In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

Chapter 113 Zhu Youcheng's Modern Identity

"Brother Zhu, it seems you were right. The system has a loophole, or perhaps this is a mystery the system left for us to solve ourselves."

"Xiao Yi, are you sure this is modern-day Beijing? In 2018?"

Song Xiaoyi didn't need to confirm; when the two of them traveled through time, it was midnight in the Ming Dynasty, but now it was already past midnight. The streets were still so lively at this time, probably because it was a tourist area.

On December 20, 2018, there was no snow in Beijing.

Song Xiaoyi first confirmed that the courtyard house was indeed uninhabited, then climbed over the wall, observed the area below under the shade of the trees, found a secluded spot, and led Zhu Youcheng to Beichizi Street.

It was indeed an oversight not to have a mobile phone stored in the system, which prevented him from contacting Mr. Wu in time. Fortunately, he knew the address of Mr. Wu's courtyard house, and he also had cash stored in the system space.

Two men dressed in Ming Dynasty attire hurried down the street, attracting little attention. Mainly, this street was teeming with all sorts of cosplayers; nothing unusual, and they weren't exactly stunning beauties.

Thud! Thud thud! Thud!

The sound of banging on the iron gate was particularly loud late at night. Only after banging did Song Xiaoyi notice the doorbell next to him.

"Ring~~~"

"Who is it! In the middle of the night!" came the voice of Wu's servant.

"Auntie, please call Old Wu and tell him that Song Xiaoyi is back!"

Wu Fei is away on vacation and hasn't returned yet. There are only a few servants and Old Master Wu at home. It's the middle of the night, so it's normal that the servants are afraid to open the door.

Five or six minutes later, Old Wu came out wrapped in his pajamas. "Who's outside?"

"Mr. Wu, it's me, Xiao Yi!"

Upon confirming it was Xiao Yi's voice, Old Wu was shocked and quickly opened the door.

Song Xiaoyi didn't rush in. Instead, he pulled Old Wu aside at the door and whispered, "Please send the servants away and lead us into your secret room."

"You?!" Old Wu looked up and saw a tall, dark figure behind Song Xiaoyi. "He is—"

"Understood----"

"Xiao Wang, you guys go back to sleep. It's alright, it's Xiao Yi."

After confirming that the servants had returned to their rooms and closed the doors, Song Xiaoyi led Zhu Youcheng and followed behind Old Wu. Old Wu unlocked the room with his fingerprint and led the two into the secret room.

As Mr. Wu turned on the light, Zhu You looked the secret room, filled with antiques and calligraphy, up and down. At the same time, Song Xiaoyi mysteriously said to Mr. Wu, "Mr. Wu, guess who this is!"

"Brought back directly from the capital of the Ming Dynasty? Could it be—Emperor Zhu Youcheng—?!?!"

"As expected of Elder Wu, he guessed it right away!"

"No, this—this is so sudden! I wasn't prepared at all!"

"What do you need to prepare? Set up an incense table to receive the imperial edict?"

"Haha, no—this—"

"Xiao Yi, I observe this secret chamber; why are there so many paintings and calligraphies from our dynasty?"

"Your Majesty—" Old Wu looked at Zhu Youcheng, seeing his imposing presence, then turned to Song Xiaoyi, "Xiaoyi, is this form of address appropriate?"

"Mr. Wu, why don't you just call me Mr. Zhu?"

"Brother Zhu, Mr. Wu is a specially appointed cultural relic appraiser at the Palace Museum. He is acquainted with Director Shan. How about we ask Mr. Wu to invite Director Shan to our home tomorrow so you can meet and catch up?"

"That's excellent."

"Brother Zhu, now that we're back in modern times, you can try speaking in the way you used to back then."

"It's a habit, hard to change."

Listening to their conversation, Old Wu seemed to understand but not quite, yet dared not draw any conclusions. He simply frowned and asked, "From what you're saying, is there something else going on here?"

"Yes, Mr. Wu, there's a long story behind this. Tomorrow morning, please invite Director Shan of the Palace Museum to your home."

"Dean Shan? Shan Xiangji?"

"Yes. Brother Zhu was Dean Shan's student. In 1996, he fell into the water after drinking and traveled back to the Ming Dynasty."

"What! 1996!?"

"Old Dan's student, in 1996, after drinking, you were Zhu Shou!! Were you Zhu Shou?!"

"Does Mr. Wu know me?"

"You really are Zhu Shou!! Waaahh ...

Song Xiaoyi was also dumbfounded. What was going on?

Zhu You paused, then looked at Song Xiaoyi, who spread his hands, indicating that he didn't understand either.

Although the story sounds bizarre and coincidental, it makes perfect sense upon closer examination.

Zhu Shou was the nephew of Madam Wu's maternal family. That day was the wedding of Madam Wu's son and daughter-in-law. Madam Wu felt sorry that her nephew was not eating well while working as a cultural relic restorer at the museum, so she specially invited him to attend the banquet.

"Brother Zhu, I never imagined that you and Old Wu had such a relationship."

"Your aunt didn't pay much attention to the Songhe Grain Liquor we drank that night. It was someone who suggested drinking Yanjing Beer in the end—"

"Aunt—Uncle, it was my own fault for not being able to hold my liquor. I rode my bicycle too fast on the way back."

"Sigh, after your accident, your parents blamed your aunt, and the Zhu family cut off all contact with her. Your aunt herself couldn't get over that trauma and passed away more than ten years ago."

"It's truly fate's cruel joke, the cycle of cause and effect."

"Mr. Wu, you know what, there really is some cause and effect involved."

"Child, how did you travel to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Old Wu, I can answer that. Brother Zhu's soul transmigrated. Senior Huai En was a step too late. Six-year-old Zhu Youcheng was thrown into a pond and drowned by Consort Wan's men. By the time Huai En pulled him out, he was already a combination of the two."

"I only know the general outline of this history. So you suffered a lot when you got there too—"

With tears in his eyes, Old Wu trembled as he reached for Zhu Shou's arm, his lips quivering.

Once both sides had calmed down, Old Wu asked Zhu Shou, "Do you have something important to discuss with Old Dan? If you just want to see him, have you thought it through carefully?"

What should we do after we meet them? Should we take Lao Dan to the Ming Dynasty to become an emperor emeritus? Or should we have Lao Dan report to Bureau 749 that there are two special people here who came through a time portal?

"Dean Shan is, after all, an official, eating the government's rice. Besides, 23 years have passed since what happened back then, and your sudden appearance will require quite a bit of explanation."

"Actually, the most important thing is Xiao Yi's time-space portal. The old man also knows that this portal will be discovered by special departments sooner or later, and will eventually be handed over to the state. But I think you should be cautious before you are fully prepared."

"Brother Zhu, Old Wu is right. Dean Shan isn't going to be in any trouble anytime soon, and you still have at least 6..."

"It's been a year, shouldn't we take a longer-term view?"

After careful consideration, Zhu Shou decided not to go see his teacher for the time being.

In order to have a safe and stable passage in the capital, and to facilitate the storage and transportation of goods, Mr. Wu and Song Xiaoyi decided to acquire the largest courtyard house on the outskirts of the city.

The three of them chatted intermittently in the secret room until dawn, when Old Wu went out to ask the servants to prepare breakfast.

After breakfast, Old Wu asked Song Xiaoyi to take Zhu Shou to the guest room to rest.

-

At this moment, neither of them felt sleepy.