The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

When Empress Ma saw the look on her son's face that said, "Am I at a huge disadvantage?", she glared at Zhu Ming reproachfully and whispered a warning in her ear.

"Ming'er, don't go too far!"

The little guy raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that said, "Don't worry, Mom."

Then, Zhu Ming sat up straight and looked at Huang Zi'an, who was sitting in front of him, looking restrained and uneasy.

He cleared his throat and tentatively asked:

"Um... don't be nervous. I have a small question for you: how much wealth does your family have in total?"

Huang Zi'an's heart tightened suddenly, thinking that His Highness had suddenly changed his mind and was preparing to take all of his family property.

He gritted his teeth, and although it pained him greatly, he still answered honestly:

"Your Highness, if I were to sell everything I own, I could raise about 50,000 taels."

Zhu Ming blurted out, "Fifty thousand taels of silver?"

Huang Zi'an was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Zhu Ming with some confusion before saying, "Your Highness, of course it's gold. If it were just silver, where would I find ten thousand taels of gold to pay the fine?"

Holy crap, what he said makes so much sense!

Zhu Ming fell silent.

Fifty thousand taels...of gold?!

It's not silver, it's gold!

In this remote little county, a billionaire emerged.

If Old Zhu finds out, Huang Zi'an won't even know how he died tomorrow; a group of robbers will break into his house tonight.

The leader, speaking in a Huai-Xi dialect, urged everyone to hurry up and move the things.

Zhu Ming remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was beginning to regret his actions.

Oops.

I think I went a bit too far with my boasting just now.

That line, "Who wants all your assets? Don't make me sound like a bandit."

Can he take it back now?

Waiting online, very anxious.

Zhu Ming picked up the chilled drink on the table, and while drinking, he hid his face behind the teacup, took a deep breath, and then comforted himself.

It's okay, it's okay.

I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, what's a little money to me? Acting like I have nothing!

Besides, Huang Zi'an has already agreed to pay a fine of ten thousand taels.

This was a good deal.

……

What a load of rubbish!

That's a whopping 50,000 taels of gold!

At this moment, Zhu Ming felt as if a little chibi character had suddenly appeared in his mind, tearfully biting a handkerchief, watching helplessly as Qianqian grew wings and flew away.

Huang Zi'an, who was below, became increasingly flustered when he saw that the Sixth Prince remained silent.

Why is the Sixth Prince silent?

Was what he just said directed at me, or was it directed at me, or was it directed at me...?

Should I be more sensible?

Just as Huang Zian was about to speak.

Empress Ma, standing on the stage, spoke first. Seeing Huang Zi'an's trembling and fearful appearance, she didn't put on any airs of an empress and gently comforted him:

"Master Huang, my son Ming'er is mischievous and I've spoiled him since he was little, so he said some unreasonable things just now. I hope you won't take offense!"

Huang Zi'an quickly waved his hand and said, "How could that be? His Highness the Sixth Prince is exceptionally intelligent, truly..."

Wait a minute! He seems to have discovered a key point.

Did this woman just say "my Ming'er"?

The Sixth Prince belongs to her family, so doesn't that mean she is...?

Huang Zi'an's eyes widened suddenly, his face filled with horror as he looked at Empress Ma, then at the Sixth Prince, then back at Empress Ma...

At this moment, Xu Miaoyun took the initiative to introduce, "Patriarch Huang, this is the current Empress, and also the sixth prince's legal mother."

"Your Majesty...Empress...Your Majesty!"

Although Huang Zi'an was prepared, he did not expect that it would be the Empress who arrived.

Then the guy's vision went black, and he passed out.

……

"This humble subject, Huang Zi'an, kowtows to Your Majesty the Empress!"

"Rise, there's no need for such formalities."

Huang Zi'an felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly got up from the ground, but he only dared to hunch over and did not dare to raise his head.

But Empress Ma did not let him off the hook. Instead, she changed the subject and suddenly asked:

"I happen to have something I'd like to ask you."

Huang Zi'an's heart tightened, and he quickly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please speak. This humble subject will certainly tell you everything he knows."

Empress Ma looked at him and slowly spoke:

"At the banquet just now, Old Master Li offered 100,000 catties of grain to redeem his daughter's life."

"In your opinion, why is he willing to spend such a high price?"

Empress Ma paused, then added.

"Don't talk to me about the deep bond between father and daughter."

Huang Zian was taken aback, and then a chill ran down his spine.

This empress is indeed extraordinary.

He originally wanted to use "family ties" as an excuse, but the other person blocked his way with just one sentence.

Empress Ma continued, "I am not some pampered young lady raised in the deep palace."

"Over the years, I have witnessed far more darkness and filth than you can imagine."

"Some people would sell their own daughter for a tael or two of silver."

"And some people, for the sake of a full meal, would push their own son into a fire pit."

"The least valuable thing in this world is the phrase 'deep affection between blood relatives'."

"But this old man Li just asked for 100,000 catties of grain. I feel that something is not right about this."

As Empress Ma spoke, her gaze fell lightly on Huang Zi'an: "You're a sensible person, so speak."

Huang Zi'an's heart skipped a beat.

He was silent for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, before whispering:

"Your Majesty, if you ask others about this matter, they will most likely not know."

"But you've come to the right person. I happen to know some inside information."

Empress Ma's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Huang Zi'an took a deep breath and slowly said:

"Old Master Li is willing to spend 100,000 catties of grain to redeem his daughter's life. This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface."

"Firstly, his daughter knew everything about his affair with Qian Youde."

"The Li family's young lady has seen all of Qian Youde's embezzlement and misappropriation over the years, and how he burned the government grain."

"If she falls into His Highness's hands and speaks out, the Li family will be completely finished."

"So this 100,000 catties of grain is less about redeeming a life and more about buying her daughter's mouth."

Empress Ma nodded without saying a word.

Huang Zi'an swallowed hard and continued:

"Secondly..."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further:

"From an ordinary citizen's perspective, it's probably for a man."

Empress Ma frowned slightly.

"man?"

"Yes."

Huang Zi'an nodded.

However, when talking about that man, he was also a little confused: "I don't know anything about that man's background."

"It seems like he just suddenly appeared in our county."

"No one had seen him before, and no one knew where he came from."

Empress Ma asked, "Then what is his relationship with the Li family?"

Huang Zi'an swallowed hard and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, this matter is quite strange. That man came to our county town about a year ago."

"The clothes he wore when he first arrived were something I've never seen in all my life."

"It's all colorful and the material is strange. It's neither silk nor cotton. It feels smooth to the touch, like... like something else, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"The strangest thing is that no one can understand what he's saying. He just mumbles incoherently, like chanting a mantra. If you ask him where he's from or what his name is, he can't answer a single question."

"In the first few days after he arrived in the county town, he squatted at the town gate like a fool, not knowing how to beg for food or find work."

"We're about to starve to death."

Huang Zi'an paused, glanced at Empress Ma's expression, and then continued:

"Later, it was Old Master Li's daughter, who was also Qian Youde's wife, who passed by the city gate and saw that he was pitiful, so she gave him a few steamed buns."

"From then on, the man followed Miss Li. Miss Li found him a place to live, taught him to speak and read, and even gave him a name."

"What was your name again...?"

Huang Zi'an scratched his head and thought for a long time: "I think her name was Hua An something? I can't quite remember."

"In short, that man has been living in the Li family ever since."

"To outsiders, the Li family says he is a distant relative."

"But in reality..."

Huang Zi'an glanced at the backyard as he finished speaking, and said furtively:

"Once, when I went to the Li family to deliver medicinal herbs in the middle of the night, I saw with my own eyes the man coming out of Miss Li's room."

"In the dead of night, a lone man and a lone woman, alone in a room..."

Huang Zi'an didn't continue speaking, but his meaning was already quite clear.

There's definitely something fishy going on between these two!

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma's brows suddenly furrowed, and a hint of disgust flashed in her eyes.

Qian Youde's wife, a married woman, was actually keeping a man of unknown origin in her own home.

Just how many shady things are hidden in this small county town?

Zhu Ming was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then burst out laughing.

"interesting."

He shook his head, clicking his tongue in amazement:

"That scoundrel Qian Youde always likes to sneak into other men's wives' beds."

"So, his own wife is also having an affair?"

"This couple is really birds of a feather, each doing their own thing without bothering the other."

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma glared at him reproachfully.

Zhu Ming shrank back, quickly dropping his playful grin, picked up the glass of chilled Guojiao liquor, and pretended to drink tea.

But when you raise the teacup to your lips,

His movements suddenly stopped.

Outlandish clothing.

They can't make sense of what they're saying.

They suddenly appeared in the county town.

These words, put together, were like a needle, piercing deep into the depths of his mind.

Zhu Ming tightened his grip on the teacup slightly.

This description...

How could it be so similar to the novels in his memory—

Traveler?

Zhu Ming was not a time traveler.

He was a native of the Ming Dynasty, the flesh and blood of Empress Ma, who carried him for ten months.

But ever since he could remember, there has been an extra memory in his mind that doesn't belong to him.

That memory contained skyscrapers, cars and airplanes, cell phones and computers, and all sorts of strange and wonderful things he had never heard of before.

There are also countless novels, jokes, and rhymes.

His everyday "modern language" and his baffling rants all came from this memory.

Zhu Ming had secretly pondered what exactly was going on.

After thinking it over,

He felt the most reasonable explanation was—

There was probably an unlucky time traveler who finally managed to travel to the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as he landed, he was punished by the will of Heaven.

The person is gone, the soul has scattered, but the memories of the modern world have been left in Zhu Ming's mind by some strange twist of fate.

Don't forget that when Empress Ma became pregnant with Zhu Ming, the Ming Dynasty had just been founded.

His father, Zhu Yuanzhang, also officially ascended the throne on that day, becoming known as the Hongwu Emperor.

A new dynasty was born in blood and fire.

It wouldn't make sense to say that Zhu Ming didn't have some luck!

Otherwise, with so many things in the world, why was it that his mutterings were heard by Laozi?

At this point, Xu Miaoyun raised a question:

"No, you just said that Old Master Li was willing to spend 100,000 catties of grain to save his daughter, is that related to this man?"

Huang Zi'an nodded hurriedly: "Yes, everything I have said is true, and I would not dare to deceive Your Highness and Her Majesty."

Xu Miaoyun asked, puzzled, "Then I'd like to ask, what exactly are this man's abilities?"

"Is it worth Old Master Li being willing to pay such a high price as 100,000 catties of grain to save his daughter?"

Huang Zi'an swallowed hard, looked around as if afraid of being overheard, and then lowered his voice to say:

"Your Highness and Your Majesty, you may not believe this story."

"That man knows magic; he can conjure food out of thin air."

As soon as he finished speaking, Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun turned to look at Zhu Ming.

Those two gazes were full of meaning.

Zhu Ming initially didn't understand the meaning, but after realizing it, he immediately protested:

"Hey, hey, hey, don't get the wrong idea!"

"Old Huang just said it was a man!"

"I'm still a child!"

"Besides, they came to this county a year ago, while I was still in the palace a year ago, never stepping out of the palace gates!"

"What does this have to do with me?"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his face turning red, as if he had suffered some great injustice.

Empress Ma and Xu Miaoyun burst out laughing upon seeing this.

"We didn't say anything, why are you so agitated?"

Xu Miaoyun nodded in agreement and said in a serious tone:

"Yes, Your Highness, we didn't say anything."

Zhu Ming: "..."

He was so angry watching the two of them sing in unison that his cheeks puffed up.

They didn't say what it was called or what it was called?

The looks you gave each other were clearly saying, "Did you do this?!"

Zhu Ming snorted and turned his head away, refusing to look at them.

Empress Ma chuckled and shook her head, then continued questioning Huang Zi'an.

"You mean he can conjure food out of thin air?"

"Yes."

Huang Zi'an nodded, a look of disbelief on his face:

"I only heard it from the servants of the Li family."

"That man, as long as he mutters some incantation and waves his hand, can conjure up a bowl of white porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables out of thin air in front of him."

"You can have as much as you want; you'll never run out."

"At first, I thought it was a rumor, but later... the servants of the Li family were indeed drinking plain porridge and eating pickled vegetables every day."

"It's the same every meal, without fail."

"And that man never buys rice or vegetables."

"Isn't that strange?"

Zhu Ming: "..."

There are words in the mouth.

With a wave of his hand.

It can conjure up white porridge and pickled vegetables out of thin air.

We have as many as you need.

These characteristics combined...

Zhu Ming's lips twitched involuntarily.

system.

This is a system!

He'd seen this kind of tactic countless times in the otherworldly memory that had suddenly appeared in his mind.

A time traveler plus a system—that's the standard setup.

only……

Other people's systems can either summon thousands of troops, turn stones into gold, or at the very least produce gold and silver.

This guy's system only produces plain porridge and pickled vegetables?

Zhu Ming put down his teacup, his expression indescribable.

Isn't this system... a bit too useless?

It's not even as good as his sign-in system!

So you went through all that trouble to travel through time just to come to the Ming Dynasty to drink plain porridge and eat pickled vegetables?

But upon further reflection, Zhu Ming felt relieved.

Although plain congee and pickled vegetables are not considered fine food, in this year of famine, having a bowl of plain congee to drink is something that can save lives.

No wonder Old Master Li was willing to spend 100,000 catties of grain to save his daughter.

Having such a thing that can produce food indefinitely is like having an inexhaustible granary during years of famine.

Zhu Ming's lips curled into an interested smile.

That's interesting! That's so interesting!