My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

Chen Mo led everyone to the backyard, where they found the same old, dilapidated Wuling Hongguang van.

"What is this thing?"

Old Zhu raised his eyebrows, his tone filled with curiosity.

He looked at the wheels below and pondered.

"Is this perhaps your common mode of transportation in modern times?"

After saying that, Old Zhu walked half a circle around the car, tapped it with his hand, glanced around, and said with some surprise.

"Where are the horses? How can we run without horses?"

Liu Che pondered for a moment and looked at Chen Mo.

"Could this be what you meant by being powered by steam?"

"That's about right, but instead of using water vapor, it uses gasoline combustion to power the engine."

Chen Mo opened the car door, gestured for the others to get in, and then sat in the driver's seat.

Li Shimin hurriedly walked to the carriage door and reached out to support Empress Zhangsun.

"Guanyinbi, be careful."

Empress Zhangsun nodded and carefully got into the carriage.

After she was seated, Li Shimin leaned in and expertly pulled on the seatbelt.

"Click!"

Empress Zhangsun felt the restraint of the seatbelt and, although somewhat uncomfortable, still spoke up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"It's nothing!"

A smile crept onto Li Shimin's lips, and a strange sense of pride welled up within him.

"Next time, let's bring our girls too!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his smug expression and couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.

He sat down behind Li Shimin, pulled on his seatbelt, and frowned.

"I wonder what this thing is for? For security?"

"Father, it's better to tie it on; there might be some hidden dangers."

Zhu Biao said softly.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

"No big deal! Don't think that just because we're emperor now, we can be so easily fooled. We used to be at the forefront, riding our horses at the very front. We don't need to wear seatbelts!"

Zhu Biao hesitated for a moment, but did not insist, and fastened his seatbelt himself.

Liu Che behind him also fastened his seatbelt.

"Are you all seated?"

Chen Mo, who was at the front, asked.

He turned the key, and the engine immediately emitted a deep roar.

"Boom!"

Old Zhu was startled by the sudden tremor and almost jumped out of his seat.

He gripped the handrail tightly, his tiger-like eyes wide open.

"Wow! That's quite a commotion! I wonder which is faster, this or our horses."

Sitting at the back, Liu Che felt the vibrations of the car and an idea came to his mind.

If this item were used on the battlefield... wouldn't it be impervious to swords and spears?

Compared to the two others, Li Shimin was much calmer.

He looked at Empress Zhangsun, who was also startled, and gently patted her hand.

"Guanyinbi, don't panic! This thing is just like that. It makes this kind of sound when it's activated. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Um."

Empress Zhangsun nodded.

So Li Shimin started to educate Empress Zhangsun again.

"Look at the round dial in Mr. Chen's hand; that's for controlling the direction..."

"..."

Zhu Yuanzhang and his companion behind him looked on with exasperation, then turned to Zhu Biao beside them and said...

"Biao'er, move aside! We need to sit in the back!"

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang sat down next to Liu Che and muttered to himself.

"What's with the attitude? Next time, let's bring a girl!"

Zhu Biao was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

When did his dad become so...sensitive?

"Hold on tight."

Chen Mo gave a word of advice and slowly pressed the accelerator.

The old Wuling Hongguang van slowly drove out of the yard.

"How exactly does this thing move?"

Sitting in the back row, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Liu Che glanced at him.

"Didn't Shopkeeper Chen just say that the wheel is made to turn by burning kerosene?"

"We know! What we want to know is how exactly it was accomplished?"

"I'd like to know that too."

Liu Che murmured something, looked out the window, and his eyes suddenly widened.

What I saw outside the window was no longer the scenery of Hengdian, but rows of buildings reflecting light.

The building was incredibly tall, several times taller than the tallest building in his country.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang also looked outside, his cheek almost touching the carriage window.

"Holy crap!"

"This road...this road..."

Zhu Yuanzhang gasped.

It's like a farmer thinking the emperor uses a golden hoe.

Without having seen the modern world, people from ancient times could never understand what the modern world is like.

But now, they have seen it.

The wide asphalt road is marked with clear white lines and is separated in the middle by a neat green median strip, which is planted with flowers, grass and shrubs.

Skyscrapers, incredibly tall buildings!

The glass curtain wall reflected a dazzling light under the sun, making Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes sting.

Even so, he still stared wide-eyed.

Zhu Biao, like Old Zhu, was completely dumbfounded.

Li Shimin turned around, looked at the people behind him, and couldn't help but smile.

Eh!

A bunch of emperors who've never seen the world!

He turned around, his pride seemingly intensifying, and pointed ahead.

"Guanyinbi, look, that's a traffic light. It's used to direct traffic here. Red light means stop, green light means go..."

Empress Zhangsun looked in the direction Li Shimin pointed and saw the carriages neatly parked in front of the white line, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Is this the world more than a thousand years from now?"

Then, she saw cars that were stopped in front of the zebra crossing even though there were no traffic lights, and she couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems that etiquette has truly permeated every aspect of life in the future!"

"People from over a thousand years later are really polite!"

"yes!"

Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh.

"Politeness my ass!"

Chen Mo, who was driving in front, complained.

"There are cameras up ahead! If you don't yield to pedestrians, you'll not only be fined but also have points deducted from your license."

Empress Zhangsun: ...

Li Shimin: ...

"Camera?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on the mechanical object in front of him, a glint of shrewdness in them.

"What is a camera?"

"It's something you can see even when the person isn't there."

Just as he was about to yield to pedestrians, Chen Mo pointed ahead.

"You might be fine if you give way, but if you don't, you'll probably get a penalty notice shortly after you leave."

"So, you mean you don't need anyone watching? As long as there are cameras installed, you can observe them even if you're not there?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice came from behind.

That's roughly the idea.

Chen Mo nodded, then suddenly seemed to realize something and turned around abruptly.

Old Zhu's face was full of excitement, and his eyes were gleaming.

Chen Mo seemed to understand something and quickly turned his head away.

I almost forgot that this killing machine is still here!

It's none of his business, it really has nothing to do with him!

If officials in the Hongwu reign wanted to blame someone, they should blame the inventor of the camera!