Charles Bennett's previous good performance had an effect; Mr. Bennett did not get angry, but instead let him continue speaking. Clearly, he was gradually starting to treat him as an adult.

Someone about to join the training camp and prepare to go to the battlefield is indeed no longer suitable to be treated as a child.

“Mr. Foster has always been at odds with Father and has had no dealings with him. This time, however, he took the initiative to invite Father to meet. I think he harbors ill intentions and may have ulterior motives.”

Charles Bennett spoke each word with care.

Charles Bennett knew that his father disliked family members interfering in his official business the most. These words should not have come from a fifteen-year-old child like him, but Charles Bennett had no choice but to say them.

In his previous life, that Mr. Foster Frank Foster had used official business as a pretext to invite his father—who had never had much interaction with him—to a meeting.

In fact, Father was not without caution. If Frank Foster had said anything at the meeting or tried to win him over, Father would have sternly refused. But this Frank Foster was extremely cunning; at the banquet, he said nothing, just pulled Father into drinking, chatting only about trivial matters.

Afterwards, Frank Foster deliberately leaked this matter to Robert King.

Robert King was a member of the royal family, a counselor in the Ministry of War, and one of the few royals with real power and a voice in the ministry. Because of Grandfather, Robert King was especially fond of Father.

Father, William Bennett, was able to reach his current position and become a powerful regional military commander at a young age, largely thanks to Robert King.

Father “secretly” met with the enemy, Frank Foster, who was loyal to Richard King, without telling Robert King. How could Robert King not be angry?

Normally, it might not have mattered.

But at that time, Robert King and Richard King were openly and covertly fighting in court, like fire and water. Dozens of Robert King's protégés and old friends in court had been won over by Richard King, defecting one after another, leaving Robert King isolated and powerless, his influence greatly diminished.

These events were a huge blow to Robert King, making him extremely suspicious. For Father to meet privately with Frank Foster at this time, one can imagine how Robert King felt.

Worse still, Father was upright and inflexible by nature. Even knowing Robert King was suspicious, he still said that Frank Foster had contacted him but they talked about nothing, just drank together all afternoon.

Two rival high ministers meeting privately but discussing nothing, only drinking—how could Robert King believe that?

Father’s explanation not only failed to clarify things, but made Robert King think Father had not only betrayed him, but was deliberately humiliating him after defecting to Richard King.

Later, Frank Foster deliberately misled Robert King with a series of maneuvers on the frontier, deepening Robert King's misunderstanding of Father.

As a result, The Bennett Family was also seen as opportunistic, switching allegiance to Richard King when Robert King lost favor.

The saying goes, “the deeper the love, the deeper the hate.” The relationship between Robert King and The Bennett Family spanned generations, was the closest, and involved the most effort and support. Thus, he found The Bennett Family's “betrayal” all the more unacceptable.

This incident was a huge blow to him, even harder to accept than the defection of those dozens of trusted protégés and old friends. Robert King was completely disappointed in The Bennett Family.

When Grandfather was alive, Robert King still considered their relationship and only stripped Father of his military command. After Grandfather passed away and Robert King's protection was gone, Richard King began to suppress The Bennett Family heavily.

In just a few years, the once-prominent The Bennett Family completely withdrew from the officialdom of the Great Tang Empire.

And with the loss of Robert King, the proactive main war faction, no one could counter Richard King. The empire’s strategy shifted from hard to soft, turning inward. This ultimately led to future disasters.

It can be said that this upheaval was not only a disaster for The Bennett Family and Robert King, but for the entire court!

All three parties were losers in this upheaval; even Richard King himself was not the final winner.

The impact of this event was so profound that Charles Bennett remembered it clearly.

The fate of the entire The Bennett Family and the whole court began to change from that moment, and Father, until his death, was haunted by it, saying his greatest mistake in life was accepting Frank Foster's invitation and failing to explain himself to Robert King.

Charles Bennett remembered this matter clearly.

In his previous life, Charles Bennett was muddle-headed, refused to accept anything, and felt no affection for this family. By the time he realized and cherished his family and wanted to change things, it was already too late.

For Charles Bennett, this was also a deep regret.

The previous life was one thing, but in this life, since he knew how things would unfold, Charles Bennett would never stand by and watch.

He was determined to stop this!

However, these things were not easy for Charles Bennett to explain directly to his father.

“This matter is not for a child like you to get involved in. I have my own plans.”

Mr. Bennett said calmly, his face showing little expression.

There had been grudges between the ancestors of the Yao and Bennett families, but that was a matter of the previous dynasty and long ago. As for himself and Frank Foster, there was actually not much conflict.

Mr. Bennett was not unaware of the situation between Robert King and Richard King. He intended to avoid meeting, but also worried that a complete falling out would make things awkward, as they would inevitably cross paths.

After all, there was actually not much conflict between the two of them.