Her second nephew looked at her from horseback, still gloating as always. She took out Edward Clark's flashlight, walked over to her nephew, and then beckoned to him. Poor Franklin Pierce looked down in confusion, and his aunt, without hesitation, aimed the flashlight at his eyes and pressed the strobe button as Edward Clark had taught her...

"Ah!"

Her nephew let out a scream.

Amid the startled cries of the surrounding guards, her eldest nephew stared at her in astonishment.

"What are you looking at!"

She shouted with the authority of an elder.

Her eldest nephew hurriedly signaled the guards not to be rude, and had one of them give up a horse for his aunt, while Franklin Pierce clutched his eyes, howling on horseback as if he had been blinded.

Edward Clark looked at Little Princess approvingly.

Of course, even at night, this thing would at most cause temporary blindness, and in broad daylight its effect was much weaker, so Franklin Pierce soon recovered. Though he still had to keep rubbing his eyes and tearing up, he realized he hadn't been blinded. From time to time, he looked at his aunt with fear from horseback. This thing was clearly beyond his comprehension and could be classified as a magical artifact. The group continued forward like this until they arrived at a large mansion...

"Where is this?"

Edward Clark looked at the sign above the gate of the Zhongshan Prince's Residence in confusion.

"This is the residence of Prince Wuning of Zhongshan. The Princess of Yan is the daughter of Prince Wuning of Zhongshan, so this is the maternal home of the two imperial grandsons."

Andrew Bolton said.

"Is there no Prince Yan's residence here?"

Edward Clark asked.

"The Prince of Yan is a feudal prince; his residence is in Beiping. Feudal princes are not allowed to leave their fiefs without imperial summons, and certainly not to enter the capital. Therefore, the Prince of Yan has no residence in Nanjing. If he comes to the capital for an audience, he stays at the Ten Princes' Residence. As for the two imperial grandsons, they can stay wherever they like when they come to the capital, so naturally they stay at their maternal home."

Andrew Bolton said.

While they were talking, the guards had quietly completed their encirclement.

"Seize them!"

Theodore Roosevelt shouted.

Actually, Edward Clark, who had kept his hand in his coat all along, decisively pulled the trigger...

"Bang!"

With the sudden gunshot, a bullet hit the leg of the nearest guard's horse. The unlucky warhorse neighed miserably and collapsed to its knees. The guard on its back reacted quickly, drawing his sword before he even hit the ground, but at that moment a second shot rang out, and a bullet struck his thigh. He screamed and fell to his knees. The other guards drew their swords in alarm, while Edward Clark smiled and drew his own gun among them.

Then, under a flurry of astonished gazes, he calmly unfolded the folding stock, aiming the gun at Theodore Roosevelt.

With the stock folded, the weapon was only half a meter long, easily concealed under his loose short coat.

"Imperial grandson, I don't think this is necessary, is it?"

He said.

"Nobody move! He's holding a firearm—it can kill!"

Little Princess shouted, borrowing authority from the situation.

She then kicked the guard holding the horse; the latter silently knelt by the horse, and she carefully dismounted, stepping onto his back to reach the ground.

"Come here!"

She beckoned to Theodore Roosevelt.

He glanced at Edward Clark, and Edward Clark's gun immediately shifted to aim at his younger brother. Theodore Roosevelt dismounted and followed his aunt inside. Andrew Bolton quickly got off his donkey to follow, but the nearby guards blocked him. Theodore Roosevelt looked back at him, and Andrew Bolton looked at Theodore Roosevelt with obvious longing. The latter beckoned to him, the guards stepped aside, and he hurried after the two into the side gate of the prince's residence. The guards watched Edward Clark warily, while the wounded guard on the ground tore open his clothes to look at the wound on his thigh...

"A through-and-through wound, and it didn't hit the bone. Quickly rinse it repeatedly with salt water and strong liquor. It's best to use cloth strips boiled in water, dipped in liquor and salt water, and scrub the wound thoroughly.

It should heal quickly."

Edward Clark said seriously.

Then he imagined what that would feel like.

He shuddered.

A few minutes later, Little Princess came out from inside, looking very pleased...

"Come in, Matthew Bolton is really persuasive. They'll send us out of the city."

She said.

"Did Matthew Bolton persuade your eldest nephew to change his mind in front of you, or did he send you away and talk to him alone?"

Edward Clark asked with a deep smile.

"He took Gaochi aside to talk to him alone."

Little Princess replied, completely unaware.

Edward Clark smiled and nodded.

He had always thought this Matthew Bolton was a bit odd. Although the reasons seemed normal, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It was as if nothing about him surprised Andrew Bolton—not even his strange equipment or his way of speaking, especially his choice of words, which was clearly different from this era. Yet Andrew Bolton remained calm about it all, as if...

As if he already knew some things about him, at least partially.

Now it was basically clear: this guy was an insider.

If that's the case, then their smooth exit from the palace was also deliberately arranged by George Washington. At the time, he had thought it was a bit too easy to leave the palace.

It was intentional.

They wanted him to get out.

George Washington wanted to find out his identity, to see if he had anyone behind him, and whether he really was, as he claimed, from six hundred years in the future.