Martha Clark nodded indifferently, her coldness was terrifying—almost no one dared to raise their head to look at her, including her own son William Carter. From childhood to adulthood, William Carter had always been very afraid of this mother, speaking with extreme caution, fearing that any word might anger her.

"Your position has already been decided; no one can change it anymore. Although your father sent people to save his life, he can no longer compete with you."

"Mother, I do not covet power. If Ruyi can govern benevolently and spread kindness throughout the land, then I am willing to give up this position. I believe that harmony among brothers is..."

"Mm."

Martha Clark coldly interrupted William Carter's long speech. William Carter said nothing more and continued to follow behind Martha Clark.

"I still hope Mother will take good care of yourself..."

In the end, William Carter said another string of words urging Martha Clark to take care of her health, and once again delivered a series of lengthy speeches on the many internal issues of the royal family, before finally bidding farewell to Martha Clark and leaving.

Over the years, William Carter would visit the emperor and empress every day, always saying these words urging them to take care of themselves, always giving long-winded speeches, quoting the classics, respectful and obedient.

Under the embellishment of these words, that seemingly sincere face appeared somewhat false.

Chapter Three: Big and Small Rascals

Entering the hall, Martha Clark looked around in loneliness. There was not a single palace maid inside; the cold wind whistled. Although this Jiaofang Hall was supposed to be warm, for some reason, the hall felt chillingly cold. Martha Clark said nothing and prepared to change clothes.

"Mother～～～"

A wailing cry shattered the solemn and cold atmosphere in the hall—a little thing was crying and shouting loudly.

Martha Clark was startled. The main hall of Jiaofang Hall was very large, with four inner rooms. At this moment, the sound was coming from the innermost room.

When Martha Clark entered that small room, Charles Carter was lying on the couch, his eyes brimming with tears, looking extremely aggrieved.

"What happened to you now?"

"I got hurt on my way to study. The imperial physician said I need to rest for two... half a year."

"Which imperial physician said that?"

"Uh... that bearded imperial physician."

Martha Clark stared at him coldly. Under her gaze, Charles Carter couldn't help but shrink his head into the felt blanket and said in a low voice, "You have to believe me, Mother."

"What trouble have you caused again? Your father asked me to send someone to take you to the Xuan Room Hall."

"Huh?"

Charles Carter finally dropped the act. He sat up abruptly and asked, "To see Father?"

"Mother, can I not go? I'm injured, let me recover first before I go, okay?"

"No."

"Mother～～"

Charles Carter jumped off the couch and rushed toward Martha Clark. Martha Clark was nearly knocked over by this little rascal. She finally managed to grab hold of him, only to see Charles Carter looking at her with pleading eyes.

Martha Clark reached out to wipe his snot, stared at him coldly, and asked, "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't go to study... and I bumped into someone... the day before yesterday I even... spat on someone... the day before that..."

"Alright, that's enough... that's plenty."

"Wow, Mother, I don't dare go alone! Can you really bear to see me get beaten half to death?"

Watching Charles Carter wail and smear his tears and snot all over himself, Martha Clark glared at him with a hint of disgust, then finally stood up helplessly and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to see your father."

Charles Carter held Martha Clark's hand, skipping along toward the Xuan Room Hall.

In the entire palace, Mother treated him the best.

Samuel Carter was not interested in history, so Charles Carter couldn't recall anything useful from his memories.

In this era, he only knew of George Carter, John Howard, James Bolton, Stephen Clark, and Robert Harris. He only knew about them because of a story from middle school about the Hongmen Banquet—he just remembered John Howard eating meat and drinking wine, and George Carter escaping.

He did know about the Rule of Wen and Jing and Emperor Wu of Han, but he couldn't remember the names of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. Emperor Wu should be called Thomas Carter, but he was probably much younger than himself.

As for the famous Martha Clark in history, he didn't know much either. It seemed she ruled for a period and even killed a prince or two. His memory was fuzzy, and he only had a vague understanding.

This could perhaps be considered a failed transmigration and takeover. The native Charles Carter gained some vague knowledge of the future and some practical skills, but all the other things—such as the deep affection for his mother, the fear of his father, the hatred of studying, the craving for beef—remained as before, unchanged.

Oh, right, Charles Carter loved eating meat, especially beef. He couldn't go without it. Sometimes, when George Carter held family banquets for the royal clan, this guy would gorge himself, even sneaking some into his sleeves to take back and eat later, which had earned him a beating from George Carter.

Charles Carter didn't know why, but although George Carter also liked eating meat, he rarely ate beef. Unless it was a major event, he would only eat pork and mutton. Once, a Confucian scholar advised George Carter that pork was for lowly people, and as emperor, it was against ritual propriety for him to eat pork.

So George Carter ordered that this scholar spend the rest of his life raising pigs.