The Empress's Gigolo
chapter-18

After passing by the court officials' residential area, the number of people in the surrounding started to increase.

Just like what he saw during the past few days, the people in Dayao were practically all well-built and tall.

The male civilians mostly wore buttoned vests revealing their bronze-colored robust chests, a pair of shorts, and grass shoes. Almost every single one of them had a six pack.

The female civilians wore tops covering their chests and abdomens, and similarly, shorts. Occasionally, they wore short skirts made from animal skin as well. They had slender yet full figures filled with vitality.

There were many Dayao indigenous people as well as many hunters. Thus, such attire would ease their movements.

Besides, it was so hot over here. The estimated temperature during the day was about 40 degrees Celsius.

It would be somewhat cooler to dress up like that.

Most of the people whom Ren Baqian met carried a short knife and a hunting bow with them. This made Ren Baqian, who'd always lived in a secure and peaceful Earth, felt that there was no sense of security.

Even during the ancient times of China, there were strict regulations over the possession of swords, spears, bows, or crossbows.

But, weapons could be found everywhere over here.

After walking for a short distance, Ren Baqian saw another commotion.

This time, it was a dispute between a few indigenous people and a shop owner. Behind the shop owner were a few well-built men carrying swords. However, their skin was slightly fairer, and they were a little shorter. Their clothes were not at all identical to the other Dayao people whom he'd seen.

"Those people are from the Yun Nation. The bastards who milk people dry," Caretaker Shi took a glance at Ren Baqian and said to him; it was obvious that he had a lot of grievances.

The two of them had yet to go over, yet the two gangs of people already started fighting.

All of a sudden, there was a burst of chaos. In less than a minute, someone flew out and fell heavily on the ground. He rolled over, stood up and dashed back into the fight.

Ren Baqian looked at his tiny arms and legs and reckoned that he might not even be able to defeat a woman. This was simply too depressing.

Unknowingly, a crowd who wore uniformed clothes dashed out. With swords in hand, they separated the two gangs of people. The indigenous people and the people behind the merchant were all taken away. As for the boss, he did not make a move and was naturally safe.

"I thought no one cared about them?" Ren Baqian was puzzled.

.

"Nobody cares if they are drawing circles, but such a brawl in the middle of the street, someone definitely has to care," Caretaker Shi replied.

"How will they be dealt with after arresting them?

"Ten flogs, nothing serious. They'll just have to apply medicine and rest for a day before they are back to their normal active lives. But I think those Yun Nation people will have to lie in their beds for an additional day or two." Caretaker Shi laughed mischievously as he rejoiced in their misfortune.

"Why don't they draw circles?"

"That group of cowards!" Caretaker Shi's tone was full of disdain.

"If they decline to draw circles, they will be despised by others. However, they don't care," Caretaker Shi explained. "The Yun Nation people are different from us, they care more about money."

Ren Baqian nodded his head as it was also like that on Earth. In society, it has become the norm to get ahead in the world by abandoning one's scruples rather than to suffer poverty.

"They too cannot stand that they are picking quarrels and fighting every day." Ren Baqian wondered why the Dayao Nation detested those merchants so much yet did not learn from them.

"It doesn't happen every day. After all, which ordinary person could endure a series of flogs followed by buying medicine to apply? Additionally, he would also have to lie in bed for an entire day. Furthermore, which one of them does not hire dozens of bodyguards? The court officials also do not wish to pressure them too much. If they were overly pressured, from whom would be left to buy goods?"

Ren Baqian understood. The people in Dayao detested these merchants' greed but they were unable to live without them.

After all, it was because the Dayao Nation lacked everything.

More than half of their basic needs such as clothing and food were reliant on external sources.

Those merchants grabbed a hold of this weakness. Only then, would they have nothing to fear. Similarly, they also did not dare to over pressure the Dayao Nation.

As Ren Baqian walked, he admired the scenery in this world. It was mostly various kinds of 2-storey tall wooden houses. Between every two houses, there was a stone wall separating the houses. Ren Baqian guessed that this stone wall guarded against fire. Just in case the houses caught fire, it would not burn a large area.

Similarly, the signages of the shops on both sides had pictograms. But, they were different from Chinese characters.

Ren Baqian did not understand ancient writings, and he did not know which dynasty's ancient writing was it similar to.

The biggest eye opener for Ren Baqian was the carriages that went by occasionally. For the time being, they were still considered carriages.

Most of the creatures that pulled the carriages looked like goats; however, their size was similar to cows.

Once in a while, he would see a living creature that looked like a deer pulling the carriages.

"Eh?" Ren Baqian's gaze suddenly stopped somewhere by the roadside. He saw two plump chaps which were leashed and playing by the roadside.

Their bodies were black and white, and their shape was almost that of a ball. Their movement was slow and they had two dark circles hanging on their heads.

Aren't those pandas? Why are they leashed here?

"Hang on!" Ren Baqian shouted and ran to the side of the panda.

The two pandas were tiny, and when they stood up, were at the knee-level of humans. Also, they were very clumsy. One panda currently climbed on top of the other, and when the other party moved, it immediately fell on its back.

It flipped over and turned his head around to look. It saw Ren Baqian looking at him, stuck his tongue out, and displayed its cuteness.

"This is a flower bear, and its meat isn't tasty," Caretaker Shi blurted out as Ren Baqian moved towards the pandas.

"Their meat isn't tasty?" Ren Baqian laughed. If Caretaker Shi dared to eat pandas on Earth, even if he did not get executed by a firing squad, he would have been condemned by others till he had no choice but to commit suicide.

Caretaker Shi nodded his head seriously. "There are a lot of them in the mountains. They aren't tasty. Furthermore, they rarely attack people. People ignore them in general."

"Why are they leashed over here? Are they for sale?" Ren Baqian was tempted. If he was able to raise two pandas, it was practically like a dream come true. Dayao people would never be able to understand the Chinese's affection towards pandas.

After confirming that they were on sale, Ren Baqian headed towards the shop and shouted, "Anyone?"

The person who came out was a tall and husky man. He also had a hideous-looking scar on his face.

There were also shop owners who were Dayao people on this street. They occupied about half of the number of shops. The things they sold weren't as varied as the foreign merchants, but rather, they mostly sold items from the mountains.

"How old are these flower bears? How much are they?"

"Those two little playthings are about three to four months old? You can have them for 3 taels of silver," he replied while leaning on the door.

"3 taels of silver?" Ren Baqian was stunned for a while. It was too cheap and was more or less equivalent to buying a dog on Earth.

"Caretaker Shi, can we bring them back to raise?" Ren Baqian turned his head and asked.

"You can raise them, but, these things eats a lot." Caretaker Shi could not comprehend why Ren Baqian would want to buy these two flower bears.

"I want them." Ren Baqian couldn't even be bothered with the price and immediately purchased the two pandas.

"But I will leave them with you first. I will be back to collect them."

"Sure," the tall and husky man nodded his head.

Ren Baqian handed over the money. As he walked, he giggled to himself from time to time. He never expected that he would ever have the chance to raise a panda.

Upon reaching Baishi District, there were many shops that sold different types of swords, knives, long bows, and arrows.

Occasionally, there would also be shops that sold axes, kitchen knives, and farming implements.

Ren Baqian found a shop and explained his purpose for coming. He wanted to make five metal boxes in two sizes—one large and one small. The small one would be placed inside the large one.

And as long as every box had a handle, it would be sufficient.

Ren Baqian had only one request. If it was durable and did not rust easily, it would be fine.

These type of boxes were easy to make and any shop would be able to manufacture them.

"One set for 1 and a half taels, five sets for 7 taels," The shop owner said straightforwardly.

"Okay." This world's metal products were after all still slightly more expensive than the ones on Earth. It wasn't unexpected.

Ren Baqian paid half the amount, and his mission was considered accomplished.

Following which, Ren Baqian and Caretaker Shi went a few rounds around the city and ordered a few other items.

They were mainly food for the animals in the beast park, and they would be directly delivered to the beast park when it was time. Ren Baqian thought of the two little chaps and specially bought a few bamboo leaves to be delivered together as well.

He initially wanted to pay, but Caretaker Shi stopped him.

The monthly consumption of the beast park was high and ordering bamboo leaves for the

pandas was considered insignificant in comparison. The boss smiled candidly. After clarifying that Ren Baqian was going to raise two flower bears, he said that he would also deliver some bamboo leaves whenever he delivered the fodders for the other animals.

In any case, those two were just cubs, and all he had to deliver was a small amount of bamboo leaves, and it would be sufficient.

Lastly, he bought some inferior liquor. Since he wanted to reward the efforts of the ten odd-job workers, how could there be food and no liquor?

The wine was called Thorny Fruit Wine and was reddish with impurities in it. Ren Baqian took a sip; it was very bland. He estimated its alcohol content to be about slightly more than 10%. In addition, its taste was very weird.

It's said that it's made from a certain type of fruit and two taels of silver could buy half a bucket of them. It was about 15 catties. Although it was not cheap, but compared to two taels of silver for one catty of spirits, it was much cheaper.

At noon, they randomly found a place to have lunch. After all, Caretaker Shi's income wasn't high, and at the present, Ren Baqian was completely reliant upon the empress's reward. He didn't know when he would receive his wage.

What shocked Ren Baqian was that this world actually had hamburgers.

Although the ingredients used were different, but it, in actual fact, was a hamburger.

The meat that was wedged between had a strong mutton taste. Although the flavoring was so-so, the meat was fresh and tender. Ren Baqian quite liked it and consecutively ate two hamburgers, which were bigger than the size of his palm.

As for the bread holding the meat, it was made from inferior grains and wasn't very tasty. However, it had its own distinctive flavor.

At this time, Ren Baqian also inquired about the black mud cream and where could he purchase it.

Chen Qing's side was still waiting for the formula and raw ingredients.