Then he gathered all his strength into his legs, waiting like a leopard about to pounce. At the moment the last Shun soldier passed the alley entrance, he suddenly sprang out from the darkness, moving at the limit of his speed, gliding past the end of the squad like a ghost in the blink of an eye, knocking out and carrying off that soldier, then crashing headlong into the darkness of the opposite alley.

He was incredibly fast.

Although there was certainly a gap compared to a real leopard, he was definitely moving at over twenty meters per second.

He flashed by in the half-light, almost too quick to see.

A Shun soldier instinctively turned his head.

“Old Miller?”

He called out.

“Mm!”

Brian Carter answered with a nasal sound from the darkness.

“Hurry up, you and your endless peeing!”

The Shun soldier automatically assumed he was just looking for a place to relieve himself, cursed, and kept moving forward. Brian Carter quickly stripped off Old Miller's clothes and put them on. Their builds were about the same. He pulled the felt cap down over his head, rolled on the ground to make it look like he’d accidentally fallen in the mud, even smearing some on his face. In the darkness, that was enough. He tied up Old Miller, gagged him, and left him in a hidden spot, then quickly ran out to catch up with the squad.

The soldier who had called to him glanced back casually, then kept moving.

Soon, they stopped in front of a residence.

Brian Carter quickly retreated into the shadows and saw the officer leading the group whisper a few words to a servant-looking man beside him. The latter immediately nodded and smiled obsequiously, bowing low. The officer waved him away, then gestured behind him. A burly soldier stepped forward and, without hesitation, slammed into the main gate. The door burst open, and the soldiers surged inside. Brian Carter, head lowered under his felt cap, followed the rush in, and the moment he entered, he immediately smiled...

Franklin Roosevelt and David Clark were coming out in a panic.

The inner attendants were loyal enough—even though they were unarmed, they still anxiously shielded Franklin Roosevelt.

“So you’re that dog emperor?”

The officer said gleefully.

At that moment, Princess Grace stood at the side room door, holding onto the frame. As if by some silent understanding, her gaze fell on Brian Carter, but she said nothing, turning her head away as if she hadn’t seen him. However, Princess Helen beside her clearly lacked such awareness.

“Brian Carter, did you bring them here?”

The little girl angrily pointed at Brian Carter and demanded.

The officer turned around in astonishment. In the next instant, everyone in the courtyard—including Franklin Roosevelt—focused their gaze on Brian Carter. The Shun soldiers around him immediately pointed their blades and spears at him, and the soldier from earlier also realized something was wrong.

“He’s not Old Miller!”

He cried out belatedly.

“Princess, if I had brought them, would they have been able to find this place? Lord Eunuch, why couldn’t you just wait for me there? I gave up a bright future, refused Li Zicheng’s offer, and after being hunted all over the city by Li Laiheng for a whole day, I finally got a chance to come back after dark. I had everything ready to get you out of the city, just waiting to leave together. But you ditched me! Even if you had to ditch me, couldn’t you at least find someone more loyal than me? Instead, you ran to someone who turned around and betrayed you in an instant. You’ve really put me in a tough spot—what am I supposed to do now?”

Brian Carter said sorrowfully.

“Duke of Cheng, is this how you repay His Majesty’s favor?”

David Clark cried out in grief and indignation, looking up at the sky.

Alright, Brian Carter immediately realized who they had run to after escaping—they had gone to Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chuncheng. It was also possible that while he was out buying medicine, they had already been in contact with Zhu Chuncheng. After all, Franklin Roosevelt could never truly trust him; he still harbored naive fantasies about those noble lords.

After all, Zhu Chuncheng was a descendant of Zhu Neng!

And a royal son-in-law, sharing the nation’s fate.

In Franklin Roosevelt’s eyes, he was obviously more reliable than a brash, rude, and clearly covetous little Jinyiwei captain like him. Not to mention, his own abilities were no match for a duke with countless retainers. If you wanted to escape Beijing safely, the latter seemed more trustworthy. So Zhu Chuncheng quickly settled them in this small courtyard, then sent someone to inform on them to Li Zicheng, so he wouldn’t have to bear the infamy of betraying his old master...

Even though everyone knew what was really going on.

But as long as Franklin Roosevelt wasn’t captured from his mansion, he could still pat his chest and claim innocence. Even if it was some treacherous servant in his household who betrayed his master, he would still be innocent. He’d execute that servant to atone to His Majesty’s spirit in heaven—what a misfortune for the family to produce such a fiend! Then he could step over Franklin Roosevelt’s corpse and let Li Zicheng pat his head like a loyal dog.

Honestly, Franklin Roosevelt was still too naive!

He had no idea how dangerous the outside world was.

Almost at the instant everyone’s attention was drawn by Old Clark’s shout, Brian Carter suddenly knocked aside two Shun soldiers, rushed to Princess Grace, and without hesitation scooped up both her and Princess Helen, then dashed to Franklin Roosevelt and the others. He set the princesses down, turned around, and smiled at the officer.