The Empress’s Gigolo

“What did Sir Ren teach today?” Tong Zhenye casually asked Tong Lan during dinner as he was somewhat curious about what Ren Baqian would talk about.

Deep down, he accepted the fact that Ren Baqian had lots of good stuff. No matter if it was the cement, red bricks, glass factory, or even the solar furnace, they were indeed very useful. Ren Baqian took all these items out seemingly at will, and nobody knew how many more things he still had up his sleeves.

At the very least, the glittering colorful lights that he saw at Yangxin Palace Hall these past two days were not known to him before. Neither were the two standing floor lamps nor the sofa, all which were on display at Yangxin Palace Hall. In addition, there was the laptop which Tong Lan said could produce sounds. There was also the ice making machine, which really added up to too many things.

This was the reason why he sent his favorite granddaughter to the Black Bamboo Academy.

“I don’t know, he was talking endlessly without getting to the point.” Tong Lan curled her lips. Most of the things Ren Baqian said today she had not understood, but since nobody asked, how could she ask? After all, she was a genius!

“Could you tell me what he said?” Tong Zhengye asked again.

“He said they were useless and if they went home, they would be kept as pets for their whole lives. Learning at the Black Bamboo Academy was their only hope.” Tong Lan consciously excluded herself from them.

“There was this silly youth who was disgruntled, and he fell to the ground after being sprayed with some stuff from a rod that good-for-nothing had. After which, he was kicked out of the academy.” Tong Lan giggled again.

Tong Zhengye nodded his head as what Ren Baqian said was correct in some aspects. Those not-so-talented children were left unattended at home and unable to progress in cultivation. In the future, they wouldn’t be of much use besides taking up a monthly allowance and breeding the next generation.

“He also said that he will be teaching us four subjects. Also, he will be teaching us how to read with characters that are different from what we know now,” Tong Lan said.

“Oh? How are they different?” Tong Zhengye asked with great interest.

The people nearby listened avidly to the conversation but didn’t say anything.

At the very least, Tong Zhengye had praised Ren Baqian a few times in his residence, and this made the Tong Family’s opinion of Ren Baqian differ from the general view outside.

“He said the Great Xia language was too cumbersome to use and would teach us a simpler and easily transmissible language.” As told by Ren Baqian, Tong Lan then told her family about how it would be used by people to read the news.

“It would include major news about the nation’s events or even minor news such as grandfather fighting with Sir Qin at the brothel last night,” Tong Lan said in great detail. Immediately, the whole hall became absolutely silent.

Everyone had an odd expression on their face.

“Cough, cough!” Tong Zhengye choked. He deeply pondered about the news that Ren Baqian talked about, but it didn’t make much sense because it was similar to a bulletin board.

“What else did he mention?” Tong Zhengye continued asking.

“He would also teach three other subjects: mathematics, physics, and chemistry. He said physics was about the structure and laws of the world whereas chemistry was the study of the composition of materials and the making of new materials. These two were called natural sciences.”

The expression of Tong Zhengye turned serious after Tong Lan said this.

Tong Lan didn’t know what that meant, but Tong Zhengye immediately noticed that something was amiss. According to those words, what Ren Baqian wanted to say was clearly, “The theory of all living things and the way of nature.” Wasn’t this encompassing all of the reasoning of everything in the universe?

If this was the case, what Ren Baqian mentioned would make these people somewhat shocked.

Was what he said really the truth? How did he say it?

Tong Zhengye thought deeply for a moment and said,” Note down what he says daily and bring it back for grandfather to see.”

“Yes!” Tong Lan pouted her mouth. It was too troublesome to take notes.

She felt she was in big trouble.

On this day, many people were talking to each other and many didn’t take notice of what Ren Baqian said at the beginning. After listening to others, however, his message was etched in their minds.

After all, Ren Baqian’s words were too incredible. What he said included studying the structure of the world, the composition of materials, the worldly laws, and the production of new materials. No matter how they listened, these concepts weren’t anything ordinary. The theory of all living things and the way of nature made many people think of the legendary heavenly law.

There was no way they wouldn’t care about what he said.

…

At this time, the empress was slouching on the sofa while Ren Baqian was sitting on a stool outside Yangxin Palace Hall. He was facing a bonfire and above him was a shelf.

Ren Baqian was spit-roasting a mutton leg. He was twirling a pole with one hand, while the other hand would cut off a slice of the mutton leg from time to time.

Ren Baqian had always thought that all problems could be resolved after a barbeque. Even if it still couldn’t be resolved, two barbeques would be enough to do so.

However, there were no mutton skewers over in this world, so he had to depend on himself.

He slowly roasted the mutton for about two hours. Earlier on, the aroma had already wafted into Yangxin Palace Hall and reached the nose of the empress. She took a sniff, raised her head to take a look in the direction of the doorway, and continued to watch a television series.

Just as the empress was about to run out of patience, Ren Baqian brought in a pot which exuded a very fragrant aroma of roasted meat and caused people to salivate from even a meter away.

As for the guards stationed outside Yangxin Palace Hall, they looked anguished since that man had been roasting meat right under their eyes for more than two hours. These two guards were practically tormented by having to smell the tantalizing aroma.

Ren Baqian and the empress sat facing each other at a small table. He poured her a cup of wine before pouring one for himself.

It wasn’t acceptable to eat barbecued meat without wine.

There were also two plates of fruit by the side to offset the greasiness of the meat.

The empress swallowed two big pieces of meat into her stomach, drank a cup of wine, and asked casually, “I heard that something happened on the first day of school.”

The empress had known about this earlier but only asked him about it now.

“Jade is worthless if not polished, and people will not be upright if not disciplined. Set a precedent and they will be easier to control later on,” Ren Baqian cheerfully answered. Even though those rascals weren’t talented, only a few of them were well-behaved. It was necessary to discipline them from the start or else it would be hard to control them in the future.

“Oh!” The empress nodded her head in agreement.

“I reckon someone will make a complaint tomorrow!” Ren Baqian continued saying.

“Hmph!” The empress said coldly, “They dare to?”

Ren Baqian gave her a thumbs-up. He liked her domineering ways.

Who was considered a behind-the-scenes supporter? This was it! No matter what he did, those who dared to raise objections would get a beating from her.

“I am very happy to hear that you talked about the theory of all living things,” the empress said in a flat but delighted tone.

This was because she knew the words Ren Baqian wanted to say were very important to the development of Dayao and were the foundation of the world he came from.

She was very happy that Ren Baqian was willing to impart this knowledge to others.

Because she was the empress of Dayao, her vision of the future was not confined to one family or one land.

“I’ve said this before, I want Dayao to transform into what you envision.” Ren Baqian proposed a toast from afar, then drank it in one gulp.

On hearing this, the corners of the empress’s eyes lifted.

Ren Baqian took out a blue flower from his sleeves at an opportune time and put it on the tabletop.

“Many flowers have withered recently and only this flower is still blooming. As such, I feel that it is just like you, as you’ll never wither. When the other flowers are in full bloom, it stands out among all of them. When the other flowers wither, it’s the only flower that remains.”

The empress picked up the flower to take a look, pinned it on her clothes, and said gently, “This flower is called Qing Yang. It will only wither during the cloudy season and then bloom again afterward.”

“When this flower withers, even Heaven is quite unwilling to let it go. As a result, Heaven shed tears. And when it blooms again, Heaven rejoices,” Ren Baqian continued after the empress spoke.

He conveniently praised himself in his heart as coaxing his own girlfriend needed a lot of effort.

Seeing that the empress wrinkled her nose, Ren Baqian knew from her body language that she was very happy.

Wrinkling her nose indicated that she was in a good mood while raising her eyebrows indicated that she wanted to kill someone.

When the empress was happy, he was happy too because emotions could be contagious.

This applied to both happiness and sadness.

Seeing that exquisite face, which was full of heroic spirit once the coldness was dispelled, coupled with her unique face and charm, Ren Baqian felt that if he could live to 200 years old, he would definitely pamper her for another 176 years.

The other 24 years was the time he spent before he came to this world.

(Ren Baqian didn’t realize that according to the time on Earth, he was already 26 years old. This is because two Chinese New Years had passed by on Earth. However, he assumed that he was only 25 years old.)