“So not only can you not send her back, but you also have to help us leave the capital, so the emperor won’t find out that you know his daughter eloped with someone, and then look for a chance to kill you to silence you?”

　　Edward Clark sat down with a smile.

　　“Wrong. I have to escape with you.”

　　Andrew Bolton said with a smile.

　　Edward Clark looked at him in confusion.

　　“The capital is crawling with Jinyiwei.”

　　Andrew Bolton said slowly.

　　“You’re being a bit too cautious, aren’t you?”

　　“To serve the emperor is like living with a tiger!”

　　“But aren’t you afraid the emperor will kill your whole family if you run away?”

　　“When did I ever run away? Clearly, you’re the one who kidnapped the emperor’s fourteenth daughter. I’m just a scholar, powerless to rescue her from your hands, so I can only follow you and try to protect her with my life. As a loyal subject like me, why would His Majesty kill my whole family? If he did, wouldn’t that make the whole world aware of this matter?”

　　Andrew Bolton said with a smile.

　　“You’re very cunning!”

　　Edward Clark said knowingly.

　　But with old Zhu’s temperament, this really isn’t being overly cautious.

　　“Brave Clark…”

　　Andrew Bolton looked at his outfit, wanting to say something but stopping.

　　“My affairs are none of your business, and don’t go asking your fourteenth princess either. Her little issue at most puts you in a bit of danger, but my business would really get your whole family killed—maybe even your entire clan wouldn’t be spared.”

　　Edward Clark said as he sipped his tea.

　　Just then, Little Princess came back. The two of them immediately fell silent, and soon after, the old servant who had gone out to buy clothes also returned with the garments. Andrew Bolton quickly and loyally declared that since the fourteenth princess insisted on going to Liaodong, and since she and the Prince of Liao were so close as siblings, he couldn’t stop her. But he was truly worried, so to protect the fourteenth princess, he’d rather give up his official post and personally escort her, acting the very picture of loyalty and righteousness, moving Little Princess nearly to tears.

　　Since that was settled, there was no time to lose—everyone hurried to leave the city.

　　Edward Clark packed up all his gear, but kept the bulletproof vest on, covering it with a short brown jacket, changed into a pair of trousers, and put on a square bamboo hat…

　　This was only allowed for peasants to wear.

　　The clothing regulations of the Hongwu Emperor of Ming were clear: people had to dress according to their status.

　　From the style and color of the clothes to the length of the hem, there were strict rules, especially regarding accessories.

　　Wearing a square bamboo hat could completely hide Edward Clark’s hair. In these times, only monks didn’t have a topknot, but monks were bald, not with a buzz cut.

　　So even disguising oneself was a skill.

　　Leather boots had to be put away too—farmers wearing leather boots would be shocking.

　　Little Princess changed into a proper little pageboy’s outfit, Andrew Bolton put on a blue robe, brought the old servant, packed up their things, and then left the Hanlin Academy as quickly as possible. Outside, inspections were still ongoing, but they weren’t suspected at all. Even though the capital was full of Jinyiwei, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely find out that Andrew Bolton had taken Edward Clark and his daughter, but that would take some time. As long as they left before he found out, it would be fine. Riding a donkey, Matthew Bolton led the old servant, the pageboy, and a peasant acting as a porter carrying their luggage out of the city, supposedly just going for a countryside outing—nothing suspicious about that.

　　Edward Clark carried his backpack disguised as a bundle, curiously walking through the capital of the Ming dynasty at the end of the fourteenth century.

　　The streets were bustling with people.

　　It was peaceful.

　　You could tell everyone was living and working in peace.

　　And the people on the road were clearly not like those numb and dazed faces in late Qing photos. In fact, they all looked quite normal. Most importantly, there weren’t any beggars draped in rags, leaning on crutches, holding broken bowls to beg—such a sight would really ruin the scene.

　　“As expected of the emperor’s capital—there aren’t even any beggars.”

　　He said.

　　Andrew Bolton smiled faintly, probably catching the undertone of his words.

　　“If my father is the emperor, how could there be beggars? Those who are widowed, orphaned, disabled, or have no one to rely on are all cared for by relief institutions, given six shi of rice a year, with a place to live, food to eat, and clothes to wear. If someone is able-bodied but has no land, there are countless wastelands in the north. The court provides oxen, seeds, carts, and rations—anyone can go and cultivate. If someone still begs under these circumstances, then they’re clearly troublemakers, and will be conscripted to the frontier. Even if they don’t want to farm, they’ll have to.”

　　Little Princess said.

　　Well, that does sound reasonable, but Andrew Bolton’s smile was clearly off.

　　Anyone could tell this all depended on the integrity of local officials. In the capital and nearby areas, of course things were done properly, but thousands of miles away, could you really expect local officials to care for these people? Likewise, during Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign, officials were all on edge, not daring to slack off—after all, he really did skin corrupt officials alive. But without such a strong emperor’s pressure, in later reigns, no one would bother. Six shi of rice a year—over five hundred jin!—it was much better for the officials to embezzle it themselves.

　　Edward Clark looked around. The still-new, towering city walls stood in the morning light, with gate towers like giant sentinels overlooking the masses they protected.

　　These were, at present, the strongest city walls in the world.

　　Built from hundreds of millions of blue bricks.

　　At least in this era, there really weren’t any weapons that could destroy them. Even two hundred years later, probably no cannons could threaten them.

　　As for the great cannon of Orban, that probably wouldn’t work either.