Chapter 753: The Reinforcements
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ren Baqian felt that his marriage might be postponed if this wasn’t handled properly.
The date of their wedding was getting closer and closer.
Out of the nine month time period, seven months had already passed by.
Based on the calendar of Dayao, it was Year 73 and. the second half of Month 1. The wedding date was one and a half months away.
Ren Baqian had completed the first step of this cultivation method, and his body, including his forehead, was shiny and reflected light everywhere. His hope of restoring his body to a matte finish didn’t materialize. Instead, he was forced to apply one layer of foundation, which was used by women, to his body.
This made the situation slightly better.
However, he couldn’t exercise too vigorously or else the foundation would fall off immediately.
According to Ren Baqian, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that a mosquito landing on his forehead would fall down.
“Your Majesty, shouldn’t it be about time?” Ren Baqian asked as he sat beside the empress.
A big hunk who weighed 150 kilograms was holding a mirror with one hand and applying powder to his face with the other. The powder fell off as soon as he applied it because he was talking at the same time. After less than a few minutes of effort, Ren Baqian grew impatient and threw the mirror away.
The empress gave a slight nod.
The people traveling to the Ya Family Village had already been away for two months and should be coming back soon.
“Have seven of them been located?” Ren Baqian supported himself with two hands on the ground and rested his head on the thighs of the empress who was sitting on a rock.
As the fine gauze parted, Ren Baqian’s head touched the skin of the empress.
Ren Baqian felt that it was very smooth!
It wasn’t the thighs of the empress that were smooth, but the back of his head…
“There are eight!” the empress said.
This month, the empress had sent everyone out to search. This included the area where the three missing teams had previously ventured. In the end, they only managed to find the locations of eight herdsmen.
The Sixty Thousand Mountains was really huge.
This valley was also huge.
In the process, more than 20 winged cavalry warriors were killed or injured.
Only a few of them died at the hands of the herdsmen.
Most of them were killed by the beasts in the mountains.
Even though they were Man Wheel level winged cavalry warriors, they were exposed to great risk when operating alone in an unfamiliar area.
“I hope they do not sense it and group together!” Ren Baqian said with a frown. One herdsman was already hard to handle. If they congregated together, it would be a disaster.
“They should have sensed it! However, from what can be seen from the actions of the eight herdsmen we have located, they still haven’t gathered together.” The empress stroked his head for a little while.
She was melting him by stroking his head.
Although it might look strange to other people, Ren Baqian felt wonderful.
“They are used to living alone and will not come together unless they face strong opposition,” Ren Baqian speculated.
He could perceive their characteristics based on what Bor had told him.
They were natural, wild, cruel, indifferent, and lonely.
Every one of them had to use some method to erase their childhood memories when they matured to prevent these memories from affecting their ongoing lonely lives.
“Has the emperor of the Yun Nation been sent to Lan City?” Ren Baqian inquired.
“Well, he tried to escape, but was recaptured by Zi Donglai and was delivered to Lan City a few days ago. That Zheng Chengmian immolated himself and was heard cursing the city warlords for surrendering without resisting!” The empress informed him of the news that Zi Donglai had reported.
“A person who acts according to the situation is wise!” Ren Baqian laughed. “The surrender of those people was not unrelated to his contribution. In fact, Zheng Chengmian contributed a lot.”
If Zheng Chengmian didn’t persecute them and didn’t drag his feet at the beginning, the Yun Nation wouldn’t have fallen so fast.
“The people of the Yun Nation should consider themselves lucky!” Ren Baqian added. “In the future, when Dayao has developed, I want to implement the household registration system! This will prevent the people of Great Xia and the Chen Nation from running over! To be a citizen of Dayao, they will have to pay a hefty sum to buy their status. How much resistance did they put up in the Yun Nation?”
“Two of the warlords who had surrendered were killed! They were assassinated by practitioners,” the empress said. “Zi Donglai wiped out seven or eight of the clans in the vicinity, and this should deter that group of people!”
“We need to employ the carrot and stick approach! Simply killing people isn’t enough!” Ren Baqian said.
“It’s fine to let him kill people. Let it be done this way first as it’s beyond our control now. We will settle the problems of the Yun Nation when we get back,” the empress said plainly.
Although there had a radio, it could only be used to settle normal matters.
The situation in the Yun Nation was complicated and hard to settle by using radio alone. The empress’s plan was to personally go to the Yun Nation after her wedding to look at the mines and also to solve the problems posed by the resistant clans in various areas.
That night, the blaring of a trumpet was heard. The sound was bleak, long, drawn out, and moving. It touched the heart as it entered the ears and seemed to make the soul follow it as it crossed the barren mountains.
The spirits of those who still remained in the valley were lifted.
Within a short while, another trumpet sounded from the entrance of the valley, but this sound was plainer and didn’t have the emotional element. It wasn’t comparable to the trumpet sound that came from far away.
“They are finally here!” Ren Baqian stood up and stretched.
“This trumpet call… is from my brother!” The empress furrowed her eyebrows.
This trumpet sound had not been heard for a long time, but not many trumpets sounded like it.
This was the only one that the empress had heard of and was Qi Ziting’s most beloved possession.
Ren Baqian welcomed the arrival of his brother-in-law. Although both of Qi Ziting’s legs were gone, he was still a top expert. Ordinary people were not comparable to this disabled man.
An expert like this would be a great help in getting rid of the herdsmen.
After another two hours, everyone heard shouting coming from the distance.
“Where’s Zixiao?” A loud voice was heard from outside the valley.
The empress rose up from the rock to tidy her clothes and sat down again.
Tidying her clothes was just a gesture.
She sat down again because she was the ruler.
It was preposterous for a ruler to greet someone!
Accompanied by a whistling sound, a figure landed beside them. Qi Ziting’s crutches pierced the mud, and he smiled after seeing that she looked the same as before. “I heard that you have encountered some problems, so I have brought reinforcements!”
The empress stood up and said, “Thank you for taking the trouble!”
“Ha, I don’t want to hear this!” Qi Ziting laughed heartily.
“I have heard some details about this matter. Fill me in,” Qi Ziting said attentively.
“How many people did you bring?” the empress asked.
“We have recently recruited more than 2,000 winged cavalry warriors, but it isn’t easy to bring in food. As you know, it’s also difficult to get food here, so I selected the best 1,000 and mobilized the people from seven or eight villages to transport food.
I have brought two Cardinal Heaven experts with me! Their village isn’t far from the Ya Family Village. If there was more time, I could have gotten more people,” Qi Ziting said with some regret.
During the period when he was exploring the route taken by the previous emperor, he got to know many masters in the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
“These are strong helpers indeed!” The empress felt more assured with the addition of two Cardinal Heaven experts.
In addition to her and Qi Ziting, there were four Cardinal Heaven experts.
The number of Kismet Heaven experts was more than 1,200.
This way, their military strength was sufficient.
As they talked, a large number of people poured into the valley.
Most of them bore a tattoo on their bodies, wore leather hides, and looked rugged. Some had feathers on their heads while others wore necklaces made of horns, tusks, and even the shrunken skulls of wild beasts. The mounts that they rode on consisted of all sorts of strange creatures.
There were saber-toothed tigers that were black, white, and even red in color.
There were giant birds that were similar to the crow general, but their feathers were bright and their eyes glowed.
Some of the mounts looked like leopards, but they were much bigger and had three horns on their heads.
Plus, there was a two-headed snake.
There were even giant spiders that were used as mounts.
“Ba Man and Xiong Yue offer our respects to Your Majesty!”
The two leading men were about two meters tall, built like bears, and exuded powerful presences.
They cupped their hands to greet the empress.
“Sheng Yong of Pingshan Village greets Your Majesty…”
“Sheng Tian of Pingshan Village greets Your Majesty…”
“Hu Dalin from Upper Kaiyang Mountain’s Third Village…”
“Xie Yang from Lower Kaiyan Mountain’s Third Village…”
A thousand people dismounted and paid their respects to the empress at the same time. It was a mess.
Ren Baqian could only hear the first few, and the rest were inaudible to him.