Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1634 Old Friend
This is also a cycle.

Having been here for so long, this is the first time Shangluo has met him in person.

Even someone from Shangluo would be drenched in sweat in such an awkward situation.

Standing not far behind, Ms. Agatha smelled a familiar scent—a fragrance, the sweat of a celestial being. Strictly speaking, it wasn't sweat, because celestial beings don't have a metabolism. But sweating when nervous is a human instinct, so celestial beings like Shangluo would emit a fragrant aroma when nervous.

Ms. Agatha took out a handkerchief and handed it to Shangluo.

"Thank you." He wiped his sweat. Across from him, Emperor Taihe was chatting with Victoria.

Although the conversation was limited to everyday life, he could sense that Victoria was quite nervous.

Victoria used humble and respectful language throughout, using words like "Jun," "Bai," and "Zun" in every sentence, and referring to herself as "Bo," "Xiao," and "Mo." Victoria had never been so nervous. She used all the words she had learned in her life, words she would never use when speaking to Shang Luo. Her brain was about to explode.

"Your Majesty the Emperor Emeritus, there's something I'm unsure whether I should ask." Shang Luo still helped alleviate some of her burden.

"Hmm? What do you want to ask?"

"Where does His Majesty the Retired Emperor usually practice? Where is his temple located? I heard it's in the mountains not far from the capital. I was thinking, could I go and pay him a visit?"

"I have no fixed abode, so you might not be able to find me when you go. But you don't necessarily have to come to see me, since I've seen you quite a few times before."

"???" Shangluo realized something.

When he had dinner with Zhu Ling and the others before, the retired emperor treated them to a meal of braised pig's face.

It seems that although this retired emperor claimed to be practicing asceticism in seclusion, he actually seemed to be constantly traveling around various places in Yingtian.

His whereabouts were extremely well-hidden. If he hadn't made contact with them, Shangluo would never have noticed his existence, and had never even heard anyone mention him.

"You don't need to be surprised," Emperor Taihe explained. "I cultivate mountain arts, and seclusion itself is part of my cultivation. Not returning home isn't necessarily a good thing; Emperor Wanshou did the same back then. He built palaces and temples in the Western Garden and didn't go home. My current cultivation is also based on the advice of the Dao Ancestor himself. You don't need to worry about me; I'm generally..."

He looked at Shangluo and said, "I'm generally quite satisfied. I didn't come to see Victoria to find out anything. I just wanted to meet my daughter's friends as a father."

“Ah~~” Victoria finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Zhu Ling and I have a very good relationship. I often eat with her.”

“Me too.” Shangluo nodded vigorously. “We often eat together.”

"I have a question for you—where do you usually eat?"

“Jinling Hotel,” Shangluo replied. “It seems like it’s always there.”

"Hmm," Emperor Taihe thought for a moment, "My daughter is a bit of a picky eater."

【.】When Apollonia heard the words "picky eater", she suddenly wanted to laugh - the Zhu family members were not just picky eaters.

Zhu Xianxi and Zhu Ling are almost entirely carnivorous, with a meat-to-side-food ratio comparable to that of Arctic Eskimos or Northern Mountain Man. Only because they also have meat broth and rice do they not suffer from the habitual constipation common among Eskimos.

Even so, the proportion of meat consumed by these two was indeed somewhat outrageous. They almost instinctively rejected vegetables, and the mere thought of eating them gave them a headache. Zhu Xianxi would only occasionally eat a couple of leafy greens under Yang Jing's coercion, and he didn't even finish one last time.

Zhu Ling would only occasionally eat a bite of panda-themed steamed buns in the Imperial Garden; elsewhere, she did the same as Zhu Xianxi. She preferred to eat the steamed buns dry, without any sauce, and would never eat a single vegetable.

Their diet wasn't extravagant at all—just ordinary meat: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, goose, and the like. They had little interest in luxurious ingredients and ate them as rarely as vegetables. The most expensive ingredient they ate most often was shark tendon, or shark fin. That was usually used in specific dishes, such as the traditional stew "Eight Treasures Stew," which was made with shark tendon, pork tendon, and fatty chicken, and sometimes sea cucumber was added depending on the situation. In this kind of diet, eating an egg was considered a light "semi-meat" meal.

"As an elderly father, I have a small request. I wonder if you two could help me with it."

Shangluo and Victoria both nodded vigorously: "Definitely! Definitely!"

"I have an address here, how about you take her out for a meal?"

“We actually invited her to other places, but she refused,” Shangluo replied.

This is where Zhu Ling's "brilliance" lies. The Jinling Hotel is her home turf; she's very accustomed to its ordering style. The menu is very close to imperial tastes, featuring a large number of dishes with absolutely no green vegetables. This is Zhu Ling's "comfort zone," where she feels most at ease dining at the Jinling Hotel.

Besides that, there's McDonald's. Because McDonald's fried chicken and other items all have their ingredients clearly listed, so when she doesn't want to eat vegetables, she can't even touch a single leafy green.

"So, this is where we need your help. Can you coax her out? Or use some other method, just get her there. I'll have them prepare the ingredients so you can eat right away when you get there."

"Understood, I'll give it a try." Shang Luo accepted the business card with the address written on it.

He couldn't very well say "guarantee," because Zhu Ling was, after all, the eldest princess. If she didn't want to go, no one could force her to go.

"Alright," Emperor Taihe nodded. "I'm relieved to hear you say that. I have other matters to attend to, so please excuse me."

The two men immediately stood up and respectfully saw him off, escorting him all the way to the door.

Lu Huaiyang was already waiting at the entrance.

"His Majesty the Emperor."

"Xiao Lu."

"exist!"

"I need to go on a business trip, can you help me make the arrangements?"

"Where are you going?"

“I’m going to Constantinople. I’m going to visit an old friend who’s been having some trouble lately. He also asked me to visit his daughter—it’ll be nice to see Victoria doing well here, so we’ll have something to talk about when we meet.”

He was going to see Emperor Agassiz, Victoria's father.

It was precisely because he was going out during this period that he asked Shang Luo to take Zhu Ling out for a meal. This would save him, the old father, from having to get involved and risk being annoyed by his daughter.

"Understood, I'll arrange it right away. Which route does His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus intend to take? The faster one? Or the more comfortable one?"

"I need the fastest one."

"Understood, I'll arrange the phase shift immediately. The phone booth is this way, please come this way."

(End of this chapter)