I became the demon of the female devil

Chapter 338 The First Male Concubine in History! Paper Princess Wants to Spin Gold Coins Again?
Lady Sun approached, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two men with a strange look in her eyes. "Lord Chen, what's going on between you two...?"

Ling Ningzhi realized what was happening and hurriedly broke free from Chen Mo's embrace, taking two steps back, her pretty face flushed slightly.

Chen Mo remained calm and said, "I heard that Commander Ling was injured, so I came here specifically to visit him."

As an unofficial retainer of the Demon Suppression Division, this was quite normal, but it sounded different to Lady Sun.

Rumors about the two of them had been circulating for a long time, and she hadn't taken them seriously at first, but now it had come to the point of meeting each other's parents.
To do this so brazenly is incredibly audacious!
However, she couldn't say much in front of Ling Ningzhi. She cleared her throat and said, "Lord Chen saved thousands of people in the southern suburbs. His merits are great and his virtues are profound. He has benefited all people. Now the city is singing his praises. He is truly admirable."

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "You flatter me, Lady Sun."

He didn't really think it was anything special.

Compared to those doctors who rushed to the front lines and treated the wounded day and night, he did not pay any price and even gained a lot of benefits.

However, a gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. Saving lives is a fact, and there's no need to be pretentious. Naturally, one should accept the reward with a clear conscience.

"It's good that we met here, which saves me from having to make another trip."

Sun Shanggong took out a stack of documents from her sleeve and handed them to Chen Mo, saying, "You probably already know about the court's plan to build a shrine for you. These are the merits compiled by the Secretariat. Please check if there are any omissions. In the end, they will be written into an inscription and included in the record of merits."

Chen Mo took it and looked through it.

It details all the "good deeds" he has done, including: exterminating demons in Linglan County; destroying the conspiracy of the Gu God Cult in Linyang County; and killing two great demons, thus eliminating a great scourge for the Nine Provinces...

And this time, the culprit was beheaded, and a timely rain fell in the southern suburbs.

A rough estimate suggests that he directly or indirectly saved tens of thousands of people!

Aside from the eldest princess who suppressed the southern barbarians, no one else in the world could have performed such meritorious deeds.

Therefore, when the Empress announced the establishment of a shrine for Chen Mo, there was not a single voice of opposition in the court. Given Chen Mo's current prestige, anyone who dared to oppose him would be standing against the people.

"Goodness, this time they've really taken the moral high ground."

Chen Mo's lips twitched slightly.

He initially planned to cling to the female villain, but now he's more righteous than anyone else, so he's gone astray...

After confirming that everything was correct, Lady Sun put away the document and said, "The Ministry of Works is currently busy repairing the city. Once the reconstruction is completed, they will begin building the ancestral hall... However, this is both a blessing and a shackle for Lord Chen. He should be more cautious in his actions in the future."

Chen Mo understood what Lady Sun meant.

Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it.

While the support of the people can certainly make his career smooth sailing, at the same time, even the slightest flaw will be magnified infinitely. If someone with ulterior motives seizes on his weakness, he may be backfired by the overwhelming public opinion.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Excellency. I understand," Chen Mo said, bowing slightly.

"That's good." Lady Sun nodded slightly.

"By the way, the reason why the Palace Attendant came to the Demon Suppression Division today is..."

"Her Majesty the Empress is quite concerned about breaking the great formation and sent me here to check on the progress."

"I see. I was just about to go to the Array Formation Department anyway, why don't we go together?"

"Alright."

The two walked along the connecting corridor toward the inner courtyard, with Ling Ningzhi following silently behind.

Lady Sun glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, hesitated for a moment, and then transmitted her voice, "Lord Chen, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is your relationship with Chief Ling?"

You're being very presumptuous...

However, this is not something to be ashamed of. Chen Mo frankly said, "It's the kind of relationship that Shang Gong is thinking about."

Lady Sun frowned. "Aren't you afraid that Her Majesty the Empress will find out?"

"Your Highness has always known."

"And what about the Daoist Master?"

"The Daoist Master also knows this."

"..."

Lady Sun fell silent.

The Heavenly Pivot Pavilion has a clear rule prohibiting its disciples from having romantic relationships, yet Chen Mo, as the Empress's favorite minister, has gotten involved with the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion's chief minister... and neither the Empress nor the Daoist Master has any objections to this?

It’s so outrageous!

"Lord Chen, how did you manage to do that?" Lady Sun asked hoarsely.

Chen Mo shrugged and said, "This is something that happens naturally when two people are in love, so why are there so many rules and regulations?"

"Does Your Highness have no objection to this at all?" Lady Sun asked, puzzled.

Chen Mo, unaware that his relationship with the Empress had already been exposed, assumed she was worried about Ling Ningzhi's status as a sect disciple and said with a smile:

"Her Majesty the Empress has always been tolerant of me. I allow her to be mischievous, and she allows me to be silly. We have a tacit understanding, so this little thing is naturally insignificant."

?

Lady Sun was somewhat confused by what she heard.

But one thing is certain: the Empress doesn't care that Chen Mo has other women.

As a male concubine, shouldn't one be trembling with fear and walking on thin ice, lest one lose the emperor's favor? How could anyone dare to have two concubines on the left and one on the right?
Therefore, it's more accurate to say that the Empress was Chen Mo's woman rather than Chen Mo being her male favorite...

Snapped--

With this thought in mind, Lady Sun raised her hand and slapped herself.

She cursed herself for having such a rebellious thought. The Empress was the mother of the nation, a woman of noble birth, how could she be reduced to a mere appendage of others?
"Shanggong, what are you doing?" Chen Mo asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, just a mosquito on my face," said Lady Sun expressionlessly.

Chen Mo felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The three of them arrived at the entrance of the Array Formation Department, and Sun Shanggong pushed open the door and went inside.

Inside, a bustling scene unfolded, with dozens of worshippers lying on the ground, carefully studying the array diagrams and occasionally scribbling on paper. They all looked disheveled and hadn't rested in a long time.

"The Nine Netherworlds are the prison, the earth's veins are the lock..."

"The formation has a lifeline; escape through any one of these points and you can break through..."

"So the Tianquan star position was concealed by a talisman; no wonder we couldn't find the incision..."

Whispers echoed in their ears; they were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice anyone entering.

Chen Mo bent down and picked up a piece of Xuan paper. It was covered with densely packed small characters and diagrams, which were calculations about Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and Zi Wei Dou Shu. It looked quite complicated.

"Master Chen."

At this time, a familiar voice sounded.

Chen Mo turned his head and saw Sun Chongli walking quickly towards them.

"Sun Diansi".

"You came just in time."

Sun Chongli approached, staring intently at Chen Mo, and said, "We've encountered some problems with the formation deduction recently, and I was just about to call you over to take a look. Come, follow me this way."

As she spoke, she pulled Chen Mo toward the center of the array.

“Father, Lord Chen isn’t one of your Array Dao Department members. Can’t you be a little more discreet?” said Lady Sun.

Sun Chongli then noticed the two other people beside him. "Yinghuan? What are you doing here?"

?

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment. "You call Censor Sun 'father'? So you two are family?"

"You just found out?" Sun Chongli said with a smug smile, "I told you before that we have people in the palace, do you believe me now? Yinghuan is Her Majesty the Empress's most trusted lady-in-waiting, she has connections to the highest levels of government, so she can speak up for you if anything happens..."

"father!"

Sun Shanggong's cheeks burned, and she wished she could shut the old man up.

She sleeps in the same bed as the Empress, so what right does she have to deliver messages?

Chen Mo had dealt with both of them quite a bit, but he had only just learned about this relationship and had never heard anyone mention it before... However, it was understandable, as the Empress's personal lady-in-waiting, Sun Shanggong should indeed avoid suspicion.

"Ahem." Lady Sun didn't want to talk about this anymore and changed the subject, saying, "I was ordered by Her Majesty the Empress to come and find out the progress of breaking the formation. How is it going now?"

When the conversation turned to business, Sun Chongli's smile faded, and he said, "Come with me."

Leading the group to the center of the array, he began, "That day, a disturbance occurred in the city. The bald monks from Wuwang Temple broke into the Demon Suppression Bureau and copied down the array and its diagrams..."

As he said this, a shadow crossed his eyes.

As a crucial location within the Demon Suppression Division, the Array Formation Department is subjected to such unbridled entry and exit, a truly shameful disgrace.

“However, thanks to that bald monk, we were able to find the location of the array’s core.” Sun Chongli pointed to a crack in the eastern part of the sand table and said, “Knowing the location of the array’s core greatly reduces the difficulty of breaking the array. The progress these past few days has been encouraging, and we have already made some progress on the fourth layer of the array.”

"but……"

Before Lady Sun could even rejoice, Sun Chongli abruptly changed the subject, saying, "After hundreds of calculations, the results are completely different each time, which is really strange."

As the core hub of the formation, the location of the array eye is fixed, so this situation should not occur.

"I wonder if Lord Chen can pinpoint the problem?"

Sun Chongli looked at Chen Mo with anticipation.

He had personally witnessed the other party's mastery of formations; last time, they broke through the third layer of the formation in a very short time and also found the location of the dragon vein.

Therefore, when faced with this problem, his first thought was to seek help from the Chen family. A purple-gold light flashed in Chen Mo's eyes as he carefully observed the direction of the earth's veins.

After a moment, he spoke up and said, "I think there is probably more than one key point in the formation."

"What did you say? There's more than one array point?" Sun Chongli's expression was slightly taken aback.

"This great formation covers the entire Tiandu City. A single formation eye cannot bear and distribute such a massive amount of spiritual power."

Chen Mo stroked his chin and pondered, "I guess there are at least three array eyes, and as the array changes, the spiritual energy hub also moves between these array eyes."

This was not unfounded; it was a conclusion he reached after using the array plate to deduce and burning dozens of pieces of spiritual essence.

It has now been verified.

"I hadn't thought of that..."

Sun Chongli frowned.

This argument sounds like a fantasy, but upon closer examination, it makes sense.

That single stone tablet does seem rather flimsy and hardly enough to suppress the entire dragon vein.

"In that case, it makes sense. If that's the case, then breaking the formation would be extremely difficult."

Locating the locations of the other key points of the formation based on the direction of the dragon vein is not difficult; it just takes more time.

The problem is that even if the array eye is found, it's useless. To lock down the core hub, we still need to rely on the array guide from Wuwang Temple.

"No wonder that bald monk was so reckless; he had already planned ahead, certain that the last four layers of the formation were impossible to break." Sun Chongli gritted his teeth and said, "If all else fails, Your Highness, please send troops to raze Wuwang Temple to the ground and seize that formation!"

Lady Sun shook her head secretly; this claim was clearly unrealistic.

The Eight Desolations Demon-Slaying Formation involves a great deal of complexities. Unless His Highness is extremely confident, he would not take such a great risk.

"..."

Chen Mo remained silent.

If he wasn't mistaken, the conch shell hidden inside Ji Lianxing's stomach was very likely the array's guide...

But we still need to show it to the Daoist Master first, and make sure there are no problems before we can make any plans.

Although there was no breakthrough this time, a new direction was found. Chen Mo did not stay long, secretly noted the location of the array's core, and then took his leave.

Sun Chongli escorted him all the way out, watching his departing figure with admiration in his eyes.

"Tsk, he's really young and promising. It's a pity that the old guy beat him to it."

"Father, what are you muttering to yourself?" Lady Sun frowned and said, "Be careful what you say in front of Chen Mo in the future. Do you know about his relationship with the Empress... Anyway, just avoid contact with him."

She was afraid that Sun Chongli might say something he shouldn't have, and that it would reach the Empress's ears, which would be a real problem!

"Okay, okay, I got it." Sun Chongli said nonchalantly, "Yinghuan, you've come all this way, why don't you have a couple of drinks with me?"

"I can't drink alcohol while on duty, and I also have to go back to the palace to report," said Lady Sun, shaking her head.

"That's true, business is more important." Sun Chongli sighed.

Seeing his dejected look, Lady Sun hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then let's agree beforehand that we'll only have two cups..."

……

……

Chen Mo left the Demon Suppression Division and headed towards the Chen residence.

She had originally planned to take Ling Ningzhi back with her, but now that Shen Zhixia wasn't there, He Yuzhi was feeling very lonely. She had mentioned many times that she wanted Qingxuan to come and chat with her...

However, considering Ling Yishan's health condition and the fact that he needed someone by his side, they did not insist.

They shrunk the distance to an inch, and in the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, they crossed most of the city and arrived at Ming'an Street.

Before even entering the Chen residence, one could hear He Yuzhi's shouts coming from inside:
"Is the imperial plaque hung up? All the brocades and jewels bestowed by the Crown Prince have been moved to the main hall..."

"And the clothes Sister Lin gave me, the tea Madam Wang gave me..."

"Who sent this box of jade artifacts? Qin Shu? Just return it."

"..."

Chen Mo stepped through the gate and saw that the courtyard was filled with boxes of all sizes, almost leaving no room to stand. Servants were carrying the boxes into the house one by one.

Upon seeing him, Chen Fu's eyes lit up immediately. "Young Master, you're back?"

Chen Mo looked around, puzzled, and asked, "What's going on?"

Chen Fu said with a smile, "You have made a great contribution this time, and Her Majesty the Empress has bestowed a generous reward upon you. It seems that all the court officials have conspired to come and give you gifts. The threshold has been worn down these past two days."

The reason is not hard to guess.

Today, the Chen family is an imperial family of brave and valiant warriors, and their background is no longer limited to political parties.

Chen Mo's rise to power was inevitable, and both the Consort's faction and the powerful ministers of the Six Ministries had to reassess his worth.

Especially after the Crown Prince ascends the throne, all the forces will be reshuffled, and Chen Mo will very likely become a regent!
Building relationships beforehand is always a good idea.

Even the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue, which were usually at odds with each other, sent congratulatory gifts and took the initiative to show goodwill.

"Since the things have already been delivered, we can't refuse them. Let's accept them." Chen Mo instructed, "Uncle Fu, please make sure the list is complete and there are no omissions."

Chen Fu said, "Young master, rest assured, this old servant has already noted down the list of those who sent gifts."

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter who gave the gift. The important thing is who didn't. These people are either incorruptible officials or they have grievances against my Chen family. We need to pay close attention to them in the future."

Chen Fu: "..."

The young master seems to be developing more and more of the air of a powerful minister...

Chen Mo walked to He Yuzhi's side, bowed his head and said, "Mother, your son is back."

He Yuzhi ignored him, fiddling with the jade pendant someone had given her, not even glancing at him.

"mother?"

Chen Mo scratched his head blankly.

He was left hanging for a while before He Yuzhi said quietly, "Do you still have any regard for me as your mother?"

"how you said that?"

"I'm asking you, why didn't you tell me you were going to hunt down Chu Heng?"

"The situation was urgent, and the child was worried he would run away..."

"So what? You ran away, so what? Was it worth fighting so desperately? I heard from Eunuch Jin that you encountered that Demon Lord, right? He's a Supreme Being! He could crush you with a single finger!"

"You were lucky this time to escape, but can you guarantee you'll always be this lucky?"

Chen Mo was a little stunned by the barrage of questions and didn't know how to answer them for a moment.

Suddenly, I noticed that He Yuzhi's shoulders were trembling slightly. I bent down to look and saw that her eyes were red and tears were falling.

"Mom, don't cry, I... I won't do it again next time..." He Yuzhi always had a carefree attitude and rarely shed tears, which made Chen Mo feel a little helpless.

"You want a next time?" He Yuzhi glared at him fiercely, her voice still nasal. "You're a grandmaster now, your wings have hardened, but I'll always be your mother! If you dare to risk your life again, I'll... I'll make sure you can never get married!"

That's very serious...

Chen Mo chuckled and said, "Please rest assured, Mother, I will definitely report to you immediately if anything happens in the future."

"That's more like it," He Yuzhi snorted.

What exactly did Chen Mo go through these past few days, and why did he inexplicably become a grandmaster...? She was filled with questions, but she didn't have time for them right now, so she said, "Alright, you can go now. We'll interrogate you properly when your father comes back!"

"...Your son takes his leave."

Chen Mo turned and left the courtyard, heading to the east wing.

He had just pushed open the door when he paused involuntarily. A cat with shiny black fur was lying on the table, tilting its head and looking at him.

"Meow~"

?

Chen Mo frowned and asked, "Weren't you with Yu Hongyin? How did you find your way here?"

As far as I remember, the cat was always kept at the Tianlin Guard's office and was never brought home, so it shouldn't know the way...

"I brought it here." The little paper figure appeared out of nowhere, climbed onto the cat's head, and said, "It seems to have gotten lost and wandered into the brothel, so I brought it back."

Chen Mo squinted, "Then I should thank you?"

"No need for that," Ji Lianxing waved her hand, feigning politeness. "But if you insist on thanking me, I'd feel bad refusing. Just give me whatever you think is appropriate; you're so wealthy, you have more money than you can spend..."

"It's true that Chai is generous, but he doesn't have a single penny."

Chen Mo sneered, "I just gave you three thousand taels, and you're asking me for money again? You're pushing your luck. Do you really think this place is a brothel?"

"That money wasn't even for me. Liu Miaozhi is so stingy. I have to write an IOU to get some money. She doesn't respect me, the sect leader, at all," Ji Lianxing muttered under her breath.

"So you've come to me again to farm gold coins?"

"I see you have so much gold and silver jewelry in your yard, no one would know if you slip me a little bit..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)