Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
With one hand, Ren Baqian held the hand of the empress. With the other hand, he carried a stack of boxes that were tied together. A large number of cakes, candies, and wine were packed inside.
As the light began to warp, the view of the palace bedroom in front of them became dim.
Subsequently, they saw a bespectacled lady in armor standing a short distance in front of them. She cupped her fists and greeted, “Your Majesty.”
The pair of red alloy framed glasses enhanced the femininity of Xin Zhe.
“Why are you waiting here?” the empress asked, set her hand free from Ren Baqian, cut the string that tied the boxes together, and opened the box at the top, which was full of candy.
“Your Majesty, Great Xia has invaded again!” Xin Zhe said solemnly.
Great Xia had been preparing for a few months, and the empress had known about it. Even Hong Wu had started preparing, so the empress wasn’t surprised to hear this news.
The empress, who was about to grab a bunch of candy, paused and took a piece of Dove chocolate. She slowly unwrapped it, popped it into her mouth, and turned to ask, “When did it happen and how’s the situation?”
“The Great Xia army left Tiesuo Pass last night and crossed the border. They fiercely attacked Ping City, Shun City, and Ziyue City this morning,” Xin Zhe reported.
“Tell the General-in-Chief who Supports the Nation to be more careful,” the empress said.
At this time the previous year, they had no idea how Great Xia managed to persuade Lu Pinghai to attack Hong Wu. This time, Hong Wu was still their main target.
As long as Hong Wu was alright, the Protectorate of the North wouldn’t fall into chaos.
The 20,000 aboriginal soldiers defending the cities were enough to take on the attacking army of 500,000.
“Furthermore, the Chen Nation also intensified their attack this morning,” Xin Zhe added.
“Can’t they sit still? The Chen Nation is only a small country that’s better at naval warfare than land warfare. What can they do?” The empress laughed coldly and ordered, “Xin Zhe, go and set Tong Zhenye and Qin Chuan free. Then, proceed to get all the senior officials to come to court to discuss state affairs in two hours.”
“Your Majesty, Great Xia is primarily seeking revenge this time and is also trying to save the Yun Nation by laying siege to Dayao,” Ren Baqian said from the side.
“Our aim is to annihilate their 500,000 strong army and cause Great Xia to encounter internal strife. No matter who wins or who loses, they will have no spare energy to disturb us for the next ten years.”
“I know.” The empress nodded.
“I will bring these things back since the empress still needs to change clothes,” Ren Baqian said.
“These are all mine!” The empress pointed at the boxes as she slightly lifted her chin.
“There’s one box of light bulbs for the lamp posts,” Ren Baqian protested.
“You can take the light bulbs and leave the rest to me.” The empress continued to claim ownership.
Ren Baqian pointed to the boxes, “The alcohol…”
Actually, he wanted to take some wine since he occasionally felt like having a drink in the middle of the night. This was a habit he had picked up out of nowhere.
It might be due to him wanting to celebrate his arrival to this world every night.
“They all belong to me.” The empress refused to give even an inch.
Ren Baqian was obliged to take one box of light bulbs away. After arriving in his courtyard, he could see that the two rascals, Tiantian and Gungun, had grown bigger. They were slightly taller than him now and reminded him that pandas weren’t cats, but were more like bears.
Although these two were getting bigger and sillier, they were still of good character. Upon seeing Ren Baqian, they bared their teeth and bit his arms, but were slapped by Ren Baqian to push them away.
Well, they loved to bite him for fun when they were young, but a bite now would take away a chunk of skin for an ordinary man.
“The two of you are getting uglier and uglier!” Ren Baqian looked at the rascals rolling around on the floor. The two were so cute when they were young, but it was a pity they had grown old and ragged. Having kept them for so long, he was unwilling to send them to the beast park.
The ting ling monkey quickly pulled out two moldy dried fruits from the back of Tiantian’s neck, compared the size of the fruits in its hands, and put the bigger one back. The monkey hopped toward Ren Baqian and handed the smaller fruit to him.
“You rascal!” Ren Baqian stroked its head and then pointed sadly at the two pandas rolling on the ground before saying, “Don’t grow ugly like those two.”
“Ah!” the Ting Ling made a sound and handed the smaller dried fruit to him again.
“Forget it—keep it for yourself.” It immediately jumped away to hide the dried fruit in Tiantian’s neck fur.
“As expected, these are insincere gestures!” Ren Baqian couldn’t help shaking his head. He opened the box and got two guards to follow him and change the light bulbs for the lamp posts.
The following afternoon, there was a huge crowd around the square between Beihong District and Zhulian District. The hot sun didn’t lessen the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the security personnel were out in full force to keep the crowd outside the square.
“What are so many people doing here?” A passerby who was ferrying goods was puzzled by this gathering.
“I’m not sure, but I heard that Her Majesty is coming soon,” someone replied.
“About what time?”
“I don’t know specifically, but I guess it should be soon!”
The passerby hesitated after hearing this as he struggled to decide whether it was more important to deliver his goods or watch the empress… The two ideas battled in his mind for two seconds before the idea to stay and watch won.
At this moment, cheer after cheer erupted from the crowd in the distance.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” The cheers rumbled around the square.
Everyone knew that the empress had arrived when hearing the cheers.
Consequently, the crowd started to part and moved like two streams as they followed the two rows of guards behind the empress’s carriage and gradually entered the square.
Following the empress were senior officials from the court.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” As the curtains of the carriage lifted, the crowd saw the empress and cheers erupted again.
“The empress is well-loved and respected!” Ren Baqian said.
“It’s because Her Majesty is the most beautiful treasure in Dayao,” Tong Zhenye said as he looked at Ren Baqian. His face displayed his thought that this fellow was receiving the biggest bargain in his life to be blessed with the attention of the empress.
“This is because the empress has issued many decrees to lighten the burden on the citizens. Furthermore, she is the empress of the aboriginals and is naturally liked by them,” Tu Wan added.
Everyone dismounted and lifted their heads to look at the 67-meter tall cement building.
The building was rough and didn’t have much decoration, but to the aboriginals, it was beautiful as long as it was big enough.
At 67 meters, it was the tallest man-made building in this world and was a masterpiece to the aboriginals.
Due to the insistent request of Ren Baqian, layers of colored stone of various sizes were eventually added to give the clock tower a dreamy and vibrant appearance.
Currently, the clock face at the top of the tower was fully covered by a red cloth because red was the empress’s favorite color.
Ever since the clock was installed, no one had seen what the clock looked like.
The true face of the clock would finally be revealed.
