William Carter was getting married, and Julia Lane wanted to follow him to the Marquis of Nan'an's residence. For the sake of his future, William Carter forcibly left him at the Lin residence. Julia Lane had no parents; as soon as he could remember, he was sold into the Lin residence. Growing up, following the young master and serving him was the only thing he knew how to do. With William Carter no longer at the residence, he didn't know what to do with himself, drifting through his days in a daze, as if life had lost all meaning.

Finally, after much waiting, William Carter returned home for a visit. Julia Lane burst into tears, sobbing and insisting on following William Carter back to the Marquis's residence. He even begged Mrs. Carter to speak on his behalf: "Now that you don't have a single trustworthy person at the Marquis's residence, you should take Julia Lane with you. Your father and I would feel a bit more at ease."

After weighing it over and over, William Carter finally nodded. "Julia Lane, pack your things and get in the carriage."

Only then did Julia Lane break into a smile through his tears.

William Carter got into the carriage and briefly explained Julia Lane's situation to Henry Clark. Henry Clark smiled nonchalantly, "That's a good thing. Lan Feng Pavilion is full of girls now, the yin energy is too strong."

William Carter sighed, "I just don't want him to be trapped in the inner residence like me."

Henry Clark disagreed, "What's so bad about being confined to the inner residence? For someone as ambitious as you, it's true that it's 'confinement.' But for me—please, let me stay in the inner residence for a lifetime, thank you very much."

William Carter turned his head, "People with different paths can't work together."

The carriage started moving, and William Carter watched through the window as his family's figures gradually faded into the distance.

"Goodbye, brother." Edward Carter waved his little hand. Seeing Henry Clark, he mustered up his courage and added, "Goodbye, Brother Wancheng."

Henry Clark smiled, "Goodbye, little Qinghe." Closing the carriage window, he said to William Carter, "Your little brother seems to like me quite a bit."

William Carter nodded, "Edward has always had a habit of judging people by their looks since he was little. I've tried many ways to get him to change, but unfortunately, he still only likes to be close to people with outstanding appearances."

Henry Clark lifted the corners of his lips, "I think I just heard someone complimenting my looks."

William Carter glanced at him and said, "You... are indeed not bad." Although he couldn't agree with Henry Clark's way of doing things at all, that face of his was at least passable.

Henry Clark was taken aback, apparently not expecting William Carter to praise him, even if William Carter didn't think of it as praise—he was just stating the truth. At this moment, Henry Clark actually became modest, "You're exaggerating, first beauty."

William Carter asked, "Who is the first beauty?"

"You are."

William Carter frowned, "There's no such thing. The world is vast and full of wonders; who can guarantee they've seen everyone? If you haven't seen them all, how can you compare?"

Henry Clark smiled lightly, his brows and lashes soft, "But someone has seen them, and she told me."

William Carter naturally didn't believe such nonsense, "Absurd."

Henry Clark's smile didn't fade as he stroked his chin, "She also told me that this face of mine could rank in the top five in the whole book... in Dayu as well? But I think it's pretty average, much worse than my previous one..."

He started rambling again, talking nonsense.

William Carter closed his eyes to rest, shutting out Henry Clark's voice.

As expected, Bennett should already know about Henry Clark bringing five carts of gifts to the Lin residence. Who knows what she thinks of it, or if she'll use the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Logically, this matter had nothing to do with him; if Bennett wanted to find fault, it would be with her own son. However, Bennett had always doted on Henry Clark on the surface, so she probably wouldn't argue with him about this. Tomorrow, when he went to pay his respects to Bennett, he would likely be "reminded" in a roundabout way.

Thinking of this, William Carter felt a wave of irritation.

Back at the Marquis of Nan'an's residence, Henry Clark was so sleepy he had to be carried out of the carriage. Julia Lane pushed Henry Clark and followed behind William Carter, curiously looking around. As they neared Lan Feng Pavilion, Henry Clark was almost fully awake and yawned, "Seems like we're on the wrong road?"

This was clearly the way back to Lan Feng Pavilion. William Carter said to Julia Lane, "Ignore him, keep going."

Henry Clark placed his hand on the armrest of his wheelchair, holding his forehead, "According to the rules, when we return from the Lin residence, shouldn't we go pay respects to my mother before going back to our rooms?"

William Carter stopped in his tracks and looked back at him, "According to the rules, you should also get up early every day to pay your respects to her. Have you done that?"

"No." Henry Clark insisted, "So all the more reason to go now while I'm still awake."

William Carter grew suspicious. Usually, when Bennett came to Lan Feng Pavilion to visit him while he was ill, Henry Clark would either brush her off with a few words or claim he was unwell and couldn't see anyone. He had never once paid his respects. The relationship between this mother and son was obvious. Today, Henry Clark had been out all day while sick and had sat in the carriage for a long time, clearly exhausted, yet now he was actually suggesting they go pay respects to Bennett. Could it be...

William Carter had a vague suspicion and said, "If the young marquis is so filial, then let's go."

The two of them went to Bennett's courtyard. Bennett had just finished her late-night snack. Hearing they had come to pay respects, she had tea and snacks prepared.

William Carter pushed Henry Clark forward to greet her. Seeing Henry Clark's poor complexion, with fatigue written all over his face, she said with concern, "Although it's only right for a husband to accompany his wife back to her family, Henry is still a patient. Even if he didn't go, the Lin residence would surely understand."