If a person were unfortunate enough to return to the sixth year of Tianqi.

At this time, the great edifice was about to collapse, the eunuch faction ran rampant, officials schemed against each other, and the people lived in misery.

Factional strife still continued.

In the misty, rainy Jiangnan, scholars still indulged in pleasure, and beauties sang and danced gracefully.

The refugees were clothed in rags, hunger had reached its limit.

In Liaodong, the Later Jin cavalry were sharpening their blades, eyeing the world like tigers.

And just at this moment, James Bolton donned the fish-patterned robe, with the Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist.

He became a Jinyiwei captain of this era, renowned throughout the land for his brutality and violence.

In this unreasonable age, he happened to become the one person who least needed to reason.

Chapter One: The Prodigal Son

James Bolton's head throbbed as if it would split open, his mind felt like it was filled with glue.

His eyelids were as heavy as a thousand pounds. Using all his strength, he finally managed to open his eyes!

Immediately, astonishment flashed in his eyes. Before him was an elegantly antique side room, and every furnishing in the room made James Bolton feel as if he had entered a different world.

He instinctively tried to reach out and sit up, and then, James Bolton was completely stunned.

This hand... this wasn't his own hand!

At the very least, his own hand was never this fair and delicate.

"What is going on?" James Bolton couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming.

"Young master, you’re finally awake!"

At this moment, a voice of delight sounded in James Bolton's ear.

James Bolton felt that the accent of this voice was a bit strange.

Young master?

"Young master?"

The person beside him said joyfully, "Yes, you are the young master of our Zhang family. Have you forgotten, young master?"

James Bolton felt his head was heavy and muddled, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds. He tried hard to turn his head to look at the speaker, but even such a simple movement was extremely difficult.

He had no choice but to give up on this strenuous effort, and couldn't help but say, "I am the Zhang family's young master?"

"Of course! Back in the day, our Zhang family was fairly well-off, and the master was even a Jinyiwei centurion. In the capital, though not among the richest or most powerful, we were still considered respectable. You are the master's only son, so naturally he doted on you..."

The speaker clearly didn't realize how shocked James Bolton was by these words, to the point that his heavy eyes instinctively widened!

Only James Bolton himself knew what he had just experienced in his heart in that instant.

Some sensations in his body slowly made him realize that this was not a dream, that all of this was real—he had transmigrated, and into someone else's body...

After coming to terms with this fact, James Bolton felt not only astonished, but also a trace of fear at his sudden change!

However, after hearing what the person beside him had just said, he felt a bit comforted. At least things weren't worse; in this new life, the family background was decent, and he even had a father who was an official.

But... wasn't it good enough to be himself? Why did he have to transmigrate?

"So, in other words... cough cough... my father is an official, and I’m a young master?"

"How could young master not remember? Could it be that you were so shocked you forgot everything?" the person asked worriedly.

James Bolton quickly replied, "Yes, my head still hurts, I’ve forgotten a lot. Tell me everything in detail!"

The person at his side seemed very obedient to James Bolton's words, and without suspicion, lowered his voice and said, "Previously, the master was ordered by the Northern Town Patrol Department to go to Liaodong on official business, and he hasn't returned for several years. At that time, young master was still little, and without the master's discipline, you started eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling at a young age, squandering all the family's savings. In less than a year, the Zhang family was penniless, and even the house was sold."

James Bolton immediately felt his vision go black.

Damn, that's outrageous.

This isn't the transmigration I wanted!

So, he was picking up the mess left by the original prodigal son. That bastard ran off with his aunt—no, after indulging in pleasure, he just wiped his mouth and disappeared, leaving him to bear the consequences?

James Bolton was eager to know his situation, and breathed hard. He felt his body was a bit better, so he asked again, "And then?"

"As the saying goes, heaven never bars one's way. Later, it was heard that the Marquis of Nanhe had a precious daughter he was reluctant to marry off, so he wanted to recruit a son-in-law. When young master heard this, you were overjoyed and rushed to the Marquis of Nanhe's mansion, hoping to become his favored son-in-law."

The Marquis of Nanhe...

Suddenly, James Bolton seemed to understand something!

If he remembered correctly, this should be the Ming Dynasty. In his memory, he had some impression of the Marquis of Nanhe—this was a title granted in the early Ming, hereditary, and continued until the late Ming.

But...

James Bolton almost spat out a mouthful of blood. So he had become a live-in son-in-law?

The original owner of this body was truly a scoundrel. In ancient times, the status of a live-in son-in-law was no different from that of a servant.

In the eyes of the ancients, those willing to become live-in sons-in-law were generally considered disloyal and unfilial! To marry into another family was basically seen as betraying one's ancestors!