The Ming Dynasty: I Fabricated Dreams for Zhu Di 109

Chapter 109: The First Convergence of the Yangtze and Yellow River Fish

Zhu Di was taken aback, then quickly prepared to follow Zhu Zhanji.

However, when they pushed open the door, the doorbell rang, and they found themselves outside the tavern. 庄牧 (Zhuang Mu) hadn’t disappeared, leaving Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji utterly baffled.

What on earth was going on? How could Zhuang Mu disappear, but not them?

So, Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji returned to the tavern, waiting for Zhuang Mu’s return.

At this time, Yao Guangxiao also keenly noticed something strange.

Seeing Yao Guangxiao’s pensive expression, Zhu Di asked, “Old monk, what have you noticed?”

Yao Guangxiao pondered for a moment, went to the door, and pushed it open. A gust of cold wind swept in, and he looked up at the doorbell hanging on the door.

“Your Majesty, did you notice?”

“When Young Master Zhuang pushed the door open just now, the doorbell didn’t ring.”

“But when you and the Grandson went out, the doorbell did ring.”

Zhu Di paused slightly, also looking up at the doorbell—a relatively uncommon device. Zhuang Mu had hung it there so that he could be promptly notified when guests arrived.

“What do you mean?”

Zhu Zhanji thought for a moment and said, “Mr. Yao means that if someone comes in and the doorbell doesn’t ring, there’s a problem.”

“If the doorbell rings, there’s no problem.”

Yao Guangxiao nodded, placing his hand on the door. The inner side felt warm, the outer side cold. This door was indeed very strange.

“That’s the logic, but the key is… where does this door lead to, and where did Young Master Zhuang Mu go?”

“That’s the crucial question.”

At this point, Zhu Gaosu stood up and said to Zhu Di,

“Father, I say, why bother with all this trouble?”

“Just tear down this door and take the bell away to study it.”

“We’ll figure out where Zhuang Mu went.”

Zhu Gaochi simply watched, saying nothing, just sitting there.

Zhu Di glanced at Zhu Gaosu.

“Tear it down? What if he doesn’t come back?”

“Are you responsible?”

“If we tear down the door, where will you dream of becoming emperor, and where will I atone for my sins?”

Although he was also curious about where the door led, he had to wait for Zhuang Mu’s return. If they tore down the door and Zhuang Mu couldn’t come back, that would be a true loss.

It didn’t matter if they couldn’t catch the rebels and the Taoist priest; two rebels and one Taoist priest couldn’t stir up much trouble. He didn’t believe that two random rebels could overthrow him.

Even if it were really Lan Yu, he might not succeed. Even if the person beside Lan Yu was truly his elder brother, Zhu Biao, he might not be able to shake his throne. In a dream, he could atone, he could do anything to make up for his mistakes; in a dream, he wouldn’t mind not being Emperor.

But not in reality. He was the Emperor; besides the Founder Emperor, he wouldn’t allow anyone to threaten his throne. Not even Zhu Biao. Out of past brotherhood, he wouldn’t harm Zhu Biao, but he would imprison him. He could even keep Zhu Biao in his study, accompanying him day and night. But he couldn’t let Zhu Biao roam freely in the Great Ming Dynasty. He already bore the title of “Yan Rebel,” he couldn’t bear the title of rebel for nothing.

“Father, are we just going to wait like this?” Zhu Gaosu asked impatiently.

Zhu Di put his hands on his hips, sighed, and said, his breath causing his beard to tremble slightly, “I’m not worried, why are you worried?”

Zhu Gaosu and Zhu Gaochi were idle princes. He, the Emperor, dealt with so many things every day, and he wasn’t worried. It was the idle princes who were worried.

At this moment, Zhu Gaochi said sarcastically, “Third brother, don’t be like ‘the Emperor isn’t worried, but the eunuch is.'”

“They may not appreciate your concern.”

Zhu Di stared intently at Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaochi stared back.

…

Meanwhile, after Zhuang Mu pushed open the door, he looked at his surroundings and was slightly stunned.

This was…?

High-rise buildings, car horns… all showcasing a modern architectural style.

Gosh darn it, where the hell did this take me? Was this a parallel world?

Zhuang Mu looked at the starry mist condensing in his hand, completely bewildered. These past few days, he had been studying the uses of his dream power, and he’d only discovered two uses: creating dreams and controlling dreams. Unexpectedly, there was a third use.

“Is this the real world, or… a world constructed with my dream power?” Zhuang Mu muttered.

If it was a parallel world, it meant that he could use his dream power to travel to different parallel worlds. If it was a dream world, it meant that his dream power could completely construct a dream world identical to the real world.

Both explanations seemed plausible. Actually, neither mattered. The important thing was to see if he could bring things back.

“Hmm… I don’t seem to have any money.” Just a few copper coins. He couldn’t possibly go to an antique market to exchange them for money. Oh well. His dream abilities worked here too.

So, Zhuang Mu took a few packs of instant noodles and left a copper coin for the shopkeeper. A copper coin from the Yongle Dynasty was worth at least tens or hundreds of yuan. It wasn’t exactly fair exchange, the main thing was to experiment—to see if it was a parallel world or a dream world. Items from a dream world couldn’t be brought into the real world.

Then, Zhuang Mu returned to his tavern door. Although the surrounding buildings were modern concrete structures, his tavern was a classical style building, a stark contrast to its surroundings. Zhuang Mu pulled hard on the door.

*Creak*

Looking at the familiar things inside the tavern, he must have returned.

As soon as he got back to the tavern, before he could speak, he heard Zhu Zhanji say,

“Grandpa, when will Zhuang Mu come back?”

“It’s been an hour. I remember he always falls asleep on time.”

“What if he doesn’t come back?”

Zhu Zhanji spoke rather pessimistically, unaware that Zhuang Mu was already at the door. As Yao Guangxiao had said, when Zhuang Mu returned, the doorbell didn’t ring.

Zhu Di also showed some worry in his brow. His heart ailment wasn’t completely cured yet; he had only revived Zhu Xiongying, his mother and Zhu Biao were still not revived. He could only pray that Zhuang Mu hadn’t met with an accident.

At that moment, Zhu Gaochi glanced at the door, and when he saw Zhuang Mu returning, he quickly stood up and looked at the strange things in Zhuang Mu’s hands.

He quickly stood up and asked, “Zhuang Mu, what’s that you’re holding?”

Hearing this, Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao, and Zhu Zhanji all looked over. Seeing Zhuang Mu return safe and sound, they were relieved. Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao, and Zhu Zhanji all noticed the square objects Zhuang Mu was holding.

Zhuang Mu returned to the counter, put down the instant noodles, and said to Ximei,

“Boil some water, and get me a bowl from the backyard.”

Ximei nodded and did as Zhuang Mu instructed.

Then Zhu Di asked,

“Young Zhuang, why did you disappear? And where did you go, and what are these things you brought back?”

“Your Majesty, which do you want to know first?”

Zhu Di thought for a moment, looking at the packages in front of Zhuang Mu, and said,

“What are these things you’re holding?”

Then he directly opened a package, broke open the noodles, and handed them to Zhu Di. He said, “Ready to eat. Try it.”

Taking the noodles Zhuang Mu offered, Zhu Di examined them. They looked like noodles made with an embroidered pattern. They had a strong wheat aroma, and it seemed to be mixed with some oil.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhanji, who was beside him, softly said, “Grandpa, let me try it for you.”

Zhu Di, after all, was the Emperor. He couldn’t just put something of unknown origin into his mouth. After thinking for a moment, Zhu Di said loudly, “Prince Zhao.”

Zhu Gaosu quickly stepped forward, bowing, “Father.”

“Try it.”

Looking at the noodles Zhu Di handed him, Zhu Gaosu was silent for a moment, then smiled.

“Father, you know me; I’m afraid of death.”

“Otherwise, I’ll let the Brocade Guard outside try it.”

Zhuang Mu felt helpless. Sure enough, people in high positions were afraid of death. Seeing them passing the noodles back and forth, Zhuang Mu took them back and ate them himself. The instant noodles, whether soaked or eaten dry, tasted good.

“Your Majesty, we’ve been together for so many days, and you still don’t trust me.”

At this time, Zhu Gaochi stepped forward, broke off a piece of the noodles, and put it in his mouth. The texture was very crisp, and the taste was very good; it was simply wheat with a little oil and seasoning.

Seeing Zhu Gaochi eat it without problems, Zhu Di tentatively tried it.

While eating, Zhu Di asked,

“I almost forgot, how did you disappear? What happened?”

“Where does that door lead to? And why did the door remain unchanged when I opened it?”

At this time, Yao Guangxiao, Zhu Zhanji, and Zhu Gaosu all tried a little bit. The taste was good, feeling different from ordinary noodles, with a rich texture.

Hearing this, Zhuang Mu explained,

“Well, how should I explain this?”

“In Buddhism, there’s a saying: ‘One flower, one world; one tree, one Bodhi.'”

“Old monk, you should know what that means, right?”

Yao Guangxiao paused slightly. He knew the saying, so he explained,

“Buddha’s land produces five-colored stems; one flower, one world; one leaf, one Tathagata; spring comes, flowers turn green; autumn comes, leaves fall; infinite Prajna wisdom is free; speech, silence, movement, stillness, body and nature.”

“It’s from the Buddhist classic *Huayan Sutra*.”

“It means that Vairocana Buddha sits in a thousand-petaled lotus flower, transforming into a thousand Sakyamuni Buddhas, each residing in a thousand-petaled world…”

“The meaning is…”

Zhuang Mu quickly stopped him. Parallel worlds were related to the phrase “thousand-petaled world.” Parallel worlds and thousand-petaled worlds were almost the same thing.

“In short, the reason why these strange people appear in my tavern…”

“Is because of my special dream ability, which leaks out when I sleep.”

“It alters the space-time of this tavern. To be more specific…”

Zhuang Mu casually picked up two playing cards he had made. He placed them parallel to each other, then said, “This playing card represents our world, and the other represents the thousand-petaled world.”

“We wouldn’t normally intersect, unaware of each other, not interfering, like two straight rivers.”

“The fish in the river don’t know that there’s another river in the world.”

“And I’m digging a channel between these two rivers, allowing the water of both rivers to interfere with each other, to know each other.”

“To be more specific… the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.”

Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao were both well-read people. Their minds were naturally sharp. With Zhuang Mu’s specific description, the two worlds were like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. If there were no human intervention, the fish in the Yangtze River would never know about the Yellow River, and the fish in the Yellow River would never know about the Yangtze River. Now, Zhuang Mu had connected the two rivers, allowing fish from the Yangtze River to go to the Yellow River and fish from the Yellow River to go to the Yangtze River.

Zhu Gaosu finally understood.

“So, you mean the two rebels aren’t from the Great Ming Dynasty?”

“They’re from another river?”

“And that Taoist priest is also from another river?!”

“Father, see? My ability is not problematic.”

“If there were rebel fish in the Yongle River, how could I not catch them?”

Zhu Gaosu flattered Zhu Di, aiming to regain the commandership of the Brocade Guard from Zhu Zhanji.

Yao Guangxiao’s expression, however, was not good. This was not good news.

“Your Majesty, this door may not be a good thing for us.”

Zhu Di already understood Yao Guangxiao’s thoughts. So he asked Zhuang Mu,

“Is the thousand-petaled world a completely different world, or…”

Zhuang Mu nodded.

“Different times might appear.”

“For example… the Hongwu Dynasty timeline.”

“But, Your Majesty, don’t worry too much.”

“Even if this door connects to the Hongwu Dynasty, with Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang’s personality, he wouldn’t have time to come.”

Even if it did connect to the Hongwu Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang might not be able to come here. As everyone knows, Zhu Yuanzhang had barely left the palace since founding the country. A workaholic, aside from some necessary ceremonies, it was unlikely Zhu Yuanzhang would find his tavern.

Zhu Di had only been able to get here because of Yao Guangxiao’s recommendation.

Zhu Di sighed. Facing Zhu Yuanzhang in the real world was different from facing him in a dream. In a dream, he could do anything, but not in the real world.

Zhu Gaochi, seeing Zhu Di’s relieved expression, suddenly said,

“Is that so? I remember I just met Lan Yu. I say, the man next to him is the Crown Prince Yiwen.”

“Since Crown Prince Yiwen knows about this tavern, isn’t it far for the Founder Emperor to know…?”

Obviously, Zhu Gaochi was still holding a grudge, making Zhu Di uneasy. Since he had scolded him to death, he would poke him in the ribs. To make him sleepless night after night.

(End of Chapter)

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