Chapter 162: Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Dawn Robes

"My lord, this is one hundred and thirty-five Blood Essence Stones; please count them to see if the amount is correct."

The slightly plump middle-aged shop manager handed over two wooden boxes, inside which were Blood Essence Stones arranged neatly one by one.

Chen Mo had previously been in seclusion to cultivate, and although he had refined the Blood Essence Stones and Mirage Spirit he had obtained, he still had many items on hand that needed to be sold.

As for things like gold, silver, jewelry, house deeds, and land deeds, he had his subordinates help handle and consolidate them.

But for items of considerable value, such as weapons, Dharma Artifacts, or Storage Bags.

These were things he could not use himself, and his friends and family nearby had no use for them either.

Entrusting them to others to sell, Chen Mo did not feel entirely at ease, so he could only set out to do it himself.

"Not bad." Chen Mo swept them with his True Qi to confirm the count was correct, then immediately stored them into his Storage Bag.

He only had two Storage Bags left on his person now; the rest had all been traded away, converted into cultivation resources.

After completing this transaction, he visited two more shops and sold off all the items he did not need.

After processing everything, Chen Mo had obtained a total of three hundred and seventy Blood Essence Stones, and the two Storage Bags in his hands were suddenly much emptier.

All that remained were a set of Heavy Armor, a suit of Blood Spirit Deer Skin Armor, a pair of Giant Hammers, a coiled dragon spear, and a Seven Absolute Treasure Bow.

There were over ten Talismans, several bottles of Healing Pill, among which were life-saving trump cards like the Heaven and Earth Displacement Talisman and the Earth-Vertical Golden Light Talisman, and even more powerful pills like the Profound Heaven Creation Pill that could help a Martial Artist break through.

In addition, there were many miscellaneous items of little value or that could not be used for the time being, which he placed in another Storage Bag.

In truth, these things were not absolutely safe inside a Storage Bag; anyone could take them away as long as they possessed Inner Qi to open it.

Chen Mo could only keep them on his person to ensure their safety.

There was no help for it; storage rings were precious and hard to find, and even the Prince of Pingxi did not have one, so Chen Mo had even less chance of obtaining one.

He just wondered if there were any in the Heavenly Son Secret Treasury; if there were, he could try to find a way to get one.

Carrying all the Blood Essence Stones obtained from the trades, Chen Mo flew off to leave the market.

Regardless of which market it was, those who lived there for a long time were mostly Qi Refiners or ordinary people.

Except for a small number of Martial Artists hired to serve as guards, the vast majority of Martial Artists had a broader, more colorful world to go to, unlike Qi Refiners, who could only be trapped within the Dongtian Fudi and could not easily leave.

On the way back to the city, Chen Mo continuously took out one Blood Essence Stone after another to refine and absorb.

Until all the Blood Essence Stones were exhausted, he had replenished the Transformation Pearl with another twenty percent of Qi and Blood; added to the twenty percent of Qi and Blood accumulated previously, he now had forty percent of his Qi and Blood power.

He only needed to wait for the national mourning to pass, and once he received the Imperial Court's reward, it should be enough to undergo the next Mortal Transformation.

Returning to the Capital all the way, more than twenty days had passed since the Prince of Pingxi was beheaded, and the Capital had now returned to its former bustle and prosperity.

Merchants came and went like clouds, the flow of carriages and horses was endless, the common people rubbed shoulders, and the sound of voices was clamorous and deafening.

It was just that there were many more Forbidden Army soldiers on the city walls and near the city gates than in the past.

The Imperial Court's Border Army was stationed near the Capital; although the Prince of Pingxi was dead, the General of the Central Army had still arranged for many Forbidden Army soldiers to stand guard to prevent these Border Army troops from causing trouble.

Chen Mo followed the flow of people into the city; his footsteps appeared unhurried, but every step and shift of his body covered over ten zhang of distance.

This was still under his deliberate control; if he were to burst out with full force, his speed would be much faster than it was now.

Chen Mo walked all the way to An Ye Fang and arrived at a tailor shop with a rather spacious and imposing facade called Miaoyi Workshop.

This shop was not far from his foster father's residence in the Outer City; when Chen Mo and Zhao Yu first came to the Capital, they had made quite a few clothes at this shop.

"The guest has arrived, please come inside!" the shop assistant saw Chen Mo walking over and hurriedly greeted him.

Compared to ordinary tailor shops, this shop mainly catered to high-ranking officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants.

Because not only was it spacious, but the decorations were also quite extraordinary, and there were even dedicated, independent private rooms for receiving distinguished guests.

The materials used to make the clothes were all top-quality cotton or silk, and the tailoring was also quite fitting.

Of course, the price was also quite high; a single garment cost no less than twenty or thirty taels of silver, which ordinary people naturally could not afford.

Chen Mo reached into his Huai and took out a piece of hard paper; the paper had been torn by hand, specifying the year and month he had ordered a piece of merchandise at this tailor shop.

The paper cut out might be the same, but one torn at random would never be.

The paper Chen Mo produced matched the paper left here, so after paying the remaining balance, he could take away the goods he had previously ordered.

"Guest, please follow me!" Seeing this, the tailor shop assistant did not dare to be the least bit careless and led Chen Mo toward the back hall of the tailor shop.

He naturally understood that the guests who could come to this shop to order clothes were all either rich or noble, far from someone like an apprentice assistant like him could afford to slight.

He brought Chen Mo to an independent private room to be seated, and someone brought tea.

"Guest, the goods you ordered are all here; please see if there are any problems?" The shop manager and another old tailor hurried over.

Two apprentices carried a large wooden chest, opened it carefully, and displayed the custom-made clothing to Chen Mo for inspection.

This was a complete set of wedding attire, crafted quite exquisitely and luxuriously; as long as it was paired with a few pieces of jewelry, it could be called a Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Dawn Robes.

Chen Mo had promised Zhao Yu that he would give her a Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Dawn Robes, and he had been working on this matter all along.

Coming to the Capital, there were top-quality materials here and tailors with sufficiently high skills to customize this set of wedding attire.

So he had kept it from Zhao Yu and secretly ordered a set for her.

"Guest, you see, there are no problems, right?" The shopkeeper leaned over and asked with a smile.

Now that the period of national mourning was about to pass, many people who had ordered wedding attire in advance had already come one after another to take them away.

It was foreseeable that as soon as the national mourning passed, there would inevitably be many people getting married in the Capital.

"Not bad." Chen Mo nodded with satisfaction and took out silver to pay the remaining balance.

With a wave of his hand, he put away the wooden chest; seeing this, the tailor shop owner's expression became even more respectful, knowing that Chen Mo possessed such means, his status must be extraordinary.

Storage Bags were indeed rare, but in the Capital, there were many Post-Heaven Martial Artists, so there were relatively more Storage Bags.

Even ordinary people like the tailor shop owner had had the fortune to see those Martial Artists use Storage Bags.

Taking this entire set of wedding attire, he left and walked to another jewelry shop called Treasure Pavilion to take away several pieces of Gold Jade jewelry to match the wedding attire.

Carrying these things back to his home, it was now the time of the Winter Solstice, and the cold Wind was becoming more intense with each passing day.

However, Zhao Yu was cultivating the Bright Jade Longevity Technique and had now achieved some success; although she had not yet cultivated Inner Qi, she would not catch a cold from the chill.

She was draped in a fox-fur coat, hiding under the warm winter sun, with a small charcoal brazier placed in front of her, allowing her to warm herself and boil tea.

Seeing Chen Mo return home, she softly called out "husband" and beckoned to him with a smile.

"For you." Just as Chen Mo walked to her side and before he could sit down, Zhao Yu handed over a roasted orange.

"Try this orange, it's very sweet; I heard it's a specialty of Chuanxi Prefecture."

Chen Mo smiled as he took it, flicked his finger lightly, and with a burst of True Qi, the orange peel was instantly peeled away entirely by him.

Ripples of astonishment rose in Zhao Yu's beautiful eyes, and she found this quite magical.

"It is indeed very sweet." Chen Mo took a light bite and nodded in evaluation.

Zhao Yu hurriedly handed over another orange, looking at Chen Mo with anticipation in her eyes.

He smiled slightly and immediately helped her peel it as well.

Zhao Yu had roasted quite a few things on the heater; besides oranges, there were red dates and peanuts, and a few sweet potatoes were still braising under the charcoal stove.

The two snuggled together, chatting about intimate matters between husband and wife, drinking a pot of black tea, and eating some food at their leisure.

It was not until the afternoon, as the warm winter sun gradually shifted, that the two returned inside.

"Come with me, I have something to show you." Chen Mo took her hand and walked back to the bedroom.

Zhao Yu felt very expectant, wondering what her husband would bring out for her.

Chen Mo smiled slightly and first took out a jewelry box and opened it; inside were eight pieces of jewelry in different styles.

Bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings, and so on.

Each piece shimmered with golden light, the styles unique and exquisite, inlaid with gemstones that refracted colorful light under the afternoon sun.

"Wow!" Zhao Yu could not help but exclaim, a continuous glow appearing in her beautiful eyes.

She was not a person who loved vanity or enjoyed comparing herself to others.

But everyone has a love for beauty; as a woman, how could she not like seeing beautiful jewelry, especially when these pieces were given to her by Chen Mo?

The person giving the gift is more important than the gift itself.

Seeing this, Chen Mo took out another mahogany box engraved with the character for "joy." Opening the box, what met the eyes was a complete set of festive red wedding robes.

"I said I would give you Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Dawn Robes; I never lie."

Chen Mo pulled her into his Huai and said softly beside her ear.

"Mm." Zhao Yu responded, tears swirling in her eyes.

The feeling of being moved and joyful in her heart was hard to put into words, and she could not help but hug Chen Mo tightly; she had always known that she had never chosen the wrong person.

At this moment, an indescribable feeling filled her body and mind. She wanted to prolong this moment, preferably never reaching the end.

So-called happiness, I suppose, is mostly like this.

"Alright, hurry and put it on for me to see; I have never seen you in wedding robes before."

Chen Mo held her and cherished the moment for a while, then took a handkerchief from her Huai to wipe away her tears.

"Okay!" Zhao Yu nodded vigorously; a woman dresses for the one who delights in her, and of course, she also wanted Chen Mo to see her wearing the wedding robes.

Although the two were husband and wife, they had not held a real wedding after all; this was the first time Zhao Yu would truly wear wedding robes.

"Don't look!" Zhao Yu said, feeling quite embarrassed as she saw Chen Mo staring at her the whole time.

"Alright, alright, alright, I won't look." Chen Mo's tone was slightly helpless, and he immediately turned around with a smile.

The wedding robes were not easy to put on, but fortunately, this set of clothes was custom-made at a familiar tailor shop, so there was no need to worry about the size.

Chen Mo only heard the suggestive rustling sound coming from behind him. After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Yu finally spoke with some shyness and nervousness, "Alright, you can turn around!"

Chen Mo hurriedly turned around, only to see Zhao Yu in the red wedding robes, which set off her already plump and graceful figure even more beautifully.

She wore quite a bit of jewelry, which emitted a dazzling glow under the sunlight, especially that pair of Gold Step-Shaker, which clinked against each other as she walked, making a slight sound.

Zhao Yu had also applied a light layer of makeup, which made her face, already like a lotus flower emerging from the water, appear even more clear and beautiful.

She was not considered peerless, but at this moment, with the addition of the Phoenix Coronet and Rosy Dawn Robes, Chen Mo only felt that there was no woman in the world more beautiful than her.

"Does it look good?" Seeing Chen Mo staring straight at her, Zhao Yu was happy in her heart, but she could not help but blush, asking with a hint of shyness.

"It looks good, truly beautiful!" Chen Mo did not suppress the agitation of his own Blood Qi and took two steps forward, pressing close to her.

Zhao Yu was like a startled little rabbit, shrinking back slightly, yet it was only a gesture of feigned refusal.

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(End of this chapter)