As for what kind of calamity it was and how he got through it, just talking about it made Thomas Foster break out in a cold sweat. That third narrow-eyed imperial physician wasn’t an imperial physician at all, but rather the Censorate’s revising official Leonard Thompson, who was also Charles Bennett’s close friend and a renowned painter on par with Charles Bennett, especially skilled at painting figures.

A few years ago, he had visited the Prince Consort’s residence and painted a scroll called “Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden,” depicting all the friends who attended the banquet. Michael Harris even wrote a special essay about the painting, which became a much-told tale at the time.

The Princess Royal of Shu went to the palace to seek an imperial physician, and happened to run into the emperor in her mother’s quarters. This princess was not only gentle by nature, but also incapable of lying. When the emperor questioned her, she immediately revealed Charles Bennett’s amnesia.

Chapter 5: Repayment

The emperor was furious upon hearing this. Charles Bennett had already been implicated in the impeachment case against the new policies, and it had taken great effort to suppress it. Now he was openly hosting a grand farewell banquet for Stephen Wright. If not for fear of upsetting his sister, he would have already punished and exiled him.

Don’t think that just because the Princess Royal of Shu kept quiet, the emperor was unaware of the Prince Consort’s actions. The Imperial City Department wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing; the emperor’s in-laws were always under close surveillance, and every move was in the emperor’s eyes. He simply didn’t want to tear things open and disgrace the royal family.

And now, they were pulling the “feigning illness” trick again—did they really think everyone else was a fool? No emperor in history could tolerate someone challenging his dignity and intelligence, not even a brother-in-law, not even a blood brother!

So the emperor summoned Leonard Thompson and headed straight for the Prince Consort’s residence, intending to expose Charles Bennett’s trickery face-to-face and then immediately punish and exile him. That way, not only would his anger be appeased, but he could also give his sister an explanation.

See, it’s not that the elder brother is being heartless, but that your husband is too outrageous. Daring to deceive the emperor to his face—maybe this was a good opportunity for the Princess Royal of Shu to get a divorce. After all, even the emperor’s sister has trouble finding a husband, even if it’s a second marriage.

According to the emperor’s thinking, two close friends meeting suddenly should at least act a little strange. Leonard Thompson was a timid man who hadn’t even dared attend Stephen Wright’s farewell banquet, so he certainly wouldn’t dare collude with Charles Bennett to deceive the emperor.

But when the two met, Charles Bennett didn’t suspect Leonard Thompson’s identity at all, nor did he show any abnormality—he truly acted as if they were strangers. This made the emperor hesitate. After hearing Nanny Bennett’s account of Charles Bennett’s behavior after Samuel Wright, he was basically convinced that Charles Bennett really had lost his mind.

You can forget friends, wives, and servants, but you can’t possibly not know your own father has died. That was beyond the moral limits of the time.

Since it was a real illness, the emperor’s anger subsided. Just as well—using the illness as an excuse, he could keep his brother-in-law around for now and see whether he was truly mad or just pretending. With the Imperial City Department watching, he could fake it for a day, ten days, even a month, but could he really keep it up for several months without slipping up?

Of course, the emperor didn’t share any of these thoughts with Nanny Bennett; all of this was Thomas Foster’s guess. But regardless of what the emperor was thinking, he was bound to be disappointed this time. He really wasn’t faking, and wouldn’t give himself away. From now on, the Prince Consort who appeared before the world would be one hundred percent mad and eccentric.

Is being crazy so bad? For someone with grand ambitions, it certainly is—who would want to follow a madman to start a business? But for Thomas Foster, it was perfect.

His lifestyle, way of speaking, and way of thinking were all completely different from people of this era. For example, his friends—just a few minutes of conversation would immediately reveal something was off.

If he were to draw a picture or compose a poem, he’d be exposed right away—he couldn’t even handle a brush properly or compose couplets, let alone paint or write poetry. How would he explain that?

But now, with amnesia, it was perfectly normal to remember nothing. Anyone who argued with a madman would be the one acting strange. And didn’t the imperial physician say so? This illness could recover partially or even fully at any time. When he didn’t want to act crazy, he’d say he’d recovered; if things looked risky, he’d go back to being mad. Flexible and convenient—truly a divine tool!

“Wife, I heard from Nanny that I treated you very badly before. Just think of the old Charles Bennett as dead. The current Bennett plans to turn over a new leaf and be a model husband. I’m not just saying this to fool you—I’ll take action. Step one: I’ll get rid of all the concubines! I’ll compensate them however is appropriate, so they won’t be wronged. After all, it’s not their fault.”

Hearing that the emperor was no longer considering how to punish him, Thomas Foster was overjoyed. He really owed it to the princess—if not for her good relationship with the emperor, even if he truly was mad, he’d probably have been driven out of the capital to rot in some godforsaken place.

Now, Thomas Foster found the Princess Royal of Shu more and more pleasing to the eye. She really was as Nanny Bennett had said—exceptionally gentle, and even with her imperial brother standing outside the room, she showed not a trace of arrogance. When the imperial physician was treating him, she stood by the bed, her eyes full of concern, asking even more detailed questions than he did himself.

With such a noble, beautiful, and virtuous wife, Thomas Foster couldn’t think of anything to be dissatisfied with. The only flaw was that she was too frail, her complexion pale, as if she might collapse at any moment.