Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1563 Father
“Shangluo, let’s wait here for a while. After your father finishes his meeting, we’ll go see him together.” Victoria arrived at the library entrance with ice cream, only to see Shangluo holding two ice cream cone wrappers.

"No need, I've already met with my father."

Shangluo remained seated, motionless from beginning to end. The evening breeze in Alexandria was as cool as ever; the temperature here had been adjusted to be ideal for human habitation.

"You've met him? But wasn't he in a meeting?"

"He came to talk to me while he was in a meeting. It seems he used the equipment in the meeting room."

"But I only took 10 minutes to get here from the Muses Palace. You and your father finished your conversation in 10 minutes?"

"Um"

What did you all say?

“He solved all the problems I wanted him to solve for me—before I even asked. He knew what I wanted, and he had everything prepared. He stuffed everything into my arms and then disappeared.”

"."

"Same as before. He disappeared like this last time. He doesn't want to communicate with me at all."

“Your father is completely different from my father. My father only wants to communicate with me; he has no intention of giving me anything. When I asked him for some operating funds, he actually wanted me to write a 500-word intelligence summary for him every day! But I don’t even know how to use your brush pen.”

"If you need, we actually have an automatic soft brush. It doesn't have a brush tip, but the tip is soft. I usually use this for my homework."

"So you guys make mechanical pencils?!"

"I'm so sorry I don't usually do my homework. You've never seen me write, have you?"

"So now I'm going to start writing 500 words a day, by hand."

"Well, good luck. After all, it's a job—even if you're getting paid by your own father, it's still a job."

"What about you?"

"I got what I wanted, that's all."

"Hey, you can't do this. Didn't we agree that you would come to see your father and explain things clearly?"

"That's what I thought at first. But some things, if not said at the right time, will never have another chance—ultimately, it seems like we don't need to communicate? From a work perspective. Because, all things considered, it seems like I don't have any issues that I absolutely need to talk to him about."

"You seem to be too strong."

"It's not that you think so. I have you guys, right? I always tell you directly what's going on, don't I?"

"Speaking of which, have you told him about us? I remember you had a few... how many again?"

"Ah," Shangluo rubbed his forehead, "I actually care a lot about this. Sometimes I feel a little disappointed—because I really didn't do anything. I mean, if I had done something, I could accept the judgment I received. But even though I didn't do anything, my father still sees me as a 'womanizer.' He accepts these things so readily, so readily that I'm starting to doubt whether my public image is that of a... a lawless bad guy."

"Oh, so he doesn't care about you, making you feel like something's not right for you, right? But objectively speaking, you are indeed a bit abnormal. I can accept it because I'm the Roman Emperor, and I don't pay much attention to these kinds of issues. I guess some of your friends can't accept it."

"for example?"

"Let me tell you. Little Red who came to your house that day? Oh, she's a fish."

"She's not a fish anymore, that doesn't count."

"Then, Phaethon?"

She doesn't really care.

"Where is Apollonia?"

"She actually enjoys watching it occasionally."

"And you? I mean, you really don't care?"

"Oh, do you really have to say it? I only care about the time you spend in front of me. Whatever you do when I can't see you has nothing to do with me."

She was a Roman emperor; she truly didn't care how many wives you had. You alone were enough for her.

"Wait, is there any logical relationship between the two halves of this sentence?"

It doesn't matter. She's completely free-spirited and doesn't need to follow any rules. She speaks for herself—and that's enough. I think that's why her father often has intellectual exchanges with her, because there really isn't anything that can restrain her. She just doesn't need to worry about anything.

She was, after all, the Roman Emperor. Although the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapse, nothing in the world could truly restrain her, not even her father.

Agassizus couldn't actually confine Victoria to a place where she wouldn't leave—it was a very bad political signal for a co-ruling emperor to imprison the reigning emperor, even if it was his daughter. Victoria was an adult, and anything done to her would be seen as an act of hostility towards the true Roman emperor. This was unacceptable.

Therefore, from this perspective, it was precisely because Agassiz couldn't force Victoria to do anything that he consistently tried to guide her to make the right judgments through words. After all, as a co-emperor, his power ultimately derives from the emperor.

"Wow. I didn't know she was so important. She's no longer in power, doesn't that diminish her authority?"

[Let me give you an example to illustrate this—Cao Mao, the Duke of Gaogui, was effectively a puppet emperor of Wei after his ascension to the throne by the Sima clan. He attempted a desperate fight, leading his palace servants in a charge, but his army crumbled at the first encounter. However, the imperial guards, already largely powerless under the Sima clan, saw them but did not stop them; instead, they scattered. This is because even if the emperor was a puppet, he still held basic authority within the imperial guards. History is replete with similar instances; the imperial guards, in any case, would always harbor some degree of fear towards the emperor himself.]

"The reason is that the Imperial Guard has a lot of people, right?"

[We think the same way. The Imperial Guard has a large number of men, many, many people; it's impossible for every single one to be completely bought off by a powerful minister. The Imperial Guard's basic function is to protect the emperor, and this basic function is quite powerful most of the time. Even a puppet like Cao Mao could at least keep most of the Imperial Guard neutral—because people follow the crowd. As long as the majority of the Imperial Guard are unwilling to take action, they will scatter, and the remaining ones won't hold out for long.]

"What about the Roman Praetorian Guard?"

To be honest—firstly, our Eastern Empire hasn't had a Praetorian Guard since Constantine the Great; enthroning an emperor isn't the Praetorian Guard's job. Historically, it's actually the emperor's own soldiers who have killed far more emperors. So you see, Victoria's fate is actually more important than you think.

"Wow. Maybe it's because I see her every day that I don't think she's that amazing. Looking at it this way, the fact that she's staying in my house seems a bit outrageous?"

Yes, she's very casual. So, Shangluo, think about it from your perspective?

"Sometimes I wonder if my father had too much faith in my will."

In front of the library, Shangluo was eating her third ice cream, with Victoria sitting beside her. This corner meant no one would recognize her, allowing her to properly enjoy the scenery.

"So, Shangluo, your father still hasn't come looking for you."

"Um"

They sat there waiting for a while. The meeting with Agassiz ended, and Old Shang also left. But as he had said before, he had already said everything he needed to say to Shang Luo, and he had no intention of coming back.

"It seems your father really trusts you. So he ultimately acquiesced to your current situation?"

"Perhaps. But I don't have anything to teach you."

"In that case, how about we go out for a walk?"

"Go shopping in Alexandria? I've been shopping there countless times already."

"I'm going to take you to a place you've never been before. Don't look so gloomy, let's go out for a walk."

On the way to the tourist destination, Shangluo didn't say that.

Unusually, Apollonia and Victoria exchanged private messages.

What do you think? Is Shangluo facing any problems right now?

"I think this is a big problem."

His father said there was no problem.

"The biggest problem is that there are no problems—his father is even unwilling to talk to him about anything unrelated to work. If I were in his shoes, I would probably be quite disappointed."

There was no trace of disappointment on his expression. But one could imagine that he was at least somewhat disappointed.

"You've spent a lot of time with him, right? What do you think?"

[I've only seen Old Shang once more than you. No, wait, if you were the Left Roman Emperor, you probably'd seen him more times than I have.]

"Mr. Shang Yang. To be honest, I do see him quite often. After all, he is the chief physiognomist, and he oversees the modeling of the entire Cybernia."

So, when you saw him before, was there anything unusual about him?

“Not at all. It’s just that I find it hard to connect him with Shangluo. Because he has never mentioned Shangluo’s existence, just as Shangluo rarely mentions him.”

So, what do you think caused this to happen? Was it because of a bad relationship between father and son?

"I think it might be because the father-son relationship is rather special, yes, that's it. Speaking of which, has Shangluo ever told you what he was like when he was a child?"

Never, not even once. He rarely talks to me about what he was like as a child.

"Um"

So, what do you think? Should we help him?

"Personally, I think he doesn't need our help—and he probably wouldn't accept it anyway. We don't need to say anything; we just need to take him out for a walk to clear his head. We don't need to do anything; we'll just wait for him to feel better on his own."

The outskirts of Cybernia.

On their way here, they had already spoken to Phaethon once, who was still in a meeting with his father. Unlike the other two, Phaethon had already received a good sense of paternal love from his father.

While Fae was confronting his father's love, Shangluo arrived at the scenic spot recommended by Victoria—or rather, walked directly outside the city.

There, there was a golden wheat field.

The sunlight was like gold, and golden waves of wheat rippled in the wind. The golden earth shimmered with a sacred light, and a great river, like the Nile, flowed across the land, with palm trees and grapevines planted along its banks.

This is a wonderful place, filled with the fragrance of grass and trees—or more precisely, the aroma of malt.

Here comes the sunrise, the sunset is in the distance, yet the sun never sets on this land.

Amidst the melodious chirping of birds and beside the tranquil river, the local inhabitants, dressed in linen robes, work peacefully in the fields.

This land does not belong to the mortal world; it belongs to those whose souls find peace and whose hearts are filled with justice. Here, death is no longer the end, but the beginning of true freedom and abundance.

The name of this place is: Yaru.

"So this was the paradise of the ancient Egyptians?"

“That’s right.” Victoria nodded. “This is the paradise of ancient Egypt.”

The ancient Egyptian paradise, Yaru—unlike many other paradises elsewhere, Yaru made no promises. Yaru guaranteed only one thing:
The sun never sets here. Aru promises everyone a world without disasters, wars, or famine. Hard work always pays off.

Those who go to Aru do not receive the benefit of doing nothing, but rather they will be given their own land and their own dwelling. Whatever is planted in that land will surely grow pleasingly. Everyone can peacefully harvest the food they have grown themselves, and can enter into such a life without needing to devoutly pray to the gods.

“We selected a portion of Yaru to form the outskirts of Alexandria—by the way, you’ve actually heard of Yaru, haven’t you?”

"Yes, Apollonia told me that, I think it was some time ago. But back then, Apollonia also mentioned that the real Aru wasn't here? It was taken away by Amun-Zeus. All we could do was imitate Aru's appearance and create a new golden wheat field here. Anyway, the landscape is the same."

Golden waves of wheat stretched out from beneath our feet, reaching all the way to the horizon.

"So, at least it's more reassuring here. We can't receive calls from outside. I'm thinking, if I can just quietly watch the golden waves of wheat in Yaru, it's not so bad. At least, I don't have to think about anything here."

"You seem to come here often?"

"Actually, I've only been here once or twice. But this place has left a very deep impression on me. Anyway, let's take a rest. This place is meant for resting; it doesn't belong to the living. Sometimes, it's good to rest here. If your father could sit here, wouldn't he sit here with us and look at the golden wheat?"

“I think what he would be thinking is—if everyone comes to Yaru, will there not be enough land to go around?”

(End of this chapter)