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"Brother, this Prince Huan must have come to recruit you under the order of His Majesty."

"Well, not only me, but you as well."

Gu Tingye nodded and said in a deep voice: "Now that the Queen Mother is in power, it seems that our Majesty is unwilling to be a puppet and wants to compete with the Queen Mother for power. Brother, what are your plans? The Queen Mother will eventually return power to Your Majesty."

Zhou Chen said: "Then we'll talk about it when the time comes. You know that I'm not representing just one person now, but you're different from me. You can make your own decision without considering me."

Gu Tingye smiled and said, "Everyone knows that my brother and I are on the same side. Unless I turn against my brother now, any decision I make will be suspected to be related to my brother."

"That's true, but you and I are both hereditary nobles. As long as we don't stand on the wrong side, even if we don't get any credit, as long as we don't make any mistakes, even the emperor and the empress dowager can't easily deprive us of our titles."

This is also the advantage of being a noble. Even though it is not as noble as civil officials, it can be passed down. This is also the reason why so many ladies from noble families want to marry into a noble family.

"So what you mean, brother, is to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight? Aren't you afraid that both sides will suffer?"

"Zhong Huai, you are a smart man. Learn from those civil servants and see how they do it."

Zhou Chen reminded Gu Tingye meaningfully that it is said that civil officials are noble and upright, but in fact, when it comes to moral integrity, most of them have no bottom line. In this regard, military officers should learn more from civil officials.

Gu Tingye seemed to be thinking about something. In fact, he was more inclined to the new emperor. No matter what, Zhao Zongquan was still the ruler of the world, and Empress Dowager Cao was just a woman. How long could she rule the country from behind the curtain?

Since I will have to return power sooner or later, wouldn't it be more likely that I would be valued if I joined the new emperor's army earlier?

Zhou Chen didn’t know what Gu Tingye was thinking. If he knew, he would definitely sigh and say that things were not that easy.

The reason why Zhao Zongquan wanted to win him over was simply because he was attracted by his power and status. He wanted to use him as a gun to deal with the Queen Mother and did not trust him at all.

For Zhao Zongquan, the people he trusts the most are always his ministers in the palace, just like Gu Tingye in the plot. If he had not had a close relationship with Zhao Zongquan and his son and had saved them many times, how could he have been valued by Zhao Zongquan.

With his current identity and status, there is no need for him to go to such lengths to clearly declare his allegiance to one side.

Just two days after he had dinner with Zhao Ceying, he was called over by Empress Dowager Cao.

When Empress Dowager Cao met Zhou Chen, she had a very good attitude, but she expressed her intentions in both explicit and implicit ways, saying that Zhou Chen was able to have his current status because she had recommended him to the late emperor, etc., meaning that Zhou Chen should not be ungrateful, betray her, and join Zhao Zongquan.

Zhou Chen was very familiar with this kind of situation, and he immediately stated firmly that he would never do anything to let the Empress Dowager down, nor would he forget the kindness of the late emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager Cao was very satisfied with Zhou Chen's tact. She knew, of course, that the new emperor was trying hard to win over old ministers and nobles, but so much time had passed and the response was mediocre. Now with the guarantee from Zhou Chen, Duke Jingguo, she felt more at ease.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1156: Chaos in Gu Mansion, Sheng Mansion Seeks Marriage

Say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, the New Year is here!

This is the twelfth Spring Festival that Zhou Chen has spent in this world. Twelve years is a long time for many people.

For Zhou Chen, even if he has lived for hundreds of years, twelve years is still a very long period of time. Different worlds and different twelve years are different.

This year was also different for the world and the court.

Because starting from this year, we officially began the new emperor's reign. The new emperor Zhao Zongquan changed the reign title to Zhiping, and this year is the first year of Zhiping.

On the New Year's Day, the emperor held a grand banquet in the Jiying Hall and invited all officials to celebrate the New Year's Day together. The empress dowager and the queen in the harem also summoned the ladies of all the mansions and held a grand banquet in the harem.

Inside the Jiying Hall, the emperor tried very hard to give a speech, saying festive words and showing his ambitions, but the responses from the officials were very indifferent. Each of them was just doing superficial work, and in fact, not many people resonated with his words.

The emperor was indeed the supreme being, but the emperors of the Song Dynasty were more or less constrained by officials, especially an emperor like Zhao Zongquan who was not yet able to rule the country himself. The respect of officials was mostly superficial, and few of them shared the same views with him.

Because Zhou Chen has become the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, he can no longer be lazy like before. Even during the New Year period, he needs to participate in government affairs. He is not very busy, but he has no free time either.

This year's Lantern Festival is much smaller in scale and less lively than last year's. This is because the current emperor, perhaps because he is used to being frugal, or perhaps he wants to establish his image, has reduced a lot of food, clothing, and daily life in the palace after ascending the throne.

The emperor took the lead, and even if the ministers below were dissatisfied, they had to follow the emperor's example, so this year's Lantern Festival was much inferior to previous years.

But shortly after the Lantern Festival, a major event occurred that shocked the city of Bianjing.

Gu Yankai, the Marquis of Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion, died suddenly. It was rumored that he was angered to death by Gu Tingye, the second son of the Gu family, while others said that he was angered to death by Madam Qin.

However, comparing the reputations of Gu Tingye and Madam Qin, most people still believe that Gu Yankai was angered to death by Gu Tingye.

When Zhou Chen heard the news, he was also very surprised. Now Gu Tingye has become very successful, and Gu Yankai will no longer treat Gu Tingye the same way as before. How come he still couldn't escape the fate of being angered to death?

So he naturally didn't completely believe the rumor that it was Gu Tingye who angered Gu Yankai to death. However, the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion had been sealed off, and people outside had no idea what had happened, so it was not easy for Zhou Chen to send anyone to investigate.

It was not until shortly after the incident, when he went to pay his respects, that he learned the truth from Gu Tingye.

Gu Yankai was indeed angered to death, but he was angered to death by both Gu Tingye and Madam Qin. To be precise, it was because Gu Tingye wanted to kill Madam Qin, and many quarrels and arguments occurred in the process. In the end, Gu Yankai, who was already in poor health, had his breath blocked and died without recovering.

As for why Gu Tingye picked up the sword to kill Madam Qin, it was because of his wife Yu Yanran.

At that time, Yu Yanran was not far from her due date and was called over by Madam Qin to talk. On her way back, she accidentally fell and started bleeding, so she had to give birth.

Coincidentally, Gu Tingye went to the western suburbs camp to train troops that day and was not at home, so Madam Qin took charge of the inner courtyard and was responsible for helping Yu Yanran give birth.

Yu Yanran's health was not very good to begin with, and she fell down, causing her to be short of energy and blood, making childbirth extremely dangerous. In addition, Madam Qin took action without making a sound, and Yu Yanran almost died.

Fortunately, Gu Tingye had already taken precautions and had Nanny Chang take care of Yu Yanran. She contradicted Madam Qin at the time and called a doctor, who saved Yu Yanran and helped her give birth to a child.

The child was born safely, but Yu Yanran was injured and almost had a heavy bleeding. She fainted the moment she gave birth and was rescued with great difficulty.

Although Yu Yanran survived, she was seriously injured. According to the doctor, she will never be able to have children again.

The only comforting thing might be that the child Yu Yanran gave birth to was a boy, so Gu Tingye also had a legitimate son.

When Gu Tingye returned home and heard the news, he was furious. He rushed into Madam Qin's yard with a sword in hand, ready to kill her.

Madam Qin was scared half to death at the time, but fortunately Gu Yankai arrived in time and saved her life.

Gu Tingye confronted Madam Qin angrily, but Madam Qin was really good at pretending and refused to admit it.

Gu Yankai might have guessed the reason. When Gu Tingye and Madam Qin were arguing, he couldn't control his anger, spat out blood, and then fell down.

Although an imperial physician was invited, Gu Yankai was ultimately unable to be saved.

However, unlike the plot of "The Story of Minglan" where Gu Tingye did not see Gu Yankai for the last time, Gu Tingye was by his side at the last moment of his mother's departure. He also heard Gu Yankai's last words and learned some things about his mother's past.

Zhou Chen patted Gu Tingye on the shoulder and consoled him, "This is your family affair. I can't say anything. I believe you can handle it yourself."

He knew that with Gu Tingye's ability, if he was determined to fight Xiao Qinshi, Xiao Qinshi would definitely not be able to defeat Gu Tingye.

The old lady of the Marquis' Mansion is right, but Gu Tingye now holds the military power, and the eldest son of the Gu family is in poor health. Unless something unexpected happens, when Gu Tingye inherits the title in the future, Xiao Qin will be no match for him.

As the emperor determined the new reign title, the power struggle between the emperor and the empress dowager became more and more obvious. First, the emperor used his brother-in-law to marry Zhang Guifen, the only daughter of Duke Yingguo, and thus established a relationship with Duke Yingguo. Then, he used Duke Yingguo as a bridge to make friends with the nobles and won over many of them.

Soon after, the court's direction began to change slowly, and many people began to support the emperor, wanting Empress Dowager Cao to return power to him.

Naturally, Empress Dowager Cao was unwilling to see power fall into the hands of others, so she fought back vigorously, relying on the imperial seal in her hand to target the emperor in various ways.

But because of her behavior, she pushed more officials to the imperial court. Empress Dowager Cao had the ability, but her vision was not enough. The more she refused to let go of power, the more counterproductive it became.

But the late emperor's prestige is still there, and Empress Dowager Cao also has many people's support. In addition, she has the imperial seal in her hand, so she can still suppress the emperor for the time being.

Now the discord between the two palaces has become increasingly obvious and can basically no longer be concealed.

The spring examination came as scheduled, and Qi Heng took the imperial examination again. Fortunately, he finally passed the exam and was ranked tenth among the Jinshi candidates by the government at the Qionglin Banquet.

After passing the imperial examination, Qi Heng ran home to find his mother immediately.

"Mother, I have passed the imperial examination and the emperor has allowed me to enter the Imperial Academy. Please ask mother to go to the Sheng Mansion to ask for marriage on my behalf."

Qi Heng's mother, Princess Pingning, still could not escape the bad luck. When Prince Yan and Concubine Rong had a palace coup last year, she was humiliated by Concubine Rong. She saw Prince Yong's family being brutally murdered. She had no choice but to pretend to be crazy to survive.

In the end, she was thrown out of the palace by Rong Fei. Her crazy talk saved her life, but it also made her lose face. From that day on, she never left the house again.

At this moment, she looked at her son with a happy and pleading face, and her heart was deeply touched.

Thinking back to the past, she suddenly felt a little regretful. She had indeed pushed her son too far. If she had not been so arrogant, perhaps she would not have suffered the disaster.

But she had no choice at the time. The Duke of Qi had been in decline for many years, and Qi Heng was her last hope. Of course, she wanted to find a good marriage for her son and be his support, so she strongly opposed Qi Heng and Sheng Minglan.

Seeing that his mother did not answer, Qi Heng said anxiously: "Mother, this is what you promised me. Now that I have passed the exam, the emperor and His Royal Highness Prince Huan think highly of me. I will definitely bring honor to the family in the future. I beg you to help me this time."

Duke Qi and Princess Pingning had both heard Qi Heng talk about his trip to Yuzhou to make friends with Zhao Zongquan, so they did not doubt Qi Heng's words.

Duke Qi also understood his son, so he whispered to his wife, "You should agree to his request. The Sheng Mansion is no longer what it used to be. Sheng Hong is fine, but his son Sheng Changbai is indeed a talent with a bright future. More importantly, the eldest daughter of their family is the wife of Duke Jingguo Zhou Chen. If Yuan Ruo can become a brother-in-law of Duke Jingguo, it will be a great help to him and the Duke's Mansion."

Although the Duke of Qi is an old duke's mansion, it has been in decline for many years and is now more of an empty shell. It is naturally incomparable to a Duke of Jing who is in the ascendant like Zhou Chen. The threshold to enter the Sheng Mansion is not high, but who can blame the Sheng Mansion for having such a powerful son-in-law.

Princess Pingning, who is a calculating person, naturally understands this.

"Okay, Yuan Ruo, I'll go on this trip for you."

Qi Heng was overjoyed: "Thank you, mother. Thank you, mother."

Princess Pingning did what she said. She asked people to prepare gifts, and then took the matchmaker to the Sheng Mansion.

…………

Zhou Chen came back from work and did not see Hua Lan until Hua Lan went to Sheng Mansion, and then he went to Shu Lan's yard.

Shulan was very comfortable as Zhou Chen's concubine. She could see Zhou Chen often, so she felt psychologically at ease.

She has been pregnant for more than eight months and basically has not been discharged from the hospital. However, today is different because her younger brother came to visit the Duke's Mansion and brought a lot of items from Youyang.

As the brother and sister were talking, they saw Zhou Chen coming over, and they both stood up immediately.

"Master."

"Oh, Chang Wu is here. If you have nothing to do in the future, come and spend more time with your sister. She is in Bian Jing City, and you are her only brother."

Sheng Changbai immediately replied respectfully: "Yes, if I have a day off in the future, I will come to accompany my sister."

Zhou Chen helped Shulan sit down, and was relieved to see that Shulan looked fine.

Shulan's pregnancy this time was not simple. Her belly was a little bigger than that of ordinary pregnant women. Zhou Chen had already determined that she was pregnant with twins, so he took better care of her.

Seeing Sheng Changwu still standing, Zhou Chen motioned for him to sit down.

Sheng Changwu sat down carefully. Although Zhou Chen was his brother-in-law, he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Zhou Chen.

"How have you been in the Dragon Guard recently?"

"Very good, Lord Gu and the others have taken good care of me. I am now a commander in the army."

Sheng Changwu's tone was very happy. He had been in the army for less than a year and he had been promoted. He knew that all this was because of Zhou Chen.

Especially after Zhou Chen was conferred the title of Duke, although his position in the Ma Jun Division did not change, his status became higher. Everyone knew that his sister was the concubine of Duke Jingguo, so who would dare not give him face?

He knew that everything he had came from Zhou Chen, so he was naturally infinitely grateful and naturally cared and took better care of his sister.

Although he was not good at studying, he was still smart. He knew that as long as his sister lived well in the Duke's Mansion, he would have no worries about his future.

Zhou Chen said: "We still need to train and improve ourselves, and not just focus on the present."

"Yes."

"Stay for dinner later."

"Thank you, sir."

Zhou Chen stayed with Shulan for a long time. He left Shulan's yard only when he knew she was tired and needed to rest.

He was very satisfied with Sheng Shulan. Shulan was never jealous and was very considerate. She always spoke softly and gently.

Such a concubine who does not require any worries is naturally popular.

When Zhou Chen returned to the master bedroom of Chaoyun Pavilion, he saw Hua Lan sitting on the bed in a daze. She didn't even hear him come in.

It wasn't until he walked in front of Hualan that she reacted.

"Sir, you're back. Is Sister Shulan okay?"

"Well, she's fine. What's wrong with you? Why are you so dazed and distressed?"

Hua Lan said gloomily, "It's not my mother. You also know that Rulan made eye contact with a scholar my father brought into the mansion. This time, that man passed the imperial examination and Rulan insisted on marrying him. She quarreled with my mother for a long time. You also know that my mother wanted Rulan to marry a rich man, so she naturally didn't want Rulan to marry that scholar Wen Yanjing."

"If it were just that, it would be fine, but something happened today. Did you know that Young Master Qi also passed the imperial examination and became a top-ranking Jinshi? Today, his mother, Princess Pingning, came with a matchmaker to ask for Sixth Sister's hand in marriage. She happened to bump into Wen Yanjing, who also came with a matchmaker to propose marriage."

"Now that's good. Mother was originally dissatisfied with the scholar that Rulan found. Now the Duke of Qi is asking for my sixth sister's hand in marriage. Comparing the two, you didn't see how dark my mother's face was at that time. If Rulan was there, I think mother would have beaten her to death."

Zhou Chen chuckled. He could imagine how ugly his mother-in-law's face was at that time. She wanted to marry her daughter into a wealthy family, but in the end her daughter married a man who had just graduated as a Jinshi and ranked second at that.

But Sheng Minglan, whom she had always looked down upon, was not only favored by Madam Wu of the Earl of Yongchang's Mansion, but now even the Duke of Qi's Mansion came to propose marriage. It was a good thing that she didn't get furious.

It can be imagined that she would definitely teach Rulan a severe lesson afterwards, and Rulan would definitely not be able to escape the disaster.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1157: Marriage, the return of the demon mother and daughter

"Then what does mother-in-law think? Did she agree to Princess Pingning's proposal?"

Zhou Chen asked curiously. Based on his understanding of Wang Ruofu, if Princess Pingning had proposed to marry Ruolan, his mother-in-law would have agreed on the spot. But if it was Minglan, it might not be certain.