Puyi had bought a house in Tianjin, but he didn't go home first. Unwilling to discuss these matters with his useless father, Zaifeng, he went directly to find his teacher according to the address.

Having not returned to China for several years, the magnitude of the changes in Tianjin forced Puyi to admit that the praise for China in Japanese newspapers over these years was actually true. Every few days, Japanese newspapers would publish articles reflecting on why Japan couldn't compare to China by contrasting the development of the two countries. The more extreme segments would even question whether there was something wrong with the Japanese national character.

Puyi's feelings toward Japan were complicated. However, reading the endless articles in Japanese newspapers and recalling what China looked like when he left, he realized it was completely different from the China in his memories. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tokyo's urban construction had been done quite well; after the original single-story houses and shantytowns were demolished, multi-story buildings were built in their place. Puyi had never seen such vibrant development in China, so he naturally suspected that these newspapers were deliberately disparaging Japan to puff up He Rui. He had developed a strong distrust of Japanese newspapers.

At this moment, he saw that the streets in Tianjin's urban area had widened several times over, with beautiful green belts on both sides. Beyond the green belts were blocks of six or seven-story buildings. Those buildings stretched on almost endlessly, and at regular intervals, towering water towers could be seen. Although Tokyo's construction far exceeded the Chinese cities Puyi had seen in the past, compared to the Tianjin before his eyes, it had actually fallen behind.

Moreover, the number of bicycles on Tokyo streets also paled in comparison to Tianjin. What surprised Puyi even more was that the number of automobiles on Tianjin's streets vastly outnumbered those in Tokyo. In Tokyo, one might see a car every minute. In Tianjin, cars in the middle of the road followed one after another, in various shapes and with many different emblems on their fronts.

Seeing this with his own eyes, Puyi wondered if he just happened to be in the most prosperous area. Seeing a bicycle rental spot ahead, he rented a bicycle. Puyi's physical fitness had improved greatly after joining the military, and he felt quite relaxed riding the bicycle. Riding forward along Jiefang Road through several intersections, he saw quite a few old houses, but the ratio of old houses to new ones was only about one to one. That is to say, more than half of the old houses in the entire Tianjin area had already been demolished.

Estimating that he had ridden for five or six *li*, Puyi entered a factory district. The number of trucks on the streets increased dramatically. He saw continuous factory walls topped with steel bars strung with barbed wire, looking heavily guarded. Pedaling his bicycle, Puyi passed two huge factories. One was an automobile factory, the other a machinery manufacturing plant. The machinery plant was one thing, stretching only a few hundred meters, but the automobile factory's walls went on and on; he rode for two *li* and still hadn't reached the end. Seeing an intersection opposite, Puyi changed direction to head back toward the city center.

Along the way, he saw a great number of trucks coming and going. Fortunately, there was a green isolation belt between the bicycle lane and the road for trucks. Puyi felt that if he were riding in the motor vehicle lane, his life might be in danger if he were hit by a truck.

Recalling that he hadn't seen automobile manufacturers of this scale in Tokyo, he understood the gap in national power between China and Japan much more clearly. However, Puyi also felt that Tianjin had been the number one industrial city in the North for decades, while Japan was just a small island nation. Although Tokyo was Japan's capital, compared to China's major northern industrial cities, it indeed didn't have much of an advantage.

But thinking of this, Puyi suddenly realized that if he considered it this way, what those Japanese domestic newspapers said turned out to be true. Given the Japanese personality of going to extremes, it wasn't strange for them to reflect on this, or even to reflect on the inferiorities in the Japanese national character.

Although he had cleared up this misunderstanding, Puyi didn't feel happy. A thought suddenly popped up: "This should have been *my* realm." As soon as this thought emerged, Puyi's mood plummeted, and a feeling of grief and indignation arose spontaneously. His pedaling speed involuntarily increased.

There were quite a few people on the bicycle lane. Puyi zoomed past people, startling the other cyclists. Some with short tempers couldn't help but curse, "What are you riding so fast for? Rushing to be reincarnated?"

Puyi ignored their curses, only slowing down a little and continuing to ride forward with his head down. Reaching the residential area again, he asked traffic police along the way and soon found the community where his teacher, Chen Baochen, lived.

It was a community called Wenlin Garden. The guard at the gate stopped Puyi to inquire when he entered. Puyi didn't want to haggle with a doorkeeper, so he stated his purpose in a mild tone. He thought the doorkeeper might ask for some money, but unexpectedly, the doorkeeper just asked Puyi to make a record in the visitor log.

Among the signatures in the log that completely lacked aesthetic sense, Puyi saw a few lines of very beautiful calligraphy. glancing casually, he saw that in the 'Purpose' column, it was written 'To visit Mr. Chen Baochen.' He immediately became excited. hurriedly looking down, he saw it was from yesterday.

The visitor's name was Li Qinghong; Puyi had no impression of him. However, confirming that his teacher indeed lived here, he quickly filled out the content. The guard just took a look and waved Puyi in, also telling Puyi how to get to Building No. 5.

Puyi hadn't expected a doorkeeper to be so rule-abiding. He quickly thanked him, got on his bike, and went in the direction pointed out. It was past ten in the morning, and there were no young people to be seen in the community. There were only some elderly men and women returning from grocery shopping, greeting acquaintances, or old ladies sitting in the cool shade of the community walls holding one or two-year-old toddlers.

Seeing Puyi approach, everyone looked at him curiously. Puyi vaguely heard an old lady say, "This young man is quite handsome."

Puyi's appearance was not ugly, and at this time he was only twenty-six years old, in the prime of his life. However, Puyi was not happy about receiving praise from others at this moment; he just wanted to see his teacher quickly. Sure enough, after passing a few buildings, he saw a plate nailed to the side of a building facing the road, with 'Building No. 5' painted on it.

Arriving at the stairs, he saw that the entrance also clearly marked the unit numbers, which made Puyi feel much more at ease. He couldn't help but recall the Japanese newspapers' praise for China's strict urban planning. Although he hadn't thought much about it while searching, recalling it now, he vaguely remembered that the Japanese descriptions were exactly the same as his experience.

With a sigh, Puyi walked into the stairwell. going up to the second floor, he looked at the door plate diagonally above the door. The person who visited yesterday recorded in the logbook had written the door number clearly, so Puyi knocked on the left door. Not long after, the door to his teacher's home opened, and a middle-aged woman came out. Judging by her dress, she didn't look like Chen Baochen's wife, but rather like a servant.

Even so, Puyi almost instinctively wanted to raise his hand to salute. Having been in the military for so long, he had become accustomed to it. But in an instant, he felt it was inappropriate, so he quickly asked, "Is Lord Chen at home?"

The middle-aged woman looked curiously at the bespectacled but rather heroic-looking young man in front of her and asked, "May I ask who you are..."

Puyi quickly replied, "I am Lord Chen's student, specifically here to request an audience with my teacher."

Unexpectedly, the woman didn't announce him but just invited Puyi in. The entrance opened into the living room, which was furnished very simply and neatly. The woman went to the room on the south side, pushed open the door, and said, "Mr. Chen, your student is here to see you."

"Oh." Puyi's familiar voice came from inside the room; it was indeed Chen Baochen. Puyi couldn't hold back anymore and quickly walked to the door and shouted, "Teacher, it's me..."

He wanted to say more, but felt his throat choke up, and he couldn't speak the rest of the words.

Chen Baochen inside the room was stunned, then hurriedly turned around and asked, "Is it the Emperor?"

The woman was stunned, not understanding what Chen Baochen meant. But Chen Baochen also realized that his words were inappropriate at this time, so he quickly said, "Come in quickly."

A moment later, the door closed. Chen Baochen stood up tremblingly, wanting to bow to Puyi. Puyi felt a warmth in his heart; for so many years, no one had treated him like this. He quickly supported his teacher, asked him to sit down, and then performed the student's bow to his teacher.

Chen Baochen lowered his voice slightly, "Your Majesty, how have you been these years? How are your studies?"

Puyi's nose soured, and his eyes grew hot. As the saying goes, a teacher is like a father; others wouldn't care about his studies immediately like caring for a child. Suppressing the emotions that were about to surge out, Puyi slowly introduced his experiences over these years to his teacher. Finally finishing telling him that he had already graduated from the Japanese Army War College, Puyi stopped his narration temporarily. He really wanted to hear what his teacher would ask next.

He saw his teacher Chen Baochen pause for a while before opening his mouth to ask, "Your Majesty, do you want to return to China?"

Puyi was unable to answer for a moment. He wanted to return to China, but he didn't want to return like this. This hesitation allowed Chen Baochen to see through Puyi's thoughts. Chen Baochen sighed, "Your Majesty, it is better to return."

Puyi hesitated for another moment before asking, "Why?"