As soon as these words were spoken, Eric Blake immediately stood up, not yet having thought of an excuse to slip away, but was caught right on the spot by Grace Harper, who grabbed her: “You’re not an outsider, what are you avoiding for! Quick, let him in.”

To Eric Blake, William Foster was indeed not an outsider. If the Empress was the pillar of the entire Wu family, then William Foster was the first head of the Wu clan. He was also the cousin of Eric Blake’s late father, so by rights, Eric Blake should call him uncle. Even putting aside this family connection, when Eric Blake frequented the Xianju Hall, she had often caught those two in their secret trysts.

The first time she saw it, she was shocked and found it unbelievable, but after seeing it again and again, she had grown used to it. Grace Harper was already forty and still unmarried—what was the harm in finding a lover?

However, this time, William Foster, who had come in the middle of the night, no longer had his usual air of confidence; instead, his face was filled with an indescribable panic. He didn’t even care that Eric Blake was still in the room, and hurried straight to Grace Harper.

“Grace, something’s wrong! I just got word that Zhang Jianzhi and his group have mobilized the Imperial Guards and are about to force their way into the palace! They not only want to kill the Zhang brothers, but also claim they’ll wipe out my Wu family and restore the Li-Tang dynasty! Aunt is gravely ill, and those two brats from the Zhang family are ungrateful traitors. Even if I went to warn them, it would be useless. Grace, you have to help me think of a way!”

The two women in the room were stunned by this sudden news.

Chapter Three: Crisis Is Also Opportunity

Perhaps it was the arrival of William Foster that brought a chill into the room, for the lights inside began to flicker. One of the oil lamps, after its flame danced up and down for a while, suddenly went out with a puff. The other three oil lamps struggled on, but their light was clearly dimming, and it was only a matter of time before they too went out.

At this moment, Eric Blake suddenly broke the silence and laughed: “No wonder when I passed by the Yingxian Palace just now, I saw several Imperial Guards conducting strict checks. I thought they were just being cautious on the Zhangs’ orders, but it turns out it was to prevent anyone from sending a warning! If Uncle had rashly gone to the Yingxian Palace, he probably wouldn’t have made it out!”

At first, William Foster was somewhat displeased by Eric Blake’s sudden interjection and wanted to rebuke her. However, after hearing her words, he gasped in shock, and the scolding on his lips was swallowed back. He quietly glanced at Grace Harper, saw her nodding slightly in agreement with Eric Blake’s judgment, and in a flash, he understood the situation completely, immediately feeling a wave of regret.

“If I’d known the Crown Prince would ascend the throne sooner or later, I should have risked everything to help him. How could I have let those old men like Zhang Jianzhi get ahead of me!”

Isn’t this just hindsight? Eric Blake scoffed at William Foster’s words. Although he was her uncle, she had little to do with William Foster, but she still remembered well how he had tried to curry favor with the Zhangs. In her later years, the Empress had indeed become suspicious and killed people at will, but so far, William Foster had not been implicated. Instead, it was Zhang Jianzhi and the others who were constantly promoted and demoted, as if roasting over a fire. Those people were desperate, but William Foster had enjoyed a life of ease for so long—would he really risk his life to force the palace?

What she could think of, Grace Harper could certainly think of as well. At this moment, she glared fiercely at William Foster: “What’s the point of saying such useless things now? Tell me clearly, when exactly are Zhang Jianzhi and the others going to act?”

“Around…” William Foster had just uttered the word when he noticed the two women’s sharp gazes and quickly corrected himself, “The Imperial Guards’ movements are hard to hide. According to what I’ve heard, it should be tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow morning! It was already at least the hour of Hai (around 9–11 p.m.)!

Eric Blake stole a glance at Grace Harper and saw that she too was frowning deeply, so she quickly began to calculate in her mind. William Foster was, after all, her aunt’s lover, but she had also seen Grace Harper and the Crown Prince Li Xian exchanging glances, so it wasn’t impossible that they had a secret relationship. With this connection, it wouldn’t be hard for Grace Harper to persuade the Crown Prince to protect the Wu family. However, since it was Zhang Jianzhi and his group who were staging the coup, the consequences were hard to predict.

The Empress had already planted seeds of fear in too many people’s hearts, and William Foster and his accomplices were even more detested. In the chaos, people could easily take the opportunity to kill them first and report later.

Of course, on closer thought, the so-called extermination of the Wu clan would definitely not include a powerless little girl like her. After all, the Wu family was still the Crown Prince’s maternal clan; even if the bones were broken, the tendons were still connected! If the Wu family lost power, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for her. She didn’t care for the fancy title of County Princess of Kaiguang—who knew where that place even was!

William Foster had always been clever, but now, faced with a life-and-death crisis, he felt completely at a loss. With the two women of such different ages across from him both seemingly deep in thought, he grew anxious: “Grace, this is no small matter. You’ve always been close to the Crown Prince—can you help…”