The Empress’s Gigolo

Ren Baqian met Qing Lian the next day.

He was giving the new students a lesson when Shi Hu came in to report, “Sir, someone is looking for you. She’s a lady from Great Xia and is quite pretty.”

“Someone from Great Xia is looking for me?” Ren Baqian asked. “Did she give a reason for coming?”

“She said she has some information for you,” Shi Hu replied.

Ren Baqian looked at the time and discovered that the next lesson was coming up, so he said, “Find her a place to wait for me.”

A moment later, Shi Hu led Qing Lian to the courtyard, pointed at a spot, and said, “Please wait here.”

Then, he stood to the side as his eyes roamed all over Qing Lian’s body.

Qing Lian’s eyes twitched. They should have given her a proper room to wait in. Why was she made to stand and wait in the courtyard?

In addition, this damn rascal at the side was practically stripping her bare with his roving eyes.

Including the shameless old man that she met the day before, she confirmed that all the people in the academy were indecent.

Overall, she met two people, but since both were like this, it was a reflection of the general trend in this academy. As the saying goes, “The servants imitate their masters.” Therefore, how good could Ren Baqian be?

Furthermore, making her stand under the hot sun in the courtyard while waiting for him made her even more dissatisfied. The passage of time further aggravated the situation.

However, she was soon fascinated by a vibrant voice coming from one of the classrooms.

“Energy can’t be created or destroyed, nor can it be created out of thin air. It can only be transformed from one form into another or transferred from one object to another. In the process of the transformation or transfer, the total amount remains unchanged. The simplest example is eating, where we absorb energy from food and transform it into blood. Fighting will consume the energy in the blood, so food must be consumed after fighting to replenish the energy.”

“Teacher, the energy gained by eating food is less than the food itself. A saber-toothed tiger can attain the strength of a Kismet Heaven expert, but a Four-way Heaven expert that eats an animal at the Kismet Heaven level won’t be able to attain the Kismet Heaven level.”

Qing Lian found the dialogue in the classroom to be very interesting and subconsciously moved forward a few steps to hear more clearly.

“That is because the energy will dissipate. When the animal dies, the body loses control and the energy stored in the body will dissipate quickly, especially the energy contained in the blood. This energy will return to this world, get transferred to the air, or be absorbed by the people, animals, or plants. For example, if a corpse is buried underground, the crops above it grow exceptionally well. Energy dissipation in cells is slower. This is because cells don’t die immediately, but in batches over time. Therefore, these energies don’t dissipate immediately while the cells are still alive. However, there’s one point to note—for the cells to survive, they need energy for maintenance. As time goes by, the energy in the cells will gradually decrease. Everything in this world is made up of energy. The cells of a dead body consist of energy, which is why we can replenish our energy by eating dead animals.”

“Teacher, your explanation is disgusting,” Tong Lan protested. Although it wasn’t wrong to say that eating meat was eating dead animals, it still sounded strange.

The energy dissipation that Ren Baqian was talking about was based on research from the Messier 87 department. After getting the cadaver of an expert from Ren Baqian, the progress of the laboratory research on the energy content in the human body was very rapid. The results of the research were just perfect for his lessons.

“Another point to note is the constant consumption of energy that enables us to live. Every movement needs energy—even the simple act of breathing requires energy…”

Following this, Ren Baqian cited the examples of the steam engine and the swing to illustrate the concepts of the transformation of energy, the transfer of energy, and their impact.

Qing Lian, who was outside the classroom, was somewhat disoriented and astonished by what she heard.

The contents of his words reminded her of the relationship between the sword master and the spirit sword. The sword master used his lifespan to support the spirit sword, and the stronger the spirit sword, the faster the depletion of the sword master’s lifespan.

By using precious herbs and minerals to maintain the sword, the rate of lifespan reduction could be decreased.

As a matter of fact, this had something in common with the energy conservation theory that Ren Baqian had explained.

Although these things were already recorded by various ancestors, nobody had ever explained it like this before.

His academy wasn’t teaching the classics, astrology, government administration, or military strategies that were being taught in the institutions in Great Xia, but the fundamentals of this world! Whether it was correct or not, what he lectured about was astounding.

Disregarding his character, he has real abilities that Su Qing correctly mentioned before. This thought ran through her mind as she continued to pay close attention to his lessons.

While Ren Baqian continued teaching, Qing Lian tried her best to remember the content despite not understanding it.

Ren Baqian was only available to see her after all the morning lessons were over.

However, she wasn’t as anxious as she had been initially. On the contrary, she wanted to hear as much of the lessons as possible.

After coming out of the classroom, Ren Baqian saw a lady in white standing in the courtyard. Standing at the side was Shi Qing, who was watching her as if she was a criminal.

He waved at the two before turning to enter an office. Within two minutes, Qing Lian was brought in to see him.

Qing Lian carefully observed the man sitting in the room. This was the famous gigolo and the lover of Qi Zixiao, the Poison Warrior who killed tens of thousands in Great Xia, and the destroyer of the entire Nine Pavilions, which had been a faction of master poison users. He was also the person who had just given a lecture on some amazing stuff.

Compared to the aboriginals, he was skinny, but compared to the people of Great Xia, he was heftier. His features were sharp, and he wore a silvery blue robe with a moire pattern. His image wasn’t the same as the gigolo that she initially imagined.

Her eyes then darted to the corner of the room, and as expected, the body she saw yesterday was no longer there.

Thinking about what she saw in the wine shop the night before, she felt that there was something wrong with this place. However, she was more interested in Ren Baqian now.

While Qing Lian was observing Ren Baqian, he was also observing her. Her appearance wasn’t important—what was important were her attractive eyes, which were unforgettable.

“Please take a seat. How should I address you?” Ren Baqian asked.

“Qing Lian,” Qing Lian said casually.

“What message have you brought?”

Qing Lian retracted her gaze from the corner, took out a letter from her bosom, and put it on the table.

“The prince of Great Xia has been enthroned and is transferring internal soldiers to Tiesuo Pass. Su Qing hopes that you can defeat this Great Xia army as soon as possible because if given too much time, the recruits will cause changes once they have completed training.”

Ren Baqian opened the letter. After reading it carefully, he said, “I appreciate the effort it took to deliver this letter. If you aren’t in a hurry, you can tour Lan City for a few days.”

Qing Lian considered her options and said, “I accidentally overheard your lessons just now. Please forgive me.”

“No problem. The lectures are meant to be heard,” Ren Baqian said nonchalantly.

Qing Lian said eagerly, “I have a blunt request. Since I will be in Lan City for a few days, can I listen to your lessons at the academy? I’m willing to offer some treasures in exchange.”

Before she came, she was hoping to get some information about Ning Caichen, but now, she was more interested in the things that Ren Baqian was teaching. As for Ning Caichen… it was best to meet him, but it was also alright if she didn’t because the things taught by Ren Baqian were more important.

She felt that her request was too abrupt since even an ordinary private institution in Great Xia wouldn’t allow people to listen in at will. Furthermore, what the other party talked about was obviously very important and far better than the stuff those private institutions and colleges taught. It was unlikely that he would offer to teach her.

More importantly, Ren Baqian was a man of status—he wasn’t an ordinary man or a typical official, so ordinary things wouldn’t move him.

Despite all of this, she still wanted to give it a try.

“Oh?” Ren Baqian remarked with a spurious smile. He had no issues with it if she wanted to listen for a few days.

He was lecturing about a whole system. Using only part of this system could be useful, but it wasn’t that useful.

Unexpectedly, the other party eagerly offered treasures in exchange, so he had no reason to reject the offer.

Traveling from miles away to deliver a precious gift, where else could he find such a good deal?