The Empress’s Gigolo

Ren Baqian was returning to the palace from the school when he bumped into Shi Qing at the palace gates.

Or rather, Shi Qing was specifically waiting for him there.

“Congratulations, Sir Ren?” The wrinkles on Shi Qing’s face smoothed out as he laughed and cupped his hands at Ren Baqian.

“What’s the occasion?” Ren Baqian frowned. His mind had been occupied with many things lately, and he had already been mulling over the issues regarding [Ruyi Visualization] for a few days now.

The empress had made a conjecture a few days ago that the spiritual level of those who practiced this set of techniques would far exceed that of their peers. In fact, even their physical strength wasn’t any weaker than others. The origins of this manual were actually quite remarkable!

Ren Baqian had been mulling over this matter for the past few days!

There was another problem he was mulling over: how was he supposed to find the third volume of the manual?!

The first volume was found in the Hao Nation, whereas the second volume was from Great Xia. What about the third volume?

In reality, other than himself, the only people who could utilize the third manual were Spirit Wheel experts.

Only a Spirit Wheel expert had a spiritual level that was strong enough to practice this set of techniques.

Ren Baqian should probably try to find out more information about all the Spirit Wheel experts in this world, especially those with bizarre techniques. He would perhaps be able to get some clues from them.

Were there any Spirit Wheel experts that didn’t have a reputation? As one could well imagine, it would be extremely difficult to find out more information about all the Spirit Wheel experts in this world.

Besides this point, there was also another important reason why Ren Baqian was feeling vexed. He had been having nightmares lately!

He had recently been having dreams about an older version of Sister Feng[1.Bully meme in China] and always woke up drenched in sweat.

If this carried on, he was going to wither before he even got married!

It was said that you dream at night what you think about during the day. However, Ren Baqian had been mulling over [The Ancient Scroll of Methods] these days, so why didn’t he dream of that instead?

What sort of hatred and animosity have I gotten myself into?

I have been minding my own business! Can you stay further away from me?

“Everyone in the imperial court has been discussing Her Majesty’s marriage plans. I’m not sure what Sir Ren is worried about? Could it be that you are unhappy with something?” Shi Qing saw the worried look on Ren Baqian’s face and became a little gloomy.

Seeing that Shi Qing didn’t look very happy, Ren Baqian immediately responded, “You are mistaken, Great Elder!”

Out of everyone in the imperial court, Tong Zhenye and Shi Qing had always been the friendliest toward him.

However, that old clapper Tong Zhenye was too strong and, quite like that Whack-A-Mole game, had frequently slapped Ren Baqian into the ground.

By the looks of it, Shi Qing was the only good person in the entire imperial court. Even though Ren Baqian had destroyed the walls of his residence a number of times, Shi Qing didn’t react very strongly.

Regardless of whatever it was, Ren Baqian didn’t want to give Shi Qing any wrong impressions. If others were to mistakenly think that he was getting worried because he was about to marry the empress, they would probably stab him in the back.

He knitted his brow and pondered for a bit before pouring out his woes to Shi Qing and explaining mainly about his nightmares.

“Oh, I see.” Shi Qing stroked his beard. “However, it’s the greatest honor to be able to marry the empress. There are so many aboriginal men and all of them envy you. Just endure for a little and you will tide through this. You are such a fine man—how could you be terrified about matters related to training? Besides, they are all going to look the same in pitch darkness.”

Ren Baqian gave Shi Qing the side eye with a hidden bitterness on his face.

The things that Shi Qing said were pretty much for his own interest.

He definitely wouldn’t feel it if he wasn’t the one doing it! How about finding him six women and getting him to try it out in the darkness!

However, after giving it some careful thought, Ren Baqian truly hadn’t seen any women who looked too hideous.

In fact, aboriginal males weren’t bad looking either. They simply were very tough looking, which fulfilled the aesthetic conception of the aboriginals quite well.

Aboriginal ladies usually had extremely good figures with bodies that looked strong and healthy. Even if their looks were mediocre, their wild nature gave them very unique characteristics.

Ren Baqian really hadn’t seen any aboriginal ladies who were truly hideous.

This was probably the gifted trait of their ethnicity.

Like the Yaksha folklore, their males were extremely hideous, but their females were superbly gorgeous.

Even though the aboriginals weren’t at that level, they bore the gist of that example.

This was perhaps why Shi Qing didn’t really understand what hideousness looked like!

Ren Baqian should probably stick a few photos of ugly women on Shi Qing’s wall and see if that old stabled steed was still able to dream of running 1,000 miles at night!

“You congratulated me just now, Sir Shi?” He immediately changed the topic as he sort of guessed what happened. Since Shi Qing specifically waited for him here and congratulated him, the wedding date had most likely been set.

These days, even though Ren Baqian had been mulling over [The Ancient Scroll of Methods], he was aware that the imperial court had been making plans about his marriage to the empress.

It was probably because they were about to get married that the empress felt at a loss—she frequently threw tantrums and had a bit of a temper lately. Even though he found it amusing most of the time, it was also a little troublesome for him at times!

After all, the empress wasn’t a typical woman.

A typical woman wouldn’t be able to kill someone with her fists!

“Sir Ren, the date of your wedding with Her Majesty has already been set for March 3rd of next year. It’s nine months from now, and I’ll have to address you as prince after that.”

It had been evident to Ren Baqian, and it indeed turned out to be what he had guessed. Nine months… They had probably taken into consideration the amount of time that he and the empress would spend practicing [The Yang Boosting Technique] in the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

“Thank you for the information, Great Elder.” Ren Baqian took a deep breath and put a smile on his face.

“No problem. I just wanted to tell you that Her Majesty is the empress of Dayao and the empress of the aboriginals. Don’t hurt her!” Shi Qing warned.

“She’s my empress as well. Like what Great Elder said previously, all of the aboriginal men envy me, so how could I live in plenty and not appreciate it?”

“It better be that way. Actually, I also don’t have to be so worried—you aren’t Her Majesty’s match anyway.” Shi Qing laughed. “However, I waited for you here, not just to inform you about the wedding plans. There’s actually something else that I want to tell you.”

“Please speak, Great Elder.”

“It’s about fetching the bride… We are totally clueless and wanted to ask if you have any ideas. After all, you have great knowledge and are smarter as well,” Shi Qing said before roughly explaining to Ren Baqian how the aboriginal wedding customs usually went.

Ren Baqian didn’t know that the aboriginals actually did it this way… They actually fought their way through to fetch the bride.

With a few big guys blocking the way, Ren Baqian would have to exchange a few blows with each one of them? Could he still make it to the palace alive? The empress could probably already send him to his grave.

Even if he could actually make it to the palace alive, there was still one more big boss left: the empress. If she became bashful… That would be so unfair to him!

Ren Baqian immediately said with a serious look on his face, “We can actually have Her Majesty marry me instead. I don’t mind it at all! When that happens, you can just put on a show and try to obstruct her! In any case, I definitely wouldn’t be able to fight my way through!”

“How can that do? We aboriginals have never had such a custom before!” the Great Elder rejected resolutely.

“Rules are set by men. After it happens once, a second time will follow… Besides, who do you think I’m able to beat?” Ren Baqian stretched his arms.

If you’re capable, send some people that I can beat! Then, tie the empress up and wait for me to receive her!

Shi Qing knitted his eyebrows and sighed before continuing, “I know that you are full of ideas and have all sorts of odd items—that’s why I asked you for your opinion. However, it’s too unconforming to our customs to let Her Majesty marry you!”

“If Her Majesty and I bear a child, what will his or her family name be? Ren or Qi?” Ren Baqian countered with a question.

“Qi of course! Regardless of male or female, the child will be the successor to the throne!” Shi Qing answered without hesitation.

It was just as Ren Baqian expected.

No matter what, the child would be the successor to the throne and could never take Ren as their family name. Even Ren Baqian himself was certain that it would turn out this way.

Of course, he didn’t mind this at all.

In any case, the child would still be the offspring of him and the empress.

Plus, the child could surely take up the family name Ren on Earth and Qi in Dayao.

Alternatively, they could have two children and choose one that would take Ren as their family name.

However, Ren Baqian had some reservations about this. According to his observations, the fertility rate of the aboriginals seemed very low, far lower than that of the people in Great Xia or the Yun Nation.

For instance, many of the civilians in Great Xia or the Yun Nation would have around five children.

After all, there wasn’t any sort of entertainment at night, so they would make love since there was nothing else to do!

However, most aboriginal families only had one or two children with three being the maximum!

One interesting fact about the experts in other nations was that they also didn’t have many children! For instance, the experts in Tianjing Basin had very few children. Unless they had around 18 other concubines, they could probably have around ten descendants during their entire lifespan of over 100 years if they tried very hard to reproduce.

Such situations made Ren Baqian theorize that the stronger the person, the harder it was for them to bear a child! As such, he had zero confidence in bearing more than one child with the empress.

“Since it’s going to be like that, what else is there to consider? My suggestion is definitely viable!” Ren Baqian replied confidently before leaving the angered Shi Qing and walking back to the palace.