Edward Sullivan made a few slashing and thrusting motions with the sword. He had never used a sword before and wasn’t used to it; if he really had to kill someone by force, he felt that a 20- or 30-centimeter boning knife would be handier. These past few days, he had secretly watched John Foster teaching his two disciples martial arts at the stern of the pleasure boat. John Foster was a famous martial arts instructor in Jiangning, and from his posture, it was clear that this world didn’t have any legendary martial arts capable of defeating a thousand men. The stances for fighting and grappling were similar to those in his memories of later generations, but in fact, not even as simple and practical. Edward Sullivan judged that if his stamina could keep up, even facing John Foster’s two disciples head-on right now wouldn’t be a problem.

Edward Sullivan wasn’t used to the sword, but he could feel there was still some strength in his arms; his physical condition was pretty good—not the kind of frail, useless scholar who couldn’t withstand a gust of wind.

Although he was a member of the prominent Lin family of Dongyang Prefecture in Jiangdong Commandery, he was just an ordinary collateral branch member, and his parents had died early. Edward Sullivan’s late mother had once been a serving maid to the Lin family’s head, Robert Sullivan’s seventh concubine, Emily Morgan’s mother, and was also Emily Morgan’s wet nurse. After Emily Morgan married Robert Sullivan as his seventh concubine, Edward Sullivan was able to receive some care from the main family because of this connection. Although he no longer had to work as hard as before, he still needed to do manual labor to make a living—only after passing the county-level exam did he qualify to receive a small monthly stipend from the family to focus on his studies. The servant accompanying him, Matthew Harris, had been sent by the seventh concubine, Emily Morgan, to look after him when he went to Jianye for the exam.

Thinking of the Seventh Lady, Emily Morgan, Edward Sullivan showed a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth: Emily Morgan was only seven years older than him, and it could be said that both he and Emily Morgan had been raised by his mother. If Emily Morgan’s family hadn’t fallen into decline and she hadn’t been married off as a concubine to the already over-fifty Robert Sullivan, Edward Sullivan would probably still be calling her Sister Yingxiu. Edward Sullivan’s first wet dream had featured Emily Morgan, which made the naturally timid and law-abiding Edward Sullivan extremely afraid to see Emily Morgan afterward. On the other hand, before marrying Robert Sullivan, Emily Morgan had been gentle and meek, but after becoming his concubine, she became extremely strong-willed, even overstepping her role to forcefully intervene in family affairs—this made the timid Edward Sullivan feel even more unable to hold his head up in front of Emily Morgan.

Although Grace Bennett was even more dazzlingly beautiful than Emily Morgan, there were still three or four points of resemblance between them. That was probably why Edward Sullivan had fallen hopelessly in love with Grace Bennett at first sight.

Edward Sullivan shook his head and sighed. In his previous life, Brian Carter had ended up dead from a gunshot because of a prostitute who helped the police entrap people, and in this life, Edward Sullivan was infatuated with a courtesan singer. What the hell was this? He might as well go home and seduce the young and beautiful Seventh Lady—at least that would be more promising. But that was just a happy thought; he knew that in this world, where ritual and law were so strict, if such a thing were exposed, the outcome would be even more tragic. But nothing is absolute—didn’t the Taizong Emperor of this dynasty openly take his brother’s wife into the harem as a consort? No one dared risk losing their head to speak out against it.

“My young master told me to thank your lady,” came Matthew Harris’s voice from outside, speaking to someone.

“If you really want to thank her, you’d better disappear from sight quickly. If a newly minted scholar like your master were to drown, my lady would be drowned in spit when she returned to Jiangning… You should also try to talk some sense into your young master.” The voice was crisp and youthful. Thomas Sullivan felt as if he were listening to someone at a mobile customer service center in his previous life. She was Grace Bennett’s personal maid, Little Grace. Little Grace was extremely displeased with him—a man of ordinary background who had only passed the exam by luck—pestering her lady without knowing his place, and she never showed him a pleasant face.

A fourteen-year-old little girl, but really not at all cute—Edward Sullivan shook his head and sighed in the cabin after hearing Little Grace’s words.

“Ever since he passed the exam, his temper’s been getting worse. How could a servant like me talk him out of anything?” Matthew Harris said helplessly outside the cabin, not bothering to hide his own dissatisfaction.

Edward Sullivan just smiled when he heard this, thinking that Matthew Harris was deliberately saying it for him to hear.

Matthew Harris was a hereditary servant of the Lin family; his family had served the Lins for three generations. Because of the strict system of personal dependency in this society, hereditary servants were more trusted and valued by their masters. Before Edward Sullivan passed the county-level exam, his status in the Lin family was far below that of a hereditary servant like Matthew Harris.

Matthew Harris had been serving at the side of the family head, Robert Sullivan, since he was fourteen or fifteen. Now eighteen, he was a bit thin and small, but clever and sensible, which was why the Seventh Lady, Emily Morgan, had sent him to look after Edward Sullivan during the exam trip. Matthew Harris was somewhat resentful of this arrangement, but didn’t dare offend the Seventh Lady, so he had been cold toward Edward Sullivan the whole way.

Matthew Harris never expected that Edward Sullivan would have such dogshit luck and actually pass the provincial exam in one go. Passing the exam meant he was now qualified to become an official, and with the Lin family’s influence, they would surely secure a minor official post for Edward Sullivan in the local government. Thinking of how Edward Sullivan’s status in the family would soon change, Matthew Harris’s attitude shifted a little. In the past, he would never have called him “Young Master Edward Sullivan”—of course, the resentment behind his back hadn’t lessened much.