Translator: YHHH Editor: Book_Hoarder
"We have arrived!" Ren Baqian stopped the car, got down, and opened the door for the empress. From a bystander's point of view, he seemed rather gentlemanly.
Snow fell on top of both of their heads, and the empress looked at the sky somewhat happily. Under the illumination of the lights, the bits of snowflakes were just like fairies descending in the night scene, falling onto their hair as well as their bodies.
Just that it disappeared instantly once it fell onto the empress's hair.
"Let's go in," Ren Baqian suggested as he tightened the overcoat which the empress was wearing.
The place they were currently at was one of the bigger supermarkets.
Ren Baqian felt, that perhaps, the empress might be rather interested in this place. This was the best place for her to observe the everyday lives of the commoners in China.
"There are so many people," the empress said as she looked at the number of people entering and leaving the entrance of the supermarket. In Dayao, shops never experienced such a concentrated steam of people. Of course, there wasn't even such a huge shop in Dayao to begin with.
Ren Baqian and the empress walked side by side into the supermarket. This wasn't a suitable place for lagging behind by even half a step. Moreover, Ren Baqian still had to pay attention to helping the empress fend off the people around her.
Regardless of whether he was afraid that the empress would get angry, or whether the empress was now nominally his future wife, it was good that he had a such a protective mentality. His actions were very natural and from an outsider's point of view, there wasn't anything strange at all.
At present, Ren Baqian wasn't sure what exactly was he feeling. He simply just wanted to do so.
Perhaps, it was more of the former thoughts. But, this didn't necessarily mean that the latter didn't apply.
However, Ren Baqian was quickly aware of one point. Even though there were many people coming and going, but whenever anybody neared the empress's body, they would subconsciously change their path. There wasn't a single soul within a half-meter radius of the empress.
The pair walked forward, and the thing that caught everyone's attention was the empress's appearance—she was indeed gorgeous. Her elegant yet indifferent manner gave off an air of unparalleled loftiness. She completely did not look like some that belonged here. Even though the feeling she gave others was a little cold, she still caught the attention of each passerby.
The two of them entered the supermarket. Ren Baqian pushed a trolley as he walked alongside the empress.
The empress's sight fixated on the wide array of goods on both sides. She was dazzled by the many goods in her surroundings.
"This is potato chips and can be considered a type of snack. It isn't very healthy," Ren Baqian explained in a low voice whenever he noticed that the empress's gaze stopped temporarily on any of the goods. At the same time, he would place the item into the basket of the trolley.
"This is biscuit, a type of food which is used to allay one's hunger every once in a while. One can choose the flavor according to their personal preference."
"This is a tin can. The fruit inside is cooked and the air has already been removed. It can be stored for a long period of time."
"This is salt."
When Ren Baqian mentioned salt, the empress held a bag of salt up. She carefully studied it and said, "Very white and very fine, from what I remember, the salt in the palace cannot achieve the quality of this salt. How many bags of salt can one tael of silver buy?"
Ren Baqian calculated, one tael of silver is 50 grams, which is approximately about 200 yuan. "You can buy 100 bags worth of salt."
The empress looked at Ren Baqian and said, "In Dayao, 1 tael of silver can only buy this much salt."
Ren Baqian nodded as he understood this issue. In Dayao, one tael of silver was only able to buy a single catty of salt. Moreover, it was the coarser kind of salt that lacked luster as well.
One tael of silver could only buy a bag of such relatively fine salt.
There was a 100 times price difference between the two worlds.
"I wish to have this. If we were to start a war against Great Xia, I'm afraid that it will be difficult to buy salt from both the Yun and the Chen Nations." The empress turned her head and looked at Ren Baqian with both of her eyes filled with vigor, waiting for his reply. For the first time in her speech, the word 'wish' appeared.
Even though 'I wish to have this' and 'I want this' only had a difference of three words, the feelings portrayed to the people listening were drastically different.
Ren Baqian hesitated for a moment, "I know of a place that might be able to produce salt and that is the Nine-Peaked Mountain, southwest of Lan City. I have heard that there is a toxic black pool over there, and it might be possible for us to filter well salt out. It's just that I'm not really certain of the outcome, and as such, I didn't speak to you about it. Originally, I wanted to wait for the sweet potatoes to ripen first before talking to you about this issue."
"If it is able to work out like what you said, I will note down this merit of yours. After we return and you complete the ire ore mine task, manage this first. If we are able to produce salt, there will be much less apprehension later on. Also, we won't need to divert our attention elsewhere when we declare war against Great Xia.
After all, if the commoners didn't have any salt to eat, they will not be able to survive." The empress gazed at Ren Baqian, and similarly, for the first time, she explained in great detail.
"I understand. I will spare no effort in accomplishing these things." Ren Baqian acknowledged the empress's words.
The empress carefully studied his eyes and only then did she nod her head.
Both continued to walk ahead. Even though the both of them didn't paid no mind to the other people, as a matter of fact, they caught the attention of many people who were in the vicinity.
Or perhaps, the attention was all on the empress.
"These are a toothbrush and toothpaste, which are used for cleaning teeth. You do not need to use the branch of a willow tree anymore.
This is a shower gel, shampoo…"
Ren Baqian continued to push the trolley as he placed the items in it. These were all prepared for the empress.
At this moment, he truly had the feeling of lovers strolling at the supermarket and buying groceries together.
If it was frequently like this, the feeling was pretty good.
Regardless of whether it was the daily necessities or was the different types of food they saw previously, the abundance of types and brands made the empress somewhat exclaim in admiration.
The variety of goods in Dayao were indeed too little and completely incomparable to the variety over here.
At last, the pair selected some fruits and vegetables that the empress was interested in. Only then did they checkout and left the supermarket.
The few men, who had followed them all along, looked at the both of them from afar and were somewhat disappointed and frustrated. Those men were full of envy and hatred towards Ren Baqian.
After walking once around the supermarket, the empress had a clearer understanding towards the abundance of different types of goods on Earth. At the same time, she also observed the appearance of the commoners in the supermarket. It was indeed exactly like what Ren Baqian had said, they led a rich life.
She could feel the disparity between Dayao and Earth, and as such, she was somewhat envious. Regardless of which monarch, they would definitely hope that their nation would become like this.
The two of them sat in the car and Ren Baqian smiled. "It seems like, it isn't only me that thinks you are a goddess. Just now, many people thought the same way as well. There were many people looking at us, but in reality, they were only looking at you. I wonder if I should gouge their eyes out."
Half of these words were truth and half of them were a joke.
The empress looked at him with her head tilted, "You truly feel that way?"
Ren Baqian nodded.
"In that case, don't lie to me in the future." The empress turned to look out of the windows.
This wasn't her first time saying that she hated being deceived, even to the extent of being a little worried of getting deceived by others. Whenever she said such words, it always made people feel that she was not at all like what her tough external appearance suggested. Deep inside, she was actually a very delicate person.
She mostly gave off an overbearing, unreasonable, imposing, and cold vibe.
Ren Baqian felt that there was meaning in her words. He kept silent for a while and wondered if it was just a misperception of his.
He suddenly recalled what the abbot said previously, "If you want people to treat you with sincerity, you have to treat them with sincerity first. A glib tongue won't bring you far in life."
His heart trembled slightly, yet he said, "Your Majesty, there is a type of bird in this world, which has never set foot on the ground since birth. It has all along been soaring in the skies and will only fall to the ground when it dies.
I am just like this bird. Since I met Your Majesty, I have all along been pursuing the radiance of Your Majesty. I will only stop on the day I die, just like that species of bird which pursues the skies. And the difference between me and the bird is that, even if I die or have to live in the underworld, I will be down there looking up, watching over Your Majesty from below."
"Never had anyone said such a thing to me before. I will take it to be true," the empress exclaimed after a moment of silence.
She was feeling a little troubled at this moment. She wanted to swat this fellow, who disrupted her frame of mind to death in a single slap. It was seemingly a very simple thing, yet she could never bring herself to raise her palm. This was already not the first time, and it was the same scenario the previous time as well. Both times, she couldn't raise her hand at all.
She wasn't aware why would she say that sort of powerless words and also felt that her heart was shaking.
Ren Baqian looked at the empress whose head was turned and looking out of the window from his side profile. The empress, at this moment, gave Ren Baqian the feeling of a fairy that fell into the mortal world and evoked an ineffable urge in his heart.
It was even more intense than what had happened in his room earlier this afternoon.
"This is the arrangement of Heaven and Heaven has the highest authority," Ren Baqian said one last sentence.
He was referring to the empress as well as himself.
Eventually, he made a firm resolution. No matter what, for the sake of the empress at this moment, for the sake of the empress who now had a completely different demeanor from the past, he shouldn't behave as how he used to be anymore.