke into a smile as he looked at the memorial in his hand.

"Your Majesty doesn't believe it?" Henry Carter was not worried but rather pleased at the sight. "If so, why not summon a few of the old ministers from the Eastern Capital and ask them? Isn't Your Majesty just wanting to meet the court officials in the temporary palace and inquire about the defense of the Central Plains?"

"Which old ministers from the Eastern Capital are there?" John Harrison turned his head and asked with a smile.

"Scholar of the Zizheng Hall, Arthur Lee, a renowned scholar of Neo-Confucianism, who had already resigned from his post as Right Vice Minister of the Department of State Affairs and was to take up the post of Prefect of Xuanzhou, but due to unrest on the roads and concern for Your Majesty's health, he hadn't managed to leave; Censor in the Palace, Peter Scott, who has always been upright... These two are both recognized as men of virtue and both escaped from the Eastern Capital. Why not meet them, Your Majesty?" Henry Carter quickly pointed to the memorials in Mr. Harrison's hands and said with a smile, "Besides, aren't these the two memorials Your Majesty has spent the most time reading tonight?"

"Since they come recommended by Mr. Carter, then let's meet these two tomorrow!" John Harrison stroked the memorial from Censor in the Palace, Peter Scott, in his hand, smiling even more, as if still full of confidence.

Chapter Seven: Summons

Both William Carter and Mr. Harrison wore expressions of complete confidence, yet neither realized that they were like two sparrows pecking at each other—petty and laughable.

William Carter was secretly pleased, thinking that all these memorials had been carefully screened during the day, and from their content, everyone was on his side, so it didn't matter whom he recommended. However, he didn't know that all his actions and behavior had been reported in full to Mr. Harrison by Charles Young from the very beginning.

As for our Mr. Harrison, despite his appearance of wisdom and strength, the real reason was not that he had everything under control, but that he had never placed any hope in these memorials to begin with. His sense of satisfaction simply came from the lingering thrill of yesterday's victory.

To put it bluntly, this fellow was still young. After being stifled for so many days, a single partial victory made his emotions plain for all to see.

Simply put, he was just carried away with success.

As for the matter of the lady and those palace attendants, it was nothing more than a burst of humanistic sentiment from a modern person with a normal worldview and overflowing confidence.

And the business with the memorials from Arthur Lee and Peter Scott was even more laughable.