The Empress’s Gigolo

Although the contest between Ren Baqian and Tu Hong was finally over, some people were happy with the result and others weren’t.

Every student from the Black Bamboo Academy looked gloomy. It was as if they had lost everything. All of them were gnashing their teeth and couldn’t wait to fight it out with Ren Baqian.

Those who were happy included Hong Xian and a few buddies as well as the people of the Protectorate of the North and Protectorate of the South who were working in Lan City.

They had made a small fortune from this occasion. Although this amount wasn’t considered a lot by these two protectorates, it could still be put to many uses.

In any case, these few contests had let many of them see the usefulness of these exotic products and made them realize that these things weren’t as undesirable as they thought.

Especially in the last contest, even though Ren Baqian’s shot missed the target, there was still glory in defeat. The destructive power of the mortar was earth-shaking and added more significance to his reputation than his previous title of Poison Warrior.

This was the case even though the number of people killed in a crowded place by that explosion would only be a fraction of the people killed in that mass poisoning case.

The destructive power to blast a hole with a radius of 50 to 60 meters and a depth of 20 meters was something that even great experts like Tong Zhenye and Qin Chuan would find difficult to deliver. However, an ordinary person like Ren Baqian could do it.

Under certain circumstances or due to carelessness, a Cardinal Heaven expert would suffer serious injuries or even be killed by such power.

If there were tens or hundreds of these things, even a Cardinal Heaven expert would have to take a detour to avoid them.

The value of the Black Bamboo Academy and the reputation of Ren Baqian were so greatly enhanced that even the students were seen in a different light.

After that explosion, the Black Bamboo Academy was confirmed as the premier academy in Dayao.

Of course, Dayao didn’t have another academy… and didn’t even have schools…

Nevertheless, in the eyes of everyone, the academy’s status had risen greatly and the status of Principal Ren was elevated to the level of a Cardinal Heaven expert during this time.

No one gossiped about the academy anymore; many people started to think of sending their disciples to the academy. Anyway, besides martial arts training, they spent their time fighting all over the place. If they went to the academy, they could still train in martial arts and learn about those strange things from Ren Baqian.

Over the next few days, the result of the contest between Ren Baqian and Tu Hong spread throughout Lan City. The sound of the explosion was so great that it shook the whole of Lan City. Even if the intention was there, there was no way of hiding this fact.

For a few consecutive days, people in the streets and alleys were discussing this, and many people even undertook the hassle of going outside the city to see the big crater. When they found out that it was Ren Baqian who created it, they were amazed.

The ordinary students in the academy became as famous as movie stars for a few days and were surrounded after school hours by people asking them questions. Some people were curious about Ren Baqian, some were interested in the things the students learned in the academy, and some wanted to know how to enter the academy.

The students had experienced great wealth and then lost their fortunes, so this served to comfort them.

Since the school had become famous, they could bask in its glory and feel honored.

Personally, they were treated differently in their neighborhoods, and everyone could feel this change.

…

Ren Baqian put some books on the table and glanced at the classroom. Those bitter and vengeful looking faces were growing more amiable now.

“Time will erase everything” after all.

This included whittling away the wealth of families.

This would serve as a long term reminder to them.

They should keep their distance from things that were not controllable, for example, gambling or cliff jumping.

That afternoon, the students were focusing their attention on another matter, which was how to transport the steam locomotive to the outskirts of the city.

During these few days, work on the steam locomotive was ongoing at the academy and at the site outside the city. The next step would be to perform a test run with the train.

However, moving the steam engine to the site outside the city was a problem.

One proposal was to push the steam engine there since it had wheels, but this was instantly met with objections from a group of people.

The train was designed to run on rails, so there were rims fixed to the wheels. If the steam engine were to be pushed all the way to the test site, the rims would be damaged.

Furthermore, the thickness of the rims and the weight of the train would pulverize all the flagstones on the streets.

Therefore, the best method was to dismantle the train and send it over separately or simply carry the pieces there.

As for transportation by cow carriages, the same problem of the flagstones being crushed was present, so this was no better than pushing the train. Furthermore, there were divided opinions about whether the wooden carriage wheels could bear the load.

The common consensus was that the weight of 4,000 kilograms didn’t pose a problem, and the final decision was to carry it over in pieces.

For the selection of people who would carry the parts, Qing Lian was the first to be excluded because she was from Great Xia and didn’t get along well with everyone. She was nowhere to be found after school anyway.

Furthermore, she didn’t have much strength.

“It is best to have some experts come along and share the burden,” someone said.

Shi Gan and Tong Lan were the indicated experts of the academy.

Tong Lan sat on the steam locomotive with her legs swinging and puffed out her chest when she heard these words. She displayed a proud look that said, “I will not carry it even if you were to beg me.” However, everyone knew about her character.

If her help was needed, she would handle the matter with meticulous care.

“Forget about Tong Lan, she is too short… Even if she raised her hands, it still wouldn’t be enough for her to reach.” Shi Gan grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Tong Lan stiffened angrily.

She became absolutely stiff.

Too short… Too short… Short…

These words were like a lightning strike that left her feeling stunned.

“What did you say?” Tong Lan asked Shi Gan fiercely.

Shi Gan raised his bent arms and asked slowly, “At about this height, can you reach it?”

Seeing the height that Shi Gan indicated, she became upset as she really couldn’t reach it.

Her height was about the level of Shi Gan’s chest. With her hands raised all the way, she could only reach slightly above his head…

“Well, it’s time to select the rest of the people!” Shi Gan laughed.

Tong Lan ground her small canine teeth and looked like she wanted to kill someone.

After Qing Lian and Tong Lan were left out of the final selection, three groups were formed. Each group consisted of 10 people, and at set intervals, they had to take turns to carry.

When Tong Lan saw everyone breaking the courtyard wall to take the steam locomotive out, she started shouting crazily, “Ah! Ah! Ah! Is it my fault that I’m too short? Huh? Can you blame me for being short?”

As everyone brought the steam locomotive out of the east gate, they congratulated themselves for making the right choice and carrying the train parts.

It was getting close to the rainy season. Out of three days, it rained for two, and even on the official roads outside the city, each step they took would sink in. The road leading to where the railroad was located was even more remote and hence in even worse condition.

It took half a day to bring the steam locomotive to the location. Here, there were rails inside, a wooden fence surrounded the area, and many soldiers were guarding it.

Otherwise, with so much steel around, their stuff would have been stolen long ago.

The next few days were spent fixing the train and inspecting the rails. A shed that protected the train from the rain was added to the back of the steam engine along with a coal-loading carriage.

When everything was arranged properly, Ren Baqian proceeded to invite the empress and the court officials here.