Su Mu’s current status at the Chen Mansion is quite awkward.

She used to be Chen Hong’s companion, with a higher status than a maid or a guard.

But ever since Chen Hong "died," she suddenly fell to the rank of a mere maid.

After Chen Mo took control of the Chen Mansion, Su Mu’s presence became rather peculiar.

Now Su Mu is just doing some odd jobs at the Chen Mansion.

Therefore, Chen Mo and the others didn’t say much to Su Mu; after exchanging a few casual words, they left.

According to Chen Mo’s plan, he didn’t intend to drive Su Mu away, he just wanted to see what she was up to.

However, so far, Chen Mo hasn’t caught any missteps from her yet.

...

On the other side, at the Qi Mansion.

Night had already fallen.

The window outside was pitch black, inside the room, there was a small flickering lamp.

Consort Yu sat by the window, gazing at the night scene outside, lost in thought about the events of the day.

She could already confirm that Chen Hong is indeed Chen Mo.

She never expected Chen Mo to be so bold.

Not only daring to burn down Jingru Palace, but also daring to take Consort Jing out of the palace, raising her in the mansion as a captive.

No matter where you stand, she was the Supreme Emperor’s consort, if word of this got out, the face of the Imperial Family would be lost, and the entire realm would be in an uproar.

Yet she forgot that Chen Mo had always been bold.

Even when he didn’t have this status, he dared to sneak into the harem at night for a secret meeting with Consort Jing, taking plenty advantage of her.

"Knock, knock..."

"Sister."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Quan Qiyang opened the door and walked in, seemingly having rushed over immediately after returning to the mansion, appearing dusty and weary.

Quan Qiyang took off the helmet on his head and put it aside, saying, "Sister, I heard you were looking for me?"

As he spoke, Quan Qiyang found a place to sit down, chattering nonstop: "I really can’t believe, Chen Mo, a non-clansman, was appointed as the Governor of Nanyang, he’s basically the local tyrant there."

In private, the siblings spoke without reservation.

Although Chen Mo’s title of State Governor wasn’t entirely genuine, overseeing only one county, it did show clearly the Imperial Court’s favor towards him.

You must know, previously appointed State Governors were all royal kin, bearing the surname Zhao.

"This time at the front, he saved my life, if he is Chen Hong, then he has saved me twice. The favor of saving my life must be repaid substantially. I’m planning to follow him, accompany him to Nanyang when he takes office. Sister, you can come with me, this way, even if your identity gets exposed, it won’t matter." Quan Qiyang shared his plan.

The position of Director of the Imperial City Department seems imposing, but in reality, it involves doing dirty and exhausting work for the Imperial Court, offending people, particularly high officials.

If he continues in this role, he fears the entire realm will view him as an enemy, it’s too unsafe.

"Sister, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?" Quan Qiyang poured himself tea while watching his silent sister, taking a sip of tea.

"Brother, today while I was strolling outside, I ran into Consort Jing." Consort Yu spoke.

Upon hearing this, Quan Qiyang directly spat out the tea: "Cough, cough... Sister, what are you saying?"

He was genuinely startled.

Wasn’t Consort Jing dead?

"I ran into Consort Jing today, she’s not dead, she’s with the female members of the Chen Mansion, she should be Chen Mo’s woman. I can now confirm, Chen Mo is Chen Hong, they are the same person." Consort Yu said in a deep voice.

"Are you saying that the fire at Jingru Palace was not an accident, but intentionally set to take Consort Jing out during the chaos?"

Quan Qiyang was quick-witted, soon piecing together the thoughts, then inhaled sharply: "Has Chen Mo gone mad? Consort Jing is the Supreme Emperor’s consort, how dare he... he..."

Quan Qiyang didn’t finish his sentence because he suddenly remembered, hadn’t he boldly brought his sister out of the palace too?

Consort Yu nodded: "Exactly."

"Then aren’t you exposed too, Sister." Quan Qiyang’s face grew serious, removing the Supreme Emperor’s consort from the palace was not a trivial matter.

Moreover, he didn’t have connections as deep as Chen Mo; once exposed, while Chen Mo may somehow remain unscathed, he would face major trouble.

Consort Yu worried exactly about this, she feared bringing disaster upon her brother.

"How about this, tomorrow I’ll invite Chen Mo to the mansion as a guest, firstly to thank him for saving my life, secondly to properly discuss today’s situation and see how he plans to address it." Quan Qiyang pondered for a moment, then proposed.

"Do we really have to invite him here?" Consort Yu seemed uneasy.

"This shows our sincerity, besides, outside there are many prying eyes, it’s not safe." Quan Qiyang explained.

"Alright..." Consort Yu thought to herself, she could just avoid him then.

...

On the other side.

Returning to his room, Chen Mo took out the stone given by Xiao Jiu, then started burning it with Taiyi Divine Fire.

Through burning, the stone gradually reddened, and leaf-like patterns began to appear on its surface.

Chen Mo immediately activated the Ancient Heavy Pupils.

Under the Ancient Heavy Pupils, the blood inside the stone surprisingly began to gather.

This intrigued Chen Mo greatly. Under the flame’s burning, the blood didn’t vaporize, instead, it clustered together.

A moment later, the stone broke apart, and a rice-grain-sized coagulated blood particle fell into Chen Mo’s hand.

From this particle, Chen Mo sensed a familiar aura.

Suddenly, he remembered something, a Golden Core given to him by Xiao Yunxi before had a similar aura to the blood particle.

That Golden Core was refined by Lin Su Ya, and he had heard Zhao Fujin say the materials used to refine the Golden Core included a Flood Dragon slain from the East Sea.

"Could this blood be related to Flood Dragons? But while the aura seems similar, there are subtle differences..." Chen Mo murmured.

"Forget it, I’ll ask Xiao Jiu tomorrow."

Chen Mo stored the coagulated blood particle in a Jade Bottle, then followed the same method to refine another drop from the other two stones, storing them in the Jade Bottle too.

Later, he noticed that as the temperature decreased, the coagulated blood particles started melting gradually.

Observing this, Chen Mo placed the Jade Bottle next to the candle flame on the desk.

"Knock, knock..." At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Master, it’s... it’s me." Ye Wanqiu spoke.

Hearing Ye Wanqiu’s voice, Chen Mo subconsciously touched his waist, intending to say he was resting, when Ye Wanqiu added, "I... have something urgent to discuss with you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo said: "Come in, the door’s unlatched."

Ye Wanqiu pushed the door open and entered. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

At that time, Chen Mo noticed some anxiety in her expression, he couldn’t help but be surprised, stepping forward to gently embrace her: "Wanqiu, what’s wrong?"

"I... I ran into the Consort Yu on the street today." Ye Wanqiu spoke.