Chapter 581: Second Grade

The summer morning light shines throughout the Xiao family's ancestral house. The servants in the house are busy one after another. Several carriages are parked outside the ancestral house. The carriages have their carriages dismantled. The Xiao family's guards are tying up large boxes one by one. On the carriage.

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

Because today is the day when Chen Mo returns to Linzhou.

"Mom, I can't let you go, or I'd better stay with you." Xiao Ya hugged her mother, and when it was time to say goodbye, she felt a little reluctant to let go.

Although she liked Chen Mo, the time they got together was short after all, but she and her parents had been together 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. Sooner or later, you will get married and leave your mother. Linzhou is not far from Yangzhou. If you take a boat, you can get there in a few days. If you miss your mother, just come back to see her." Xiao Ya The mother patted Xiao Ya's back and said.

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

"Hurry up, move them all up." Xiao Ya's father, Xiao Yingcheng, directed the guards to move the boxes, which contained Xiao Ya's dowry.

Xiao Ya is the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family after all. Although Chen Mo didn't mention the dowry, the Xiao family would not miss it.

After loading, Xiao Yingcheng directed the groom to send the dowry to the port for loading.

Then he turned back in confusion and said, "Why hasn't Duke An come out yet? It's getting late."

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

"That's fine."

In the courtyard of the house.

The morning light outside the window spilled in through the window paper, but the room was still dim.

The bed was filled with the fragrance of heather.

Chen Mo took a deep breath and woke up instantly.

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

I pressed my fingers slightly and felt it. It was soft and bouncy without losing vitality.

Just when he was hugging Yue Ruyan tightly and preparing to open the system panel.

He couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air.

There's a little hand making a mess down there.

He also slept on his side, with a plump body pressing against him behind him.

Like Chen Mo, Xiao Yunxi also has to work on her hands when sleeping.

Chen Mo didn't stop her. Yun Xi's strength was moderate, which made him quite enjoy it.

He opened the system panel.

[Name: Chen Mo. 】

[Age: 23. 】

[Exercise method: Ziyang Huayuan Gong (Perfect 130/300000). 】

[Realm: Divine Transformation (Second Grade). 】

[Power: 4220. 】

[Skills: Big Sun Strike (Intermediate 100086/6000000), Sun Shooting Arrow (Elementary 812580/1000000), Divine Burning Technique (Elementary 89996/100000), Cloud Wandering Step (Perfected 11231/50000), Snake Swallowing Technique (Perfected, Break through to the first level and then break the level), Mi Zong's double refining method 306/500). 】

That's right, when Chen Mo was practicing last night, he broke through to the second-level divine transformation state in one fell swoop.

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

In the Divine Transformation Realm, you can transform your own magical power into anything.

Of course, it is easy to distinguish between things that have been simulated and those that are not.

Chen Mo's magical power is very large. In this small room, it is definitely not enough to support him in summoning his magical power to simulate transformation.

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

"Who is it? I won't let anyone sleep anymore."

Xiao Yunxi was woken up and started to get angry, but she didn't open her eyes. She was obviously very tired last night.

"Ah, aunt, you are here too," Xiao Ya exclaimed when she heard her aunt's voice, and then said: "Aunt, it's getting late. Aren't you going back to Linzhou today? Everything has been packed, and it's just a matter of time. You guys.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yunxi opened her eyes suddenly, and then there was a sound of cold air in her ears. Then Chen Mo turned around and looked at her with a blushing face: "Yunxi, you want to murder your husband. ?”

Xiao Yunxi was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly noticed something. Her face instantly turned red. She quickly let go of the hot potato and bit her lower lip. In order to cover up her embarrassment, she stood up and pretended to yell:

"It's over, it's over. I forgot that I have to go back today. It's just the three of us. 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 turn into a bull in the middle of the night, he was so tormented.

"伱" Xiao Yunxi's face turned red.

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

"It's okay, Xiaoya, wait a minute, your aunt is a little sleepy." Chen Mo said.

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

At this time, Yue Ruyan also woke up. She might have been used to the scene in front of her. After waking up, she blushed slightly and picked up the clothes under the bed.

When she was about to put it on, she smelled it, then put it aside, got off it straight away, naked in front of the two of them, went to the closet, picked up a new skirt and put it on.

These days, she sleeps in Chen Mo's master bedroom almost every day, so her clothes are naturally placed in Chen Mo's wardrobe.

"I want to take a bath," Xiao Yunxi said suddenly. It was summer. She went to bed after struggling last night. Now she woke up and felt uncomfortable.

"Put on your clothes first, then wash them after returning to the boat. Ruyan, help Yun Xi get some 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 three came out of the house. It would definitely not take that long to brush their teeth and wash their faces, but put on makeup instead.

Fortunately for Yue Ruyan, Xiao Yunxi is over thirty after all, and a woman's youth has come to an end. Although she has taken excellent care of herself and her skin is still supple and supple, like a young girl, her mentality no longer exists. I lost my confidence when I was young, so I need to rely on makeup to maintain this confidence.

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

"What are you doing standing around? Let's go." Chen Mo touched Xiao Ya's head and said.

".oh."

After leaving the other courtyard, Chen Mo asked the three girls to go out first. He still had something to arrange.

Chen Mo first found Xiao Quan and told him some things.

Then find Sun Meng and ask him to send someone to take Zhihua to the boat without letting others see it.

The rising sun shines on the Qinhuai Ferry, and the moored ships set sail one after another.

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

One is Xiao Ya and the other is Zhi Hua.

The deserted tavern backyard in Qinhuaicheng.

Dialogue rang out.

"Chen Mo and the others have already left Yangzhou. It seems that Hua Ying really committed suicide out of fear of crime. He didn't vomit anything before he died."

"There is news from the prince. The prince is planning to attack Chen Mo with King Chong and Lu Sheng. When the time comes, we need to cooperate with the prince to cause a big turmoil 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. The entire Jiangnan spy outfit will be dispatched by then."

"How?"

"It will be kept secret for now."

…

Going upstream along the Qinhuai River, we arrived at the Huaihe River. The speed on the water is faster than that on land, and we can sail more than three hundred miles day and night.

The ship did not stop at Huaizhou. Along the Huaihe River, it arrived at Linzhou in the afternoon of the fourth day.

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

The ship sailed slowly 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 tightness in their waists. There was no movement behind them, but someone hugged their waists.

"What did Zhihua ask you for?"

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, and I told her not to worry. People have just been sent there, and it is estimated that there will be no news until mid-August."

Holding one in each hand was inconvenient for Chen Mo to do, so Chen Mo simply concentrated on holding Xiao Yunxi. Xiao Yunxi had a plump figure and was more comfortable to hold than Yue Ruyan. He immediately said: "Where is Xiaoya?"

"She's seasick. She's resting in her room." Xiao Yunxi told Chen Mo not to mess around. They were about to reach the shore and people on the shore would notice.

"She is seasick. Why didn't you tell her before?" Chen Mo was startled.

"Xiaoya has never traveled far. In the past, she only took a boat trip to the lake. The water was calm. She probably didn't know she would get seasick before." Xiao Yunxi said.

"We're almost docking. I'm going to 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 were not allowed to pass. It was very cumbersome to enter the city. You had to report to the Yamen to insert the piles under the water. , so merchant ships loaded and unloaded goods at the ferry outside the city, and wealthy families were no exception.

After Jiangnan, Jiangdong, and Huaizhou were all included in Chen Mo's sphere of influence, trade between the parties became very frequent, which resulted in a large number of ships moored in Xunwang City, and even caused the famous scene of "ship jam".

Even the warship Chen Mo boarded was no exception.

The port outside Xunwang City is not large and cannot be opened temporarily.

Just wait obediently and wait in line.

It was obvious that they were about to dock, but Chen Mo and the others had to wait for almost an hour before they docked at the shore. This was only possible thanks to officials from Xunwang City dredging the river, otherwise they would have to wait even longer.

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

The county magistrate of Xunwang City wiped the sweat from his forehead, knelt down when he came to Chen Mo, and said: "When the official learned that An Guogong's treasure ship had arrived, he failed to arrange for people to dredge the river in time, so that An Guo I have been waiting in the boat for a long time, and I am going to Anguo to forgive my sin."

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

"Get up, I don't blame you for this. I didn't know the port was so congested, so I failed to inform you more in advance." Chen Mo raised his hand and said, this was also his negligence.

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

He knew that An Guogong had killed many officials in Fengzhou. His fame had shocked many counties in four prefectures. Officials who had been slacking off at work began to cheer up and even worked overtime to solve some accumulated murder cases. The same was true for him, so he couldn't help but delay welcoming An Guogong.

Now that we are in this situation, I am afraid that An Guogong will blame him. Fortunately, An Guogong has a lot of people.

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

The county magistrate of Xunwang City quickly followed and explained the reason to Chen Mo.

After learning the reason, Chen Mo thought for a while and said, "Remove those hidden pillars under the water. The King of Huai has fled to Chongzhou. There is no threat on the south bank of Linzhou. There is no need for these."

"Will I arrange for someone to do it later?"

"In addition, the ferry should be widened. Now Fengzhou is also ours. The route from Fengzhou can also come to Linzhou. In the future, there will be more and more ships coming to Linzhou. The current ferry is too narrow. This won't work."

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

"No problem, no problem." The county magistrate of Xunwang City said hurriedly. Fearing that Chen Mo would worry about his corruption, he quickly talked about the city's finances in detail.

Xunwang City's finances mainly come from two aspects.

One is local taxes.

The other is the entry and exit tax for ships in this port, which is the biggest part.

Eighty percent of these taxes are handed over to the state government, and 20% are used for local expenses.

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

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

"Han Wu, why are you here?"

That's right, this person is Han Wu, who has followed Chen Mo since he started his career, but later, as Chen Mo's business grew bigger and bigger, Han Wu gradually faded out of his sight.

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

Although Han Wu is an old man following Chen Mo, with his strength, he is only a ninth-grade warrior. In terms of culture, he can only recognize and write some words, and he doesn't know military tactics or strategies, so he can't take on a high position at all.

When fighting with the Jinxia Army in Yuzhou, Han Wu was unfortunately injured, and he was old, so 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 lieutenant in the city, responsible for the local garrison.

Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but be silent for a long time.

There are not many of the old people who followed him out of Fuze Village at the beginning.

Zhang He was demoted for taking bribes.

Hu Qiang, Hu Tie, etc.

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

Looking at Han Wu, Chen Mo couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. Although these old people couldn't keep up with the development, they should not be forgotten, let alone owed. He raised his hand and patted Han Wu's shoulder. He planned to ask someone to formulate a "Retired Soldiers' Treatment Plan" after returning, and then formulate some medals that can show glory.

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

Although these were just a few simple words for Chen Mo, Han Wu was extremely moved and even felt honored.

He thought that Chen Mo still remembered him and had not forgotten him.

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

The provincial examination was on August 10th. It was already the end of July, and he had to go back to Xiangyang quickly.