Beside her stood a woman in a green dress, who looked about the same age as her, equally beautiful, but with a completely different temperament.

Emily Walker was a classical beauty, giving off a gentle and graceful impression, while this woman in the green dress—was simply headache-inducing.

And the headache was quite literal. Just now, from Sophie, he learned that the idea to stuff stones into the embroidered ball was hers, and she was the one who personally threw it down. If she hadn’t done that, Grace Carter would probably still be wandering the streets in a daze, not knowing who he was, not knowing where he was, like a homeless beggar...

Instead of sitting now in a spacious and comfortable room, with a beautiful wife and a father-in-law who’s a county magistrate. So should Grace Carter—thank her?

Lily Carter.

The woman before him had a rather bewitching name, and so far, it was the one name that gave Grace Carter a headache just hearing it.

Coincidentally, she even shared the same surname as him...

Emily Walker walked to his side and softly asked, “You... still haven’t remembered anything?”

Grace Carter shook his head.

A trace of worry appeared on Emily Walker’s face. “You’ve even forgotten your own name?”

Grace Carter thought for a moment and said, “I need to be called something, so let’s just call me Grace Carter for now. Somehow, this name feels strangely familiar.”

Lily Carter bit her lip, cursing inwardly. Even picking a random name, he had to use her surname—was he planning to cling to her?

Then she felt a bit deflated. She was the one who caused this mess, so at least until his memory returned, she had to take full responsibility for him.

“Grace Carter...” Emily Walker repeated the name twice, nodding slightly.

Grace Carter looked at her and suddenly asked, “Are there any books here? I’d like to read something—maybe it’ll help me recover some memories...”

Emily Walker thought for a moment, then nodded. “Come with me.”

The Zhong residence was huge. Emily Walker led him through two long corridors and three moon gates before finally arriving at the door of a room.

Grace Carter couldn’t help but wonder how a county magistrate could afford such a large mansion. In his memory, no matter the dynasty, a county magistrate’s salary was never very high—some were so poor they could barely put food on the table. Could his new father-in-law be a corrupt official?

Emily Walker looked at him and said, “This is my study. If you want to read anything, look for it yourself.”

“Thank you.” Grace Carter nodded and stepped inside.

Emily Walker didn’t go in with him. The woman in the green dress pulled her aside, walked a little farther away, looked at her, and asked, “Are you really going to marry this man of unknown origin?”

Emily Walker smiled faintly and said, “No matter who I marry, it’s better than marrying that person.”

“No way!” Lily Carter frowned at her and said, “You always said you’d only marry a man of great talent. This whole thing is my fault, so I have a responsibility to help you solve it...”

...

Grace Carter couldn’t hear the conversation between the two women in the courtyard; his attention was entirely on the study.

The study wasn’t large, but it was exquisitely arranged. Three walls were lined with bookshelves, filled with all kinds of books—classics, history, poetry, calligraphy, painting...

There was an open book on the desk. Grace Carter glanced at it; the handwriting was delicate, probably Emily Walker’s reading notes. Grace Carter didn’t look further and didn’t touch anything on her desk, but walked straight to a bookshelf filled with history books.

He pulled one out and opened it.

The script, of course, wasn’t the simplified characters he was used to, but at least it wasn’t some indecipherable scrawl—it was a very standard regular script, which meant the era he’d traveled to wasn’t too far removed, and it was unlikely to be some chaotic, unrecognizable period.

Grace Carter had never systematically studied traditional characters, but strangely, he had no trouble reading this book at all. The script felt especially familiar.

He could only attribute this to some indelible memory within this body—the familiar script, the familiar Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, all made him feel a strong sense of intimacy.

Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Zhao Song dynasty...

The dynasty names matched up, but when he looked closely at the historical events, Grace Carter was a bit confused.

That’s not right—the Qin dynasty actually lasted fifty years, several decades longer than he remembered. He thought the Tang dynasty lasted nearly three hundred years, but here it was only a little over a hundred. Where did the other 150 years go—were they eaten by dogs?

He was familiar with many of the major historical events recorded in these history books, but even more were unfamiliar.

Was this really a history book and not a novel?

Grace Carter skeptically opened the next book.

And the next.

And the next after that.

...

Late at night, Grace Carter lay in bed, tossing and turning.

He had spent the whole day reading history books, and had to accept a certain reality.

This was not the world he knew. In the vast river of history, there was much he recognized, but even more that was unfamiliar. If he tried to match every detail with the history he knew, he’d go crazy.

Was this an alternate world, or a parallel world?

He didn’t know.

Besides that, he discovered something else that could only be described as miraculous.

There was something wrong with his memory.