"Here you go."

Helen skipped away, like a lovely butterfly.

Henry Brooks casually washed his face, changed into casual clothes, and went out. He crossed the courtyard, followed the covered walkway to the front yard, and saw the study door wide open. Helen was making tea, and Edward Grant was chatting with a young man. The young man had a broad, sturdy build and a serious expression, clearly weighed down by worries—it was Paul Rogers.

"You're here." Henry Brooks stepped into the room.

"Greetings, cousin." Paul Rogers stood up and saluted, his eyes showing a bit more warmth.

"Sit, you're not an outsider." Henry Brooks sat at the head seat and saw Helen putting all sorts of strange things into the tea. He quickly called out, "Wait, what are you putting in there?"

"The young master likes this flavor—there's refined salt, sesame, ginger, chopped scallions..."

"Alright, don't add anything else. Just give me the boiled water and tea leaves." Henry Brooks interrupted. Putting all that stuff in—was that tea or soup?

Helen looked a bit aggrieved. She had always done it this way, but seeing that Henry Brooks wasn't angry, she felt relieved and quickly brought the water and tea leaves over, placing them on the tea table in front of Henry Brooks.

Henry Brooks took a look. Sure enough, the tea leaves hadn't been stir-fried or fermented like in later generations—they were just simply sun-dried, so there was no way to brew them directly with boiling water like modern tea. Suddenly, he realized this could be a way to make money. His eyes lit up as he had an idea and asked, "Uncle Grant, do you know where there are tea mountains?"

"I know of two places, but they're a bit far. We also have some on our estate."

Henry Brooks thought for a moment and instructed, "Immediately arrange to purchase large quantities of tea leaves, do it secretly to prevent prices from rising. Also, have the estate select suitable places to plant tea trees, and inquire about the prices of other tea mountains for future acquisition. This matter is very important and must not be leaked."

"But this will require a lot of silver. The household..."

"Trust me, just do it."

Edward Grant looked at the confident Henry Brooks and suddenly remembered that last time Henry Brooks had the same expression, and the next day he made a thousand taels. He immediately felt reassured. Besides, as the steward, he couldn't go against his master—he just needed to follow orders. He bowed and hurried off.

Henry Brooks turned to Paul Rogers: "I remember your family had two thousand mu of land, right?"

"Only a few hundred mu left now," Paul Rogers said, his eyes filled with resentment.

Henry Brooks was shocked and pressed, "What happened?"

"The Wang family somehow took all the neighboring land and cut off our upstream water source. In anger, I went to confront them and killed one of their stewards. The Wang family made a big fuss, and in the end, I had to compensate them with a thousand mu of land. Plus, we needed a large sum of money recently, so I had to sell more. Now only five hundred mu are left."

"The Wang family?"

"Yes, the Wang family! This grudge will be avenged one day. Cousin, what did you want to see me about?"

Henry Brooks frowned and asked, "The emperor doesn't know about this?"

"He knows. The Wang family wanted my life, so the emperor sent a eunuch with an edict, ordering the Wang family to accept compensation. Otherwise, I'd be dead by now."

"I see. Did something happen at home that required urgent money?" Henry Brooks pressed, feeling disdain for Li Er. Maybe he had to consider the bigger picture, but as an emperor, to choose to endure and let the Wang family run rampant, wronging the descendants of meritorious families—he had lost the fighting spirit that built the empire. It felt like the warmth was gone once the tea cooled!

Paul Rogers sighed gloomily, "It's also related to the Wang family, but there's not enough evidence. Forget it, let's not talk about it."

Every family has its troubles. Since he didn't want to say more, it wasn't appropriate to press further. Henry Brooks suddenly thought of something: the Wang family had struck hard at the Luo family and was now targeting him. They were clearly picking on noble families who had lost their pillars. There must be other aristocratic families supporting them behind the scenes. Otherwise, with Li Er's temperament, he wouldn't be so tolerant. So he said, "From now on, stick with me. We'll make trouble for the Wang family together."

"Really?"

Paul Rogers was stunned. Seeing Henry Brooks nod firmly, he became excited and said, "The Wang family nearly destroyed my family. This grudge must be avenged! Cousin, are you planning to attack the Wang family? Count me in!"

"Don't always think about using force. Use your brain more."

"I'm not good at that. I'll just listen to you, cousin."

Chapter 11: Coordinated Hunt

After entrusting the security of the estate to Paul Rogers, Henry Brooks returned to the west courtyard smithy, sent Uncle Marshall away, and spent most of the day inside hammering away by himself. By dusk, he had finished a simple crossbow with an effective range of twenty meters and capable of firing ten shots in succession. It used iron short bolts with triangular pyramid-shaped heads—if someone got hit, there was no chance of survival.

Crossbows were regulated weapons in the Tang Dynasty. If discovered, the consequences would be severe. Henry Brooks had no doubt there were spies in the household. He took off his outer garment, wrapped up the crossbow, and returned to the back courtyard.

After hiding the crossbow, Henry Brooks went to the front yard to dine with Paul Rogers. During the meal, Paul Rogers said seriously, "Cousin, there are a lot more suspicious people outside the estate, asking around. The steward says they're probably after the treasured sword. The constables have also increased their patrols nearby. Something is likely to happen tonight."

The constables were similar to modern-day police.

"No worries. It's a good chance to see if your marksmanship has improved." Henry Brooks was already prepared. The crossbow he'd spent all day making was for this very purpose. Seeing the steward come in, he asked, "Uncle Grant, how's the tea leaf matter going?"