A rooster crowed.

Inside Mingquan Courtyard, the candlelight had died out, and white wax covered the candelabra like tears.

The charcoal brazier in the room still emitted residual warmth. Xiaoman, her hair styled in two buns, huddled on a small stool, having nodded off all night, drool dripping onto her knees.

The rooster’s crow startled her awake. She first looked at the canopy bed and, seeing that Chen Ji and Wu Yun were gone, rose in a panic. “Young Master? Young Master, where are you?”

Xiaoman knelt on the floor and peered under the bed. She remembered the Young Master hiding under the bed whenever he had a nightmare, but this time, it was empty.

Just then, Chen Ji’s voice came from outside: “I’m in the courtyard.”

Xiaoman anxiously pushed open the door. Wu Yun was perched on the gray tiled eaves of the courtyard wall, paws tucked in, eyes closed in rest. Chen Ji was using a bamboo broom to sweep dust into a pile on the ground.

Seeing the broom in Chen Ji’s hand, she gasped in alarm. “Young Master, when did you get up? Why are you sweeping the floor yourself? Give me that broom!”

Chen Ji said casually, “I’m just idle anyway; I can do it.”

Xiaoman was exasperated. “What noble young master sweeps their own floor? They’re all pampered! How many times have I told you, you need to uphold your status as a young master, otherwise, they’ll look down on you!”

Chen Ji chuckled. “I’m just a concubine’s son; I don’t count as a noble young master.”

Xiaoman pouted. “Who says you don’t? If I say you do, then you do! With the Chen family’s generations of high-ranking officials and prestigious background, even a concubine’s son can outshine the legitimate eldest son of other families. When you marry in the future, don’t lower your status by marrying a concubine’s daughter. You must find a legitimate daughter from a scholarly family.”

The concept of social status was deeply ingrained in everyone’s bones. Chen Ji didn’t agree, but there was no need to argue with her.

Seeing his silence, Xiaoman snatched the broom from him and leaned it against the wall. “I’ll go boil some water for you to wash up first. After you’re done, you still have to go pay your respects.”

Chen Ji shook his head. “No need. I won’t be paying respects anymore.”

Xiaoman grew suspicious. “Why are you suddenly so assertive? Has the sun risen from the west?”

Chen Ji explained, “I just went to pay my respects to Madam, and she personally told me that I don’t need to do so anymore.”

Xiaoman became even more suspicious. “Could she really be that kind-hearted?”

Chen Ji chuckled. “Perhaps her years of chanting Buddhist scriptures have finally brought out some compassion.”

Xiaoman mumbled softly, “She’s been chanting for so many years, and I’ve never seen any compassion from her. Why would it suddenly appear today?”

Chen Ji corrected her. “It’s not that she developed compassion on her own; it’s that I ‘chanted’ her compassion out. Sincerity makes a difference.”

Xiaoman looked bewildered. “Huh?”

Chen Ji waved his hand. “Go boil the water.”

Xiaoman drew out her “Oh…”

She went to the antechamber, uncovered the stove, and used tongs to drop coal chunks into it. “Oh, by the way, Young Master, did you not have a nightmare last night?”

Chen Ji’s eyes flickered. “I had a dream, but it was different from before.”

Xiaoman poked her head out from the antechamber. “You didn’t dream of that strange battlefield again?”

Chen Ji’s pupils contracted slightly.

The ‘Chen Ji’ of this world had the same dream as him?

Chen Ji remained silent for a long time, then tried to elicit more information from Xiaoman. “Actually, now that I think about it, that dream wasn’t so scary.”

Xiaoman pursed her lips and withdrew her head into the antechamber. “You were the one who always said that dream was terrifying, with monsters, beasts, and countless soldiers fighting and blood flowing everywhere.”

Chen Ji confirmed it: it was the same dream.

What was his connection to the ‘Chen Ji’ of this world, and why were they having the same dream?

Could it be… that this was the key to his master and Li Qingniao being able to smuggle him down from the Forty-Nine Heavens?

Chen Ji couldn’t help but recall Li Qingniao’s words: “Someone from Beijuluzhou is responsible for smuggling you,” and “The Forty-Nine Heavens cannot hold you; go to where you belong.”

He suddenly realized there were two key pieces of information in those words:

The first key piece of information was that the person responsible for smuggling him was from Beijuluzhou, one of the Forty-Nine Heavens… Could his master, Yao Qimen, also be from the Forty-Nine Heavens?

Chen Ji remembered asking his master if he wanted to ascend to the Forty-Nine Heavens to become an immortal. His master’s reply was… “If you’re not a hundred thousand years old, what’s the point of being a heavenly immortal!”

The second key piece of information, “cannot hold you,” was worth pondering carefully. Who wanted to hold him? Why did they want to keep him in the Forty-Nine Heavens?

Thinking of this, Chen Ji felt as though an even greater danger loomed over him from the heavens.

At this moment, Xiaoman emerged from the antechamber, wiping her hands on the back of her clothes. Seeing Chen Ji lost in thought, she waved a hand in front of his face. “Young Master, what kind of dream did you have last night?”

Chen Ji fabricated a lie. “Last night was a wonderful dream. I dreamed I earned a vast amount of silver, acquired tens of thousands of acres of irrigated land, and even took over a silk shop, an inn, and a restaurant…”

Xiaoman mumbled, “Earn money? It’s a miracle if your money isn’t swindled away. You actually used to own a restaurant and hundreds of acres of fertile land, didn’t you? Weren’t they all coaxed away by Madam? Auntie’s ‘Drum Belly Pavilion’ is at Dengshikou outside Donghuamen in the capital, where every inch of land is precious, and it’s quite famous.”

Chen Ji was startled. There was such a thing?

He couldn’t directly ask what other properties there were besides Drum Belly Pavilion, so he pretended to be nonchalant. “Money is just an external possession; you can’t take it with you when you’re born or when you die. I’ve forgotten what Auntie left behind anyway. You don’t need to keep dwelling on it; if it’s given to Madam, then it’s given to Madam.”

Xiaoman clenched her fists in anger. “You might have forgotten, but I haven’t! Nanny Li said that Auntie left you Drum Belly Pavilion outside Donghuamen, Yujingyuan in the Eight Great Hutongs, Chen Ji Grain and Oil Shop, a silk shop outside the Bell and Drum Tower, and three hundred and twenty acres of fertile land in Changping! Each one is a property that others couldn’t accumulate in a lifetime. Auntie must have put a lot of effort into acquiring them!”

Chen Ji’s heart tightened suddenly. All these properties were cunningly seized by Madam Liang?

He was silent for a moment, then said, “Xiaoman, bring out those three volumes of the Diamond Sutra from the room.”

Xiaoman exclaimed, “Young Master, what do you need the scriptures for?”

Chen Ji said seriously, “To pay my respects.”

Xiaoman: “?”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You finally don’t have to pay respects; you shouldn’t go back! Those properties are like throwing a meat bun to a dog – you’ll never get them back. However…”

“However, what?”

Xiaoman said earnestly, “Young Master, you should take the imperial examinations. Once you become a high official, Madam certainly won’t dare to hold onto these properties anymore; she’ll return them all to you.”

Chen Ji was thoughtful. Although he had little material desire, the Shanjun path consumed money like water, so he would eventually have to reclaim all these properties.

No, even if he didn’t spend a single cent, he couldn’t stand others monopolizing what was his…

But reclaiming them wouldn’t be easy; he would have to plan carefully once he reached the capital.

A thought stirred in Chen Ji’s mind, and he suddenly sighed, “It’s been so long, I’m almost forgetting what Auntie looked like.”

Hearing this, Xiaoman’s mood also dropped. “It really has been a very long time… But how could Young Master forget Auntie? She was the most beautiful and gentle woman in the whole world. Auntie looked lovely when she smiled and lovely when she didn’t. Every time I saw her, I wondered how a woman like that could marry Master. I suppose all the scholars in the capital probably thought the same.”

Chen Ji remained silent, not interrupting.

Xiaoman continued softly, “Auntie taught me many things, but I was too dull to ever learn. She never got annoyed and patiently taught me over and over again. Young Master, I envy you so much. I wish I had a mother like that. Auntie actually told me to call her ‘mother’ too, but I never dared to.”

Chen Ji recalled his own mother being similar; when he was little and struggled with pinyin, as if he hadn’t yet developed the faculty for it, his mother taught him patiently, over and over again.

His voice softened unconsciously. “Why didn’t you dare to call her ‘mother’?”

Xiaoman smiled. “Maybe I felt I wasn’t worthy. How could I have such a wonderful mother? But by the time I wanted to call her that, she was already gone.”

Chen Ji didn’t know if Xiaoman was speaking from the heart or if she was full of lies like Jinzhu, Jiaotu, and Yunyang. He could only take half of what she said at face value.

But this world seemed to possess a peculiar magic: when you mentioned a mother you hadn’t seen in a long time, the world itself seemed to grow a little gentler. This wasn’t true for mothers one saw often.

Xiaoman asked, “Oh, Young Master, aren’t you curious who has been trying to buy information about your whereabouts? We don’t know who it is. What if they want to harm you? You can’t indulge them like before.”

Chen Ji remained silent. Curious? Of course, he was curious.

Someone was paying ten taels of silver a month to track his whereabouts; that was quite generous.

Who could the buyer be? Madam Liang, or Wang Gui?

It wouldn’t be Madam Liang. As the principal mistress of the Chen manor, if she wanted to know what he was doing, she just needed to summon the maids and question them – who would dare not speak? Besides, he used to be easily manipulated; what reason would she have to buy information about his whereabouts?

Nor was it Wang Gui; Wang Gui was stingy and wouldn’t part with that kind of money.

So, who could it be?

This feeling of being watched by someone nearby was truly unpleasant. He had to draw the person out today.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, then instructed Xiaoman, “I’m going to East Market. Get ready and come with me.”

Xiaoman’s eyes widened. “Really? You never wanted to take me before.”

Chen Ji was taken aback. ‘He’ never used to take Xiaoman when he went out?

That’s right. According to Wu Hongbiao, he had started secret training several years ago. Those days he didn’t take Xiaoman out must have been when he secretly went to meet Wu Hongbiao.

Realizing this, Chen Ji nodded. “I’ll take you this time. Let’s go.”

“Young Master, please wait a moment,” Xiaoman said, scurrying back into the room to fetch a piece of paper and an eyebrow pencil made of stone ink. “Young Master, can I write down the trip to East Market for Sister Liqiu?”

Chen Ji nodded. “You can write it down.”

Xiaoman bit the end of the stone ink pencil, thought for a moment, then asked, “Young Master, can I write down that you don’t need to pay respects to Madam anymore?”

“You can write that down… Why are you recording it in such detail?”

Xiaoman replied as if it were obvious, “The employer will only keep giving us silver if they’re satisfied! It’s ten… I mean, eight taels of silver every month!”

Chen Ji suppressed a smile. “Then make sure you record it well.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Young Master, I’ll ask you before I write anything down,” Xiaoman said, standing beside him, bowing her head, and meticulously writing line by line on the paper in front of Chen Ji: “On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-first year of Jianing, the Young Master took Xiaoman to East Market.”