Request

Request

"Thank you, adoptive father." Chen Mo bowed and expressed his thanks.

Let us set aside what would happen after he passed the xiucai examination. Just being allowed to study and learn horseback riding was already an exceedingly rare opportunity for an ordinary person.

"The xiucai examination is held once a year. With me guaranteeing you, you won't need to take the tongsheng examination anymore. When May arrives, go directly to the prefectural capital and sit for the examination." General Sun gave his instructions.

According to Great Qian custom, the xiucai examination was held once a year, the juren examination once every two years, and the jinshi examination once every three years.

As for the tongsheng examination, it was not considered an official scholarly honor of the imperial court. It was merely a qualification, awarded to those selected by the various counties, allowing them to formally sit for the xiucai examination.

With him guaranteeing Chen Mo, there was no need for Chen Mo to take the tongsheng examination. He could go directly for the xiucai examination, saving himself a great deal of back-and-forth trouble.

"Thank you, adoptive father." Chen Mo thanked him again.

"Besides reading, writing, and horsemanship, you'll formally begin practicing archery tomorrow. Use arrows in your training. When May arrives, go to the prefectural capital first and see whether you can pass.

"Although it's rushed, with your talent, if you work hard, you might even pass this year. If you can't, then wait until next year." Sun Shouren continued making arrangements.

He did not think Chen Mo could obtain a scholarly honor this year. Even if his martial talent was good, the imperial examinations were not something that depended solely on whether one could fight.

Besides, even with decent talent, Chen Mo had been cultivating for too short a time. He might not be able to compete with the many old tongsheng candidates in the prefecture.

Still, he intended to let Chen Mo try first. Even if he failed this year, he could accumulate some experience.

"I'll do as you say, adoptive father." Chen Mo naturally had no objections, but he secretly resolved to obtain the scholarly honor this year if at all possible.

Once he had a scholarly honor, he could seek an official position, and the treatment he received would improve greatly.

It was not easy for an ordinary martial xiucai to take over an official post. Either one had to rely on connections and pull strings, or start as a miscellaneous official with a rank but no official grade and slowly work one's way upward.

This was only because there were relatively few martial xiucai compared to literary xiucai. Literary xiucai did not even have the opportunity to slowly endure their way up.

Given Chen Mo's identity, as long as he could obtain a scholarly honor, it would not be difficult for him to secure the position of an officer under General Sun.

Someone had to serve as this officer. Having his adoptive son do it would certainly be better than having someone else take the position.

Once he became an officer, he could also begin drawing pay for a nonexistent post. With that income, he would not merely be able to fill his stomach; he could also afford additional medicinal soups to accelerate the rate at which the Mortal Transformation Pearl accumulated his qi and blood.

Now that Chen Mo's cultivation had broken through and he had undergone Mortal Transformation once more, the amount of qi and blood he needed to expend each day was more than double what it had been before.

Moreover, the amount of qi and blood required for his next Mortal Transformation had increased dramatically as well.

Thus, even though he was eating more than before, very little qi and blood remained for him to accumulate after deducting his own consumption.

At this rate, he estimated that even at the fastest, he would have to wait another year or two before he could undergo Mortal Transformation again.

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

To accelerate the process, he could only eat better food and use medicinal soups that replenished his blood and qi.

Either way, he needed a sufficient amount of money. The Guard Camp currently offered decent benefits, enough for the vast majority of guards.

Their meals were absolutely better than those of many small and medium landowners who possessed only a few hundred mu of land.

But for Chen Mo, they were still somewhat lacking. If he could obtain a scholarly honor, these would no longer be problems.

"Cultivate properly from now on. Don't slack off. If your qi and blood circulation becomes obstructed while practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, come find me. I'll teach you an internal cultivation technique to help you regulate your body." Sun Shouren still did not forget to admonish him in the end.

"Adoptive father, there's something I'd like to ask for your help with." Chen Mo bowed and saluted before speaking earnestly.

He had already considered this matter some time ago. It was just that he had not been General Sun's adoptive son then, so he had been unable to bring it up and could only think of a solution himself.

Originally, he had planned to reveal his strength and demonstrate his value, thereby earning a rise in status before handling this matter.

But now that he had acknowledged General Sun as his adoptive father, he could ask him for help.

It was true that this would leave him owing a considerable favor, but he already owed General Sun a great deal. One more debt would not matter. He could repay it slowly in the future.

An adoptive son was ultimately an adoptive son, not a biological son.

General Sun was not helping him for no reason. He had his eye on the returns Chen Mo could bring him in the future.

Even so, Chen Mo was still extremely grateful to General Sun. The man was not his own father or mother; it was perfectly natural for him to help Chen Mo in hopes of receiving something in return.

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

"What is it? Tell me." Sun Shouren raised a hand, indicating for Chen Mo to continue.

"Reporting to you, adoptive father, I fled here during the disaster years ago, but I wasn't alone. My foolish wife fled here with me. In order to survive, she had no choice but to sell herself to someone else. I was only able to survive and enlist in the army because of the money from selling her."

Chen Mo did not reveal the true relationship between Zhao Yu and himself to General Sun. He still could not speak of that matter.

He needed to redeem Zhao Yu's freedom, so there had to be a relationship between them. If they were unrelated, he would never have been able to sell Zhao Yu back then.

If he denied that relationship and then went to redeem Zhao Yu, even if General Sun's name allowed him to bring her back, it would undoubtedly cause much more trouble. He might even have to expend more of General Sun's favor.

But by maintaining this relationship and keeping the contract in his possession, redeeming her would be absolutely effortless.

Asking someone for help was already difficult enough. He did not want to make things too troublesome for the person helping him.

"If you had such a matter, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Sun Shouren's tone carried a hint of surprise, along with what seemed like a trace of reproach.

"Reporting to you, adoptive father, I didn't dare tell you before. Today, I've taken the liberty of asking you to help me redeem my foolish wife." Chen Mo bowed deeply, his words pleading.

Appreciation showed in Sun Shouren's eyes. Chen Mo was now his adoptive son, and once he passed the examinations, he would become an official of the imperial court.

Yet even so, he still refused to abandon his former poor wife. That was truly rare.

It was easy to say that one should not forget old friends from humble circumstances or cast aside the wife who had shared one's hardships. But when it came to actually doing so, not everyone could manage it.

After teaching Chen Mo the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist and discovering that his cultivation progressed noticeably faster than the other few men's, Sun Shouren had secretly sent people to investigate Chen Mo in broad strokes.

He knew that when Chen Mo had still been feeding horses, he had received the horse officer's kindness. After being selected for the Guard Camp, he would most likely never cross paths with that horse officer again in his lifetime.

Yet before setting out, he had still bought gifts to thank the old horse officer for his care. This showed that he truly was someone who repaid kindness.

If not for that, how could Sun Shouren have accepted Chen Mo as his adoptive son so readily? Was it not because he valued this quality of repaying kindness?

Considering what had happened today, he became even more certain of it.

Chen Mo not only repaid kindness; he also placed great value on loyalty and affection.

After helping someone like this, he would surely receive repayment in the future. Even if Chen Mo rose to a high position, he would not forget the kindness Sun Shouren had shown him.

"Do you have that contract of sale from back then?" Sun Shouren asked.

Since Chen Mo had sold her personally, the contract of sale would certainly be in his possession. As long as he had that document, he only needed to bring the money and go redeem her.

"Reporting to you, adoptive father, the contract of sale is here." Chen Mo took the contract of sale he had prepared long ago from his robes, held it out with both hands, and placed it on the desk.