Chapter 120: Handover

Chen Mo looked at the Palace City before him; hundreds of Yulin Guard, clad in heavy armor and fully armed, were responsible for guarding this Palace City gate.

These Yulin Guard were the elite of the elite, every one of them coming from respectable families.

Many were even the illegitimate sons or collateral branches of noble houses, possessing a desire to excel and decent Martial Dao cultivation, which allowed them to join the Yulin Guard.

Chen Mo swept his gaze across them and discovered, among these hundreds of Yulin Guard, over a dozen experts no weaker than Mo Hu.

As for the rest, their strength was generally a cut above the Personal Soldier under his foster father, though not by much.

This was already quite impressive; one must know that with Mo Hu's current strength, no matter which prefecture he went to for the provincial examinations, he could secure the title of a Ju Ren.

Such strength, even placed among the most elite Yulin Guard, would at least earn one the position of a squad leader.

Without needing to think, if these people had such strength and were still willing to stay in the Yulin Guard, then the benefits of this Yulin Guard must certainly be quite good.

Lu Chuan dismounted and hurried forward to speak with the Yulin Guard on duty before him.

Before long, a middle-aged Martial Artist, not wearing armor but dressed in a Right Fourth Rank Martial Official robe and looking slightly plump, walked out.

"Your Highness." He called out softly toward the carriage from afar.

"Uncle!" A joyful and affectionate exclamation came from inside the carriage; Zhao Renmin leaned out, his expression quite agitated.

As the common saying goes, a mother's brother is the most important; others might have ulterior motives and might harm him, but his own uncle absolutely would not.

Xu Jin saw his figure and felt his heart instantly relax; unable to care about anything else, he hurriedly walked to the front of the carriage and tightly grabbed Zhao Renmin.

"My little ancestor, thank goodness you are alright!" His voice was very low, his tone unable to hide his excitement and agitation.

If it were an ordinary day, he certainly would not say this in front of a crowd, but right now he truly could not restrain himself.

Ever since he learned that Zhao Renmin had gone missing, he had been nearly driven mad with worry; now that he had finally been found, the suppressed emotions in his heart could finally ease.

"You must be Chen Mo, the one who slew the villains and saved the First Prince." Xu Jin patted Zhao Renmin's back gently and looked toward Chen Mo to ask.

"Yes, he is the one who saved me." Seeing his relative, Zhao Renmin was clearly much more at ease and no longer as fearful and worried as before.

"I will first take this villain and the Prince into the palace to see the Emperor; later, I will request an Imperial Edict from His Majesty to reward you." Xu Jin bowed with cupped hands, his attitude very friendly.

A Post-Heaven expert is not a cabbage; the First Prince is, after all, only the First Prince for now, not the Crown Prince, so it is not easy to win over a Post-Heaven expert.

Since Chen Mo saved Zhao Renmin, he could be considered branded as part of their side, and wanting to win him over would undoubtedly be much simpler.

"Chen, I will certainly have my father reward you heavily later." Zhao Renmin also said at this moment.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Chen Mo smiled and bowed, watching them leave.

The villain he had captured earlier was also taken away by a Right Fourth Rank Yulin Guard commander.

Returning to his own carriage, Chen Mo turned the carriage around as if no one were there and headed all the way toward the Outer City.

No matter what happened next, at least for the moment, it no longer had any connection to him.

Chen Mo estimated that before he was rewarded, there would either be heads rolling and blood flowing everywhere within the Imperial Court, or this matter would be forcibly suppressed, leaving the Imperial Court without a single ripple.

From the fact that the First Prince's uncle was still alive, one could see that the possibility of blood flowing like a river was higher.

In any case, he would just wait; he was traveling slowly, stopping and going along the way.

According to Chen Mo's estimation, in another six or seven days, his foster father would likely arrive.

With his official rank and status, when the time came, if he asked him, he might be able to learn more news.

Driving the carriage toward the Outer City, the martial law had been lifted one after another.

As a grand city gathering millions of people, the Capital City could not remain under martial law for too long, otherwise, the common people in the city would have trouble eating.

Now that the most urgent matter had been resolved, the Outer City was naturally unsealed one after another.

However, the Inner City and Palace City remained under martial law, and the entire Capital City was in a state of being relaxed on the outside but tense on the inside.

Spending fifty copper coins, Chen Mo found a guide and had them lead him as he walked through the Capital City.

The Outer City of the Capital City was divided into dozens of wards; the wards varied in size, with the largest housing over a hundred thousand people, more than many large county seats.

Even the smaller wards had sixty or seventy thousand people, and every ward was fully equipped with all kinds of shops, resembling a small city.

Under the guide's lead, Chen Mo's carriage soon drove into An Ye Fang.

The reason he came to this ward was that his foster father had a residence in the Outer City.

With his foster father's status and power, it was obviously impossible for him to have a residence in the Inner City, but in the Outer City, it was not a problem.

Even many high-ranking officials and nobles who had residences in the Inner City would also purchase residences in the Outer City.

After all, space in the Inner City was limited, while the Outer City was much more spacious.

Although his foster father did not live in Jing year-round, there were servants looking after this residence.

He had said in a letter home that if Chen Mo arrived in the Capital City first, he could go there to settle down.

The guide asked the guide of this ward for the clear path, and only then did he lead Chen Mo to the front of the Sun residence.

Zhao Yu took a purse from his Huai and found enough copper coins to pay the bill.

The Sun residence was quite imposing, with a lacquered wooden gate over two zhang wide, and two quite mighty stone lions guarding the front of the gate.

The residence gate was tightly shut; it was obvious that no one usually entered or exited through this gate, nor did anyone come to visit.

Beside the gate was a side room, which served as both a gatehouse and a side entrance.

An elderly man with graying hair sat inside the room; seeing Chen Mo stop the carriage, he hurried over.

"This official, may I ask what business you have?" Although Chen Mo was not wearing an official robe, the old man could still tell at a glance that his status was extraordinary.

After all, being able to have a carriage meant he was already no ordinary person; how could common people afford one, let alone a carriage pulled by two horses.

"I am the foster son of Sun Shouren, the Garrison Commander of Xingyuan Prefecture; the Imperial Court transferred me to the Capital, and my foster father told me to settle here first."

Chen Mo took the letter and Official Seal from his Huai; the old gatekeeper naturally could not understand them, so he bowed first and turned to trot away.

Before long, a middle-aged man of about thirty, tall and thin, hurried over.

"Official, I am Sun Ji, the steward of this residence; please hand over the master's letter for me to see."

Sun Ji bowed, his face wearing a fawning smile.

Chen Mo showed the letter, letting him look at it carefully; Sun Ji changed his form of address immediately, "Young Master, please follow me."

Although Chen Mo is not Sun Jiangjun's biological son, to servants like them, Chen Mo is the young master.

Sun Ji had someone open the main gate, then led the horse himself, guiding the carriage into the residence.

This residence, while called a house, actually covers an area comparable to a small manor, spanning a full forty to fifty mu.

Within the courtyard, there are six smaller residences scattered about, with a continuous succession of front and back gardens, pavilions, and waterside structures, and all sorts of flowers and plants have been planted.

It is evident that this residence is well-maintained; even though his foster father has not visited for a long time, it has not fallen into disrepair.

No wonder Sun Ji's expression was quite composed when he saw him earlier; it seems he had a plan in mind.

Chen Mo chose a relatively secluded side courtyard, while Sun Ji found several maids and servants to clean the residence and unload the items Chen Mo had brought on the carriage one by one.

"We shall settle down here securely for a few days; we will discuss everything else once the old master, my foster father, arrives."

Chen Mo sat in the newly cleaned main hall and spoke softly to Zhao Yu beside him.

"I will listen to whatever you say." Zhao Yu smiled and nodded, bringing over a cup of tea to hand to Chen Mo.

"Young Master, someone just sent you a visiting card." Sun Ji walked over at this moment.

Chen Mo felt slightly surprised; although he had done a major deed upon entering the Capital this time, not many people should know of him.

Yet, few people truly know his name, and when he left the Inner City, Chen Mo did not notice anyone following him.

So, who exactly sent a visiting card to see him?

Chen Mo felt quite interested in this, opened the visiting card, and saw the name written on it.

The person coming to visit was none other than the Fourth-Rank Imperial Guard Commander Lu Chuan, whom he had seen during the day.

Furthermore, the time he intended to visit was this very evening.

"Order people to set up a banquet in the main courtyard tonight; an honored guest is coming to visit." Chen Mo closed the visiting card and gave instructions.

Sun Ji bowed to accept the order and retreated once more.

"Stay safely in the house; you don't need to wait for me to eat dinner tonight."

Chen Mo spoke with a smile, took the Mysterious Ice Bead from his Huai, and handed it to Zhao Yu.

"Also, find a place that isn't easily discovered, enshrine this bead, and light incense to wake Wei Xia; tell her to stop sleeping and wake up to guard the house for us."

Chen Mo had once chatted with Wei Xia; incense cannot increase a Ghost Spirit's strength, but to her, incense is merely a signal that can wake her up.

At least for now, that is the case; as for whether she can absorb the power of incense to improve herself in the future, that is hard to say.

Wei Xia's strength is not too bad; having her guard the house can be considered an extra layer of defense—having it is better than not having it.

He saved the First Prince and has a debt of gratitude from him, but he has offended another group of people.

Admittedly, at this time, this group of people should be thinking about how to save their own lives, and the possibility of them taking action against him is not high, but he must still guard against them jumping over the wall in desperation.

"Alright." Zhao Yu held the Mysterious Ice Bead, nodded firmly, and immediately began searching around the residence to see where to enshrine this Mysterious Ice Bead.

Chen Mo found a room to sit in meditation and regulate his breathing; uniting the three treasures of essence, Qi, and spirit is by no means an easy task.

Even though Chen Mo's divine sense can now attach to his Inner Qi, and his essence can also combine with his Inner Qi.

But this kind of combination is like mixing black rice with white rice; it looks mixed together, but in reality, they remain clearly distinct.

Wanting to unite the three treasures of essence, Qi, and spirit is definitely not an easy task; the most critical point is that he does not have the subsequent cultivation technique in his hands.

The Five Elements Origin-Nurturing Art is, after all, a technique that can only be cultivated up to the Postnatal Realm.

It was already very difficult for him to open up his Mysterious Apertures and Shenhai based on the acupuncture points mentioned above, combined with the information he had obtained.

And if he wants to go further with this technique, that is extremely difficult, almost an impossible task.

To break through again, he must find other techniques to replace it.

Time quickly reached the evening; the courtyard gate was wide open, and Chen Mo brought a chair and sat inside the gate, waiting for Lu Chuan to arrive.

He did not wait long before Lu Chuan arrived on foot, all alone, not even wearing his official uniform.

"Lord Lu." Chen Mo bowed in greeting.

In truth, he still has not figured out why the other party suddenly wants to visit him.

"Since you are the head of the Xingyuan Prefecture Salt Transport Department, what is your specific relationship with the Xingyuan defender, Sun Shouren?" Lu Chuan stared fixedly at Chen Mo and asked in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)