Chen Gan and Su Mo entered the side hall, brewed themselves a bowl of strong tea to sober up, and casually poured Su Mo another.
The very first sentence left Su Mo somewhat dumbfounded.
"Did Madam Qin serve you well last night?"
Su Mo was caught between laughter and tears. "Third Uncle, that's hard to say, isn't it?"
Chen Gan glared. "What's so hard to say?"
He sized Su Mo up, then gave a sly grin and raised his thumb at him. "You probably succeeded! You've got your old uncle's style!"
"Judging by Madam Qin, she looks like she'll bear children easily. Before she gets pregnant, don't let her idle at night!"
Then he suddenly changed the subject and lowered his voice. "How did you become an Imperial Guard?"
Su Mo was faintly smug. "I had a bit of a connection with that Female Captain, so she let me put on this blue robe."
As soon as he said this, the old subordinate clerk stood there dumbfounded, unable to utter a word.
His nephew's connection in the Imperial Guard was actually a Captain?
The highest-ranking leader of the Changping County Imperial Guard system?
An Imperial Guard Captain had the authority to submit secret memorials directly to the Empress.
In other words.
If his nephew had enough luck, couldn't he forge some connection with the Empress?
Heavens above!
Was he dreaming?
To Chen Gan, even a Regular Servant of the county office counted as a fairly important figure.
The county officials, meanwhile, were the highest level of people he could ever hope to come into contact with in his lifetime!
Now, he had suddenly discovered that his nephew might be connected to the supreme saint of the Great Wu Dynasty. How could he not stand frozen on the spot, unable even to speak?
Su Mo frowned and spoke more heavily. "Third Uncle!"
Chen Gan jolted. "What is it?"
Su Mo got straight to the point and asked in a low voice, "Third Uncle, have you ever heard of the Heavenly Mother Cult?"
This was the most important reason he had come to find Chen Gan!
The reward for the second mission—an immediate promotion to the Subordinate Seventh Rank Squad Leader at the highest—had truly shocked Su Mo.
Unless he figured out the origins of the Heavenly Mother Cult.
He really didn't dare rashly tell Lin Moyin about Dragon Gate Cave!
He had already obtained the Immortal Cultivation Method.
If the risks were too great, Su Mo would rather abandon the mission and hide in Changping County to develop in secret.
Once he had mastered the Yang Tian Jue, would he still have to worry about failing to become an official of the Great Wu Dynasty?
When Chen Gan heard the words "Heavenly Mother Cult," he suddenly leaped to his feet in shock, nearly knocking over his tea bowl.
"The Heavenly Mother Cult?"
"Could it be?"
He abruptly recalled something, and his face went even paler. "Could it be that the Locust God Temple..."
Su Mo hurriedly asked, "Third Uncle, you know about the Heavenly Mother Cult?"
Chen Gan did not answer immediately. He took out a copper pipe, lit it, and sucked hard several times in succession.
Only then did he lower his voice and say, "Of course I know!"
"They say it was founded by the remnants of the former dynasty—the third princess of the Bo Gan Emperor, Princess Danyang, and the Imperial Preceptor, True Man Jiulong..."
"Princess Danyang is an Immortal Dao sorcerer at the Golden Core realm. She has a lifespan of three hundred years, so she must still be alive!"
As he spoke, Chen Gan swallowed. "The Bo Gan Imperial Preceptor is known as the foremost person of the Immortal Dao, a True Person of the Spirit Roaming realm, half a step from becoming a Mortal Immortal. He possesses divine abilities capable of altering the heavens and changing fate, moving mountains and overturning seas!"
"Both of them are great hidden threats to the Great Wu Dynasty!"
He paused, then added, "Of course, this is only what your Third Uncle has heard through the grapevine. It's hard to distinguish truth from falsehood!"
"But the Heavenly Mother Cult truly exists."
Cold sweat seeped from Chen Gan's forehead. "The great locust plague thirty years ago, which affected dozens of prefectures and counties and starved millions of commoners to death, was the work of the Heavenly Mother Cult!"
Su Mo let out a silent cry of "Fuck!"
What the hell is wrong with this system?
He was only a small subordinate clerk and constable!
And it wanted to drag him into an event involving the rise and fall of a dynasty?
Was it worried he wouldn't die quickly enough?
And that NPC Lin Moyin—she looked so dignified and proper, yet she had dug such a huge pit for him!
As expected, beautiful women couldn't be trusted!
Especially women whose favorability toward him was still negative!
Fortunately, he was steady (afraid of dying).
He had come specifically to ask his old uncle for information!
This was no longer a case of seeking wealth through danger. This was simply courting death!
Chen Gan continued to recount everything he knew. Seeing Su Mo's face turn pale, he hurriedly asked, "Why did you suddenly ask about the Heavenly Mother Cult?"
"Could it be something to do with the Imperial Guard?"
Before Su Mo could answer, he immediately furrowed his brows and began muttering to himself. "If the dried corpses at the Locust God Temple were the work of the Heavenly Mother Cult, I'm afraid the entire Changping County..."
"No!"
"We have to store enough grain immediately!"
The old subordinate clerk had an astonishingly keen sense of danger!
He knew perfectly well how terrifying people became once hunger drove them mad!
Far more terrifying than starving beasts!
Su Mo lowered his voice. "This information must not be revealed to outsiders!"
"The grain must be stored securely!"
"And it has to be divided among multiple locations!"
After hesitating, he added, "However, the garrison will be keeping watch!"
"The Heavenly Mother Cult may not succeed!"
The Su and Chen families were one family, so Su Mo did not hide this information.
Chen Gan nodded. "Your old uncle naturally understands that!"
He immediately exhaled. "Since the Imperial Guard already knows about this, the news must have reached the saint's ears. The Heavenly Mother Cult probably won't be able to accomplish anything."
"Still, it's better to be safe than sorry. We should buy and store more grain!"
Even if the locust plague truly came, having grain in hand meant peace of mind.
If others starved to death, what did it have to do with him?
Perhaps he could even make a fortune during the grain shortage!
Chen Gan stopped dwelling on the matter and immediately changed the subject, returning to the issue he cared about most at present. "Have you prepared the return gift for County Magistrate Xue?"
Su Mo shook his head. "Not yet."
"What does Third Uncle think would make an appropriate return gift?"
Chen Gan exhaled a stream of smoke. "The county magistrate sent you tea from your hometown through Dong Yangrong. His deeper meaning goes without saying."
"The return gift must be handled carefully."
Su Mo froze for a moment. "Deeper meaning?"
In his previous life, he had been a homebody.
In this life, he had only spent a hundred days as an unpaid constable.
Although he had the old fox Chen Gan repeatedly giving him pointers, and Su Mo was a fast learner, such things required an accumulation of time and experience. It was impossible to become an old hand overnight.
That was why most newly appointed court officials would bring an experienced adviser with them when they took office.
Chen Gan sneered. "Of course there's a deeper meaning."
"Sending tea from his hometown implies homesickness. The unspoken meaning is that he wants to leave Changping County!"
"And it just so happens to be the year of the great examination..."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, stroked his two wispy mouse whiskers, and looked at Su Mo.
Su Mo was not stupid. He immediately understood. "He wants a promotion?"
Chen Gan sneered. "Who doesn't want to rise in rank and grow rich?"
"You must think carefully about this return gift."
"If you intend to help him and have the ability to do so, you can return a seal or calligraphy, implying an official seal and appointment document!"
"If you have no intention of helping him, return tea instead. He'll understand your meaning!"
"You have the Imperial Guard's protection. He won't dare do anything to you!"
Su Mo cursed inwardly.
Every official in this ancient world was an old fox. They were no worse than the officials of later generations.
He wondered whether there was a book on the arts of being thick-skinned and black-hearted in this world!
He still had to develop cautiously for a while and study more. It was better not to let someone sell him off while he helped them count the money!
He had no ability whatsoever to help that fellow Xue Shan!
He was already being set up by Lin Moyin himself!
Su Mo furrowed his brows and nodded absentmindedly, but his attention had drifted to the system mission.
The mission's risk level was extremely high. He would be better off finding a way to stay out of it.
At most, he could secretly pass the information into Lin Moyin's ears.
As for how many rewards he received, he would leave that to fate.
In any case, he absolutely couldn't let the Heavenly Mother Cult suspect him!
Just then, someone knocked on the door outside the side hall.
Chen Gan frowned. "Who is it?"
Scar Meng's voice rang out. "Boss Chen, Officer Su, Captain Luo sent someone over. He's already set a banquet at the tavern and invited Officer Su to dine, saying he wants to discuss the handover of the Eastern Market."
Chen Gan immediately perked up at this.
In his eyes, rising in rank and growing rich were a hundred times more important than locusts starving people to death!
The Eastern Market was a slab of fat, tantamount to silver!
Before you continue