Ethan Clark finally came back to her senses. When she glanced at the bed, she immediately panicked, casually tossed aside the work in her hands, and reached out to gently touch James Bolton's forehead. She then withdrew her hand and carefully examined his complexion before asking, "Young master, why did you wake up so soon? Are you feeling unwell anywhere? If you are, I’ll go call madam right away."

"I'm already fine."

Seeing the disbelief written all over Ethan Clark's face, James Bolton couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache. After a brief pause, he pouted like a child and said, "I just don't want to sleep anymore. I want to talk to someone—is that not allowed?"

Ethan Clark was immediately put in a difficult spot. Thinking about how James Bolton had been in a stupor for the past few days, it was quite possible he couldn't sleep now. Her heart softened, and she nodded. Dropping the pine-green handkerchief she was clutching, she reached out to help James Bolton prop up his pillow and supported him into a half-sitting position before asking, "What does young master want to talk about?"

"I want to ask you, what’s been happening at home these past few days?"

If this question were asked to someone tight-lipped, it would be useless. But Ethan Clark was born and raised in this household, with all her family here, and she was always talkative. At this moment, she simply thought James Bolton was bored. Considering he was still young and madam was never strict with the servants, it wouldn’t matter if she chatted a bit. So she smiled and recounted a few trivial matters from around the house.

She spoke without much thought, but James Bolton listened intently. He listened carefully while subtly probing for more information, and didn’t forget to praise Ethan Clark with childlike innocence. Taking advantage of her pride, he managed to extract even more details. By the time Ethan Clark coaxed him to lie down again, and combining it with the memories he had merged, he already had a rough outline in his mind.

It was now the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty. Of this period, he was most familiar with the earth-shattering Jingnan Campaign and the subsequent bloody purges, as well as Zheng He’s seven voyages to the Western Seas. However, Zheng He’s fleet was still sailing the oceans, and the rest was already history.

This was the Zhang family of Xiangfu, spanning three generations. At the top was the old matriarch, Madam Gu. The next generation consisted of three sons. The eldest, Zhang Xin, was the legitimate son and currently served as an official in Zhejiang with his family, having one son and one daughter. The second son, Zhang You, was born of a concubine and held a military post, currently campaigning with the army in Jiaozhi. His wife, Lady Dongfang, had borne him two sons, and a concubine, Concubine Luo, had a daughter. Because Lady Dongfang was skilled at currying favor with the matriarch Madam Gu, she managed almost all household affairs.

The third son, also born of a concubine, Zhang Zhuo, was low-key and neither excelled in civil nor military matters, always something of an invisible man in the family. His wife, Lady Sun, was not particularly capable and never competed with others. Their only son, James Bolton, had been frail and sickly as a child. Though his health improved as he grew, he remained somewhat muddle-headed. Compared to the powerful main branch and the shrewd second branch, the third branch had almost no say in family matters.

James Bolton carefully sorted through all these family trivialities and sighed deeply in his heart. In his previous life, he had been a diligent office worker. Now, after finally being reborn into a wealthy family, he was still a marginal figure—what rotten luck. And at just ten years old, he’d have to pretend to be a child for quite a while yet. The road ahead was long and arduous.

However, when Ethan Clark boasted that he had a cousin serving as a high official in the capital, he couldn’t help but be startled.

That was Duke Yingguo, Zhang Fu!

Although he only had a superficial understanding of Ming history, he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had slaughtered many founding officials, and the descendants of the founding heroes had little more than empty titles. But the heroes of the Jingnan Campaign were different, and the father-son duo Zhang Yu and Zhang Fu were even more so. Zhang Yu had died in the Jingnan Campaign, but Zhang Fu not only survived, he continued to achieve great merit, rising from earl all the way to duke. Such a prominent figure still had to call the old matriarch Madam Gu "aunt"!

After lying down again, it took him a long time to digest all this information. Judging by the family’s situation, if he behaved himself, life wouldn’t be too bad. But was he really going to spend his whole life treading carefully? Since he had been reborn, it would be a crime to waste this second chance.

Perhaps it was the transformation after being reborn, but as time passed, James Bolton's injuries healed day by day. Lady Sun was overjoyed and spared no expense on his medicine, while the matriarch Madam Gu even sent for a famous doctor from Kaifeng. After more than a month of careful nursing, James Bolton finally made a full recovery. Everyone in the third branch was overjoyed—except for him, who looked at the frail figure in the bronze mirror and felt a headache coming on.

Clearly, the most urgent task now was to strengthen his body. Otherwise, with such a frame that looked like it could be blown away by a gust of wind, he could forget about doing anything. But that was a matter for the future. After looking in the mirror, the first thing James Bolton did was beg his mother, Lady Sun, to take him to see the matriarch Madam Gu.

Lady Sun, however, hesitated. "You’ve only just recovered. Rest for a couple more days—it's not too late to pay your respects to the old madam then."