Chapter 1422 The Empress and the Grand Master, Saint Haitang Duoduo

With Zhuang Mohan's consent, Zhou Chen and Zhan Pianpian naturally stayed in the mansion.

Zhou Chen first arranged for Zhan Pianpian, then went to the restaurant to bring his horse over and placed it in Zhuang Mohan's mansion.

After everything was done, when he went to Zhan Pianpian's room, she had fallen asleep under the service of the maid after playing all day.

After Zhuang Mohan learned that Zhan Pianpian was the eldest princess, he specially arranged two maids to serve her. Apart from that, he did not do anything else.

It was late, but Zhuang Mohan did not fall asleep. Instead, he invited Zhou Chen to the study to discuss the Dao.

Although the two seemed to be very different in age, Zhuang Mohan did not put on airs at all and discussed the Dao with Zhou Chen in an equal manner.

Zhou Chen never considered himself a writer, but he had lived for hundreds of years and had indeed read countless books, more than others in several lifetimes, so even if he talked about learning and Dao with a literary master like Zhuang Mohan, he was not at a disadvantage at all.

Even the narration of drawing inferences from one instance to another benefited Zhuang Mohan a lot, and Zhou Chen's understanding beyond the feudal era also opened his eyes.

Of course, Zhou Chen only discussed academic matters with him, and did not say anything else, otherwise Zhuang Mohan might not be able to accept it.

The two chatted until late at night, and finally Zhou Chen took the initiative to end it. This time the discussion was considered to be over, but Zhuang Mohan invited Zhou Chen to continue the discussion tomorrow, and also tried his best to keep Zhou Chen, wanting Zhou Chen to stay with him for a few more days.

Zhou Chen naturally agreed. The date he and Ku He agreed to was August 15th. Now there is still half a month away from that day. Living here is of course much more convenient than living in an inn.

It was late at night, and Zhou Chen and his friends slept soundly, but for several senior officials of Northern Qi, they slept not so soundly tonight.

Shen Zhong and his friends did not dare to send people to follow too closely, but they did not really give up surveillance completely, so when they saw Zhou Chen and Zhan Pianpian actually entered Zhuang Mohan's mansion.

Whether it was the young emperor of Northern Qi, the empress dowager, or Shen Zhong, they were all shocked. This great master also knew Zhuang Mohan?

But they had learned from the previous experience, so they did not go to Zhuang Mohan's mansion to investigate, but just sent people to keep an eye on him.

Ku He lived in seclusion in a river and lake waterfall not far from Shangjing City. Haitang Duoduo went there and came back in the evening. Ku He's answer made the young emperor and the empress dowager feel relieved, but not completely relieved.

The next day, after Zhou Chen had breakfast with Zhuang Mohan, he took Zhan Pianpian out. Zhuang Mohan looked at them leaving with a kind face and a smile on his face.

He had only known Zhou Chen for a day, but he could tell the whole picture from a glimpse of him. He felt that a scholar with literary talent like Zhou Chen would definitely not be a person with a bad heart, and Zhan Pianpian did not look like he was being held hostage at all, which was why he did not let anyone notify the court.

He was just a scholar who only wanted to study, and he didn't care about anything else.

The day passed quickly, at least for Zhan Pianpian. Today, she followed Zhou Chen to many interesting places and ate many delicious snacks.

However, she was not very happy about one thing, because when she was playing, she saw several large and beautiful flower boats in the river. Many people went on board. She also wanted to go, but Zhou Chen was unwilling to take her, which made him very annoyed.

She thought at that time that if she had known that she would have secretly brought some gold and silver when she came out, she would not be controlled by Zhou Chen everywhere.

She was not really stupid, how could she not know what the flower boat was for? She had never seen it or heard about it, but she knew it, so she wanted to see what it was.

It was a pity that she did not go.

"Hmph!"

"What are you humming about?"

"Nothing, why are you going back so early today?"

"There will be guests visiting today, so I have to go back early."

"Guests?"

Zhan Pianpian looked strange: "Aren't you from Nanqing? Could it be that someone will visit you at Mr. Zhuang's house?"

Zhou Chen smiled slightly: "Who said it won't happen?"

Someone did come to visit Zhou Chen, and his identity was not simple. He was being entertained by Zhuang Mohan at this time.

"So, your majesty came out of the palace to visit me, both for the princess and for Mr. Zhou?"

Zhuang Mohan asked calmly. When he first learned that it was your majesty and the saint who came to visit, he thought it was for the eldest princess, but from their tone, it seemed more like they came for Zhou Chen, which made him confused.

Zhan Doudou heard this and said softly, "So his last name is Zhou, Mr. Zhuang, I am here for him today, are you familiar with him?"

Zhuang Mohan shook his head and said, "No, I only met him yesterday after he came to my house. Mr. Zhou is very talented and well-versed in history and modern times. Even I have benefited a lot from his knowledge."

Zhan Doudou was stunned: "Is he very talented?"

"Yes, although we only talked for a few hours yesterday, I think his knowledge is not inferior to mine, and he will definitely surpass me in the future and become a great writer."

Zhuang Mohan's tone was full of praise and love for Zhou Chen. At his age, seeing such a young and talented scholar, the joy is no less than his own achievements.

Hearing Zhuang Mohan's praise, Zhan Doudou was even more confused, and Haitang Duoduo also stared with big eyes, full of confusion.

"Isn't he a grandmaster? Can his talent be compared with Mr. Zhuang? Impossible?"

Now it was Zhuang Mohan's turn to be at a loss.

"Grandmaster, are you saying that Master Zhou is the Grandmaster, the Grandmaster that I understand?"

He is a master of the world's literary world, a man of letters, but he also has martial arts skills, but he pays more attention to literature. He knows the classification of martial arts in the world and what a grandmaster means.

Zhan Doudou saw Haitang Duoduo said it, so he didn't hide it anymore and told Zhuang Mohan about Zhou Chen.

Zhuang Mohan was silent for a long time after listening.

"I am really short-sighted. It turns out that Mr. Zhou is a complete talent in literature and martial arts. At such a young age, he has achieved such achievements in both literature and martial arts. There is only one person in the world."

Some people are martial arts geniuses, some are literary geniuses, but there are really few people who are complete talents in both literature and martial arts at the same time, let alone those who can reach the peak of literature and martial arts.

As soon as Zhou Chen and Zhan Pianpian came back, Zhuang Mohan went over to greet Zhou Chen happily, with a smile and kindness on his face.

"They are waiting for you in the courtyard, go."

Zhou Chen thanked him and went to the courtyard where he was staying temporarily, and then saw two figures standing under the tree in the courtyard.

Hearing the footsteps, Zhan Doudou and Haitang Duoduo in the courtyard turned around and saw Zhou Chen coming towards them, their eyes full of surprise.

Although they had heard from the Queen Mother that Zhou Chen was very young, they were still shocked by his youth when they really saw him.

Not only was he young, but his appearance was also very outstanding. No wonder the eldest princess was willing to follow him and leave. This appearance was probably part of the reason.

"Meet His Majesty the Emperor of Daqi, Saint."

"Do you know us? Mr. Zhuang told you?" Zhan Doudou asked doubtfully.

Zhou Chen said, "Mr. Zhuang doesn't need to tell me. You two shouldn't have similar temperaments in Qi."

Zhan Doudou looked at Zhou Chen with a calm expression and said slowly, "When the young master arrived in Qi, he gave us a big gift."

"Your Majesty, don't blame me. People who practice martial arts are inevitably competitive. I have heard of Senior Ku He's name for a long time. I am a rookie, so I came to pay my respects."

"Miss Duoduo, you are also a martial artist, you should understand what I mean."

Zhou Chen looked at Haitang Duoduo, and Haitang Duoduo said, "I don't have the ability to break into the palace and challenge the grandmaster."

"It seems that Senior Ku He has accepted my challenge."

"Yes, my master agreed, but he asked me to ask if we can change the place where he practices in seclusion. That place is big enough for you to show your skills. The palace is too small and can't withstand your fight."

Zhou Chen did not agree.

"The Grandmaster's battle must be matched with a battlefield. There is no place more suitable than the Forbidden City."

Zhan Doudou said coldly: "The palace represents the face of the royal family. Do you want to use the Grandmaster's battle to trample on the face of the Daqi royal family?"

"Your Majesty's tone is exactly the same as the princess's. You are worthy of being my sister."

Zhan Doudou and Haitang Duoduo's faces changed drastically. Zhou Chen just smiled slightly when he saw this.

"Your Majesty, don't you think that your concealment can deceive the Grand Master?"

Zhan Doudou's face was gloomy: "You want to use this to threaten me?"

"That's not the case, and your Majesty has misunderstood. I just think that the Forbidden City is suitable for me to fight with Ku He, and I have never thought of trampling on the face of your Daqi royal family. But when you say that, it seems that I really bully others by taking advantage of my power."

Zhou Chen pondered for a while and said: "I have done a lot of bullying in the past, but there are reasons for it. I am a relatively fair person. Since I am borrowing the palace of your Daqi royal family, I will use other things to make up for it."

As he said, he took out a wooden box from his arms and threw it over.

Haitang Duoduo caught it: "What is this?"

"Just now I said, compensation, your majesty can take a look, I think you should be satisfied."

Zhan Doudou hesitated slightly and opened the box. There was only a piece of paper in the box. She opened it and looked at it carefully for a while.

In just a moment, her face changed drastically, her breathing became rapid, and she asked Zhou Chen anxiously.

"Is what is written on it true?"

"Of course, your majesty should understand what the content on it represents. It is not just a huge fortune, but also..."

Zhou Chen did not continue, but Zhan Doudou understood what Zhou Chen meant.

The content on it is indeed very scary. If it is true, it is an unimaginable fortune.

"It should be enough for me and Ku He to fight on the top of the Forbidden City, right?"

Zhan Doudou's face kept changing. If Zhou Chen was not a grandmaster, she would have wanted to kill Zhou Chen right now and take the things in the wooden box for herself.

But obviously, she did not have that ability. Since there was no other way, facing such temptation, she could only compromise.

"It is very precious. I can ignore the face of the Daqi royal family, but the Grand Master's means are all-powerful. If you fight, the huge palace may not be enough for you to destroy, right? I don't want to build a new palace city."

"I can't guarantee this. I can only say that I will try my best to avoid destroying the palace city. As for Ku He, I can't guarantee it."

Zhan Doudou's face kept changing. It was obvious that she was weighing the pros and cons in her heart. But when she met Zhou Chen's eyes, she was shocked.

Suddenly, she realized that even if she disagreed, if Zhou Chen forced to fight in the palace city, they seemed unable to stop him. If they annoyed Zhou Chen and made him lose control and make a scene in the capital, even if Ku He was there, they might not be able to stop him.

But if Zhou Chen wanted to fight Ku He to the death, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The biggest reason why Qi can now compete with Qing is Ku He. If Qi lost the Grandmaster, it would be a disaster for them, not to mention that Dongyi City also has a crazy Si Gu Jian.

If there is no Ku He, who can deter Si Gu Jian? The world will also collapse.

As an emperor, he has to consider not only the current situation, but also look further and deeper.

In fact, when they learned that Zhou Chen was a Grandmaster, they had no other choice, unless they could send the army of the capital to encircle Zhou Chen, but the loss brought by this would be unbearable for them.

So after thinking about it, it seems that the best choice is to let Zhou Chen fight with Ku He.

"Okay, I can agree to your request, but I hope that you don't spread this matter."

"Of course, I asked Ku He to fight just to verify martial arts, not to become famous."

Fighting with the four masters is more for the mission. Even if he is a Grandmaster now, he has not fought before, and he is not sure he can win.

"I hope you will do what you say."

Zhan Doudou is also a flexible person, not to mention that facing a grandmaster, it is not shameful for her, an emperor with no real power, to compromise.

Haitang Duoduo has been silent all the time. She only spoke after Zhan Doudou and Zhou Chen finished talking.

"Hey, Mr. Zhou, I want to ask, how old are you?"

"Well, I will be crowned in a few months."

"Not even twenty yet?"

Haitang Duoduo widened her eyes, with an incredible look on her face. Zhan Doudou was also shocked by Zhou Chen's age.

"Grandmaster less than twenty? No, you have been practicing martial arts since your mother's womb, otherwise how could you become a grandmaster at such an age?"

Zhou Chen smiled mischievously: "Want to know?"

"I do."

Haitang Duoduo nodded without thinking. She was also very talented, at least that's what her master said, but she started practicing martial arts since she was a child, and now she is only at the ninth rank, while Zhou Chen, who is about the same age as her, is already a grandmaster.

Is her talent really much worse than Zhou Chen's?

Zhou Chen took out a book from his pocket and threw it to Haitang Duoduo, who took it and looked at it.

"Ruyi Jin Heart Method, is this yours?"

"Yes, I tailored this secret book for myself. I personally think it should be no worse than your master's Tianyi Heart Method. It contains my method of breaking through to the Grandmaster level, but my physique is quite special, so you probably can't learn from it."

Haitang Duoduo stared at the secret book in her hand in a daze, and then a look of suspicion and vigilance appeared on her face.

"You gave me your own secret method like this? Did you do something with it?"