I sat on the low couch, while Little Sister sat beside me, earnestly imitating the motions of needlework. She was holding a square handkerchief, but this girl’s embroidery skills really weren’t much to speak of. At best, I could only tell that those were two birds—there was no way I could figure out whether the birds in Little Sister’s hands, which looked almost like works by an Impressionist master, were mandarin ducks or quails.

Little Sister seemed to sense something and shot me a sideways glance. Naturally, I couldn’t dampen her enthusiasm for learning needlework, so I nodded at Little Sister with a kindly expression and gave her an encouraging smile: “Little Sister, your embroidery is quite good.”

“Really? Then tell me—”

Holding back my laughter, I propped my chin on my hand in a show of appreciation, at least enough to keep my facial muscles from twisting out of shape.

As for Mother, she had started busying herself again. I watched as Mother picked up needle and thread to sew a new pair of shoes. These days, her selfless care and tolerance had once again let me experience the warmth of family affection. No matter what, she and Emily were the people dearest to me in this world.

“What is it, do you have something you want to say to Mother?” Mother deftly stitched across the shoe’s upper. Noticing my gaze, she smiled at me, her gentle voice full of warmth.

“No, but Mother, it’s already so dark now, you should stop. Working in this kind of light is too hard on your eyes.” I pointed at the oil lamp as I spoke.

“It’s fine, Mother is used to it. Besides, there’s not much left to do—just a little more and it’ll be done. The shoes Mother made for you before are already getting too small…” Mother smiled, rubbed the needle against her hairline, and continued stitching.

“Oh, right, William, a few days ago, while you were still ill, the second son of the Duke of Tang’s family came to visit you. Now that you’re almost recovered, maybe you should pick a day to…”

“The second son of the Duke of Tang’s family?” Uh, no way—did I already meet the second-generation ruler of the Tang Dynasty before I even regained consciousness?

“He actually came all the way from Taiyuan to see me?” Seeing Mother nod, I couldn’t help but feel a jolt of surprise. Huh, could it be that the friendship between Abraham Lincoln and me, William Grant, could transcend time and space? Uh… that sounds a bit much, but if he really traveled such a long way just to see me, then this guy must be someone worth befriending. I’ve heard that in ancient times, people liked to swear brotherhood by cutting off a chicken’s head and burning yellow paper—just not sure if I ever did that with Abraham Lincoln.

“…Taiyuan?” Little Sister and Mother both looked at each other in confusion, then turned their slightly suspicious gazes on me. “Grace, didn’t you say your brother was already fully recovered?”

“Yeah, these past few days he’s been acting a bit odd, but he’s fine… so strange?” The warm light reflected in Little Girl’s big, dark eyes, but what she said was really annoying. What do you mean by ‘acting odd’? Is asking where the latrine is odd? Is asking how to write traditional characters odd? I traveled through time and space, I need an adjustment period, right?

“So, if not Taiyuan, then where?” I scratched my head, quickly searching my memory for everything about Abraham Lincoln. Right, wasn’t the Li family’s rise to power in Taiyuan, before they overthrew the Sui Dynasty?

“How would I know?” Little Emily looked up at the ceiling, the corners of her mouth curving like a rainbow, her eyes full of laughter. This brat, making fun of her brother, huh? Doesn’t she know that the eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother?

Just as I was about to raise my eyebrows and glare, ready to use the Confucian virtues and the Three Bonds and Five Constants I’d crammed these past few days to teach this cheeky girl a lesson for daring to mock her brother, Mother affectionately reached out and poked Emily’s soft cheek, smiling as she said, “Don’t tease, your brother isn’t fully recovered yet.”

“The Duke of Tang’s family also lives in Luoyang, not Taiyuan. Right now, the Duke of Tang is serving as the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Guards, not an outside official, so of course his family is in Luoyang.” Mother turned her head and gently explained my confusion.

“What?” I was dumbfounded. Damn, I embarrassed myself again. Looks like my knowledge of history isn’t deep enough—my historical foundation is weak. And after coming here, I didn’t even think to find out where the future founding emperor and Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were. That’s just inexcusable.

“Oh, looks like I was confused.” I gave a couple of awkward laughs to cover for myself. “Well, another day, I’ll definitely go thank him in person.”

Before I finished speaking, Little Emily leaned against Mother’s side and said with a smile, “That day when Brother Lincoln came, he brought you lots of medicinal herbs and tonics. Unfortunately, you hadn’t woken up yet, and Brother Lincoln stayed for almost an hour before leaving.”

“Oh, really? What did he bring for his big brother?” I glanced at this girl—tsk tsk, not even twelve years old, and her eyes light up at the mention of Abraham Lincoln. Could it be that Abraham Lincoln has the makings of a pop idol?