Chapter 1

Memory is unreliable, and forgetting may also be beautiful.

Hu Xiaotian had no attachment to anything from the past; he was even too lazy to recall it, for his previous life was not pleasant, so in this life he would rather choose to forget.

He finally understood that the true meaning of life lies in enjoying life, with no further ideals or ambitions, only wanting to be a carefree wealthy son in this world, spending a little money each day, then finding a pretty and lovely woman to marry and have children, preferably two, a girl and a boy; when the daughter marries and the son establishes his own family, he would begin to enjoy his twilight years, on a warm afternoon, accompanied by a loyal old yellow dog, sitting in a courtyard fragrant with flowers, basking in the sun, brewing a pot of good tea, playing two or three games of chess, with grandchildren surrounding his knees, living a leisurely and carefree plain life.

Originally he should have been able to easily achieve this wish, because his father was Dakang's Minister of Revenue Hu Buwei; in Hu Xiaotian's partial memory, that post was equivalent to a finance minister, and now in Dakang it is a third-rank senior official who holds Dakang's financial authority, enjoys the deep trust of the Dakang imperial family, having served under two emperors, his position has always been as stable as Mount Tai.

As the sole son of this high-ranking court official, a lineage of three generations, he was naturally regarded by the Hu family as the Bright Pearl in the palm; unfortunately, this world also has its own regrets of one sort or another. The sprouting of Hu Xiaotian's consciousness only began half a year ago, on October fifteenth of last year, when a heavenly phenomenon occurred: a red moon hung in the sky, and the hundred-year-old iron tree in front of the Flowing Cup Pavilion in the Back Garden of the Minister's residence blossomed that very night; almost at the same moment, this official's son who had been a mute and a simpleton for sixteen years suddenly regained his sanity.

The first thing Hu Xiaotian remembered after waking was that he still had two surgeries left to do, and before that he had already worked continuously on the operating table for thirty-two hours; because Hu Tian died of overwork on the operating table, his consciousness, after crossing the river of time and space and wandering through the three thousand worlds, finally took residence in the body of this simpleton in the residence of Dakang's Minister of Revenue.

His age miraculously became sixteen, and his name gained a little character; from that day on, Hu Tian became Hu Xiaotian, and the twenty-eight-year-old thoughts and consciousness merged into this empty, substance-less body; fortunately his appearance did not change much, only becoming somewhat younger and more tender. Thus from that day onward he decided to begin enjoying life, to live this lifetime in ease and comfort. However, ten out of ten things in life go against one's wishes; if you cannot forget your memories, you cannot escape worries, and not long after Hu Xiaotian discovered that being clever does not necessarily bring more happiness than being a fool, nor a more pleasant life.

In the eighth year of Dakang's Longqi era, namely late April, Hu Xiaotian lazily sat in the exquisite upper chamber; the room featured carved beams and painted rafters, and the interior furnishings were extremely exquisite and luxurious; outside was a long corridor, eight vermilion pillars dividing the sunlight; beyond the corridor lay a square courtyard of about one mu, where spring flowers bloomed brightly, clusters upon clusters, vying for splendor amid the tender yellow foliage; as the breeze passed, silken vines swayed in the wind, and a faint fragrance quietly arrived, making one feel refreshed and delighted.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and window lattices, casting dappled shadows. Hu Xiaotian drew a deep breath of floral fragrance, hands behind his back, and slowly stepped into the light and shade. Every blade of grass and tree felt so intimate, so familiar, with no difference from anything in his memory; it was only that in the past he had never carefully noticed the beautiful scenery of life, let alone spoken of enjoyment, and to him memories were dull and tedious; aside from his single-minded devotion to studying medical techniques, he seemed unable to find any pleasant highlight. Lacking familial affection, friendship, or love, such a life was not worth his nostalgia.

The portly Liang Da Zhuang in a blue-green shirt and small cap was a servant of the Minister's residence; half a year ago he began, by order, to follow and attend this young master. He tiptoed over, and upon seeing Hu Xiaotian he instantly beamed, his two small eyes narrowing into slits, his mustache slightly upturned, the creases at the corners of his eyes making his big face look like a giant meat bun: 'Servant congratulates the young master, congratulations to the young master!'

The servant was himself, and the young master naturally was Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian also spent a full half year to understand and adapt to all the changes happening around him, and now he can face them calmly and deal with them easily; this is what is commonly meant by fully entering the role.

Narrowing his eyes in a lazy manner, the same expression on different faces can produce two entirely different effects; on Liang Da Zhuang it is fawning and flattery, while on Hu Xiaotian it is high-end, grandiose, and upscale. Naturally a fool's body would have no aristocratic air, but once this body was suddenly endowed with the consciousness of a doctor of medicine, his every move became lively and wise: 'What joy is there?' Language certainly would not become an obstacle on Hu Xiaotian's path forward, for he had already mastered at age twenty the six languages most representative of the world at that time; Dakang's script and language are not much different from the past, merely a variant of Chinese characters, with slightly different pronunciation, and a mixture of literary and colloquial usage— for someone who had easily obtained a master's degree in Sinology, this posed no problem at all.

Liang Da Zhuang bowed low and said, 'Young master, I heard that the master and madam have just settled a marriage for you!'

Upon hearing this, Hu Xiaotian's expression instantly became gloomy and troubled; in Dakang, free love is not advocated, and parental orders and matchmaker's words still hold absolute dominance. Although there is no freedom in love and marriage, there is also a benefit: in Dakang polygamy is legal, so as long as you have wealth and power you may take as many wives as you wish. This is an era where the strong reign supreme; as long as you possess sufficient strength, you can occupy as many resources as possible—money, land, property, beauties……

In Dakang, infant betrothals were also common, emphasizing matching social standing; someone like Hu Xiaotian, an official's son, was naturally a hot commodity. His mother, three months pregnant, had already arranged a marriage for him; the other party, Zhou Ruiyuan, had once been a top-ranking official of the court, appointed as Dakang's Right Senior Minister, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, Hanlin Academician by imperial decree, participant in state affairs, and Senior Pillar of the State; in Dakang he was at the height of his prominence, and for the Hu family this was climbing a high branch. Although Hu Buwei held financial authority, he was merely a third-rank official, yet when Hu Xiaotian was two years old, they learned that the Hu family child was a simpleton, and without hesitation they called off the marriage.

A higher rank crushes a lower one; Hu Buwei naturally dared not speak before a first-rank court official, so he could only honestly withdraw the marriage, not only putting on a smile but also having to verbally agree, while in his heart he bore a deep hatred for Zhou Ruiyuan. Three years earlier, the Crown Prince Long Yelin was deposed after losing favor, and as the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, Zhou Ruiyuan inevitably suffered collateral damage; Hu Buwei also did not let pass the opportunity to kick someone when they were down, joining other officials in harshly submitting an impeachment memorial against him, which directly led to Zhou Ruiyuan being stripped of office and reduced to a commoner, and this also served to vent the resentment in his chest.

Although Hu Xiaotian's foolishness was widely known in the capital, those who came to the door seeking a marital alliance were still endless; of course they were all lower-ranking officials, nobody truly wanted to give their daughter to a fool, and what they were after was nothing other than the power and influence of the Minister of Revenue, Hu Buwei.

Having served as an official for many years, Hu Buwei naturally understood these people's true intentions; although he was skilled at opportunism and ingratiation, deep down he utterly despised this flock of sycophants, and he flatly refused them all— although his son was foolish, he could not allow others to exploit him for nothing, and after some back-and-forth, Hu Xiaotian still had no marriage prospect by the age of sixteen.

Hu Buwei had originally planned to support his foolish son for life in this way; given the boy's abilities, he could hardly achieve fame and establish a career to glorify the family gate, but under his protection at least he could live safely and without worries, a happy life free of care; Hu Buwei was not lacking ambition, yet even the greatest ambition must bow before reality.

The sudden awakening of Hu Xiaotian brought Hu Buwei surprise, while also stirring the ambition he had kept hidden in his heart; he quickly selected a marriage for Hu Xiaotian, the other party being Li Tianheng, who held the posts of Jiannan-Xichuan Military Commissioner, Grand Master of the Guanglu, Acting Minister of War, participant in state affairs, Prefect of Xizhou, Duke who founded Xichuan, and lord of a fief of three thousand households. Although he shared the same third-rank senior status in Dakang, Li Tianheng was indeed a formidable regional commander without equal, and moreover enjoyed the deep trust of the current Crown Prince Long Yinqing; when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, that will be Li Tianheng's day of rise. To be in the imperial court, one must know history, grasp the present, and look to the future; Hu Buwei's proactive proposal of a marriage alliance with the Li family was precisely for this political purpose.

In fact, Hu Buwei had already hinted at this earlier; the marriage alliance was a pretense, the true goal was a true alliance. The Li family had a daughter who was paralyzed, and it was said her appearance was also utterly ugly. Even so, Li Tianheng would not be willing to betroth his daughter to a fool, but after confirming that the Hu family's young master had suddenly regained his sanity and ability to speak, Li Tianheng finally nodded in agreement; the two families exchanged their birth characters and set the wedding date. The wedding date is set for the sixth day of the tenth month, and counting roughly, it is already less than half a year away from the wedding day.

A single Marriage Pact made Hu Xiaotian instantly realize that his ideal of a leisurely life had become a luxury; to marry a woman he had never met, whose lower body was paralyzed and who was said to be an absolutely hideous ugly woman—what happiness could there possibly be?

Thus, whenever Liang Da Zhuang brought up this matter, it made Hu Xiaotian displeased; he sighed and said, 'Better not mention it!'

Although Liang Da Zhuang looked dull-witted, his mind was not foolish; he was especially skilled at reading words and expressions, otherwise he would not have been entrusted with an important post by the Hu family and become Hu Xiaotian's personal attendant. Seeing that Hu Xiaotian was in a bad mood, Liang Da Zhuang said carefully, 'Young master, the weather is fine today; why don't I accompany you out to relax?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'All right!'

When the son of the Minister of Revenue goes out, although he does not need the ceremony of gongs and drums to clear the way, he is still attended by a retinue before and behind, shouting and calling, and the servants of high-ranking officials feel good about themselves.