Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law

"Holding your hand, growing old together." Upon hearing the young man's words, Wu Mi's beautiful eyes sparkled. People are emotional creatures, especially women.

Previously, even though she married Chen Mo, she still didn't have that sense of attachment or reliance. However, after giving herself to Chen Mo and exchanging vows, it was like she had given a piece of her heart to Chen Mo.

"Husband..." Wu Mi nestled closer into Chen Mo's embrace.

Having lost her mother at a young age and learned medicine, she had experienced much life and death, making her emotions cooler than others', so she could look Chen Mo in the eye without shyness, her heart unperturbed by trivial matters.

But once emotions arose, she was just like any other woman.

"What's the matter?" Chen Mo stroked Wu Mi's silky hair, but his mind involuntarily recalled the earlier sensation, making him feel itchy inside.

That kind of feeling was something that neither An Niang nor Zhiqing, Zhi Ning had ever brought him, a kind of irresistible indulgence.

"I have something to tell you, husband, but you...must not get angry, and even if you do, you can't blame my family. Promise me you won't get mad, and I'll tell you." Wu Mi said.

Hearing this, Chen Mo was a bit surprised but still nodded.

Wu Mi revealed the matter of her elder brother's fake marriage arrangement while watching Chen Mo's eyes.

But Chen Mo's reaction was quite calm. As he played with Wu Mi's fingers, he said: "Actually, I guessed it the first day I arrived in Yongkang."

"Then you, husband..."

"Elder brother always thought I was fixated on Jiangdong and wanted to wage war on Jiangdong. It's completely a misunderstanding. I'm a person who values harmony and doesn't want to tear things apart and make it awkward, so I didn't expose it..."

Then Chen Mo joked: "Luckily, there was no big commotion, otherwise how could I have taken Mi'Er into my arms."

Wu Mi only blushed slightly and wasn't too shy.

This was quite different from the other women around Chen Mo.

"I'm relieved, husband, that you think this way." Wu Mi said.

"But there's something strange to me. Elder brother was willing to spend hundreds of thousands of coins previously to maintain a good relationship with me, so why try to deceive me to Jiangdong with a fake marriage now? Is he not afraid of offending me?" Chen Mo couldn't figure this out.

"Actually, it's not elder brother's idea, but that of Prince Huai's envoy, a man named Liu Ji. He wanted to ally with the Wu Family to take military action against you, husband, but father refused, so..."

The saying goes, marrying a chicken, follow the chicken; marrying a dog, follow the dog. In the future, she and Chen Mo would be family, so naturally, she had to consider Chen Mo. She told Chen Mo what she knew.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo became suddenly alert.

He hadn't expected Prince Huai's moves to be so swift, already attempting to ally with the Wu Family against him.

No, that's not right...

Chen Mo thought of something and said: "Mi'Er, you just said that Liu Ji wanted the Wu Family to send troops to pin me down?"

"Yes." Wu Mi nodded.

Chen Mo immediately sat up and said: "Mi'Er, is there a map of the Great Song in the house?"

As one of the Seven Great Noble Families, the Wu Family naturally had one.

Wu Mi immediately called her personal maid to fetch it.

Not long after, the maid brought the map of the Great Song.

Chen Mo spread it out on the bed and murmured: "Jiangdong is near Linzhou. For the Wu Family to pin me down means to pin down my forces in Linzhou. To pin down my forces, having just taken Fengzhou, that means..."

After considering it for a while, Chen Mo finally circled the location of Qingzhou on the map and said: "Prince Huai intends to attack my Qingzhou."

"This is bad." Chen Mo immediately got out of bed and started dressing. Wu Mi, being extraordinarily intelligent, realized something big might be happening, and hurriedly called the maid over to assist Chen Mo in dressing.

"Mi'Er, you don't need to get up. I'll be back soon." Chen Mo bent down, gently kissed the young lady's jade-like forehead, and then walked straight out of the bridal room.

Chen Mo went to find Sun Meng at once, instructing him to send a message back to Linzhou to mobilize troops to support Qingzhou.

But before he could even voice it, Chen Mo thought of a critical issue: there wasn't enough time.

Before heading to Jiangdong, Chen Mo's main plan was to send troops to attack Jiangdong. Hence, nearly thirty thousand soldiers were amassed in Linzhou, while Qingzhou had less than twenty thousand without a navy.

If Prince Huai were to actually launch an attack, Qingzhou wouldn't hold for long.

Without lasting long, support wouldn't arrive in time at all.

Chen Mo's face darkened, and after pacing back and forth a few times, he made up his mind.

If support couldn't arrive in time, then he wouldn't send support.

So you want my Qingzhou, huh? Then I'll give it to you.

The only question is, how much military force does your Huai State have?

I don't want Qingzhou anymore; let's swap homes.

"Sun Meng." Chen Mo called.

"I'm here." Sun Meng replied.

"Immediately send a message to Qingzhou, instructing the garrison to escort the civilians out to Yu State, destroying all the weapon workshops and munitions factories in Qingzhou, leaving nothing for Prince Huai."

"Marquis, this..."

"Follow orders."

"Yes, Sir."

As for Linzhou, Chen Mo needed to return personally to oversee the overall situation, taking the troops from Linzhou to retaliate against Huai State.

Jiangdong was no longer a place where he could stay. He would return to Linzhou tomorrow.

Back in the bridal room, Chen Mo informed Wu Mi of the plan to leave Jiangdong.

Originally, after the wedding, Chen Mo was to accompany Wu Mi in Jiangdong for a few days, visiting Wu Mi's mother's grave, among others, but that was no longer possible.

Chen Mo initially thought Wu Mi wouldn't agree, planning to let Wu Mi stay in Jiangdong first while he returned, but unexpectedly, Wu Mi was fully supportive, which greatly moved Chen Mo.

At dawn, Chen Mo accompanied Wu Mi to meet Wu Yanqing and the Ye Clan, taking their leave.

Wu Yanqing was surprised at Chen Mo's urgency to leave and asked if something had happened.

Ye Clan tried to persuade him to stay.

Such matters, naturally, Chen Mo wouldn't directly reveal, only saying he had received an urgent message from Yu State and needed to return immediately.

Wu Yanqing, an old fox, naturally saw through Chen Mo's hidden agenda, but seeing Chen Mo's urgency, he couldn't press further and had to agree.

That morning, Chen Mo set out with his entourage, taking Wu Mi's dowry and the bride, and embarked on a warship to return.

Due to Chen Mo's sudden departure, when Wu Yu received the news, he hurriedly found Liu Ji.

Wu Yu hadn't sent Liu Ji out of Jiangdong on that day, only out of Yongkang, still within Jiangdong borders.

Liu Ji instructed Wu Yu to ensure that Chen Mo was intercepted in Jiangdong and under no circumstances allowed to return.

Wu Yu said that Wu Mi was also on Chen Mo's ship, and if the people below saw her, they might be helpless.

Liu Ji instructed Wu Yu to personally lead men to intercept, and he would accompany him.

Wu Yu had already decided to go down this path, and without hesitation, he took action.

By the next morning, as Chen Mo and his entourage passed through a stretch of turbulent waters, ahead of them, upstream, appeared over a dozen warships blocking the way, obstructing the passage forward.