Chapter 1: The Disreputable Bastard Son

He slowly opened his eyes to see a girl of thirteen or fourteen in old-style dress with twin buns, kneeling by the bed and weeping bitterly.

Young master... Young master...

She sobbed, “Young master, young master! Don’t die! Please don’t die! If you die, what are we supposed to do...”

Where am I?

The thought had barely formed when his mind exploded with a flood of strange memories. He clutched his head in terror. What was happening?

Why did another person’s memories suddenly appear in his mind?

In those memories, he was also named Lin Feng. He had been the reckless illegitimate son of the Lin family in the capital of Chu, a wastrel who spent his days drinking, gambling, and loafing about, careless and unrestrained, with no thought for self-improvement. He had long since crossed every line in his self-destruction, and finally, on a dark, stormy night, drunk and depraved, he broke into the room of his father’s most favored concubine...

He was caught red-handed. His father, Lin Yuanshan, flew into a rage at once and ordered the family discipline to be administered. Unwilling to submit, he not only beat the servants enforcing the punishment but even kicked his elder brother, who came to dissuade him, straight into a pond.

His father, already deeply disappointed in him, was then utterly despairing. He wrote a severance letter, denouncing him as unfilial, disrespectful, cruel, and unjust, and drove him out of the house and out of the capital of Chu, forbidding him forever from entering the gates of the Lin family home again.

When Lin Feng left, he had not a single coin to his name. He took only a little maid, a young servant, and a donkey. The donkey had been given to him by his wastrel second brother as he left, of course only to humiliate him, to tell him to hurry up and ride that donkey and get lost.

So the three of them and one donkey left the capital of Chu. And at last, wandering in hardship after leaving the city, he fell ill...

And then he died, only to have his soul cross over into this body.

Lin Feng was speechless. In his previous life, he had even saved many people before dying, so how had he ended up transmigrating into such a worthless rake?

What karmic retribution? What reward for good deeds? Sure enough, fairy tales were all lies!

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Fine, face reality first. Better than being transmigrated into a pig, at least he was still human.

Looking at the little maid, Little Butterfly, crying herself nearly unconscious before him, he thought that even in his present state, she and the young servant Liuxi had still stayed by his side without wavering, playing out this scene of devoted master and servants. It truly touched him.

“Stop crying. Your young master isn’t dead yet!”

Little Butterfly lifted her head, wiped her tear-streaked face, and exclaimed in delighted surprise, “Wonderful! Wonderful! Young master isn’t dead! Young master isn’t dead!”

At that moment, someone entered from outside: it was Liuxi. Broad-shouldered and sturdy, he too still had a youthful face, about the same age as Little Butterfly.

Behind Liuxi followed an old physician with a medicine chest on his back. He looked at Lin Feng on the bed. “This... isn’t there nothing wrong?”

Liuxi let out a long breath, his face bright with relief. “I knew the young master would have great fortune and a natural blessing to protect him!”

Great fortune, indeed? The original owner was already dead as dead could be!

He turned to the old physician and said, “Doctor, I am much better now. You may go back.”

Little Butterfly protested, “Young master, let the doctor prescribe another dose for you!”

“I’m truly fine now. Right now, I only want something to eat.”

The old physician stroked his beard and nodded. “Since the young man feels hunger, his body should no longer be in any serious danger.”

“Thank you for making the trip, Doctor.”

“Sir, I have come all the way from the town to this Back-Mountain Village. It was no easy journey...”

Lin Feng immediately understood what he meant and said to Little Butterfly, “Give the doctor ten coins for his trouble.”

“Ten coins...” Little Butterfly looked miserable as she took out her purse and counted out ten coins, handing them to the physician.

The old doctor cupped his hands. “Please take care of your health, young sir. This old one takes his leave.”

“Liuxi, see him out.”

Liuxi immediately escorted the physician to the door.

“Young master, I’ll go fetch you something to eat.” With that, Little Butterfly left the room.

Lin Feng looked around the miserable little shack he lived in. Aside from the bed he slept on, there was only a broken wooden table and three worn stools. There was little else inside. The walls were probably made of mud, planks, and straw, looking as though a strong wind might blow them away. A paper-covered window leaked drafts into the room with a constant hiss. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold and the wind was not strong; otherwise, he would not merely have been sick—he would have frozen to death here long ago.

Soon, the door opened, and Little Butterfly came in carefully carrying a bowl in one hand and a blackened flatcake in the other.

“Young master, I warmed up some vegetable congee and coarse flour cake for you. Since your body has only just recovered, you can’t eat anything cold.”

Lin Feng looked at the congee with a few vegetable leaves floating on top and the flatcake, and was utterly speechless. Had he really fallen this low?

He picked up the dark flatcake and took a bite.

Crunch!

Several of his teeth nearly filed a formal resignation.

Damn, this thing could train your teeth!

“What the hell is this?”

“Coarse flour cake.”

“This is way too hard to eat! Don’t you have anything else that can fill the stomach?”

Little Butterfly said, “Right now there’s only coarse flour cake. If not, I can buy some white flour and make you a proper pancake.” She then took out the purse from her pocket, opened it, and carefully counted the coins. “There are still thirty coins left. That should be enough to buy a jin of white flour.”

Lin Feng was startled. White flour was this expensive? Thirty copper coins for a single jin?

In ancient times, thirty coins was practically equivalent to thirty yuan today!

He should never have given that doctor ten coins.

At that moment, there came a knock at the door, followed by a woman’s voice from outside. “Are you in there?”

Little Butterfly’s expression changed. In a low voice she said, “Oh no, it’s our landlady, Aunt Tian. She must be here for the rent. Young master, hurry and lie down and pretend to be sick. Don’t open your eyes!”

“You still haven’t paid the rent?”

“When you suddenly fell ill, we only intended to stay for two days and see if you recovered before leaving. Who knew that once you got sick, it lasted a whole month, and all the money ran out...”

“Is anyone in there?” the impatient voice outside called again.

Little Butterfly raised her voice. “Coming...”

She went to the door and opened it. A fat peasant woman in coarse cloth clothes stepped in with a faintly irritated look, glanced at Lin Feng, who was half-sitting on the bed, and said, “Well now! Sitting up already? Looks like you’re better!”

Little Butterfly frowned. Hadn’t she told the young master to lie down? Why was he still sitting up?

“I’m much better now,” Lin Feng said with a smile. “What brings you here, Auntie?”

“When you first came to my door, you were unconscious and half-dead. If it had been any other household, seeing you in such a state, who would have dared take you in? Everyone would have been afraid... But in Back-Mountain Village, our Tian family is known for kindness and generosity. I immediately tidied up this side courtyard for you to stay in. You do understand that, don’t you?”

Lin Feng nodded and smiled. “Aunt Tian is my savior. I am deeply grateful.”

The woman’s expression eased somewhat. “At the time, this Miss Little Butterfly said you would stay three days and then leave, so she paid me for three days in advance. I didn’t ask for more, since I figured that if a gentleman falls ill, he’ll inevitably need a doctor, and medicine costs money...”