The Empress’s Gigolo

From time to time, Qin Haoyong looked at the group of people gathered beside him. He could hear the snickering coming from there and was full of doubts about what they were doing inside.

He was also curious to know what gave that man the courage to participate in the lantern-grabbing contest.

If not for his father’s instruction, he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to compete with him. In any case, the other party had no chance to be the champion.

If the other party encountered any problem, Qin Haoyong might be able to help out and the other party would owe him a favor in return.

On the other side, Liu Ruoyao saw that there was only a little bit of flame left on the base of the incense burner and became more carefree.

After taking her revenge, she would be carefree.

That person made her lose face and caused her to be punished as well. Therefore, she wouldn’t let him off easily.

As for the teams in the distance, they didn’t pay much attention to this side. Although many people knew about the participation of Ren Baqian and Tong Lan, one was a rookie and the other was a lolita after all. Both of them were easily identifiable, and these children of the court officials were well informed. However, most of them didn’t regard Ren Baqian and Tong Lan as their rivals.

They had to get past Liu Ruoyao and Hong Xian first, and everyone knew Liu Ruoyao very well.

Although they had heard of the talented little girl from the Tong Family, she was too young and her partner was too green to be a threat if the partnership depended only on her.

“Sir Ren, the contest is going to begin,” Du Changkong reminded.

Ren Baqian said, “Oh.” His voice came from under the helmet and sounded muffled.

At this moment, Ren Baqian had fully transformed into a human-sized hedgehog. His entire body, including his face, was covered with a layer of soft armor. The outer part of the armor was covered with dense spikes and the gap between any two spikes was so narrow that a finger could only just fit in between them.

Each spike was about two centimeters long and sufficient to pierce through one’s palm. Each tip exuded a dense cold light as well.

Furthermore, each spike had a barb attached to it.

If it hit a person, it was guaranteed that it would prick the other party into becoming something like a sieve. When separating it from one’s body, it would also take along a piece of bloody flesh.

This was the legendary magical object for squeezing into the subway. It was the 17th-century Siberian bear hunting suit, the human-sized hedgehog suit, which Ren Baqian had enhanced into an ultimate killer suit.

The main property of this suit was its ventilation. There were countless pores in the soft iron cloth to guarantee a certain permeability. In addition, there was also a soft lining inside, which made it more bearable for people to wear.

Secondly, the spikes were made from an alloy, which ensured sharpness, hardness, and a reduction in its weight all at the same time.

Lastly, this suit had a trump card.

This trump card, however, harmed both the opponents as well as his teammates. It would kill 1,000 enemies, sacrifice 1,500 of his own, and should only be used as a last resort.

The vulnerable parts of this hedgehog suit were the throat, armpits, and the inner thighs. However, these weaknesses did not affect the lethality of this suit.

Ren Baqian placed high hopes on this suit and felt full of energy when he wore it. He felt as if he transformed into a character from Saint Seiya, and regardless of whether there was a mountain full of knives or a fiery sea before him, he could still cut a bloody path through it.

(Saint Seiya: also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It has an anime adaption as well.)

“I am unbearably hungry and thirsty,” Ren Baqian said vehemently.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

The rest were perplexed by his comments and couldn’t believe their ears.

“Good-for-nothing, I also want this!” The little lolita said with envy as her eyes sparkled.

“If we can win this time, I will give it to you.” Ren Baqian replied generously.

The little lolita said with contempt, “You have no intention of giving it to me.”

“Sir, the contest is about to begin,” Xu Le reminded him.

At this time, someone was already raising a flag in the center. Once he put the flag down, the lantern-grabbing contest would officially begin.

The spirits of everyone rose.

“Make way for me. Do not block the way!” Ren Baqian warned Du Changkong and Du Changqing who were in front.

The two nodded their heads incessantly and were cursing in their hearts. Only a fool will obstruct Ren Baqian’s way.

Bumping into others wasn’t a problem, but bumping into Ren Baqian, the result would be disastrous. Even though the aboriginals were tough, they were not at the stage of being invulnerable to knives and guns.

This body, which had glimmering barbed spikes, was not to be messed with.

But, wouldn’t Ren Baqian be immediately kicked out once he dashed out? This was completely against the rules, right?

All eyes were on the raised flag, and the last few seconds seemed especially slow.

The surrounding audience was focused on the performance of the participating teams this year. At the same time, they were observing many young experts as well.

Ren Baqian was still solidly blocked from view and moved his body slightly to see whether there were any problems with his suit. As for the little lolita, Tong Lan, she was staring at Ren Baqian with her radiant eyes.

“Begin!”

The person holding the flag in the center of the arena pointed it down as the last embers of the incense extinguished.

There wasn’t anything more to say.

Following the flag wave and the command for the contest to begin, 26 teams comprising of over 200 people, which were divided into two sides, poured from the waiting area into the arena as everyone vigilantly watched each other at the same time.

“Haha, my big axe has been impatiently waiting for action!” a sudden cry in the crowd erupted.

Qin Haoyong, who was positioned near the side, was impressed by these words and reminded himself to remember them.

Liu Ruoyao looked disdainful.

How dare you make such a comment? I will not let you touch the lantern platform at all.

As Du Changkong and Du Changjing moved aside, a somewhat clumsy fellow rushed out from the center.

“What were they doing furtively just now? I’m finally able to see what was going on.” Qin Haoyong had been curious for a long time. He was in no rush to charge out too fast, turning his attention to the side instead.

The next moment, he saw a silhouette dashing out from the crowd. His eyes almost popped out, he staggered, and he almost fell.

“What is this thing?”

Qin Haoyong was completely mystified.

The four “roving guards” of Hong Xian’s group didn’t take notice of any other team and directly headed for Ren Baqian’s team. When Liu Ruoyao saw that silhouette dashing out from the crowd, she instantly felt a tightness in her chest and almost vomited blood.

“This is foul play!” Liu Ruoyao shouted.

The empress had been staring at that location ever since the competition started. When she saw that silhouette bursting out of the crowd, she almost choked and her eyes twitched. Previously, she had been wondering where he got his confidence from and had never expected him to act this way.

“Ptui!” Tong Zhengye spat out a mouthful of tea instantly. He raised his hand, pointed tremblingly in that direction, and was astonished. Although he knew that person was shameless, he didn’t expect him to be that shameless.

Qin Chuan was even more dumbstruck by the sight and simply couldn’t figure out what it was.

After Tong Zhengye spat out his tea, the rest of the people looked in the direction he was pointing. They were horrified to see a large hedgehog with a body full of glimmering barbed spikes. Was this the way to compete?

Everyone felt that today’s incident was really an eye-opener.

Shi Qing had been an official for many years and had seen all kinds of things, but this was the first time he had witnessed such an incident at the lantern-grabbing contest. At first, he was dumbfounded. After which, he turned to ask the empress with some uncertainty, “Your Majesty, is this foul play?”

The empress twitched her eyes for a while after hearing Shi Qing’s question. She then said in a low voice, “Regarding the armor, there isn’t any foul play.”

“But this…” Shi Qing pointed at the center of the arena. Was this armor?

If this was elsewhere, it wouldn’t be a problem. As long as one had a weapon in his or her hand, this armor would be a joke.

It could be seen that the more than 200 participants were bare handed, but with the appearance of this big hedgehog, what could everyone else do?

“Next time, add a rule to disallow sharp objects on the armor to prevent injuries to others. However, since this rule wasn’t included previously, it will not be considered an offense,” the empress lightly stated.

Tong Zhenye, who was at the side, opened and closed his mouth like a catfish on land. After a long time, he looked resentfully at the empress out of the corner of his eyes.

Your Majesty, you have changed.

You weren’t like that originally!