With a bit of information, William Carter immediately waved his hand to tell David Bolton and the others to get lost, then told Tommy to come inside with him. Without waiting for David Bolton and the others to react, he turned and went straight into the house.

Chapter 0002 Must Kill Him

"Ah... yes." Slightly stunned, but out of long habit, David Bolton quickly responded and bowed as he walked out. The rules of the Prince of Zhen's residence were famously strict, and he had long since gotten used to them.

He just kept glancing at William Carter as he entered the house, his mind still in chaos, unable to make sense of it all.

"Oh!" Tommy also answered out of habit, timidly following inside.

William Carter sat down in the room and looked at the timid Tommy who had followed him in. At this moment, she seemed even more frightened than when David Bolton was dragging her away and saying she would lose her life. Thinking back to Tommy's earlier behavior, William Carter immediately understood: this Tommy had already realized that the original young prince was dead, and what she did was just to buy time.

She stayed for this very reason—she must have discovered something. Thinking of the way she called out when she noticed David Bolton looking at him, it was clearly intentional. William Carter became even more interested in this usually quiet, somewhat frail-looking little maid.

"Don't be nervous. I'm alive and well now. I guess you could say I've died once already. If you don't believe me, come over and feel my heartbeat?" Seeing her look as if she'd seen a ghost, William Carter smiled and pointed to his own chest.

As soon as Tommy heard this, she shook her head vigorously, couldn't help glancing back, and, seeing that David Bolton and the others had already left, immediately took two steps back, not daring to get any closer to William Carter.

Counting it up, William Carter had already lived three lives. From an ordinary student on Earth, he was forcibly brought into the Immortal Realm due to his special body, then spent a hundred years there, even triggering great upheaval in the Immortal Realm. Not to mention, he had learned things from the Sky-Peering Treasure Mirror. In terms of life experience, he was extremely seasoned, and with one look, he could already tell what Tommy was thinking.

"How did you realize David Bolton was suspicious?" Seeing that Tommy was too nervous and terrified, with that look as if she'd seen a ghost, William Carter felt a bit sorry for her and didn't want to dwell on it too much. After all, everything was starting anew, so he changed the subject and got straight to the point.

"Um..." The extremely nervous Tommy, upon hearing William Carter's specific question, hesitated slightly, her two index fingers touching behind her back to ease her fear as she hurriedly replied, "He... he deliberately tried to get young master to drink, but... I only realized something was wrong later. After the young prince had an accident, the other guards seemed to listen to him, and he didn't report it right away. Instead, he went out, and..."

"And kept trying to get me to leave. Obviously, as soon as I left, he could pin the blame on me. Also, earlier he accidentally mentioned that once he reached Foundation Establishment and entered the Path of Longevity, what he would do... all of this is very abnormal. And if I left, I'd never have the chance or ability to avenge you, young master... uh..." After a few sentences, Tommy finally started to speak more fluently and normally.

In fact, when she realized David Bolton was suspicious and saw that William Carter was truly dead, she had already made up her mind to avenge the young master no matter what.

She was picked up and raised by William Carter since childhood. Others called William Carter the young prince, but only she habitually called him young master. She knew there wasn't much she could do, and her only chance was to hold out until she could see the Prince of Zhen. That's why she had stayed by William Carter's side, insisting he wasn't dead, trying to let more people know, and refusing to leave even if it meant dying. But now, looking at William Carter sitting there alive, it was still the young master she had watched over all night, the one who had died.

"Mm." William Carter nodded slightly after listening. Most things had already become clear to him with just a glance after waking up. As for David Bolton, his rebellious look, improper complexion, and shifty eyes all clearly showed he was up to no good and hiding something. But Tommy's words did help him recall some other memories.

The Han Empire had never had the concept of hostages. For those subordinate states, it was never necessary, because the Han Empire was too powerful. Only twenty years ago, the Han Empire faced its greatest crisis since its founding. Back then, the Prince of Zhen, Anderson, turned the tide as the main force, achieving unparalleled merit and becoming the first non-imperial Nine-Star Prince in a thousand years. To balance and stabilize the situation, two other non-imperial princes were also granted titles.

But then their power became too great, so the empire required them to send hostages to the capital. William Carter and the other two unlucky ones became the first hostages since the founding of the Han Empire. Anderson's dominance was well known, and when the emperor demanded hostages, he immediately married nine concubines in one go, and his number of sons jumped from four to over eighteen, making his attitude clear.

Thinking of this, William Carter couldn't help but want to laugh, because from his memories, it seemed he had never even met this father of his. And Anderson didn't seem to care much for this son either. The key issue was, everyone knew Anderson would rebel. So after thinking it over, William Carter realized he was in a very troublesome situation—damn, his own circumstances were really bad.

"Y-young master, maybe you should have someone contact the prince right away?" Seeing William Carter deep in thought and silent, Tommy carefully reminded him, because they were still in great danger, extremely so.