After the failed attempt to pretend to be dead, the sickly child was favored by the treacherous mini

Shen Jinmo patted Xie Nanxing's little head and said, "What were you thinking about when you were standing there just now?"

Seeing that Xie Nanxing didn't answer, Shen Jinmo added: "The ears are red, the neck is red, and the body must be red too."

He put his hand under the hem of her clothes and asked knowingly, "Why are you all sweaty? Is it because you're hot?"

With Xie Nanxing's physique, he rarely sweats even in summer, let alone spring.

Unless, he was being tormented by Shen Jinmo.

Unless, he was thinking about how Shen Jinmo would torment him.

"Shen Jinmo, you did this on purpose."

He stroked the whip handle rhythmically with his hand, deliberately trying to make him think of something else.

"If anyone finds out who you were talking to just now, I will bite you until you cry."

The few times Xie Nanxing bit Shen Jinmo's hard muscles were just to add to the fun.

Shen Jinmo couldn't ask for more.

The hands on his back were warm and dry, wiping away the dampness and heat on Xie Nanxing's body.

The sweat subsided, and the little bit of wetness on the spring shirt began to dry up. Every inch of Xie Nanxing's skin from head to toe felt comfortable.

Shen Jinmo began to rub Xie Nanxing's back with his calloused hands again, until Xie Nanxing was rubbed into a sated kitten.

"Lu Cheng, besides you, no one dares to look me in the eye."

"Is there something wrong?"

In order to conceal his identity, Shen Jinmo also used the secret passages left by Xia Che in the past to build several secret passages and secret rooms.

Therefore, Shen Jinmo often met people from Qiling Army in the Imperial Guard Department.

"Nothing happened. The people below made a mistake. They couldn't resist their desire and took a wrong step."

"Want to kill?"

"If we don't kill him now, we may not kill him."

"To kill a chicken to scare the monkeys?"

"Well, the power desire in the capital is blinding, so we have to use some strong medicine to wake these people up."

"Yeah." Xie Nanxing responded with one word and then ignored it.

She put her arms around Shen Jinmo's neck and softly told him about going to the Taifu Mansion today: "Shen Jinmo, Taifu gave me a courtesy name today."

"Then why are you in a bad mood today?"

Even if Xie Nanxing tried his best to cover it up, how could Shen Jinmo not see that Xie Nanxing today was much more serious than before.

Xie Nanxing rarely responded to Shen Jinmo's words, but instead asked: "Zi Ji, do you think the word Zi Ji sounds good?"

"It sounds good."

Shen Jinmo added: "When you come of age, I will find someone to give you another courtesy name."

"Or I can give you a courtesy name. Then my Guaiguai will be the only person in the world with two courtesy names."

"No."

Xie Nanxing added: "I like this courtesy name."

Xie Nanxing was a little stubborn: "I want to be the light that you can see when you look back."

Xie Nanxing doesn't like the word "forget the balance". Xie Nanxing hopes that Shen Jinmo can follow the path that others have taken. Xie Nanxing pities Shen Jinmo for having a bumpy journey and still having a bumpy life.

Shen Jinmo doesn't like the word Zi Ji. Shen Jinmo hopes that Xie Nanxing can take the path he wants to take. Shen Jinmo doesn't want Xie Nanxing to live and die for only one person in his life.

But reality is reality, and hope is just hope.

Not wanting Shen Jinmo to dwell too much on the matter of his courtesy name, Xie Nanxing jumped into the conversation: "Shen Jinmo, do you think that the Grand Tutor's behavior today was strange?"

"Xie Nanxing, human energy is limited. Master, I am tired."

Shen Jinmo understands Taifu better than anyone else in this world.

"Is the Master going back to Zhongqing Mountain?"

"I don't know. The Master wants to go back to Zhongqing Mountain."

After the morning court session the next day, Shen Jinmo accompanied Xie Nanxing to finish lunch and went directly to the Imperial Guard Department.

He flipped through the roster and registration files of the current guards in the Imperial Guard Department, picked out the files of twenty-seven guards and put them in one volume, then closed the roster in his hand.

He sat quietly on the armchair, his eyes fixed on the newly added peonies in front of the window.

This was someone Xie Nanxing had released early this morning.

The tender white petals were dotted with red. Xie Nanxing whispered in his ear last night that another name for this peony was "Scratched Without a Face".

When Shen Jinmo saw the peony flower today, he finally understood why this flower was called "Scratching Beauty's Face".

Shen Jinmo was born with fair skin and could never get tanned, and the skin hidden under his clothes must be even whiter, not inferior to that of the peony flower.

The traces of finger marks left on his body by Xie Nanxing when he could no longer restrain himself looked exactly like this peony.

Shen Jinmo suddenly chuckled and felt that Xie Nanxing was really, really cute.

Yesterday, he used the whip handle to tease Xie Nanxing, and Xie Nanxing wanted to put up this peony so that he would remember that erotic scene all the time.

The midday sun dyed the sky red, casting some dazzling light on the peony in front of the window, making the flower look as if it would become a spirit at any moment.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Jinmo saw little Xie Nanxings jumping among the petals and looking back while jumping.

As his heart grew fonder, the darkness in Shen Jinmo's eyes grew darker. When he heard the sound of hurried footsteps, he closed his eyes and suppressed all other emotions.

Today is Lu Chi's report every three months, so after what happened yesterday, Shen Jinmo did not look for Lu Chi again.

No need.

"Meet the master."

As pious as ever, as respectful as ever.

Shen Jinmo opened his eyes and looked at Lu Chi. He tapped the wooden table lightly, and Lu Chi immediately stood up from the ground.

Without any further delay, Lu Chi lowered his head and reported to Shen Jinmo in concise words.

"Forty-two new soldiers were buried in the Imperial Guards this year, twenty-one of the secret agents left in the market were replaced, and the remaining thirty-seven were also assigned to new sentries."

As for how these people should be used and where the information will eventually be placed, Lu Chi has no right to ask.

He is only responsible for bringing these people in, and he is just a step in the interlocking chain of this divine city.

During these years in the Qiling Army, Lu Chi had long been accustomed to the feeling of not having any real power in his hands.

During the time when he was the captain of the Imperial Guard Division, the power he truly held in his hands began to make Lu Chi addicted to the sense of firmness and stability.

The feeling of fear that the guards and others felt hanging in the air was too easy to make people anxious.

Shen Jinmo pushed the stack of files in his hand towards Lu Chi: "Tell me where these people are used?"

Lu Chi, who became the leader of a team in the Imperial Guard Department, was also responsible for fabricating the identities of the Qiling Army that was transported to the Divine Capital.

The people who employed people and the people who sent people away overlapped in this way in the Imperial Guard Department.

Shen Jinmo knew that there was a problem with Lu Chi's arrangement.

Human nature is naturally unable to withstand the test. Lu Chi just made the same mistake that most people in this world who are experiencing power for the first time would make.

Lu Chi went through the list in his hand word for word, and his subconscious and unconditional explanation showed his deep-rooted fear of Shen Jinmo.

Only after these words were spoken did Lu Chi understand Shen Jinmo's intention.

Kneeling on the ground, Lu Chi kowtowed to Shen Jinmo: "Master, please spare my life."

Shen Jinmo hung the whip around his waist: "Go back and take a hundred lashes yourself, then come back and tell me whether you want to be a guard or one of the seven masters."

Without staying for long, Shen Jinmo turned around and left the Guard Department.

Lu Chi looked at Shen Jinmo's back soaked in sunlight, and collapsed on the wooden and stone floor.

Lu Chi can only choose one between the guard and one of the seven masters.

If he chose the former, he would just be a secret guard assigned by the Qiling Army to the Imperial Guard, a secret guard who was completely disconnected from all kinds of information.

If he chooses the latter, he will inevitably have to leave the Guard Department and may even be transferred away from the Divine Capital.

Both choices mean that the power that has been cultivated with great difficulty will be completely destroyed.

If he didn't make a choice, Shen Jinmo would take his life directly.