Chapter 441: The Court

The Great King put on a show, feeling quite pleased, after all Ling Yin and Chang Li were reliable, so he couldn't help summoning Dong Fu to take a look.

He was a middle-aged scholar dressed neatly, looking about thirty, and after getting past the initial awkward greetings, master and servant settled their accounts.

The Great King took the evaluation the system had written for Dong Fu and showed it to him; Dong Fu fell silent for a moment before sighing.

"Is he the last backbone of the x dynasty? … It seems the xx dynasty is really gone." His expression was full of sorrow.

The Great King casually comforted, "Eh, the old doesn't go, the new doesn't come."

Dong Fu: ……

Even Bai Ze jerked his head up to look at him, and the Great King finally realized he had been spouting nonsense in front of this newcomer who looked stern at their first meeting; the guy immediately sighed as well, "Our Great Jin is also nearing its end. I know a sage who said a dynasty's three‑hundred‑year fate is about the same, this is unavoidable—under heaven, long unity must split."

"Fortunately you've come to our place now, lucky to have another chance, you can start over and pursue your ambitions." The Great King didn't know which interface the summoning mechanism that brought Mengmeng here came from, but one thing was certain: without doubt they were people from a past life full of regrets and obsessions.

Dong Fu saw the Great King dressed in a white inner garment with dark embroidery, with fine armor of no low standard laid beside the bed; combined with the Great King's age and the fact he was still living in a tent, he guessed he was either royalty or on campaign.

At that age, unless his status was special, he wouldn't take part in any serious military action; he was probably just a symbolic mascot. In short, a special status used to boost morale.

He noted the Great King's pale, tender look and thought he was another pampered palace kid forced into duty, perhaps even the sole survivor of this tumultuous dynasty. "So, is your Great Jin troubled from within or without?"

The Great King found this question difficult.

Dong Fu saw him hesitate, thought he was too young to understand, softened his expression and patiently asked the Great King, "Do you mean the Great Jin is facing external threats or internal rebellion? If you don't say Great Jin, is your country much the same?"

The Great King blushed, "Eh! I am precisely… the Great Jin's biggest internal threat."

Dong Fu: ……

Bai Ze: ……

How arrogant you are!

Further conversation left Dong Fu astonished—the boy before him turned out to be a rebellious feudal prince. All right, he had found a familiar vibe.

The Great King knew Dong Fu was upright and repeatedly explained, "…But you gotta get this straight—I didn't rebel because my father died and I wasn't made crown prince! It was my father's successor who gave my fief and several northern provinces to the foreigners, forcing me to rebel! After I drove the Xiongnu and Xianbei back, is this land now mine? I won't return it to Chang'an, and going back would cost me my life!"

Dong Fu nodded, but "…You really are overflowing with martial virtue."

This Great King has nothing to be modest about—it's all true. "I command the finest cavalry in the world; look, I've just fought the Qiang people. When you return to Youzhou and learn more, you'll see I was forced into this."

That statement carried a lot of information—Qiang people, Youzhou.

Very familiar.

"May I see the map?"

The Great King enthusiastically pointed out their current location: "We're right here; this used to be the Shaodang Qiang's territory, and now it's my Azure Jade Commandery."

Dong Fu took one look—it wasn't just familiar, the terrain was exactly the same.

And the spot the Great King pointed to was precisely… "Western Peace Garrison!"

Great King: "What?"

"Before I died, this place was called Western Peace Garrison, and long before that it was indeed where the Shaodang Qiang were entrenched."

"What?!" the Great King exclaimed in shock.

If someone from the future showed up, wouldn't that mean his Azure Jade Commandery no longer existed? Absurd! The Great King objected.

After further comparison, this Dong Fu differed from Chang Li and Ling Yin, and unlike the Great King they were not from the same civilization. Dong Fu, however, was different—his era and the Great Jin's territory shared many place names; for example, he knew Youzhou well, and even the northern Xiongnu and the eastern and western Xianbei.

Even the name Chang'an—Everlasting Peace—hasn't changed!

The Great King always felt Dong Fu's gaze toward him held deep meaning.

The two studied it again, worked out the sequence, and seemed to be on the same land but different people; estimating the temporal gap gave roughly over a thousand years—basically a parallel world?

Merely, the Great Jin predates Dong Fu's era by over a thousand years!

For example, feudal dynasties used the imperial examination system for a thousand years, and the Great King is about to implement it next year.

For instance, the Great Jin's mainstream script is clerical script, while Dong Fu's era uses regular script; the examinations have already begun using the tai‑ge style, and the printed text in the books Bai Yang showed him is hardly different, so the Great King can read it too.

The Great King took this well—for example, him and Bai Yang are like that.

"I met someone in my home garden whose timeline differs from mine by two thousand years—a later inhabitant of this land whose history books don't mention the Great Jin, yet his appearance, writing, and even maps are the same."

Dong Fu nodded to show he understood; standing here, what could be more miraculous than this?

The Great King remained calm in his presence, and after putting Dong Fu away, he immediately ran to the home garden to share this big gossip with Bai Yang.

Bai Yang immediately likened him to several historical bigwigs, though the names didn't match. "In any case, congratulations—you've snagged a Grand Marshal post! You're a national hero, loyal and of impeccable character, far more reliable than those who passed the exams."

The Great King felt delighted, "Just worry if he's too stern—we wouldn't be on the same wavelength. Those three in court are already noisy enough."

Bai Yang laughed loudly, "Anyone who doesn't let you skip study isn't on your wavelength either!"

Great King: ……