Bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, the New Year has arrived!
This is already the twelfth Spring Festival that Zhou Chen has spent in this world. Twelve years is a long time for many people.
For Zhou Chen, even if he has lived for hundreds of years, twelve years is still a long time. Different worlds and different twelve years are different.
This year is also different for the world and the imperial court.
Because starting from this year, it officially entered the era of the new emperor. The new emperor Zhao Zongquan changed his reign name to Zhiping. This year is also the first year of Zhiping.
On the first day of the new year, the official family held a grand banquet in Jiying Palace and invited all officials to celebrate the first day. The empress dowager and empress of the harem also summoned the ladies of various palaces and held a banquet in the harem.
In Jiying Hall, the officials worked very hard to make speeches, said festive words, and showed their ambitions, but the responses from the officials were very bland. Each of them was just doing superficial work. In fact, not many people paid attention to it.
His words resonated.
The emperor is indeed the supreme supreme, but the emperors of the Song Dynasty were somewhat restricted by officials, especially emperors like Zhao Zongquan who were not able to personally take charge of the government. Most of the respect from the officials was superficial, and there were not many who shared his heart.
indivual.
Because Zhou Chen has become the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Palace, he can no longer be as lazy as before. Even during the Chinese New Year, he needs to participate in government affairs. He is not very busy, but he can't relax.
Compared with last year's Lantern Festival, this year's Lantern Festival is much smaller and less lively. This is because the current officials may be frugal themselves, or they may be doing it to establish themselves. In short, after ascending to the throne, in the palace
Their food, clothing, and daily necessities have been greatly reduced.
The emperor took the lead, and even if the ministers below were dissatisfied, they still had to follow the official example, so this year's Lantern Festival was much inferior to previous ones.
But not long after the Lantern Festival, a major event happened that shocked Bianjing City.
Gu Hou Gu Yankai of Ningyuan Hou Mansion died suddenly and suddenly. According to the outside world, he was mad to death by Gu Tingye, the second son of the Gu family. Some people also said that he was mad to death by Mrs. Qin.
However, comparing the reputation of Gu Tingye and Mrs. Qin, most people still believe that Gu Yankai was mad to death by Gu Tingye.
When Zhou Chen heard the news, he was also very surprised. Now that Gu Tingye is very promising, Gu Yankai will no longer treat Gu Tingye like he did before. Why hasn't he escaped the fate of being angry to death?
Therefore, he naturally did not completely believe the rumors spread by the outside world that Gu Tingye was angry with Gu Yankai to death. However, now that the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion has been sealed off, the outside world has no idea what happened, and it is difficult for Zhou Chen to send people there.
Investigate.
It was not until shortly after the incident happened that he learned the truth from Gu Tingye when he went to express his condolences.
Gu Yankai was indeed mad to death, but he was mad to death by Gu Tingye and Mrs. Qin. To be precise, it was because Gu Tingye wanted to kill Mrs. Qin. In the process, many quarrels and disputes occurred.
In the end, Gu Yankai, who was already in poor health, had his breath blocked and could not recover, so he died of exhaustion.
As for why Gu Tingye raised his sword to kill Mrs. Qin, it was because of his eldest wife Yu Yanran.
At that time, Yu Yanran was not far away from giving birth, and Mrs. Qin called her over to talk. When she came back, she accidentally fell and started bleeding, so she had to give birth.
Coincidentally, Gu Tingye went to the western suburbs camp for military training that day and was not at the house, so Mrs. Qin took charge of the inner courtyard and was responsible for helping Yu Yanran give birth.
Yu Yanran's health was not very good to begin with. She fell again and was short of energy and blood. It was particularly dangerous during the birth. In addition, Mrs. Qin moved her hands and feet quietly, which almost killed two Yu Yanrans.
Life.
Fortunately, Gu Tingye had already taken precautions and asked Aunt Chang to take care of Yu Yanran. She contradicted Mrs. Qin at that time and called a doctor to save Yu Yanran and give birth to the child.
The baby was born successfully, but Yu Yanran suffered physical injuries and almost suffered severe bleeding. She fainted the moment she gave birth to the baby and had to be rescued with great difficulty.
Although Yu Yanran survived, she was severely injured. According to the doctor, she would never be able to have children again.
The only thing that may be more gratifying is that the child Yu Yanran gave birth to is a boy. In this way, Gu Tingye can be regarded as having a legitimate son.
When Gu Tingye returned home and heard the news, he was so furious that he rushed into Madam Qin's yard with his sword and wanted to kill Madam Qin.
Madam Qin was frightened to death, but fortunately Gu Yankai arrived in time and saved her life.
Gu Tingye angrily confronted Mrs. Qin, but Mrs. Qin was really good at pretending and refused to admit it.
Gu Yankai may have guessed the reason. When Gu Tingye and Mrs. Qin were arguing, he couldn't control his anger and spurted out a mouthful of blood, and then he fell down.
Although an imperial doctor was invited, Gu Yankai could not be saved in the end.
It's just that unlike in the plot of Do You Know, where Gu Tingye didn't see him for the last time, Gu Tingye was by his side at the last moment when Gu Yankai drove away. He also heard Gu Yankai's last words and learned some things about his mother's past.
Zhou Chen patted Gu Tingye and comforted: "This is your family matter. I can't say anything. I believe you can handle it yourself."
He knew that with Gu Tingye's ability, if he made up his mind to fight Xiao Qin, Xiao Qin would never be able to defeat Gu Tingye.
The old lady of the Hou Mansion is right, but Gu Tingye now holds the military power, and the eldest son of the Gu family is not in good health. As long as no accident occurs, when Gu Tingye inherits the title in the future, the Xiao Qin family will not be a match.
As the official family determined the new reign name, the struggle for power between the official family and the Queen Mother became more and more obvious. First, they used their brother-in-law to marry Zhang Guifen, the only daughter of the British princess, thus establishing a relationship with the British princess.
The British government served as a bridge, made good friends with the nobles, and won over many nobles.
Immediately afterwards, the trend of the court gradually changed, and many people began to support the official family and wanted Empress Dowager Cao to return power to the official family.
Empress Dowager Cao was naturally unwilling to lose power and fought back hard. With the jade seal in hand, she targeted officials in various ways.
But just because she was like this, she pushed more officials into the officialdom. Empress Dowager Cao had the ability, but the structure was still not enough. The more she refused to loosen her power, the more counterproductive it was.
But the late emperor's remaining power is still there, and Empress Dowager Cao also has many people's support, plus she has the jade seal, so now she can still suppress the officials for the time being.
Now the discord between the two palaces has become more and more obvious, and it is basically impossible to hide it.
Spring arrived as scheduled, and this time Qi Heng took part in the imperial examination. Fortunately, this time he finally passed the first grade of high school, and was ranked tenth among the Jinshi at the Qionglin Banquet.
After becoming a Jinshi in high school, Qi Heng immediately ran home to find his mother.
"Mom, I am already in high school, and the officials have allowed me to enter the Hanlin Academy. Please ask my mother to go to Sheng Mansion to propose marriage on my behalf."
Qi Heng's mother, Princess Pingning, still did not escape bad luck. During the palace coup between Prince Yan and Concubine Rong last year, she was humiliated by Concubine Rong. She saw Prince Yong's family being brutally murdered. She had no choice but to pretend to be crazy to survive.
.
Finally, Concubine Rong threw her outside the palace. Her crazy talk saved her life, but it also made her lose face. From that day on, she never left the house again.
At this moment, she looked at her son who was full of joy and pleading, and her heart was deeply touched.
Looking back on the past, she suddenly regretted that she had indeed pushed her son too far. If she had not been so arrogant, perhaps she would not have suffered the disaster.
But she had no choice but to do so. The Duke of Qi had been in decline for many years, and Qi Heng was her last hope. Of course, she wanted to find a good marriage for her son and help her son, so she strongly opposed Qi Heng and Sheng Minglan.
Seeing that his mother didn't answer, Qi Heng said eagerly: "Mother, this is what you promised me at the beginning. Now that I have been selected, the official family and His Highness King Huan value me very much. I will definitely bring honor to the family in the future. Please help me."
Let me do it this time."
Qi Heng went to Yuzhou to make good friends with Zhao Zongquan. Duke Qi Guo and Princess Ning had heard about it, so they did not doubt Qi Heng's words.
Duke Guo of Qi also knew his son, so he whispered to his wife: "It's better to promise him. The Sheng Mansion is no longer what it used to be, so that's it for Sheng Hong, but his son Sheng Changbai is indeed a talent with a bright future; more importantly,
, the eldest daughter of their family is the eldest wife of Duke Jing Zhou Chen, if Yuan Ruo can become brother-in-law with Duke Jing, it will be a great help to him and the Duke's government."
Although Qi Guogong is an old-style Guogong Mansion, it has been in decline for many years. Now it is more of an empty frame. Naturally, it cannot be compared with Zhou Chen, a powerful Duke of Jing. The threshold of Sheng Mansion is not high, but who makes Sheng Mansion
I have such a great son-in-law.
Princess Pingning, a person who is good at calculations, naturally understands this.
"Okay, Yuan Ruo, I will make this trip for you."
Qi Heng was overjoyed: "Thank you, mother, thank you, mother."
Just as she was told, Princess Pingning had people prepare the gifts, and then she took the matchmaker and headed to the Sheng Mansion.
…………
Zhou Chen came back from duty and did not see Hualan until Hualan went to Sheng Mansion and then to Shulan's courtyard.
Shulan is very comfortable as Zhou Chen's concubine, and she can often see Zhou Chen, so she feels very at ease mentally.
She has been pregnant for more than eight months and is basically out of the hospital now. Today is different, because her biological brother came to the Duke's Mansion to pay a visit, and he also brought a lot of items sent from Youyang.
The two siblings were talking when they saw Zhou Chen walking over, and they immediately stood up.
"Master."
"Oh, Chang Wu is here. If you have nothing to do in the future, please come and stay with your sister more often. She is in Bianjing City, and you are the only biological brother."
Sheng Changbai immediately replied respectfully: "Yes, if I have a rest in the future, I will come to accompany my sister."
Zhou Chen helped Shulan sit down and felt relieved when he saw that Shulan looked fine.
Shulan's pregnancy this time was not an easy one. Her belly was larger than that of an ordinary pregnant woman. Zhou Chen had already determined that she was pregnant with twins, so he took better care of her.
Seeing that Sheng Changwu was still standing, Zhou Chen motioned for him to sit down.
Sheng Changwu sat down carefully. Although Zhou Chen was his brother-in-law, he did not dare to be presumptuous in front of Zhou Chen.
To be continued...