Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 711 - 709

Chapter 711: Chapter 709

Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi were leading the Emperor, Empress, Empress Dowager, Shangguan Xuanjun, Gu Qiqi, and others through the zoo.

Since Ruan Weizhen was pregnant and had difficulty moving, Shangguan Xuanhao didn’t dare to leave her alone, so he stayed at home with her. Both of them didn’t come. However, Prince An’s family, the eldest princess, and Fu Ranhui all came.

Xiao’er took on the role of a guide today and explained everything along the way.

There were many animals in the zoo, including commonly seen ones such as lions, tigers, cheetahs, black bears, brown bears, wolves, peacocks, macaques, sika deer, camels, yaks, red-crowned cranes, pandas, golden monkeys, elephants, black gorillas, baboons, giraffes, hippos, red pandas, squirrel monkeys, zebras, black panthers, white tigers, and so on.

Adding in some bird species, there were hundreds of animals in total, too many to list out one by one.

All these animals were collected by Bai Tian and Tian Bai and raised in their respective spaces until they developed sentience, then they were placed in the zoo. Moreover, they were fed food from these same spaces every day.

The Emperor held a hunting event every year, and he recognized many of these large animals, but there were also many animals he hadn’t seen before.

The Empress Dowager knew far fewer animals than the Emperor. She felt like she couldn’t get enough of seeing these fascinating creatures. She didn’t recognize many of them and didn’t dare express her ignorance, but luckily there were signs explaining each animal and Xiao’er would also provide explanations.

Since all the animals in the zoo were spiritually aware, every area containing larger animals like tigers, lions, and monkeys had play areas for them. Tigers jumped through hoops and monkeys rode bikes.

The Empress Dowager, looking at the monkeys riding bikes, had her eyes wide with shock. This sight completely turned her perception of the world upside down!

She didn’t even dare to learn how to ride a bike herself, but these monkeys had figured it out! And they were riding unicycles no less!

Who knew monkeys were so smart? She certainly hadn’t!

"These monkeys are so smart!" Many people praised in astonishment.

"My god, how did they teach those monkeys to ride a bike? It’s unbelievable! I initially thought the entrance fee for the zoo was a bit expensive, but now I think it’s way more than worth it!"

"What’s so great about a monkey riding a bike? I saw a gorilla teaching a bunch of baby gorillas how to write on the other side!"

A gorilla, writing?!

"Is that true? Where? I want to see!"

"Just over there!"

The person ran in the direction guided by the speaker.

...

"Xiao’er, you’re really impressive. How did you manage to do this?" Gu Qiqi asked in amazement after seeing the monkeys on bicycles and hearing the discussions of others.

Xiao’er smiled and replied, "Primates are generally intelligent, with a little patience and lots of time, they can learn."

"Let’s go, I want to see the gorillas writing too! Maybe a gorilla will be the top scorer in the future!" joked the Emperor.

Everyone laughed at his comment.

While walking, Fu Ranhui praised, "I thought it was just a cage with some animals before, but it’s much more fascinating! Even if we didn’t see the animals, just admiring the scenery and vegetation in the zoo is enough!"

As well as being home to the animals, the scenic design of the zoo was also painstakingly done by Xiao’er. It was decorated beautifully. Earlier, a child had noted that the animals’ homes were more beautiful and clean than their own houses.

...

After seeing the gorillas, they arrived at the area dedicated to birds. The entire sky of this area was enclosed by a high wire mesh, ensuring the birds had ample flying space without the risk of escape.

The women tended to be more fond of birds. The Empress Dowager, Empress, and Gu Qiqi were no exceptions.

They were all engrossed in watching.

The Empress Dowager felt that her knowledge had truly expanded!

She never knew there were so many varieties of parrots alone - grey parrots, macaws, lapis macaws, grey cockatiel parrots, red green parrots, Alexandrine parrots, crimson rosella parrots, white cockatiel parrots, toucans, sun parakeets, hornbills, Fischer’s lovebirds, and so on.

The Empress Dowager expressed that she couldn’t keep track of them all.

Having a large variety of species was one thing, but every single parrot was capable of mimicking human speech. Seeing someone approach, they’d say, "Welcome!"

Xiao’er taught them phrases like, "Long live the Empress Dowager!", "Long May the Emperor Reign!", "The Empress is Beautiful!" and "The Emperor is the Most Handsome!" They parroted them all perfectly.

Sometimes, a parrot would suddenly blurt out things like, "This guy is so handsome!" or "Such a cute little girl!"

This sent the Empress Dowager and others into fits of laughter.

Other visitors witnessing this started to talk and encouraged the parrots to mimic them as well.

Wasn’t it such great fun?

The children were beyond excited.

"It must not have been easy to teach these parrots to imitate human speech, right?" The Empress Dowager asked, smiling.

She thought about getting a parrot for the palace. It could entertain her during her idle moments.

"That’s true." After Xiao’er said this, she added in her heart: That’s in the case of ordinary parrots. The parrots in her home were present in her personal space. They were intelligent. Bai Tian and Tian Bai could teach them anything in no time!

"There is an animal competition up ahead. Shall we go and watch?" Xiao’er pointed to a lush and green playing field in the distance.

An animal competition? Everyone’s interest was piqued as soon as they heard about it.

What kind of competition could animals participate in?

Watching the animal competition required a fee, 100 coins per person. Front row seats even cost 150 coins per person.

The Empress Dowager looked at the ticket price and then at Xiao’er: What a money collector! She really knew how to make money!

Xiao’er handed a stack of tickets at the entrance, then led everyone inside, finding the seats that corresponded to the ones on their tickets.

It had been a long walk; the Empress Dowager was already tired but couldn’t bear to stop watching. Luckily, they were finally able to take a seat.

"This match is the sheepdog competition." Xiao’er explained.

"This dog understands sheepherding?" The Empress Dowager had a face full of disbelief upon hearing this.

"Dogs are very intelligent. Not only dogs, but if trained well, pigs can also herd sheep." Xiao’er mentioned a scene she remembered from a movie in her former life.

Well, she didn’t know whether the pigs in reality could herd sheep, but the pigs in her personal space, she was certain she could train them to herd sheep!

"Ha! Pigs can herd sheep as well? Sixth Imperial Consort, aren’t you afraid of boasting too much," Princess Ling’er laughed sarcastically.

Although Princess Ling’er found it difficult to admit, she had to acknowledge Xiao’er’s ability after seeing everything on the way. Of course, her admiration was less than her jealousy!

She couldn’t believe that Xiao’er could have possibly established this zoo, surely the Sixth Prince must have helped. Otherwise, how could she have achieved it?

Now, having heard Xiao’er claim pigs can herd sheep as well, she couldn’t help but tease.

"You don’t believe it because you can’t do it! Your inability doesn’t mean that the Sixth Imperial Consort can’t!" Fu Ranhui couldn’t help but retort.

Such a buzzkill. Why did the Empress Dowager bring her along?

"Have you ever seen pigs do anything apart from eating and sleeping? Who would believe that pigs can herd sheep, except for you?"

"They can walk, they can run, they can make noises! As long as they can do these things, they can herd sheep!" Fu Ranhui retorted unhappily.

"Don’t tell me you think sheep understand pig sounds?" Princess Ling’er laughed scornfully.

Fu Ranhui: "..."