Chapter 128: The Morning Assembly Concludes

Chen Mo held the Imperial Edict with both hands and slowly stepped backward.

Many officials of the second and third ranks looked at each other; they had long known of Chen Mo's strength and identity.

Yet, they had not expected the Emperor to directly bestow a status upon Chen Mo as a Recommended Scholar.

Coupled with the fact that the Imperial Court's martial examination was to be held in a short while, the implication was abundantly clear.

The Emperor hoped that Chen Mo could win the position of Martial Zhuangyuan, so that he could be promoted further.

From this, one could also see just how much the current Emperor valued Chen Mo.

Although the martial examination had not yet begun, they all likely understood that this position of Martial Zhuangyuan would inevitably be obtained by Chen Mo.

If he failed to obtain it, it might instead mean that someone had committed fraud.

However, although many officials were surprised by the Emperor's high regard for Chen Mo, no one had any objections to the Emperor's arrangement, because Chen Mo truly possessed the hard strength to be the Martial Zhuangyuan.

After the rewards for Chen Mo were finished, the Great Morning Assembly had not yet concluded; the rewarded items would only be delivered to his residence one by one after the assembly ended.

"The morning assembly is concluded, all officials may retire!"

Among the several Guard Cities near the Capital City, Nanshou City was considered neither the largest nor the most important, so the Commander of the Forbidden Army stationed there was only of the Right Fourth Rank.

Of course, what was read out from the Imperial Edict was only a small portion; only the conferment of official ranks of the fifth rank and above required an Imperial Edict.

Furthermore, since many officials had been dismissed or demoted, a new batch of people naturally had to be promoted to fill the vacancies.

In addition, this time it was not just him being rewarded; all those who had rendered meritorious service received rewards, but since his merit was the greatest, it started with him.

"By the grace of the Emperor, the decree states:

"This humble subject is here!" Sun Shouren's tone was slightly impassioned as he stepped toward the very front.

"Sun Shouren, Guardian of Xingyuan Prefecture, is adept at knowing and employing people, and possesses clear judgment. He is now promoted to the Right Fourth Rank Commander of the Southern City Forbidden Army, and bestowed one Tongxuan Pill."

"Sun Shouren, Guardian of Xingyuan Prefecture," the Palace Attendant in the palace shouted loudly.

However, for Sun Shouren, this could already be called a tremendous promotion; after all, this fourth-rank Commander truly held real power in his hands.

Under the guidance of the palace servants, the many officials slowly dispersed and left.

Unlike the other few Guard Cities, the Commanders of the Forbidden Army there were all Martial Officials of the third rank.

At the Great Morning Assembly, it was naturally impossible for officials to submit memorials; once all matters were read out, this assembly was considered dismissed.

If not for the Emperor's high regard for him, this official position would never have easily fallen into his hands.

Chen Mo was his foster son and also his subordinate; since Chen Mo had rendered meritorious service, he, as the superior, was also considered to have merit even if he had done nothing.

The higher one went, the more difficult it was to be promoted; sometimes positions were like occupied holes, and if one did not wait for the people ahead to be cleared out, it would be very difficult to be promoted another level in one's lifetime.

Moreover, the main merit this time was not rendered by him; he only counted as basking in Chen Mo's reflected glory.

"This humble subject thanks His Majesty!" Sun Shouren's tone was excited as he also extended both hands to receive the Imperial Edict.

Immediately following, other people who had rendered meritorious service also received their respective rewards, and many more people were promoted one by one to fill the vacant official positions.

As the last few Imperial Edicts were read out, that Palace Attendant raised his voice and shouted.

The promotion of officials below the fifth rank was organized and decided by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, and only after the discussed results were submitted to the Emperor and received the Emperor's seal could the order be issued.

"Lord Chen, please follow me. His Majesty has ordered me to take you to see your residence in the Inner City; the various rewards previously granted to you will also be delivered to that residence."

A Palace Attendant dressed in blue walked over with a smile.

"Then, Foster Father, this child will take his leave first and will come to find you in the Outer City later." Chen Mo bowed to Sun Shouren in salute before following the Palace Attendant away.

Walking out of the Palace City, they arrived at the Inner City.

Unlike the Outer City, the Inner City was very quiet and secluded; there were few pedestrians on the streets paved with bluestone, and occasionally some servants living in the mansions of the Palace City walked by, retreating and avoiding them from afar when they saw Chen Mo and the others.

"Lord Chen, look, this is the residence," the Palace Attendant said softly as he brought Chen Mo to a residence.

This residence must have been newly tidied up recently; the plaque was newly carved, and the rosewood gate had also been repainted.

"Land in the Inner City is expensive and cannot be compared to the Outer City, but this courtyard is still four mu and three fen in size, with pavilions and towers in the front, and a garden and stable in the back.

Besides the main gate, there are also side gates and back gates for servants and grooms."

The Palace Attendant introduced this courtyard to Chen Mo in detail.

This courtyard was actually quite large in area; it was a large compound that had been divided into two slightly smaller courtyards.

However, even though they were said to be slightly smaller, each occupied about one mu of land, and even if seventeen or eighteen people lived there, it would not feel crowded.

Although it could not compare to the spacious mansion his foster father had in the Outer City, it could already be considered very good in the Inner City.

The most important thing was that Chen Mo could see that there were layers upon layers of Arrays guarding this residence, as well as guiding the flow of Heaven and Earth Power and Feng Shui.

This Array was not only laid out in his own courtyard but also connected to the Palace City and other courtyards in the Inner City, making this place a Dongtian Fudi unaffected by the Mirage Sea; this was the most valuable aspect of this residence.

"Lord Chen, this is the Array Token for this residence; with it, you can mobilize the vast majority of the Arrays within the courtyard." The Palace Attendant took out a wooden box and handed it to Chen Mo with both hands.

Inside the box was a White Jade Token; Chen Mo took it, and his Inner Qi circulated, directly refining the token.

There were indeed many Arrays in this residence, but most were inclined toward defense; the truly useful one was an Array that absorbed Heaven and Earth Power, which could more quickly attract Heaven and Earth Power to help a Martial Artist refine their cultivation.

As for the Array used to guide Feng Shui and Earth Qi, Chen Mo could not mobilize it at all.

This was also normal; after all, once this Feng Shui Array was destroyed, the entire Inner City would be invaded by the Mirage Sea.

Therefore, this Array could naturally not be easily entrusted to the hands of others.

"Then, Lord Chen, you may look around this residence first, and I will go have others deliver the other rewards."

The Palace Attendant smiled and was about to leave.

Chen Mo reached into his Huai, took out a stack of banknotes from his Storage Bag, and handed them over, "Sorry for the trouble!"

"Ah! Then I thank you for the reward on behalf of my brothers, my Lord!" Seeing the banknotes, the Palace Attendant smiled very happily.

So-called Palace Attendants, apart from some eunuchs, were mostly ordinary minor officials who walked before the palace to handle miscellaneous matters for the Emperor.

If a eunuch was promoted to a Palace Attendant, it meant he had a rank; this was a grace bestowed by the Emperor because he valued and trusted him extremely.

The vast majority of eunuchs were ordinary eunuchs without rank or grade, and it was absolutely impossible for them to attain the official position of Palace Attendant.

The eunuch before him, although he had basically no Martial Dao strength, still held an official position, which was enough to show the Emperor's trust in him; there would be nothing wrong with building a good relationship with such a person.

The Palace Attendant left, and Chen Mo first inspected his residence. The courtyard was very empty and quiet, and it should have been cleaned once before.

With such a large courtyard, if he really wanted to move in, he would have to arrange for maidservants, servants, and a steward.

Even if he did not live here, he would still have to arrange for people to clean it; otherwise, it would not be long before this residence fell into ruin.

Chen Mo did not wait long before people arrived one after another to deliver the various rewards.

The court dress, ceremonial regalia, and official seal of the Qingmu County Baron were all packed inside wooden chests.

As for the salary grain, it was issued directly in the form of silver.

One jin of high-quality pearl white rice costs thirty wen at the market price; one hundred jin is three thousand wen, which is three taels of silver.

With the title of County Baron, even if Chen Mo did nothing in the future, he could receive two thousand four hundred taels of silver from the Imperial Court every year.

And it was not just him; his descendants could also receive it, for at least three or four generations—this was the most important aspect of a title.

Two thousand four hundred taels of silver was not a small sum; it was enough to support two or three External Martial Artists for martial arts training.

His foster father had spent his whole life in the saddle to obtain the title of County Baron, which showed just how hard it was to come by.

In addition, the Imperial Court also bestowed upon him one thousand mu of fertile land; this land was not near the Capital, but outside Nanshou City.

While all land is land, the price of land near the Capital is far beyond what other prefectures can compare to.

This one thousand mu of land was worth at least thirty thousand taels of silver.

If used to grow grain, after deducting various costs each year, it was estimated that about one thousand five hundred taels could remain.

With a title and land, if Chen Mo had the heart to stay in the Capital, this was the family estate he had already established.

However, these things were not the most important to Chen Mo.

"My Lord, look, this is a Blood Spirit Deer; it was caught this morning and is still fresh."

Four Palace Attendants lifted a heavy iron cage off the carriage.

Inside were two harmless-looking little deer, only the Blood Qi on their bodies was somewhat overly vigorous.

"This, just eat it directly? No need to find a Qi Refiner to process it?" Chen Mo asked carefully, his tone slightly hesitant.

"Replying to my Lord, you just eat it directly, but be careful when you drain the blood; this deer has immense strength. If the deer blood is spilled by accident, that would be a great loss," the Palace Attendant who came to deliver the rewards explained with a smile.

Immediately after, he displayed the rest of the rewards to Chen Mo one by one.

Apart from these two deer, there was nothing too special about the other rewards.

"I have troubled you all this time." Chen Mo wore a smile and took out silver notes to reward the group.

After everyone had left, Chen Mo grabbed a ginseng from the wooden chest in front of him.

The Xuanyuan Ginseng was huge, over a foot long and as thick as an adult's arm.

Though called ginseng, its size was not much different from a large white radish.

Chen Mo did not hesitate and decisively took a bite first to taste it.

As a spiritual object of heaven and earth, this ginseng had an excellent texture, like a very crisp apple; not only that, it also had a sweet taste.

Swallowed into his belly, a boundless force of Blood Qi surged in, which he sent into the Transformation Pearl.

This Xuanyuan Ginseng was extremely potent; just one bite contained a significant amount of Blood Qi force.

If a Martial Artist with insufficient physical strength were to consume it, they would be unable to handle the nourishment and might instead injure themselves.

While chewing the ginseng, Chen Mo successively put away the Blood Essence Stone, the Blood Pill, and the other rewards from this time.

His personal Storage Bag had already been emptied by him; the coffin and the two pairs of iron hammers he used had all been taken out, so it was now enough to hold these rewards.

After tidying up his things, Chen Mo sat in the pavilion in the courtyard and continued to gnaw on the ginseng in his hand with focus.

As for the remaining ginseng, Chen Mo prepared to give it to his foster father.

Ginseng is a spiritual object of heaven and earth, different from pills or Blood Essence Stones; this was definitely a good thing.

Even for those whose cultivation had reached a bottleneck, as long as their physical body was strong enough, they could absorb a portion of the medicinal power to supplement and nourish themselves.

Whether the old man wanted it was his business after he gave it to him, but he absolutely could not fail to give it.

After finishing the ginseng, Chen Mo looked toward the iron cage in the courtyard again; there were still two Blood Spirit Deers inside, which also possessed extremely abundant Qi and Blood within their bodies.

(End of this chapter)