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"You mean, that Zhao Pan'er was once related to the third place winner Ouyang Xu? It was she who gave the Night Banquet Painting to Ouyang Xu, and then Ouyang Xu gave it to Ke Zheng as a gift for becoming Ke Zheng's disciple?"

"Yes."

"Then the painting of the Night Banquet in my hand is fake, and the one in Ke Zheng's hand is the real one?"

"It is absolutely true. If the emperor does not believe it, he can send someone to Leizhou to see Mr. Ke. Then he will know the truth."

Zhao Heng's eyes sparkled. If what Zhou Chen said was true, then as long as they found the original and confirmed that the Night Banquet Painting in his hand was fake, everything would be solved.

but?

He looked at Zhou Chen deeply. As the person who knew Liu Wan best, how could he not know the facts depicted in the Night Banquet Painting in his hand? In other words, the Night Banquet Painting in his hand was the real one. He had never seen the one in Ke Zheng's hand, but it was very likely to be fake.

But what if it’s true or false?

As long as the queen can be proved to be innocent, what is true is false and what is false is true.

"Mr. Zhou, if what you said is true, then you have made a great contribution. As for the Zhao Pan'er you mentioned, I will definitely reward her handsomely."

Zhou Chen immediately pretended to climb up: "This is my duty. Pan'er and I are loyal to the government and the saint, and we cannot bear to see anyone framing the saint."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng burst into laughter.

"Good of you, Zhou Qing. If this is resolved satisfactorily at this time, I will personally grant you a marriage with that Zhao Pan'er."

"I thank the emperor for his grace. Long live the emperor."

Even though Zhao Pan'er's social status is very low, if she can get a marriage granted by the emperor, the obstacles for Zhao Pan'er to marry into the marquis's mansion will be much smaller.

He planned this incident just to overthrow Qi Mu and others and get promoted to the top. Now he has an unexpected surprise, so of course he is happy.

Zhao Heng suddenly frowned again and said, "Mr. Ke is the leader of the Qingliu, he will..."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Ke is a true gentleman. He will never do anything mean and will definitely hand over the real Night Banquet Picture."

Zhao Heng thought about it and nodded. He was dissatisfied with many of Ke Zheng's policies, but he still approved of Ke Zheng's character.

After learning the "truth" from Zhou Chen, Zhao Heng could not wait to send people to Leizhou. In less than ten days, he retrieved the "original" of the Night Banquet, and also brought back a letter from Ke Zheng as proof.

With the original painting and Ke Zheng's testimony, Zhao Heng forcefully determined that the Night Banquet Painting presented by the Censor was a fake, which was created by someone with ulterior motives to frame the Queen.

Then, without giving them a chance to refute, they arrested those officials who jumped the most enthusiastically and threw them into prison.

The Queen, Liu Wan, was even more ruthless. She worked with the new Prime Minister, Xiao Qinyan, to launch a major purge in the court, killing countless officials from the upright lineage.

Qi Mu and other upright people were certainly unwilling to tie their hands, so they rose up in resistance and even went to the official Zhao Heng to make trouble.

But then, the matter about Qi Mu's collusion with the Dianqian Secretary's killer was reported and exposed, and even the Huangcheng Secretary found conclusive evidence, which aroused the fury of the official Zhao Heng, who directly dismissed Qi Mu's official position, and For various crimes, Qi Mu was directly ransacked and distributed.

Qi Mu's life was indeed miserable. He originally thought that after Ke Zheng left Beijing, he would become the leader of the Qingliu faction and would be able to support the prince and become the prime minister in the future.

However, he never expected that in just less than a month, not only did he fail to overthrow the Queen and Xiao Qinyan, but he himself ended up being exiled and his property confiscated, which was the most miserable punishment for the literati in the Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1001 Zhou Chen's Ambition, Listening to Music in a Brothel

"Hahaha……"

Xiao Qinyan laughed heartily and drank a glass with Zhou Chen.

"This is a truly exhilarating victory. Thanks to your help, Lord Hou, we were able to deal such a heavy blow to the Qingliu clan. It's really satisfying."

Zhou Chen drank the wine in the glass and said, "I just contributed a little. The current results are all thanks to Prime Minister Xiao."

"My Lord, you are so modest. If it weren't for your planning, it wouldn't be that easy for me to deal with Qi Mu and his gang even if I wanted to."

Xiao Qinyan meant to flatter Zhou Chen, but he also really valued Zhou Chen. It was indeed Zhou Chen's great contribution this time that led to the current results.

Not to mention anything else, the painting of the night banquet that overthrew Qi Mu and the Qingliu lineage was the work of Zhou Chen alone, and he did not receive any information about it beforehand.

Zhou Chen was able to achieve this without his help. While he was happy, he also became wary of Zhou Chen.

Now that the Qingliu lineage has lost Ke Zheng, Qi Mu and others one after another, its power has been greatly damaged and it is no longer a concern. He does not take the Qingliu lineage seriously.

However, through this cooperation with Zhou Chen, he felt that Zhou Chen was also an ambitious person. More importantly, Zhou Chen's starting point was higher and he was younger. If Zhou Chen was allowed to continue growing, he would definitely not be underestimated in the future.

"My Lord, we are now in the same boat. I wish us all the best in the future. Please."

Xiao Qinyan picked up the wine glass again and clinked glasses with Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen also took the opportunity to drink a glass with Xiao Qinyan.

"Then I would like to congratulate Lord Xiao first. From now on, Lord Xiao will officially become the Prime Minister of the court. No one will be able to hold you back anymore."

"My Lord, you are joking. We all serve the court, the government, and the saint. Our identities are the same. There is no difference."

Xiao Qinyan laughed. Although Zhou Chen was telling the truth, some things were better to be understood in one's heart and should not be spoken out loud.

"I will be satisfied if I can do something for the people of the world."

Zhou Chen found it funny when he heard this. How could it be so funny when these words came out of Xiao Qinyan's mouth?

When Ke Zheng said this, it was at least 80% to 90% credible, but when Xiao Qinyan said this, it really wasn't even 10% to 20% credible.

"Prime Minister Xiao really has lofty ambitions. Compared to Xiao, my ambitions are far inferior."

"Oh? Then I wonder what the Marquis's ambition is?" Xiao Qinyan asked with great interest.

Zhou Chen's face became solemn, and he said in a serious tone: "My ambition is simple, but also difficult. Recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is my ambition, and defeating the Liao court is also my ambition."

Xiao Qinyan suddenly took a breath, and looked at Zhou Chen in shock and relief.

Because Zhou Chen's ambition was so ambitious. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun had been ceded for so many years. The Song Dynasty had spent so many years and expended so much energy, but in the end it only recovered three prefectures, and these three prefectures could be reoccupied by the Liao army at any time.

Fortunately, Zhou Chen wanted to take back the Sixteen States of Yanyun, what an ambition.

However, he could understand why Zhou Chen had such an ambition. After all, Zhou Chen came from a family of military generals and had experienced a lot of military affairs since he was a child.

Expanding territory and recovering lost land is probably the ambition of every military general, and Zhou Chen is no exception.

However, as the Prime Minister and having served the imperial court for decades, he is well aware of the importance of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. For him, it is simply impossible to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun at the moment.

The most important thing is that now the whole court is adopting the strategy of stopping the war and it is impossible to allow a war to happen, especially a major battle involving the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

"Lord Zhou is indeed worthy of being the young hero that the emperor highly praises. His ambitions and aspirations make me feel inferior to him."

Although he was not optimistic, it did not prevent Xiao Qinyan from admiring Zhou Chen's ambition. At least Zhou Chen dared to think, which made him better than many people.

"To be honest, if there is a chance in the future, I really want to see this scene. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, retaking them, what a great achievement this is."

Zhou Chen bowed and said: "If there is an opportunity in the future, I will still need the great help of Prime Minister Xiao."

Xiao Qinyan replied: "Of course, of course."

Zhou Chen deliberately said all this to Xiao Qinyan today, just to let Xiao Qinyan understand that he had no intention of competing with him in the court, and his goal was always the battlefield.

Although Xiao Qinyan might not believe him given his old fox character, at least he had planted a needle so that he would not target him so quickly.

Zhao Heng did keep his promise. Shortly after the Night Banquet incident was resolved, he took the initiative to summon Zhou Chen.

Night, Anyefang!

"I heard that your teahouse has been closed recently. Why don't you want to continue running it?"

In the gazebo, Zhou Chen asked with a smile while drinking the tea that Zhao Pan'er made for him.

Zhao Paner smiled and replied, "Of course not. The main reason is that our store has been too popular recently, which is not a good thing, so I want to take a break for a while before making any decisions."

Of course Zhou Chen knew why Zhao Paner closed the store, but he didn't say much. This kind of thing was something he had to experience sooner or later, it was all the same.

"I recently did an errand for the government, and the government gave me a reward. Do you want to know what it is?"

Zhao Pan'er looked at the smile on Zhou Chen's face and asked hesitantly, "Could it be related to me?"

Zhou Chen gently tapped Zhao Pan'er's brow and said lovingly, "Our Pan'er is really smart. Yes, it has something to do with you."

Under Zhao Pan'er's shy gaze, Zhou Chen took out a golden cloth ticket from his arms.

"have a look."

When Zhao Paner saw this, her face suddenly changed and she stood up in shock.

"Is this, an imperial decree?"

"Yes, it is an imperial edict, issued by the emperor himself. Take a look at the contents."

Zhao Pan'er nervously took the imperial edict with both hands, then carefully opened it and began to read it.

After just a moment, her body trembled with excitement. She held the imperial edict in both hands and said in disbelief, "This, this, is this true?"

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "Of course it's true. The government personally issued a decree to grant marriages to Zhou Chen, the loyal Marquis, and Zhao Pan'er, the daughter of the people. Now you don't even have to marry me if you don't want to."

Zhao Paner still found it unbelievable, so she looked at it carefully again, and sure enough, it was still the same.

"But, this, what is going on? Why would the government grant us a marriage?"

"Didn't I just say that I recently helped the emperor with an errand, and the emperor asked me what reward I wanted. I told him about it, and the emperor granted my wish and issued an order to grant me the marriage."

Seeing Zhou Chen say it so easily, Zhao Paner still felt shocked. It was obviously such a difficult thing, how could it be solved so easily?

"My Lord, I..."

Zhou Chen suddenly stood up, covered her mouth, and kissed her passionately in her shocked eyes.

Zhao Pan'er didn't resist at all. After just a moment, she was completely immersed in Zhou Chen's tenderness.

Not far away, Sun Sanniang, Song Yinzhang and Yinping were hiding quietly and watching.

After seeing this scene, everyone covered their eyes, and Sun Sanniang even pulled the two of them and ran away in a hurry.

"Lord Zhou and Madam Zhao have a really good relationship, and Madam Zhao is really happy."

After running to the side, Yinping sighed with envy.

Sun Sanniang was about to speak, but saw Song Yinzhang leave silently and return to his house, and she sighed slightly in her heart.

How could she not see Song Yinzhang's little thoughts, but she couldn't say anything. After all, the other party was Zhou Chen, and he was also Zhao Paner's beloved.

Compared to Song Yinzhang, she is closer to Zhao Paner, and she also thinks Zhao Paner and Zhou Chen are a better match. As for Song Yinzhang, he is really not worthy of Zhou Chen.

Although the emperor issued an edict to grant the marriage, he did not specify the time, so Zhou Chen and Zhao Pan'er still needed to discuss a date for the wedding among themselves.

"Pan'er, I've already asked someone to calculate. There is an auspicious day for us in December, so we will get married in December. How about it?"

Zhao Pan'er leaned on Zhou Chen's chest. Hearing this, she felt shy and happy: "Okay, I'll listen to you, Lord Marquis."

If it were in the past, she would never have dared to imagine that she could actually join the Marquis's Mansion, but now, she was really going to join the Marquis's Mansion, and marry the man she loved. For her, this was more worthy of joy than marrying into a wealthy family.

The fact that the emperor granted Zhou Chen a marriage caused quite a stir in the court, and most of it was concerned by the nobles.

Zhou Chen is now a representative figure among the nobles. The fact that he suddenly wants to marry a commoner girl is unacceptable to many people, especially those nobles who wanted to marry Zhou Chen, who were very angry.

For this matter, Zhou Chen's uncles even found him specially.

However, Zhou Chen's attitude was very firm, and there was also an imperial decree granting the marriage, so it was a foregone conclusion. So no matter how dissatisfied he was, as long as Zhou Chen did not disobey the imperial decree, it would have to be like this.

…………

In the assassination of Xiao Qinyan and the Night Banquet Incident, not only did the Qingliu lineage suffer heavy losses, but the Dianqian Division also suffered serious damage. The deputy commander-in-chief and the du Yuhou, as well as countless Dianqian Division officials, were all imprisoned.

However, the Palace Front Division was still the emperor's personal army after all. After the emperor thought for a long time, he finally decided to promote Zhou Chen to the deputy commander of the Palace Front Division.

Although he was only the deputy commander-in-chief, because the current commander-in-chief Guo was ordered to reflect on his actions at home, Zhou Chen had nominally become the actual commander of the Palace Front Department after being promoted to deputy commander-in-chief.

This incident made the civil servants in the court very dissatisfied. They spoke out against it one by one, but because Xiao Qinyan did not come forward, they could not make any move. Finally, the emperor made the final decision and the matter was settled.

In less than a year, he was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Palace Front Department. Although he was in the same three yamen, Zhou Chen's rank was promoted several levels.

Now he has almost reached the pinnacle of the military men of the Song Dynasty. In fact, he is not even thirty years old yet, and can definitely be regarded as a child of destiny.

Since he was promoted, Zhou Chen naturally would not be stingy. He directly called up his former subordinates from the Imperial Guard Cavalry Division and went to the Music Bureau to celebrate together, which was also considered a farewell party.

Of course, his subordinates dared not refuse Zhou Chen's face. Although Zhou Chen had been transferred to the Palace Front Department and had no control over the imperial guards, he was promoted and they might need his help in the future. Therefore, instead of distancing themselves from him, they became even more enthusiastic.

Going to the Jiaofangsi, treating guests is one of the purposes, but there is another purpose, which is to complete the side quest.

Speaking of which, he has never completed the side quest of listening to music in the brothel once so far.

A thousand times, with only one time per day being counted, so he would have to go to the Jiaofangsi at least a thousand days. He had never had the opportunity before, but now he finally had a suitable excuse, so of course he had to complete this side quest.

The Jiaofangsi was an official department under the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court, so it was normal for officials to go to the Jiaofangsi. Many officials would also go to the Jiaofangsi when they hosted banquets for others.

After all, compared to those brothels and elegant gardens outside, the standards of the Jiaofangsi are higher, because many of the women in the Jiaofangsi are from official families. The ladies and young ladies who were previously out of reach can now be approached by paying money, so of course people will flock to them.

Zhou Chen had been to brothels to listen to music many times before, but this was his first time in this world.