The Empress’s Gigolo

Learning is a form of vision.

Many people cannot see the value of learning.

The more ignorant the people, the more backward the place, the more this is so.

On Earth, there are families who let their children quit school to work. This happens mostly in remote areas due to financial difficulties or due to a lack of vision.

In Dayao, this was more like the case.

They were accustomed to talking with their fists, so their concept of learning was to learn martial arts. Learning to read and write was only slightly beneficial.

The things that Ren Baqian taught weren’t taken seriously before that public competition.

However, a nuclear bomb let these musclehead aboriginals learn the value of education.

That very night, Xi Wanya sought out Ren Baqain and wanted to enroll his son for the next batch of students.

Ren Baqian accepted this with great enthusiasm.

The people of this world were different from the ancient people of Earth; the descendants of experts were more likely to be talented and therefore had a higher probability of becoming senior officials. Letting them attend the academy was greatly beneficial for raising the standard of higher education in Dayao.

With a government official like Xi Wanya sending his child to the academy, the status of the academy would naturally be elevated in the eyes of the other officials and citizens, and “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

“If there are any outstanding people in your villages, you can send them to me. The next period of enrollment is at the beginning of next year, and it’s best to get to Lan City before the new year,” Ren Baqian said to some of the other Cardinal Heaven expert.

“Sir Ren, thank you very much.” They nodded as they considered which youngsters in their villages were the most suitable.

Although Ren Baqian wasn’t very powerful, after seeing the power of the nuclear bomb, they didn’t dare to underestimate him.

Not to mention that Ren Baqian had said modestly, “This is only a small fellow, the real big fellow is 10,000 times more powerful. Just one is enough to make a whole city disappear.”

The other bomb in his hands was twice as big as this one and a few times more powerful.

“I want people with intelligence and a good work ethic. These are the most important. As for martial arts skills, that’s the icing on the cake and good to have, but it doesn’t matter,” Ren Baqian reminded.

As they hesitated, one of them grinned and asked sincerely, “What is the icing on the cake?”

Ren Baqian’s mouth twitched. It was better to use plain language with them and not to use idioms if possible.

“You select the people and then look for Xi Wanya to send them to Lan City,” Ren Baqian said after a pause.

He didn’t doubt that they could find Xi Wanya.

Anyway, they were all Cardinal Heaven experts.

Furthermore, Xi Wanya needed their help for his next project. The empress was here, so they sincerely came from afar to greet her. If the empress wasn’t here, they might not have come here to give them face.

Sending escorts to bring the village youths was seen as granting a favor and made it easier for Xi Wanya to ask for help when needed. After all, those youths that came out first had some relationship with him or were very promising.

Sending them to Lan City was neither a small matter nor a big matter.

“Sir Xi, please arrange for guards to escort these buddies from the village if they want to go to Lan City,” Ren Baqian told Xi Wanya.

Xi Wanya cupped his hands in acknowledgement.

He was very experienced from being the commander of a protectorate and much sharper than others.

Looking at them, he said, “Look for me when the time comes.”

The other experts nodded and said, “We will rely on you when it is time.”

…

Everyone stayed for three days when they reached the Ya family village. The empress settled some matters and went to the graveyard again.

As for that stretch of lost history, both Ren Baqian and the empress didn’t mention it again.

They only handed over to Xi Wanya the information they knew about the herdsmen and some matters related to the foregn races.

His next mission was to build a new protectorate before delving deep into the Sixty Thousand Mountains to search for the herdsmen as well as any traces of the foreign races. Any discoveries needed to be reported immediately.

In addition, the Ministry of Revenue sent staff to register all the villages in the Sixty Thousand Mountains. Any villages that wanted to relocate or do any other things had to put it on record.

This was also to bring these aboriginal villages in the Sixty Thousand Mountains under the rule of law.

Although Dayao had laws, they had little binding force on those in the Sixty Thousand Mountains as the situation here was complex and hard for the court to control.

In fact, it was unknown how many villages there were in the depths of the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

Although these villages knew of the existence of the court, communication was difficult and the influence of the court was tenuous since these villages were beyond the control of the imperial court.

Not many people took it seriously.

Only those near the periphery and the central region came under the influence of the court, and this influence gradually decreased in proportion to the distance from Ya City.

The further away from the city, the lower the influence.

In the future, this should not be the case.

Not only should all the aboriginals be registered, but a garrison army also had to be formed and roads had to be built that connected the Sixty Thousand Mountains to the outside world.

At the very least, roads should extend to the central regions of the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

However, this was a huge and slow-moving project.

Furthermore, the cost of infrastructure maintenance was much higher here than in the plains outside.

Three days later, Ren Baqian and the empress set out with 2,500 winged cavalry warriors to return to home.

“Elder Brother, I request that you come back to Lan City. After all, you are the only close relative that I have.” The empress, dressed in red, stood there talking to Qi Ziting.

Qi Ziting had been driven out of Lan Cty previously.

That was the reason she requested for him to come back.

“I’m not going. I’m very interested in the foreign races and wonder what kind of experts they have!” Qi Ziting exposed his white teeth as he grinned happily.

He looked at Ren Baqian and said to the empress, “All men are bad. You better be careful with this fellow. Report to me if he misbehaves, and I will break his legs.”

Ren Baqian felt like telling Qi Ziting that he was also scolding himself. Weren’t his two legs cut off previously?

“He doesn’t have the courage.” The empress was very clear about Ren Baqian—he was just a cowardly thief.

However, Ren Baqian felt that his self-esteem was hurt.

Should he be more daring?

He had heard that some of the newcomers at the brothels were Earth Wheel experts…

“Let’s go! Go back early since those people are getting impatient. I need to get in touch with those who are coming with me to go deep in the mountains.” Qi Ziting waved his hands cheerfully.

“This is the duty of Commander Xi now.”

“I know, and I will inform him of any incidents. I won’t be sending you off because I am leaving now.” Qi Ziting waved his hands, pivoted on his crutches, and flew to the back like a big bird.

Xi Wanya came forward and said, “Your Majesty, I can’t escort you very far.”

The empress became less cheerful after Qi Ziting left. She waved her hands and replied, “This place is different from Tianjing Basin, the environment is complex, and you will need to put in more effort in order to not let me down.”

“I will do my best!” Xi Wanya replied loudly.

“Let’s go!” The empress was on the back of Qishui in a flash.

“Sir Ren, I will have to trouble you to deliver this letter to my son.” Xi Wanya handed a letter to Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian accepted the letter without saying anything, took his leave, and jumped on the crow general to catch up with the empress.

One month later, everyone finally left Jianbing Forest, and Ya City could be seen in the distance.

New mounts for the winged cavalry warriors were already prepared for them here.

Besides the winged cavalry warriors without mounts, the newly recruited winged cavalry warriors needed to replace their mounts.

After all, it was impossible for an army to have all kinds of assorted mounts.