Seeing Li Chang'an sitting in front of him, the chubby boy in Zhou Chao's arms became excited.

He held out the steamed bun in his hand and handed it over, making "woo-woo-woo" noises.

"Xingxing, this is your master, this is your master, call him master."

On the night Gongsun Li gave birth, countless shooting stars streaked across the sky.

So Zhou Chao named his child Zhou Xingxing, with the nickname Dabao.

This child will neither cry nor laugh once he is born.

It only barks a couple of times when it's hungry or has an accident.

Emperor Jianyuan was always worried that the child might have some intellectual problems, otherwise why wouldn't he cry and fuss like other children?

It wasn't until he met Li Chang'an that Zhou Chao realized his son wasn't incapable of crying; he just didn't want to bother with others.

Every time he saw Li Chang'an, he would get very excited, laughing loudly. He would even stop drinking his milk and rush into Li Chang'an's arms.

Every time Zhou Chao saw this scene, he felt a pang of jealousy.

If Gongsun Li hadn't been by his side all along, he would have doubted whether his child was Li Chang'an's.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

The baby is less than six months old and can't speak much yet, only making some simple sounds.

The word "master" was difficult for him, so he could only make a whooshing sound.

Looking at the child bouncing towards him, Li Chang'an had a sense of déjà vu.

It was as if he had seen the child somewhere before.

This feeling was the second time he had experienced it; the first time was when he saw Su Xiao after he grew up, and the second time was when he saw Emperor Jianyuan's son.

These two people are a woman of destiny and a child of fate.

Li Chang'an couldn't help but wonder if this world was somehow connected to him.

Otherwise, how could I be so familiar with this world?

As Li Chang'an was thinking, a chubby little hand touched his arm.

Turning his head, he saw the chubby boy in Zhou Chao's arms, holding his arm with one hand and trying to hand him the steamed bun in his hand with the other.

"Is this how you show respect to your master?"

Taking the drool-covered steamed bun, Li Chang'an looked at the chubby boy in front of him and teased him.

"Oh~"

Da Bao kept laughing, revealing two dimples on his face, and he was very excited.

Looking at the chubby boy in front of him, Li Chang'an took him in.

He stopped thinking about things he couldn't understand.

Maybe I'm just good with kids, otherwise why would all the little ones in my family be so attached to me?

Seeing Li Chang'an being close to his son, Zhou Chao breathed a sigh of relief.

He would be content as long as he could leave a seed for the Zhou family.

"Chang'an, now that we've wiped out the Japanese pirates, what are your plans for the future?"

Ever since Zhou Chao witnessed Li Chang'an cleave the heavens with a single sword strike, he has never addressed Li Chang'an as "my beloved minister" again.

He never referred to himself as "朕" (the imperial "I"), and every time he spoke, it was as if he were chatting with a friend.

Upon hearing his question, Li Chang'an thought for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, in your opinion, in which areas will the imperial decrees be heeded?"

Hearing this, Zhou Chao remained silent for a while, then gave a bitter smile: "In the past, my imperial edicts were only useful in the capital. Outside the capital, they were just a piece of paper to wipe one's butt in the latrine, and nobody cared about them at all."

“In Lingnan there is Meng Sanguan, in Fujian there is the Heaven and Earth Society, in Jiangnan West Road there is the White Lotus Sect, in Zhejiang there is the Boatmen’s Guild, and in Jiangsu there is Wudi City.”

"Guanzhong was occupied by various sects and schools of thought. Buddhism and Taoism dominated the entire Guanzhong region, while Yunnan and Sichuan were governed by Tusi (chieftains).

"In the more distant Guangdong and Guangxi regions, that is the territory of the Hidden Sword Manor. Most of the officials sent there by the imperial court are powerless, and the people there only know about the Hidden Sword Manor."

"The entire world has been divided up by various forces, so who cares about the imperial court anymore?"

"Those generals on the border, if it weren't for the need for the imperial court's provisions and relief, they would probably have already seized territory and become kings. They wouldn't care about the imperial court at all."

"So when you ask me which places will heed the imperial decrees, I can only tell you that they will not be heeded except in the capital."

At this point, Zhou Chao sighed: "My father relinquished imperial power and allowed the civil and military officials to cause trouble for so many years. The authority of the Ming Dynasty has long since vanished in the hearts of the people."

"If it weren't for your appearance, I would never have had any hope of bringing Fujian under the jurisdiction of the imperial court."

Looking at Zhou Chao's helpless expression, Li Chang'an said in a serious tone, "A country with more than a dozen local forces, isn't that a betrayal of the people?"

"Now people in different regions have begun to distinguish between the north and the south. In a few years, I'm afraid there will be no more unified dynasties in the Central Plains."

"Therefore, I think that compared to the external enemies on the border, the internal troubles of the Ming Dynasty should be dealt with more quickly."

Seeing the murderous intent in Li Chang'an's eyes, Zhou Chao felt a chill run down his spine.

He knew more or less about what was happening in the island nation.

Twelve million people, the entire island nation of twelve million, except for some women and children, were all killed.

The entire island nation disappeared from this world.

Zhou Chao used to think that Li Chang'an's title of "Bloody Hand Butcher" was somewhat undeserved.

After all, he was so kind to the people, how could he be worthy of the title "Bloody Hand Butcher"?

It now seems that there are only wrong names, not wrong titles.

The phrase "Bloody Hand Butcher" perfectly describes Li Chang'an.

Most ordinary people have never seen as many people in their entire lives as the island nation has died in World War I.

What are you planning to do?

Zhou Chao looked at Li Chang'an and asked, "If you need anything from me, just say the word. As long as it benefits the people, I will listen to you."

"Then there's no need for Your Majesty to trouble yourself. The army of Tai'an City has become an elite force after this island war. We can use them to deal with those martial arts practitioners."

"Moreover, not every person in the martial arts world is thinking about occupying territory and becoming king. We can win over some people in the martial arts world and suppress others, causing them to have conflicts among themselves and weaken each other."

"After all, they are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty, subjects of His Majesty, and I don't want to kill too many."

Upon hearing Li Chang'an's words, Zhou Chao quickly waved his hand and said, "You're wrong about that. What do you mean by 'my people'?"

"From now on, what's mine is yours, and what's yours will still be yours."