Cultivation Simulator: Starting From The Empress' Palace

Jiang Ruoqing was caught off guard, but quickly realized something was wrong. Chen Mo hadn’t been drinking these past few days. She immediately rolled her eyes at him, ”Shouldn’t it be abstaining from lust?”

Chen Mo immediately grabbed Jiang Ruoqing’s hand, ”For you, I dare not slack off. Let’s dual cultivate to help you reach the peak of Second Grade first. Once you’ve accumulated enough insight, you can naturally break through to First Grade.”

Perhaps it was because of Chen Mo’s performance yesterday, as it was already afternoon today, and there was no sign of Zhou Da, Zhou Er, or Zhou San challenging him.

In fact, today, the allied forces had already figured out the general layout of their deployment. Although they were still unclear about the specific troop strength, they learned that Chen Mo had split his forces into two routes, heading to Luan Mountain County and Ta Town, which meant that Qinyang County’s current troop strength was limited.

Thus, the allied forces spent the day setting up siege equipment and making preparations, planning to launch a full-scale assault tomorrow.

Chen Mo’s side was also not unprepared. Gold juice, rolling stones, round wood, even fire bottle bombs and high-explosive bombs, were all ready.

Just waiting for the other side to attack.

...

As the setting sun descended, the western evening glow painted an extremely beautiful picture.

A thousand miles away from Bianliang, in a small tavern in some town.

”Today, let me tell you the story of the Chen family’s twin heroes.”

The world is in chaos, and various heroes are rising. Things that could not be discussed on normal days can now be spoken of freely. The storyteller eloquently began recounting the deeds of Chen Hong and Chen Mo.

”It is said that Chen Hong and Chen Mo are twin brothers. The elder brother Chen Hong entered the palace at a young age and became a eunuch. Later, he was appreciated by the Empress, who is now the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace, and entered the Soldier and Infantry Department to follow the army...”

When the storyteller narrated how Chen Hong entered and exited the battlefield seven times, slicing down thousands of rebel troops, the musician by the side appropriately made the melody more intense, engrossing the Jianghu guests and the commoners in the tavern.

”And because of this, after returning from Nanyang, he earned the nickname ’God of Slaughter.’ Can you guess how old he was at that time?” The storyteller sold a story.

”The Capital is far from here, how could we know?”

”Hurry, hurry.”

”Don’t dawdle, or else you’ll get a beating from me.”

Everyone was deeply engrossed when the storyteller suddenly stopped, making the audience anxious. A person dressed as a Jianghu individual even drew a broad blade as if to coerce him into speaking.

The storyteller, accustomed to this, took the opportunity to earn some tips before he excitedly continued, ”Not yet twenty, at the age of nineteen, he killed the rebel leader, Zhang Ping, a Second-Grade Martial Artist.”

”Nineteen?”

”How’s that possible?!”

”Indeed, storytellers love to babble nonsense.”

The crowd was in an uproar, all disbelieving.

The storyteller sipped tea to moisten his throat and then said, ”That’s not the end of it. What I’m about to tell you about Chen Mo, his younger brother, is even more extraordinary.”

”This time’s martial exam champion, any of you heard about it?”

”Haven’t heard.” Everyone shook their heads.

This place is far from the Capital; they don’t even know when the martial exam was held.

In past years, news from the Capital was learned through merchants traveling across the land. With the current chaos, no trade caravan dares to travel randomly.

Likely upon leaving the city, their goods would be robbed.

This has led to the closure of information.

Without special channels, ordinary folks wouldn’t know for months, even a year.

The storyteller took another sip of tea, leisurely said, ”This year’s martial champion is Chen Mo, Chen Hong’s brother. Though he’s Chen Hong’s younger brother, his prowess surpasses Chen Hong. Now he’s a First Grade Martial Artist, able to defeat three Second-Grade Martial Artists with a single move.”

”Hiss.” Upon hearing this, every audience member gasped.

Being twins means he’s nineteen years old as well.

A nineteen-year-old First Grade Martial Artist is simply unheard of.

Thus, each felt disbelief in the storyteller’s words.

Seeing the disbelief, the storyteller’s expression stiffened, hastily raised a hand to calm the noise, ”But it’s the truth. I’ve told this tale from the Capital all the way here. Would I deceive you?”

But such an unprecedented matter, even with the storyteller’s eloquence, the crowd still found it hard to believe.

After all, this exceeded their understanding, plus storytellers often embellished things. Believing it would make them fools.

Seeing continued disbelief, the storyteller was irate but didn’t argue further. He began narrating some of the romantic tales of the Chen family’s twin heroes.

Hearing this, everyone’s interest sharply increased.

Even beggars who had no interest in storytelling, sitting at the door and feeling sleepy, were refreshed instantly.

”I don’t know if you’ve heard of Nanyang’s top beauty?” The storyteller asked.

”I’ve heard. I think she’s called Luo Zhen something.”

”It’s Luo Zhen. A few years back, I was fortunate enough to see her in Nanyang and was stunned by her beauty.”

Luo Zhen, known as Nanyang’s top beauty, had been famous for a long time. Since she was involved in business and inevitably appeared in public, everyone was somewhat familiar with her.

Someone said, ”Isn’t she rumored to be dead?”

”No, not only is she not dead, she was won by Chen Hong.” The storyteller laughed.

”Didn’t you say Chen Hong is a eunuch? What would he want with a woman?”

”You don’t understand. Eunuchs are known to have more extreme desires.”

”If he obtained her, wouldn’t he present her to Your Majesty, or to his own brother?”

The crowd buzzed with discussion.

The storytelling master squinted, not refuting or correcting their words, continued, but his voice lowered significantly, ”It is rumored that Chen Hong even had an affair with the current Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace...”

Hearing this, the crowd was no longer just interested, they were downright excited.

Although topics concerning the Royal Family were sensitive, who wouldn’t be curious?

After listening, they felt even more that the storyteller’s previous words were fabrications.

A eunuch tangled with the Empress Dowager, how outrageous?

Having finished Chen Hong’s affairs, he then talked about Chen Mo’s.

When mentioned that the Wu Family intended to marry their legitimate daughter to Chen Mo.

On the tavern’s second floor, there was a commotion.

Everyone looked up to see a handsome young man wearing a conical hat drinking with a scruffy old man.

After confirming nothing was odd, the storyteller resumed his tale.

The scruffy old man in front of the young man put down his bowl, made a gesture across his neck, then glanced at the young man.

The young man shook his head, ”No matter, the story has spread here. You can imagine how many people know about it.

Have you heard that Chen Mo led troops to Qinyang County to resist the vassal troops?”

The scruffy old man nodded, ”Two hundred thousand against two million. I see Xiao Yunqi wants him dead.”

”Xiao Yunqi wouldn’t be so willing.” The young man laughed, then said, ”Forget visiting the Capital, let’s head directly to Qinyang County.”

”As you wish, my lady.”