"However, it's also good."
Setting down the letter, Chen An smiled.
The past grievances had to be settled at some point.
He had been keeping a log of the accounts against those people from Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
In the past, if the people from Chen Guo Gong Mansion had kept a low profile and quietly pretended to be dead, he might have forgotten about it for a while.
But now that it had come to his attention, he might as well deal with it.
It was just right.
So on that day, he submitted his resignation to Cheng Zheng and prepared to leave Shengjing for a while.
"Chang'an, what are you..."
Upon hearing Chen An's intention to resign, Cheng Zheng was somewhat surprised and took a while to regain his composure before patting Chen An's shoulder solemnly, "Chang'an, if you want to do something, go ahead and do it. Don't be afraid of getting into trouble."
"As long as I'm here, there won't be any trouble."
He declared solemnly, making a promise.
This was also a form of support, indicating that he fully supported Chen An's decision.
This made Chen An smile.
Yes, he was already different from the past.
Not only had his own strength made remarkable progress, standing at the peak of the world, but the background behind him had also changed.
In the past, his background was his teacher Dong Heng, then the Fourth Princess, but now it was the current Crown Prince.
With the strong support of the Crown Prince and his current strength, what did he have to fear?
Although Chen An had never been afraid before.
After submitting his resignation to Cheng Zheng, Chen An turned and left.
He left quickly, only nodding to a few people like Cheng Zheng and the Fourth Princess, not attracting much attention.
Even the big shots in Shengjing did not know that Chen An had left Shengjing at that moment.
Several days later.
A mansion occupying a vast area loomed ahead.
It covered a vast area, occupying the best location nearby.
Chen An looked around.
The county was flat, with many fertile fields.
But as far as he knew, most of the fertile lands he could see now belonged to the property of Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Not only that, but there were also commercial activities.
Within the county, most of the street vendors were somewhat related to the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Even many of the streets themselves were owned by the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
The Chen Guo Gong Mansion alone occupied most of the county's properties.
Without careful calculation, it was hard to imagine how huge this industry was.
This should have been a surprising matter, but Chen An's expression was very calm. He was already used to it.
After all, having been in this world for more than ten years, he understood very well how these people operated.
To him, the way the Chen Guo Gong Mansion behaved was already considered good.
At least the local government was still functioning and had not been completely overshadowed.
If placed in the previous world, the entire court would have been overshadowed.
In the subordinate counties, families like the Bai family would overshadow the court, swallow up most of the industry in the county, establish their own punishments, recruit victims to cultivate, and become a country within a country.
Compared to that, this situation was not too bad.
At least the government could still manage things.
With Chen Guo Gong's status, the scene in front of him was not exaggerated.
After all, a Gangqi practitioner needed to be treated this way.
Even in other countries, most Gangqi warriors were treated similarly.
As he walked forward, Chen An approached.
Before he had even entered, he was stopped in his tracks.
"Who are you, scholar? What are you doing at the Chen Guo Gong Mansion?"
The steward in front of him scolded loudly.
Chen An remained calm, "Please inform the master inside that Chen Chang'an is here to visit."
"Chen Chang'an?"
The steward in front of him looked puzzled, "I haven't heard of that name."
"You hurry up and leave, don't block the gate!"
He shouted loudly, but the next moment he couldn't say anything.
In his line of sight, Chen An's reaction flashed past as he took a step forward.
His body flew out and crashed heavily into the nearby wall, seriously injured.
"An assassin!"
"Someone intruded into the mansion!"
There was immediate chaos.
Shouts echoed all around.
Soon, a group of guards came out and charged towards Chen An.
They seemed to be the guards employed by the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Chen An was somewhat surprised as he looked at the guards in front of him.
They gave him a good feeling, comparable to the elite soldiers under the Second Prince.
It was quite rare.
Unfortunately, they still weren't very useful.
As Chen An walked forward and entered, the guards were sent flying one by one without any power to fight back.
The onlookers were stunned.
Suppressing over a hundred guards so effortlessly, this was definitely not an ordinary person, much less a scholar - it was a powerful warrior.
Seeing Chen An stroll in as if taking a walk in the park, everyone was awe-struck, and no one dared to underestimate him. They quickly went inside to report.
The reaction of the onlookers had little effect on Chen An.
He just walked slowly, following his memory to reach the interior.
"There have been some changes."
Walking around, he looked at the mansion and couldn't help feeling emotional.
This was where he had grown up since childhood, and he had many memories of the place.
Although most of them were not good memories.
Yet seeing the familiar sights upon his return, he couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
Unfortunately, although the memories remained, the people in those memories were no longer there.
This was quite regrettable.
Walking along, following his memories, Chen An arrived at a corner.
A refreshing fragrance of grass greeted him, and he saw a scene of overgrown weeds all around.
Unlike the neatly trimmed and outstanding garden outside, this area looked more like a wild wilderness, overgrown with weeds everywhere.
But upon closer inspection, he noticed several differences.
These were simple tombstones.
Since the Chen Guo Gong Mansion covered a vast area and had many servants, over the years, some people naturally died there.
Those who were difficult to handle were buried here.
This place seemed quite large, with many concubines of the mansion's sons also buried here.
Unfortunately, most of the concubines were bought, had low status, and couldn't be buried in the family tombs, so they were buried in random places.
Coincidentally, Chen An's biological mother was also among them.
After searching around for a while, Chen An quickly found a wooden plaque.
The wooden plaque looked very simple, now covered with signs of erosion, but the writing on it was still visible and it remained standing there.
It was left by Chen An back then, a makeshift grave marker for his own mother, in case he wanted to find her in the future.
Several years had passed, with many changes occurring, but the simple tombstone he left behind remained.
Looking at the rudimentary wooden tombstone, Chen An took out some incense, silently lit them, and then prepared to leave.
He was about to leave when his steps involuntarily hesitated, and he saw a figure in the distance.
It was a young man who appeared to be around the same age as Chen An.
The young man was wearing a washed-out robe with a few patches on it, with a somewhat delicate appearance. He looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old and was standing there, staring blankly at Chen An.
"Are you Chang'an?"
After a while, he recognized Chen An and his emotions became excited, "You're back?"
"You are... Ziling?"
Chen An was somewhat surprised but eventually recognized the young man's identity.
Chen Ziling was Chen An's younger brother.
Of course, like Chen An, Chen Ziling was also born to a concubine, but his mother had survived because she was not favored very much.
When Chen An left the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, Chen Ziling was around twelve years old, and now, after five years had passed, he had grown up.
When the two brothers met, there was naturally a round of greetings.
"Chang'an, when did you come back?"
Chen Ziling held Chen An's hand tightly, his expression particularly excited, "Why didn't you come to see me?"
"I just came back, so I came here to pay my respects."
Chen An smiled and then asked, "Ziling, what are you doing here?"
As Chen Ziling's face was filled with sorrow, he finally spoke after a long silence, "After you left, my mother passed away within two years and I had to bury her here myself."
He remained silent for a long time and was choked with sobs as he spoke.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Chen An also fell silent, unsure of what to say.
Honestly, when he left the mansion, he knew something was wrong.
Under the circumstances at the time, Chen Ziling's mother would inevitably meet a tragic end sooner or later; it was only a matter of time.
Even Chen Ziling himself, if he had been unlucky, would probably have died at the mansion as well.
He had thought about taking Chen Ziling with him, but at that time, Chen Ziling was still young, and his mother was still alive. There was no reason to bring him along, so he had to reluctantly give up on the idea.
Now, after five years had passed and he had returned, everything had turned out as he had expected.
Chen An sighed quietly and was about to speak a few comforting words when he heard footsteps approaching from outside.
Someone was coming.
Chen An was not surprised, nor was he in a hurry. He just silently watched.
Unlike before, there weren't many people coming now; there were only three people.
But the quality of these three people was much better than the previous ones.
One was at the mastery level of internal energy, and the other two were nearing the mastery level.
"Young Master Chang'an."
The leader among them clasped his hands respectfully in front of Chen An, his face solemn, and said, "Second Master invites you over."
Second Master referred to Chen An's biological father, Chen Li.
At the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, Chen Li was referred to as the Second Master due to his position as the second son.
"Oh, so he finally remembers who Chen Chang'an is?"
Chen An chuckled as he spoke, but there was a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Please lead the way."
He walked forward, and Chen Ziling, who had been following Chen An, was stopped.
"However, it's also good."
Setting down the letter, Chen An smiled.
The past grievances had to be settled at some point.
He had been keeping a log of the accounts against those people from Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
In the past, if the people from Chen Guo Gong Mansion had kept a low profile and quietly pretended to be dead, he might have forgotten about it for a while.
But now that it had come to his attention, he might as well deal with it.
It was just right.
So on that day, he submitted his resignation to Cheng Zheng and prepared to leave Shengjing for a while.
"Chang'an, what are you..."
Upon hearing Chen An's intention to resign, Cheng Zheng was somewhat surprised and took a while to regain his composure before patting Chen An's shoulder solemnly, "Chang'an, if you want to do something, go ahead and do it. Don't be afraid of getting into trouble."
"As long as I'm here, there won't be any trouble."
He declared solemnly, making a promise.
This was also a form of support, indicating that he fully supported Chen An's decision.
This made Chen An smile.
Yes, he was already different from the past.
Not only had his own strength made remarkable progress, standing at the peak of the world, but the background behind him had also changed.
In the past, his background was his teacher Dong Heng, then the Fourth Princess, but now it was the current Crown Prince.
With the strong support of the Crown Prince and his current strength, what did he have to fear?
Although Chen An had never been afraid before.
After submitting his resignation to Cheng Zheng, Chen An turned and left.
He left quickly, only nodding to a few people like Cheng Zheng and the Fourth Princess, not attracting much attention.
Even the big shots in Shengjing did not know that Chen An had left Shengjing at that moment.
Several days later.
A mansion occupying a vast area loomed ahead.
It covered a vast area, occupying the best location nearby.
Chen An looked around.
The county was flat, with many fertile fields.
But as far as he knew, most of the fertile lands he could see now belonged to the property of Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Not only that, but there were also commercial activities.
Within the county, most of the street vendors were somewhat related to the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Even many of the streets themselves were owned by the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
The Chen Guo Gong Mansion alone occupied most of the county's properties.
Without careful calculation, it was hard to imagine how huge this industry was.
This should have been a surprising matter, but Chen An's expression was very calm. He was already used to it.
After all, having been in this world for more than ten years, he understood very well how these people operated.
To him, the way the Chen Guo Gong Mansion behaved was already considered good.
At least the local government was still functioning and had not been completely overshadowed.
If placed in the previous world, the entire court would have been overshadowed.
In the subordinate counties, families like the Bai family would overshadow the court, swallow up most of the industry in the county, establish their own punishments, recruit victims to cultivate, and become a country within a country.
Compared to that, this situation was not too bad.
At least the government could still manage things.
With Chen Guo Gong's status, the scene in front of him was not exaggerated.
After all, a Gangqi practitioner needed to be treated this way.
Even in other countries, most Gangqi warriors were treated similarly.
As he walked forward, Chen An approached.
Before he had even entered, he was stopped in his tracks.
"Who are you, scholar? What are you doing at the Chen Guo Gong Mansion?"
The steward in front of him scolded loudly.
Chen An remained calm, "Please inform the master inside that Chen Chang'an is here to visit."
"Chen Chang'an?"
The steward in front of him looked puzzled, "I haven't heard of that name."
"You hurry up and leave, don't block the gate!"
He shouted loudly, but the next moment he couldn't say anything.
In his line of sight, Chen An's reaction flashed past as he took a step forward.
His body flew out and crashed heavily into the nearby wall, seriously injured.
"An assassin!"
"Someone intruded into the mansion!"
There was immediate chaos.
Shouts echoed all around.
Soon, a group of guards came out and charged towards Chen An.
They seemed to be the guards employed by the Chen Guo Gong Mansion.
Chen An was somewhat surprised as he looked at the guards in front of him.
They gave him a good feeling, comparable to the elite soldiers under the Second Prince.
It was quite rare.
Unfortunately, they still weren't very useful.
As Chen An walked forward and entered, the guards were sent flying one by one without any power to fight back.
The onlookers were stunned.
Suppressing over a hundred guards so effortlessly, this was definitely not an ordinary person, much less a scholar - it was a powerful warrior.
Seeing Chen An stroll in as if taking a walk in the park, everyone was awe-struck, and no one dared to underestimate him. They quickly went inside to report.
The reaction of the onlookers had little effect on Chen An.
He just walked slowly, following his memory to reach the interior.
"There have been some changes."
Walking around, he looked at the mansion and couldn't help feeling emotional.
This was where he had grown up since childhood, and he had many memories of the place.
Although most of them were not good memories.
Yet seeing the familiar sights upon his return, he couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.
Unfortunately, although the memories remained, the people in those memories were no longer there.
This was quite regrettable.
Walking along, following his memories, Chen An arrived at a corner.
A refreshing fragrance of grass greeted him, and he saw a scene of overgrown weeds all around.
Unlike the neatly trimmed and outstanding garden outside, this area looked more like a wild wilderness, overgrown with weeds everywhere.
But upon closer inspection, he noticed several differences.
These were simple tombstones.
Since the Chen Guo Gong Mansion covered a vast area and had many servants, over the years, some people naturally died there.
Those who were difficult to handle were buried here.
This place seemed quite large, with many concubines of the mansion's sons also buried here.
Unfortunately, most of the concubines were bought, had low status, and couldn't be buried in the family tombs, so they were buried in random places.
Coincidentally, Chen An's biological mother was also among them.
After searching around for a while, Chen An quickly found a wooden plaque.
The wooden plaque looked very simple, now covered with signs of erosion, but the writing on it was still visible and it remained standing there.
It was left by Chen An back then, a makeshift grave marker for his own mother, in case he wanted to find her in the future.
Several years had passed, with many changes occurring, but the simple tombstone he left behind remained.
Looking at the rudimentary wooden tombstone, Chen An took out some incense, silently lit them, and then prepared to leave.
He was about to leave when his steps involuntarily hesitated, and he saw a figure in the distance.
It was a young man who appeared to be around the same age as Chen An.
The young man was wearing a washed-out robe with a few patches on it, with a somewhat delicate appearance. He looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old and was standing there, staring blankly at Chen An.
"Are you Chang'an?"
After a while, he recognized Chen An and his emotions became excited, "You're back?"
"You are... Ziling?"
Chen An was somewhat surprised but eventually recognized the young man's identity.
Chen Ziling was Chen An's younger brother.
Of course, like Chen An, Chen Ziling was also born to a concubine, but his mother had survived because she was not favored very much.
When Chen An left the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, Chen Ziling was around twelve years old, and now, after five years had passed, he had grown up.
When the two brothers met, there was naturally a round of greetings.
"Chang'an, when did you come back?"
Chen Ziling held Chen An's hand tightly, his expression particularly excited, "Why didn't you come to see me?"
"I just came back, so I came here to pay my respects."
Chen An smiled and then asked, "Ziling, what are you doing here?"
As Chen Ziling's face was filled with sorrow, he finally spoke after a long silence, "After you left, my mother passed away within two years and I had to bury her here myself."
He remained silent for a long time and was choked with sobs as he spoke.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Chen An also fell silent, unsure of what to say.
Honestly, when he left the mansion, he knew something was wrong.
Under the circumstances at the time, Chen Ziling's mother would inevitably meet a tragic end sooner or later; it was only a matter of time.
Even Chen Ziling himself, if he had been unlucky, would probably have died at the mansion as well.
He had thought about taking Chen Ziling with him, but at that time, Chen Ziling was still young, and his mother was still alive. There was no reason to bring him along, so he had to reluctantly give up on the idea.
Now, after five years had passed and he had returned, everything had turned out as he had expected.
Chen An sighed quietly and was about to speak a few comforting words when he heard footsteps approaching from outside.
Someone was coming.
Chen An was not surprised, nor was he in a hurry. He just silently watched.
Unlike before, there weren't many people coming now; there were only three people.
But the quality of these three people was much better than the previous ones.
One was at the mastery level of internal energy, and the other two were nearing the mastery level.
"Young Master Chang'an."
The leader among them clasped his hands respectfully in front of Chen An, his face solemn, and said, "Second Master invites you over."
Second Master referred to Chen An's biological father, Chen Li.
At the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, Chen Li was referred to as the Second Master due to his position as the second son.
"Oh, so he finally remembers who Chen Chang'an is?"
Chen An chuckled as he spoke, but there was a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Please lead the way."
He walked forward, and Chen Ziling, who had been following Chen An, was stopped.
