So over the years, countless palace maids and eunuchs around him had come and gone, but this young eunuch had always stayed by his side. Whatever needed doing, he would entrust it to him. Thus, everyone in the palace knew that this young official was Henry Lewis’s trusted confidant.

“No need!” Waving his hand, Henry Lewis had no appetite at the moment, nor was he hungry, and he wasn’t in the habit of snacking: “Just bring some tea!”

Tea had already started to become popular at this time, though not with as many varieties as in later generations. But with Henry Lewis’s current status, whatever kind of tea he wanted was just a word away, and naturally there were people eager to figure out how to brew the best tea for him.

As for not putting on airs when speaking with these eunuchs and maids, he had only discovered after arriving here that even in the imperial family, people didn’t constantly flaunt their status in daily conversation. What he’d seen on TV before was pure nonsense. When he first realized this, he’d even sighed to himself: “What a pity, I can’t just act high and mighty at will.”

The tea he’d requested was soon brought in. Henry Lewis first took a sniff, then waved his hand at the maid standing nearby: “All of you may leave, only Paul Carter stays!” With this order, everyone else quickly withdrew. Once the room was clear, before he could even ask, Paul Carter had already come close and whispered, “His Majesty’s health is getting worse.”

Henry Lewis didn’t turn his head, as if lost in thought while gazing at the tea before him, but his reply was immediate: “Last month, Father established the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden and personally went to supervise, but caught a sudden illness. Now it seems that this sudden illness has become a serious one.”

Paul Carter said nothing, as the topic was too sensitive for him to comment on.

Henry Lewis hadn’t expected him to say anything anyway. After standing for a while, he continued on his own: “Speaking of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden, that Colonel of the Army, Charles Carter, is related to you, isn’t he?”

“In terms of seniority, I should call Colonel Carter uncle.”

Paul Carter didn’t know why Henry Lewis was asking this. He thought there would be more questions about that uncle, but after that one sentence, Henry Lewis said nothing further and just stood there lost in thought. After who knows how long, he finally asked, “Has anything else happened recently?”

Almost without hesitation, Paul Carter replied, “It’s said that the Third Prince caught a chill while resting last night, and this morning the imperial physician went to the Empress Dowager’s palace to treat him!”

“Oh!”

Others might not know what was really going on, but Henry Lewis understood that this matter was actually somewhat related to him.

Because his younger brother, though not especially strong in dragon qi, was still much stronger than him. After he was born, he himself had almost no dragon qi at all. If not for his status as a prince, he might not have been able to cultivate the emperor’s dragon qi at all.

Even so, his progress with the emperor’s dragon qi was still slow. Not only could he not perform any earth-shattering immortal arts, even the more ordinary tricks were difficult for him to pull off.

This reality had troubled Henry Lewis for quite some time, until he realized that if he wanted to cultivate the emperor’s dragon qi, he had only one choice: ascend the throne!

Especially after figuring out his situation, he understood that if he wanted to become emperor, just waiting around wouldn’t work. So he had to choose a less honorable method: forcibly seizing dragon qi!

He didn’t know if it was the result of this dragon qi being taken, but his younger brother fell ill every few days, looking as if he might die at any moment. But Henry Lewis knew that, though his methods were dishonorable, they wouldn’t actually endanger his brother’s life. He had already made up his mind: “Anyway, you won’t enjoy being emperor in the future. As long as I can ascend the throne, at least I can guarantee you a lifetime of happiness and peace!”

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Henry Lewis suddenly furrowed his brow, but quickly returned to normal. He waved his hand at Paul Carter beside him: “You may go now!”

Paul Carter knew that Henry Lewis liked quiet, so he didn’t think much of it and respectfully withdrew. Once he was gone, Henry Lewis finally closed his eyes, quietly stirring the faintly golden mist within his body. Then he raised his hand and made a beckoning gesture toward the slightly open window.

Almost at the same moment, a small white shadow, less than half the size of a palm, flew in through the window, turned and fluttered lightly down into Henry Lewis’s palm. Only then could it be seen clearly: the white shadow was actually a white crane folded from silk.

Such a thing, folded from white silk, seemed almost alive in Henry Lewis’s hand. It flapped its wings twice, then used its pointed beak to tidy up its nonexistent feathers, and finally settled obediently in Henry Lewis’s hand, unmoving, meeting his gaze.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became extremely strange: a young man holding a bowl of tea in his left hand and a little “toy” in his right, staring blankly, motionless—if anyone saw, they’d think he was a statue.

After a long while, Henry Lewis finally tucked the silk crane into his sleeve, then looked in another direction and chuckled softly to himself: “Trying to force me to leave Luoyang? Wishful thinking!”

Just then, he heard Paul Carter call from outside: “Your Highness, the Empress requests your presence for dinner and conversation.”

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Chapter 2 Empress Harris