And Brian Clark is the son of Henry Webb. After the family split, he was called Clark, but in reality, the two clans remained as close as one family.

For example, Brian Clark's son still bore the surname "Wei".

Samuel Webb did not come directly.

He first sent his own family retainer to notify Ethan Clark, arranging a specific time for the visit.

This was quite a noble way of doing things.

It both demonstrated the complexity of his own status and expressed respect for the host family.

The grandmother was extremely cautious regarding the arrival of the Webb, even if it was a member who had already "branched out" from the Webb clan.

The grandmother, who rarely left her own room, personally directed the household servants to thoroughly clean the entire residence.

But just cleaning the house wasn't enough; the servants also cleared weeds and various debris from the road leading to the house, and even brought in new soil to cover it all over again.

If the agreed meeting time hadn't been only three days away, Ethan Clark had reason to believe the grandmother would have gone even further.

"Wu, the Webb are the ones our (family) depends on (as patrons)." The grandmother spoke with deep earnestness, saying, "Wu, you must seize (this opportunity)."

If even a member who had already branched out from the Webb could make the grandmother so cautious, it was clear how great the gap was between minor and major nobles.

And at this time, the Webb had not truly risen to prominence yet, and were not considered the top aristocrats of Jin.

There was no need for the grandmother to remind him further; Ethan Clark, who had orchestrated this whole affair, was already full of anticipation for this meeting—how could he not take it seriously?

One morning,

A group of people from the Webb arrived first, numbering about a hundred.

A retainer of the Webb came to the The Clark Family first, not speaking to anyone until he saw Ethan Clark, at which point he informed him that Samuel Webb was just behind and would be arriving soon.

This Webb retainer introduced himself as Walter. (Called Che, he is the charioteer for a certain important figure in the Webb family.)

Even a charioteer could be a family retainer, which showed that not just anyone could be a coachman these days.

This made perfect sense; being literate and possessing other skills made one a talent in the Spring and Autumn period.

The rest were all warriors.

They did not enter the Clark residence, but split into several groups to patrol the surrounding area, or rather, to assess risks.

Walter found various excuses to walk around inside the Clark residence, as if inspecting something, and then, without any apology, said to Ethan Clark, "Has the Lü really come to this? (Has the Lü family really fallen to such a state?)"

This was a comment on the decline of a family.

But Ethan Clark knew that Walter was checking for any ambushes or the like in the house. He felt offended and showed his displeasure openly.

Walter, however, changed the subject, talking about some new things he had seen in the back of the house, probing whether the Clark family had recently recruited any new talent.

It was all very straightforward.

Everything about the Clark family showed that their decline was not a recent development, but had taken shape over a long period.

This meant that the Clark family itself had no talents, and any new things that appeared could only have been brought in by outsiders.

Ethan Clark ignored Walter's probing, simply maintaining his unhappy expression, but did not neglect the proper hospitality.

About an hour later, an even larger group arrived.

It was a massive entourage of over a thousand people, with five chariots alone, one of which was Samuel Webb's own.

Ethan Clark fully realized what it meant to be a great noble, and also understood that the Webb were still affected by the destruction of the Carter, and were concerned for the safety of their own direct bloodline when traveling.

After all, the infighting among the ministers of Jin had always been bloody.

The aftershocks of the Carter's destruction were still ongoing, and warriors loyal to the Carter repeatedly attempted to assassinate the nobles involved in the massacre.

Each noble family also took the opportunity to strike at their rivals, killing people and then blaming it on the remnants of the Carter.

The Samuel Webb that Ethan Clark saw was a handsome youth, but showed no signs of being pampered.

Samuel Webb was about ten-something years old, and his words and actions showed the strict education he had received, displaying the bearing expected of a noble.

Ethan Clark personally welcomed Samuel Webb, bringing him into the residence, but sensibly stopped at a pavilion with a wide view, waiting for the Webb warriors to inspect each building.

"The country is in turmoil..." Samuel Webb started to explain, but after a few words, he stopped and changed the subject, saying, "Bad metal is shunned by all the families (nobles). Wu, why do you use bad metal to make cauldrons?"

That day, Ethan Clark had guided craftsmen in forging a cauldron, both to prepare some dishes for today and to demonstrate his own value.

After the warriors finished their inspection, some stayed behind while the rest withdrew.

Ethan Clark invited Samuel Webb inside, and after they were seated, he said, "The family is in decline, and the hospitality is lacking. Please, 'lord', do not take offense."

To discuss serious matters, it was only proper to "enter the main hall" as a sign of respect.

Only then did Ethan Clark explain why he used iron to make the cauldron, using the clearest language he could, and also talked about some principles of heating, heat conduction, and heat generation.

He did not know that Samuel Webb was known as the number one prodigy of Jin.

Even if Samuel Webb was only showing intelligence now, without the reputation of being Jin's top prodigy, his intellect and thinking should already be quite developed.

Samuel Webb pondered carefully, and instead of talking business, he pursued some of the knowledge that Ethan Clark had mentioned.