No matter what, these two famous figures in history—one cruel, one rigid—yet he and his mother were merely hiding in a corner to avoid the heavy rain, and even so, their very lives were at stake.

Ethan Brooks glared venomously at the two people conversing under the umbrella. Abraham Lincoln seemed to sense something, turned to glance at Grace Walker shivering in the rain, and stepped closer to say to her, “I will make proper arrangements for your son, you need not worry.”

Grace Walker’s tears fell onto Ethan Brooks’s face, just like the heavy rain outside. Ethan Brooks’s cold gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Abraham Lincoln’s face.

Abraham Lincoln looked a bit puzzled, then shook his head to dismiss the strange thought in his mind. “The child does not speak of monsters or spirits,” he thought, “I really shouldn’t overthink it. It’s just a child not yet of age…”

With an iron chain around her neck, Grace Walker held Ethan Brooks as the constables dragged them out from the corner. Ethan Brooks suddenly saw a huge carriage parked not far away.

On the carriage’s shaft stood two burly men, unmoved even as the heavy rain poured down on them. The soldiers standing on either side were even more like statues, silent and still.

Though night had not fully fallen, more than a dozen large windproof lanterns already lit up the surroundings as bright as day.

The previously quiet Ethan Brooks suddenly burst into loud, piercing cries. The sound was so mournful that when Grace Walker thought of how her child would soon be motherless, she too knelt on the ground and wailed, refusing to get up no matter how the constables tugged at the chain, just clutching her son and sobbing in the muddy water.

The swaddling cloth was already soaked through. The little fox that had been hiding inside out of fear was now even more cautious with so many people around, its mischievous tail brushing against Ethan Brooks’s skin again and again, making his cries even shriller several times.

The crying finally drew the attention of someone inside the carriage. A person wearing a rain cloak and holding a horsetail whisk stepped out, spoke quietly with Abraham Lincoln, glanced at the mother and son sobbing on the ground, and then returned to the carriage.

Soon after, a frail young man emerged from the carriage under the cover of a huge umbrella. He looked at Grace Walker and her child, then raised his head to gaze at the dark sky and slowly said to Abraham Lincoln, “Disasters keep coming—this is Heaven warning me. The suffering of the people is all my responsibility.”

Abraham Lincoln bowed and said, “Your Majesty has already issued an edict of self-reproach because of the disasters. Heaven and earth will surely be moved by Your Majesty’s sincerity, and next year will surely bring favorable weather.”

The young man coughed lightly and said, “These years, I have issued three edicts of self-reproach. In Heaven’s eyes, I fear I am already a sinner. Enough. If you all create fewer sins for me, I will be content. Do you really think this mother and child have the power to threaten the palace, or to assassinate me?”

Abraham Lincoln hesitated and said, “No, but the dignity of the law must still be upheld.”

“Killing this peasant woman will uphold the dignity of the law? I don’t see it that way. The royal family has lost three princes in recent years. The reason I have no heirs may well be because the law is too harsh.”

Abraham Lincoln, ignoring the pouring rain, took off his bamboo hat and let the rain drench his face as he loudly said, “Benevolence and filial piety are the pillars of our Great Song’s foundation, and the law is its cornerstone. How can we abolish it at will just because a prince met with misfortune? I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!”

The emperor shook his head and pointed outside the city, saying, “Enough. I have seen enough corpses of the people today; I truly do not wish to create another. Pass my order: for now, let them shelter in a corner of the royal residence. Eleanor Parker, say no more!”

After speaking, the young emperor turned to look at Ethan Brooks, who was sitting on the ground with ears pricked, listening intently. Seeing how pitiful the mother and child were, and thinking of his own three sons who died young, his heart softened. He waved to the eunuch and then turned to get back into the carriage.

Abraham Lincoln stepped forward and ordered someone to unlock the iron chain from Grace Walker’s neck, smiling as he said, “His Majesty is merciful. It is a stroke of great fortune for you and your child to be spared. It is not suitable to settle at the foot of the imperial city; how about I find you a better place to live?”

Having heard the conversation between the emperor and Abraham Lincoln clearly, Grace Walker, now certain she would not die, let her fierce peasant nature show. Hugging her son tightly, she said loudly, “I am a subject of His Majesty and will naturally follow His Majesty’s arrangements. I would rather build a thatched hut at the foot of the imperial city than live in the grand house you offer!”

After speaking, Grace Walker hugged her son and squeezed back into the corner. The eunuch who had been standing nearby chuckled and said, “Well said! Even a thatched hut given by His Majesty is more honorable than a grand house given by anyone else. Here are five strings of coins—His Majesty’s reward for you and your child.”

After saying this, the eunuch ignored the embarrassed Abraham Lincoln, took off his own rain cloak and draped it over Grace Walker, saying, “This is from me, just for what you said just now.”

Grace Walker, overjoyed, hugged her son with one arm and gathered up the heavy five strings of copper coins with the other. Before she could thank the eunuch, he had already disappeared from sight.

Abraham Lincoln sighed and said to Grace Walker, “Take care of yourself.”

Grace Walker grunted, then dragged her reward back to the corner.

Abraham Lincoln looked around, his pupils contracting, and said to the constables beside him, “Other than that mother and child, anyone who comes within ten paces of the imperial city—execute them!”