The "ancestor" whom the Eastern Li Kingdom had gone to great lengths to summon had become a hot potato; they wanted to eat him, but it was too hot to handle; they were unwilling to refuse him.

Just then, the Jade Dragon Kingdom announced that it would open trade to five states.

Emperor Dongli then personally came to Yulong.

He wanted to sign the contract and also to see Zhou Shaoyu.

Looking at the rows of buildings in the Jade Dragon Kingdom, where even the roadside flowerbeds were more exquisite than his own palace, Emperor Dongli felt somewhat devastated.

Compared to the emperor of Yulong Kingdom, he himself seemed like a nouveau riche.

He felt even more inferior after meeting Zhou Shaoyu.

When the two stood together, he was only up to Emperor Chen's armpit!

Everyone says that although the people of Dongli are short, they are handsome, but why doesn't he think so?

Emperor Chen not only left him far behind, but he couldn't even compare to the Left Prime Minister.

I heard there's another Right Chancellor—speak of the devil, and he appears; Right Chancellor Xie Yu arrives with a new edition of the newspaper.

Standing in front of him, Emperor Dongli felt like crying.

This is outrageous! Are all the officials in the palace selected through beauty pageants?

As he walked among the standing officials, he thought of standing in the sorghum ridge in autumn, with tall sorghum on both sides, and he was the child looking up at the sorghum ears!

If the Jade Dragon were to belong to Dongli, and these people intermarried with the Dongli people, their race would surely become taller and more handsome...

The signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries was left to the prime ministers of both countries. Yulong Kingdom was very familiar with the procedures, and the contracts were readily available; they just needed to be signed.

Emperor Dongli mainly wanted to catch up with Emperor Chen.

After the pleasantries between the two nations, he couldn't wait to have a private chat with Emperor Chen.

During the private chat, he watched as someone next to him wrote down every single word they said.

“He is the Imperial Diarist, responsible for recording my every word and action. Just pretend he doesn’t exist and say whatever you want,” Zhou Shaoyu said calmly. “The Emperor has no private matters.”

Emperor Dongli swallowed hard and said, "I've read the Jade Dragon Gazette. I heard that you wrote all those scenes about the future?"

"Not entirely. The first few issues were written by me, but the later ones were written by other officials."

"Even the 'Summoning the Soul' prophecy in the supplement was written by officials?"

"The supplements are all about life and entertainment, and the authors are ordinary people. We receive a large number of submissions every day, and we select the best ones to publish."

"Your description of life a thousand years in the future looks very realistic, just like your daily life."

"Um."

"Your Majesty, are you from a thousand years in the future?"

Zhou Shaoyu laughed: "Emperor Dongli is joking. I am who I am. How could I come from a thousand years in the future?"

"But six years ago, someone said you had an accident while inspecting salt in Jiangnan..."

"It is true that the former crown prince wanted to assassinate me, but I received advance warning and escaped. What, was Dong Li involved in the plot to assassinate me?"

"No, no, no. How could the Kingdom of Dongli do such an unjust thing?"

Emperor Dongli was at a loss for words.

Weren't Matsushita Ichiro and Kyoto Sanjo already certain that Zhou Shaoyu was the ancestor? This doesn't sound like it at all.

Emperor Dongli asked directly, "Does Your Majesty have any memories of your past life?"

"I do hope so," Zhou Shaoyu said with a smile. "I cherish the present and look forward to the future."

Emperor Dongli was dumbfounded.

In a fit of anger, he said to the people around him, "Go and summon the Imperial Advisor."

Matsushita immediately called for help.

Emperor Dongli was clearly displeased: "Grand Preceptor, how could you be so sure that His Majesty Emperor Chen was our ancestor when you last visited Jade Dragon Kingdom?"

Matsushita immediately bowed to Zhou Shaoyu and said, "Your Majesty, last time you said that Yanke was your pen name?"

"yes!"

"The content of those articles is basically consistent with what our ancestors said a thousand years ago, and the techniques are even more exquisite."

"Oh, your ancestors' imaginations are just like mine?"

"No, I believe you are the reincarnation of that ancestor."

Zhou Shao was taken aback: "What the Imperial Advisor said is too absurd. I am the Jade Dragon Emperor, the ruler of a country. How could I possibly be your ancestor?"

"Aren't you that ancestor?"

"When did I say you were your ancestor? Who is your ancestor? What is his name?"

Panasonic would never dare to utter Guan Ying's name. (Author's note: Which national leader would dare claim to be a reincarnation of Hitler?)

At this point, what else could Emperor Dongli not understand? The three under the tree and the one under the pine tree were two idiots who had not received any confirmation from Zhou Shaoyu at all.

But they swindled him out of a large ship that cost five million to build.

Emperor Dongli asked in exasperation, "Then what's with that 'soul-summoning array' in your supplement? Who is it talking about?"

Who is it mapping?

Zhou Shaoyu said seriously, "That was a supernatural tale, and it was from a supplement, not news."

Well, I guess I'll just have to swallow this bitter pill.

Emperor Dongli was furious and walked out of the Jade Dragon Palace with his mind almost blank.

As he left the Imperial Study, Zhou Shaoyu said, "I suggest that Emperor Dongli stop summoning any more spirits. That strange tale, though just a story, illustrates that everyone should follow the way of Heaven."

"Hmph!" Emperor Dongli flung his sleeves and left.

His ten thousand taels of silver, his five million tael ships, his... his great cause of unifying the world!

Emperor Dongli was inwardly vomiting blood, but he didn't show it on his face.

He respectfully signed a friendly trade agreement with Zhou Shaoyu and invited Emperor Chen to take Emperor An to visit Dongli Kingdom.

When they left, Zhou Shaoyu also bestowed upon them porcelain and silk from Yulong.

The politicians acted so friendly and calmly.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!