Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 581: Second Grade
The summer morning light shone all over the Xiao family's ancestral home. The servants in the house became busy. Several horse-drawn carriages were parked outside the ancestral home. The carriages of these carriages were removed, and the Xiao family's guards tied large boxes to the carriages.

"Xiao Ya, when you arrive, remember to write to your mother and take good care of yourself." Xiao Ya's mother instructed her daughter one by one before saying goodbye to her.

Because today is the day Chen Mo returns to Linzhou.

"Mom, I can't bear to leave you. Why don't I stay and accompany you?" Xiao Ya hugged her mother. When it was time to say goodbye, she felt a little reluctant.

Although she liked Chen Mo, they had only been together for a short time. However, she had been with her parents for more than ten years. If she had to give up, she would rather not go to Linzhou.

"You are talking nonsense again. You are an adult now. Sooner or later you will get married and leave your mother. Linzhou and Yangzhou are not far away. It only takes a few days to get there by boat. If you miss me, just come back to see me." Xiao Ya's mother said, patting Xiao Ya on the back.

"Mom" Xiao Ya's eyes turned red and she couldn't help crying.

"Hurry up, move everything up." Xiao Ya's father Xiao Yingcheng directed the guards to move the boxes, which were filled with Xiao Ya's dowry.

Xiao Ya is the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family after all. Although Chen Mo did not mention the dowry, the Xiao family would not be short of it.

After everything was loaded, Xiao Yingcheng directed the groom to take the dowry to the port for loading.

Then he turned around in confusion and asked, "Why hasn't Duke Anguo come out yet? It's getting late."

"Dad, let me go and take a look." Xiao Ya said.

"Alright."

In the courtyard of the house.

The morning light outside the window shines in through the window paper, but the room is still dim.

The bed was filled with the scent of heather.

Chen Mo took a deep breath and instantly woke up.

In front of him, Yue Ruyan was lying on her side with her back to him, sleeping soundly.

I applied a little force with my fingers and felt it. It was soft and bouncy, yet full of vitality.

Just as he hugged Yue Ruyan tightly and was about to open the system panel.

I couldn't help but take a breath.

There's a little hand messing around down there.

He was also sleeping on his side, with a plump body pressed against him behind him.

Like Chen Mo, Xiao Yunxi also has to do something with her hands when she sleeps.

Chen Mo did not stop her. Yun Xi's strength was moderate, which made him enjoy it.

He opened the system panel.

[Name: Chen Mo. 】

[Age: 23. 】

【Kung Fu: Zi Yang Hua Yuan Gong (Perfection 130/300000).】

【Realm: Divine Transformation (Second Level).】

[Strength: 4220. 】

[Skills: Sun Slash (Intermediate 100086/6000000), Sun Shooting Arrow (Primary 812580/1000000), Divine Burning Technique (Primary 89996/100000), Cloud Wandering Steps (Perfected 11231/50000), Snake Swallowing Technique (Perfected, will break through to the first level after breaking through), Mi Zong Dual Refining Technique 306/500). ]

That’s right, when Chen Mo was practicing last night, he broke through to the second level of Divine Transformation Realm in one fell swoop.

At that moment, Chen Mo felt as if his whole body had undergone a complete transformation.

In the realm of divine transformation, one can transform one's own divine power into anything.

Of course, this kind of simulated thing is very easy to distinguish from things that are not simulated.

Chen Mo's magical powers are very great, but in this small room, it is definitely not enough to support him to summon his magical powers and perform simulation transformations.

"Brother Mo, are you awake?" At this time, Xiao Ya's soft voice sounded outside the house, and then the door was knocked.

"Who is it? Can't I sleep?"

Xiao Yunxi was woken up and was in a bad mood, but her eyes were not open. It was obvious that she was very tired last night.

"Ah, Aunt, you are here too." Xiao Ya was surprised when she heard her aunt's voice, and then said: "Aunt, it's getting late. Aren't we going back to Linzhou today? I have packed everything, and you are the only ones left."

Hearing this, Xiao Yunxi suddenly opened her eyes, and then heard a sound of sucking in air. Then Chen Mo turned around and looked at her with a red face: "Yunxi, are you going to murder your husband?"

Xiao Yunxi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something, her face instantly turned red, and she quickly let go of the hot potato, bit her lower lip lightly, and in order to hide her embarrassment, she stood up and pretended to yell:

"It's over, it's over. I forgot we had to go back today. We're the only three missing. They will definitely... oh, it's all your fault."

But the next second, she lay down again.

She felt as if her body was falling apart.

Last night, Chen Mo seemed to have turned into a wild bull in the second half of the night, and he was making a lot of noise.

"You" Xiao Yunxi's face flushed.

"Aunt, Brother Mo, what's wrong with you?" Xiao Ya said.

"It's okay, Xiaoya, wait a minute. Your aunt is a bit reluctant to get out of bed." Chen Mo said.

"Okay, I'll wait for you outside then."

At this time, Yue Ruyan also woke up. Perhaps she had long been accustomed to the scene in front of her. After waking up, her face slightly blushed and she picked up the clothes under the bed by herself.

Just as she was about to put it on, she smelled it, put it aside, took it off directly, went to the closet naked in front of the two men, took out a new dress and put it on.

These days, she slept in Chen Mo's master bedroom almost every day, so her clothes were naturally placed in Chen Mo's closet.

"I want to take a bath," Xiao Yunxi suddenly said. It was summer now and she went to sleep after tossing and turning last night. Now she woke up and felt uncomfortable.

"Put on your clothes first and wash them when we get back to the boat. Ruyan, please get Yunxi a set as well." Chen Mo said to Yue Ruyan.

Yue Ruyan nodded slightly.

Xiao Ya waited outside the house for half an hour before Chen Mo and the other two came out. It certainly wouldn't take that long to just brush their teeth and wash their faces, but to put on makeup.

Yue Ruyan was fine, but Xiao Yunxi was after all in her thirties, and a woman's youth was coming to an end. Although she took good care of herself and her skin was still as tender as that of a young girl, she no longer had the confidence she had when she was young, so she needed to rely on makeup to maintain this confidence.

Xiao Ya's cheeks flushed, and she thought to herself, "Last night, my aunt and Sister Ruyan accompanied Brother Mo together."

"Why are you standing there? Let's go." Chen Mo touched Xiao Ya's head and said.

".oh."

After leaving the villa, Chen Mo asked the three girls to go out first as he had some things to arrange.

Chen Mo first found Xiao Quan and instructed him on some things.

Then he found Sun Meng and asked him to send someone to bring Zhihua to the boat and not let anyone else see her.

The sun rises, the sunlight shines on the Qinhuai Ferry, and the anchored ships set sail one after another.

The Fish Scale Guards are still stationed in Jiangnan. This time when he went to Jiangnan, Chen Mo only brought two more people with him when he returned.

One is Xiao Ya, the other is Zhi Hua. In the deserted backyard of a tavern in Qinhuai City.

The sound of conversation began.

"Chen Mo and the others have already left Yangzhou. It seems that Huaying really committed suicide out of fear of punishment. She didn't vomit anything before she died."

"There's news from the prince. The prince is going to attack Chen Mo with Prince Chong and Lu Sheng. When the time comes, we need to cooperate with the prince to create a big disturbance in Jiangnan and involve the Chen army stationed in Jiangnan."

"It's just the two of us who caused a big commotion?"

"Of course not. By then, all the spies in Jiangnan will be dispatched."

"How?"

"It will be kept secret for now."

……

Going upstream along the Qinhuai River, you will reach the Huai River. The speed on water is faster than on land, and you can sail more than 300 miles day and night.

The ship did not stop at Huaizhou, but arrived at Linzhou on the afternoon of the fourth day along the Huai River.

Xunwang City, an important town on the south bank of Linzhou.

The ship slowly sailed towards the port. Xiao Yunxi and Yue Ruyan, dressed like young girls, stood on the edge of the deck, admiring the beautiful scenery of the river bank.

The next second, both women felt a tightening around their waists, and there was no sound or movement from behind, but someone was hugging their waists.

"What did Zhihua want to tell you?"

Xiao Yunxi knew it was Chen Mo, so she didn't struggle. Instead, she started talking about Zhihua.

"She asked me if I had found her brother. I told her not to worry because the man had just been sent there and it would probably take until mid-August for us to get any news."

It was inconvenient for Chen Mo to hold one person in each hand, so he simply concentrated on holding Xiao Yunxi. Xiao Yunxi had a plump figure, so it was more comfortable to hold her than Yue Ruyan. He immediately asked, "Where's Xiaoya?"

"She is seasick and is resting in the room." Xiao Yunxi told Chen Mo not to mess around because they were about to reach the shore and would be discovered by people on the shore.

"She is seasick. Why didn't she tell me before?" Chen Mo was stunned.

"Xiao Ya has never traveled far. When she took a boat before, she only went on cruises on lakes where the water was calm. I guess she didn't even know she would get seasick before." Xiao Yunxi said.

"We're almost at the shore. I'll go see her."

...

Because Huaizhou used to be the territory of King Huai, in order to protect the Huai Army, Chen Jun specially built a water gate in Xunwang City. Large ships could not pass through. It was very cumbersome to enter the city, and they had to report to the government office to remove the underwater piles. Therefore, merchant ships loaded and unloaded goods at the ferry outside the city, and the aristocratic families were no exception.

After Jiangnan, Jiangdong and Huaizhou were incorporated into Chen Mo's sphere of influence, trade between the parties became very frequent. This resulted in a large number of ships docked in Xunwang City, even causing the famous scene of "ship jam".

Even the warship Chen Mo was on was no exception.

The port outside Xunwang City is not big and cannot be dredged even by temporary means.

Just wait in line obediently.

They were clearly about to dock, but Chen Mo and his crew had to wait for almost an hour before they could dock. This was all thanks to the officials from Xunwang City who dredged the river, otherwise they would have had to wait even longer.

As the deck of the ship was lowered, the county magistrate of Xunwang City and a group of officials hurried forward to greet them.

The county magistrate of Xunwang City wiped the sweat from his forehead, came to Chen Mo, knelt down with a plop, and said, "When I learned that the treasure ship of Duke Anguo had arrived, I failed to arrange for people to dredge the river in time, so that Duke Anguo had to wait for a long time on the ship. Please forgive me, Duke Anguo."

As soon as he finished speaking, the officials behind him knelt down.

"Get up, this is not your fault. I didn't know the port was so congested and failed to inform you earlier." Chen Mo raised his hand and said, this was also his negligence.

"Thank you, Duke Anguo." The magistrate of Xunwangcheng County breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

He knew that the Duke of Anguo had beheaded many officials in Fengzhou. His great reputation had frightened many counties in four states. Officials who had been somewhat slack at work began to perk up and even worked overtime to deal with some accumulated murder cases. He did the same, so he could not help but delay the welcoming of the Duke of Anguo.

Now that things have come to this, I'm afraid the Duke of Anguo will blame me, but fortunately, he is very magnanimous.

"Why is this port so congested?" Chen Mo said as he walked towards the city.

The county magistrate of Xunwang City hurried over and explained the reason to Chen Mo.

After learning the reason, Chen Mo thought for a while and said, "Let's remove those hidden pillars under the water. Prince Huai has already fled to Chongzhou. There is no threat on the south bank of Linzhou anymore. We don't need these."

"I will arrange for someone below to do it later?"

"Also, the ferry crossing should be widened. Fengzhou is now ours, and the shipping routes from Fengzhou can also reach Linzhou. In the future, there will be more and more ships coming to Linzhou. The current ferry crossing is too narrow, and this won't work."

As he spoke, Chen Mo suddenly thought of something and said, "The government's finances should be able to handle it."

"No problem, no problem." The magistrate of Xunwangcheng County said hurriedly. Afraid that Chen Mo might worry about his corruption, he quickly talked about the city's finances in detail.

Xunwang City’s financial resources mainly come from two aspects.

On the one hand, there are local taxes.

Another aspect is the tax on ships entering and leaving the port, which is the biggest expense.

Eighty percent of these taxes are submitted to the state government, and 20 percent is used for local expenses.

Seeing that the other party wanted to explain in more detail, Chen Mo quickly interrupted him and asked about the local people's livelihood.

At this moment, Chen Mo discovered the person following Xunwang Cheng.

"Han Wu, why are you here?"

That’s right, this person is Han Wu. He has followed Chen Mo since he started his business. However, later on, as Chen Mo’s business grew bigger, Han Wu gradually faded out of his sight.

"Duke Anguo." Han Wu bowed and clasped his hands, then began to explain to Chen Mo.

Although Han Wu is an old man who has followed Chen Mo, he is only a ninth-rank warrior in terms of his strength. In terms of cultural literacy, he can only recognize and write a few words. He does not know military tactics or strategies, so he is simply not qualified for a high position.

When fighting with the Jinxia army in Yuzhou, Han Wu was unfortunately injured. As he was also old, he took the initiative to withdraw from the army. Under the arrangement of Zuo Lianglun, he came to Xunwang City and served as the garrison captain in the city, responsible for the local defense.

Hearing this, Chen Mo could not help but remain silent for a long time.

Of the group of old people who had followed him out of Fukuzawa Village, few are still around.

Zhang He was demoted for taking bribes.

Hu Qiang, Hu Tie and so on.

Chen Mo didn't even know what positions they held now.

Looking at Han Wu, Chen Mo couldn't help feeling a little melancholy. Although these old people couldn't keep up with the development, they shouldn't be forgotten, let alone owed. He raised his hand and patted Han Wu on the shoulder. He planned to have someone formulate a "Retired Soldiers' Treatment Plan" after returning, and then formulate some medals that could show honor.

"Do a good job." Chen Mo said solemnly, and then asked about his life with concern.

Although these were just a few simple words to Chen Mo, Han Wu felt extremely moved and even honored when he heard them.

I think Chen Mo still remembers me and has not forgotten me.

Chen Mo didn't stay in Xunwang City for long.

The provincial examination was on August 10th, and it was already the end of July, so he had to hurry back to Xiangyang.

(End of this chapter)