The two occurrences of the word “marriage contract” one after the other were especially jarring. Frank Warren thought to himself that nowadays a deed of sale was written as a marriage contract, and at the top, it even used the words “purchase and raise a son.” Was he buying a servant, or raising a son? He tossed the thin contract that had bought a living person onto the bedside for now, and asked James Gold, “When I bought you back then, it was on a whim, and later I got injured, so I don’t remember things too clearly. Since your name is James Gold, I suppose your parents must have cherished you. Why was your older brother so heartless as to sell you?”

James Gold was still young, and had just desperately begged to be taken in, with tear stains still on his face. Faced with this question, his face flushed bright red, and after a long while, he finally said in a low voice, “My brother and I don’t have the same mother.”

That short sentence was enough to explain everything. Frank Warren didn’t want to pry into other people’s messy family affairs, so after a moment’s thought, he asked again, “Even if your brother was unkind, why were you willing to follow me? Aren’t you afraid of being beaten and scolded, treated like a beast of burden?”

“Father isn’t that kind of person!” James Gold hurriedly dropped to his knees, not noticing at all how Frank Warren’s face twitched at being called “father.” “After my brother brought me to see father, father agreed to pay eight taels of silver for me after just a few words, and he’s always been kind and gentle to me. Besides, father is a scholar who’s entered the academy. If he passes the next exams, he’ll definitely become a high official and do great things. Even if he scolds or beats me, it must be because I did something wrong.”

Frank Warren couldn’t be bothered to think about this form of address. Pointing at James Gold, he snapped, “Don’t just kneel on the ground for no reason! A man’s knees are as precious as gold—stand up and speak!”

Seeing the little fellow spring up like a rabbit and then stand there properly, Frank Warren felt as if he were the big bad wolf luring a little white rabbit, but he had no choice but to patiently ask, “Do you know what my family’s situation is like?”

James Gold had no idea that Frank Warren was trying to get information out of him. He lowered his head and answered honestly, “My brother told me that father’s family has over a hundred mu of land and three tenant households. Father is the only son in the family. This year, at fourteen, he passed the county, prefectural, and circuit exams, and just entered the academy—he’s now an attached student. Except for those few exams, father rarely goes into the county town and spends all his time studying hard at home. Even though he only ranked last in the circuit exam this time, he’s still a xiucai! There are three sisters at home: the first, second, and third madams. The old master used to transport salt from the Two Huai regions to Huguang and hasn’t been home for years. This time, he fell ill while away, so the old lady who manages the household personally went to care for him.”

Frank Warren had already heard some of this from his eldest sister before. But this was the first time he’d heard about the scholar’s ranking—so Young Scholar Warren had just barely scraped by!

Chapter Two: Truly a Pitfall for Dad!

For the next two days, Frank Warren did his best to avoid being alone with his sisters, lest he give himself away. However, whether it was the eldest sister or the second or youngest, no matter what they said, their actions showed great concern for him. In the end, he could only curse this wretched transmigration for not even giving him any memories. From his slightly older eldest sister, he finally understood what that contract was all about.

It turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang strictly forbade commoners from keeping slaves, but there were always poor families who sold their sons and daughters, or even themselves, to survive. So, over time, people borrowed the form of a marriage contract and wrote the sale of servants in veiled terms as the purchase and raising of sons or daughters. Thus, household servants would often call their masters “father” or “mother,” and the master’s children “big brother” or “big sister.” Of course, the gentry and official families wouldn’t be so casual.

Now that he understood this, Frank Warren felt relieved about James Gold and deliberately tried to get closer to him. The main reason was that he and James Gold had had little interaction before, so it would be harder for anyone to notice if he slipped up, and besides, the little guy was still young and easy to coax information from. However, even though James Gold tried to please him and answered whatever he could, he was too young and only half-understood most things. As a result, he knew very little about life in Songming Village. The only thing worth celebrating was that Frank Warren could finally get out of bed and walk a few steps, no longer bedridden like an invalid.

At this moment, James Gold, seeing that Frank Warren had only been listening without comment, gradually relaxed and started to talk about other things: “These days, while father was bedridden, I overheard the first and second madams whispering. Because the old master was ill, the old lady braved the long journey to care for him herself. But since the circuit exam was held in the prefectural city, father stayed home to prepare. Someone outside started spreading rumors that father only cared about his own career and didn’t tend to his sick father, saying he was unfilial. They even said that father cheated during the county exam, which is why he ranked so high there, did average in the prefectural exam, and came last in the circuit exam. So they want to report him to the chief examiner to have his scholar status revoked…”

He suddenly stopped, and hurriedly explained, “Father, I shouldn’t have said that. The first madam told me not to mention it to you—please don’t take it to heart!”

Frank Warren was shocked, but at the same time secretly grateful that the little guy was so honest and said everything on his mind. If not for that, he wouldn’t have known about his current predicament. In this era where the imperial exams were everything, even being a xiucai meant entering the scholar class and enjoying privileges like exemption from taxes and corvée labor. Whether or not he planned to continue with the exams in the future, he absolutely had to keep this status!