Olivia Harris listened, utterly entranced, her expression growing more and more charming. After a long while, she finally let her incredulous gaze wander over Ryan Carter, “Are you saying that I could serve the Emperor in the palace in the future? Auntie said the same thing. But I really don’t want to enter the palace. Still, your poem is truly eloquent—I can’t help but wonder, did you copy it from somewhere just to flatter me?”

“Heh, I just recited it off the top of my head. As long as Miss Harris doesn’t mind my boldness. I may not be very talented, but I wouldn’t stoop to plagiarizing someone else’s poetry.” Ryan Carter quickly turned away to hide the blush on his face, and without further hesitation, strode off.

Olivia Harris stood there, watching Ryan Carter walk far into the distance before she bent down, picked up the wine jar, and gracefully left.

She left behind a sweet, soft remark that drifted through the sultry air: “…such an interesting person…”

A young girl’s thoughts are ethereal and elusive, impossible to fathom. At this moment, she herself was unaware that this interesting person had quietly opened the door to her heart.

Ryan Carter walked slowly forward, following his “memory” along Shili Yangfang Avenue toward the Prime Minister’s Residence in the east of the city.

Unexpectedly meeting Olivia Harris left him secretly delighted, and the path ahead seemed much clearer. Shops lined both sides of the street, the faint afterglow of the setting sun gently spilling over red bricks, green tiles, and the brightly colored eaves of pavilions, adding a touch of haziness and poetry to the bustling evening scene of Luoyang.

As he walked, all around him were faces of Tang people—some aged, some elegant, some fresh, some worldly. Carts and horses glimmered, the crowds flowed like a woven tapestry, and in the distance, the penetrating cries of street vendors could be faintly heard, occasionally accompanied by the long neigh of a horse. Ryan Carter felt as if he were walking within a richly colored, vibrant painting. He couldn’t help but stop, gazing at the blood-red setting sun, his complex eyes seeming to pierce through time, yearning to return to his own era more than a thousand years in the future.

Chapter 006 Leaving the Liu Residence

Among the eight famous sights of Luoyang, one is called “Bronze Camel in the Evening Rain,” referring to the “Bronze Camel Lane” outside the eastern city gate—a wide, quiet passageway. The mansion of Eugene Foster, the renowned Prime Minister Foster of Luoyang, was located on this very lane.

The gates of the Liu Residence stood wide open, with six tall, burly servants standing on either side. When they saw Ryan Carter approaching, they ignored him, merely casting a look of utter disdain his way, letting him walk inside unimpeded.

Ryan Carter was in excellent spirits, and had already decided on the way to leave the Liu Residence and make his own way in the world, so he paid no mind to the contemptuous looks from the servants. Along the way, he’d run into quite a few “acquaintances,” but hardly anyone gave him a proper look. In his view, though, this was nothing—no matter how useless the former Ryan Carter had been, it had nothing to do with him now.

That was his true feeling at the moment. Yet, by nature, he still harbored a certain pride, which now, along with his transmigration and rebirth, flowed through this body. He thought he could calmly face Little Brother Carter’s disgraceful past and the ridicule from others, since it had nothing to do with him. But when it really mattered, he realized it wasn’t so easy—when something was unbearable, it was still unbearable. How could he truly separate himself from his former self—the wastrel Ryan Carter?

In fact, Ryan Carter was not an ordinary young man. His father was the famous Tang statesman Stephen Carter. Stephen Carter served as a renowned minister during the reigns of Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong of Tang, holding posts such as Censor, Deputy Censor-in-Chief, Minister of Personnel, and Chancellor, known for his decisiveness and widespread acclaim. Later, he was implicated in Princess Taiping’s rebellion, dismissed by Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji, exiled to Lingnan, and ultimately died in lonely obscurity in a foreign land.

Stephen Carter and Eugene Foster were close friends, and from childhood, Ryan Carter was betrothed to Eugene Foster’s eldest daughter, Yvonne Foster. Stephen Carter had only one son and one daughter. After his death, the The Carter Family immediately fell into decline, and a few years later, Ryan Carter’s mother also died of grief. At that time, Madam Foster wanted to break off the engagement, but Eugene Foster put a stop to it.

Ryan Carter’s elder sister had long since married. Out of gratitude for his friendship with Stephen Carter, Eugene Foster took Ryan Carter into his home, provided for his studies, and planned for him to take the imperial exams and earn a title, then marry Yvonne Foster. Unfortunately, Ryan Carter was like the hopeless Liu Adou, not only disliking study but also extremely lazy, often swindling money from the Liu Residence to frequent brothels, ruining his reputation. This greatly disappointed Eugene Foster, who gradually gave up the idea of having him marry into the family.

Even so, Eugene Foster did not go so far as to throw him out. He hoped Ryan Carter would take the hint and propose breaking off the engagement himself, sparing the Liu Residence from being accused of snubbing the poor and favoring the rich. But this Little Brother Carter stubbornly played dumb and clung to the Liu Residence, becoming a parasite despised by everyone in the household.

Ryan Carter’s room was in a corner of the outer courtyard of the Liu Residence.

Ryan Carter was about to push open the door to see if there was anything from his previous life he needed to take with him. Not far away, by the shadow wall, a pretty little maid with peachy cheeks and almond eyes suddenly called out, “Ryan Carter!”

Ryan Carter slowly turned around and glanced at her. The little maid was rather pretty, but in the eyes of Ryan Carter, who had just seen the peerless beauty Olivia Harris, she was nothing special—like eating wild greens and coarse bread after a feast, utterly tasteless.