Inner and Outer

Xu Hongyu returned to her own hall office with a cool expression.

She truly had no intelligence or evidence pointing to He Mingxuan, but there was no need to doubt such a thing. Chen Mu had been a head runner she promoted, and had not even been temporarily transferred to the General Office, so he should not have drawn any attention at all. Yet so many people had been able to slip quietly into Nine Stripes Ward, even evading Min Baoyi's watchful eyes. That showed someone within the City Guard had been coordinating with them as well.

Other than He Mingxuan, she could think of no one else. Everything was tangled together in a hopeless snarl now, and she had no mind to play games of schemes and counter-schemes with He Mingxuan. Using this method to forcefully intimidate him had been an act of helplessness.

"Miss, a message from Yamen Director Min."

Xu Hongyu returned to her side hall, where a maid in a short green shirt approached with a slip of paper. Yet the maid addressed Xu Hongyu neither as Chief Constable nor as Lord Xu.

She was a maid who had grown up alongside Xu Hongyu since childhood, accompanying her in martial training and cultivation. She held neither rank nor post in the City Guard now, but she was Xu Hongyu's closest confidante.

"She wants her younger sister to practice martial arts in the Inner City?"

Xu Hongyu took the note from the maid, Xiao He, and glanced over it. She nodded slightly. "That will do. Approved. You handle the arrangements and send her to the Yu Family Martial Hall. Tell them she is one of mine."

Xiao He replied softly, "Yes."

"Alright, you may leave. I need to rest for a while."

Xu Hongyu waved her hand. Xiao He gave a slight bow and withdrew.

Left alone, Xu Hongyu reclined lightly behind the low table, fatigue showing in her eyes. She truly was not suited for the work of balancing power at the center, manipulating all sides, and building up influence. Fighting with a sword and killing people was much simpler. Sometimes, she truly wanted to slice off those smiling-but-not-smiling faces of He Mingxuan and the others with a single stroke. But sitting in the position of Chief Constable, she could not act that way.

Killing someone with one sword stroke was easy, but after killing them, she would have no explanation to offer. She could only resign to accept the blame and surrender the Chief Constable's seat. That would be no different from handing the entire South District City Guard over to others on a silver platter, and she would have no way to answer to the Yu Family either.

Many times, to avoid being used as someone else's gun, she could only hide her brilliance and bide her time, putting on an unfathomable air.

Fortunately, Xiao He was still there to offer her advice.

Once the Yu Family sent someone more suitable to take over as Chief Constable, she would finally be free. In the future, she would rather escort salt transport fleets, cross mountains and rivers, kill bandits and eradicate demons, than continue doing this sort of work.

Her heart was tired.

Elsewhere.

Chen Mu returned home.

He mentioned the possibility of arranging for Chen Yue to practice martial arts in the Inner City.

The little girl agreed readily. Though she did not particularly enjoy martial training, since it was Chen Mu's arrangement, she would do it properly. She thought that even if she could not help Chen Mu, she must not cause him trouble.

Chen Mu did not know Chen Yue thought this way. He only assumed that she liked martial arts as well. After all, he had filled her head with stories for two or three years—Hua Mulan taking her father's place in the army, the female emperor who did not seek immortality, but only waited amid the mortal world for her brother's return... In short, he first needed to cultivate in the little girl a spirit that refused to yield to others. Then whether she studied literature or martial arts, everything would be easier afterward.

The next day.

Chen Mu had just finished his morning Mo Pi Fa when the old servant reported that a woman had come to call.

He thought Xu Hongyu had come personally and was greatly surprised. But when he reached the entrance to receive her, he found instead a simply dressed young woman in green. Though she lacked Xu Hongyu's cool beauty, she possessed the delicate grace of jade and lotus.

Moreover, her every movement revealed that she possessed Martial Arts. Her steps were steady and her breathing long and even. She gave Chen Mu a feeling no weaker than Min Baoyi of the Runner Office. Such a figure was quite rare in the Outer City, much less a young woman.

"I am Chen Mu. May I ask who this young lady is...?"

"I have served the Chief Constable since childhood and hold no official post. Lord Chen may call me Xiao He. Miss sent me to take your younger sister to the Inner City." Xiao He gave Chen Mu a slight bow, her bearing open and composed.

Chen Mu returned the bow, inwardly marveling that Xu Hongyu truly came from a great and powerful lineage. Even a maid at her side was so outstanding—calm and courteous in manner, skilled in Martial Arts, and unfathomably deep.

"Yue Er!"

Chen Mu turned and called out.

When the old servant had come to report earlier, he had already told Chen Yue to prepare.

After he called, Chen Yue came to the door. She first looked at Xiao He, blinked, and said, "Big sister, are you the Chief Constable? You're so pretty."

Xiao He smiled faintly. "I am merely Miss's maid. How could my meager appearance compare to hers? You, little sister, are lovely as clear water. It is not too late at all for you to begin martial training at this age. Perhaps you will achieve something extraordinary in the future."

As she unobtrusively observed the Chen Mu siblings, she inwardly nodded. The person Miss has chosen this time is indeed quite good. The brother and sister each had their own merits. Chen Mu was calm in bearing, bright-eyed, and impeccable in his conduct. His comprehension was exceptional as well, allowing him to cultivate Saber Force on his own. He would become someone significant in the future.

As for Chen Yue, she currently possessed neither Martial Arts nor any apparent talent, and one could not see her innate aptitude at a glance. Yet though she appeared guileless and adorable, her eyes were lively. Her earlier words had sounded like the unguarded words of an innocent girl, but Xiao He had followed Xu Hongyu for many years and seen countless people. As a maid skilled at reading expressions and observing faces, she could vaguely judge that perhaps half of it had been genuine, while the other half had been deliberate.

If only Miss could also be a little...

Alas.

Xiao He shook her head faintly in her heart, but kept a soft smile on her face as she looked at Chen Yue. "If you have finished packing, come with big sister. I still need to tell you some of the Yu Family Martial Hall's rules on the way."

Chen Yue opened her large, innocent eyes and said, "I... after I go to the Inner City, can I still come back to see my brother?"

Before Xiao He could answer, Chen Mu reached out and flicked Chen Yue on the forehead. "Practice martial arts properly in the Inner City. When I have time, I'll go to the Inner City to see you. Once your skills are well honed, you can go wherever you want."

The Inner City and the Outer City were truly two different worlds.

From what Chen Mu currently understood, martial halls in the Inner City—especially the main hall of a lineage such as the Yu Family—were closer to the style of righteous wanderers traveling the world.

Those who could practice martial arts at Inner City martial halls either came from powerful families, or had wealth and ability. They generally would never experience the ways of the Outer City, where people fought and risked their lives over a single steamed bun. Thus, the entire world they saw was different.

Take the Outer City.

Occasionally, a murder case would occur, some local gentryman found dead in his home.

Sometimes, it was not a villain breaking in at night to commit murder, but young martial artists from the Inner City "upholding justice."

Many young martial artists would also often leave the city together to gain experience, hunt demons and fierce beasts, and clear out bandit troubles beyond the city walls. They would compete with one another for fame. Xu Hongyu had once been one of them.

Chen Yue had experienced the warmth and coldness of life at the bottom of the Outer City. In Chen Mu's view, entering the Inner City and growing through such an environment would be a good thing as well. It would allow her to understand this world from more than one side, and gradually form beliefs of her own.