“Father-in-law, you are being foolish. An doesn’t understand that only by giving up something can you gain something. If we win them over now, they will support the Crown Prince in the future…”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

Henry Brooks was so furious he nearly fainted, supported on either side by Grace Turner and William Carter, clutching his forehead and gasping for breath.

Standing opposite them was a handsome young man, dressed in a brocade robe, wearing a dark green soft cap, and even in the depths of winter holding a folding fan with a jade pendant dangling from it—he truly cut a fine figure.

This must be the Du family’s eldest son-in-law, Brian Clark.

Although Charles Reed had only been at the Du residence for three days, he had already often heard the name of this The Son-in-law Clark.

According to Edward Brooks, his eldest brother-in-law was naturally uninhibited, warm-hearted, and unconcerned with trivialities, thus making many friends; but in the mouths of other Du family members, Brian Clark was arrogant and rude, fawning over outsiders while being indifferent to his own family, aiming high but achieving little—aside from his looks, he was good for nothing.

At this moment, Brian Clark ignored Henry Brooks’s furious expression and continued, “It’s precisely because the Crown Prince has no power at court that he is bullied by others.”

“I told you to shut up! Don’t mention the Crown Prince again!”

Henry Brooks’s face turned bright red as he tried to break free from their support to lunge at Brian Clark.

“What’s so unspeakable about it? Father-in-law, you’ll soon be the imperial father-in-law—aren’t you being a bit too timid and cowardly…”

Only now did Charles Reed suddenly realize why Edward Brooks had spoken of “Second Sister” with such reverence these past few days—it turned out the Du family’s second daughter had actually married the current Crown Prince.

Henry Brooks glared, and actually fainted from anger.

“Alang!”

Just as Brian Clark was saying, “As the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law, I…”, he saw what happened, his expression finally changed, and he hurried forward to help.

“Get away!” Grace Turner screamed, flustered and panicked.

The steward William Carter quickly shouted, “Hurry, fetch a doctor!”

The maid Caiyun rushed out, bumping into Charles Reed on her way.

Charles Reed stepped forward to help support Henry Brooks, his demeanor calm.

“Lay him on his side, loosen his collar, keep his airway clear.”

“Alang! Alang!”

Fortunately, after a short while, Henry Brooks came to. The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to laboriously raise his hand and point at Brian Clark, mouthing a single word over and over.

“Divorce… divorce…”

Charles Reed looked at Brian Clark, and saw his eyelids twitching noticeably, his face full of disbelief.

Turning back, he saw a calligraphy scroll hanging on the study wall, with eight upright characters in regular script:

“Speak cautiously, act prudently, tread as if on thin ice.”

…

That noon, an old Daoist was still shaking a soul-summoning bell in the courtyard, buzzing and chanting incantations.

“Respectfully inviting the True Lord of the Nine Heavens, Guardian of the Household, to dispel fear…”

Brian Clark walked past the altar in a daze, and as he rounded the wall lamp, his folding fan fell to the ground without him even noticing.

…

It was nearing dusk.

The ritual was finally completed. Grace Turner prayed several times at the incense table for “no disaster, no illness” before instructing the servants to tidy up, and then invited the old Daoist to dine.

Charles Reed helped put away various items and went with the servants to the front courtyard for a meal.

A servant asked him, “Did you see? Alang is really determined to have the eldest lady divorce this time?”

Charles Reed shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“But Quanfu said so at lunch, and you were in the study then.”

“I didn’t understand.”

The others continued to gossip about the argument that morning, but Charles Reed remained silent, focused on eating his sesame flatbread.

“Charles Reed.”

Edward Brooks, hands behind his back, poked half his body out from the outer ceremonial gate and called, “Come here.”

The two of them walked to the covered corridor and sat down by the railing.

“Eat.”

Edward Brooks glanced around, then pulled out a chicken leg from behind his back, and fished an egg out of his sleeve.

This wasn’t the first time. Charles Reed accepted them without hesitation and ate.

First, he didn’t think working was shameful; second, he believed helping each other was only natural. He had a confidence that, having received help, he would repay it sooner or later, so he accepted it openly, without embarrassment.

“I’ve been standing all day, and Master Fang kept waving talismans in front of my eyes—so tiring.” Edward Brooks stretched and said, “What about you?”

“Cleaning, tidying up,” Charles Reed replied. “I snuck a look at your books while organizing the shelves this afternoon.”

“They’re all full of classical gibberish—what’s there to see?”

“It’s for usefulness, not for fun.”

“You really are different from most people.” Edward Brooks couldn’t help but sigh, then asked, “Did my father and brother-in-law argue again? Are they really going to divorce?”

Charles Reed asked in return, “Is divorce a bad thing? How does The Son-in-law Clark usually treat your eldest sister?”

“I don’t really know.” Edward Brooks thought for a moment, then scratched his head and sighed, “I just feel that my brother-in-law treats me warmly. Like, I didn’t want to go to Pingkang Lane, but… sigh!”

“You wanted to repay his kindness, so you did things you didn’t want to do?”

Edward Brooks nodded, and then thought of the late Duanyan.

“How old is your eldest sister?”

Edward Brooks counted on his fingers and said, “Bingyin… twenty-six. Why?”

“Remarrying won’t be hard.”

For a moment, Charles Reed had considered that becoming the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law might be a good path, but now the age gap was too great.

What a pity.