Chapter 29: Request

"Many thanks, Foster Father." Chen Mo bowed to express his gratitude.

Setting aside what would happen after he passed the Cultivated Talent exam, the mere fact that he was now being allowed to study and learn riding was already a rare opportunity for an ordinary person.

"The Cultivated Talent exam is held once a year. With me acting as your guarantor, you don't need to go take the Child Scholar exam anymore. Just go directly to the prefecture city to sit for the exam this May," General Sun instructed.

According to Great Gan regulations, the Cultivated Talent exam is held once a year, the Provincial Graduate exam every two years, and the Metropolitan Graduate exam every three years.

As for the Child Scholar, that does not count as an official rank from the Imperial Court; it is merely a qualification, a title for those selected from each county who are then eligible to officially sit for the Cultivated Talent exam.

With him acting as guarantor, Chen Mo would not need to take the Child Scholar exam and could go straight to the Cultivated Talent exam, saving the effort of running back and forth.

"Many thanks, Foster Father." Chen Mo thanked him again.

"Besides reading, writing, and riding, you will officially begin practicing archery tomorrow. Use arrows to train. When May comes, go to the prefecture first and see if you can pass."

"Although it is rushed, given your talent, as long as you work hard, you might pass this year. If you cannot, then wait until next year," Sun Shouren continued to arrange.

He did not believe Chen Mo could pass the exam this year; even if his Martial Dao talent was good, passing the exam was not solely about whether one could fight.

Moreover, even if his talent was good, the time he had spent training was still too short, and he might not be able to compete against the many veteran Child Scholars in the prefecture.

However, he still intended to let Chen Mo go and try; even if he didn't succeed this year, he could at least accumulate some experience.

"I will follow Foster Father's instructions entirely." Chen Mo had no objections to this, though in his heart, he secretly made a resolution to try his best to obtain the rank this year.

Once he had a rank, the treatment he could obtain by securing an official post would be much better.

It was not an easy matter for an ordinary Martial Cultivated Talent to fill an official vacancy; one either had to pull strings and have connections, or start from a miscellaneous, unranked position and slowly work their way up.

This was even considering that the number of Martial Cultivated Talents was relatively smaller than that of Literary Cultivated Talents; the latter did not even have the opportunity to endure such a struggle.

With Chen Mo's status, as long as he could pass the exam, it would not be a problem to secure the position of Colonel under General Sun.

Since someone had to do the job of Colonel, having his foster son do it would certainly be better than having someone else do it.

Once he became a Colonel, he could also start drawing a salary for a vacant position. With that income, he would not only be able to eat, but also drink extra medicinal soups to accelerate the speed at which the Transformation Pearl accumulated Qi and Blood.

Chen Mo's cultivation had now broken through, and he had undergone a rebirth; the amount of Qi and Blood he needed to consume every day was more than double what it was before.

Furthermore, the amount of Qi and Blood required for his next rebirth had also increased significantly.

Therefore, even though he was eating more than before, the amount of Qi and Blood he could accumulate after his own consumption was very little.

At this rate, he estimated it would take at least another year or so before he could undergo his next rebirth.

If his Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist broke through during this process, the time required would be even longer.

To accelerate this process, the only solution was to eat better and consume medicinal soups that supplemented Blood Qi.

No matter which one it was, it required enough money. The current treatment provided by the Personal Soldier camp was quite good, and for the vast majority of Personal Soldiers, it was sufficient.

Their current food was definitely better than that of many small and medium landlords who only owned a few hundred acres of land.

But for Chen Mo, it was still somewhat lacking. If he could obtain a rank, these would no longer be problems.

"You must cultivate diligently from now on and not be slack. If your Qi and Blood circulation is obstructed while practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, then come find me, and I will teach you an Internal Martial Arts technique to help you nourish your body," Sun Shouren finally added, not forgetting to admonish him.

"Foster Father, there is one thing I would like to ask for your help with." Chen Mo bowed and spoke earnestly.

He had pondered this matter long ago, but since he was not General Sun's foster son before, it was difficult to speak up, and he could only try to find a way on his own.

Originally, he had planned to reveal his strength, demonstrate his value, and thereby gain a rise in status to then accomplish this.

But now that he had acknowledged General Sun as his foster father, he could ask him for help with this matter.

Admittedly, this would mean owing a rather large favor, but he already owed General Sun quite a lot, so one more favor did not matter; he would just pay it back slowly later.

A foster son is, after all, a foster son, not a biological one.

General Sun was not helping him for no reason; he valued the return he could bring in the future.

Even so, Chen Mo was quite grateful to General Sun in his heart. The man was not his own father or mother, so it was only natural for him to seek a return for his help.

Regardless of the reason, as long as he was willing to help, he had to remember this favor.

"What is it? Tell me about it." Sun Shouren gestured for Chen Mo to continue.

"Replying to Foster Father, when I fled here as a refugee, I was not alone. My foolish wife fled here with me, and to survive, she had no choice but to sell herself to another. It was precisely because of this money from her sale that I was able to survive and join the army."

Chen Mo did not reveal the true relationship between Zhao Yu and himself to General Sun; this matter could not be spoken of yet.

He wanted to redeem Zhao Yu, so he had to have a relationship with her; if there were no relationship, he would not have been able to sell Zhao Yu in the first place.

If he denied this relationship and then went to redeem Zhao Yu, even if he could get her back by relying on General Sun's face, it would undoubtedly be much more troublesome and might even cost him more of General Sun's favor.

But by maintaining this relationship, and with the contract in his hand, there would be absolutely no difficulty in redeeming her.

It was already difficult enough to ask for help; he should not make it too troublesome for the person helping him.

"Since this is the case, why didn't you say so earlier?" Sun Shouren's tone was slightly surprised, and it seemed to carry a hint of blame.

"Replying to Foster Father, I did not dare to tell you about this before. Today, I boldly ask for your help to redeem my foolish wife." Chen Mo bowed and pleaded.

A look of appreciation appeared in Sun Shouren's eyes. Chen Mo was now his foster son, and in the future, he would be an Imperial Court official once he passed the exam.

Yet, even so, he was still unwilling to abandon his former wife of humble origins; this was truly quite rare.

It is easy to say that one should not forget friends from when one was poor and not abandon a wife from when one was humble, but it is not something everyone can do.

Ever since he taught Chen Mo the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist and discovered that his cultivation progress was significantly faster than the others, he had secretly sent people to investigate Chen Mo roughly.

He knew that when Chen Mo was still feeding horses, he had received kindness from a Horse Official, and after being selected into the Personal Soldier camp, he would likely never have any interaction with that Horse Official again in his life.

Yet, before leaving, he had still bought gifts to thank that old Horse Official for his care. From this, it could be seen that he was indeed a person who knew how to repay kindness.

If it were not for this, how could he have so easily accepted Chen Mo as a foster son? It was precisely because he valued this trait of repaying kindness.

Looking at today's matter, he was even more certain of this.

Chen Mo not only knew how to repay kindness but also valued affection and loyalty.

If he helped such a person, he would surely be rewarded in the future, and even if Chen Mo attained a high position, he would not forget the kindness he had shown him.

"Is the original sale contract still there?" Sun Shouren asked.

Since Chen Mo was the one who sold her, the sale contract must be in his hands. As long as he had this contract document, he could take the money and redeem the person.

"Replying to Foster Father, the sale contract is here." Chen Mo took the prepared sale contract from his Huai, held it up with both hands, and handed it to the desk.

(End of chapter)