The Empress’s Gigolo

Although the New Year and the lantern-grabbing contest happened during this period, the students didn’t slow down their pace in developing the steam-powered train.

Even during the holidays, the students would be at school every day for the whole day.

On the first day after the school holiday had started, he observed that the steam locomotive was taking shape.

However, the problem of an inadequate supply of steel was looming.

Although the steam engine train was smaller and simpler than what he had seen before, the amount of steel they needed was about twice as much as they currently had.

Ren Baqian got the empress to supply the school with 4,000 kilograms of steel. Including the steel, they were given earlier to make the steam engine and the addition of the railway track in the school’s backyard, the total amount was 5,000 kilograms.

After that, he went to the captive camp.

At present, there were 80,000 captives in the camp because more than 10,000 had already been sent to the mines. He would arrange for some to be sent to the cement factories, while the rest would be sent to build roads.

Ren Baqian took a tour of the camp, and although it was still not up to his requirements, it was a big improvement from before.

There was a constant supply of timber coming in for the construction of triangular wooden houses that would shelter the captives.

The captives in the camp were looking livelier and not as listless as before.

With the implementation of the regulations, especially the division of the captives into small, medium, and big groups, the work was distributed to each section in an orderly manner.

The environment in the camp was also much cleaner because everyone was forced to take a bath and because there was a public toilet every 100 meters. The risk of disease spreading was contained.

After the inspection, Ren Baqian noted two things that weren’t done properly and summoned some supervisors and team leaders from the captive camp for an inquiry.

The four men were cautious and looked terrified when they met Ren Baqian.

“How’s the situation in the camp now?” Ren Baqian was sitting in a recently constructed wooden building that still had green shoots on the wooden beams.

To avoid offending him, the people replied in a hurry, “Pretty good. We have meat every day.”

“Oh? If you have any problems, you better say them now. After this, there will be no more opportunities,” Ren Baqian said nonchalantly.

“No problem, but Sir, will we really be set free?” someone asked cautiously. When he heard this news, he didn’t dare to believe it. Not only did he not dare to believe it, but many people in the camp were also skeptical of such good news.

However, they also didn’t dare to disbelieve because having this hope was better than dying here.

“Eight years. After eight years, all of you can go. Whether it’s real or not, you will know when the time comes. However, before that, all of you better work hard and live well,” Ren Baqian said.

“Sir, thanks for telling us. Thank you, Sir.”

“If there are no further questions, you can leave,” Ren Baqian said.

“Sir…”

“Speak!”

They noticed that Ren Baqian didn’t look fierce and that he didn’t talk harshly, so they summoned the courage to ask cautiously, “Can you give us some grass to eat?”

“What?” This was the first time he had heard such a request, and he was stunned for a moment.

“Sir, it’s very wonderful here. We have meat every day, but we can’t digest it! Many people have been having diarrhea during this time. If this continues, we will not be able to endure it anymore.” These few people were almost crying.

Ren Baqian was able to understand after further questioning.

Nobody in the Yun Nation ate meat every day even if they could afford it. It was too greasy and hard for them to digest.

The captives were served meat soup, fatty meat, and offal every day. Initially, many of them thought that it wasn’t bad to have meat, but after more than ten days, these people finally realized that eating meat was such a painful experience.

It was known that average aboriginals were Man Wheel experts that needed to eat a lot to nourish their blood. As a result, they had strong digestive power.

These captives didn’t have the strong stomachs and intestines of the aboriginals and weren’t given wild vegetables and tea leaves to cleanse their digestive tracts. After ten days, everything looked green in their eyes as they walked with their heads down and hoped to find some green stuff.

However, even the wild grass in the captive camp had all been plucked clean.

Almost half of the people in the camp were having diarrhea every day.

Ren Baqian touched his nose. He didn’t expect such a request and didn’t anticipate it at all.

Presumably, most people wouldn’t have anticipated this.

…

Meanwhile, a young lady arrived at the city gate.

She was about 20 years old and considered quite pretty, but her wide forehead affected her appearance. Her piercing bright eyes were unforgettable and distracted people from her appearance.

She was dressed in a white dress and her clothing style was obviously from Great Xia. She wore a pair of embroidered cloth shoes and had a long green sword on her back.

“Where are you from?” Her appearance and clothing style elicited a fierce reaction from the guards as they drew their sabers.

“I’m a messenger from the north, and I have a token.” The lady flipped her hand and displayed a token.

The guards inspected her token before letting her in.

This lady who rushed over from Great Xia was none other than Qing Lian.

“So, this is Lan City.” Qing Lian observed the place as she walked.

As I expected, this is a desolate place, Qing Lian thought. From what she saw, the streets were cold and deserted with dilapidated buildings on both sides. It was more than ten times worse than the prosperous capital of Great Xia.

Furthermore, you could see many pedestrians who only wore a piece of animal skin around their waist. This kind of scene was certainly never seen in Great Xia.

However, the pedestrians she saw later on were the aboriginals that she admired for their talent. Any randomly selected citizen on the street was equivalent to a Man Wheel expert in Great Xia. Their blood and vital qi was even more vigorous.

Although Earth Wheel experts weren’t everywhere, she had noticed many along the way.

After a short walk, Qing Lian inquired about the location of Black Bamboo Academy. She enjoyed watching two street fights before arriving at the academy.

“Is it closed?” Qing Lian walked around outside and saw the closed doors. From the breathing of the people inside, she sensed that they were Man Wheel and Earth Wheel experts.

She looked around and decided that she might as well see whether there were any interesting things in this Dayao academy. Even if she got caught, she could say she was here to deliver a letter and couldn’t be blamed for her ignorance.

Furthermore, the people inside the courtyard were unaware of her presence. There were only a few people in Dayao that she was afraid of, and in Lan City, there was only Qi Zixiao. Although she couldn’t beat the other Cardinal Heaven experts of Dayao, she was able to run away from them.

She made up her mind and jumped over the courtyard wall. The scene was rather disappointing as it was a simple and crude courtyard. Not to mention the supreme courtyard in Great Xia, any small academy courtyard would be a hundred times better.

Anyway, since she was here, she might as well take a look around.

After checking the positions of the few people in the courtyard, Qing Lian went into a room filled with tables and chairs.

Then, she went into another room. As she entered, she was shocked when she saw a man standing in a corner.

“Who are you?” she asked.

After a few moments, she saw no response from that man and felt strange. More importantly, that man didn’t seem to be breathing at all. She went forward to examine him and immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

She saw a man who was about 50 or 60 years old that looked rather strong and healthy.

However, his lower body had four legs… which startled her.

Furthermore, these four legs were fixed to his body. Her mind spun for a while, but she couldn’t figure out a reason to put four legs on a dead body.

She still couldn’t see the point after examining it carefully and didn’t know what creature she had encountered. The four-legged corpse made a noise and suddenly opened its eyes.

Qing Lian was shocked and leaped to the door in a flash while focusing her gaze on the corpse.

“Little girl, you better not make a move. If you damage anything, that fellow will be angry.” The voice of an old man came from behind Qing Lian, and she felt as if her hair was standing on end.

How was it possible for her not to notice when someone was so close?

Was this a man or a ghost?

Qing Lian drew her sword, turned fluidly, and stabbed the sword behind her.

Subsequently, the old man behind her kicked her in the crotch.

“Shameless!” Qing Lian shouted furiously. Her blushing face was so red that it seemed to be bleeding.

How could there be such a shameless person in this world?

Of course, a man would employ people who were similar to him. That Ren Baqian was a mean person, so likewise, the people in the academy were shameless and despicable.

Qing Lian flashed her lightning-sword three times, didn’t feel like fighting, and disappeared out of the courtyard.

After leaving, Qing Lian still felt resentful for a long time. She had never met such a shameless guy before. He was so utterly despicable that she would never let him go!

And that Ren Baqian!

The person who had appeared behind Qing Lian was none other than Li Fu. After she departed, he looked embarrassed because he had recently been kicking others out of habit and hadn’t even thought before kicking out this time.