Edward Clark was not about to fall for his trick. The alarm gongs were sounding all around, and if he delayed any longer, he’d probably be surrounded by thousands. He set Little Princess down on the ground, grabbed his backpack, and started to leave. However, Little Princess, still coughing up water, suddenly became alert and, without hesitation, clung to his leg like a koala, being dragged along as Edward Clark strode forward...

"You can’t leave me behind! If Father finds out I dared to escape the palace, he’ll beat me to death!"

She wailed.

Edward Clark looked back at the officer awkwardly.

The officer stared at them, dumbfounded.

Then, at the west city gate, the gate slowly began to open...

Edward Clark didn’t hesitate to pick up Little Princess. She sensibly slipped her legs into the backpack and even looked at him with a pleading gaze. Edward Clark gave the officer an apologetic look. The officer held a bow and arrow, but in the end, didn’t shoot. He probably guessed by now that this was the emperor’s fourteenth daughter. Even if she was so young and already eloping, she was still a princess. If he accidentally hurt her, his whole family would be in trouble. As he and the soldiers silently watched, Edward Clark once again hoisted his backpack.

The city gate was open.

"Don’t even think about shooting—she’s a princess."

Edward Clark said sincerely.

Then he turned and sprinted east.

But immediately, a mass of lights surged toward him from the east wall, and soldiers rushed out from the buildings there as well.

He quickly turned south.

Cavalry charged out from inside the west gate.

He sprinted down a wide street, heading straight for a wall. The cavalry swarmed after him. Without hesitation, he hurled a grenade. The explosion brought two lead horses to their knees, and the cavalry behind quickly dodged. Edward Clark flung out a rope, not caring what it caught on, and hauled himself up onto the wall. A cavalryman charged up, thrusting his spear straight at him...

"I am the emperor’s fourteenth daughter!"

Little Princess screamed.

The cavalryman, startled, jerked his spear, the tip stabbing into the blue bricks of the wall.

With Little Princess on his back, Edward Clark immediately flipped over the wall, stowed the rope, and sprinted forward. He had no idea where he was, but there were rows of buildings everywhere. He dashed through them without a care, and people kept running out of the buildings, all staring at them in shock. Soon, a man rushed out, not even fully dressed, brandishing a sword, clearly trying to block them. Edward Clark, still running, charged right up to him. The man swung his sword, but Edward Clark grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face.

The man collapsed with a scream.

Edward Clark kept running forward, taking any door he found, climbing over walls if there wasn’t one, darting between buildings like a parkour athlete.

The soldiers chasing behind were clearly still in pursuit; he could hear their shouts.

And not just behind—he even heard the neighing of warhorses to his right. That must be the main gate of this compound.

The encirclement was closing in.

"There’s no way out of the city!"

Edward Clark said, looking at the dense lights on the southern city wall.

There really was no way out. The eastern wall was also lined with lights, and even the west had another wall, also brightly lit.

It had to be said, the Ming army’s response was elite—within a short time, the entire city defense system had switched to wartime mode. There was no way to break through now. With just his rifle and seven magazines, even if every bullet hit, he couldn’t fight his way out. Besides, the Ming army also used plenty of firearms. Even though their matchlocks couldn’t penetrate his body armor...

But they had cannons!

Even if early Ming cannons were primitive, they could still make Hongwu iron cannons.

Twenty-one centimeters in caliber.

Never mind that they fired gunpowder shells—even a twenty-one-centimeter stone ball hurled at him would be enough to kill him.

"So what do we do? If Father catches me, he’ll beat me to death..."

Little Princess said anxiously.

"Shut up!"

Edward Clark barked.

He immediately ran toward a nearby well, dove in without hesitation, bracing himself with arms and legs as he slid down. Soon he reached the bottom. Outside, the chaos of shouts rang out, followed by the clatter of armor and running footsteps. With Little Princess on his back, Edward Clark kept going down, even into the well water, not stopping until the water was up to their necks...

"Check the well!"

A voice sounded from above.

Edward Clark grabbed some mud from the well wall and smeared it on Little Princess’s face.

She stared at him wide-eyed but didn’t dare make a sound. Edward Clark pulled up his mask. At that moment, a torch appeared above. In the torchlight, a face looked down, then tossed the torch in. Using the last bit of light before it went out, he peered into the well. But only Edward Clark’s head was above water, and he wore a mask and a camo helmet. Little Princess, because the backpack hadn’t fully deflated, was floating higher, but only her head was outside the backpack, which was also camouflaged, and her face was smeared with mud. The soldier didn’t notice anything unusual in that brief light.

"Nobody here, Centurion!"

He said.

"Move on, keep searching!"

The centurion ordered.

Underwater, the two of them let out a sigh of relief.

They stayed there quietly, listening until the soldiers’ voices faded away.