Thinking of Tom Harris's kind reminder, the wine in Charles Thompson's mouth began to taste bitter. The Sui Dynasty once had a regulation prohibiting the conscription of the elderly and weak, as well as the only sons of families. But those were the old emperor's rules. To speak a bit blasphemously, even when the old emperor was alive, the new emperor never really cared about those rules, let alone now that the old emperor has been dead for so many years!

No matter how bitter or unwilling he felt, some things still had to be done. There was no escaping it; the more you tried to avoid it, the more flustered you would be when the time came. Charles Thompson sighed, gently put down his wine cup, and said to his son, who was eating heartily, "At the beginning of next month, a caravan will be heading beyond the frontier. The leader is an old acquaintance of mine, surname Sun…."

"Mm, mm!" David Thompson replied absentmindedly, holding a big bowl of lamb stew in one hand and a half-eaten flatbread in the other. He must have been starving after playing outside all day, eating quickly and voraciously. Mrs. Thompson-Bolton, feeling sorry for her son, kept gently urging him from the side, "Slow down, slow down, don't choke, there's plenty more in the pot!"

"The leader is called Edward Clark, an old acquaintance of mine. I think you're old enough now; it's time for you to see the world!" Charles Thompson steeled himself, lowered his head, and spoke loudly.

"Great! I've never seen what a big caravan looks like!" David Thompson put down his bowl and answered cheerfully. Suddenly, he understood his father's meaning, his eyes widened, and he murmured, "Dad, you, you mean…!"

"Your father is getting old and wants you to go beyond the frontier in my place!" Charles Thompson didn't dare look into his son's eyes, and tried to repeat his meaning in as calm a tone as possible.

"I—I have the best essays in the school. I—I can recite the entire Analects from memory! I…" The half piece of flatbread in David Thompson's hand fell to the ground. Just yesterday, his father was still discussing with him whether to take the Mingjing or Jinshi exam, and today it had turned into going beyond the frontier as a merchant in his father's stead.

In David Thompson's dreams, he had imagined passing the Jinshi exam and standing in court, or riding into battle as a hero. Most often, he dreamed of wearing an official's uniform, buying a big house near the county school in Shanggu County, bringing his parents to live with him, having plenty to eat and drink, and letting Tom Harris manage the household, with people like Old Baldy Smith bowing and scraping before him. In all the dreams of youth, there was never the idea of becoming a merchant like his father, running between the frontier and the Central Plains every year, braving the elements for little profit, and suffering the bullying of officials, clan elders, and local ruffians.

Moreover, once he became a merchant, according to Sui Dynasty custom, he would automatically forfeit his status as a respectable family’s son and could never again participate in the imperial examinations.

"Dad, you—there's just no other way!" Old Charles Thompson couldn't face his son's gaze, and tried to explain evasively.

David Thompson looked at his father, refusing to believe this answer. Though the family was poor, compared to the truly destitute neighbors, they were still relatively well-off. Attending the county school didn't require paying the teacher, and the government provided two meals a day for the students. Although the food was rarely oily, if he didn't need to help his mother with chores, he could almost stay at the school all the time, only coming home for a meal once a month….

Mrs. Thompson-Bolton was silent, turning away and constantly wiping her tears. Her son was not thoughtless; it was precisely because he was so sensible that it was especially hard for his parents to make such a big decision for him. If it weren't for that damned Koryo, if the emperor wasn't always thinking of subduing the barbarians… but those were things she couldn't control. Now, the only thing she could decide was her own son.

"It's not that we can't afford to support you! There's going to be war, and in Shanggu County, every respectable family’s son must provide his own armor and weapons to join the army. I want you to use the excuse of going on a trading trip beyond the frontier to avoid the draft, and come back to take care of your mother after the army sets out in two years!" Charles Thompson couldn't bear the pressure in his heart any longer and finally decided to tell the truth. Although forcing his son to be a deserter was nothing to be proud of, compared to letting his son think he was sacrificing his future just to save money, this reason at least allowed him to breathe a little easier.

"I won't go beyond the frontier. If I have to be a soldier, then so be it. I'll earn my honor on horseback…!" Hearing his father reveal the real reason, David Thompson felt a weight lift from his heart and spoke carelessly.

"Pa!" A burning pain on his cheek interrupted him. His always gentle father stood up and slapped him across the face. In an instant, Charles Thompson's old face, weathered and wrinkled by the years, turned dark with anger. He glared and shouted, "Shut up! Earn your honor on horseback. Open your eyes and look—among the hundreds of families in our village, has anyone ever come back alive with honor? In the eighteenth year of the Kaihuang era, three hundred thousand went east to war, and two hundred ninety-nine thousand died…"

"Why are you hitting him for no reason!" Mrs. Thompson-Bolton rushed over and pulled her son into her arms. She wanted to comfort him, but before she could speak, her tears were already streaming down her face.

"Dad—" David Thompson covered his face and called out softly, tears the size of beans rolling down his fingers. That slap had completely stunned him. Instinctively, he wanted to say something soft to apologize to his father, but he didn't even know what he had done wrong. 'Earn your honor on horseback'—that was the ancestral teaching and what the teacher always said, yet in front of his own father, these words became rebellious and unfilial.

Charles Thompson looked at his son, then at his wife, and felt a sharp pain in his heart. His anger vanished without a trace. He slumped heavily back onto the stool and said dejectedly, "Tomorrow, say goodbye to your teacher and prepare to go beyond the frontier! Your brother has already become a lonely ghost. I can't send you away too. If I did, when I die, I wouldn't have the face to meet our ancestors."

Hearing her husband mention their eldest son, Mrs. Thompson-Bolton was overcome with grief. She hugged her son's shoulders and sobbed, "Xuzi, listen to your father. Your mother doesn't expect you to bring glory to the family, only that you live a safe and peaceful life, marry a wife, and have a son. When your brother followed Mr. Carter beyond the frontier, he was the best rider and archer among three hundred men…."