Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ren Baqian distributed the binoculars, night vision devices, and another type of token that was to be given to the Tiqi. These tokens were for the rest of them to distribute to their subordinates. These tokens were also black and were filled with animal patterns on both sides. There weren’t any words written on them.
After everyone left, Ren Baqian instructed Zuo Leng and six others,
“Look for a temporary residence for the Rearguard Commandery to handle their affairs from. After gathering the information, get someone to sort it all out before delivering it to me.
In addition, check out what’s going on in the Wang Estuary and Ghost Ridge. You guys follow and see if anyone is guilty of any misconduct or suspected of disclosing any information. It’s better to kill the innocent than to let anyone who is guilty slip by!”
Everyone’s hearts tightened. Even now, Ren Baqian still had yet to completely trust them.
However, that was very normal. After all, there was a spy among them previously who even tried to assassinate Ren Baqian. As such, among the remaining people, it was improbable that they all thought alike.
After Ren Baqian finished speaking and saw that everyone understood, he instructed, “Everyone, take your leave.”
Ren Baqian then adjusted his clothes and strolled toward the courtyard. All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks. He saw a young lady sitting in the courtyard and staring into space.
It was the fool he brought back from Earth.
These days, the guards didn’t have anything to report about her. Their concern was limited to feeding her so that she didn’t starve. Apart from this, they nearly forgot the existence of such a person.
Currently, Wang Baobao had already changed into a new set of clothes. She wasn’t wearing that set of soiled clothes previously. Instead, she was wearing a top and a pleated skirt that was commonly worn among the female in Tianjing Basin.
She was sitting quietly and her eyes were focused on the ground. It was unknown to what she was looking at.
Ren Baqian walked over and glanced in the direction that she was staring at. He then discovered that two insects, which resembled the rhinoceros beetle, were dueling with each other.
“Have you recalled anything?” Ren Baqian stood in front of her and asked faintly.
There wasn’t any reaction from her.
“Who changed your clothes for you?” Ren Baqian asked again.
Wang Baobao looked up and stared at him. Her eyes were lifeless. Soon after, she lowered her head again and looked at a couple of insects.
“Guards!” Ren Baqian shouted.
“Sir Ren!”
“Who changed her clothes?” This was the main issue Ren Baqian wanted to know.
“Miss Qing Yuan! She felt that what the girl was wearing previously didn’t look good and got a new set of clothes for her to change into.”
“Oh, that’s fine then.” Ren Baqian waved him off and took a quick look at Wang Baobao before turning to leave.
From beginning to end, Wang Baobao didn’t respond to him at all.
Upon arriving at the empress’s room, Ren Baqian saw that the empress was resting on the bed. The door was open and both Qing Yuan and Hong Luan were nowhere to be seen.
Seeing this, Ren Baqian didn’t bother her. He waited in the courtyard for a long time before she got finally got out of bed.
“Your Majesty!” Ren Baqian stood at the door and cupped his hands in obeisance. The empress was seated on the bed and slightly groggy, but soon enough, she was fully awake.
“Is everything fine?” the empress asked gently as she walked outside to experience the weather.
“I’m here to see Your Majesty.” Ren Baqian smiled. He then continued, “Has Your Majesty visited the Wang Estuary yet?”
“I went out of the city to relieve some boredom and saw two people behaving furtively. As a result, I casually killed them.” The empress down played the situation.
“Your Majesty, you have changed!” Ren Baqian lamented.
Your Majesty, you have learned how to lie and have become so prideful! You weren’t like this in the past.
How could those two punks arrive outside the city together? Plus, behaving furtively? Who would believe those words?
The empress’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes immediately narrowed, giving off the vibe that she would nail him to the wall if he didn’t explain himself.
Ren Baqian broke out in cold sweat, immediately changed his tone, and explained “Your Majesty, your presence is becoming more and more astonishing. Under Your Majesty’s hands, even a Spirit Wheel expert is akin to a mere blade of grass. Naturally, you can regard them as grass with your strength. It’s such an achievement to be able to attain your level at such a young age. Thus, I wonder how much more you will achieve in the future. With such a thought, I’m already anticipating it.”
The empress raised her head and pondered. She also didn’t know what else would she achieve.
“Your Majesty, are you injured?” Ren Baqian was deeply concerned.
“Those two people were easy targets for me,” the empress said indifferently.
“That’s even better. In the future, if there is no need, you don’t have to worry about these kinds of people. If you take action every single time, then what is the use of having imperial officials and soldiers?”
“You guys are too slow!” The empress was enthusiastic about his reply. “I feel like returning to the palace.”
“If you are feeling bored, perhaps you can return to Lan City first? Both General Xi and the winged cavalry are here, so I reckon that there will not be any problems,” Ren Baqian said softly.
“We’ll talk about it later,” the empress replied in a cool manner. She continued walking in the courtyard and arrived in front of a bunch of flowers that she didn’t recognize. The flowers were pink, very fine, and looked absolutely beautiful.
“I feel that this is more suitable for Your Majesty!” Ren Baqian picked the biggest flower in the courtyard, one that was much bigger than his palm.
“It’s too big!” The empress somewhat despised that flower.
“It’s better for a guy to be more romantic!” Ren Baqian laughed mischievously.
The empress didn’t catch his hint, however, and continued to stare at the flowers in front of her. After a while, she lifted her feet and walked outside.
Ren Baqian accompanied the empress and walked around the city. During this period, they ran into many people from the Rearguard Commandery. Some were heading toward the south, while others were traveling north.
Upon seeing both Ren Baqian and the empress, everyone hurriedly got off their mounts and greeted them. They only continued with their journey after the duo left.
It was many people’s first time meeting the empress, and her appearance took their breaths away.
…
Another day passed. A flock of sheep and a herd of cows were sent to Jiangbei City. This situation actually helped the generals and made the soldiers feel rejuvenated. At long last, they wouldn’t have to rely on eating vegetables anymore.
Although it wasn’t bad to consume vegetables occasionally, it was really unbearable to eat them every single day.
Accompanied by the reinforcements from the Protectorate of the South, practically all the available soldiers had been sent out.
There were already 9,000 soldiers from the Protectorate of the South and 700 winged cavalry warriors in Jiangbei City. These soldiers would be facing off against more than 250,000 to 300,000 enemies coming from the south.
Even though more than half of them were recruits, the pressure on them wasn’t small at all.
Not only must they win, but the aboriginals also need to eliminate the rebels while simultaneously minimizing casualties.
Their only advantage was that they could outclass the enemy forces with their high-end strength.
After their opponents lost two of their Spirit Wheel experts, the rebels were only left with seven of them.
In addition to this, there was also a group of people, namely Li Mengyuan, Xu Pingzhi, Yao Zhengyan, and their family, which totaled to to 67 people.
Previously, in Great Xia, the three of them had been captured by Li Qianqiu and forced to lead the way. In order to survive, they simply relied on Li Qianqiu for help. Later on, they even pleaded with Li Qianqiu to capture their families and bring them along. After returning to Dayao, they were left behind in a small city along the way.
If they were in Lan City, where the laws were stricter, the lives of these foreigners would definitely be better. In particular, the foreigners in Lan City were the ones dispatched by the influential families that controlled businesses.
Conversely, in the small cities, apart from a few unscrupulous businessmen, there were almost no foreigners present. The inhabitants of the smaller cities were extremely repulsed by foreigners.
As such, the lives of those Great Xia expatriates could be imagined, and they must have been mistreated everywhere. Moreover, they had to endure in silence because they would only suffer a beating if the Dayao aboriginals were lenient. In the worst case scenario, these displaced Great Xia people would even lose their lives.
They practically didn’t dare to step outside of their doors at all.
Since they were captured and moved over here, how many valuables could they have actually brought with them? In no time, they used up whatever they had. Not only did they not have any land, but they also didn’t know how to graze livestock and were shunned at the same time.
If this continued, these Great Xia people would probably have starved to death in less than two months.
The three scholars were also blamed by their families in private. Back then, the three of them should have sacrificed their own lives instead of dragging all of their families with them.
Such condemnation made it very difficult for the three of them to even say anything.
Just when they were discussing whether they should escape back to Great Xia and find a small village where they could conceal their identities, the order from Ren Baqian gave everyone a glimpse of hope.
Previously, Ren Baqian saw the three of them at the Rearguard Commandery.
He saw that they were suntanned, emaciated, and wearing patchwork clothes.
“The three of you look miserable!” Ren Baqian couldn’t help but to comment. With regard to their situation, he had actually heard bits and pieces from various people. However, never did he expect them to be in such a miserable state.
“Sir, if you have any commands, we will not hesitate to go through water or tread on fire for you. We only request a place for our families to settle down,” the three men promptly declared in loud voices with their gazes filled with hope and respect.
These were gazes that saw hope again after hope had been wiped out by reality.
“You guys were scholars in Great Xia?” First of all, Ren Baqian had to clarify this.
“Yes! Originally, we came out to travel before the imperial examination, but various things happened after.” As the three men recollected their memories, they looked as if they couldn’t bear to recall them.
“What are you guys well-versed in?” Ren Baqian asked.
“The classics, history, mathematics, and so on, ” the three of them responded.
“What is 156 + 611 – 203 – 204?” Ren Baqian casually asked.
Among them, a small and thin guy answered, “Sir, the answer is 360.
“What’s your name?” Since his arrival in this world, this was the first time he finally met someone who could add and subtract. He felt that he had discovered talented individuals.
“Sir, I’m Yao Zhengyan.”
“And the two of you?” Ren Baqian asked as he looked at the other two guys.
“We are Li Mengyuan and Xu Pingzhi!” the two of them anxiously answered. The three of them were speaking very humbly. In Great Xia, their knowledge was considered to be superior among the young people. Thus, they were naturally a little arrogant. However, after going through this series of events, that arrogance had been worn away long ago.
“For now, the three of you shall work in the Rearguard Commandery and are responsible for sorting out all kinds of collected information. Anyone that does his job well will be promoted. As for your families, I’ll appoint someone to make arrangements for you guys,” Ren Baqian said with a straight face.
Deep inside, he knew that these three people were useful. After all, the three of them could no longer return to Great Xia and were at their wit’s end. In this aspect, they were actually more reliable than the people in Tianjing Basin.
“Many thanks, Sir!” The trio immediately bowed deeply to express their gratefulness.
The three men almost burst into tears. Finally, they were able to find a place to take shelter.
