Shen Yunyun shook her head, shattering the images before her eyes. It was far too explicit and obscene to look at directly. She had completely lost any desire to sleep. Walking to the veranda, she gazed at the courtyard, which, though modest in size, was exquisitely arranged.
The courtyard did give her a sense of déjà vu, which she attributed to a hippocampal effect. But the scenes flashing through her mind made her dismiss that notion. Either this was a parallel world, or it was a past life. She couldn’t explain it, just as she couldn’t explain the existence of the Multiverse Trading Center. Bizarre.
The next day, Shen Yunyun appeared before everyone with dark circles under her eyes. The clan members began to fret over the ancestor’s health. According to their family secrets, the ancestor had achieved immortality and lived for over a thousand years. Though she had cultivated the art of eternal life, she was still a thousand-year-old elder. Any minor ailment, like a headache or fever, had to be taken seriously.
Shen Yunyun had no idea that her dark circles would be seen by the Tang clan as a matter of life and death. She declined everyone’s well-meaning concern and discussed the village’s development with the village chief.
The village was very poor. The chief sighed and said, “Over the years, we’ve relied on that kid Xiaoyu. He’s made something of himself and donates money to the village every year to improve our economic situation. But it’s not a long-term solution. Many of the younger generation have gone to work in big cities, and some have settled down there, probably never to return.”
Shen Yunyun nodded, raising no objection to the young people leaving for work. At the same time, she confirmed that not all Tang clan members believed in the secrets passed down by their ancestors—that someone could actually find their ancestor. Shen Yunyun wasn’t surprised. If she were in their shoes, she wouldn’t believe it either.
She listened quietly as the chief described the village’s situation. Tang Gao, unable to get a word in, stood by. The frail old man had been weak for so long that he wasn’t very familiar with the village’s current state.
After hearing the chief’s account, Shen Yunyun’s mind immediately turned to transporting grain to the apocalypse, the beast world, or the interstellar realm. Whether it was Little Tangyuan’s world or the apocalypse, none of them had enough food. At the same time, she had to be careful not to cause a famine in the modern world or drive up the prices of basic necessities by shipping out massive amounts of grain.
She wasn’t naive enough to think that if rice prices went up, farmers would see more money. Farmers would always be the beasts of burden—never starving but never getting rich. With the global population now over eight billion, food consumption was enormous. Subsidizing other worlds from here wasn’t a sustainable solution. Those worlds needed to produce more food on their own.
This matter required careful deliberation to find the best approach. But for now, she had something more important to do. She needed to go see Little Tangyuan right away.
“Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years! Long live the Empress Dowager, ten thousand years!” The moment Shen Yunyun arrived, she was greeted by a thunderous chorus.
Stunned by the scene before her, she hadn’t even spoken when the Empress—no, now the Empress Dowager—looked at her with delight and gestured for her to hide quickly. Shen Yunyun hurriedly found a spot where the civil and military officials below couldn’t see her.
“Rise,” the Empress Dowager said to the assembled officials. After thanking her, they all stood up.
“If there are matters to report, present them. If not, the court is adjourned,” a young eunuch announced in a shrill voice, flicking his horsetail whisk.