Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

Just as the three finished their breakfast, they saw Emperor Xiao Anxun of the Great Qian Dynasty enter the courtyard of the library.

Xiao Anxun was thirty-six years old, with a handsome face, bright eyes, and an imposing presence; he was truly a man of striking good looks. In Su Mu's opinion, this emperor was indeed exceptionally good-looking.

What Su Mu was even more concerned about was that Xiao Anxun exuded an unusually strong imperial aura!

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Anran, Su Mu, and Feng Bao immediately bowed in greeting.

"No need for formalities." Xiao Anxun's expression was gentle as he raised his hand to help her up, his gaze turning to Xiao Anran with concern. "Your Highness was attacked last night and I heard you were injured. Are you feeling better now?"

"I've already taken the healing pills, I'm fine now," Xiao Anran replied.

"That's good." Xiao Anxun nodded slightly, then turned to instruct the eunuch behind him, "Wei Zhongxian, present the pills I prepared to the princess."

"As you command."

Wei Zhongxian, with his white hair and beard and face covered with age spots, stepped forward and handed a jade bottle to Xiao Anran.

"Thank you, Eunuch Wei." Xiao Anran accepted the jade bottle—it clearly contained excellent healing elixirs.

"Feng Bao, how are your injuries?" Xiao Anxun turned his gaze to Feng Bao.

"Your Majesty, thanks to Eunuch Su's care, I am much better now," Feng Bao replied respectfully. In the palace, he still addressed Su Mu as "Eunuch Su" in public; the title "adoptive father" was reserved for private.

"Eunuch Su." Xiao Anxun's gaze finally fell on Su Mu.

"Your subject is here." Su Mu did not refer to himself as "slave"—in the palace, not all eunuchs were qualified to address the emperor as "your subject." Only those close attendants who were extremely favored by the emperor had this honor.

Back in Shude Palace, "Little Su" would only refer to Consort De as "this servant." Although Consort De was his mistress at the time, according to palace rules, once a eunuch left the palace of his original master, he no longer needed to refer to himself as "this servant"—unless he still considered himself the other party's servant.

Consort De was quite displeased that Su Mu no longer referred to himself as "slave".

"The library has been quite unsettled lately, with frequent incidents. As the eunuch in charge of guarding the library, you must be vigilant and take precautions at all times," Xiao Anxun said solemnly. "Now that Anran is studying here, you must carefully investigate and ensure her safety."

"Your subject obeys the decree," Su Mu replied, bowing respectfully.

"Wei Zhongxian, Eunuch Su has done a good job managing the library and protecting the princess from harm. Effective immediately, he is promoted to the position of Chief Eunuch of the Library," Xiao Anxun instructed.

"Yes," Wei Zhongxian replied, then said to Su Mu, "Little Su, why don't you accept the imperial decree and express your gratitude?"

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great favor." Su Mu expressed his gratitude according to etiquette, but he knew in his heart that there must be a deeper meaning behind this "favor".

In the Great Qian Dynasty, the Chief Eunuch held the rank of a fifth-grade official. This "Chief Eunuch" was not the same as the Grand Eunuch who oversaw all the eunuchs—that position required a rank of third grade or higher. The eunuch guarding the library was originally only an eighth-grade official, but he was promoted three ranks directly to the fifth grade, which was extremely rare in the palace.

The official system of the Great Qian Dynasty was simple, and there was no "subordinate rank". The rank above the eighth rank was the seventh rank, and there was no such thing as "subordinate seventh rank".

"Study hard. I still have court affairs to attend to, so I'll be leaving now." Xiao Anxun led Wei Zhongxian and the others away.

"Best farewell to Your Majesty."

After the emperor had departed, the three returned to their chambers.

"Congratulations, Godfather!" Feng Bao sincerely congratulated him, secretly pleased that he had truly chosen the right person to follow this time.

"Why did my brother suddenly promote you?" Compared to Feng Bao's joy, Xiao Anran looked at Su Mu with a puzzled expression.

"I have been in the palace for thirty years. Although I have not made any great contributions, I have served diligently," Su Mu said solemnly. "Before you came, I was already a seventh-rank eunuch, which is not much different from an ordinary sixth-rank steward. His Majesty's promotion this time is quite reasonable."

"That makes sense," Xiao Anran nodded. "Being promoted to steward in your forties isn't unusual—unless you've made a serious mistake."

Though she said this, she wasn't entirely convinced. She remembered clearly: Su Mu had been "punished" and confined to the library! "Punishment" meant he had indeed made a mistake, and not a minor one. Without special merit, how could the emperor suddenly promote him three ranks based solely on seniority?

What exactly did he accomplish?

Could it be that he really was the one who saved us last night?

But how did my brother find out?

Xiao Anran found it increasingly strange—it seemed that her elder brother and great-grandfather were both hiding something.

Not only was Xiao Anran puzzled, but Su Mu himself was also surprised. Su Mu could roughly guess that Xiao Anxun had come under the pretense of visiting Xiao Anran. But no one else in the palace should have witnessed what happened last night. Even if the emperor suspected it was him, how could he be certain? If he wasn't certain, why the sudden generous reward?

The Empress's decision to confine "Little Su" to the library was part of her strategy to suppress Consort De. Why then did the Emperor suddenly promote him? Wasn't he afraid of the Empress's backlash? Why elevate his rank but not remove him from the library? What was his true intention?

Is this putting pressure on the Empress? Or is it just muddying the waters even further?

Su Mu never liked to overthink things. He would simply deal with whatever came his way.

In any case, a promotion is never a bad thing. Even if you're not happy, there's no need to worry. At least your monthly salary will increase, and your meals will improve. Besides, with a higher official position, it will be easier to adopt a son.

Around noon, a eunuch delivered the chief eunuch's official robes and seal, and also updated Su Mu's official rank record.

That day, Xiao Anran neither read nor practiced martial arts, choosing instead to stay home and recuperate. Feng Bao also rested in bed. Only Su Mu remained in his pavilion, perusing the "Ten Thousand Years of History."

As for that "father's letter," Su Mu had long since forgotten about it—whether it was true or false, it was of no use to him.

Two days later, Xiao Anran and Feng Bao had both recovered from their injuries.

Xiao Anran returned to her study. Su Mu seized the opportunity to use his Soul-Sealing Technique on Feng Bao.

After some investigation, it was confirmed that the young eunuch indeed regarded him as his adoptive father and had no ill intentions. Moreover, before Feng Bao was punished and sent to the library, Emperor Xiao Anxun had not given him any tasks, nor had he ordered him to investigate anything.

In this way, Su Mu could train Feng Bao without any worries.

"Godfather, what happened to me just now?" The soul-suppressing spell dissipated, and Feng Bao regained his senses, saying blankly, "I suddenly felt dizzy, and it felt like a hand was churning my brain..."

"Perhaps I didn't sleep well last night," Su Mu said casually. The Soul-Stealing Technique has an extremely short casting time and negligible side effects.

"That's right! I was so engrossed in reading last night that I didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning," Feng Bao explained himself.

"Your injury has just healed, you need to rest more." Su Mu stood up. "Don't read this afternoon, go to bed early."

"Yes." Feng Bao readily agreed, put down his book, and went to sleep.

Feng Bao woke up in the evening, feeling refreshed, and went straight to the kitchen to start a fire and cook. The Imperial Kitchen Supervisor delivered Xiao Anran's meal on time. While eating, Xiao Anran complained, "This is so boring! I can't concentrate on reading, but they force me to. If this keeps up, I'll get sick!"

Although she was complaining, she dared not truly disobey Xiao Yuanhou's orders—she could be lazy and not read books, she could just loaf around, but she absolutely could not leave the library without permission.

Su Mu guessed that Xiao Yuanhou sent Xiao Anran here with the intention of befriending this princess with outstanding martial arts talent. However, Xiao Yuanhou did not say it explicitly, and Xiao Anran herself had not yet realized it. Perhaps... Xiao Yuanhou may not have expected that Su Mu did not take this princess seriously at all.

The fact that Su Mu had used Qi Condensation Pills and Spirit Essence Pills to make tea before was enough to alert Xiao Anran.

Time flies like water.

For the next ten days or so, Su Mu frequently gave Feng Bao advice on his diet, which helped him grow stronger. Su Mu was the chief steward appointed by the emperor, and Feng Bao was someone the emperor "valued," so the Imperial Kitchen was unwilling to offend him and provided him with excellent meals.

After months of arduous training, aided by a large number of elixirs, Su Mu's cultivation had reached the peak of the Innate Realm.

Breaking through to the Grandmaster level is just one step away!