Everyone looked at Henry Sullivan again, all with a sense of awe. They had long heard that Henry Sullivan was good at fighting, but at first only thought he was just a street thug. Who would have imagined that this very thug would kill Eric Stone, drive off Gunzi, and even capture Matthew Clark right in front of them!

Matthew Clark was already trembling with fear. Hearing Henry Sullivan's threat, he stammered, “Henry Sullivan... Master Di... my ancestor, please don’t kill me.”

Henry Sullivan sneered, “Don’t kill you? Give me a reason!”

Matthew Clark thought for a long time before saying, “I have money, I can give you lots and lots of money. Don’t you want Little Henry? What are you idiots still standing around for? Hurry up and bring Little Henry here!” In order to save his life, he suddenly became clever. Mr. Parker hurried off to the woodshed, and seeing this, Henry Sullivan shouted, “Prepare two fast horses for me!”

Matthew Clark nodded repeatedly in agreement, then cursed, “You bunch of useless servants, hurry and prepare horses for Master Di.” Although he wanted nothing more than to cut Henry Sullivan into pieces, at this moment his life was more important, so he obeyed Henry Sullivan’s every word.

The inner courtyard was in chaos. Mr. Clark knew something was happening and rushed over. Seeing Henry Sullivan holding his precious son hostage, he shouted, “Henry Sullivan! Are you rebelling? Let him go at once!” Immediately after, hurried footsteps approached, and more than a dozen imperial guards arrived, led by none other than Mr. Carter.

Mr. Carter took in the scene in the courtyard, raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised to see Henry Sullivan here. Some of the guards were about to step forward, but Mr. Carter waved his hand, and they all stopped abruptly. Seeing this, Henry Sullivan felt bitter inside, thinking that this Mr. Carter was highly skilled, and with these imperial guards, escaping would be nearly impossible.

At this moment, Mr. Parker had already brought Little Henry over. “Young master, Little Henry is here.”

Little Henry had delicate features, and upon seeing the situation in the courtyard, she immediately understood everything and cried, “Henry Sullivan, why are you so foolish?” She had always treated Henry Sullivan like a younger brother, and seeing him like this, she only blamed herself for dragging the Di brothers into trouble.

Mr. Clark of course knew his own son’s character. Seeing Little Henry’s disheveled hair and messy clothes, he immediately understood what had happened and secretly cursed Mr. Parker for being as stupid as a pig, handing others a handle against them. He stepped forward and slapped Mr. Parker across the face, scolding, “What’s going on?” As he spoke, he kept winking at Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker covered his face and said, “Sir... this... that...”

Mr. Clark ignored Mr. Parker and said to Henry Sullivan, “Henry Sullivan, this is the county yamen, don’t ruin your own future. Let Matthew Clark go, and I will handle things impartially. If you keep making mistakes, I’m afraid your family won’t escape being implicated.” He deliberately avoided mentioning Little Henry’s matter, his persuasion laced with threat, thinking that as soon as Henry Sullivan let go, he would have him thrown into the county jail, break his legs, cut his tendons, and then claim he died of natural causes—then everything would be over.

Henry Sullivan sneered, “If you were truly impartial, why would I need to come here? Your son forcibly took a common girl and broke my elder brother’s leg. Why don’t you tell me now how you’ll handle this impartially?”

Mr. Clark’s face darkened. “Henry Sullivan, so you intend to resist to the end?” He saw that two men had already moved behind Henry Sullivan, and suddenly waved his hand, “Seize him!”

The two men were about to move, but Henry Sullivan had already noticed them behind him. He lashed out with a kick, hitting one man square in the chest. The man cried out and flew over ten feet away. The other was so frightened he kept retreating, not daring to make a move. With a flick of his wrist, Henry Sullivan drew a line of blood on Matthew Clark’s neck with his sword, shouting, “Mr. Clark! Since you don’t care about your son’s life, let’s go down together!”

Matthew Clark, seeing the blood, nearly fainted and cried out loudly, “Father, save me!”

Mr. Clark shouted anxiously, “Henry Sullivan! Don’t do anything rash, let’s talk this over.”

Mr. Carter stood by as if watching a play. “Mr. Clark, what exactly is going on? I’m rather interested to hear.”

Mr. Clark’s heart skipped a beat, and he forced a smile, “Mr. Carter, it’s just a small matter, no need to trouble you. Please go to the front hall and have some wine. I’ll come once I’ve handled things here.”

Although Mr. Clark was a local tyrant, he didn’t dare offend Mr. Carter in the slightest.

It turned out that this Mr. Carter was named Edward Carter, originally the Commander of the Palace Guards in the capital, a third-rank official, in charge of the Xianwu Army, one of the eight major imperial guard units in the capital. This time, Edward Carter had come to Fenzhou, supposedly to select men to replenish the imperial guards. The prefect did not dare be negligent and ordered all counties to fully cooperate. Edward Carter had been traveling through the counties and had now arrived in Xihe.

Mr. Clark naturally dared not offend this man, so he went out of his way to flatter him, drinking with him and taking care of the imperial guards, just hoping for peace. Who would have thought his useless son would cause such a huge mess? Now he wanted to cover it up, but didn’t know where to start. Mr. Clark secretly resolved that once this matter was settled, he would prepare a generous gift for Edward Carter, hoping to avert disaster with money.

Edward Carter saw Mr. Clark trying to brush him off and said blandly, “This isn’t a small matter—it seems like a big one. Actually, I could help a bit…” He glanced at Henry Sullivan unintentionally, a faint smile on his lips. At this moment, a guard hurried over and whispered a few words in Edward Carter’s ear. Edward Carter’s expression changed slightly, and he frowned.