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However, in this way, Zhou Chen was tied to the prince. Zhao Heng's move was basically to make him the prince's bodyguard, or to find a close minister and assistant to the prince.

Faced with Zhao Heng's decree that was similar to entrusting the prince to the care of others, Zhou Chen had no choice at all. However, doing so might anger the queen. After all, if Liu Wan wanted to rule the country from behind the scenes and hold all the power, the prince would definitely be under her control.

Promoting Zhou Chen was just a move by Zhao Heng. He quickly issued several decrees, all of which had significant impacts. So although Zhou Chen's promotion caused a stir and some people wrote letters of opposition, they were quickly suppressed by Zhao Heng.

Zhou Chen's promotion was a huge happy event for the nobles. After the decree was issued, people came to the mansion one after another to give gifts.

The person who was most unhappy was naturally Zhou Chen’s previous boss, Guo Fen, the commander of the Front Palace.

"Master Zhou, congratulations."

Guo Fen tried hard to keep smiling, but his smile was creepy no matter how you looked at it.

But he had no choice. The commander-in-chief of the palace was lost. Although he was transferred to be the governor of Liangzhou, the governor at that time no longer had much military power. He could even stay in Tokyo City instead of going to the local area to take up the post.

So although he seems to have been promoted to an ordinary position, he has actually been banished to the cold palace and is no longer on the same level as Zhou Chen.

Although he was extremely unwilling, he had no choice but to accept his fate and show weakness, not wanting to continue to be at odds with Zhou Chen.

"Happy together."

Zhou Chen did not push his luck further. He and Guo Fen were actually just fighting for power. They were both from the same noble family and did not have any deep hatred.

Now that he has been promoted and Guo Fen has shown weakness, he will naturally not do anything to Guo Fen anymore. Although not all of the nobles are united, in the current situation, if he continues to add insult to injury and take revenge, he will appear narrow-minded and will be disliked by others.

Not long after, another major event happened. Zhao Heng actually dismissed Xiao Qinyan from the position of prime minister and chose another person who was as famous as Xiao Qinyan, Tian Wei, to be the Privy Councilor, which was the position of prime minister.

This was a major event that caused a sensation in Tokyo City. Compared with this incident, the impact of Zhou Chen's official title was much smaller.

Zhou Chen was also very surprised when he learned about this. It seemed that although he did not give an answer when Zhao Heng asked him about Xiao Qinyan last time, it seemed that Zhao Heng still did not trust Xiao Qinyan that much.

Zhao Heng trusted Liu Wan but not Xiao Qinyan, so before the deadline, he removed Xiao Qinyan from the position of prime minister and promoted another person, Tian Weisheng, who had nothing to do with the Hou party, to be prime minister. The purpose was to balance the court and prevent one person from dominating.

As a result, Xiao Qinyan was demoted again less than a year after becoming prime minister. Although he was no longer prime minister, he still held a high position of power and was the Minister of Justice.

Less than a month after the New Year, the political situation was extremely turbulent, with some rising and some falling. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that something big was going to happen, so everyone was very cautious and didn't dare to stand out.

Even those young masters in Tokyo City who often played and made trouble had retreated into their own dens, and during this period they dared not even leave their homes.

The city of Tokyo is in a state of panic right now, and even ordinary people have sensed that something is wrong.

Fushanfang!

Zhou Chen got off work early today, so he came to Zhang Haohao's place. Because he would not stay overnight, he had limited time when he came here, so he would seize the opportunity to keep in touch with Zhang Haohao.

Even though Zhang Haohao had a good physique, he still felt weak when facing Zhou Chen.

"It's not peaceful outside these days. If there's nothing important, don't go out."

Hearing Zhou Chen's warning, Zhang Haohao looked puzzled: "Is something big going to happen? I heard that a lot of things have happened in the court recently."

Zhou Chen gently stroked her soft hands: "Don't ask too much. Sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing. It's not that I don't allow you to go out, but don't go out during this period of time."

"okay, I get it."

Zhang Haohao responded that although she didn't know what had happened, the fact that Zhou Chen was so careful meant that it must be a big deal, and she didn't want to cause trouble for Zhou Chen.

After having dinner with Zhang Haohao, Zhou Chen set off back to the Marquis' Mansion, and then had dinner with Zhao Paner.

For the next period of time, Zhou Chen began to perform his duties as the Prince's Guardian. He went to the Eastern Palace and met the Crown Prince Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen was the future Emperor Renzong, also known as the benevolent, wise and holy emperor of the Song Dynasty.

However, Zhao Zhen was only a twelve-year-old child at this time. Although he was more precocious than other children, he was still very young.

Zhao Zhen was very enthusiastic towards Zhou Chen. He took Zhou Chen in his arms and talked to him for a long time, and his tone was full of respect for Zhou Chen.

After spending some time together, Zhou Chen indeed felt that, although Crown Prince Zhao Zhen was cunning, he had a simple character and was generous to his subordinates. Judging from his character alone, he could be considered a modest gentleman.

But when I think about Zhao Zhen's future, with a benevolent emperor and powerful ministers, this is not a good thing.

Zhou Chen wanted to instill some advanced ideas into Zhao Zhen and give him some advice, but unfortunately, there were always people around Zhao Zhen, and they were civil servants who were very wary of him and did not give him the opportunity to be alone with Zhao Zhen. As a result, even if he wanted to change Zhao Zhen, he did not have that opportunity.

Another period of time passed, and on a day in late March of the first year of Qianxing, a major event occurred. The emperor was seriously ill, and many officials with channels flocked to the palace.

As the commander of the Palace Front Department, Zhou Chen had the duty of guarding the imperial palace, so

Chapter 1010 The Emperor Dies, a Woman Takes Control of the World

In the imperial palace, outside the emperor's bedroom, a large group of people had gathered at this time, but there was a group of guards guarding outside the hall, and no one was allowed to enter without permission.

As the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, Zhou Chen was also guarding outside the palace. Although he wanted to go inside the palace to see about Zhao Heng's situation, Zhao Heng did not summon him, so even he could not go in.

Because of his pure Yang internal force, coupled with the enhancement of his own physique, his hearing is far superior to that of ordinary people.

But even so, he couldn't hear what was happening inside the hall. There were many people in the bedroom and even more people outside. It was impossible to keep quiet. Even if he was very skilled, he would find it difficult to distinguish the noisy and chaotic sounds.

After a long while, the eunuch Cui came out from the bedroom and called a few people in, including Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen walked into the bedroom and saw a group of people kneeling on the ground, including the young prince.

Zhao Heng was lying on the dragon bed, with Queen Liu Wan next to him.

At this moment, Zhao Heng no longer had his former kingly demeanor. He was breathing weakly, his body was swollen, and there was no trace of blood on his face. It was clear that he was on the verge of death.

Zhao Heng on the dragon bed didn't even have the strength to speak. He just held Liu Wan's hand tightly, his eyes staring blankly, his mouth opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something but no sound came out.

In the end, in this battle with the god of death, Emperor Zhao Heng, as the ruler of the world, was defeated. He closed his eyes and his hands fell weakly.

"Official!"

A shrill voice rang out, and all the ministers knelt on the ground to see Emperor Zhao Heng off.

Zhao Heng, the third emperor of the Song Dynasty and also the longest-reigning emperor, died of illness in the imperial palace in the first year of Qianxing.

Although Zhao Heng died of illness, sufficient arrangements had been made before that.

The will allowed Crown Prince Zhao Zhen to inherit the throne, and Empress Liu Wan became the Empress Dowager, sharing power in government affairs and assisting the young Emperor Zhao Zhen.

Tian Wei also became the chief minister of the new dynasty, with the same power as that of a prime minister. Some of the previously silent upright people were also selected by Zhao Heng and granted high positions to assist the new emperor.

Zhao Heng's thoughts also changed on his deathbed. He formed a confrontation between several major forces in the court because he did not want one force to dominate and cause the new emperor to be oppressed.

His idea was good, but unfortunately, power can move people's hearts, and by doing this, he only made the struggle more intense.

When the emperor passed away, the subjects had to mourn for 27 days.

During this period, there were no weddings or other celebrations. When the emperor reviewed memorials, he could not use a red pen to write instructions, but had to use a blue pen instead. All ministries and government offices had to use blue seals when issuing documents. During the mourning period, all temples and Taoist temples had to ring their bells 30,000 times, etc.

The national mourning was still going on, but the struggle within the court had already begun from the moment Zhao Heng passed away.

When Liu Wan was the empress, she had already begun to help the emperor review memorials and gradually gained power. Now she has become the empress dowager and the new emperor is still a twelve-year-old child. She certainly will not miss this good opportunity to control the court. What's more, she also has the late emperor's will, so she feels that she can rule the country openly.

Tian Wei, who was promoted to prime minister, naturally wanted to hold power in the face of a young new emperor. In addition, he was extremely ambitious and looked down on Liu Wan. He felt that women should not be in power, so he had already begun to make plans to sideline Empress Dowager Liu Wan and take control of the government.

The Qingliu faction was also unwilling to be outdone, because the new emperor Zhao Zhen had several Qingliu officials around him. They firmly supported the young emperor and felt that he was their hope, so they wanted to rise again with the help of the young emperor.

But they now lack a leading figure, and their influence and power cannot be compared with those of Empress Dowager Liu Wan and Prime Minister Tian Wei.

Xiao Qinyan, who was transferred not long ago, is also ambitious. Naturally, he does not want to see Tian Wei become powerful, so he is now in close contact with the Empress Dowager and has great ambitions.

Today's imperial palace and court are like a huge vortex. If something goes wrong, it may lead to serious consequences.

That is to say, during this period of national mourning, all parties are still planning and restraining themselves, otherwise the chaos will only get worse.

As a new upstart, Zhou Chen naturally had people instigating him, but he simply refused to see anyone and just performed his duties every day without relying on anyone.

He now holds the position of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and should have been more inclined towards the new emperor, but the problem is that he has known Zhao Zhen for a very short time, and is no match for the civil officials and counselors around him, especially after Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, he has no way to lean on them.

Of course, it was also because he didn't want to do that, because he knew very well that in the next ten years or so, the new emperor Zhao Zhen would be a puppet, unless he could defeat the Empress Dowager Liu Wan and Prime Minister Tian Wei and become the most powerful official in the court.

But this is too difficult. Compared with Liu Wan and Tian Wei, his foundation is still insufficient. Moreover, given the model of the Song Dynasty where literati ruled the world, unless he imitates Wang Mang, it is impossible for him to have power over the world.

Looking at the hundreds of years of history of the Song Dynasty, how many people with a military background could become powerful officials second only to the emperor?

This is more of a fictional world, and who knows whether the final development will be the same as the official history, so Zhou Chen does not want to get involved in the power struggle between Liu Wan, Tian Wei and others.

After the national mourning period of 27 days ended, Tian Wei took the lead in launching a struggle. He used his power as the prime minister to quickly develop his own power in the court. A large group of civil servants joined him and became his minions.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Liu Wan officially came on the stage. Previously, she had been in charge of government affairs as the queen, which was actually not legitimate.

But this time is different. This time she is attending the court as the empress dowager, and she also has the late emperor's will, so she can legitimately take charge of military and national affairs.

However, her first court meeting did not go smoothly, because Prime Minister Tian Wei was really too powerful. The rhythm of the entire court meeting was controlled by him. Liu Wan spoke several times, but he resolved them all with ease. He also enhanced his own authority by suppressing Liu Wan.

It was extremely rare in history for an empress dowager to rule the country, let alone in a dynasty like the Song Dynasty where scholars and literati were supreme. These people even dared to go against the emperor, and they were not afraid of a woman, even if she was the empress dowager.

However, Tian Wei’s power is too strong now, even the Empress Dowager Liu Wan cannot stop him, and can only find ways to compete with him for power.

On the contrary, the newly enthroned emperor Zhao Zhen had no support except for some civil officials of the Qingliu lineage and some royalists. However, these people would never fight with Tian Wei and the Queen Mother for the young Zhao Zhen.

What's more, the crown prince is now under the control of the empress dowager and is disciplined by her, so Zhao Zhen is basically a puppet emperor now.

From this we can also see that the role played by military officers in the process of the transition of imperial power was very small, because much of the military power in the Song Dynasty was basically controlled by civil officials. Military officers only had command power on the battlefield, and in imperial cities like Tokyo, they could only be constrained by civil officials.

Therefore, being a military officer in the Song Dynasty naturally meant that one's future prospects were more than one level lower than those of a civil official.

Even Zhou Chen, a second-rank official who has reached the pinnacle of military officers, still has much less appeal among the officials in the court than those civil officials.

The general trend of the world is like this. It cannot be changed overnight, and it is certainly not something that Zhou Chen can change now.

There is only one way to change this phenomenon, and that is to start over.

When Empress Dowager Liu Wan and Tian Wei were in dire straits, Zhou Chen acted as a invisible person, only doing his own job and not caring about other things.

Although Xiao Qinyan also looked for Zhou Chen, Zhou Chen did not respond to him at all and kept talking about other things. Later, Xiao Qinyan stopped looking for him.

However, Gu Qianfan invited him out for a drink.

Zhou Chen had a very good impression of Gu Qianfan. Gu Qianfan was a good person. Plus, Gu Qianfan was now the Imperial City Envoy. His rank was not high, but he had great power, so Zhou Chen was willing to be on good terms with him.

The Qingliu lineage wrote several petitions, hoping that Zhao Zhen would recall Ke Zheng from Leizhou, but this was strongly suppressed by both Liu Wan and Tian Wei.

Now it is a fight between two tigers. If Ke Zheng were to return strongly, the situation would become even more complicated. Therefore, both sides are unwilling to let Ke Zheng return, and are even more unwilling to see the Qingliu lineage rise again.

The civil service group is so complicated and divided into many factions. The main reason is that the civil servants are too powerful and everyone wants to be the prime minister.

A month passed quickly. Zhou Chen was now very free and finished his shift early. He did not return to the Marquis' Mansion first, but went to Zhang Haohao's place first, where he spent two hours happily before returning to the Marquis' Mansion.

He returned to the mansion and just walked into the side hall, he saw Zhao Pan'er and Nanny Zhu walking in.

Nanny Zhu bowed to Zhou Chen with a happy face.

"Congratulations, my Lord! Congratulations, my Lord!"

"Congratulations, what's there to be happy about?"

Zhou Chen was a little confused, but he quickly realized that Nanny Zhu had been living in the Marquis' Mansion and seldom came into contact with people. The happy event she was talking about must be a happy event within the Marquis' Mansion.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned his gaze to Zhao Paner.

"Pan'er, could it be that you..."

Zhao Pan'er smiled and said, "My Lord, you are the Lord. I guessed it right. Lord, I am not feeling well today. I asked a doctor to come to my house. The result is..."

When she said this, an expression of joy and shyness appeared on her face.

"As it turns out, it's a happy pulse."

"Okay, okay, Pan'er."

Zhou Chen was overjoyed and picked up Zhao Paner without caring about the people around.

He and Zhao Pan'er have been married for half a year, and there has been no movement. Although he is not in a hurry, Zhao Pan'er has been very anxious recently.

After all, she was looked down upon when she married into the Marquis's Mansion. If she was still unable to have children, the pressure she would face would be even greater.

Zhou Chen never said anything, but she herself was under tremendous pressure.

Now that she is finally pregnant, her stress has been reduced by a lot, and she is in a very good mood. She walks and talks happily.

"Master Hou."

"Pan'er, you are pregnant now. You must be careful in the future. Ask the nanny and the servants to do anything, and don't run around anymore. Also..."

Zhou Chen was very experienced in taking care of pregnant women. He talked about many things about the care and protection of pregnant women in one breath, which left Zhao Pan'er and Nanny Zhu stunned.

The woman is pregnant, and Zhou Chen, a man, a marquis at that, actually knows more about it than these women. Isn't this too abnormal?

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Pan'er shook her head and said, "It's nothing, I'm just happy. Lord, don't worry, I will definitely protect myself, even if it's for this child."

At this moment, she regarded the baby in her belly as more important than herself.

Zhou Chen scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about? The child is important, but to me, you are more important."