“Second Uncle, this villain is holding Fourteenth Aunt hostage, we just need to take him down!”

　　Franklin Pierce shouted.

　　“Xu, Young Master Xu, don’t you find it strange what happened in the palace last night, why the Fourteenth Princess suddenly appeared here, and why His Majesty the Emperor is keeping it all under wraps? You’re an adult now, surely you’re not as clueless as a child? The Emperor is sealing off the news, yet you found out about it. If I had a nephew like this, I’d honestly want to turn around and slap him. I’ve seen sons who get their fathers in trouble, but today I’ve seen a nephew who gets his uncle in trouble.”

　　Edward Clark said with a big, happy smile.

　　Cold sweat broke out on Thomas Brooks’s face. He stood there holding his knife, looking as if he’d lost his wits.

　　Andrew Bolton, who had looked utterly miserable before, suddenly calmed down, then signaled to the little princess.

　　Immediately after, he strode resolutely toward the weapons.

　　Edward Clark followed calmly. The little princess, though a bit confused, quickly grabbed his clothes. The three of them walked straight into the encirclement. The Xu family’s servants looked at Thomas Brooks, but he just stood there blankly, his hand trembling so much the knife shook. Franklin Pierce kept urging them on, but this was the Xu household—without Thomas Brooks’s order, the servants wouldn’t move. So Edward Clark and his companions walked right up to Thomas Brooks. Edward Clark suddenly stopped, then reached out and poked Thomas Brooks’s arm...

　　The knife in his hand instantly fell to the ground.

　　“Haha...”

　　Edward Clark laughed.

　　Then he just walked away, still laughing.

　　“Why didn’t he turn around and slap Franklin Pierce?”

　　At the back door, Edward Clark asked Andrew Bolton.

　　“Well, Commander Xu may be the second son of Prince Zhongshan of Wuning, but he’s illegitimate.”

　　Andrew Bolton quickly replied.

　　“Ah, so he doesn’t have much status in the Xu family. No wonder he’s so easily manipulated by Franklin Pierce.”

　　Edward Clark said.

　　Only then did they leave the Xu residence.

　　Outside were Andrew Bolton’s old servant and the donkey, but there were also six guards who had previously followed Theodore Roosevelt, only now they were in different clothes and none were on horseback. So the ambush on Edward Clark wasn’t ordered by Theodore Roosevelt, but was the doing of the brawny but simple-minded Franklin Pierce. As for Thomas Brooks, he was simply set up by Franklin Pierce. He didn’t know the truth; as an illegitimate son, he just wanted to show some enthusiasm in front of a legitimate nephew like Franklin Pierce, but ended up getting caught up in palace intrigue and was left dumbfounded.

　　Andrew Bolton then mounted a horse, while the little princess got on his little donkey...

　　She was still a page, after all!

　　It would obviously be wrong for the master to ride a donkey while the page rode a horse, but the master on a horse and the page on a donkey made perfect sense.

　　A Hanlin scholar with a page, an old servant, six guards, and a porter—this was a perfectly reasonable group heading straight for the Jubao Gate.

　　Right next to the Prince of Zhongshan’s mansion was the main street leading directly to this city gate.

　　After turning onto the main street, Edward Clark immediately saw the towering castle at the end...

　　“I fired a gun earlier, so why does it seem like no one cared?”

　　Edward Clark looked at the distant Jubao Gate tower, then at the peaceful atmosphere around him, and asked in some confusion.

　　The next moment...

　　“Boom!”

　　A distant explosion sounded behind him.

　　The pedestrians on the street, unfazed, turned their heads toward the northeast, watched the black smoke rising there, then went right back to whatever they were doing.

　　“The Gunpowder Bureau is north of Huaijing Bridge. Accidental explosions during daily gunpowder experiments are common. Plus, the city is full of military camps, and firearms are tested almost every day.”

　　Andrew Bolton said with a smile.

　　So those shots Edward Clark fired really didn’t attract much attention in this city.

　　Then the little princess, riding the donkey, came out from the Xu residence street behind them, letting out a joyful shout, and dashed between the two of them like a husky about to wreck the house, charging into a riot of flowers ahead. This street was clearly a flower market—not only were all the shops on both sides selling all kinds of artificial flowers, but there were also vendors carrying baskets selling fresh flowers on the street, and some shops even had potted flowers on display...

　　The whole street was like this.

　　Edward Clark had no interest in stopping her—she didn’t have any money anyway.

　　He curiously watched the street, where a strange group was passing by: two young men wearing green headscarves, green belts around their waists, and leather boots...

　　Fur-lined leather boots.

　　And it was obvious they were made from the most common livestock hides.

　　So it looked like they had two hooves.

　　On their shoulders, they carried a flat wooden plank, on which lay a sickly old man. Two others, dressed the same, walked alongside to steady him so he wouldn’t fall off—after all, it was just a plank a bit wider than a carrying pole, so sitting on it clearly took some skill. But it was clear that all five of them were not Han Chinese, but rather Semu people. This was the early Ming, and there were still many Semu people left from the Yuan dynasty. In fact, there were quite a few in the shops on both sides.

　　“Didn’t you say commoners weren’t allowed to wear boots, and even in winter could only wrap their ankles in fur? These clearly aren’t officials, right?”

　　Edward Clark said.

　　“Semu people of the lowly class are only allowed to wear these fur-lined boots.”

　　Andrew Bolton said.

　　“What about that plank?”