Originally, because of William Thompson's matter, Edward Clark was quite dissatisfied with Samuel Thompson, but when Samuel Thompson's merits and rewards were mentioned, he showed an excited expression. In his view, Samuel Thompson had truly achieved the status described by the phrase "the highest rank among ministers."

Upon hearing this, William Thompson could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Then he pointed to the long line in front of the mansion gate and said, "In my opinion, these people are all like harbingers of doom. The more of them come, the faster everyone in our Li family will die!"

"What do you mean by that, cousin?" Edward Clark asked in astonishment.

"It's simple. Cousin, haven't you ever heard of the saying 'when one's merit overshadows the ruler'..."

Before William Thompson could finish the last word of "when one's merit overshadows the ruler," Edward Clark's face changed dramatically and he quickly covered William Thompson's mouth, then lowered his voice and said, "Cousin, are you trying to get yourself killed? How can you say such things out loud?"

"I'm just telling the truth!" William Thompson gave another bitter smile. But judging from Edward Clark's reaction, he clearly understood what William Thompson meant.

Edward Clark didn't dare discuss this topic with William Thompson any further, so he immediately ordered the coachman to leave, and along the way kept urging the coachman to hurry, as if some wild beast was chasing them from behind.

When they finally returned to William Thompson's home, Edward Clark hurriedly pulled him into the inner quarters, and only after making sure there was no one else around did Edward Clark anxiously say again, "Cousin, you must not say such things carelessly. If the Jinyiwei hear it and it gets reported to the palace, you really might be sent to the chopping block!"

"It's only a matter of time. Cousin, are you so afraid because you think what I said makes sense?" William Thompson asked with a slight smile.

"I..." Edward Clark hesitated for a moment, and after a long while finally replied, "Actually, I've heard my father say that your grandfather clearly stopped being prime minister long ago, yet he still keeps close ties with the civil and military officials at court. That's just asking for trouble!"

"Uncle really said that!" William Thompson was quite surprised to hear this. It seemed his uncle was no ordinary man either. The reason he retired early to become a carefree marquis was probably because he saw through the ways of the court—and saw through Zhu Yuanzhang even more.

"Of course. My father also said that most of the civil and military officials at court are our Huai West people, and many of them were promoted by your grandfather. These people form cliques in private, and your grandfather doesn't even try to avoid suspicion. Sooner or later, he'll suffer a huge loss because of this!" Edward Clark continued. These were private words between father and son, and he had never told anyone else.

"Huai West nobles!" William Thompson couldn't help but smile bitterly at this. Zhu Yuanzhang was from Huai West, and it was the Huai West people who helped him rise during the chaos. The military leaders, from the original twenty-four generals led by Xu Da to later figures like Chang Yuchun and Fu Youde, as well as civil officials like Samuel Thompson and Hu Weiyong, were all from Huai West. This group was collectively known as the Huai West nobles.

Zhu Yuanzhang relied on these Huai West people to conquer the world, and also to govern and stabilize it. But as emperor, what he feared most was his ministers forming factions and thereby undermining his own authority.

This wasn't just Zhu Yuanzhang being paranoid. In fact, Hu Weiyong had already done exactly that before, trying to use the power of the prime minister to suppress the emperor's authority, and ended up being executed by old Zhu, dragging down a large number of people with him. Although Samuel Thompson hadn't actually done such things, he had the ability to do so. With Hu Weiyong's precedent, Zhu Yuanzhang also became suspicious of Samuel Thompson. This was the real reason why Samuel Thompson was killed in history.

"Unwilling! So unwilling!" As William Thompson thought of all this, he grew increasingly agitated. He hadn't even been involved in these messy affairs, yet he was going to be implicated by Samuel Thompson. Not just him, but his father, mother, and even his younger sister Daisy whom he had seen earlier—all of them would be doomed!

"No, even a moth caught in a spider's web will struggle a few times. Although the more it struggles, the faster it may die, at least there's a sliver of hope to escape. If you don't struggle at all, then you're certainly doomed!"

With this thought, William Thompson showed a look of determination. In this world, people are often not in control of their own fate. This game isn't something he can just quit if he wants to—there are countless reasons forcing him to keep playing!

Chapter Six: I Want to Become a Prince Consort

"Cousin, I want to become a prince consort!" Deep in thought, William Thompson suddenly looked up and said to Edward Clark.

"Cousin, are you running a fever?" Edward Clark was startled by William Thompson's abrupt statement. Previously, William Thompson had asked him about marrying a princess, but he hadn't taken it seriously. He didn't expect William Thompson to bring it up again now.

"I'm perfectly clear-headed. Given what my grandfather has done, disaster is bound to come sooner or later. If I want to survive, I must become a prince consort!" William Thompson said very seriously.

"It can't be that bad. Your grandfather has an imperial pardon token, and not just one, but two..."

Before Edward Clark could finish, William Thompson interrupted him with a bitter smile, "When has the imperial pardon token ever been useful? If His Majesty truly wants to kill someone, even a hundred pardon tokens would be useless!"

Edward Clark opened his mouth at William Thompson's words, but in the end could only sigh. Indeed, when Hu Weiyong was executed, the three marquises Tang Shengzong, Fei Ju, and Zhao Yong, who were also implicated, all had imperial pardon tokens, but they were completely useless in the end.