“Cousin, why did father take down the plaque?”

David Carter said, “Cousin, do you not know that this Prince Dai, Wang Hong, later became the Crown Prince?”

The Crown Prince...

Brian Carter became excited. Although princes were precious, in this era where princes were as common as dogs, it still fell a bit short. But there was only one Crown Prince, after all. Wouldn’t a calligraphy inscription from him be even more valuable?

Now, even lying around for a lifetime wouldn’t be a problem.

Brian Carter was so excited his heart was about to leap out of his chest. His voice trembled slightly as he said, “Ah... of course, that’s only natural. This Prince Dai, just by looking at him, you can tell he’s wise and virtuous. From his writing, I see his steadiness, his effortless composure. He must be a prince who holds jade in his bosom and a gem in his hand. Such a person becoming Crown Prince is truly our good fortune.”

“But... later, when he traveled to Luoyang with the Emperor and Empress, he suddenly died in the Qiyun Hall of Hebi Palace.”

“He died? What a pity.” Brian Carter almost wanted to beat his chest and stamp his feet, lamenting for this poor Crown Prince, but in his heart he was overjoyed. Good that he died, it’s wonderful that he died! If he were still alive, giving out inscriptions every now and then, how could this piece of calligraphy be so precious? Look at Van Gogh—if he had lived to a hundred and painted a picture every day, how much would his works be worth? Ahem... the Crown Prince died at the right time, he will surely be remembered for all eternity!

David Carter continued, somewhat embarrassed, “After the Crown Prince died, there were many rumors among the people that he was killed by the current Emperor.”

“Ah... what did you say? The current Emperor?”

“That’s the present ‘Sacred and Divine Emperor’.”

The Sacred and Divine Emperor—that is, Wu Zetian. In an instant, with Brian Carter’s keen mind, he understood everything. Li Hong was the Crown Prince; if he hadn’t died, how could Wu Zetian have become Empress? And now, this Sacred and Divine Emperor has already ascended the throne and changed the dynasty to Wu Zhou. This is like, during the reign of Li Shimin, having a calligraphy piece by Emperor Yang of Sui hanging in your house—if you put it up, you’re asking for trouble.

Brian Carter’s face turned dark. What’s more, this Crown Prince was rumored to have died at the hands of the current Empress. Brian Carter felt his eyes were about to well up with tears. He had to tilt his face up at a forty-five degree angle to keep the tears from falling.

Seeing his cousin about to cry, David Carter couldn’t help but say, “Are you perhaps mourning the Crown Prince? To be honest, he really was quite pitiful.”

“Hmph! What nonsense.” Brian Carter said righteously, “Our Qin family are law-abiding citizens. How could we mourn some so-called fake Crown Prince? We run an honest business—who has the time to think about those nobles!”

“So, should we hang the plaque or not?”

After all that excitement for nothing, Brian Carter felt empty inside. But he still had a question: since it was just a calligraphy piece by a ‘former dynasty’ Crown Prince, why did the Zhou family want to seize it? Could it be that their goal wasn’t this calligraphy at all?

“Don’t hang it. Doing business depends on ourselves, how can we rely on others! For eight generations, the Qin family has prospered by being honest and diligent, never thinking of currying favor with the powerful. Do I look like the kind of person who flaunts someone else’s golden signboard? I see fame and fortune as fleeting clouds—hard work and getting rich is my true character.”

David Carter gave Brian Carter a deep look and said seriously, “It wasn’t like this before, but now... ahem... it’s hard to say.”

Brian Carter simply pretended not to hear and walked out with his hands behind his back.

Chapter 5: Enlightened

With the Zhou family’s matter on his mind, Brian Carter always felt as if his restaurant was being watched by something. It’s not the thief you fear, but the thief who keeps thinking about you. With this sense of crisis, Brian Carter decided to get the business going as soon as possible, make some money, and pay off all the debts to avoid any future trouble.

Now, he only had this restaurant to rely on. As for David Carter... this cousin was unreliable—he could help when things were going well, but there was no hope of him coming to the rescue in hard times.

However, there were many boxes of books in his own bedroom. Flipping through those books, Brian Carter saw lines of tiny characters. Surrounded by the scent of books, Brian Carter thought of the scene when that fool used to write his reading notes here: the dim oil lamp, the pale and frail young man always shutting himself in, reading tirelessly every day, all for the sake of bringing honor to the family.

Brian Carter shook his head inwardly. That person lived in his own world, aiming for things far too lofty, while he himself... ultimately had to face reality. He closed the book, but seemed to be influenced by that spirit, and began to feel resentful again. If only the inscription hadn’t been by Prince Dai, if only that Crown Prince had become Emperor, maybe he really would have had a chance to use it to get an official post—at least he’d have a shortcut the old bookworm never had. Wow, the more he thought about it, the harder it was to sleep. Brian Carter felt like his heart was being scratched by a hundred claws. He wanted to be an official, he wanted to rise to the top—talk of being indifferent to fame and fortune was nonsense. He was just one step away from success, and now it was all gone.

Oh, my heart, why does it keep aching like this?

Fine, back to reality—running the restaurant is what matters.

The Ruchun Restaurant opened as usual, but... things were a bit bleak.

All day long, Brian Carter lazily stood behind the counter, while David Carter absentmindedly wiped the already spotless tables and chairs.

Because... there were no customers.