What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 209 Rank Two! Su Mo's connections are terrifying!
Seeing Su Mo's dark face and cold gaze fixed on them, Han Yu and the others instinctively shrank back, stammering and not daring to speak.

They did consider taking action so that Su Mo could empathize with their suffering and know the pain they were going through!
But the prerequisite is that you can beat Su Mo!

Who knew Su Mo's strength was this terrifying!

Zhang Xuzu was a top-tier expert, at the half-step Martial Grandmaster level, yet he was sent flying by Su Mo's casual flick of the wrist.

Not on the same level at all.

How are they supposed to fight?
Upon hearing Su Mo's words, Zhang Xuzu nearly exploded with anger. He glared at Su Mo with wide eyes and said, "How dare you ask me, Lord Su!"

"If it weren't for you, sir, we wouldn't have gotten such a beating!"

He grew increasingly grief-stricken as he spoke, pointing a finger at Su Mo, his body trembling: "We treated you with utmost sincerity, yet you treated us like this!"

"you……"

"You have no moral principles!"

With Zhang Xuzu's help, Han Yu and the others finally mustered their courage and glared angrily at Su Mo: "That's right! Lord Su is unethical!"

Su Mo sneered, pointed at Zhang Xuzu and the others without any politeness, and said coldly, "I have no sense of morality?"

"You think you can just ignore the fact that you vandalized my restaurant without any sense of morality?"

"Would someone so unethical give you their soap business?"

"If we didn't value morality, why would we share the Fengming Division with you?"

As he spoke, Su Mo's tone turned serious: "To put it bluntly, Brother Zhang couldn't even come up with three to five thousand taels of silver a few months ago!"

"Now that you earn ten thousand taels of silver a month, whose achievement is it?"

"Yet you turn around and accuse me of being unethical, and even come to my residence to cause trouble without saying a word? Do you really think I'm someone you can bully?"

"Is this how the sons of high-ranking military nobles behave?"

Zhang Xuzu was rendered speechless by Su Mo's barrage of criticism.

Wen Bi and Li You swallowed hard and secretly hid behind Han Yu and Cao Feng.

Su Mo looks terrifying when he's angry!
In the past, they could rely on the influence of their ancestors to stand on equal footing with Su Mo, and they believed that they were no less than Su Mo.

It's really not going to work now!
Lord Su's promotion speed is really too fast.

When I first met Su Mo, he was just a junior officer, but in the blink of an eye he was promoted to captain, and then he skipped the trial centurion position and became a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!
That’s not all!

He also holds the positions of General of Fengming Division and Clerk of Tianchang County!

Even more terrifying.

Grant them titles and honors!
Lonely Peak Mountain!

Let's not even mention the flying fish robe and the tiger robe.

How can they possibly act arrogantly in front of Su Mo?
The two sides are no longer on the same level; it would be more likely if their adults were to come!
Especially after hearing Su Mo say that, they felt that it seemed like they were really in the wrong.

Zhang Xuzu's face flushed red and then turned pale. In the end, he could only say awkwardly, "Actually, we didn't come here to cause trouble for you, sir. We just wanted to scare you a little..."

Wen Bi quickly added, "Yes!"

"How could we possibly turn against the adults? We're all brothers!"

Su Mo's expression softened: "Please sit down!"

"Tell me! What exactly happened?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Xuzu without prior arrangement.

Zhang Xuzu didn't know why either.

Even though he was much older than Su Mo, he always felt that Su Mo was as dignified as his own elder brother, which made him feel a sense of awe.

It's unlikely that it was because they knew the Empress's identity.

Ultimately, officials and ordinary people are fundamentally different.

Officials have official authority, which commoners and nobles do not.

Zhang Xuzu could only smile wryly and say, "We're not afraid of losing face if we say it out loud."

"These injuries were all inflicted by the adults in my family."

He paused, then added, "I was beaten by my elder brother."

Wen Bi and the others also looked bitter.

Zhang Xuzu's lips cracked, and his cheeks ached as he spoke, but his tone was somewhat indignant: "Since Lord Su knew the effects of glycerin, why didn't he explain it to us sooner?"

"I would rather not abandon it than suffer a beating for no reason!"

Su Mo nodded: "I see."

"but……"

Su Mo drew out his voice and pointed to the rows of wine jars placed outside the courtyard: "If I hadn't said anything, why would Brother Zhang have sent these glycerin jars?"

Zhang Xuzu was instantly speechless!
Finally, he said dejectedly, "The master did mention it, but he didn't say that glycerin can prevent frostbite!"

Su Mo said calmly, "I didn't think of it at the time!"

Zhang Xuzu and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Finally, Cao Feng hesitated and asked, "Lord Su, what should we do now?"

Su Mo sighed: "Glycerin, a strategic resource, should naturally be presented to the imperial court. Do you intend to hoard it for yourselves?"

Cao Feng quickly replied, "But the benefits of this glycerin... must be immense!"

"Foolish!" Su Mo snorted heavily, his face darkening as he pointed at Zhang Xuzu and the others. "Do you know why they gave their own master such a severe beating?"

"Is it because we handed over the benefits of glycerin to others?"

Su Mo rebuked him without any politeness: "Do you think that you obtained the soap-making secret and shipbuilding resources from me because you are exceptionally capable?"

"fart!"

"That's because your family elders earned their titles through meritorious service!"

"Do you really have no ambition and are content to be mere merchants, living a muddled and aimless life?"

Zhang Xuzu and the others instantly became awe-inspiring.

Su Mo snorted again: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"The Great Wu will inevitably have to fight the Northern Di sooner or later!"

"Will His Majesty forget the merit of our offering of glycerin at that time?"

"The reason your master beat you is because he was disappointed in you!"

After pausing, Su Mo took a deep breath and said meaningfully, "You should know that the biggest contributor to the soap is me!"

"I am willing to relinquish the profits from glycerin to the imperial court, and you are not even as good as me?"

The expressions of the noble sons shifted, but finally they took a deep breath, bowed respectfully to Su Mo with solemn expressions, and said, "Thank you for your guidance, sir! We have learned a great deal!"

Zhang Xuzu even more bluntly stated: "I was wrong before!"

"Lord Su, if you wish to punish me, then come at me! I will have no complaints!"

Su Mo waved his hand: "We're all brothers, there's no point in saying that!"

Then, changing the subject, he said, "Yesterday, a new bicycle was built over at Gufeng Mountain."

"Whoever wants to go first, I will write a note and they can go to Lonely Peak Mountain to get it themselves."

Zhang Xuzu's panda eyes lit up instantly, and he excitedly said, "I was the first to send the money for the car yesterday, so this car should be mine first."

Han Yu, Cao Feng, and others did not compete with Zhang Xuzu for it.

He glanced at Zhang Xuzu with envy, then snorted, "It's our turn next!"

Su Mo wrote a note and handed it to Zhang Xuzu.

Zhang Xuzu took it and looked at it. He saw that it said "one bicycle" and was immediately stunned: "That's it?"

Su Mo said calmly, "Of course!"

He then added arrogantly, "No one has yet been able to imitate my handwriting!"

Zhang Xuzu couldn't help but look again at the five characters written like a dog's paddle.

I really don't understand where Su Mo's confidence comes from!

I can write better with my left hand than he can!

However, to be fair, such an unsightly dog-scratching font is indeed very difficult to imitate!
As long as I can pick up the car, that's all that matters!
Ignoring the ridicule he was receiving with his bruised and swollen face, Zhang Xuzu excitedly headed straight for Lonely Peak Mountain.

Wen Bi, Li You, and others hurriedly followed!
They were very curious about the legendary bicycle.

After luring Zhang Xuzu and the others away, Su Mo leisurely took a sip of tea, and then saw the Commander of the Thousand Households emerge from behind the small door in the main hall.

Lin Moyin suppressed a laugh: "Is it really alright for you to fool them like this, my lord?"

Su Mo snorted: "I didn't fool them."

"In fact, they can't grasp the benefits of glycerin. And this is also their opportunity!"

He paused, his expression suddenly turning serious: "The Great Wu will have a battle with the Northern Di sooner or later. Madam, please pay close attention to intelligence related to the Northern Di; it will definitely come in handy in the future."

Lin Moyin nodded gently.

Her own husband presented so many good things to the Empress.

Divine crossbow, eight-ox crossbow, alcohol, mild steel, etc.

In particular, it brought a lot of extra revenue to the imperial court.

The empress, who desperately needed achievements to prove the legitimacy of her ascension to the throne, could hardly tolerate it!
Once we have sufficient reserves of divine crossbows and other valuables, and ample funds, a war with the Northern Barbarians will be absolutely unavoidable!

Su Mo then spoke with Lin Moyin for a while longer.

Then he said, "My lady, please come with me!"

Lin Moyin was taken aback: "Where to?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "The greenhouse! The sweet potatoes can be transplanted now!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Moyin's expression immediately tightened, and she quickly said, "My lord, please be careful not to plant bad sweet potatoes!"

Su Mo waved his hand: "That thing is very rough, it's not that easy to kill it!"

The two arrived at the greenhouse.

Lin Moyin's face darkened as she ordered Jiang Laoshi to keep a safe distance and not allow any outsiders to approach. Su Mo was both amused and exasperated.

There's no special skill involved in growing sweet potatoes, so why worry about others stealing them?
But I'm too lazy to talk about Lord Chitoge anymore.

He dug out the sweet potato, opened his mouth and spat out flying swords, swiftly cutting open the sweet potato sprouts.

Then arrange them neatly and let the cut surfaces dry.

He was answering Lin Moyin's various questions about planting sweet potatoes.

The doorman, who was stopped by Jiang Laoshi, called out from afar, "Master, someone has delivered a visiting card to you."

Su Mo was stunned.

As Lin Moyin and I stepped out of the greenhouse, I brushed the dirt off my hands and took the visiting card from the doorman: "Who sent this?"

The doorman quickly replied, "He is a tall, thin middle-aged man in brocade robes who claims to be an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Su Mo frowned and opened the post to take a look.

Sure enough, it read "Respectfully bowed by Meng Yuankai, Assistant Minister of Rites of Jiangzhou".

Lin Moyin leaned over to take a look and nodded: "It was written by Meng Yuankai himself."

"Meng Yuankai is a famous calligrapher. His calligraphy is indeed powerful and vigorous, and I am far inferior to him!"

"Uh... Young master, you also need to practice your calligraphy skills properly!"

Su Mo rolled her eyes.

As long as the writing is clear and others can understand it, that's fine.

Only a lunatic would practice this.

If I have time, I should practice the Yangtian Technique with my wife a few more times, and take the opportunity to improve our health.

Lin Moyin became suspicious, her gaze falling on Su Mo's face: "Why would he send a visiting card to my lord?"

"What connection does the young master have with him?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "It should be related to Meng Danying."

“Yesterday at dusk, Meng Danying climbed over the wall and came in… The servants of the Meng family came to the house looking for her, but they were very rude. They were reprimanded by my husband and I guess they’ve come to question me.”

Lin Moyin frowned, "Why does it sound just like Yi Shu?"

Su Mo nodded emphatically: "It was she who corrupted Shu'er!"

"Let's go! Accompany me to meet Meng Yuankai and show off our family's prestige!"

Lin Moyin shook her head: "I will not go. It is not appropriate for me to have too much contact with the court officials."

"Besides, I still need to go to the Right Office for duty."

Su Mo laughed and said, "I'm not even a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Everyone with eyes can see that my position as the registrar of Tianchang County is just a title!"

"However, Meng Yuankai dared to come to our door on his own initiative, so he is probably not a pedantic person."

Lin Moyin nodded gently: "That's true."

"This person is obsessed with calligraphy and is also highly accomplished in painting, but he is not very cunning."

"Other officials might not dare to step foot in our house."

Su Mo: "If Madam doesn't want to see him, that's fine. But don't go to the Right Guard for duty today."

Lin Moyin was taken aback: "Why?"

Su Mo waved away the doorman and Jiang Laoshi, and whispered, "For this Immortal Martial Arts Grand Examination, His Majesty prefers the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel to serve as the chief examiner..."

Lin Moyin frowned slightly: "Chi Wulei?"

Su Mo nodded: "Yes! It's her!"

"Therefore, Your Majesty intends to..."

Su Mo briefly told Lin Moyin about Zou Hou's situation, and then added, "If we can obtain evidence of Zou Hou's crimes, it will definitely be a great achievement."

"When Nangong Sheyue arrives, you and your husband will go to the Fu family mansion together!"

Lin Moyin rolled her eyes at Su Mo: "My lord is really afraid of death!"

"Nangong Sheyue is a mid-stage Returning to the Qi Realm cultivator, much stronger than me. I'm afraid I can't protect my lord?"

Then, he leisurely headed towards the back of the house.

Su Mo...

My wife is so ignorant!

That's called being steady, isn't it!
As a junior official of the Da Wu dynasty, holding the rank of fifth grade, Su Mo would personally greet Su Mo according to etiquette if he came to visit Su Mo, even if Su Mo came to interrogate him.

He straightened his robes and quickly walked to the side gate of the second courtyard.

Sure enough, a middle-aged man with a turban on his head, wearing a black robe, tall and thin, with three neatly groomed long beards and a serious expression, stood outside the door with his hands behind his back.

Two servants were also present, carrying gift boxes.

Then a young man in an unbelievably young brocade robe and gold belt came out.

Meng Yuankai looked slightly suspicious as he sized up Su Mo: "Your Excellency... are you Lord Su Mo in person?"

Su Mo quickly cupped his hands and said, "You don't deserve such a title, sir."

"My name is Su Mo. Greetings, Your Excellency!"

He paused, then explained with a hint of apology, "Since Lord Meng has come to visit, we should have opened our doors wide to welcome him."

"Unfortunately, a restaurant has been built in front of the house, making it inconvenient to enter and exit. We can only welcome guests through the side door. I hope you will not take offense."

Meng Yuankai nodded: "Lord Su, there's no need to be so polite."

"It is I who have presumptuously come to disturb Lord Su's peace and quiet!"

Su Mo smiled and said, "Please come in, sir!"

Meng Yuankai was invited to sit in the main hall, and the Su family servants served him tea.

Meng Yuankai gestured to the servant to hand over the gift list and said bluntly, "This is just a small congratulatory gift to express my apologies. Please don't find it too meager, Lord Su!"

Su Mo glanced at the list briefly, then placed it on the table and looked at Meng Yuankai with half-closed eyes: "Lord Meng, what is the meaning of this?"

Meng Yuankai said with a serious expression, "The servants were rude and offended Lord Su, which was truly disgraceful. I have already given them a severe reprimand!"

Su Mo had thought Meng Yuankai was there to interrogate her, but it turned out he was there to apologize.

He then smiled and said, "It's just a small misunderstanding. I am truly humbled and honored that Mr. Meng has come to visit me on this matter!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Yuankai looked at Su Mo with some surprise.

Before he came, he inquired about Su Mo's situation.

Putting aside everything else, the fact that someone had publicly beaten Zhang Guojiu had already reached the ears of many people.

Meng Yuankai had assumed that Su Mo was just as arrogant and domineering as Zhang Shouning.

Unexpectedly, when we actually met, he was so humble and polite, even referring to himself as a junior!

Is this really a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

He was about to speak.

Suddenly, the doorman came to report to Su Mo: "Master! Another invitation has been delivered!"

Su Mo frowned slightly: "Who is it?"

The doorman quickly replied, "That man said he was a guard of the former military governor's office, and he was delivering an invitation to the master on behalf of the general."

Su Mo was stunned upon hearing this.

Vice Commander of the Former Military Governor's Office?
I don't think I've ever had any contact with someone like that.
However, the Longxiang Guard, which guards the artisan battalion of Gufeng Mountain, is under the command of the Vanguard Commander's Office.

Could it be related to this?

The former military commander-in-chief, who held the rank of second grade, was a military giant, even though he belonged to the military officer system and his rank was not as prestigious as that of a civil official.

Why would they suddenly send me an invitation?

Meng Yuankai, the Assistant Minister of Rites, gasped in surprise, his old face turning somewhat unnatural.

He thought that he was giving Su Mo face by personally apologizing because he was afraid that Su Mo's youthful arrogance and domineering behavior as a member of the Imperial Guard would bring trouble to his family.

The very next second, a second-rank official, the Vice Commander-in-Chief, delivered an invitation to Su Mo!

That's the eldest son of the Duke of Ningguo!

He will inherit the title of Duke of Ningguo, making him a truly top-tier noble family in the Great Wu.

His invitation was not one that just anyone was qualified to accept!

Just as Meng Yuankai was shocked.

A faint voice came from outside the hall: "Young Master Su, it's time to set off!"

Meng Yuankai subconsciously turned his head and saw a tall woman wearing a red horse-face skirt with a pretty, aloof, and expressionless face. His three long wisps of beard trembled, and he involuntarily swallowed.

Su Mo looked at Nangong Sheyue, who stepped into the hall, with a wry smile: "My lord, you don't know how to speak. You didn't have to say anything!"

"This subordinate is young and afraid of death, and does not wish to embark on the journey yet!"

Meng Yuankai's beard twitched uncontrollably twice more!
Hearing Su Mo say that, Nangong Sheyue glared at him irritably, then her gaze fell on Meng Yuankai.

He then glanced at the contents of the table.

Finally, his gaze fell back on Meng Yuankai, and he said calmly, "What brings Lord Meng to Su Mo's residence?"

"What's the deal with this gift list?"

As soon as these words came out.

Meng Yuankai's face turned pale instantly, and he subconsciously stood up, about to explain.

Su Mo said irritably, "Lord Meng has come as a guest, so please don't frighten him, Lord Nangong!"

Meng Yuankai...

I'm already halfway up. Should I sit back down or stand up again?

　I was planning to update a lot more at once, but I wasn't feeling well. I got an IV drip at noon and slept until tonight. Here's 5,000 words for now. I'll make up for the 10,000 words I owe by updating 5,000 words every day. I really wouldn't lie to you readers; I want to earn money by writing too!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)