Chapter 11: The Manager of Odd-Job Workers

Translator: TYZ  Editor: Book_Hoarder

When that lady, or rather the empress, reached the beast park, she saw many odd-job workers making ice and placing them around the bear.

From afar, Ren Baqian saw a group of people approaching. When that group of people got closer to them, he took two steps forward and cupped his hands imitating what the others did. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

These few movements caused him to grimace in pain.

The empress caught a glimpse of his stomach. The blood from his wound had seeped through his gauze and stained the coarse clothes.

“What happened?” the empress asked coldly.

“We don’t know what happened as well. He became like this after staying in his room for a day and a night,” the two soldiers quickly kneeled down on one knee and replied.

“I caused it myself and it has nothing to do with either of them,” Ren Baqian explained.

“Let me see the wound!” the empress remained unmoved. She could tell what happened by looking at the wound.

Ren Baqian clenched his teeth in pain as he pulled up his shirt, revealing the bloody gauze within it. When he saw the empress still staring at him, he took off the gauze.

The wound wasn’t big, and it was very smooth. It was about two fingers wide. Indeed, it did not seem like it was caused by the two soldiers. If the wound was caused by the two soldiers, it would be much bigger than it was now.

With a single glance, the empress knew the wound had been stitched up.

“Did you stitch it up yourself?” the empress asked.

“Yes!” Ren Baqian replied shamelessly.

“Nice workmanship. The technique you used is rather good as well. Later, promote this technique to our armies and let everyone know this is how a wound should be treated.” The last line of the empress’s words were meant for the people beside her.

Following which, she stepped forward and continued, “The five days I have given you are up, and I’m here to see how is that small fellow doing. Let’s see if you keep your head on your neck.”

“Yes!” Ren Baqian continued to keep his head lowered. Gasping for air in pain, he followed behind the empress. However, he also carefully maintained a small distance away from her.

The party reached the side of the enclosure and looked down. The bear frolicked in the pile of ice chunks. It looked like it was very happy.

Suddenly, the empress jumped down into the enclosure. Her red dress danced and fluttered in the air.

Ren Baqian raised his head, took a quick glance, and hurriedly lowered his head again. The empress jumped at least three meters into the air, giving Ren Baqian a scare. The scarier thing was that he saw the empress’s long thighs beneath her dress when he had raised his head and took a glance just now.

He was very frightened that he would be beheaded for looking at something that shouldn’t be looked at.

God knows what the social customs in this world were like.

If he really wanted to look at thighs, he could go back to Earth and look at them on his computer and television.

If he was beheaded because of this reason, it would be an eternal, great injustice to him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he looked at his surroundings. He only felt at ease when he saw the people around him did not react unusually.

The empress had already landed in the bear enclosure, and she was now walking towards the bear.

“Will Her Majesty be alright?” Ren Baqian asked softly. He did not know the pugilistic level of this world. However, when he saw the people around him did not look worried at all, he guessed the empress must be terrifyingly powerful.

“Her Majesty is Dayao’s most powerful expert, how can a mere animal injure her?” Xin Zhe raised her head and replied, looking as though she was unhappy with Ren Baqian’s doubt in the empress.

Ren Baqian obediently replied her with an “uhh” and did not speak anymore. He placed all his attention on the empress.

Dayao’s most powerful expert? How powerful was she?

As the empress approached the white bear, the white bear seemingly sensed that someone was invading its territory. It gave a roar, threw the ice chunks to one side, and pounced towards the empress.

The immense force from the charging enormous bear that weighed a few hundred kilograms caused Ren Baqian’s heart to stiffen.

Ren Baqian visually estimated the empress to be 1.7 meters tall. However, in the face of the white bear, she appeared extremely petite, looking as though she would be crushed with a single swipe from the bear.

Facing the charging bear, the empress did not show any intention of retreating. She stretched out her lily-white hand… and gave it a slap.

The empress’s hand drew an arc in the air, flew past the front paws of the huge bear, and landed on its growling face.

The bear’s angry roar became a miserable shriek in an instant. Its body spun one round in the air before landing on the ground.

Following which, the empress grabbed the bear’s fur and lifted it up with her right hand. Seeing that the bear still dared to bare its teeth, she slapped its face again with her left hand.

After receiving two slaps from the empress, the bear’s rage instantly subsided.

Even Ren Baqian felt painful just by looking at the bear being slapped.

If her slap could send the bear that weighed a few hundred kilograms into the air, how strong would her slap be?

It was indeed scary.

The scariest part was that it was obvious the empress did not use her full strength.

After receiving two simple-looking slaps, the white bear, which Ren Baqian suspected to be a polar bear, laid on the ground shivering.

When the empress saw the bear lying motionlessly on the ground, she walked toward the wall of the enclosure. Effortlessly, she jumped on the spot and landed on top of the wall. Then, she made a small leap and jumped out from the enclosure.

“Your Majesty is mighty!” Ren Baqian quickly lowered his head and cupped his fists. He wanted to say a few more words but he had never fawned over anyone before and he did not know what to say. He could only come up with the word “mighty”.

“Not bad, it looks slightly energetic now. At least it can bare its teeth now,” the empress said with an indifferent tone.

Ren Baqian grinned. The price that the bear had to pay for baring his teeth was overly devastating. Ren Baqian did not know how many teeth the bear had left after being slapped by the empress.

Fortunately, the empress had confirmed the condition of this bear, and he had saved his own life.

“Alright, now tell me what’s up with these chunks of ice. How did you make them?”

“It’s saltpeter. When the saltpeter is dissolved in the water, they will absorb heat. With enough saltpeter, the temperature of the water can be reduced to the freezing point,” Ren Baqian explained.

He did not know whether or not the empress understood him. She merely said, “It seems like you are rather capable. I will let you become the manager of the odd-job workers. You will be in charge of making ice for me.”

“And take good care of this bear.”

“Yes!” Ren Baqian nodded his head and replied.

“Caretaker Shi, arrange some manpower for him.” After the empress finished giving her instructions, the caretaker of the beast park immediately nodded his head.

“I will reward you with one hundred taels of silver and a box of black mud cream. Xin Zhe, go to medicine storehouse and get one box of black mud cream for him,” the empress continued to give instructions.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When Ren Baqian heard the empress’s words, the heavy stone on his heart lifted off. One hundred taels of silver? If one tael is equivalent to 50 grams, one hundred taels are equivalent to 50000 grams? One gram of silver is worth 3 or 4 yuan, right? With around two hundred thousand yuan, he finally had some spare cash on hand. Even though it was not enough for him to buy a house, it was enough for him to make ends meet. He did not need to worry about finding a job for the time being.

Given his current situation—where he would disappear for 9 days—it was almost impossible for him to find a job.

“Oh, by the way, you mentioned that day you know how to do some things, what are they?” The empress suddenly thought of what Ren Baqian said previously.

“I will do my best to complete whatever Your Majesty instructs me to do. I have studied a variety of fields, and I know a thing or two about agriculture, smelting, culinary and business.”

“Alright, you will stay here for the time being! In the future, I will give you tasks to carry out. I will reward if you complete them,” after finishing her sentence, the empress left with her entourage.

After the empress left, Ren Baqian engaged himself in deep thought. One tael is equivalent to 50 grams and one hundred taels are equivalent to 50000 grams. Is there something wrong? Wait, one hundred taels are only equivalent to 5000 grams? Does that mean that I will only have around twenty thousand yuan? Ren Baqian couldn’t believe he was so happy just now. His mathematics teacher would definitely be unable to rest in peace.

When Caretaker Shi saw the figure of the empress disappearing, he turned around with a sinister smile on his face and asked, “May I know what’s your name? Since we are going to stay here together, we should get to know each other.”

“Caretaker Shi! I am Ren Baqian!” Ren Baqian cupped his fists and replied politely. Caretaker Shi’s looked as though he was thinking of how to chop him up into pieces.

Ren Baqian did not dare to mention the topic of him saving Caretaker Shi’s life.

The favor of a drop of water is often returned with the gratitude of a fountain of water, and a life-saving favor is practically unreturnable. Therefore, Caretaker Shi might repay him with his life if he brought up the topic.

Whether it was the ancient time or the present time, there were plenty of such people.

“There’s no need for you to be so courteous. Come, I will arrange some manpower for you and then we shall go for a drink.” With an amiable look on his face, Caretaker Shi pulled Ren Baqian along with him.

“But I’m still injured!” Ren Baqian smiled bitterly.

“It will be alright, it’s just a small injury. Didn’t Her Majesty bestow you a box of black mud cream? You will be fine after applying it.” Caretaker Shi chuckled.