Inside and Out

Xu Hongyu returned to her office with a cold expression.

She indeed had no intelligence or evidence to point to He Mingxuan, but there was no need to doubt it. Chen Mu was a Yamen Runner Captain she had promoted, and he hadn't even been transferred to the Main Division yet, so he wouldn't attract any attention. Plus, so many people could quietly enter Nine Stripes Ward, even bypassing Min Baoyi's eyes, which meant someone inside the City Guard was colluding.

Besides He Mingxuan, she couldn't think of anyone else. Now, with various matters intertwined, she had no intention of playing games of calculation with He Mingxuan. Using this method to forcibly deter him was a last resort.

"Miss, a message from Min Yamen Director."

Xu Hongyu returned to her side hall, and a maid in a short blue shirt came over with a slip of paper. However, she didn't address Xu Hongyu as Chief Constable or Lord Xu.

She was a maid who had grown up with Xu Hongyu since childhood, accompanying her in martial arts practice. Currently, she held no rank or position in the City Guard, but she was Xu Hongyu's closest confidante.

"Wants to let my younger sister go to the Inner City to practice martial arts?"

Xu Hongyu took the note from the maid Xiao He and glanced at it, nodding slightly, "Not bad, approved. You arrange this matter and send her to the Yu Family Martial Hall. Just say she's one of my people."

Xiao He softly replied, "Yes."

"Alright, you can leave. I want to rest for a while."

Xu Hongyu waved her hand, and Xiao He bowed slightly before retreating.

Leaving Xu Hongyu alone, she leaned back slightly behind the low table, a hint of fatigue in her eyes. She was really not good at this kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, manipulating all parties, and building power. Fighting with swords and killing people was much simpler. Sometimes, she really wanted to cut off the smiling faces of He Mingxuan and others with a single sword, but she couldn't do that in the position of Chief Constable.

Killing someone with a sword was easy, but after killing them, she couldn't explain it and could only resign, giving up the position of Chief Constable. That would be equivalent to handing over the entire South District City Guard, and it would be difficult to explain to the Yu Family.

Often, to avoid being used as a pawn, she could only bide her time and put on a profound appearance.

Fortunately, she had Xiao He to advise her.

When the Yu Family had a more suitable person to take over as Chief Constable, she would be liberated. In the future, she would rather escort salt transport fleets, trek through mountains and rivers, and kill bandits and eliminate demons than do this kind of job again.

So tiring.

On the other side.

Chen Mu returned home.

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

The little girl agreed quickly. Although she didn't particularly like practicing martial arts, since it was Chen Mu's arrangement, she would do it well, with the idea that even if she couldn't help Chen Mu, she couldn't cause him trouble.

Chen Mu didn't know that Chen Yue thought this way, only assuming that she also liked practicing martial arts. After all, he had instilled stories in her for two or three years, such as Hua Mulan joining the army in place of her father, and the female emperor not seeking immortality, but only waiting for her brother to return in the mortal world... In short, he first cultivated a spirit in the little girl that was not inferior to others, so that it would be easy to learn literature and martial arts in the future.

The next day.

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

He thought Xu Hongyu had come in person, and was surprised, but when he went to the door to greet her, it was a girl dressed in a green dress, plainly dressed. Although she didn't have Xu Hongyu's cold beauty, she had the delicate beauty of a jade lotus.

In addition, from her every move, he could sense that she possessed martial arts skills. Her steps were steady and her breathing was long. Chen Mu felt that she was no less than Yamen Director Min Baoyi. Such a person was quite rare in the Outer City, let alone a young woman.

"I am Chen Mu, this young lady is..."

"I have served the Chief Constable since I was young and have no official position. Lord Chen can call me Xiao He. The Miss asked me to send your younger sister to the Inner City." Xiao He bowed slightly to Chen Mu, her demeanor generous and dignified.

Chen Mu returned the salute, sighing in his heart that Xu Hongyu was indeed from a wealthy family, and even the maids around her were so outstanding, with a calm and polite demeanor, and unfathomable martial arts skills.

"Yue'er!"

Chen Mu called out, turning his head.

He had already asked Chen Yue to prepare when the old servant came to report.

After calling out, Chen Yue came to the door, first glanced at Xiao He, blinked her eyes, and said, "Sister, are you the Chief Constable? You're so pretty."

Xiao He smiled slightly and said, "I'm just the young lady's maidservant, with just a little bit of looks, how can I compare with the young lady? Little sister is born so graceful, and it's not too late to practice martial arts at this age. Maybe you'll achieve extraordinary things in the future."

While observing Chen Mu and Chen Yue, the brother and sister, without showing any emotion, she nodded slightly in her heart, secretly thinking that the person the young lady had taken a fancy to this time was indeed good. The brother and sister each had their own merits. Chen Mu was calm and composed with bright eyes, and his behavior was not presumptuous. Moreover, he had extraordinary comprehension and could develop Saber Intent on his own. He would be someone in the future.

As for Chen Yue, although she currently had no martial arts talent, and her aptitude could not be seen at a glance, she seemed simple and cute, but in fact, her eyes were agile. Her words just now seemed to be the heartfelt words of a simple girl, but she had followed Xu Hongyu for many years and had seen countless people. As a maidservant, she could read people's expressions and vaguely judge that it was half her true feelings and half intentional.

If only the young lady could be a little more...

Alas.

Xiao He shook her head slightly in her heart, but looked at Chen Yue with a faint smile on her face and said, "If you're ready, come with me, sister. I still have to tell you some of the rules of the Yu Family Martial Hall on the way."

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

Before Xiao He could reply, Chen Mu reached out and flicked Chen Yue's forehead and said, "You should practice martial arts well in the Inner City. I will go to the Inner City to see you when I have time. When your kung fu is well-practiced, you can go wherever you want."

The Inner City and the Outer City are really two different worlds.

According to what Chen Mu currently knew, martial halls like those in the Inner City, especially the main halls of families like the Yu Family, were closer to the style of chivalrous people traveling the world.

Those who could practice martial arts in the Inner City's martial halls were either powerful people or rich and capable people. They often could not experience the worldliness of the Outer City, where people had to fight desperately for a piece of steamed bun. Therefore, the entire world in their eyes was different.

Like the Outer City.

Occasionally, some murders occurred, and some local gentry died violently at home.

Sometimes it was not evil people breaking into the house at night to commit crimes, but some young martial artists from the Inner City 'acting chivalrously'.

Even many young martial artists would often go out of the city in groups to train, hunt monsters and beasts, and clear out bandits outside the city. They would compete with each other for fame, and Xu Hongyu was once one of them.

Chen Yue had experienced the coldness and warmth of the bottom of the Outer City, and then entered the Inner City to grow and train in such an environment. In Chen Mu's view, it was also a good thing, which could allow her to have a more comprehensive understanding of this world, and then gradually form her own views.