Chapter 7

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Xu Yan muttered and walked back to the living room to watch TV. The TV was broadcasting the news from Shudu, talking about a certain place achieving a record-breaking grain harvest. Xu Yan couldn't focus on the broadcaster's modulated voice; his attention was entirely on the sound of the water from the bathroom.

Listening to the sound of the water from the shower, Xu Yan had no lewd thoughts, but the doubts in his mind grew larger: Who exactly is Zhu Youxiang?

Although Xu Yan and Zhu Youxiang had only known each other for a few hours, he felt that Zhu Youxiang was gentle and polite, with bright and lively eyes, revealing her intelligence. If she had mental issues, Xu Yan found it hard to believe: this girl spoke logically and clearly, and was very polite, not like someone who was crazy.

Alright, even if Zhu Youxiang really had mental issues, where did a crazy woman get so much gold and silver? These hundreds of gold ingots must be worth several million, right? And how did she get this ancient costume?

Also, how did she deal with those ruffians in the dark streets just now?

Moreover, these dozens of gold and silver ingots together must weigh dozens of pounds. She carried such a heavy load and walked several streets, yet her flowing and light dress showed no signs of it at all?

...

So many inexplicable doubts gathered in Xu Yan's mind, and finally, a thought that he couldn't suppress naturally arose: Could it be that Zhu Youxiang really came from the Ming Dynasty?

How could that be possible?! Time travel is something that only exists in novels and TV shows, how could it really exist? Even if it did, how could he be so lucky to encounter it?

Xu Yan thought and thought, his mind wandering. In a daze, he didn't know how long it had been, but he heard the bathroom door open. He looked up and saw the girl had already come out of the bathroom, wearing a light yellow ancient long dress, her hair now loose and scattered at the back.

Xu Yan was surprised again and blurted out, "You... where did you get the clothes?" He clearly remembered that she went into the bathroom with nothing in her hands. A set of ancient long dress is not a small item; he had no reason to miss it—uh, speaking of which, where did her old clothes go?

When Xu Yan asked the girl such a private question about her clothes, the girl's face turned slightly red. She rolled her eyes and didn't answer, but instead walked over and sat on the sofa, watching the TV screen with Xu Yan, focusing intently—anyway, Xu Yan had never seen anyone enjoy the local TV station's trash news so much.

Zhu Youxiang asked with interest, "May I ask, Mr. Xu, what is this? Who are these gentlemen speaking on the screen? What are they doing?"

Xu Yan replied casually, "This is the Shudu TV news, talking about the provincial party committee and government holding a meeting to deeply study the new spirit of the central government... Those are the big leaders of the province, like the governor and the party secretary, or something. They are big officials, but I can't tell who is who."

When Xu Yan mentioned "leaders" and "provincial government," Zhu Youxiang didn't understand, but when he said "big officials," she immediately got it. She nodded and said, "So these gentlemen are all local officials of the court. No wonder they look so serious and dignified. But why aren't they wearing official robes?"

"Official robes? This... we don't have that kind of thing."

"No official robes?" Zhu Youxiang was surprised. "How can that be? Without official robes and badges, how can the officials of the court distinguish their ranks and grades? If the officials don't wear official robes, how can they show the dignity of the court when facing the people they govern? How can they distinguish between the nobles and the commoners?"

Moreover, the meeting place of the state and prefecture is a place of great importance, and the matters discussed are state secrets. How can they be made public for everyone to see? This would leak secrets and completely undermine the dignity of the court.

The girl's questions were truly bizarre, and Xu Yan was stunned. He didn't know how to explain, so he vaguely said, "This... we've always been like this. And now, we don't talk about the dignity of the court anymore. Our officials are called public servants, meaning they serve the people... uh, anyway, that's what they say."

"Public servants?" The girl hesitated for a moment, then was very surprised and exclaimed, "The officials of the court are actually treated as lowly servants?"

She shook her head repeatedly. "How can that be? You must know that the officials of the court are all the best of the best, representing the emperor in governing the people, assisting the king above and pacifying the people below, with a very noble status! The local government has inverted the hierarchy, placing officials below the people, which is a violation of the norms and a loss of the court's dignity—how can the higher officials of Shu Chuan Dao allow this?"

Sis, your condition is acting up again...

Xu Yan stared at the TV, pretending not to hear her.

Xu Yan pretended not to hear, but Zhu Youxiang wouldn't let it go. She asked, "Mr. Xu, you are a local, have you heard any news of natural disasters recently?"

"Natural disasters? Miss Zhu, do you mean earthquakes, floods, and such? Speaking of which, there have been quite a few here. A few years ago, there was a major earthquake that killed many people, and there are still aftershocks..."

The girl shook her head. "Mr. Xu, you are mistaken. The natural disasters I refer to are caused by the invasion of monsters—have there been any reports of monsters appearing in Shu Chuan Dao recently?"

Xu Yan was completely confused. "Monsters? What are those? I've never heard of them—where do they come from, and how can they invade us?"

Hearing this answer, the girl looked a bit disappointed. "I didn't expect that you wouldn't know about natural disasters and monsters... Since you don't know, I will have to contact the local government tomorrow—may I ask, where is the local government located, and how far is it from here?"

"Government? Which government are you looking for? The neighborhood committee, the police station, or the district government of the university campus?"

Just now, it was Zhu Youxiang who didn't understand what Xu Yan was saying, and now it was Xu Yan's turn to confuse her. "Mr. Xu, the city here is so prosperous, the empire should have set up an office here, right? I want to find the local prefecture office..."

"I only know about the Jincheng municipal government, but I've never heard of a Jincheng prefecture office..."

"Has the local government not been set up to govern the people?" The girl was surprised and asked urgently, "Then, is there an imperial Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) stationed here? No? Or a Yuanlao Hui (Council of Elders) office? No? I didn't expect that this place, which seems so prosperous, is actually so remote and uncivilized... At least, the imperial border army should have a hundred-household office or a thousand-household office here, right?"

Xu Yan still shook his head, and the girl became a bit anxious. She said loudly, "Mr. Xu, that's not right! Forty years ago, the new Shu Dao submitted to the empire, becoming a vassal state, and the empire ordered the Marquis of Jian'an to lead part of the Southern Guard to be stationed in each state and prefecture; five years ago, due to the petition of a large number of people in Shu Chuan Dao, it was changed from a vassal state to a direct state, directly managed by the cabinet, and officials were appointed and offices were set up—this is clearly recorded in the local gazetteer, and I reviewed it at the Bailu Academy before I left, so I remember it clearly. Therefore, even if this place is remote, the border army should have a hundred-household office, how can you say there isn't one?"

"Miss Zhu, the more you talk, the more confused I get." Xu Yan rubbed his forehead in pain. "When you say 'empire,' which empire are you talking about?"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiang straightened up and said seriously, "Under the sky, all land belongs to the emperor, and all people are his subjects. There is only one empire, and that is the Great Ming Empire! The emperor and the Council of Elders rule the six directions, govern the eight regions, and their power shakes the universe—Mr. Xu, could it be that you don't even know the empire?"

Xu Yan looked at her with a tired expression. He wanted to tell her directly that the Great Ming Empire she imagined had been gone for hundreds of years, but seeing her excited and serious look, he couldn't bring himself to say it. He could only say tactfully, "Little Zhu, you've been watching our TV news for a while, have you seen any news about the Great Ming Empire? Or the Jinyiwei and the Council of Elders? They're not on TV!"

The girl was stunned and slowly frowned.

Zhu Youxiang was also very intelligent. Since she arrived in Shu Chuan Dao, the strange clothes, peculiar speech, the rapid steel vehicles on the roads, the towering buildings, the city's brilliant neon lights, the strange food, many unheard-of "magic treasures," and the fact that the Great Ming currency could not be used here—all these things had already made her feel something was wrong. She had been comforting herself with the idea that "Shu Chuan Dao is a border vassal state, and its customs and manners are different from those of the inner states of the empire, which is not surprising."

It wasn't until this moment, when the young man in front of her explained, that she realized the situation was vastly different from what she had imagined.

She stared at Xu Yan, "Mr. Xu, could it be that you really haven't heard of the Great Ming Empire?"

Xu Yan felt a bit sad and couldn't bear to see the girl's frightened eyes, so he shook his head slightly.

To Xu Yan's surprise, the girl didn't seem particularly dejected or depressed. She sighed with relief, her eyes regaining their sparkle, and even seemed a bit excited. "So, this place is a land that has not yet received the emperor's grace and has not been civilized... But if that's the case, why can the local people speak the language of our empire? That's strange."

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