He scrutinized Chad Sullivan, gradually revealing a look of melancholy. “I’ve never taken the imperial exams in my life, always being criticized as ignorant and uneducated, but I can’t let my descendants be laughed at too! This Charles Carter has been in Jinling for over a year now, and I keep hearing people in court praise him—my ears have grown calluses from it. You and Carter go together and see for yourselves whether this so-called scholar is the real deal or not.”

Chad Sullivan had absolutely no interest in seeking out this Mr. Carter for study. Not for any other reason, but simply because it was Mrs. Sullivan who brought it up—he didn’t believe for a second that her intentions were good.

Going to study with Evan Sullivan? Wasn’t this just deliberately making him play second fiddle to his nephew?

But it wasn’t so easy to refuse Old Master Sullivan. Chad Sullivan rolled his eyes, then settled for a compromise: “Then I’ll listen to Grandpa and go with Carter. But Grandpa, you have to teach me arithmetic.”

Old Master Sullivan was utterly surprised. He and Chad Sullivan locked eyes for a long moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. “None of your uncles, siblings, nephews, or nieces can figure out those numbers, and it always makes me angry just thinking about it. If you really want to learn, I’ll teach you—but you’d better study hard! If you don’t, don’t blame me for using the big stick on you!”

Knowing he wanted to learn arithmetic had hit the old man’s soft spot, and Chad Sullivan couldn’t help but laugh as well.

So, without thinking, he retorted, “Grandpa, what if I learn it well?”

Old Master Sullivan hadn’t expected Chad Sullivan to bargain with him, and his eyes widened: “Don’t boast! Today I’ll teach you the multiplication table—if you can’t recite it by tomorrow, I’ll let Lauren Smith get married!”

An hour later, when the old man let Chad Sullivan, who had finished dinner, go back, he immediately looked at Ethan Sullivan beside him.

“Xiao Ying, did you hear that? From nine times nine is eighty-one to two times two is four, I only said it once, and the boy remembered it all!”

Ethan Sullivan said softly, “Ninth Young Master has a good memory, and actually, he already knew how to read.”

“I watched him grow up. At first, I just thought of it as keeping a puppy or kitten for company, but in the end, I got attached. This little rascal has only one flaw—if you put it nicely, he’s laid-back; if not, he’s heartless and lazy! He’s only seven and already like this—what will become of him in the future? It’s fine while I’m still here, but what if I’m not around someday?”

Ethan Sullivan’s expression changed at once. “Old Master…”

Old Master Sullivan glared at Ethan Sullivan irritably. “I’m not like others, always superstitious about this or that. What’s so scary about life and death? If I don’t talk about death, will I live forever? You’re a martial artist, yet you’re more superstitious than this old man!”

Shut down by Old Master Sullivan, Ethan Sullivan was left speechless and simply closed his mouth.

“I revealed his parentage so he’d understand the warmth and coldness of human relationships, and also to see what kind of people are in this family! Sure enough, someone brought out a David Brooks! Only you understand me, telling Samuel Green to beat that seasoned swindler to death and be done with it!”

Seeing that Ethan Sullivan seemed about to speak, Old Master slapped the armrest and barked, “Don’t defend them—I know someone was bullying others under false authority yesterday, but if they didn’t have grievances, would the servants dare be so bold?”

“How did Franklin become so cynical in the first place? That time the emperor snuck out of the palace to visit our home, praised him for his valor and said he’d be of great use in the future, and then someone in the family got jealous and coaxed him into joining the army. When he saw the mess in the military, he started cursing civil officials for loving money and military officers for being cowards! Even so, he was just a troublemaker, but then someone told him that his soon-to-be fiancée’s brother was a military bully, and that’s what made him quarrel with me and storm off!”

Having finally vented, Old Master Sullivan tugged at his few whiskers and gradually sighed again.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about that scoundrel! Chad takes after me—he learns to read quickly. I just tossed him a primer during my days off, and a few times pointed out passages in the Analects for him to read, and he actually learned to read. This little guy, you can tell from the messy underlining in his books that he can only manage the simpler ones. Does he really think books are that easy to understand?”

The eldest branch occupied the east wing of The Sullivan Estate, with four courtyards originally arranged neatly in a grid. It looked spacious, but both of Mrs. Sullivan’s sons were already married, and her daughters-in-law had given her grandchildren, so the first two courtyards were like tiny sanctuaries, cleverly designed to make the most of the space.

Among them, the Springfield House assigned to the eldest young master’s family was naturally the best, second only to Riverside House, where Mrs. Sullivan herself lived.

After returning from Old Master’s place with Charles Sullivan, Mrs. Sullivan sent her eldest son back, but summoned her eldest grandson, Evan Sullivan, from Springfield House.

Facing Mrs. Sullivan’s sharp gaze, Evan Sullivan instinctively tried to avoid it, but in the end had to brace himself and ask, “Grandmother, do you have something to ask me?”

“I never expected that the dignified eldest grandson of The Sullivan Estate would actually plan to send his own uncle into the hands of kidnappers!”

Evan Sullivan was instantly shocked and pale. “No, absolutely not! Grandmother, please don’t listen to Mrs. Foster’s nonsense!”

“Oh? I didn’t even say who told me, so how did you know I asked Mrs. Foster?” Mrs. Sullivan’s brows furrowed, her eyes filled with deep anger. “Aren’t you going to tell me the truth?”