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Faced with Molan's pleading, he almost softened his heart, but when he thought of the Sheng family's reputation and his own face, he suppressed his reluctance and completed the task.

Lin Qinshuang did not live long in the farm outside the city. Within a few days, she died from her injuries. But even after death, her eyes were wide open and she died with her eyes open.

Because before Lin Qinshuang died, Minglan deliberately found an opportunity to visit Lin Qinshuang and gave her the most fatal blow, leaving Lin Qinshuang unable to rest in peace.

As for Molan, there was no news about her after she was forced to become a nun. The rumors about Molan and the youngest son of Duke Lingguo spread for a while, but the heat quickly dissipated and soon no one cared about them anymore.

This incident may have some impact on the Sheng Mansion for a while, but in fact, it did not cause any substantial harm.

After the death of Lin Qinshuang and her daughter, the Sheng family returned to peace and everyone returned to their previous lives.

If we were to say who in the Sheng Mansion is living the most miserable life, it would definitely be Wang Ruofu. She feels very aggrieved. She has her mother-in-law above her and the housekeeper's daughter-in-law below her. As a mother-in-law, she has no prestige at all in front of her daughter-in-law.

In a blink of an eye, Prince Huan Zhao Ceying and others who were inspecting the salt tax had been gone for several months. The inspection of the salt tax in eight provinces is not something that can be resolved in a short period of time. It is normal to drag on for a year or two. This is a protracted battle.

The dispute between the emperor and his father gradually came to an end, with the emperor winning. Empress Dowager Cao also withdrew from the throne and returned power to the emperor.

But Zhou Chen knew clearly that although the Queen Mother seemed to have returned power to the throne, she had actually only given up on the surface, and secretly she had started other plans.

The Empress Dowager and the Emperor are not mother and son, and they have no family affection. Since the Emperor does not take her seriously, she naturally will not recognize the Emperor. So she has already had the idea of ​​changing the world, but she did not come to the front. Instead, she used another person, Concubine Liu who was beside the Emperor.

Concubine Liu was the only concubine in the emperor's harem, besides the empress, who had a son.

The Queen Mother chose her, on the one hand because of her young son, and on the other hand because Concubine Liu was easy to control.

Zhou Chen knew all of this clearly, but he had no intention of interfering. He was also very curious. The emperor's situation was slightly different from the plot. Without the help of the protagonist Gu Tingye, he didn't know whether he could defeat the empress dowager.

In fact, being a minister in the Song Dynasty, especially being a noble, was very easy in all dynasties. No matter who won in the end, the nobles would basically not be touched, unless you had chosen a side in advance and stood on the wrong side, then the result was naturally self-evident.

Moreover, for the vast majority of civil servants in the Song Dynasty, they did not care too much about who was the emperor. As long as the emperor could listen to them, they were willing to support him.

These civil officials of the Song Dynasty were very capable in controlling the emperor.

That day, Zhou Chen had just finished the morning court when Li, the eunuch beside the empress dowager, came to him.

Nei Guan Li was the eunuch beside the late emperor and was very familiar with Zhou Chen.

"Duke Jingguo, the Queen Mother asks you to come over."

"Okay, then please let Li Neiguan lead the way."

Just as Zhou Chen and Li Neiguan went to see the Queen Mother, the Emperor received the news.

"Duke Jingguo? He is a smart man. I believe he will not make the wrong choice."

The emperor had always wanted to win over Zhou Chen, a top figure among the powerful officials, but Zhou Chen, like many other officials, was very smooth and did not explicitly try to become his man, but he also did not get too close to the empress dowager.

So although he tried to win over Zhou Chen, he didn't get too close to him. As long as Zhou Chen didn't defect to the Queen Mother, it would be fine.

And Zhou Chen did not disappoint him. He always worked diligently and did not surrender to the Queen Mother. He felt that Zhou Chen was a smart man who knew what to choose.

It was a long time before Zhou Chen left the Queen Mother's palace. The Queen Mother warmly invited him to have dinner with her.

During this period, the Queen Mother deliberately tested him and wanted to get his support, but Zhou Chen handled it calmly, making it clear both explicitly and implicitly that he would never do anything detrimental to the Queen Mother, but he would not do anything outrageous either.

The Queen Mother was not satisfied with his answer, but she didn't say anything else. Even if Zhou Chen didn't fully support her, as long as he didn't surrender to the emperor, it was enough for her.

The reason why she valued and respected Zhou Chen so much was because she had witnessed how powerful Zhou Chen was. During the palace coup that year, Zhou Chen was the only one in the world who had the ability to attack the capital so quickly, rush into the palace, and protect her and the late emperor.

She may not have the ambition to expand the territory, but she naturally wants to recruit such a powerful general under her command.

From the communication with the empress dowager, Zhou Chen has confirmed that the empress dowager has already begun to act. Not only the empress dowager, but the emperor has also taken action. After all, he is the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Division, and guarding the palace is one of his functions.

As long as he wanted, there weren't many things in the palace that could be hidden from him.

In the following period of time, the emperor and the empress dowager summoned him alone several times, which made him realize that the emperor and the empress dowager could no longer bear it.

The emperor wants to take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the empress dowager's party, and the empress dowager also wants to regain power, but the prerequisite is to get rid of the emperor.

Zhou Chen understood that at this moment, his current position as the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Department was very embarrassing, because no matter whether it was forcing a palace coup or other treasonous situations, he, the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Department, could not be avoided, because now most of the imperial guards in the palace were controlled by him.

He is now caught in the middle. Whoever he favors will have a greater chance of winning.

"We must find a way to get out of this as soon as possible."

Zhou Chen didn't want to get involved in the fight between the emperor and the empress dowager, so the best way was to temporarily give up control of the stage so that they could have no scruples and act freely.

…………

There was no morning court today, so Zhou Chen had breakfast with Hua Lan at home. Just after breakfast, someone came to find him. When he saw him, his expression changed slightly.

This man was the spy he sent out to keep an eye on. He came to find him at this time, so he must have discovered something.

After a while, Zhou Chen returned to the house and said to Hua Lan, "My dear, the weather is getting colder. We are free today. Let's go visit the old lady together?"

"Go visit grandma? Sure, I'll go find some of the finest brocade to take with you."

She hasn't returned to Sheng Mansion for some time since she dealt with Lin Qinshuang and her daughter. Since Zhou Chen brought it up, she naturally would not object.

"By the way, call Shulan. Last time, grandma said she would come to visit Shulan, but she never came. This time, we will take Shulan with us."

"Okay, then send someone to call them, but you don't have to bring the two children with you. Send them to my mother's yard to play with Xu Ge'er."

"it is good."

So the two of them packed up, and soon Shulan came over, and then they got in a carriage together and went to Sheng Mansion.

The Sheng family is now thriving. Sheng Hong was promoted to the fourth rank not long ago. Sheng Changbai has only been in officialdom for more than three years, but he is now wearing a scarlet robe. This time he accompanied Prince Huan to inspect the salt taxes in eight provinces. If he returns safely, he will surely make further progress.

Therefore, even if we put aside the in-laws, the Sheng Mansion is considered a middle-class and powerful family in the capital. The main reason is not Sheng Hong, but Sheng Changbai. He has a bright future at a young age, and many people are optimistic about Sheng Changbai's future.

Zhou Chen and his friends arrived early, but the old lady had already gotten up and had breakfast. At this moment, she was looking at a plate of dessert on the table, ready to pick it up and put it in her mouth.

But at this moment, the housewife from outside suddenly walked in.

"Old lady, Duke, Miss Da and Miss Shulan are here to visit you."

"Sanlang, Huaer, and Shuer are here too?"

The old lady looked delighted. She put down the dessert in her hand, stood up happily and looked towards the door.

Zhou Chen and Hua Lan Shulan walked in together.

"Grandma." "Second grandmother."

"Hey, come here, come and sit down."

The old lady was very happy, especially when she saw Shulan, the smile on her face became even brighter.

"I haven't seen Shu'er for a long time. You look pretty good. Did Sanlang bully you? If he did, tell me and I'll help you vent your anger."

Shulan humbly replied, "My Lord is very kind to me, and Sister Hualan is also very kind to me. Thank you, Second Grandmother, for your concern."

She was very satisfied with her current life. Although she was a concubine, she was the concubine of Duke Jingguo. In addition, Zhou Chen and Hua Lan were both very good to her. She also had her own children, who she could raise by her side. She felt extremely satisfied.

"I feel relieved to see that you are all well."

The old lady smiled and asked Zhou Chen and the others to sit down quickly. Zhou Chen did not hesitate and sat down first on the other side of the bed.

His eyes swept over the pile of desserts on the table and his heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, he arrived in time, otherwise the old lady would have really eaten it.

"Whose dessert is this? I've never seen it before."

Zhou Chen pretended to be curious and moved the plate on the table over.

The old lady said with a smile, "It's the lotus seed cake made by the master chef of Jufangzhai. I don't know why I've fallen in love with sweets in the past two years. The lotus seed cake from this shop is very much to my taste, but it's only available two or three days a month."

"Really? Then grandma, would you mind letting me have a taste?"

The old lady said with a look of resentment: "You monkey, eat whatever you want. Coming to my place is like going home. You can eat whatever you want and cook whatever you want."

Zhou Chen chuckled and said, "Then I won't be polite. This lotus seed crisp looks good."

As he said that, he picked up one, put it in his mouth, and slowly began to eat it.

At the same time, he immediately activated the Yangzhou Slow internal force in his body. Although he had a skillful and anti-toxic physique that could help him resist most of the evil toxins, he still had to activate the Yangzhou Slow just in case. The Yangzhou Slow internal force was also extremely effective in detoxification.

With his anti-toxic physique and Yangzhou's slow internal force, even the poisonous juice of ginkgo buds will not be able to harm him.

Soon, a hibiscus lotus seed pastry entered Zhou Chen's stomach.

"Well, it's good. No wonder grandma likes it. It's delicious. Grandma, I won't be polite with you."

As he said that, he picked up another one and put it in his mouth.

The old lady laughed when she saw this and asked Hua Lan, "Hua'er, Sanlang didn't have breakfast at home, so he came to me to ask for money?"

Hua Lan also found it funny: "Of course I ate it. Maybe it's because this lotus seed pastry is really delicious, that's why you do this. Sir, please eat slowly and leave some for grandma."

The old lady waved her hand and said lovingly, "Eat as much as you want. It's not good stuff. I can eat it anytime. Sanlang, eat more if you like."

Zhou Chen laughed and said, "Grandma still loves me."

This thing is poisonous. Of course he wouldn't let the old lady eat it, nor would he let Hualan and the others eat it.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1166: Spraying Sheng Hong, Sheng Mansion in Turmoil

There were only six lotus seed cakes on a plate. Zhou Chen ate five of them in no time and took a bite of the last one before putting it back on the plate.

Seeing Zhou Chen wolfing down the food, the old lady smiled even more. She liked Zhou Chen's casual look the most because it meant that Zhou Chen truly regarded her as a relative and elder, and there was no need for so much politeness between relatives.

"Sanlang, you ate so much at once, don't you find it too sweet?"

"It is a little sweet, grandma. You should try to eat less sweet desserts like this in the future."

The old lady smiled and said, "I just satisfy my craving for food. I can't eat many of them every time I buy them. Most of them are eaten by Quan Ge'er."

As they were talking, Sheng Hong suddenly walked in.

"Mother."

"Father-in-law." "Father."...

After Sheng Hong sat down, he said to Zhou Chen, "I heard that you were here, Shuyuan, so I came to see you. It just so happens that I have a day off today. Let's have a couple of drinks at noon."

Zhou Chen replied: "Of course no problem."

Sheng Hong hesitated for a moment, and suddenly asked Zhou Chen: "Shuyuan, Changbai and the others have been gone for several months. Do you have any news about them?"

The reason why he asked Zhou Chen was because the team that inspected the salt tax included a number of imperial guards. As the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Department, Zhou Chen was in charge of most of the imperial guards. If there was any news, Zhou Chen would definitely know it before others.

Zhou Chen shook his head and said, "This matter was personally commanded and dispatched by the government. I really don't know the specific situation, but after all, it is an inspection of eight provinces, so it is normal to be slow. Changbai is smart and intelligent, so nothing will happen."

The old lady waved her hand and said, "If you and your son-in-law want to discuss state affairs, go to the study in the front hall. I will talk to Hua'er and Shu'er more."

Zhou Chen said with a smile: "Grandma is trying to drive us away, father-in-law, shall we go to the front hall?"

"That's fine. Let's go to my study. I just happened to get a painting a while ago. It is said to be an authentic work of Yan Gong from the Tang Dynasty. I am not good at this, so you can show it to me and appreciate it later."

"Yan Gong's paintings? I'd like to take a closer look."

Zhou Chen became interested. The Mr. Yan they were talking about was Yan Liben from the Tang Dynasty, a great painter of his time.

So the father-in-law and son-in-law walked out of Shou'an Hall and went towards the study in the front hall.

However, when Zhou Chen walked out of Shou'an Hall, he called Yuan Cai over, whispered a few words in his ear, and then followed Sheng Hong.

When walking out of Shou'an Hall, Zhou Chen already felt the toxins in his body taking effect. However, his anti-toxin physique played a huge role at this time. Most of the toxins were digested, and the remaining part was also controlled by Zhou Chen who secretly mobilized Yangzhou's slow internal force to slowly detoxify it.

Before he reached the study, he suddenly met Wang Ruofu who was walking out of Weiruixuan. Wang Ruofu was walking very fast, but when she saw Zhou Chen, she stopped immediately.

"The Duke is here. Is Hua'er at her grandmother's place?"

When she asked this question, her face looked a little anxious, because she knew that there was something wrong with the hibiscus lotus seed cakes delivered to the old lady today. Hualan happened to come back at this time. If Hualan accidentally ate the old lady's hibiscus lotus seed cakes, wouldn't there be problems too?

She cared about her daughter, so she wanted to go to Shou'an Hall as soon as possible to see what was going on.

"she……"

Zhou Chen was about to answer, but his expression suddenly changed and he covered his abdomen.

His sudden change startled Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu. Sheng Hong quickly turned to Zhou Chen and asked, "Shuyuan, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

But Zhou Chen did not answer him. Instead, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood, which sprayed directly on Sheng Hong's body, covering his head, face, and entire body with blood.

"what!"

Wang Ruofu was so frightened that she screamed, Sheng Hong was also frightened silly, and the other servants and maids were also scared half to death.

Zhou Chen showed a performance worthy of an award-winning actor. His face turned extremely ugly and pale in an instant. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Sheng Hong's clothes, staring at him with wide eyes.

The next moment, Zhou Chen fell to the ground, and Sheng Hong, who was caught by him, was also pulled and almost fell.

It was this pull that woke Sheng Hong up. He didn't care about his own embarrassment and shouted in panic.