When Ethan Brooks had just left, Henry Clark also entered the Cining Palace to report to Mrs. Foster.

“Prince of Suining and some imperial guards who were about to leave the palace were riding horses and shooting arrows near the Qingshou Hall. He almost fell off his horse and was seen by His Majesty. His Majesty was furious and wanted to send these people to the Imperial City Department. Later, considering the commotion would be too great and would implicate the Prince of Suining, he instead punished those people by sending them to the Funing Hall to stand duty. Ethan Brooks has already been settled, and as for the Hall Prefect, he took the initiative to promote the leader among them to the position of escort officer...”

Franklin Pierce is currently titled the Prince of Suining.

After listening, Mrs. Foster remained expressionless and said, “This Franklin Pierce is indeed causing trouble, riding horses and shooting arrows in the palace, who knows how many disasters he’s caused! I heard His Majesty lectured him?”

Henry Clark bowed his head and replied, “Yes, I heard he was beaten quite harshly this time.”

Mrs. Foster remained as calm as ever and said, “His Majesty did the right thing. Franklin Pierce deserved to be beaten, and those people should also have been sent to the Imperial City Department. What else has His Majesty been busy with?”

Henry Clark understood Mrs. Foster’s meaning and said, “His Majesty just went to see the Prince of Suining once. The rest of the time he stayed in the Funing Hall and didn’t see anyone else.”

Mrs. Foster thought of that rumor, her eyes turning cold, and said, “We must find the person who harmed His Majesty. If you can’t find them, I’ll have outsiders come in to investigate.”

Allowing outside officials to enter the inner court to investigate would be a complete loss of face for Henry Clark, the grand steward.

Henry Clark gritted his teeth and said, “Your Majesty, please give me a little more time. I will definitely get to the bottom of this for you!”

Mrs. Foster also didn’t want this matter to become widely known. Unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t let outsiders in. Her expression grew a bit colder as she said, “You said earlier that William Foster only came into the palace to fetch something and didn’t see His Majesty?”

Henry Clark kept his head down and said, “Yes, that’s what Mr. Foster said.”

Mrs. Foster frowned. With her years of experience, she sensed something unusual about this matter, but it couldn’t be investigated openly. After thinking for a while, she said, “For now, keep this matter quiet and don’t let it spread. Find an opportunity to bring him to see me. I want to question him personally.”

Henry Clark agreed. The ‘assassination attempt on the emperor’ was a sword hanging over everyone’s head in the palace; no one could sleep peacefully until it was resolved.

Meanwhile, outside the Imperial City, on Niuxing Street, at The Foster Family.

A fat middle-aged man was pacing back and forth under the eaves, glancing at the main gate from time to time.

He kept wiping the cold sweat from his face, his eyes full of anxiety and unease.

No one knew how much time had passed when a woman came over. Seeing his appearance, she asked in confusion, “Master, it’s not even summer yet—why are you so hot?”

This middle-aged man was none other than Mrs. Foster’s nephew, William Foster, who held nominal titles such as Prefect of Ningzhou and Commander of the Militia.

He glanced at his Madam, looking agitated and uneasy, and said, “Has anyone else come from the palace? Not just from the palace—has anyone else come at all?”

Madam Baker, Mrs. Baker, looked at him with increasing confusion and said, “Haven’t you told us to refuse all visitors these days? Other than people from the palace, who else could have come?”

William Foster’s fat face twitched. He flung his sleeve and walked inside, saying, “From now on, don’t see anyone, not even people from the palace.”

Mrs. Baker had already noticed something was wrong with him and pressed further, “What exactly is going on? You’ve been acting strange ever since you came back from the palace. What happened?”

“Don’t ask. Don’t say a word to anyone, and keep the servants in line!”

“The more you say that, the more worried I get. You’d better explain it to me clearly…”

“I can’t explain it to you. Just do as I say!”

……

After Ethan Brooks left, Abraham Lincoln stayed in the study reading. After a while, he suddenly looked up and called out, “Franklin Pierce!”

He waited for a moment but got no response. Abraham Lincoln walked out and glanced outside the door, only to see a stool propped up against the wall with no one in sight.

Abraham Lincoln let out two angry laughs and said, “Fine, very well, just you wait!”

……

Early the next morning, after finishing breakfast, Abraham Lincoln stood idly in front of the steps, gazing at the morning sky.

He had no memorials to review here, and the imperial seal had been taken by Mrs. Foster, so he was essentially left with nothing to do.

He quickly grew bored of looking at the sky, and his gaze fell on the eunuchs, palace maids, and patrolling guards walking back and forth.

Samuel Hayes and the others were also basically idle, so they could only pace back and forth in front of the not-so-large gate of the Funing Hall to show they were on alert.

Being stared at by Abraham Lincoln made Samuel Hayes and the others’ scalps tingle, and their movements became a bit stiff.

One of them whispered to Samuel Hayes, “Big brother, what does His Majesty mean by this? Does he still want to punish us?”

Samuel Hayes was about to shake his head when he suddenly tensed up and scolded in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Samuel Hayes had great authority. At his low rebuke, the others immediately straightened up and dared not say another word.

Samuel Hayes glanced at Abraham Lincoln, as if he had thought of something, and his expression grew tense.

After watching for a while, Abraham Lincoln grew bored and had no choice but to return to his reading.

In his study, there weren’t many books about Wang Anshi’s reforms, because the current court despised Wang Anshi for ‘forgetting his ancestors’ and slandered him as much as possible. Everyone hoped Abraham Lincoln would be a benevolent emperor like Renzong, not an enterprising one like Shenzong.

Abraham Lincoln searched around and finally took out Sima Guang’s “Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government” and began to read it slowly.