The elder had barely left when Alan suddenly spoke up. He hurriedly threw off the covers, staggered out of bed, and looked at his own body, which was completely unscathed—not even a scratch could be found. At the same time, unfamiliar images kept flooding his mind. After a while, he muttered to himself in disbelief, “I... I’ve transmigrated?”

He had originally been a Chinese man working hard on Wall Street, starting out as a trading analyst. More recently, he and a few business partners had founded their own investment company. But it couldn’t be said that his future was bright—after all, Wall Street was like a cliff, and disaster could strike at any moment. Yet those strange images and voices told him that he was now in Beijing during the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, and that this body’s name was Brian Grant, a son-in-law who had married into the prominent Harper family. The elder from before was his father-in-law, Edward Harper.

This Edward Harper was a “yashang”—a broker in ancient Chinese commerce who mediated transactions between buyers and sellers and took a commission.

After several rounds of confirmation—including seeing that unfamiliar face in a bronze mirror—he finally accepted that he had truly transmigrated. If it had been someone else, they might have found it hard to accept at first, but he quickly came to terms with it. He felt no regret, resentment, or complaint. Even though he had lost everything he had painstakingly built, along with his dreams, what he felt most was gratitude.

He believed he had made a very foolish mistake and deserved a severe punishment—if not death or disability, then at least prison. Compared to that, he was much luckier than most; after all, fate had given him another chance.

He stayed in the room for two whole days, using those images, memories, and voices to learn about Brian Grant.

It would have been better not to know, because once he did, he felt extremely embarrassed.

Because Brian Grant was the very embodiment of uselessness.

Brian Grant was born into a scholar’s family in Nanjing, so he came from an educated background. Unfortunately, he never surpassed his predecessors—he couldn’t even pass the lowest-level imperial exam. He was the type who lacked talent for study but still managed to ruin his mind with it. His mother died young, and his father passed away when he was sixteen. With no life skills, Brian Grant followed his father’s dying wish and came to the capital to seek refuge with Edward Harper.

Edward Harper was also from Nanjing, a fellow townsman, and the two families had been close for generations. So Edward Harper took Brian Grant in.

It just so happened that Edward Harper had only one daughter and no sons. For a merchant, this was quite awkward, because under Ming dynasty law and custom, women could hardly inherit the family business. After all, women couldn’t be out in public every day, sitting among men and discussing business. Even if she was willing, many men would not accept it.

After a serious illness, Edward Harper was no longer able to manage his business and urgently needed to find an heir. He saw that Brian Grant was decent-looking and seemed presentable. Although a bit dull and clueless about business, at least he was educated and could be trained. Most importantly, he was the son of an old friend and a good match in terms of family background. So he married his daughter to Brian Grant, hoping Brian Grant could inherit his business.

Who could have known that Brian Grant was utterly useless—he failed at his studies, looked down on business in his heart, had no real skills, was arrogant and self-important, and would get carried away whenever merchants flattered him a little. As a result, he made a fool of himself every day and was constantly outmaneuvered by shrewd businessmen.

The night before last, Edward Harper sent Brian Grant to handle the final signing of a deal. All the details had already been settled; this was just meant as a bit of training for Brian Grant, since he had never succeeded in any previous business negotiations.

But even so, Brian Grant was tricked by a competitor into going to Chunmanlou to drink with courtesans. Not only did he reveal the Harper family’s information, he also got dead drunk. Not only was it humiliating, but he also managed to ruin a deal that was practically in the bag.

“Sigh... To be a kept man to this extent is really something!”

Brian Grant could only smile wryly. Then he remembered how he used to joke that his greatest dream in life was to live off his looks. Now, by some twist of fate, that “dream” had come true. He truly felt that there was some kind of destiny at work, and muttered to himself, “Since Heaven has granted my wish, why not just keep living off my looks to the end?”

He used to be very ambitious and craved wealth, but now he felt utterly disheartened and had no fighting spirit left.

Although he had no complaints about transmigrating, he felt as if he had spent ten years training offstage, just about to step onto the stage and show his skills—only for the stage to suddenly vanish, not just canceled, but gone entirely. He felt deeply desolate.

Knock, knock, knock!

A series of knocks at the door interrupted Brian Grant’s thoughts.

“Come in!”

A maid of about fourteen or fifteen entered, carrying a tray of food. After setting the dishes on the table, she said, “Young master, the master says that after you finish eating, you should go to the back hall.”

Brian Grant was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, “I understand.”