Looking at the protagonists in novels and films, each one wants to destroy the heavens and the earth. Nathaniel Brooks, once destroyed the heavens and the earth, destroyed satellites and sabotaged nuclear devices. Yet, his dream was simply to live a quiet life.

Being a farmer isn’t bad either. Right before I was struck by lightning, I was just tending to a few acres in my own little yard.

Nathaniel Brooks started to feel a bit happy again. In a way, it seemed like his dream had come true.

His mind was in chaos, past and present lives, as if two people were arguing.

Nathaniel Brooks felt like he was about to lose his mind again. Just a couple of days ago, he had just lost it.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it!

Nathaniel Brooks looked around, trying to distract himself, eager to find a new point of interest.

Southern Tang, Southern Tang?

The most famous was that Southern Tang’s last ruler, renowned for his talent in poetry, calligraphy, and painting.

And his two empresses.

Empress Da Zhou, and the legendary Xiao Zhou Empress who was said to have been forcibly taken by Zhao Guangyi.

But at this time, Empress Da Zhou should have just married the yet-to-be enthroned Southern Tang ruler, and Xiao Zhou Empress was only five or six years old.

I wonder, under this ruler’s reign, what kind of life would a farmer like me have?

The sunlight streaming in through the window was so bright and beautiful.

Oh? I’m kneeling?

Only then did Nathaniel Brooks realize he was kneeling, and beside him, kneeling respectfully, was a kindly woman—his mother in this world, The Johnson Family. She was pleading with the master’s family, begging them to extend the deadline for this year’s grain rent.

Directly ahead was a simple soft couch, and sitting on it was the mistress of the master’s house, the new wife of the county magistrate Samuel Clark.

Master’s family? Magistrate’s wife? That’s an official’s lady!

Nathaniel Brooks wanted to look up and see what the mistress looked like. He was very curious about ancient people, especially the legendary noble ladies who rarely left their homes.

A gentle slap landed on the back of his neck. The Johnson Family shot him a stern look, as if to say: “Don’t lose your mind!”

Instinctively, Nathaniel Brooks wanted to block the slap, but then he remembered—ah, this is my mother in this world. The arm that was about to spring up reflexively quickly pulled back, and he took the slap solidly.

But being hit by Mom—what a good feeling!

In my previous life, I was a lonely star, with no family or friends!

Thinking of his pitiful past life, Nathaniel Brooks felt sorry for himself.

This feeling was his present self pitying his past self.

In this life, he was poor, even a bit slow-witted for over a decade. Getting a peck of rice, being able to eat a few full meals, would make him giddy with joy. Ten or so pounds of rice, and it was even brown rice? Was it really worth it?

Moreover, in this life, he was weak and sickly, known as a famous consumptive.

Yet, in this life, he seemed happier than in his previous one, and could better understand what happiness was.

Nathaniel Brooks gently shook his head. Gradually, the two selves seemed to be merging into one.

His mother wouldn’t let him look up, but Nathaniel Brooks couldn’t help sneaking a glance forward.

Beneath the tender green skirt ahead were faintly visible pink embroidered shoes. Nathaniel Brooks’s heart skipped a beat—this was a true noble lady of ancient times!

Fragmented memories slowly fused, and Nathaniel Brooks gradually understood his situation in this world.

His father had died early, his two older sisters were already married, and he and his mother depended on each other, tenant farmers for the Clark family, the county magistrate’s household. Poverty, nothing but poverty.

The family had only a few acres of poor land to begin with. After his father died, he didn’t work, and the land was all sold off.

Now his mother had to kneel and beg, hoping to pay this year’s rent next year.

Sigh, Nathaniel Brooks sighed inwardly. He really wanted to pull his mother up. It was just a few pecks of rice—why couldn’t he think of a way?

He wanted to provide for his mother in this world, make sure she was well-fed and cared for. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

But it seemed that the era he had crossed into was not one where a peaceful life was possible.

In troubled times, whether high officials or commoners, they truly weren’t as well off as a dog in peacetime.

He was confident that, sword in hand, he could face thousands of troops and still protect his mother, and lead his loved ones to a safe place to live.

But why did it feel like he had traveled to ancient times just to live in seclusion? He felt a bit conflicted.

Hmm, by his calculations, there were still more than twenty years before Southern Tang’s fall. He’d just have to wait and see.

“Madam Lu, I didn’t come to your house today for the matter of grain rent…” The county magistrate’s wife The Foster Family sighed softly from the couch ahead. Her voice was extremely gentle and pleasant, delicate and tender.

In Nathaniel Brooks’s mind, a scene suddenly flashed—a lingering, graceful figure high above the clouds, her dazzling beauty faintly visible, a flame-red floral ornament on her forehead, dignified and holy, yet incomparably charming, like Guanyin in the mist, with a beauty that could shame the moon and flowers, sacred and untouchable.

Nathaniel Brooks couldn’t help but smile bitterly. So, he actually admired her deeply. It wasn’t even admiration anymore, but a willingness to be the mud beneath her feet. This supremely noble goddess was so unattainable, like a fairy. That faint sense of blasphemy even felt criminal. Perhaps, this was just a young man’s infatuation?