Red Chamber 1

Life as an infant was incredibly boring, so Liu Zhong spent most of his time cultivating.

When he wasn't cultivating or sleeping, he would prick up his ears to listen to the gossip shared by his wet nurse and the young maids who cared for him.

The family background Liu Zhong had in this life was decent enough; he was the eldest son of the third branch of a Duke's mansion.

However, his biological father was not the legitimate son of the head of the household, but a concubine-born son—the second concubine-born son at that—and was not held in high regard by the family head.

Fortunately, because his father was ignored by the family head, their third branch lived a peaceful and stable life.

Unlike the first and second branches, who fought each other like gamecocks.

The man of the second branch was the legitimate son, so the title was destined to be passed down to him.

But the man of the first branch was the eldest son born to the family head's favorite woman, and he was the family head's favorite son.

Although he couldn't give the title and ancestral property to his eldest son, the family head gave him many benefits, personally paving the way for him and securing him an official position.

Because of this blatant favoritism, the mistress of the house and the legitimate son of the second branch were filled with resentment, targeting the first branch in every way possible.

With the family head as their backer, the first branch fought the second branch and the mistress to a standstill.

When those two branches fought, it sometimes spilled over to the other branches.

The first and second branches suffered no losses; it was always those caught in the crossfire who were unlucky.

However, those people were not entirely innocent either.

If they hadn't harbored their own little schemes, wanting to meddle in the struggle between the two branches, they wouldn't have ended up losing more than they gained.

The people of the third branch were very honest; they played the role of invisible background characters in the mansion, refusing to participate in the infighting of the other branches and living their quiet little lives.

Recently, the first and second branches had been at it again. The third branch, not wanting to attract their attention and have the target shifted onto them, didn't even hold the three-day or full-month celebrations for Liu Zhong.

Mother Liu held Liu Zhong and sighed, feeling deeply guilty toward her son.

Her poor son hadn't even had a three-day or full-month celebration; who knew if his first-year birthday banquet would be canceled as well?

It was all their fault as parents for letting the child suffer such grievances.

Father Liu patted his wife's hand, stroked his son's little head, and promised, "Once we divide the family, we will hold a birthday banquet for Zhong'er every single year."

Mother Liu responded softly, "Mm."

Neither of them expected that the division of the family would happen so soon.

The head of the Liu Family died.

While he was out, his horse was startled, throwing him from its back.

The head of the Liu Family hit his head on a rock and lost a great deal of blood.

The imperial physician could not save him, and he died the very next day.

The Liu Family held a grand funeral for the head of the household, and many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital came to burn incense and offer their condolences.

As filial children and grandchildren, Father Liu and Mother Liu had to stand guard and wail by the coffin every day, which was incredibly exhausting.

It was fortunate that Liu Zhong was currently a nursing infant less than a year old, so he didn't have to do anything and could just wait for his parents in his own room.

Forty-nine days later, the legitimate son of the second branch, as the heir to the Liu Family title, had to transport the coffin of the family head back to their ancestral home for burial; the other sons could choose to accompany him or not.

The second branch and the mistress took this opportunity to propose dividing the family.

The first branch did not object.

With the family head dead, no one was left to act as their backer.

Their life in the Duke's mansion would definitely be difficult, and since they didn't want to play the role of subordinates under the mistress, they were naturally willing to divide the family.

The third branch had long wanted to move out, so they agreed immediately.

The other branches did not want to divide the family, wishing to use the Duke's mansion's reputation as their backing.

But since the top three branches had all agreed to the division, plus the mistress, their opposition was useless.

The second branch invited the clan elders to begin the division.

According to the rules, the legitimate son inherited the Duke's title and seventy percent of the family assets, while the remaining thirty percent was divided equally among the concubine-born sons.

Neither the first nor the second branch had any objections.

The second branch only wanted to drive everyone who was an eyesore out of the Hou Mansion, and the first branch had already privately obtained the majority of the family head's personal wealth, so they didn't care about the distribution of the public assets.

Just like that, the division was completed quickly.

The first branch moved out that very day.

They had long since prepared a four-courtyard residence outside, which had already been cleaned, so they were able to move in immediately.

The third branch moved out of the Duke's mansion a month later.

They had been allocated a two-courtyard house, one shop, and a farmstead of five hundred mu of land.

The house hadn't been lived in for a long time and needed time to be cleaned, which was why they only moved out of the Duke's mansion after a month.

The other branches didn't want to leave the Duke's mansion so soon and kept clinging to it, unwilling to depart.

It wasn't until the twenty-seven-month mourning period ended that the legitimate son forcefully drove them out of the Duke's mansion.

Although it hung the plaque of a Duke Mansion, the legitimate son only inherited the title of a Baron, which was just one rank higher than a first-class General.

Those other branches of the family were dissatisfied, but they had no other choice.

They were no longer part of the Duke Mansion, and if they wanted to establish a foothold in the capital, they still had to rely on Baron Liu.

The eldest branch was not afraid of Baron Liu; Uncle Liu had secured an official post outside the capital, taking his wife and children away to serve as a prefect in another region.

Father Liu lacked the capability of Uncle Liu because of the head mistress—oh, she had now been promoted to the Old Lady.

Due to the Old Lady's suppression of the concubine-born sons, Father Liu had never participated in the imperial examinations and held no scholarly rank.

Now, he did not even know what he could do, so he could only live off the income from the shops and farms.

Fortunately, Father Liu did not have the extravagance and wastefulness of those in the Duke Mansion, so the income from the shops and farms was enough to support the family for a year.

For the matter of ending the mourning period, Father Liu took Liu Zhong to the Duke Mansion.

At the Duke Mansion, Liu Zhong met several children around his own age, one of whom was named Jia Hu. The other children had surnames like Niu, Hou, Chen, Ma, and Shi.

Liu Zhong: "..."

What was the full name of the Liu family's Duke Mansion again?

Li Duke Mansion!

Add to that the Duke of Zhen Niu Mansion, the Duke of Qi Chen Mansion, the Duke of Zhi Ma Mansion, the Duke of Xiu Hou Mansion, the Duke of Shan Shi Mansion, and the Jia Mansion of the Duke of Ning and the Duke of Rong.

Weren't these the Eight Dukes from the Four Kings and Eight Dukes?

Could it be that he had transmigrated into the world of Red Chamber?

Liu Zhong looked at the little bun Jia Hu in front of him with a strange expression.

Jia Hu was very cute with delicate features, looking very much like his father, Jia She.

Earlier, when Liu Zhong followed Father Liu to greet the guests, he had seen Jia She.

Jia She was truly the biological father of Jia Lian, a complete handsome man.

He wondered how he would torment himself in the future to turn himself into such a wretched and ugly man.

"Brother Zhong, this is for you."

Jia Hu gave half of the pastry he had received to Liu Zhong.

He liked Liu Zhong very much; Liu Zhong was good-looking, well-behaved, and clean, which made him like him at first sight and want to play with him.

"Thank you." Liu Zhong took the pastry and gave Jia Hu a sweet smile.

Jia Hu was a truly wonderful child, a little warm-hearted boy who knew how to take care of others.

"Brother Zhong, have you started your schooling yet?"

"Not yet."

"I am about to start. My grandfather found a teacher for me, and in a few days, I will be studying with him."