Chapter 121: Surging Undercurrents

Chen Mo felt suspicious and did not understand why the other party would ask this question, but he still replied, "General Sun is my foster father."

Lu Chuan nodded upon hearing this, said nothing more, and abruptly strode toward the main courtyard.

Chen Mo waved his hand to signal the servants to close the door, then followed Lu Chuan.

Upon arriving at the brightly lit main courtyard, maidservants were already standing by in the dining hall to serve.

Chen Mo dismissed the remaining servants, and for a moment, only the two of them were left in the large dining hall.

"Your foster father and I are old acquaintances and from the same year; if we calculate it carefully, you should call me Uncle Lu."

Seeing there were no outsiders, the tense look on Lu Chuan's face finally relaxed.

"Uncle Lu, then why did you come to find this junior today?" Chen Mo was still quite puzzled by this.

"Do you know what has happened in the Capital City these past few days?" Lu Chuan asked in a low, serious voice.

Seeing Chen Mo shake his head slightly, he continued, "Some time ago, experts from the Demonic Path invaded, and Demonic Path scoundrels colluded with Alien Races to assassinate His Majesty.

Although the assassination did not succeed, since then, His Majesty has been in seclusion to heal his wounds and has not appeared for a long time, not even showing his face at the morning court sessions.

It was also around that time that His Majesty ordered your foster father and the garrison commanders of many provinces to bring troops into the capital.

As it happens, just after you entered the capital, you encountered the First Prince being ambushed. Given the First Prince's age, he must have snuck out of the Palace City, and someone must have helped him."

After saying this, Lu Chuan sighed softly; the waters of this matter were too deep.

From the assassination of His Majesty to the ambush of the First Prince, no matter which incident it was, both were earth-shattering events.

Especially since news of His Majesty being assassinated and remaining severely wounded had spread; yet at this time, the First Prince was lured outside the city, and there were even Acquired experts wanting to kill him.

There is no need to think; this matter must have been prepared for a long time, at the very least, it began shortly after His Majesty was assassinated.

As for whether these two matters could be connected, that is even harder to say.

Although nothing major has happened yet, Lu Chuan felt as if he could already see the scene in the Capital City a few days from now.

"The Demonic Path? Which Demonic Path is so strong? Could the Imperial Court not wipe them out?" Chen Mo's tone was slightly puzzled; apart from the Dutian Dao Sect, he had truly never come into contact with any Demonic Path cultivators.

Even the Dutian Dao Sect, strictly speaking, could not be considered the Demonic Path; it could only be said that they wanted to rebel, so they were the Demonic Path.

If they were willing to cooperate with the Imperial Court, then the Dutian Dao Sect could also be the Righteous Path.

The so-called Demonic Path is divided into two types: one type consists of those whose conduct is truly evil and heterodox, who kill people at every turn, act without any scruples, and some even use living people as cultivation resources.

This is the true Demonic Path, which everyone shouts to beat; regardless of the Imperial Court, noble families, or Jianghu sects, as long as they see such a Demonic Path, they will take action to wipe them out.

The other type is those who oppose the Imperial Court; regardless of their conduct or style, in Great Gan, they are the Demonic Path.

"This group of Demonic Path followers comes from Luantian Valley, or rather, all the Demonic Path followers who were besieged by the Imperial Court but not wiped out have hidden there.

Among them are many who have intense hatred for Great Gan and the current Emperor. This time, they collaborated with the Alien Races, which is why they dared to take the risk to assassinate the monarch."

Lu Chuan sighed when he said this; the Demonic Path was not worth worrying about. If they were truly strong enough, they would not have been driven into Luantian Valley by the Imperial Court back then.

But the strength of the Alien Races is indeed not weak, otherwise, they would not have been fighting for so many years without wiping them out.

Of course, in Lu Chuan's heart, there was another guess, which was that His Majesty was assassinated on purpose.

And after being assassinated, although he was fine, he kept pretending to be seriously ill, all to use this opportunity to lure out the rebels and more Demonic Path scoundrels within the Imperial Court.

It is just that before these people were lured out, someone could not control their inner greed and took the risk to seize the succession.

Of course, these were all his guesses and could not be confirmed as true, so he would not tell Chen Mo.

"Then how is His Majesty's situation now? Do you have any news, Uncle Lu?" Chen Mo asked in a lowered voice.

As of now, the most critical and important point is whether His Majesty is healthy.

If he is not seriously injured or has recovered, then many heads will fall next.

Conversely, if His Majesty is truly mortally wounded, he might even pass away.

Then the entire Capital City, along with the entire Great Gan, will likely fall into turmoil and chaos.

The faction of the First Prince will certainly fight the faction that wants to kill the First Prince to the bitter end.

"I went to inquire today, but I couldn't get any news. The Palace City is under martial law, and I can't even get in.

Asking others, including my direct superior, the General of the Central Army, I couldn't get any news either."

Lu Chuan's expression was solemn as he slowly shook his head.

The General of the Central Army, an official of the second rank, can be called a high-ranking minister.

Because according to the common practice of Great Gan, first-rank official positions are generally not granted in reality and are only used for posthumous titles.

And the General of the Central Army, in name, can command all the Imperial Guards, but in reality, in most cases, he can only mobilize the Imperial Guards of the Capital City.

If he really wants to mobilize the Imperial Guards of the other Guard Cities, he must obtain an imperial edict from the Emperor.

Even so, being able to command the Imperial Guards of the Capital City is enough to show His Majesty's trust in this person.

But even the General of the Central Army does not know any news, which is enough to see the severity of this matter. Of course, he might know, but he does not want to reveal it to Lu Chuan.

But no matter what, it is enough to see that this matter is still hanging in the balance and has not yet had a concrete result.

"I came today to tell you that saving the First Prince with your status is very good; no matter what, it is a merit.

But if anyone tries to win you over or show favor to you next, then do nothing.

Only in this way, no matter what the future situation is, you will have merit and no fault."

Lu Chuan spoke earnestly and seriously, giving these instructions.

If Chen Mo were not Sun Shouren's foster son, he would never have come to say these words today.

Because once Chen Mo takes a side, in the eyes of others, it basically represents Sun Shouren's choice.

That's right, Chen Mo's official position is indeed not high, but he is strong.

An expert who can easily kill other Acquired experts, regardless of his realm, his combat power is absolutely comparable to Acquired Perfection.

In the absence of Innate Martial Artists and Golden Core cultivators, Acquired Perfection is already the world's top expert.

The stance of such an expert is very important in itself.

He is not close to Chen Mo, but he does not want to see his old friend of many years get dragged into the water.

The water in this matter is too deep and too murky; rushing to get involved before figuring it out is not necessarily a good thing.

"This junior understands. From now on, I will stay in this residence to cultivate and will absolutely not ask about other matters."

Chen Mo pondered for a moment and gave a smiling reply.

Lu Chuan was indeed correct; saving the First Prince was an indisputable merit.

No matter how the fighting goes from here on out, or how they fight, even if the faction that wanted to assassinate the First Prince truly ascends to the throne, they would still have to reward Chen Mo heavily.

After all, he saved the prince at the time, fulfilling a subject's duty; no matter who becomes emperor, they would want to see such subjects.

Therefore, he can now sit securely on the fishing platform and just wait for the matter to conclude.

Actively getting involved now would instead be risky.

"It is good that you can understand." Lu Chuan nodded lightly.

He immediately changed the subject, talking to Chen Mo about the characteristics of the Capital and some things to be aware of when first entering the Capital.

Chen Mo then instructed the maid to serve cold dishes first, and then open two jars of the fine wine his foster father had stored in this residence to entertain Lu Chuan.

The wine had passed three rounds, and the dishes had reached five flavors.

Lu Chuan's face was slightly flushed as he gripped Chen Mo's hand and asked another question.

"I say, nephew, how is it that with your Post-Heaven cultivation, you are only a Seventh Rank Official? Surely Old Sun didn't fail to submit a memorial to the Imperial Court to recommend you; this shouldn't be."

Lu Chuan was clearly also very puzzled by this matter.

Although practicing Martial Dao can delay aging, since Chen Mo had taken Sun Shouren as his foster father, his age must be much younger than Sun Shouren's.

This shows that Chen Mo's talent is truly excellent, even among the cultivation seeds within those aristocratic families and top sects.

If they start building their foundation and training from the age of five or six, then by Chen Mo's age, they would likely be at most in the Acquired Realm.

Such top geniuses do not exceed thirty people in the entire Great Gan within the same generation.

However, Lu Chuan knew that Chen Mo's talent was definitely far more than this.

He certainly did not come from an aristocratic family, nor did he have a sect to rely on; after all, if he had those, why would he need to take Sun Shouren as his foster father?

Without sufficient abundant resources and the guidance of famous teachers, for Chen Mo to still reach Post-Heaven cultivation at this age is even more proof of his talent.

Let alone looking at this generation of Great Gan, even in the past hundred years, there might not be anyone who can compare to him.

As long as Chen Mo does not meet with any accidents, the Innate Realm is only a matter of time.

This is also the reason why he specifically came to advise Chen Mo not to be in a hurry to take sides and declare a position.

Next, there will certainly be various factions wanting to win him over, because winning him over is not only winning over a Post-Heaven Martial Artist, but also winning over a future Innate Expert.

"This matter is a long story. This junior's cultivation only broke through not long ago, but I cultivate both internally and externally, so my strength is slightly stronger than ordinary Post-Heaven experts.

I was previously in charge of salt transport and was always busy, so my foster father, the old gentleman, does not know that I have already broken through to the Post-Heaven Realm."

Chen Mo wore a smile and reluctantly gave an explanation.

This explanation does not need to be completely reasonable, because no one will investigate it in detail.

Even if they investigated in detail, they wouldn't find anything; Chen Mo is someone who walked out of Qingzhou, and there are not many living people in Qingzhou now.

However, there is still one flaw, which is that he must find a way to see his foster father first and discuss this matter with the old gentleman.

Otherwise, it is still explainable that he has been cultivating since childhood and has reached the Post-Heaven Realm now.

But if one were to count it all up and he had only been cultivating for two years, that would seem a bit too beyond reason.

However, even if it were completely exposed, the problem would not be very big.

Unless there is a life-and-death feud, no force would suddenly go crazy and insist on offending an expert whose true combat power rivals an Acquired Perfection.

For such experts, even those forces that possess Innate Martial Artists mainly focus on winning them over and befriending them.

This is also the reason why Chen Mo dared to expose his own strength; with his current strength, although he is not the world's top, he is at a first-class level.

Moreover, Chen Mo is also an official of the Imperial Court and saved the First Prince's life; unless the current Emperor truly passes away, no one dares to easily move against him.

Because whoever dares to move against him might be suspected by the Emperor of having connections with the forces that intercepted and killed the First Prince.

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is." Lu Chuan nodded and did not ask any more about it.

At the banquet, both sides talked happily, and Chen Mo sent Lu Chuan outside the door before returning to his room to rest.

Two more days passed, and Sun Shouren had still not arrived, but Mo Hu had arrived in the Capital a step earlier.

Chen Mo received the news from his foster father and rushed to the Capital; he naturally could also receive it after a few days.

It was just that he knew the news later and had a longer road to travel, so his speed was not as fast as Chen Mo's.

Additionally, he did not come alone; there were more than ten Personal Soldiers with him.

Compared to Chen Mo, who is the head of the Salt Transport Department, he has superiors and colleagues in the Tax Bureau, so there are naturally people to take over the work he does not do.

Therefore, the Personal Soldiers under his command could naturally be transferred to enter the Capital with him.

Three more days passed, and the Palace City was no longer under martial law; furthermore, news came that a Great Morning Assembly would be held in five days, and all officials in the Capital, regardless of rank, were to enter the palace for the assembly.

Without a doubt, the fact that this news could be released proved one thing: the current Emperor was not in danger of losing his life.

Not only was he fine, but he also had the energy to handle government affairs.

Even if he were truly seriously injured, his condition would now be stable even if it had not yet healed.

If he was fine, then those who dared to assassinate the First Prince should be in trouble.

In fact, before this news was even released, some high-ranking officials had already discovered that their colleagues beside them had suddenly disappeared.

Until the news of the Great Morning Assembly was released, many officials were still being taken away by the Patrol Heaven Guard for investigation.

In the Inner City, more than ten households were collectively sealed off by the Patrol Heaven Guard.

For a time, in the black prison where the Patrol Heaven Guard held criminals, bursts of wailing echoed from morning till night.

This matter involved too much; anyone involved, regardless of status or power, would at the very least have their three clans exterminated.

From this, it can also be seen that the current Emperor's methods are definitely not bad, otherwise these things could not have been done so cleanly and efficiently.

These situations are no longer secrets within the city now, and officials, both large and small, are almost all about to find out.

The reason was simple: because so many people had been seized, this was a matter that could not be covered up, and it soon spread like a Wind throughout the entire Capital City, even Chen Mo was aware of it.

Of course, the vast majority of commoners did not care about this; the struggles within the imperial court had nothing to do with them, and at most, they would brag and chat, or idly gossip a few words while drinking.

Two more days passed, and the Personal Soldier that Mo Hu had arranged to observe near the city gate finally sent word.

His foster father was now no more than twenty-some miles from the Li Capital and would certainly be able to enter the city before evening today.

(End of this chapter)