Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

Just as Zhao Pan'er and Chen Xiao's figures intersected, they also moved.

Chen Xiao charged out like a cheetah, so fast that his movements were almost invisible to the naked eye.

Before the leader of the thieves could react, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the knife had flown off somewhere. Then, he heard two crisp cracking sounds from his elbow and shoulder, and his whole body went limp.

At the same time, the other three also attacked, taking down all the remaining thieves who hadn't yet recovered their senses.

The entire process takes no more than ten seconds.

Not to mention the thieves, even the constables watching from the sidelines were stunned. They just stared blankly as all the thieves lay on the ground, their limbs deformed, groaning in agony.

The teahouse reeked of blood and sweat. Overturned tables and chairs, broken teacups, and bloodstains left by two injured customers were scattered all over the floor.

The constable swallowed hard, looked at the thieves on the ground, then at the five composed guards, and his heart skipped a beat.

He was a worldly man and knew that he had met a young master from a prominent family today.

With their skills, they are top-notch, not only in Qiantang, but also in Tokyo.

Moreover, the young man who was being protected never stood up from beginning to end.

This composure and calmness are something that ordinary people can't possess.

"Men! Lock these thieves up!" The head constable waved his hand, and his men rushed forward and quickly tied the thieves up tightly.

The thieves were trembling in pain; some were crying, some were cursing, but their voices were weak and feeble.

The constable straightened his clothes, walked to Zhou Feng's table, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Young master, I am Wang Hu, a constable from Qiantang County. Thank you for your and your subordinates' help. May I ask your honorable name? I will report back to the county magistrate and request commendation for you."

Zhou Feng then put down his teacup, smiled slightly, and said unhurriedly, "Officer Wang, you're too kind. My surname is Zhou, and my given name is Feng. My ancestral home is Hedong. I'm just passing through Qiantang on my way south to visit relatives. It was nothing, nothing to mention. There's no need for you to ask for credit."

This statement was watertight; it revealed the name without specifying the identity, and completely absolved the person of any credit.

Officer Wang became even more certain: this person definitely has connections and wouldn't care about such a small achievement.

In the east of the river, those who can afford to keep such guards are either scions of powerful families or... officials.

Regardless of the type, neither of them are people that a mere constable like him can afford to offend.

"Young Master Zhou, you're too kind." Constable Wang smiled and cupped his hands in thanks. "If it weren't for your men's intervention today, these thieves would likely have harmed many more innocent people. On behalf of the people of Qiantang, I thank you, Young Master Zhou."

"Officer Wang, you flatter me." Zhou Feng waved his hand. "As for those two injured tea drinkers, I hope Officer Wang will have someone take good care of them."

"This is nature, this is nature."

Constable Wang nodded repeatedly, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then led his men away with the thieves.

As he was leaving, he glanced back at Zhou Feng and silently memorized the name and the face.

In the job of a constable, keen observation is the most important thing.

If this Young Master Zhou hadn't left Qiantang today, he would have had to remind his men not to let any of them offend him.

After Officer Wang left, the teahouse gradually returned to calm.

Zhao Pan'er finally recovered and stepped out from behind Zhou Feng, bowing deeply: "Thank you so much for saving my life, young master. If it weren't for your men's intervention today, I'm afraid..."

Although she was still shaken, she managed to remain calm and did not lose her composure in front of Zhou Feng.

Looking at the woman in the plain-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) in front of him, Zhou Feng couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

This woman single-handedly ran a tea shop in ancient times, remaining calm in the face of danger. She was courageous and resourceful, truly remarkable, something most people couldn't do.

"Madam Zhao, you're too kind. It's Madam Zhao's composure in the face of danger and her skillful self-rescue that is truly admirable."

Zhao Pan'er was taken aback: "Young Master...do you know my name?"

Zhou Feng, without changing his expression, pointed to the sign hanging at the entrance of the teahouse: "Zhao's Teahouse, isn't Madam Zhao the owner?"

Zhao Pan'er then understood and smiled, "Young Master's observation is very insightful; it was Pan'er who was confused."

She glanced at the five guards behind Zhou Feng, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes, but wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

"Young master, you must have been frightened today. This tea is on me as a token of my gratitude," Zhao Pan'er said, turning to go to the counter.

"Wait a moment, Madam Zhao," Zhou Feng called out to her. "The teahouse has suffered such a misfortune today; Madam Zhao's losses must be considerable. This small amount of silver will serve as compensation."

As he spoke, he took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

Zhao Pan'er looked at the silver ingot, hesitated for a moment, and then accepted it.

It wasn't that she was greedy, but the teahouse had indeed suffered considerable losses today; many tables and chairs were broken, and she might have to pay part of the medical expenses for the two injured customers.

Furthermore, this young master Zhou clearly has plenty of money; his passing the buck would only make him seem petty.

"Then Pan'er thanks you very much, young master." Zhao Pan'er accepted the money and went to apologize to the other tea drinkers.

Zhou Feng sat down again, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

The tea had gone cold, but he didn't care. The progress on the double-door project had just made a slight improvement, but there were too many people present to tell who had contributed it.

In the corner, Gu Qianfan slowly stood up.

He glanced at Zhou Feng, his eyes filled with a hint of wariness.

He said nothing and left with his men.

As they stepped out of the teahouse, Old Jia, a local from the Imperial City Guard, approached them: "Commander, those people are not simple."

"I know." Gu Qianfan said expressionlessly. "Check out this guy surnamed Zhou, what's his background?"

"Yes."

Gu Qianfan glanced back at the direction of the teahouse, his brows furrowing slightly.

From Hedong? Surname Zhou?

He mentally went through the names of the prominent families and officials in Hedong, but none of them matched up.

Moreover, the skills and teamwork of those five guards didn't seem like those of martial arts practitioners; they seemed more like those of soldiers.

An unidentified young man, accompanied by five highly skilled guards, appeared in the small town of Qiantang.

This is suspicious in itself.

"Boss, we've come into the sights of the Imperial City Guard, is that really a good idea?"

Watching Gu Qianfan stride away, Chen Xiao approached and whispered a question. Zhou Feng shook his head: "Old Chen, if you want these two to upgrade, you need to interact with the characters in the original story, so don't worry about it."

Chen Xiao nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

They all took time yesterday to read "Meng Hua Lu" several times, and they remember most of the plot.

Although their intervention prevented Gu Qianfan from giving Zhao Pan'er a proper reprimand after the incident, thus diminishing its emotional impact, it wasn't entirely unmanageable.

"Don't worry! That man is just a mere commander of the Imperial City Guard; he's nothing special!"

Zhou Feng glanced at Gu Qianfan's retreating figure and curled his lip in disdain.

Although he said it somewhat deliberately, Zhao Pan'er, who was bringing him tea from behind, was immediately taken aback, gritted her teeth, and offered a little emotional value.

The emotional value gained in this way is definitely not as much as in the original storyline.

But since Zhou Feng has taken a liking to Zhao Pan'er, what right does Gu Qianfan have to put her in a bad light?

The lost emotional value can be earned back from Gu Qianfan later, right?

At this time, in the modern-day China, in Beiping.

In one of Hai Zi's conference rooms, a dozen or so people sat on either side of a long table, all with solemn expressions.

At the head of the table, Number One put down the documents in his hand and rubbed his temples vigorously.

"Speak up, everyone." His voice wasn't loud, but the room instantly fell silent.

Lin Su sat in the third seat on the left, with a stack of materials spread out in front of him.

He raised his head, glanced around, and cleared his throat: "Let me say a few words first."

"Speak." Number One nodded.

Lin Su pushed the materials forward a little, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Based on the intelligence Xiao Zhou sent back, we have basically figured out the situation in that world. Northern Song Dynasty, the first year of Emperor Zhenzong's Xianping reign, 998 AD. This time point is neither good nor bad."

"What do you mean?"

"What's good about it?" Lin Su held up one finger. "The Northern Song Dynasty is relatively peaceful right now. The Treaty of Chanyuan hasn't been signed yet, and although the Liao Dynasty is eyeing us covetously, we haven't launched a major attack. Economically, the south has developed, and the Maritime Trade Office has been established, providing a foundation for foreign trade. What's bad about it? Centralized power, the emperor has the final say. We want to do business with them, to negotiate equal trade? No way."

One of the leaders frowned: "What can we do then? We can't just sit here and let such a huge resource go to waste, can we?"

"Why leave it unused? It's a complete planet! Land, ocean, minerals, forests... it has everything! What do we lack right now? Resources! Land! Development space! An entire universe is waiting for us over there!"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of several people in the room lit up.

Number One tapped the table: "Wait, let Comrade Lin Su finish speaking."

Lin Su took a sip of tea and continued, "So, after discussing it with a few comrades, we believe the most effective and permanent solution is to use our technology and weapons, as well as agricultural techniques far superior to those of that era, to unify the entire Song Dynasty. Then, using the Song Dynasty as a base, we can radiate outwards and control the entire planet."

The room was silent for two seconds.

Then, with a "buzz," it exploded.

"Unify? How? Send troops over?"

"That's not just about a few million people, it's about an entire dynasty!"

"Our weapons can easily defeat them, but what about management? We can only send a hundred people to manage hundreds of millions of people."

Lin Su raised his hand to urge him on: "Let me finish. Our current technological level is over a thousand years more advanced than theirs. We can easily deploy any of our equipment—airplanes, tanks, missiles—that the people over there have never even seen before. If we were to fight, it would be effortless. But the question is, what do we do after we take them down?"

"How many years of war, revolution, destruction, and rebuilding did it take for us to transform from a feudal society into what we are today? Rivers of blood flowed, and heads rolled. The feudal system of the Song Dynasty had been in operation for over a thousand years and was deeply entrenched. If you suddenly told those landlords, officials, and common people, 'We're not going to have an emperor anymore, but rather the people being the masters of their own destiny,' do you believe that the world would descend into chaos the very next day?"

A bespectacled leader scoffed, "That doesn't mean we can't act just because we're afraid of chaos! Didn't our forefathers also fight their way out of chaos?"

"The nature of the problem is different." Lin Su shook his head. "Back then, our society was rotten to the core, and ordinary people couldn't survive. In the Song Dynasty, although there were corrupt officials, the general population could still get by. If you insist on overturning the rules that have been in place for thousands of years, why should people follow you? Just because you have powerful guns? Guns can conquer the world, but they can't govern it."

The old leader nodded: "Lin Su makes sense. So what you mean is...?"

Lin Su took a deep breath and said something that shocked everyone: "Maintain the feudal system, but change the emperor."

"What?"

"Change the emperor?"

"Are you... are you crazy?"

Several people's eyes widened, but many more's eyes lit up. If they could arrange for their own people to sit on the throne in that world, the ensuing profits would be immense…

I can't even imagine it!

Faced with these questions, Lin Su remained unfazed: "I'm telling the truth. If we want that place to be stable and secure in the long term, and to become a reliable source of resources for us, we can't afford to have drastic social changes. The safest way is to support an emperor, secretly use our technology to help him unify the country, and then we can use him to manage that world."

The old leader slowly began, "Then who will be the emperor?"

Without hesitation, Lin Su uttered a name: "Zhou Feng."

"No!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of the leaders opposite him slammed his hand on the table, so hard that the papers on the table jumped.

"Absolutely not!"

This leader, who was in charge of the organization department, glared at Lin Su, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets: "Who is Zhou Feng? He wasn't trained by our organization! What about his ideological awareness? What about his loyalty to us? We don't know any of that! You're entrusting such an important position to him; if something goes wrong, who will be responsible?"

Lin Su remained calm: "Old Han, why are you so agitated? I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Nothing you say will work!" Han Guang wouldn't listen. "An outsider, you want him to be emperor? Do you know what that means? It means control of the entire world! What if he turns his back on us?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "Secretary Han is right. This person's background is unclear, so we can't trust him easily."

"Exactly, what if he gets greedy and uses those resources to collaborate with someone else?"

"His double-door system is only usable by him, which is a huge problem in itself. We're basically being controlled by him!"

Immediately, dissenting voices arose one after another.

Number One looked at the excited crowd but didn't say anything; he just looked at Lin Su.

The latter waited until the voices quieted down before slowly speaking: "I've considered all of what you've said. But... have you considered another issue? Only he can use the double-door system, and no one can change that. If you don't agree to him becoming emperor, then tell me, who should be emperor?"