“Hmph, that man surnamed Hu is so snobbish. When you were sick before, not only did he not come to visit, I even heard he wanted to break off the engagement. It wasn’t until he heard recently that you’d recovered that he shamelessly came running over, wanting to get married as soon as possible. Becoming in-laws with someone like that—who knows what kind of trouble might arise in the future!” Mrs. Thompson said angrily when she mentioned James Howard.

William Thompson secretly thought it was a pity after hearing his mother’s words. If James Howard had really called off the engagement before, it would have made marrying the princess much less complicated for him.

Thinking about marrying the princess, William Thompson recalled his own plan. Tomorrow’s birthday banquet was crucial—whether he succeeded or not would depend on his performance then!

Chapter 9: “Evergreen” John Taylor

Before dawn, a long line had already formed in front of the Duke of Han’s residence. Today was Samuel Thompson’s grand birthday, and the crowd coming to present gifts was so huge that it nearly blocked the entire street.

William Thompson and his parents arrived at the gate by carriage, but they could barely get close to the entrance. Fortunately, William Thompson’s fifth uncle was thoughtful and had already sent someone to wait for them at the street corner, then led their carriage through a side entrance into the residence. Philip Thompson also personally came out to greet them.

“Third Brother, there are a lot of guests today. The two of us should go to the main hall to welcome them, and Third Sister-in-law can go to the inner hall to chat with the princess!” Philip Thompson said with a smile as soon as he saw William Thompson’s family of three.

There were simply too many guests today. All of Samuel Thompson’s sons and grandsons were stationed throughout the residence to receive them. The main hall was the most important spot, as only distinguished guests were qualified to enter, which was why Philip Thompson, the imperial son-in-law, was personally in charge there.

“All right, you and Fifth Brother go ahead. I’ll head to the inner hall and congratulate Father later!” Mrs. Thompson was straightforward and agreed immediately before turning to leave.

“Fifth Brother, about Father…” Richard Thompson hesitated, still unsure of Samuel Thompson’s attitude.

“Don’t worry, Father’s anger has long since passed. Once all the guests have arrived, we brothers will present our birthday gifts together, have a harmonious family meal, and let bygones be bygones!” Philip Thompson reassured him with ease. Of course, he didn’t mention how much effort he’d put in over the past few days to speak well of Richard Thompson and his son to their father Samuel Thompson.

“That’s good! That’s good!” Richard Thompson relaxed at these words. He’d been anxious the whole way here, mainly worried that Samuel Thompson would be angry at their family, making things awkward for everyone.

Standing nearby, William Thompson couldn’t help but secretly curl his lip at Richard Thompson’s behavior. It was clearly Samuel Thompson’s fault, yet Richard Thompson was the one so anxious. In this era, sons really had no rights!

“Jie’er, you’re an adult now. Later, you’ll join us in welcoming guests—don’t wander off!” Philip Thompson suddenly said to William Thompson. Last year’s incident had started because of William Thompson. Although it wasn’t his fault, Philip Thompson was still worried he might cause trouble again, so he decided to keep him close.

“Yes!” William Thompson could guess what Philip Thompson was thinking. But greeting guests wasn’t bad either. With Samuel Thompson’s grand birthday, who knew if Zhu Yuanzhang would show up in person? If he could meet the Beggar Emperor, that would be something. Even if his own plans failed in the future, at least he’d know whose hands he’d die by!

It was still early. Although the area in front of the residence was already packed, most of those coming to present gifts at this hour didn’t have enough status. Some could only send their gifts in and weren’t even qualified to enter for tea. Those with slightly higher status could only be seated in the side halls. As for the main hall, not a single guest had arrived yet.

It wasn’t until nearly halfway through the morning that guests began to arrive at the main hall. Richard Thompson and Philip Thompson personally greeted them, with William Thompson smiling along behind. Those who could take a seat in the main hall were almost all officials of fifth rank or above, as well as various marquises—like the Marquis of Jian, Marquis of Yan’an, Marquis of Pingliang, Marquis of Nanxiong, and so on. Just hearing the names, you’d think this was the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

But compared to the numerous marquises, there were far fewer dukes. When Zhu Yuanzhang first founded the country, he only granted six dukedoms. Aside from Samuel Thompson, the other five were all military men, like Xu Da and Chang Yuchun. Unfortunately, most of them died young. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang granted a few more dukedoms, but the number was still limited, and some were stationed elsewhere, making it even harder for them to attend.

“The Duke of Xin has arrived!” With the steward’s announcement, another duke entered.

Hearing the title “Duke of Xin,” William Thompson perked up. The Duke of Xin’s name was John Taylor. Although he wasn’t as famous as Xu Da or Chang Yuchun, he was still quite remarkable. He and Zhu Yuanzhang had grown up together as childhood friends, and later, he followed Zhu Yuanzhang with unwavering loyalty, earning countless merits.

Most importantly, in Zhu Yuanzhang’s later years, he became extremely suspicious of his meritorious officials—Hu Weiyong was killed, Samuel Thompson was killed, Lan Yu was killed, and tens of thousands were implicated. But no matter how many people Zhu Yuanzhang killed, he never once suspected John Taylor. He was truly the “evergreen” among the founding heroes. After John Taylor’s death, he was even posthumously honored as King of Dong’ou—a treatment on par with Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.