Chapter 3: Dream of the Red Chamber 1

Life as a baby was incredibly boring, so Liu Zhong spent most of his time cultivating.

When he wasn't cultivating or sleeping, he would prick up his ears to listen to the gossip shared by the wet nurse and the young maids who took care of him.

Liu Zhong’s family background in this life was decent enough; he was the eldest son of the third branch of a Duke’s household.

However, his biological father was not the legitimate son of the household head, but a concubine-born son—the second concubine-born son at that—and was not held in high regard by the head of the house.

Fortunately, because his father was not valued by the household head, their third branch lived a peaceful and stable life.

Unlike the first and second branches, who fought like gamecocks.

The man of the second branch was the legitimate son, so the title was destined to be passed down to him.

But the man of the first branch was the eldest son born to the household head’s favorite woman, and he was the household head’s favorite son.

Although he couldn't give the title and ancestral property to his eldest son, the household head gave him many benefits, personally paving the way for him and securing him an official position.

Because of this blatant favoritism, the mistress of the house and the legitimate son of the second branch were extremely resentful, targeting the first branch in every way possible.

With the household head as his backer, the first branch fought the second branch and the mistress to a standstill.

When those two branches fought, it sometimes spilled over to the other branches.

The first and second branches suffered no real losses; it was always those caught in the crossfire who were unlucky.

However, those people were not entirely innocent.

If they hadn't had their own ulterior motives and tried to meddle in the struggle between the two branches, they wouldn't have ended up losing more than they gained.

The people of the third branch were very honest. They acted like invisible people in the mansion, not participating in the struggles of the other branches, and lived their own quiet little lives.

Recently, the first and second branches had been causing a ruckus again. The third branch, not wanting to attract their attention and have the target shifted onto them, didn't even hold a "three-day" or "full-month" celebration for Liu Zhong.

Mother Liu held Liu Zhong and sighed, feeling deeply guilty toward her son.

Her poor son hadn't even had a three-day or full-month celebration; who knew if his first-year birthday banquet would be canceled too?

It was all their fault as parents for wronging the child.

Father Liu patted his wife’s hand, stroked his son’s little head, and promised, "Once we divide the family, we will hold a birthday banquet for Zhong-er every year."

Mother Liu replied softly, "Mm."

Neither of them expected that the division of the family would happen so soon.

The head of the Liu household died.

While he was out, his horse was startled and threw him from its back.

The head of the Liu household hit his head on a rock and lost a lot of blood.

The imperial physician could not save him, and he died the next day.

The Liu family held a grand funeral for the head of the house, and many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital came to burn incense and offer their condolences.

As filial children and grandchildren, Father Liu and Mother Liu had to keep vigil and wail by the coffin every day, which was exhausting.

Fortunately, Liu Zhong was a nursing baby under a year old, so he didn't have to do anything and just waited for his parents in their room.

Forty-nine days later, the legitimate son of the second branch, as the heir to the Liu family title, had to take the coffin back to their ancestral home for burial. The other sons could choose to accompany him or not.

The second branch and the mistress took this opportunity to propose dividing the family.

The first branch did not object.

With the household head dead, they no longer had a backer.

Their life in the Duke’s mansion would definitely be difficult, and they didn't want to act subservient under the mistress, so they were naturally willing to divide the family.

The third branch had wanted to divide the family for a long time and agreed immediately.

The other branches did not want to divide the family, wanting to use the Duke’s mansion’s reputation as a shield.

But since the top three branches had all agreed, plus the mistress, their opposition was useless.

The second branch invited the clan elders, and the division began.

According to the rules, the legitimate son inherited the Duke’s title and seventy percent of the family property, while the remaining thirty percent was divided equally among the concubine-born sons.

Neither the first nor the second branch had any objections.

The second branch just wanted to drive everyone who was an eyesore out of the mansion, and the first branch had already privately obtained most of the household head’s personal assets, so they didn't care about the distribution of the public property.

Just like that, the division was completed quickly.

The first branch moved out that very day.

They had long since prepared a four-courtyard residence outside, which had already been cleaned, so they were able to move in immediately.

The third branch moved out of the Duke’s mansion a month later.

They were allocated a two-courtyard house, one shop, and a farmstead of five hundred mu.

The house hadn't been lived in for a long time and needed time to be cleaned, which was why they only moved out a month later.

The other branches didn't want to leave the Duke’s mansion so quickly and kept lingering, unwilling to leave.

It wasn't until the twenty-seven-month mourning period ended that the legitimate son forcefully drove them out of the Duke’s mansion.

Although they still hung the Duke’s mansion plaque, what the legitimate son inherited was only a Baron’s title, just one rank higher than a first-class General.

Although those branches were dissatisfied, there was nothing they could do.

They were no longer people of the Duke’s mansion, and if they wanted to establish themselves in the capital, they still had to rely on Baron Liu.

The first branch didn't fear Baron Liu; Uncle Liu had secured an official post outside the capital, took his wife and children, and left to become a prefect.

Father Liu didn't have Uncle Liu’s ability. Because of the mistress—oh, she had been promoted to Old Madam now—and her suppression of the concubine-born sons, Father Liu had never taken the imperial examinations and had no official rank.

Now, he didn't know what he could do and could only live off the income from the shop and the farmstead.

Fortunately, Father Liu didn't have the extravagance and wastefulness of those in the Duke’s mansion, and the income from the shop and farmstead was enough for the family to live on for a year.

When the mourning period ended, Father Liu took Liu Zhong to the Duke’s mansion.

At the mansion, Liu Zhong met several children around his age, one of whom was named Jia Hu. The others had surnames like Niu, Hou, Chen, Ma, and Shi.

Liu Zhong: "..."

What was the full name of the Liu family’s Duke mansion again?

The Duke of Li Mansion!

Plus the Duke of Zhen Niu mansion, the Duke of Qi Chen mansion, the Duke of Zhi Ma mansion, the Duke of Xiu Hou mansion, the Duke of Shan Shi mansion, and the Duke of Ning and Duke of Rong Jia mansions.

Weren't these the "Eight Dukes" of the "Four Kings and Eight Dukes"?

Could it be that he had transmigrated into the world of *Dream of the Red Chamber*?

Liu Zhong looked at the little bun Jia Hu in front of him with a strange expression.

Jia Hu was very cute, with delicate features, and looked very much like his father, Jia She.

Earlier, when Liu Zhong followed Father Liu to greet the guests, he had seen Jia She.

Jia She was truly worthy of being Jia Lian’s biological father; he was a handsome man through and through.

He wondered how he would torment himself in the future to turn himself into such a lecherous, ugly man.

"Brother Zhong, this is for you."

Jia Hu shared half of the pastry he had received with Liu Zhong.

He liked Liu Zhong very much; Liu Zhong was good-looking, well-behaved, and clean, which made him like him at first sight and want to play with him.

"Thank you." Liu Zhong took the pastry and gave Jia Hu a sweet smile.

Jia Hu was a really nice kid, a little warm-hearted boy who knew how to take care of others.

"Brother Zhong, have you started your schooling?"

"No."

"I'm about to start. My grandfather found me a tutor, and in a few days, I'll be studying with him."