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"Take them out and make them go away."

The frightened Aunt Kang's body softened instantly. Although it was very embarrassing, at least she didn't have to embarrass herself in front of more people.

Kang Zhaoer didn't dare to say anything about staying and followed behind in fear.

In the past, she always thought that her mother, the eldest lady, was the most terrifying person, but now she realized that her mother, the eldest lady, was only rampant in her own home. Outside, especially in the Duke Jingguo Mansion, she was nothing.

After they all left, Hua Lan said with a guilty look on her face: "Guanren, what happened today has caused you trouble again. You are absolutely right. This aunt of mine is really shameless and will do anything." Gotta come out.”

"It's not too late for you to see through her now. Just don't associate with her in the future. If she dares to come again next time, just kick her out. For someone like her who looks strong but is actually weak, you need to be ruthless. But I think she won't have the courage to come again in the future."

Hua Lan pursed her lips and chuckled to show her agreement. It was embarrassing last time, but if it happened again, she might lose her life. Her aunt was shameless and might not be afraid of embarrassment, but she was definitely the type who was afraid of death.

"Sir, please come in. You can have dinner soon."

"Well, I really shouldn't let such a person affect my appetite."

After that day, Aunt Kang never came to the Duke Jingguo's Mansion again, but Wang Ruofu did come to question her, but Zhou Chen didn't even see her because she was persuaded to leave by Hua Lan.

Wang Ruofu is the type of person who looks noisy but is actually completely brainless. She can be confused by just a few words from others. She came here to question someone, but when she left, she was filled with guilt.

"Master, the old lady wants you to come over."

Zhou Chen was playing Go with his son Zhou Ji when suddenly a maid from his mother's yard came over and reported respectfully.

"Mother is looking for me? Okay, I got it. I'll be right there."

"Dad, shall I go play?"

When Zhou Ji saw Zhou Chen was about to leave, his face immediately showed joy. He didn't like playing chess, but he couldn't resist his father. Now that he had the opportunity to slack off, he certainly didn't want to let it go.

"Let's go to the martial arts arena, Yuancai, go with him and supervise him in archery."

"Yes."

Zhou Ji's face suddenly turned bitter again. He wanted to say that the play he was talking about was not this kind of play, but he didn't dare to say it and could only agree sullenly.

When I arrived at my mother's yard, I found that in addition to my mother, Zhou Xu, my sister-in-law Cui was also there.

"Mother, sister-in-law."

When Cui saw Zhou Chen coming, she stood up and bowed, then said to Zhou Xu: "Mother, I will go back first."

"Go ahead, I will help you with your affairs." Zhou Xu said in a gentle voice.

"Thank you, mother."

After Cui paid her respects, she left.

"Sanlang, come and sit down."

Mrs. Zhou Xu called Zhou Chen to sit next to her and said, "I called you over here because I want to tell you about Yunling."

"Sister-in-law, what happened to her?"

"Her family came to the mansion yesterday and talked to her."

At this point, Zhou Xu's expression turned unhappy and her tone became cold: "Her family wants her to remarry."

"Ok?"

Zhou Chen's expression changed, and he asked in a deep voice: "Is this what my sister-in-law meant, or what her family meant?"

"Of course it was her family's idea. I know Yunling well. She has deep feelings for Dalang. Even though Dalang has passed away for many years, she has never thought of remarrying. She only wants to raise Sister Fu well, wait for her to get married, and then live alone in the mansion for the rest of her life."

"Then why did my sister-in-law's family suddenly bring up this matter at this time? And they knew that my sister-in-law didn't want to do it?"

Mrs. Zhou Xu looked at Zhou Chen: "This is not the first time that the Cui family has come to Yunling to talk about this matter, but they didn't tell you before. You are so smart, you should understand what this means, right?"

Zhou Chen fell silent for a moment. He understood what it meant. Cui Yunling was his sister-in-law. The Cui family wanted to use Cui Yunling as a political marriage partner, and the marriage was aimed at his Duke Jingguo Mansion.

"Who does the Cui family want the eldest sister-in-law to marry?"

"I don't know about that, but Yunling told me clearly that she doesn't want to remarry. She just wants to stay in the mansion and raise Sister Fu. After Sister Fu gets married, she can choose to become a nun."

Zhou Chen said in a deep voice: "Mother, tell my sister-in-law that as long as I am here, no one can force her. As long as she is willing, the Zhou Mansion will always be her home. If the Cui family comes to her again next time, let her reject them directly. If the Cui family does not listen, let them come to me. It is true that the Cui family is a big family in Jiangnan, but my Zhou family is not something that anyone can offend. If they really do not accept it, I can let them see the power of the Zhou family now."

Zhou Xu frowned and said, "The Cui family is a powerful family in Jiangnan. They are deeply rooted and their power is also very complex."

Zhou Chen said, "These are not important. They cannot affect Bianjing City. The Cui family today is not the Cui family of hundreds of years ago. If their family head has some brains, he will not offend our Zhou family for such a thing. Just let your sister-in-law convey my words."

"As long as you think it's okay, things out there will ultimately depend on you men to fight for it."

In fact, Zhou Xu was not afraid of Cui. She just didn't want to cause trouble for Zhou Chen. Since her son said so, she would certainly not hesitate any longer.

Zhou Chen really didn't take it too seriously. After the Song Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic families had actually been greatly affected and they no longer had the momentum they had before the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the power of the aristocratic families could often influence changes in the world situation.

Nowadays, most of the truly powerful aristocratic families are concentrated in the city of Bianliang. Although there are many wealthy families in local areas, the influence of aristocratic families alone is not that exaggerated. Most of them are a combination of officials and gentry. Most importantly, they cannot influence the army.

Soon after, Mrs. Cui came to Zhou Chen in person to express her gratitude and expressed her intention. The Cui family no longer allowed her to remarry. They also sent a lot of gifts and sent an elder from the clan to entertain Zhou Chen. Zhou Chen expressed his apology in person and chatted with Zhou Chen for a long time.

This made Zhou Chen directly doubt whether the Cui family did this on purpose. They didn't really want Cui to remarry, but were looking for an excuse to get closer to him.

But no matter what, this matter has been resolved satisfactorily.

The dispute over the imperial examination in the court has lasted for nearly a year.

The political situation during this period finally underwent new changes. Just like in the plot, a group of officials headed by Han Zhang have completely turned to the emperor. Han Zhang even used strategies to get the empress dowager to agree on the matter of the emperor.

After all, the Queen Mother had been the Queen for many years, so she was naturally very shrewd. She had also realized clearly that people like Han Zhang were not trustworthy at all.

Before, letting her rule the country from behind the curtain was nothing more than using her to suppress the emperor. But now they have gradually become familiar with the emperor and can slowly control him. Now she, the empress dowager who rules the country from behind the curtain, is useless, so they are ready to abandon her.

She was also very clear that without the support of Han Zhang and others, her voice in the court would be greatly reduced.

So she simply played along, retreated to advance, pretended to be drunk, and then signed to agree with the emperor, and even agreed to honor the official's parents as emperor and empress.

Although Han Zhang was shrewd and calculating, he was deceived by the empress dowager in his excitement, so that when he proposed the idea at the next court meeting, he was strongly opposed by the Censorate.

Although the Queen Mother cannot use Qi Heng as in the plot, she still has other people she can use, so the plan goes smoothly.

As a result, under the strong opposition from the Censorate, the emperor was furious. However, the people in the Censorate were originally censors. Even if he was angry, he could not kill all of them. After he severely punished several people, the Censorate not only did not stop, but became more and more serious.

Not only the emperor, but even great ministers like Han Zhang were also besieged by the Censorate. The already chaotic court situation became even more chaotic than the commotion caused by Qi Heng in the plot of "The Story of Minglan".

After all, in the plot it was only Qi Heng who took the lead, but this time it was the Queen Mother who personally went out to find people. The fighting power of those old guys was much stronger than that of Qi Heng.

The official was so angry that he didn't attend court for the next month. Zhou Chen, on the contrary, was relieved and didn't bother to care about the matter.

In the official history of the Song Dynasty, this event was called the Puyi Dispute, and it seemed to have lasted for more than a year. The fictional world here is probably not much different.

However, he knew more clearly that the emperor would win in the end, and Queen Dowager Cao would return power.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1161: Secret Affairs at Molan Yuqing Temple

"Dong Jingguo."

"Old Duke."

The British princess took the initiative to greet Zhou Chen, and Zhou Chen responded very politely.

The Duke of Yingguo’s Mansion has been passed down for many years, and the current Duke of Yingguo is the most prominent figure in the Song Dynasty’s military and the head of a line of nobles.

Although Zhou Chen was promoted to Duke of Jingguo and had a great reputation, he was still a few points behind the Duke of Yingguo in terms of background. After all, even in the noble family and the military, seniority was important, and the Duke of Yingguo was the person with the highest seniority.

"Lord Jingguo, my son-in-law has been serving under you for a long time. Has he caused you no trouble?"

Zhou Chen said with a smile: "Uncle Shen is a brave and resourceful man. With him in the Palace Front Office, it's like finding a light in a dark room. How can there be any trouble?"

The son-in-law of the Duke of England is naturally Empress Shen’s younger brother Shen Congxing, who is now also the deputy commander of the Palace Front Department and Zhou Chen’s deputy.

Just last year, in order to win over the nobles, the emperor first tried to win over Zhou Chen, but when that failed, he approached Duke Yingguo. He learned that the Duke Yingguo had only one daughter, so after conspiring with Empress Shen, he asked for the Duke Yingguo's only daughter, Zhang Guifen, to marry on behalf of his uncle Shen Congxing.

Zhang Guifen is also a woman who plays a very important role in the plot. Unlike ordinary women, she is a real military girl, with a straightforward personality and heroic appearance.

But because she is too straightforward, she is easily taken advantage of and has conflicts with Minglan, but later she becomes Minglan's best friend.

Zhang Guifen was only two years older than Minglan, and was indeed favored by the Duke and Duchess of England, but she eventually became a target of arranged marriage and married Shen Congxing, the emperor's brother-in-law who was more than ten years older than her.

What is even more speechless is that such a noble lady like her, when she arrived at the Shen Mansion, was bullied by a concubine.

From this point we can also see that the emperor and Queen Shen are really cold-hearted. At first they were very humble and asked for Zhang Guifen to marry Shen Congxing. But not long after, in order to repay the Zou family, they asked Shen Congxing to take the youngest daughter of the Zou family as a concubine.

Although emperors and empresses would automatically learn to be servile, it is rare for them to change their faces as quickly as the current emperor and empress.

Less than a year after marrying the only daughter of the Duke of England, he took a concubine, and a noble concubine at that.

It was the first time in the world that a concubine was granted an imperial decree. This was a deliberate slap in the face of Zhang Guifen and the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion.

What's even more disgusting is that Shen Congxing pretended to be so affectionate towards his deceased wife, but in the end, a few months after his wife's death, he married another woman and took her sister, who was a dozen years younger than him, as a concubine.

Don’t talk nonsense like you have no choice. It’s just a lie and it’s not for your own good.

Although Shen Congxing was the emperor's brother-in-law, when he first came, no one in the court looked up to him. It was only after he married Zhang Guifen that the officials in the court treated him better for the sake of the Duke of England.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just the Palace Front Department. If it weren’t for the father-in-law, the Duke of Yingguo, how many of the nobles in the capital would take Shen Congxing seriously?

Zhou Chen didn't know how the Duke of England could endure it. If it were him, if Shen Congxing dared to do this, he would beat him so hard that he would be unable to take care of himself.

No, to be precise, if he were a Duke of England, such a marriage would never have happened.

Duke Ying smiled and said, "I'd still like to trouble Duke Jingguo to help take care of it."

"Old Duke, you are too polite. If it weren't for your support, I wouldn't be where I am today. I will never forget your kindness."

"Haha, you were the most promising child among our nobles, so of course I had to take care of you."

The Duke of England was very happy. Zhou Chen's status was no worse than his now, but he still respected him so much, so he was naturally proud.

"I'm going to have my birthday in a few days, you have to come over."

"That's natural."

After chatting with the Duke of England for a few words, Zhou Chen separated from him and went back to their respective homes.

Regarding the Duke of England's sudden show of goodwill and asking him to take care of Shen Congxing, it seems that the Duke of England has begun to favor the emperor.

But it is also normal. Even his beloved only daughter married Shen Congxing, so naturally he is more inclined to the official family.

I just don't know whether he is simply taking the initiative to show goodwill or has some official intentions.

In fact, it is an inevitable trend for officials in the court to take sides. Not everyone has a keen eye like him and knows what will happen in the future.

The Duke of Ying is powerful, but from the fact that he is willing to marry Shen Congxing, it can be seen that he must still want to take the Duke's Mansion to a higher level and make the Zhang family stronger.

In the current situation, anyone with some experience and experience as an official can see that the empress dowager will sooner or later withdraw from power, and at that time the world will belong to the government. If you support her early, you will gain greater benefits in the future.

Zhou Chen was unwilling to take sides, on the one hand, because the title of Duke was conferred upon him by the late emperor, and everyone knew that he was trusted by the late emperor and the empress dowager. If he turned to the emperor, not only would the emperor not be able to fully trust him, but people would also think he was ungrateful.

On the other hand, it was because he did not have a good impression of the current emperor. Judging from several things the emperor had done, the dispute over the emperor's father was just using the name of his deceased father to fight for power with the empress dowager. This was really too much "filial piety";

Another thing is his behavior towards the Duke of England, the head of the nobles. When he needed help from others, he was very humble, but when he achieved his goal, he held his head high.

To put it bluntly, it feels like he is treating people in one way and behind their backs. He always puts his own interests first, and he uses people to his advantage and ignores them.

Although the late emperor was also an emperor and his personality was not outstanding, he still had feelings for him. Just for this reason, Zhao Zongquan was not as important as the late emperor in Zhou Chen's heart.

This is also one of the reasons why Zhou Chen was unwilling to surrender to the emperor and help him deal with the empress dowager.

Zhou Chen returned home and learned from the servants that Hualan, Cuichan and others had gone to Sanqing Temple with Minglan to petition.

Minglan has been married to Qi Heng for more than half a year, but she has not yet conceived a child. It is said that she and Qi Heng have only been to Sanqing Temple twice, but Qi Heng has been busy recently, so he came to find Hualan to go with him.

Zhou Chen, who had nothing to do, stayed with his youngest son Zhou Xu for a long time. Hua Lan didn't come back until almost evening.

The moment he saw Hua Lan, Zhou Chen realized something was wrong, but he did not show it. Instead, he waited until he was about to rest at night. Then he found Hua Lan sitting on the edge of the bed, looking absent-minded with her brows tightly furrowed. It was unknown what troubled she was thinking about.

"Madam, what are you thinking about? Since you came back, I found that you were worried."

Zhou Chen sat down next to Hualan and turned Hualan's face to face him.

Hua Lan looked away and whispered, "Sir, I am not feeling well today. I'd better let Cui Chan sleep with me tonight."

As soon as Zhou Chen heard it, he knew something was wrong.

"Is it really okay?"

"It's really nothing, I just feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe I'll be fine after a good night's sleep. Let Cuichan sleep with me tonight."

"It's okay, I'll just hold you to sleep at night."

"Really, you don't need to. You haven't asked Cuichan to sleep with you for a few days. Just go over tonight. Cuichan follows us without any status or position. We can't treat her badly."

Zhou Chen was helpless. Hualan was indeed very tolerant towards people she trusted. Although Cuichan was a maid, to Hualan, she was no worse than Shulan, the concubine.