"Move a bit to the left… to the left… Do you know which way is left…?"

"Zixiao, what do you think?" Ren Baqian turned to the empress.

"Heaven adds another year of time, and people add another year of life. Spring comes to the world, bringing best wishes to the family… A very good poem! What are the following two lines?" The empress recited the couplets on both sides of the door and gasped in admiration.

"There's nothing that follows."

"Oh, eunuch!" the empress said with a tinge of regret.

Ren Baqian felt like laughing, but refrained from doing so because there was an 80 percent chance of getting whacked.

"The way the words are written isn't bad, but it's inferior due to the lack of spirit! It isn't even as good as your writing!" the empress commented.

"I thank Your Majesty for the appreciation!" Ren Baqian looked at the two guys and said, "Put down your hands. Why are the two of you still holding it?"

"Oh!" The two men lowered their hands and saw two pairs of palm prints that were one centimeter deep and clearly imprinted above and below the couplets on the door frame…

Ren Baqian's mouth twitched before he chased the two fellows into the house. After he went inside, his father came out to verify that the couplets weren't pasted crookedly. He came back with a puzzled look.

He looked at the two winged cavalry warriors as if they were animals.

Ren Baqian's parents and Ren Wannian received meat that Ren Baqian brought back from the other world every month. Their cultivation rate was relatively fast compared to the effort they put in. Even when compared to those military personnel with martial skills, they weren't slow.

After one year, their strength had increased tremendously.

Mama Ren carried a 25 kilogram bag of rice upstairs without gasping for air.

However, the deeply imprinted palm prints made her feel there was something savage going on.

In particular, this wasn't done with a strike and no sound was heard. The imprint was simply from being pressed on, which made it even more monstrous.

Even Ren's father felt that if humans became this dreadful, the world could really change dramatically in the future.

During the day, Ren Baqian managed to find time to chat with his father for a while, and the pair had the same opinion. With the rapid advancement of science, technology, and martial arts, n.o.body knew what this world would be like in the future.

His father didn't worry too much about himself as these changes would not happen overnight and he was already old.

He was just worried about the future for Ren Baqian and Ren Wannian.

"Don't worry about me! I have money and power, so I will not suffer regardless of the changes!" Ren Baqian, perceiving his father's thoughts, gesticulated at him and laughed.

"Rich and powerful?" His father scoffed. "Can your pittance make you rich and powerful? In the eyes of the commoners, it's good enough, but to those who are really rich and influential, it counts for nothing. In the past, we were at most considered as a humble family."

"Dad, do you understand what a humble family is?"

"Do you think the ordinary citizens are poor and humble? They are even worse than that. The humble and poor also have another name: the commoner, which corresponds to the gentry. Only those with a prefecture level of reputation can be part of the gentry, whereas those with a county level of reputation are squires and commoners. In the past, a prefecture was equivalent to a modern day province, while a county was similar to an ordinary district. With enough power and considerable say in an ordinary district, it would almost be as good as being the richest.

How much money do the richest in a district possess? Not to mention others, do you know the Xiu family here? At least 10 billion yuan. There should be many others with a few hundred million as well. The bosses of those restaurant and pharmaceutical companies, how many aren't worth hundreds of millions? What are you worth? Plus, your wealth hasn't even crossed three generations—saying that you come from a humble background is already giving you face."

This lecture from his father made Ren Baqian angry. He then asked with a puzzled look, "Is this the meaning of a humble family?"

As for the Xiu family, he already knew about them, but it was too much to include them as they also owned a famous pharmaceutical company. Although this district wasn't big, there were at least 180 distilleries and pharmaceutical companies. When he had returned some time ago, he counted over 40 pharmaceutical companies on that road alone.

If it was calculated this way, many people worth hundreds of millions were no big deal.

"Being ignorant and incompetent, you think being humble means not having enough to wear during winter to stay warm," Papa Ren lectured Ren Baqian. He felt great because he hadn't had the chance to exert his authority for a long time.

"Don't show off the little knowledge that you have. Since your father learned about those things you brought, he became addicted to cla.s.sical culture and studied them all day long." Mama Ren came out of the kitchen to reveal the situation.

"It's never too old to learn." Papa Ren was indifferent since he could still lecture his son.

"Lady boss is a future member of the imperial family, so how can he be from a humble family?" The two winged cavalry warriors grinned.

"Lady boss? Imperial family?" Ren's father gaped in surprise and subconsciously looked at the empress. Seeing that she kept a calm face and did not refute it, he didn't know whether he had heard it or not.

However, as for the imperial family… Was this daughter-in-law related to the one at the top?

As the mind of Ren's father whirled, he was jolted.

He glanced at the empress again and found it more and more likely. Her imposing manner couldn't have come from being raised by an ordinary family… Furthermore, the two underlings of Ren Baqian were obviously not ordinary people. This could be deduced from the way they directly left four palm imprints on the doorframe.

Where did he get these a.s.sistants from? Could he afford to employ them with his pitiful resources? Who was he bluffing?

Where did his employees come from? He was terrified after thinking about it.

His face turned pale, then green, and finally black. He jumped up and headed into the house.

"What's wrong?" Ren Baqian saw the changing expressions on his father's face before his father subsequently returned to the house without saying a word. Ren Baqian was also startled and wondered what his father's brain was processing.

"I am going to eat the Six Flavor Rehmanni pills[1.Six Flavor Rehmanni pills: a prescription in traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy to treat yin deficiency] to suppress my shock!" Papa Ren said without even turning his head.

"Ptui!" Ren Baqian spat right away.

Papa Ren didn't mention anything about a humble family when he returned and acted as if nothing had happened. He kept on saying that he regarded the leader as wise, that the present development was very good, and that all of this depended on the leaders.h.i.+p of the party. It left Ren Baqian confused.

Still, those two winged cavalry warriors weren't wrong—she was indeed part of the imperial lineage, but not what his father imagined…

Ren Baqian pulled his father to one side and explained, "The status of Zixiao is rather special, but it is not what you imagine."

"Special? Understand, I understand that it can't be mentioned. Don't worry, your father has eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. How would it be possible for me not to understand?" Papa Ren seemed to indicate that he understood and then fell into deep thought again.

If Zixiao was capable herself and her family also capable in their own right, it would be fine.

However, if she had a connection to the top echelon, it would be troublesome. Could he still regard her as his daughter-in-law? Was it possible for his son to be together with her?

Ren Baqian saw his expression and was lost for words. Finally, he said, "You really don't understand—she has no connection to the topmost one."

Papa Ren immediately a.s.sumed that there was no connection to the topmost one, but could there be a relation to the next in line? Was the next in line already confirmed?

"Well, your father understands. It's just that you… I can't take care of your business anyway, so you better pay more attention." Papa Ren shook his head.

Ren Baqian realized that if he didn't explain clearly, his father simply wouldn't understand.

But could he explain the status of the empress? How would he explain? An empress from another world?

Let it be…

After some consideration, Ren Baqian decided not to explain because the more he explained, the worse it would get.

From afternoon until evening, Papa Ren didn't exhibit any unusual behavior and didn't even talk to Mama Ren. Instead, he sat there looking worried from time to time.

At about seven plus at night (TLC. Not sure what "seven plus" refers to.), Ren Baqian dragged the empress and the two winged cavalry warriors downstairs, followed by Ren Wannian.

Two SUVs and a pickup truck were already waiting below. The cargo bed of the pickup was tightly wrapped in canvas.

"Elder brother, why be so secretive?" Ren Wannian looked at his brother, then at the two human bears, and lastly at his sister-in-law. All of them were wearing a single layer of clothing and didn't seem to feel cold in this -20 degree Celsius weather.

He was the only one who was all bundled up.

He unzipped his parka and felt the cold wind hitting him. He s.h.i.+vered and hastily zipped it back up.

"Let's start the fireworks!" Ren Baqian greeted and got on board.

The group drove 20 minutes to the suburbs, found an empty area, and pulled open the canvas. On the cargo bed of the pickup, there were all kinds of fireworks.

Not long after, the first burst of fireworks was seen in the sky, followed by many more starbursts.

The empress looked at the glowing blossoms in the sky that reflected on her face as flickering lights and was filled with tranquillity and peace.

Ren Baqian fittingly stretched out his hand to hold the empress's hand as they stood there side by side.

"Are you feeling cold?" Ren Baqian asked softly as he looked at Ren Wannian and the two winged cavalry warriors happily setting off fireworks in the distance.

As long as she said it was cold, it would be right and proper to hug her.

"I'm not cold!"

"Oh, but I feel so cold. Your Majesty, I request a hug!" Ren Baqian declared happily as he prepared for her kick. He was antic.i.p.ating an intimate encounter with the snow.

However, the empress softly embraced him from behind, rested her chin on his shoulder, and said tenderly, "Are you warm now?"

"Very warm!" Ren Baqian smiled and held her hands in front of him.

When the two winged cavalry warriors in the distance happened to see the empress together with Ren Baqian, they turned away with satisfied smiles and jubilantly continued to set off the fireworks.

To be able to see Her Majesty together with the person she loved and to see her smiling gently was a form of bliss for these guards whose very purpose of existence was to serve the empress.