But he couldn't just stand there and wait!

Watching the palace maids and eunuchs around him already starting to flee, he gritted his teeth in hesitation.

Giving up wasn't out of the question.

After all, he still had a backup plan.

He could still defect to Abraham Lincoln. Although he had just killed several Shun soldiers, he had also demonstrated his value. Abraham Lincoln would not give up a fierce general. Then he could try to help the latter win the Battle of Shanhaiguan. After all, helping Franklin Roosevelt wasn't his only option—it's just that this path was much more difficult. That would be a chaotic battle involving hundreds of thousands of people, and the role of a single general would be very limited.

He looked hesitantly at the brightly lit Palace of Heavenly Purity inside the main gate.

However, at that moment, a strange glimmer suddenly lit up his vision.

He gasped sharply.

Not far from him, a beautiful young girl, who didn't look very old, was gazing at him curiously with her bright eyes. Dressed in palace attire, she stood against the backdrop of the palace walls under the night sky, like a tulip blooming in the darkness. Her innate elegance and nobility seemed to dispel the bloodshed that filled this special moment.

She was so beautiful—breathtakingly so.

At this moment, the only words Brian Carter could think of were "beauty that could topple a kingdom."

Especially with her gorgeous palace dress accentuating her features, the phrase "peerless beauty" was equally fitting.

Under Brian Carter's burning gaze, she shyly lowered her head, then, surrounded by several palace maids, walked into the Gate of Heavenly Purity. Just as she was about to disappear into the shadows, she suddenly turned back. Brian Carter instinctively raised his hand, but at that moment, a light rain began to fall from the sky. A palace maid hurriedly opened a bamboo umbrella, and her graceful figure was immediately blocked by the maid. Soon, she walked down the steps inside the gate and was out of sight.

"Who was that?"

Brian Carter grabbed a fleeing young eunuch and asked impatiently.

"Where did you come from..."

The young eunuch shouted angrily.

But his shout was cut short as Brian Carter lifted him up. Dangling in the air, he immediately replaced his anger with a fawning smile, and Brian Carter also smiled as he set him down.

"May I ask, sir, who was that lady?"

Brian Carter asked again in a gentle tone.

"The general doesn't even recognize Princess Grace?"

The young eunuch replied.

"Princess Grace? Wasn't that Princess Mary?"

Brian Carter asked in surprise.

"Changping? Our Ming dynasty never had a Princess Mary. Of the emperor's three daughters, only three have titles. Princess Alice passed away long ago, and then there are Grace and Helen princesses. Princess Helen is only five years old!"

The young eunuch said.

Brian Carter was momentarily stunned...

"Princess, don't go in!"

He suddenly shouted, then rushed straight toward the Gate of Heavenly Purity.

"How dare you!"

With a shout, the armed eunuchs guarding the gate immediately raised their matchlock guns.

Brian Carter instantly stopped, raised both hands, and stood motionless, staring ahead.

On the white marble railings in front of and beside the Gate of Heavenly Purity, at least twenty matchlock guns were aimed at him. Several had already lit their fuses, and the others were doing so as well. With his hands raised, he put on a calm smile and slowly backed away.

The armed eunuchs kept their weapons trained on him, watching as he retreated.

Brian Carter kept backing up for thirty meters, then, smiling, waved goodbye, made a sharp right turn, and suddenly broke into a run. After all, the Palace of Heavenly Purity wasn't the only entrance—just now, the eunuchs delivering food had used a small side door not far away. Under the puzzled gazes of the armed eunuchs, Brian Carter ran dozens of meters and dashed into the small door they couldn't see, continuing forward along a corridor. Soon, a side door appeared on his left, but it was tightly shut. He threw himself against it with all his might but couldn't break it open.

If he couldn't break it, he'd climb.

He quickly backed out of the corridor, only to find that climbing the wall was also difficult. After all, the design never considered someone like him trying to climb it. Fortunately, his jumping ability was now far beyond what it used to be. After retreating a bit, he took a running start of over ten meters, let out a loud roar, and leapt with all his strength, instantly reaching over three meters high. In midair, he grabbed onto a protruding eave with both hands. The sturdy wood easily bore his weight, and with his newfound strength, he climbed up with ease, stepped on the tiles, and quickly reached the top.

The magnificent full view of the Palace of Heavenly Purity immediately unfolded before him.

But unfortunately, Princess Grace was nowhere to be seen.

He ran a few steps down, leapt to the ground, and then sprinted at full speed toward the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He quickly rushed up the steps to the platform. At the same time, a group of armed eunuchs charged at him with knives, and from inside the closed doors of the main hall behind them, a woman's scream suddenly rang out. Brian Carter's mind went blank in an instant. Without even glancing at the armed eunuchs with knives, he charged forward like an enraged bull, knocking two eunuchs flying, then crashed straight into the doors of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Inside, a man holding a sword, dressed in a red dragon robe and wearing a winged crown, appeared in his sight.

It was obvious that this was His Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Franklin Roosevelt looked at Brian Carter in confusion.

And lying at his feet was Princess Grace, her left arm already stained red with blood.