The Empress’s Gigolo

Ren Baqian walked unhurriedly out of the Honglu Bureau with Xiong Pi and the big fellow named Gan Gu in tow. Although he looked like he was having a relaxed stroll, Ren Baqian’s mind buzzed with thoughts on how to settle the issue.

These guys were after all here to present gifts to the empress. It would not reflect well on him if they continued to fight in private. Inadequately addressing this fighting issue would leave him looking incompetent and the fighting might escalate.

The Honglu Bureau was not very far from the relay station. One only had to take a bend after exiting the bureau to reach it.

Ren Baqian could see the large crowd from a distance. Cries and cheers could also be heard.

The circle of onlookers were mainly made up of Dayao’s citizens. These burly men who had nothing better to do had transformed into an audience for this street performance, cheering and clapping away.

As he approached, Ren Baqian saw a few familiar figures as well. Ning Caichen’s small body was constantly being pushed around. After effortfully maintaining his place in the crowd for quite a while, someone took a step back and butted into him. Ning Caichen was immediately forced backwards, tottering five to six steps backwards before landing on his bum.

Ning Caichen cursed under his breath as he picked himself up. Finally realizing that he could not possibly squeeze into the crowd, he began to jump up and down like a spring.

Ren Baqian was greeted by this sight as he arrived and was reminded of the time he watched Long Wanli challenge the empress. He suddenly felt an uncanny connection with Ning Caichen which made him feel slightly distressed. The burly men from the aboriginals were such bullies.

Ning Caichen’s incessant hopping only allowed him to capture glimpses of the fight. Being particularly fond of watching bustling scenes, he felt anxious that he was missing out on something so exciting. Here was such a big one, yet he was late to arrive.

At that moment he felt someone tap him from behind. Quickly turning around, he first saw Xiong Pi’s wall-like figure directly in front of him. As he shifted his eyes downward he saw Ren Baqian staring at him with a slightly depressed look on his face.

Ning Caichen did not feel the least bit awkward. He immediately grabbed Ren Baqian and said, “Deputy Ren, they’re fighting inside. I wonder if someone had already gotten his brains smashed. Hurry, go in and take a look at the situation.”

Ren Baqian looked at Ning Caichen.

You’d really like for some brains to get spilled wouldn’t you?

We really can’t judge a book by its cover.

“Xiong Pi?” Ren Baqian turned his head and called out. Xiong Pi promptly reached out his thick arms and picked the two people in front of Ren Baqian up before placing them down by the side.

The two people felt as if they had suddenly taken flight and were about to lash out until they saw Xiong Pi’s size. All they could do after that was to give him angry glares.

With Xiong Pi paving the way, it was easy for Ren Baqian to make his way through the crowd. Ning Caichen followed behind him hurriedly, matching his movements step by step out of fear that he would be squeezed out again.

As the number of heads in front of him cleared, Ren Baqian got closer and closer to the front of the crowd. Here, he managed to see what was happening.

Contrary to his expectations, the perpetrator was not Mister Emptiness. Mister Emptiness was busy coughing up blood by the side.

Four delicate and sweet young ladies were surrounding an old man that was dressed in a black garment. Their fists and palms flew swiftly at the old man, and although he did not look injured, he remained trapped within their formation.

The four ladies were the four who were in charge of lifting the sedan chairs. This sight before Ren Baqian allowed him to ascertain with some level of confidence that the four ladies were not hired. This question had been puzzling him for days, but now he had solved it.

As for the old man dressed in black, he was an old housekeeper of the Lian family. He possessed extraordinary skill and would probably not have been trapped if the four ladies did not attack him in a coordinated manner.

Although, trapping him was all they could manage.

Heir to the Lian family, Lian Baocheng, watched the fight from the sidelines. He was displeased that the four ladies had yet to be subdued.

It was then that someone whispered something into Lian Baocheng’s ear, following which he immediately looked up and saw Xiong Pi’s enormous figure.

If this barbarian is here, then the deputy must be here too.

Lian Baocheng’s face lit up with a violent glow, “Lian Tong, kill them all.”

Everyone in the vicinity heard his words loud and clear. What a cruel person he must be to order the deaths of four young ladies the moment he opened his mouth.

Ren Baqian was momentarily stunned upon hearing what Lian Baocheng said. Ren Baqian shifted his gaze towards Lian Baocheng, only to find him looking away as if he did not see him.

But Ren Baqian had definitely seen him turning away after looking over. What’s more, Xiong Pi’s size made it impossible for them to be overlooked.

Thinking back to a few days ago when Lian Baocheng threw a fit for being placed here, Ren Baqian could not help but laugh grimly.

Is he doing this to spite me?

The fight’s condition suddenly changed. The moment Lian Baocheng said those words, Lian Tong’s attacks became much more deadly.

A delicate cry suddenly filled the air as one of the young ladies did a backwards flip. Following that, a beam of white light that stretched from her abdomen to her neck flashed brightly and her clothes split cleanly in half. The audiences were treated with an erotic sight.

Thereafter, blood began spewing out where the bright light had been.

It was then that the people in the crowd realized that Lian Tong was now holding a soft sword which had begun to snake towards the other three young ladies.

If she had not dodged in time, the first young lady who got slashed would probably have had her torso completely ripped apart.

Despite this, the injury she had just suffered was considerably heavy as well.

The four young ladies were only able to suppress an unarmed Lian Tong by coordinating their attacks. Now that they were short one person and Lian Tong had one weapon, the fight’s circumstances changed substantially. The three young ladies were beginning to feel the danger.

Within only a few moments, their bodies had accumulated quite a few more wounds.

Seeing this made Mister Emptiness cough even harder. He had progressed from politely coughing traces of blood into a handkerchief to spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Like a sharp arrow, one of these mouthfuls of blood shot out of Mister Emptiness’ mouth and flew right towards where Lian Baocheng was.

“Be careful sir!” Someone shouted out from the side. A burly man immediately unsheathed his sword to block the blood arrow.

The blood arrow lost all power upon smashing against the sword’s blade, promptly scattering into tiny droplets.

What happened next startled the entire crowd. Where the blood arrow had landed on the sword was now a melted mess. As the area continued to soften, the top half of the blade broke off and landed on the ground with a clang.

Lian Baocheng was thoroughly frightened by this sight. The thought of what the blood arrow would have done to his body made him shudder with fear.

Pale with fear, Lian Baocheng took a glance at Mister Emptiness only to see a pair of eyes filled wholly with a raw killing intent.

Ren Baqian’s face was filled with amazement.

How can that possibly be blood, surely it must be some sort of strong acid?

Human blood cannot be that corrosive, perhaps there is some super intense gastric acid mixed within it?

Ren Baqian had often heard people threaten to spit at others, but today’s events had brought that threat to a whole new level. If Mister Emptiness were to spit right at someone’s face, the consequences were highly likely to be worse than mere disfiguration.

“Kill them all, including that invalid sitting over there. I want to chop them up into a million pieces.” Lian Baocheng’s face distorted with madness.

Hearing his order, Ren Baqian knew that the show had to end. If this continued, someone’s brains really would be spilled.

Ren Baqian turned towards Xiong Pi and said darkly, “Block them. After I shout for them to stop, kill without hesitation anyone that dares to move.”

I might as well quit if I let you fools continue to cause such a ruckus in Dayao’s imperial capital.

Shortly after he spoke to Xiong Pi, Ren Baqian yelled, “Stop.”