Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

"Did I really travel through time?" Zhang Jingwei still had doubts in his mind.

Although it's a bit melodramatic, the feelings are really real.

Not long after Huangfu Ling left, just as Zhang Jingwei was wondering, a middle-aged man in a dark blue brocade robe and a hemp square hat slowly walked over from the corridor outside the courtyard.

The middle-aged man first glanced at Zhang Jingwei, who was slumped on the ground, with disdain, and then loudly ordered the two burly servants: "The young lady has ordered that Zhang Jingwei be taken to the woodshed and kept under guard!"

"Yes!" The two servants simply nodded their heads in agreement.

After saying this, the middle-aged man flicked his sleeves and left, even stepping over the old man kneeling on the ground with disdain.

The two servants bent over and clasped their hands as they respectfully escorted the middle-aged man out of the hospital.

"Sir, you heard what Butler Wang just said. I apologize for any offense."

After saying this, they carried Zhang Jingwei to the woodshed without hesitation.

When Zhang Jingwei came to his senses, he found himself being led out of the courtyard. The old man was still following him, crying as he walked.

"Master, please don't commit suicide again. If anything happens to you, how will I explain it to my master in the underworld?"

After passing through a stone courtyard, there is a large lake. On the other side of the lake is a simple thatched courtyard with a bamboo rack full of clothes hanging at the gate.

The yard looked quite desolate, but it was kept very clean. The firewood room was located in the left side of the yard, and on the door was a calligraphy post saying, "The weather is dry, be careful with fire."

A servant pulled out the bolt and flung the door open. The woodshed was dark, and a thin sliver of sunlight pierced through, revealing the crooked central pillars, the beams gnawed by termites and ready to collapse at any moment. The earthen walls were also battered by the erosion of wind and rain. The floor was strewn with dry thatch, dried pine needles, and neatly stacked firewood in the corner.

"Master, please bear with me. I am just following your orders. Perhaps when the young lady calms down, she will naturally let you out. I just hope you don't hold a grudge against us."

The two servants bowed and left after they finished speaking, putting the bolt back in place before leaving.

"Ugh--"

Zhang Jingwei sighed deeply and sat on a thatched straw pile. He looked at the old man who was kneeling in front of him and insisted on staying to take care of him, and asked:

"You called me Young Master, so answer me, who am I? Who are you? Where is this place?"

"Master, have you truly lost your mind? I'm Zhang Liu, and you're the only son of the Zhang family, a wealthy family in Yunzhou City!"

Zhang Jingwei asked doubtfully, "Yunzhou City? Which province is this?"

"Young Master, you are well-read, how could you not even remember the place names! This is the 'Sixteen States of Northern Yun' that were ravaged by the Rong people, including the Yunzhou City. Now there are constant wars in the north of our dynasty, and even the master... Alas -" Zhang Liu said with a long sigh.

Sixteen Prefectures of Beiyun?

Zhang Jingwei quickly recalled history and it seemed that no dynasty had ever called the northern region like this.

Could it be another dimension?

"What dynasty is it now? Who is the emperor?" Zhang Jingwei asked again.

"What dynasties are there now? After the Celestial Empire collapsed, the common people didn't know which nation they belonged to. This year, the Rong tribe attacked us, and we were Rong people. Next year, we'll be Celestial Empire members again."

"Maybe the Rong tribe will attack us again next year..." Zhang Liu seemed to realize that he had said the wrong thing. He quickly stopped talking, covered his mouth and looked out the window in horror.

Wow, Celestial Empire, that childish name that only appears in novels, is the respectful name given to China by the surrounding vassal states.

It must be some dimensional world!

The more you think, the more questions you have.

Will there be any system?

The game started in difficult mode. He looked at his body which was like a stick insect. Although he was still tall, he was terribly thin.

No, it's the beginning of purgatory.

Thinking about how he was still trapped in this small firewood room by his "tiger wife", Zhang Jingwei felt like crying but had no tears.

"What happened in our family? My memory is a little confused after I was poisoned." Zhang Jingwei didn't care about his distress and just wanted to find out the whole story.

"Young Master, this... this is a long story!" Zhang Liu said with tears in his eyes.

"Then keep your story short!"

"Yunzhou was originally part of the Celestial Empire, but due to the conflict between the previous emperor and the vassal kings, it was invaded by the Rong tribe. For decades, the Rong tribe has been attacking the Central Plains non-stop..."

Zhang Jingwei was getting impatient and asked him to speak directly: "Tell me about your master! That is, my father! How did he die?"

"The master was originally a wealthy businessman from the Celestial Empire and did not want to engage in trade with the Rong people. However, because you were born eighteen years ago! For your safety, your father chose to compromise with the Rong people."

"My mother...where is my mother?" Zhang Jingwei bit his tongue and quickly changed the question.

"After the young master was born, the wife was executed by the Rong people. The wife is a Rong woman, and the Rong people have a rule that Rong women cannot marry men from the Central Plains. The master spent all his family wealth to save you."

"What does my father do?" Zhang Jingwei was surprised that this "father" from another world could be so favored by an ethnic group.

"My master is the number one salt merchant in the Celestial Empire. All the princes and nobles treat my master as a guest of honor, and the royal salt comes from my hands." Zhang Liu said with pride in his eyes.

"My father is so powerful, why didn't he take our family to seek refuge south at that time?" Zhang Jingwei was puzzled.

"At that time, the Central Plains was in turmoil, the Celestial Empire was falling apart, and we had to fight the Rong people in the north, the Hu Kingdom in the west, the barbarians in the south, and the pirates in the east. If the Rong people could save the lives of their families, Yunzhou City would be the best place for them to live." Zhang Liudao said.

Zhang Jingwei continued to ask, "Since my father is so powerful, how did he die?"

Zhang Liu's eyes turned cold, his whole body began to tremble, and his hands were clenched tightly.

This angry expression lasted only a moment before he regained his composure and said, "About... five years ago. After Prince Jin conquered Yunzhou five years ago, the court appointed 'Lu Hui' as the governor of Yunzhou."

"A few days ago, the master was forced to death by the new Yunzhou governor on charges of 'treason'! Fortunately, before his death, the master entrusted you to the Marquis, and in the name of a son-in-law, he saved you!"

Zhang Jingwei snorted coldly and thought to himself, "The setting of a fallen noble is pretty good!"

We can get several messages from Zhang Liu's words above. In the turbulent times of the dynasty, princes from all over the country raised troops to resist the enemy, enfeoffed their retainers in the name of the emperor of the Celestial Empire, and plundered the people's wealth. This "father" from another world was just one of the unlucky ones.

"Huangfu Ling's father is a 'Marquis'! It seems that the Marquis has a very good relationship with my father." Zhang Jingwei said with a wry smile.

"The relationship between the Marquis and the Master has always been very good. They were classmates and soulmates. It's just that one joined the army and the other went into business. One was so meritorious that he was made a marquis, and the other was so wealthy that..." As he spoke, Zhang Liu wiped away another tear.

"Is my father-in-law very powerful?" Seeing the old man crying again, Zhang Jingwei quickly changed the subject.

"Huangfu Changshui, this name is well-known in the north. He is the greatest enemy of the Rong tribe. He led a group of local soldiers to repel the large-scale raids of the Rong tribe's small chieftains."

"The Rong people nicknamed him 'Wild Dog.' Over a decade, he rose from a small soldier to a captain, and later earned the recognition of the King of Jin and was granted the title of 'Marquis of the North.'"

"Young Master, you must cherish this relationship between father-in-law and daughter-in-law!" Zhang Liu acted pretentiously, praising and flattering Zhang Jingwei, and did not forget to ask him to establish a good relationship with his father-in-law.