Chapter 877 - A “Concerned Look” for the Empress

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Du Mengyang and Ling Du still couldn’t imagine what had just happened when they walked out of the Rearguard Commandery.

The two first went to Black Bamboo Academy and then to the Honglu Bureau to look for Ren Baqian. After that, they ended up getting taken to the Rearguard Commandery.

It was a courtyard in the corner of the Beihong District.

Of course, this wasn’t important at all. The important thing was what Ren Baqian said.

Before Du Mengyang and Ling Du came, they learned from Qing Lian that Ren Baqian didn’t choose them for their fighting abilities.

After all, the aboriginals were a race of fighters. Almost all of the officials in the imperial court were Cardinal Heaven experts, who were better than or equivalent to ordinary Spirit Wheel experts.

Most of the Spirit Wheel experts in the Yun Nation and Great Xia weren’t part of the imperial court; only a very small number of them would join and earn an official’s salary. After all, with this level of strength, it was enough for them to dominate. As long as they didn’t do anything to provoke others, no one would easily provoke them either. Why did they have to take orders from the imperial court?

However, in Dayao, the most powerful ones were all part of the imperial court. Nearly every Cardinal Heaven expert held an official title. (No one knew how many Cardinal Heaven experts there were in the Sixty Thousand Mountains, not even the empress.)

Under these circumstances, why would the aboriginals care about combat power that could only be obtained at the expense of a shorter lifespan?

This was also why Du Mengyang and Ling Du were excited.

None of the sword masters enjoyed fighting because the price they paid was their longevity!

This was so much so that they wanted to break away from hiding in the wilderness since they would often run into danger in those places. Their lifespan would also be consumed with each use of their spirit swords.

As such, even with a Spirit Wheel level of strength, most of them didn’t consider themselves as either Spirit Wheel experts or ordinary people. They were just a group that was separated from the outside world.

Being able to obtain the materials that they needed without having to fight, stay in the wilderness, or do all sorts of random stuff was a dream come true for many sword masters.

However, Du Mengyang and Ling Du found Ren Baqian’s request unexpected.

Study!

He wanted them to study and wanted to monitor their progress!

This wasn’t a demand. They could simply skim through the books or even pick a subject that they liked.

According to Ren Baqian, if they passed, they could eventually choose to become teachers at the school or researchers. This was also something unexpected for them.

Du Mengyang and Ling Du were taken to a courtyard next to the Honglu Bureau.

After closing the door, Du Mengyang said, “Somehow, I still find it a little strange!”

“Me too!” Ling Du replied.

“That Zhao Prince Consort spent so much effort to find us just to do this? If the aboriginals originally lacked such people, what sort of people could they not find after having already conquered the Yun Nation? Why did he have to seek us?” Du Mengyang couldn’t understand what Ren Baqian was doing.

Ling Du felt the same as well and replied after pondering for a bit, “Even though Qing Lian said that he was credible, her current status might not be reassuring. We aren’t the same as them. We live in the wilderness all the time and rarely deal with people. We aren’t adept at crafty plots, and I’m afraid that we might fall into a trap.

Since we are here, let’s just stay for a while. It will not take long. We shall then see what he has up his sleeve.

Anyway, I have confidence in my memory. If I hadn’t become a sword slave back then, I would probably have become a scholar.”

“I passed the examinations when I was 16, but had no choice except to give up everything after becoming a sword slave. Sometimes, I really find that being a sword slave is a curse,” Du Mengyang replied angrily.

In fact, it wasn’t only the two of them who felt this way. All of the sword masters were literate and well read.

After all, if they weren’t well read, how would they know where different materials were located?

It was the same for their literacy.

Regardless of whether they were martial arts experts or sword masters, all of them were literate. If a martial arts expert couldn’t even understand a manual, how would they be able to practice? The first prerequisite of practicing martial arts was to be literate.

In this era, they were definitely a rare group of highly educated people.

Of course, there was an exception for the Man Wheel experts who were trained out of the martial arts and those who were highly talented.

There was an exception for the aboriginals as well!

They were a race of highly talented people.

…

“Your Majesty, there is something interesting today!” Ren Baqian laughed as he hugged the empress’s waist.

He thought of the letter that he read in the afternoon and felt that it was interesting.

She twitched her nose and suddenly said, “I smell a woman’s scent.”

The empress then stared at Ren Baqian and demanded, “What’s your explanation?!”

“How’s that possible?” Ren Baqian chuckled. He had been at the academy and the Rearguard Commandery the entire day—how could he have met a woman?

Her face immediately turned gloomy.

At the sight of this, Ren Baqian immediately realized that things were about to turn nasty. He hurriedly let go of the empress and gestured for a pause before walking in circles and racking his brain.

It was said that she was a little temperamental these days!

Could it be that even she wasn’t spared from the hormonal changes caused by pregnancy?

This thought flashed across Ren Baqian’s mind, but he immediately cast it aside and thought hard about how that scent got on him.

By right, a slight touch shouldn’t leave a scent on him, and the empress couldn’t have smelled it.

Could it be that she was deceiving herself?

Could she have become more paranoid due to the effects of estrogen? That couldn’t be it, right?

However, Ren Baqian wasn’t sure about it either.

He had never been pregnant before, so how would he know? It seemed like he should employ a gynecologist at home in the future so that he could ask questions from time to time.

“I have been at the academy and the Rearguard Commandery the entire day. The bodyguards can vouch for this, and they wouldn’t dare to lie to you!” He spread his hands and smiled relaxedly.

“Do you mean that you dare to lie to me?” The empress’s face turned even more gloomy.

“I dare not!” Ren Baqian replied gently.

“So explain how you got that scent on your body?” Her eyes began to give off an ominous glint, and the temperature of the surrounding air dropped.

He was speechless.

What was he supposed to say? He felt even more maligned than Dou E! 1

“I really didn’t…” Ren Baqian was momentarily at a loss for words, and his entire head was perspiring. He didn’t do anything wrong, but the empress insisted that he did. How was he supposed to explain!

Unexpectedly, she suddenly laughed, causing the atmosphere in the hall to become lively again.

“Just teasing you. There was this scene in a soap opera that I was watching recently—I just wanted to see how you would react!” Her face was full of smiles, and her nose was slightly wrinkled, which made her look very cute and playful.

However, Ren Baqian felt that it wasn’t funny at all. He was so frightened and anxious that he was drenched in sweat.

“Your Majesty, watch less of them. Those things are the cause of ruin!” He smiled bitterly.

The empress laughed gently and didn’t speak. As he approached, her eyes suddenly turned cold, and she swatted her hand over.

“You still argue that you didn’t lie?”

Ren Baqian was stupefied and rolled a dozen times on the floor.

A divine light struck him all of a sudden.

“Damn it! I have been set up!” He leaped up and tore off his outerwear, looking closely at the back of it.

After sniffing it carefully for a while, Ren Baqian finally detected a trace.

He cautiously backed off ten meters away from the empress and tossed the outerwear to her, even though this distance was merely a split second away to her.

“Your Majesty, check if it’s about 13 centimeters below the collar on the back.” Ren Baqian’s face started to turn black.

As the empress sniffed, an ominous glint shot out from her eyes.

She then suppressed it and demanded, “Explain. What happened?”

It was indeed that,” Ren Baqian thought to himself.

“Tong Lan and Shi Gan patted me on the back as I was leaving the school.”

“This isn’t Tong Lan’s scent!” The ominous glint surged in her eyes.

Ren Baqian already understood what had happened by now and continued, “I punished Tong Lan with washing the toilet for beating up her junior. However, I’m not sure how she got the rouge to plant on my back! Those two b*stards! You guys better be prepared to wash the toilet until you graduate!”

He was so angry this time that he gritted his teeth.

He then looked at the empress and felt that she really had some problems…

“What is that look for?” She stared back at him. The gloom on her face had already cleared up a little.

“A concerned look for Your Majesty! I’m your husband—who would I care for apart from you?” Ren Baqian was drenched in cold sweat again. If he were to say that he was showing concern for someone with a mental disorder, they would probably be commemorating the anniversary of his death on this day next year.

No way. He definitely needed to go back and consult a doctor. He wouldn’t be able to live life properly if this continued!

Footnotes:

Ch 877 Footnote 1

A Chinese opera character in the Yuan dynasty who was maligned.