The man was pinned down, and Henry Carter finally realized what was happening. He was almost in tears, forcing himself to bow and wail incessantly toward Mr. Harrison, who sat solemnly on the throne: “Everyone, save me! I was confused! I only beg to remain by your side in service, I dare not covet power again!”

John Harrison instinctively opened his mouth to speak, but in the end held back. Instead, he shot another look at Charles Young, intending for him to quickly take the man away.

Seeing this, Charles Young’s understanding of the situation need not be mentioned, but Henry Carter instead completely broke down. Yet he no longer pleaded with Mr. Harrison on the throne, but grabbed the corner of Arthur Lee’s robe beside him and uttered wild, absurd words:

“Mr. Lee! It’s truly not that I cut myself off from the outside world, but that everyone has really been possessed by some evil spirit!”

Arthur Lee was dumbfounded, while Charles Young, in his panic, actually drew his sword directly.

“Let him speak!” John Harrison suddenly spoke up. “I also want to know exactly what happened that day!”

Hearing this, Henry Carter turned back with hatred, unable to contain his agitation: “At this point, what is there to fear saying? That day in the well, we saw something at the bottom—neither dog nor fox, neither raccoon nor cat. We leaned in to look, but in an instant the monster vanished, and we all fell into the well and lost consciousness. When we woke up half a day later, it was as if we had become different people! Mr. Howard and the others all said I was seeing things, but I, who always followed everyone, know that we really were swapped by some demon!”

On the throne, John Harrison heard this and, as if relieved, let out a long sigh, then casually voiced a line he had prepared in his heart for a long time: “Grand Official, you and I have known each other for so many years. When I agreed to go to Yangzhou with you to enjoy wealth and honor, I was a wise ruler; when I resolved to organize the defenses and stay in the north to resist the Jin, I became a raccoon demon, a dog demon... How did things come to this between us?”

At these words, not only did Peter Scott cast a cold glance at Henry Carter, but even Arthur Lee glared at him in anger: “Henry Carter, have you truly lost all sense of decency?!”

Henry Carter was terrified to the extreme, but could do nothing more. He could only let go, allowing the guards on both sides to seize him completely. Charles Young finally relaxed, and took the opportunity to look toward Mr. Harrison.

“I had wanted to spare his life!” John Harrison hesitated for a moment, then helplessly raised his hand and spoke softly.

Charles Young understood, but then did something that caught John Harrison completely off guard—already holding a drawn blade, upon receiving the order, he didn’t wait for Henry Carter to say another word. Right there, in full view of all, between two guards, he stabbed Mr. Carter in the back of the neck with a single stroke.

In an instant, blood splattered five paces, filling the hall with the stench of blood.

Yet, among all those present in the hall, apart from John Harrison who was greatly shocked, not a single person—including the two civil officials Arthur Lee and Peter Scott—showed any reaction.

John Harrison’s mind went blank, but a primal thought still arose: these people must have witnessed even more brutal, more direct, and larger-scale killings and acts of violence, or else they would never remain so calm... He himself was still far from truly fitting into this era!

Chapter 9: A New Situation

At the end of autumn in September, on a day when the cold wind howled, John Harrison had a dream in the rear hall of Mingdao Palace. In his dream, he found that he could travel back and forth through that well between this era and nine hundred years in the future. So he began to moonlight as a secondhand dealer Mr. Harrison, enjoying technological comforts and unlimited historical resources in the modern world, and indulging in power and the prestige of a holy emperor in the Song dynasty.

However, one day, Ulysses Grant led a hundred thousand cavalry southward. The road was smooth, and in just a few days they approached Bozhou. But as Mr. Harrison could not leave the well, he used resisting the Jin in the Central Plains as an excuse to refuse to retreat south. As a result, more than ten thousand people in the imperial camp here were surrounded on the open plain by the hundred thousand Jin cavalry.

After that, all the civil and military officials of the Song dynasty surrendered one after another, handing over the supplies that Mr. Harrison had painstakingly brought to Ulysses Grant for nothing. Forced into a corner, he could only escape by jumping into the well. Returning to the modern era, he opened a history book, only to see that the Song fell because of John Harrison, who, being ambitious but lacking ability, finally jumped into a well and died, earning the posthumous title of “Well Emperor” from the Jin, and becoming a laughingstock for a thousand years.

Awakening in the early morning, John Harrison was drenched in sweat. He could only look up and sigh softly, then carefully lifted the covers and got up, so as not to wake Grace Parker beside him.

A few young eunuchs came forward, and at John Harrison’s signal, skillfully dressed Mr. Harrison and fastened the leather belt suitable for archery and horseback riding. When Mr. Harrison stepped outside, he saw Matthew Lewis on duty. Without saying much, he simply pursed his lips, and the latter understood.

Immediately, dozens of Liaodong cavalry escorted Mr. Harrison out of the camp, joining up with Charles Young and several other riders who had caught up. In the faint light of dawn, they headed north together.

It must be said that recently, with Charles Young’s defection and Peter Scott’s rise, the small clique of Thomas Howard and Henry Carter—who had no real foundation, or rather, whose foundation was originally Mr. Harrison himself—collapsed overnight:

Henry Carter was executed on the spot for uttering resentful words in the hall;

Thomas Howard was dismissed as prime minister, reassigned to the Hanlin Academy, put in charge of Hangzhou Dongxiao Palace, and sent to live in Lizhou.

However, aside from these two core members, Chief Councillor Robert Warren was merely demoted from Director of the Privy Council to Deputy Director, a light punishment out of concern that dismissing both eastern and western prime ministers at once would shake public confidence. In addition, Commander of the Imperial Camp Edward King was also pardoned after personally seeking out John Harrison to plead his case.