Chapter 1977
Late Ming Dynasty 13
With detailed nautical charts as guidance, Zhu Qiqi discovered the Americas.
Then came immigration.
Many people who lost their land were taken to the Americas.
They were given vast tracts of land.
After a deep discussion with Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia, Zhu Qiqi established a nation in the Americas.
Zhu Qiqi became the founding empress, and Yuan Chengzhi and Xia Qingqing became princes of different surnames who assisted the empress.
After Zhu Youjian handed the throne to his son, he took his wife and brother-in-law to the Americas for a trip.
They spent three years traveling in the Americas before returning home.
"Where is this?" a questioning voice came from beside me.
Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia looked to the side and saw several young men and women looking around in disbelief.
Could they be from another country?
Zhu Youjian ignored the group of people; he saw Xia Xueyi and He Hongyao who had come to pick them up.
Zhu Youjian shouted loudly, "Here! Xueyi! Hongyao!"
The name he called out attracted the attention of the young men and women. They looked in the direction Zhu Youjian was looking and saw a couple who looked to be in their thirties walking over and bowing to another couple who looked to be only about twenty years old.
"Greetings, Master."
"Greetings, Emperor Emeritus."
The pupils of several young people dilated in shock. They were all martial artists, with keen senses, and they clearly heard the middle-aged couple's address to the young couple.
The retired emperor?
A member of the royal family?
One of the girls whispered, "That person looks just like my father."
Liu Tong looked at the group of people and sized them up.
Their gazes lingered for a moment on a one-armed girl and a girl with an iron hook for an arm, making some guesses about their identities.
Liu Tong walked towards the group with a smile, and said amidst their wary gazes, "Hello, is this your first time in the Ming Dynasty? Do you need a guide? Um, my fee is not high, only two qian of silver per day."
Liu Yinxia, Zhu Youjian, and the other three discovered that Liu Tong was trying to deceive people. Although they didn't know why, they cooperated by pretending not to know Liu Tong and pretending to leave. However, relying on their superb lightness skills, they followed behind the group and listened to Liu Tong probing their background.
After hearing Liu Tong's words, those men lowered their guard somewhat.
They truly regarded Liu Tong as a guide to attract business—Liu Tong had completely suppressed his imposing manner, because he had just returned from America and was wearing thin, breathable linen clothing, not a brocade robe. Therefore, in the eyes of others, he was a handsome young man, not a wealthy young master.
Two coins might seem like a lot to ordinary people, but for these江湖人士 (jianghu figures), former princesses, and leaders of sects, it was nothing.
He Tieshou took out a piece of silver and tossed it to Liu Dong: "Take us to the nearest restaurant."
"Alright." Liu Tong looked very happy to have made money and led a few people to the restaurant.
That restaurant belonged to Liu Yinxia; it was where she gathered information about the common people in the city.
Liu Tong: "May I ask how you are addressed?"
Young man: "My name is Yuan Mingchengzhi, this is my fiancée Xia Qingqing, my apprentice He Tieshou, and my good friend Ajiu."
It really was them.
Xia Xueyi and He Hongyao were both somewhat stunned.
Yuan Chengzhi is their son-in-law, and Xia Qingqing is their daughter, who is currently working as a corporate slave in the Americas.
How did these two appear?
Although the guy named Yuan Chengzhi looked a lot like their son-in-law, their temperaments were completely different.
This guy is a complete country bumpkin, while their son-in-law is a high and mighty prince. And then there's He Tieshou...
She looks very similar to He Hongyao's niece, He Yunshuang.
It's a coincidence if one person looks alike, but it's not right if two people look alike.
Even their names are the same...
I'm afraid there's a conspiracy involved!
Liu Tong transmitted her voice to them, telling them not to act rashly.
The four men suppressed their suspicions and entered the private room next to the group of people.
Liu Yinxia opened the mechanism, and the four of them could hear the sounds from next door, but the people next door could not hear the sounds they made.
Yuan Chengzhi asked the restaurant to send over their signature dishes, and the restaurant was quick, serving the dishes in no time.
The four people looked at the dishes in surprise, several of which they did not recognize.
Xia Qingqing and He Tieshou looked at Ajiu. This girl used to be a princess and ate royal meals every day. She should know what those dishes were.
Ajiu shook her head; she truly didn't know.
Yuan Chengzhi then asked Liu Tong, "Liu Tong, what are these dishes made of?"
Liu Dong: "This is candied sweet potato, this is French fries, this is pine nut corn, this is..."
The four people picked up their chopsticks and tasted each dish, instantly captivated by the flavors.
The most popular is undoubtedly French fries; no one can resist the allure of fried food.
Next up is candied sweet potato. Many people love sweets, especially girls.
Seeing that they were eating to their heart's content, Liu Qiu smiled and continued, "Sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn can all be used as staple foods, and the yield per mu is no less than a thousand jin..."
"How many?"
All four people were so surprised that they dropped their chopsticks.
They are not naive people who don't understand people's livelihoods; they know how amazing it is that crops with a yield of a thousand catties per mu are, and how many people's food problems they can solve.
Liu Tong: "The yield per mu is no less than a thousand jin. Sweet potatoes were discovered by the Empress's brother, Marquis Jiayu, while potatoes and corn were discovered by Princess Changping after she went to sea on the orders of the Emperor Emeritus."
Liu Tong glanced at Ajiu, who was completely dumbfounded, his eyes full of laughter, and continued, "Princess Changping became a disciple of Chief Cheng of the Green Bamboo Gang from a young age. She led the entire Green Bamboo Gang to sea and not only discovered high-yield grains overseas, but also a new continent larger than the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Princess Changping established a country in the new continent and became its founding emperor."
The other three were also stunned, staring blankly at Ajiu.
Ajiu: "It wasn't me!"
He Tieshou: "We know it's not you, but there is also a Princess Changping here."
Yuan Chengzhi: "We should have come to a world similar to the one we live in, except that the development of this world is different from our world."
Ajiu nodded: "The *Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra* says: 'A hundred billion Mount Sumerus and a hundred billion suns and moons constitute a three-thousand-great-thousand-world system. Similarly, the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions, each of these three-thousand-great-thousand-world systems, is called a single Buddha-world, in which there is no other Buddha, but only one Shakyamuni Buddha.'"
The group spoke in hushed tones to prevent Liu Dong from overhearing their conversation.
Little did they know that not only Liu Dong had overheard their entire conversation, but the four people in the next room had also heard it.
There was nothing they could do; Liu Dong and the others had much stronger internal energy than them.
Zhu Youjian: "Three thousand worlds?"
Liu Yinxia looked at Xia Xueyi and teased, "Is this Xia Qingqing your child from another world? She doesn't look like Hongyao at all. Could she be yours with another woman?" (End of Chapter)