So Brian Carter and his group hid in this commoner’s house and didn’t run into any trouble. After all, the Shun army was busy seizing the mansions of the wealthy, and only a small squad of soldiers made a token patrol through the alley outside.

Brian Carter straightforwardly forced David Clark to write a banner praising Abraham Lincoln, then had Princess Helen, dressed in rags with her little face smeared with dirt, take it outside. The adorable little girl shouting “Long live the Great Shun Emperor!” was certainly endearing, and she even got a big pancake as a reward from a Shun soldier. Franklin Roosevelt’s expression was truly something to behold.

Chapter Five Abraham Lincoln

Brian Carter stuffed a large bundle of medicinal herbs into his clothes, glanced cautiously to both sides like an underground agent in a movie, then beckoned to the eunuch leading the way, and together they headed toward the street ahead.

Princess Grace’s injury had to be treated.

In the original history, after her arm was cut off, she was rescued by palace maids. Soon after, Abraham Lincoln entered the palace and specifically ordered her to be sent to her grandfather’s house, that is, Daniel Scott’s home, which temporarily saved her life.

But now things were different.

Even if they managed to escape Beijing, they would still face the hardships of fleeing. The area for hundreds of miles around Beijing was all under Shun army control. Although Brian Carter said they were heading to Tianjin, that was just talk. First, Tongzhou would surrender today, so they couldn’t even get past the first stop on the way to Tianjin. What’s more, Tianjin would soon surrender as well. The only nearby Ming forces besides George Washington were Mark Thompson’s troops in Linqing, but Mark Thompson would soon be routed and retreat toward Huai’an. So, if they really wanted to escape, it would be a difficult road.

If her injury wasn’t properly treated, she probably wouldn’t make it far before dying on the road.

Wearing an old scholar’s robe and a battered square cap, looking like a poor scholar, Brian Carter walked through the snow-covered capital. Because the Shun army had forcibly ordered shops to remain open, there were still quite a few pedestrians on the streets. After all, regardless of dynastic change, people still had to live their lives. Then, when the iron hooves of foreign invaders trampled the land two months later, they would continue to live numbly like this. Three hundred years later, when the colonizers arrived, it would be the same. When the Japanese invaders came, it would still be the same.

“This is the common people,”

Brian Carter sighed.

Just then, the sound of urgent hoofbeats came from behind. He and the eunuch, dressed similarly, quickly ducked to the side.

“Make way for the emperor! Make way for the emperor!”

Several Shun cavalrymen galloped past, shouting and waving their whips. Wherever they passed, the people on both sides of the street quickly stopped, trembling as they knelt or bowed.

Brian Carter exchanged a glance with the eunuch.

The two of them immediately squeezed in behind a crowd. Before they could bow, an official-looking man emerged from a courtyard gate, holding a paper flag reading “Long live the Great Shun Emperor!” Servants carried an incense table and wine and meat, setting them by the roadside. The official, followed by his family, knelt solemnly to welcome the emperor.

Brian Carter and the eunuch, understanding each other, knelt down beside them.

At this moment, Abraham Lincoln could be seen in the distance.

The Chuang King wore a felt hat and light blue clothes, riding a black-and-white horse, followed by a large group of fully armored cavalry. There were also two men in scholar’s robes, presumably Paul Green and Matthew Foster.

Having just reached the peak of his life, the Chuang King looked energetic, smiling and nodding to people on both sides. The officials and gentry who had surrendered immediately began to sing his praises, their enthusiasm undampened even by the wind and snow. If Franklin Roosevelt saw this scene, his face would be even darker.

However, Abraham Lincoln didn’t show them much courtesy.

The Chuang King’s procession, treading through the mud made by freezing rain and snow, passed straight down the main street.

This was Deshengmen Avenue. He had to circle west around the Imperial City from here and enter through the main gate, the Daming Gate. It was said that he shot arrows at the gate plaques of Xichanganmen and Chengtianmen, but didn’t hit the center, instead striking a bit lower. Paul Green flattered him, saying this was at least a sign of dividing the world in half.

Abraham Lincoln was quite pleased.

But this was just according to Philip King. It made sense that Abraham Lincoln shot at Chengtianmen, but shooting at Xichanganmen was odd, since he entered the Imperial City through Daming Gate, not Xichanganmen. Who would use a side gate instead of the main entrance? So this story can only be regarded as a folk tale. After all, Philip King wasn’t in Beijing to see it himself; his “Ming Ji Bei Lue” was compiled from secondhand accounts.

Brian Carter, crouching behind the crowd, watched Abraham Lincoln with some emotion.

He, too, was a hero of his age!

In just over a decade, he rose from a bandit to rampage across half of China, plunging the world into chaos, even storming the capital and forcing the emperor to hang himself. That was certainly a spectacular feat. This man can’t be called a good person, nor was he a great revolutionary, but he wasn’t a mere bandit either. He rose from hunger and cold, so he did want to solve some real problems, but ultimately his abilities were limited. He destroyed the old era but couldn’t build a new one, leaving the door open for foreign invaders and plunging China into three hundred years of darkness, with consequences lingering to this day.

Of course, it can’t be said that he was guilty.

The real criminals were those who let people starve to death in peace. They were the true sinners.

Their greed left the Ming realm littered with corpses of the starved.