As a baby, Liu Zhong's days were terribly dull, so he spent most of his time cultivating.
When he wasn't cultivating or sleeping, he'd prick up his ears and listen to the gossip shared by the wet nurse and the young maid who looked after him.
Liu Zhong's family circumstances in this life were fairly good. He was the eldest son of the third branch of a duke's household.
However, his father wasn't the head of the family's legitimate son. He was a concubine-born son, and the second one at that, so the head of the family didn't think much of him.
Fortunately, his father wasn't valued by the head of the family, so life for their branch was peaceful and stable.
Unlike the first and second branches, who fought like cats and dogs.
The second branch's man was the legitimate son, so the title was bound to pass to him.
But the first branch's man was the head of the family's eldest son by a concubine—the beloved son of the head's favorite woman.
Although the head couldn't pass the title and ancestral estate to his eldest son, he gave him many other advantages, personally paving the way for him and arranging an official post.
Because of this favoritism, the head's wife and the second branch's legitimate son were deeply resentful and targeted the first branch in every way.
The first branch had the head of the family as their backing, so they fought the second branch and the head's wife to a standstill.
When the first and second branches fought, the other branches were sometimes caught in the crossfire.
The first and second branches suffered little loss; it was the branches dragged into their fight that had bad luck.
Still, those people weren't entirely innocent.
If they hadn't had designs of their own and tried to interfere in the feud between the two branches, they wouldn't have ended up losing more than they gained.
The people in the third branch were very sensible. They kept a low profile in the household, stayed out of the other branches' disputes, and quietly lived their own lives.
Recently, the first and second branches had started fighting again. The third branch didn't want to draw their attention and become their next target, so they didn't hold a three-day celebration or a one-month celebration 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 celebration or a one-month celebration. Who knew if they might cancel his first-birthday banquet, too?
They were bad parents, making their child suffer.
Father Liu patted his wife's hand and stroked his son's little head, promising, "Once we've moved out, we'll hold a birthday banquet for Zhong'er every year."
Mother Liu answered softly, "All right."
Neither of them had expected that moving out would happen so soon.
The head of the Liu family had died.
While he was out, his horse was startled and threw him from its back.
The head of the Liu family hit his head on a rock and bled heavily.
The imperial physician couldn't save him, and he died the next day.
The Liu family held a grand funeral for their head, and many high-ranking officials and nobles from the capital came to offer incense and pay their respects.
As dutiful sons and daughters-in-law, Father Liu and Mother Liu had to go every day to keep vigil and mourn, which was exhausting.
Fortunately, Liu Zhong was still a baby under one year old. He didn't have to do anything and only needed to wait for his parents in his room.
After forty-nine days, the second branch's legitimate son, as the heir to the Liu family title, had to take the head's coffin back to their hometown for burial. The other sons could go with him or stay behind.
At that point, the second branch and the head's wife proposed dividing the family.
The first branch didn't object.
With the head of the family dead, no one remained to back them. Life at the duke's mansion would certainly be difficult, and they didn't want to grovel under the head's wife. Naturally, they were willing to divide the family.
The third branch had wanted to divide the family for a long time, so they agreed at once.
The other branches didn't want to separate. They wanted the duke's household name to serve as their backing.
But the three main branches had all agreed, and the head's wife was on their side. Their objections were useless.
The second branch invited the clan elders, and the division began.
By custom, the legitimate son inherited the duke's title and seventy percent of the family property. The remaining thirty percent was divided equally among the sons born to concubines.
Neither the first nor second branch objected.
The second branch only wanted to drive everyone who bothered them out of the Hou Mansion. The first branch had already received most of the head's private assets in secret, so they didn't care about the division of the family's common property.
And just like that, the division was completed quickly.
The first branch moved out that very day.
They had already prepared a four-courtyard residence outside the mansion. It had been cleaned, so they could move in right away.
The third branch moved out of the duke's mansion a month later.
They received a two-courtyard residence, a shop, and a manor with five hundred mu of farmland.
The residence had been unoccupied for a long time and needed to be cleaned, which was why they didn't move out until a month later.
The other branches didn't want to leave the duke's mansion so soon and kept refusing to go.
Only after the twenty-seven-month mourning period ended did the legitimate son forcibly drive them out of the duke's mansion.
Although he inherited the duke's mansion plaque, the legitimate son had only inherited a baron's title, just one rank above that of a first-class general.
Those branches were dissatisfied, but there was nothing they could do.
They were no longer members of the duke's household, and they still had to rely on Baron Liu if they wanted to establish themselves in the capital.
The first branch, however, wasn't afraid of Baron Liu. Uncle Liu had secured an appointment as a local official, and he left the capital with his wife and children to serve as prefect of a region.
Father Liu wasn't as capable as Uncle Liu. Because the head's wife—well, she was now the Old Madam—had suppressed the sons born to concubines, Father Liu had never taken the imperial examinations and held no degree.
Now he had no idea what he could do. He could only get by on the income from the shop and manor.
Fortunately, Father Liu didn't live extravagantly and wastefully like those people at the duke's mansion. The income from the shop and manor was enough to support the family for a year.
When the mourning period ended, Father Liu took Liu Zhong to the duke's mansion.
At the duke's mansion, Liu Zhong met several children around his age. One was named Jia Hu. The others had the surnames Niu, Hou, Chen, Ma, and Shi.
Liu Zhong: "..."
What was the full name of the Liu family's duke's mansion again?
The Li Duke Mansion!
Add the Duke of Zhen's Niu Mansion, the Duke of Qi's Chen Mansion, the Duke of Zhi's Ma Mansion, the Duke of Xiu's Hou Mansion, the Duke of Shan's Shi Mansion, and the Jia Mansions of the Duke of Ning and the Duke of Rong.
Wasn't that the Eight Dukes among the Four Kings and Eight Dukes?
Could he have transmigrated into the world of Red Chamber?
Liu Zhong looked at the little dumpling Jia Hu before him with a strange expression.
Jia Hu was very cute, with delicate features, and looked a lot like his father, Jia She.
Earlier, Liu Zhong had accompanied Father Liu in welcoming the guests and had seen Jia She.
Jia She was every bit the handsome man Jia Lian's father ought to be.
Who knew how he'd mistreat his son in the future, turning him into such an ugly, lecherous man?
"Little Brother Zhong, here. Take this."
Jia Hu divided the pastry he'd been given in half and offered one half to Liu Zhong.
He liked Liu Zhong very much. Liu Zhong was handsome, well-behaved, and clean, and Jia Hu had taken to him at first sight. He wanted to play with him.
"Thank you." Liu Zhong accepted the pastry and gave Jia Hu a sweet smile.
Jia Hu was such a good kid. He was a caring little sweetheart.
"Little Brother Zhong, have you started your lessons yet?"
"No."
"I'm about to start mine. My grandfather found me a tutor. In a few days, I'll begin studying with him."
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