The world of film and television begins from childhood

After leaving the Marquis' Mansion, Zhou Chen thought for a moment and then turned to Fushanfang.

Today is New Year's Eve. Zhang Haohao has already hung festive lanterns and decorations in his house, and the servants in the mansion are also busy.

She knew that Zhou Chen would most likely not come today, but she still ordered the kitchen to prepare sufficient food. As for herself, she studied the music score in the room with peace of mind.

Zhou Chen promised her that he would allow her to continue singing and also agreed to let her teach at the Jiaofangsi.

But she thought about it carefully. She had finally left the Jiaofangsi and didn't want to go back for the time being. She had been working hard over the years and had little time to rest. Now that she didn't have to worry about anything, it was just right for her to rest for a while.

"Madam Zhang, the master is here. Madam Zhang, the master is here."

The housekeeper in the mansion brought two newly bought maids and hurried to the door of Zhang Haohao's room, shouting with joy on her face.

The music score in Zhang Haohao's hand fell to the ground. He didn't even bother to pick it up and ran out of the room in a hurry.

When he ran to the main hall, he saw Zhou Chen sitting there, so he walked over with a happy face.

"Hou..."

Just as he was about to call out the word "Marquis", Zhang Haohao stopped in a hurry and called out "Sir."

She felt that Zhou Chen definitely didn't want people to know about their relationship, so he changed his name.

Zhou Chen saw through Zhang Haohao’s idea at a glance and did not object.

"Sir, how come you have time to come to my place today?"

"I came here because I missed you."

Zhang Haohao's eyes reddened. She was deeply moved by Zhou Chen's words.

"Official..."

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "It's almost noon, haven't you cooked yet?"

Zhang Haohao quickly replied: "Yes, yes, sir, please wait a moment, I will ask someone to cook now."

Without waiting for Zhou Chen to answer, she ran out happily. After a while, she came back, still panting.

At noon, Zhou Chen accompanied Zhang Haohao for lunch here. After the meal, he stayed with Zhang Haohao for a while before finally leaving.

At night, Zhou Chen and Zhao Pan'er had dinner together, but there was another person besides the two of them.

Song Yinzhang!

"My Lord, Yin Zhang has been celebrating the New Year with me since she was a child. She has no other relatives in Bianjing City, so I let her celebrate the festival with us."

Zhao Paner explained the reason why she kept Song Yinzhang, and Song Yinzhang glanced at Zhou Chen nervously.

Zhou Chen certainly wouldn't object: "She's your sister, this is as it should be, let's get started."

After dinner, they did not go back to their rooms, but stayed together to celebrate the New Year. In order to kill time, Song Yinzhang even played a few pipa pieces.

…………

After the New Year, the political situation became turbulent because Emperor Zhao Heng's health suddenly worsened. The imperial doctors had examined him and racked their brains, but none of them could cure him. Zhao Heng had headaches most of the day and had difficulty getting up. The affairs of the court were handled by the Queen, Xiao Qinyan and others.

Dianqiansi, due to the emperor's health, the atmosphere in the palace has been very strange recently. The three departments and three yamen have become more vigilant and busier than before.

Zhou Chen looked at Guo Fen in front of him with a frown on his face. Ever since they had a falling out in person, Guo Fen had been targeting him, but he just couldn't do anything about him.

"Commander Guo is really capable."

"Me too, me too. You and I are both nobles. You have someone, and I also have someone."

Guo Fen showed a smug smile on his face. Recently, he had found many colleagues from the noble family to put pressure on Zhou Chen, including Zhou Chen's uncle.

The reason for persuasion is very simple. It is nothing more than that they are all nobles and should not fight to the death. Peaceful coexistence is the best result.

But how could Zhou Chen agree to that? The two of them were already enemies, so there was no reason for him to let go just because of a few words of persuasion.

"I'll give Commander Guo my last words. There's a long way to go. Let's see who will have the last laugh."

Zhou Chen didn't turn his back on him. Now is a special period, and the official deadline is approaching. It is not a good time to act rashly at this time. If it touches any nerve of Zhao Heng and offends Zhao Heng, it is not a good thing.

Watching Zhou Chen leave, Guo Fen's eyes were filled with anger: "Humph, don't think that you are the only one who can surrender to the saint, let's just wait and see."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 1009: The sudden change of situation, the official entrusted the orphan

At the first morning court after the New Year, Emperor Zhao Heng also showed up to participate. After many days, it was the first time for all the ministers to see Zhao Heng and they shouted "Long live Zhao Heng".

Zhou Chen stood among the officials and looked up at Zhao Heng who was sitting on the dragon throne. Although he was far away, his eyesight was good and he could still see that Zhao Heng was in very bad condition, with a bad complexion and a weak body.

As expected, Zhao Heng couldn't bear it any longer before the court meeting was halfway through, and left the hall. His departure made all the officials worried and unable to discuss matters.

Of course, only a small number of officials were worried about the health of Emperor Zhao Heng. The vast majority of officials were filled with anxiety and uneasiness about the future.

Crown Prince Zhao Zhen was only twelve years old and inexperienced. If anything happened to Zhao Heng, who would control the court in the future?

Once the situation changes, how to maintain one's current power, or even how to go a step further and gain more say, all require careful consideration and calculation for those high-ranking officials.

Zhou Chen stood in the crowd, his eyes glancing at many people's faces, and found that some of them actually showed joy on their faces. He recognized that these people all belonged to the Hou Party.

If the emperor is really in trouble, with Empress Liu Wan's current power, she is confident that she can rule the country from behind the scenes when facing a twelve-year-old new monarch.

As long as the queen is in power, these officials who have always been excluded and looked down upon can take advantage of the situation to rise up, so of course they will be happy.

On the contrary, Xiao Qinyan, the leader of the rear party, stood in the front row with an expressionless face. He didn't talk to anyone. He just stood there quietly, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After a while, a eunuch came to announce the adjournment of the court, but the ministers were reluctant and it took a long time before they walked out of the hall in groups of three or five.

"Zi Heng."

As soon as Zhou Chen walked out of the hall, he heard his fourth uncle Meng Wei calling him and walked over quickly.

"Fourth uncle."

"Let's go together. I'll take you back home in my carriage later."

"Yes."

Zhou Chen knew that his uncle would definitely tell him what had just happened, so he naturally would not refuse.

Before leaving, Zhou Chen saw Xiao Qinyan wink at him again and nodded secretly.

Zhou Chen asked Qin Yi to go back and inform them first, and then got on the carriage of his fourth uncle Meng Wei.

Meng Wei sat upright. He was almost fifty years old, but he had been guarding the northwest region for many years and did not spend much time in Tokyo City.

He was born a military genius. He had guarded the border for decades and had never been defeated. His fame among the people might not be as great as Zhou Chen's, but his reputation in the court was incomparable to Zhou Chen. It was not only his own prestige, but also the bonus of the Meng family. So it was normal that Zhou Chen could not compare with him.

In the past year, there has been no war on the northwest border, so he has had time to return to Tokyo to report on his work.

"Ziheng, you are often in the presence of the emperor, so you should know more about the emperor's situation, right?"

Zhou Chen thought for a moment, then replied, "Years ago, the emperor summoned me and asked about the crown prince and Mr. Xiao."

Meng Wei's expression changed. He understood what Zhou Chen meant and remained silent for a long time.

"The Crown Prince is still young. What if, what if, the Crown Prince is unable to rule the country. By then..."

He didn't say anything else, but Zhou Chen understood what he meant.

"Fourth uncle, what do you think?"

Meng Wei glanced at Zhou Chen and said, "Our Meng family does not get involved in this kind of thing."

Zhou Chen rolled his eyes secretly. He knew that the prototype of Meng was Cao, and the future empress of Emperor Renzong would be from Cao. In other words, it would not take many years for Meng to produce a empress.

If Meng really had no interest in royal power, how could she let her own daughter become the queen?

"I heard that you are very close to Xiao Qinyan from the Hou Party?"

Zhou Chen looked surprised: "Where did you hear this rumor, Fourth Uncle?"

He and Xiao Qinyan always met at Xiao Qinyan's residence, and there would be no other people present. It was impossible for him to leak the information. If someone really knew about it, then there must be something wrong with Xiao Qinyan.

Meng Wei said in a deep voice: "Don't worry about where I heard it, Ziheng, you have to understand that you are from a noble family, we need to protect the orthodoxy, and the prince is the orthodoxy."

Zhou Chen's expression remained unchanged: "Of course I know this. I really have nothing to do with the Queen's party. As for the Queen, she wanted to win me over, but I never agreed."

"Although the queen is a woman, she is also very capable. I estimate that she will return to the border soon to prevent any changes. What I am most worried about is you. You have been too popular recently and have been too aggressive in your actions. This is not a good thing."

"Is Fourth Uncle talking about Guo Fen?"

"Guo Fen is from a noble family after all, there's no need for you to be so hostile to him."

"Don't worry, Uncle Four. I know what's going on."

"Come back with me later and have your meal first."

"it is good."

Zhou Chen fully understood what Meng Wei meant. Meng Wei had been guarding the northwest border. Only when the border was peaceful and without war did he have time to return to Bianjing City.

But now the emperor is seriously ill and things may happen at any time. Once Zhao Heng dies, it will definitely cause turmoil in the court. If the prince succeeds to the throne, the young prince will not be able to rule the country, which will inevitably cause suspicion and confusion in the world. At this time, other foreign countries are most likely to cause unrest, so someone must guard the border to ensure that nothing happens.

The Meng family was indeed the number one family in the Song Dynasty. In Meng Wei's generation alone, several brothers held official positions of third rank or above, and two of them were even granted the title of duke. Among them, the fourth uncle and the eighth uncle were stationed at two border posts respectively.

In addition to them, the Meng family also has a prince consort, and the rest of the members hold positions in the court. Perhaps their ranks are not high, but many of them are in important departments.

These are only the Meng family’s own clansmen, not including the in-laws who have married into the Meng family.

Therefore, the Meng family can definitely be regarded as the first family in the Song Dynasty.

After returning home, Zhao Paner noticed that Zhou Chen was distracted and asked him the reason when they were resting at night.

Zhou Chen did not hide anything and told her directly what happened today.

"Is the official's health really failing?"

Zhao Pan'er seemed very surprised. She had met Zhao Heng once and he left a good impression on her. At least he was much more amiable than the queen.

She didn't expect that the Guan family, which was in good condition a few days ago, would become like this after this year.

"According to my observation, the deadline is approaching, within one or two months. You must not spread this news."

"I know. So the reason Fourth Uncle came to you today is to ask you to help the Crown Prince ascend the throne?"

Zhou Chen frowned, and Zhao Paner reached out and pressed the acupoints for him.

"If I'm not mistaken, Fourth Uncle and many people in the court are worried that if something happens to the emperor, the prince is still young, and the queen will follow the example of Lü Wu."

Zhao Pan'er looked horrified: "No way?"

Zhou Chen sighed: "Power is dazzling. Before it happens, who can give a definite answer?"

The Empress Liu in the official history was a remarkable woman who had the talents of Lu and Wu, but without their evils. To be honest, Liu Wan in this world is somewhat unworthy of the praise of Lu and Wu.

Zhao Pan'er leaned on Zhou Chen's shoulder: "We are husband and wife. No matter what happens, I will always support you."

Zhou Chen hugged Zhao Pan'er, looked deep in his eyes, and kissed her lightly...

A few days later, Zhou Chen received an imperial edict from the palace, asking him to meet the emperor. He did not dare to delay and immediately went to Zhao Heng's bedroom as quickly as possible.

When Zhou Chen entered the hall, Zhao Heng had already sat up with the help of the eunuchs. His face was pale, but when he saw Zhou Chen, he smiled and waved at him.

"Zhou Qing, come here."

"I pay my respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."

Zhou Chen walked up to Zhao Heng and stopped, looking at him. After resting for several days, Zhao Heng's condition did not get better, but got worse.

As the emperor, the ruler of the world, he was treated by famous doctors with great medical skills, and there was no shortage of rare medicinal materials.

But even so, Zhao Heng still couldn't recover, which meant that Zhao Heng's body was beyond cure and his time was up.

Zhao Heng waved to the eunuch Cui beside him. Eunuch Cui bowed and stepped back, leaving the hall. Suddenly, Zhou Chen and Zhao Heng were the only ones left in the hall.

"Zhou Qing..."

An hour later, Zhou Chen walked out of Zhao Heng's bedroom with a serious expression.

"call!"

He let out a long breath. The conversation just now surprised him. As expected of an emperor who had been in office for more than 20 years, Zhao Heng was really decisive at this time.

On the same day, Zhao Heng issued an imperial decree, appointing Zhou Chen as the Prince's Grand Tutor, the Champion General, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Palace Front.

In this way, Zhou Chen directly became one of the most powerful officials in the court. Although the Prince's Grand Tutor and the Champion General were honorary positions, the Prince's Grand Tutor was responsible for protecting and teaching the prince, and the prince was the future emperor. Therefore, although the Prince's Grand Tutor had no real power, he represented the emperor's trust.

At Zhou Chen's level, it is extremely difficult to improve a little bit, especially since Zhou Chen is so young.

But Zhao Heng's decree directly reduced Zhou Chen's struggle by ten years. Although he didn't reach the top overnight, he did enter the center of power directly.