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

Chapter 98 The Song Family Residence in the Capital

After Song Xiaoyi and Zhu Youcheng finished collecting antiques from the Ancient and Modern Collection Store, it was already dark when they went downstairs and out the door.

"Xiao Yi, how about we call it a day? I'm getting a bit tired." After saying that, Zhu Youcheng summoned the little eunuch who had been following the two of them and had been waiting outside for a long time. "Escort Young Master Xiao Yi out of the palace through the Donghua Gate. You can come back once you reach the palace gate."

"Your Majesty, I understand. Chief Steward Song has already given instructions that he is waiting for Young Master Song at Donghua Gate."

Zhu Youcheng handed over the waist token, a smile in his eyes: "Xiao Yi, take this. You can enter the palace a little later tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

Xiao Yi's response seemed inappropriate. Although the eunuch found it strange, he lowered his head and saw that the emperor ignored him, so he dared not say anything more.

The young eunuch was astonished: the Emperor was so warmly accommodating to the Song family, who had no official rank. Not only did he personally take him on a tour of the palace, but he also readily bestowed upon him an entry pass. The Song family was truly enjoying the Emperor's favor!

The palace was very large, and it was dark at night. Without a palace servant familiar with the roads to lead the way, it would be easy to get lost.

Along the way, Song Xiaoyi and the little eunuch chatted and quickly became acquainted, but Song Xiaoyi forgot to ask his name.

Sure enough, Grandpa and Dad were already waiting outside Donghua Gate.

"Old Song, and you, Song Shen! You didn't even prepare a carriage to pick me up in this freezing weather!"

"You brat—"

"Grandpa—Dad! You all disappeared one by one without even saying goodbye, boohoo~~"

"Alright—alright—let's go home first, we're making a fool of ourselves here—"

"Do you know how badly I've fared these past few years?"

Old Man Song Shen chuckled and patted Song Xiaoyi on the back of the head. "Stop pretending. Do you think I don't know your capabilities? How badly could you be doing? You have an entire building in the tourist area to run a small restaurant. With your skills, supporting yourself is a piece of cake. Hurry up and come home!"

'

'

To make it easier for Old Song to enter and leave the palace, Emperor Zhu Youtang bestowed upon him the "Song Residence" in the capital city, located at the foot of the imperial city wall, just a few steps away.

"No wonder they didn't prepare a carriage."

Song Xiaoyi muttered to himself, then turned around and looked around before entering the house. "Isn't this the North-South Pond Street? The location of the house bestowed by the emperor is superb. Why look for another courtyard house? Just find our old house!"

"Xiao Yi, come in!"

"Don't rush, let me check the exterior of the house first." Song Xiaoyi carefully marked the key coordinates of the house, its distance from Donghua Gate, and its angle with the gate on paper. After entering, he drew an interior layout plan. "Dad, which one is my bedroom?"

"Why are you looking for the bedroom as soon as you get home? Go to the dining room and eat first."

"Where's Mom? She hasn't come back yet?"

"Your mother is in charge of purchasing supplies for the palace. She goes shopping every day, enjoying it immensely. Her return time is unpredictable, and you can't reach her when you try to contact her!"

"No rush to eat, we can eat when Mom comes back. First, reserve my bedroom, I have important things to arrange. Also, this is the Ming Dynasty, we should do as the Romans do. That's my mother, and you're my father. You've been in the Ming Dynasty for years and you still don't know how to address me properly."

"You little brat, you've been gone for years and you're already trying to lecture me—"

"Go inside and prepare the food with Grandpa. Don't bother me. I have important business to attend to." Song Xiaoyi said, pushing his father inside while teasing him, "This is supposed to be the residence of a fifth-rank official in the imperial court, yet there isn't even a steward or gatekeeper. And no servants or maids have come out to greet me—"

"A mere fifth-rank official, a high-ranking official in the imperial court? You're dreaming, kid. And what about the stewards, gatekeepers, servants, and maids? Our whole family is from high places. Would you dare hire them?"

"Okay, okay, I understand. You just meant it as a joke."

While waiting for his mother at home, Song Xiaoyi finished marking the location of the entire house. Then, he found an envelope in his "treasure chest" and wrote: Please notify Old Wu to come and pick up this letter in person!

"Find this house on Beichizi Street outside Donghuamen as soon as possible, buy it at any cost, empty the marked room, and come back to let me know."

With preparations complete, tomorrow I'll ask Brother Zhu to arrange for it to be delivered to Taoye Ferry in Yingtian Prefecture by express courier.

The whole family was finally reunited in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

At the dinner table, the mystery was revealed first: Old Man Song had the worst luck, inexplicably traveling to the Ming Dynasty. He only stayed in Taoye Ferry for a week, but because of his "strange" speech, he was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard on the seventh day according to Emperor Zhu Youcheng's secret decree and escorted to the capital. Once in the palace, he confessed everything.

Fortunately, the emperor was quite kind. He saw that Old Song's cooking skills were indeed good, so he kept him in the palace as the imperial chef.

The Song family's restaurant at Taoye Ferry in Yingtian Prefecture became a key target for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep watch.

A few months later, Song's Restaurant reopened! My father and mother came under the watchful eye of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for the same reason: "talking strangely," so they were arrested!

The two were brought to the palace again, and Old Song was summoned to identify them. Well, it was their son and daughter-in-law—

That makes sense; it's only natural that Mu Bin would target him—that's the root of the problem.

Zhu You himself could not leave the palace and could not control the civil official group, so he tried his best to expand the Embroidered Uniform Guard. With more people, the salary expenditure increased.

As luck would have it, Song Xiaoyi proactively approached them before the Embroidered Uniform Guard could make their move, offering a generous gift that was impossible to refuse!

The fast food approach broadened Zhu Youcheng's thinking; instead of rushing to capture the kid, he wanted to see what other skills he possessed first.

Song Xiaoyi lay on the carved bed, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the waist token given to him by Zhu Youcheng, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

This whole time travel to the Ming Dynasty was bizarre enough, but today's experiences were even more outlandish. Zhu Youcheng was also a modern person who had traveled from the past, so why were his missions and system different from mine?

Besides my own family and Emperor Zhu You, there are actually other time travelers? I really have to be careful when I encounter them in the future, not everyone is as easy to talk to as Zhu Youtang.

But why do I have a spatial dimension while my grandfather and father don't? And why don't they even have a system? Am I truly the chosen one?

What should we do next?

Is there anything I can do?

First of all, this entire set of the Yongle Encyclopedia is a hot potato; selling it is out of the question. We need to come up with a foolproof plan to hand it over to the state.

Handing it over through my own Song residence is definitely unrealistic; through Songjia Village in Moling? That would expose my newly renovated old house; through Songfu in Taoye Ferry? That seems like a possibility, since it would need to go through Songfu to legitimize its historical significance.

After much deliberation, the final conclusion is: there is no perfect solution at the moment; we will consider it later.

We need to solve the immediate problem first.

Since Emperor Zhu Youtang is a time traveler, the problem of Tang Bohu that I've been worrying about for so long may no longer be a problem. However, there is still a doubt. Before I stopped Xu Jing from contacting Tang Bohu, Tang Bohu's life trajectory and historical records had not changed. In other words, Emperor Zhu Youtang did not interfere much with next year's "examination cheating case".

What could be the reason for this?

I should ask Zhu Youcheng about this tomorrow.