William Thompson transmigrated to become the grandson of the Grand Chancellor of the Ming Dynasty. Before he could even feel happy about it, he discovered that his grandfather’s name was Samuel Thompson, and there were only six months left before Samuel Thompson and his entire family would be executed.

In other words, William Thompson had only two paths before him. The first was to give up struggling, and, while there were still six months left, eat whatever he could, drink whatever he wanted, play as much as possible, and then, after half a year, the whole family would be marched to the execution ground together and beheaded in one swift stroke.

The second path was to use his identity as a transmigrator and try every possible way to escape with his life from the skinning demon Zhu Yuanzhang. There was, in fact, a ready-made way: marry a princess and become the prince consort. Although Zhu Yuanzhang was ruthless, he would not lay a hand on his own daughter and son-in-law. The problem was, there were only six months left—this was practically an impossible mission. At one point, William Thompson even thought that maybe choosing the first path would be easier?

Chapter One: A Pitfall of a Transmigration

In the outer hall, a middle-aged man dressed in silk frowned deeply. Beside him, a noblewoman in her thirties was wiping away tears while complaining, “How could a perfectly good child end up like this? How am I supposed to go on living?”

The middle-aged man was also somewhat irritable, but he still forced himself to ask the elderly man sitting across from him, “Dr. Harris, ever since Jie’er woke up, he hasn’t spoken a word, his expression is blank, and he doesn’t respond when called. What exactly is wrong with him?”

The old man sitting opposite, his hair and beard completely white, stroked his beard with a grave expression and replied, “Agent Thompson, you know your son’s condition. His madness had not yet been cured, and now he’s had the misfortune of falling into water. It’s already a miracle he was saved. As for what happens next, I dare not say. It’s best to observe him for a few days first.”

“My poor child!” Upon hearing Dr. Harris’s words, Mrs. Thompson immediately wailed and burst into tears.

Agent Thompson was already in a foul mood, and now his wife wouldn’t stop crying. He couldn’t help but snap, “What’s the use of all this crying? Do you think you can cry Jie’er back to health?”

But this remark from Agent Thompson was like poking a hornet’s nest. Mrs. Thompson wiped her tears, pointed at his nose, and shouted angrily, “You have the nerve to say that? If it weren’t for the mess in your Li family, would Jie’er have ended up like this?”

“You…” Agent Thompson slammed the table and stood up, but after opening his mouth, he couldn’t say a word. In the end, he just let out a long sigh and slumped back into his seat, looking utterly dejected.

The quarrel in the outer hall was clearly audible in the bedroom inside. William Thompson lay on the bed with his eyes open, his expression complicated. He never imagined that something like transmigration would actually happen to him.

However, after the initial confusion, William Thompson gradually calmed down. He sat up and moved his limbs, discovering that the heaviness he’d felt in his previous life was gone. This made him smile with delight. No matter what the outcome of this transmigration, at least he now had a healthy body, instead of spending his last days bedridden as he had before.

Looking around the room, he saw a thick carpet on the floor, embroidered with bright patterns. The tables and chairs were all made of rosewood, carved with intricate designs.

William Thompson reached out to touch the bedpost and found the rosewood was heavy and hard. He didn’t know much about rosewood and couldn’t tell what kind it was, but from the texture, he could tell this wasn’t something an ordinary family could afford.

“Looks like I’m in a wealthy family. Could it be that my luck has finally turned, and I’ll get to be a rich playboy in this life?” William Thompson looked at the luxurious furnishings and couldn’t help but mutter to himself in delight.

But after the initial joy, William Thompson suddenly felt a bit worried. He only knew he was in ancient times, but not which dynasty, nor who the current emperor was. If this was a time of war and chaos, he’d be in real trouble—he certainly didn’t have the skills to carve out a path in a world in turmoil.

Just then, he heard hurried footsteps outside, followed by someone rushing into the outer hall. A young man’s voice shouted, “Uncle, Aunt, how is cousin?”

In the outer hall, a tall, thin young man ran in, sweat beading on his forehead and panting for breath, clearly having run all the way.

The weeping Mrs. Thompson saw the young man and wailed again, “Edward, you’re finally here. Jie’er… Jie’er, he… wuwu…”

Seeing her own nephew, Mrs. Thompson broke down in tears again, making the young man even more anxious as he asked, “Aunt, please don’t cry. How is cousin, really?”

“Edward, don’t worry. Jie’er is fine. He just hasn’t spoken since waking up after falling into the water, so your aunt and I are very worried.” At this, Agent Thompson couldn’t help but answer for his wife.

“Wasn’t someone watching him? How did he fall into the water?” The young man called Edward pressed anxiously.