Not long after, news came that he had been beaten unconscious. Miss Foster's heart skipped a beat at the time, and she sent someone to inquire. The result was that this fellow had been beaten up for cheating at a gambling house, which finally put Miss Foster's mind at ease...

Later, she even paid a visit, but was driven out by Henry Walker's mother. After that, Emily Foster left Fuyang, traveling to Hangzhou and Nanjing, and gradually forgot about this person.

But last month, on her way back to Fuyang by boat from Hangzhou, she overheard a few idle youths talking about Henry Walker and David Walker. Unable to resist, she listened closely, and was utterly shocked—she heard one of them sigh, saying that back when Henry Walker was around, he would treat them to meals every day, how wonderful it was. What a pity that he dared to cheat at the gambling house and ended up beaten into a living corpse.

Another sneered, “Cheating at the gambling house? That’s not what happened at all! David Walker got himself into trouble and was killed for it!”

“Who did it?” The group was startled, and Emily Foster was even more stunned.

“I don’t know, but I heard it from the boss at the Qian family’s gambling house when he was drunk.” That person said mysteriously, “He said the kid planned to block the magistrate’s carriage on his first day in office to file a complaint. But he heard that to file a complaint you need a written petition, so he foolishly went to find someone to write one. Who knew that person would turn around and report him to the Zhao family!”

“You mean it was the Zhao family who did it?”

“I never said that.”

The youths soon changed the subject, but Emily Foster was left so shocked she couldn’t speak. After returning to Fuyang, she considered going to the Wang family to reveal the truth, but if she did, her own responsibility would become much greater.

But if she said nothing, everything would remain as it was.

Emily Foster was no saint; she didn’t have to have a clear conscience. Besides, she had spent all her family’s wealth and was physically and mentally exhausted, all for one last effort on her brother’s case—everything else had to be put aside.

She told herself, whether that last effort succeeded or failed, afterward she would go to the Wang family to confess, accept whatever punishment, and never utter a word of complaint...

Who could have known that the supposedly never-to-awaken David Walker would suddenly wake up!

That day, she ran into Edward Walker at the Lu family’s pharmacy and learned the news. Emily Foster felt both happy and frustrated. Happy because David Walker was still alive, which lessened her guilt. Frustrated because this guy had been lying there for half a year—why couldn’t he have stayed unconscious a bit longer, until she finished her business?

That way, she could have taken the initiative to confess, instead of being in this awkward situation, as if she would have kept hiding the truth if he hadn’t woken up!

Sigh, now even if she jumped into the Yellow River, she couldn’t wash herself clean... Miss Foster thought resentfully.

...

Determined to create an “inspirational legend—the prodigal returns, worth more than gold,” David Walker never expected that a simple act of asking for medicine money would ruin all his efforts, and in Miss Foster’s eyes, he became that rascal David Walker once again!

But he really was a rascal. Even if David Walker had listened to Miss Foster and gone to file a complaint, there was no reason to make her responsible—it wasn’t as if she forced him to do it. In fact, his plan to block the magistrate’s carriage and cry injustice wasn’t even for Miss Foster!

In this world, everyone saw David Walker as a good-for-nothing, a wastrel; no one truly understood him. Only now, with Henry Walker and him merged into one, did he realize that this boy wasn’t as bad as people thought—he was just a pitiful soul desperate to return to the past.

You have to know, just two years ago, the Wang family was still a highly respected upper-class family in the county. At that time, Old Walker hadn’t been thrown in prison yet; he was the county’s criminal office scribe! People nowadays think minor officials are insignificant, but that’s not the case. How many officials are there in a county? Besides the county magistrate and the “two assistants, three yamen, four old clerks,” the six office scribes held the most power. To put it another way, Old Walker’s former position was like being the director of the county’s public security, justice bureau, and political-legal committee—all rolled into one!

Back then, Old Walker was truly a big shot—relied upon by the magistrate, courted by the gentry, and feared by the common folk! Any matter in the county related to law or punishment had to go through him. As the saying goes, “eat from the plaintiff, eat from the defendant,” and with all the customary fees and rules, he didn’t need to break the law to make a fortune!

The Wang family at that time wasn’t fabulously wealthy, but they certainly lived well—eating and drinking the best, wearing gold and silver, living in a big house with maids and servants. Naturally, a rich young master like Henry Walker, who fought cocks and raced dogs and idled about, was bound to emerge.

But fortune is fickle. Old Walker often walked by the river—how could he not get his shoes wet? Two years ago, this old hand who had always come out unscathed finally fell headlong into the Lin family’s case...

As for that case which changed his life, Henry Walker remembered it vividly. At first, it was just an ordinary missing persons case. Later, the family appealed, but the magistrate rejected it. Who knew that just as the circuit inspector was visiting the county, the family appealed again—not only was the case overturned, but several officials below the magistrate were implicated. As the criminal office scribe, Old Walker bore the brunt and could hardly escape. At first, he was sentenced to two hundred strokes and exile three thousand miles away. Later, the family spent a fortune to pull strings, and the sentence was changed to labor at the Shaoxing salt works.

This case was a fatal blow to the Wang family. Old Man lost his income and privileges, was forced to return all illicit gains and pay fines, and with connections greased all the way to the capital, even a mountain of gold would have been emptied.

Besides, Old Walker had only been the chief scribe for a couple of years, so the family’s foundation wasn’t deep. How could the Wang family not fall?

Chapter 0006: What Is Love in This World?