Chapter 1451: Qingqi Goes to War, See the Northern Qi Princess Again

Qingguo Palace, Imperial Study Room!

Today Emperor Qing rarely polished arrowheads or reviewed memorials, but was meditating.

Lin Gong's death allowed him to see an opportunity, not only an opportunity to start a national war against Northern Qi, but also an opportunity to deal with Zhou Chen.

With the current strength of Qing State, he felt that he would win the war against Northern Qi, but against Zhou Chen, he was not very sure.

On the battlefield of the national war, the competition is about military strength, logistics, intelligence, command, etc. But to deal with the Grand Master, relying on these is far from enough. What must be relied on is the top combat power.

Emperor Qing has never fought against anyone since he was promoted to grand master. Although he is very confident in himself, he is not even half sure when facing Zhou Chen, an unprecedented young grand master.

He sent urgent orders to Ye Liuyun and Chen Pingping respectively. Chen Pingping came back, but there was no news about Ye Liuyun.

Chen Pingping is back, but he is not a Grand Master after all. Even though he is wise, it will be ineffective in a real Grand Master battle.

Ye Liuyun was originally the trump card that Emperor Qing kept against Ku He and Sigu Jian, but Emperor Qing, who had dominated the imperial power for many years, was angered by Zhou Chen's several "provocations" and felt that Zhou Chen was a very unstable factor, so he thought Can we get rid of Zhou Chen first?

If a great master can be eliminated first, this process and experience may play a big role in killing Ku He and Si Gu Jian in the future.

His idea was good, but Ye Liuyun received the order and didn't even reply.

Ye Liuyun was restrained by Emperor Qing because of the Ye family, and he couldn't help himself. Therefore, Zhou Chen's appearance made Ye Liuyun seem to see his original self.

But Zhou Chen is very different from him, so he doesn't want to help Emperor Qing deal with Zhou Chen. He even hopes that Zhou Chen is alive. As long as Zhou Chen is still alive, Ye Liuyun's value will be even higher. Emperor Qing needs his If you don't have the strength, you don't dare to deal with the Ye family wantonly.

The three pillars are the most balanced. He is sure that Emperor Qing will not dare to force him. Isn't Emperor Qing afraid that he will join forces with Zhou Chen?

Therefore, for Ye Liuyun, the benefits of Zhou Chen's life are far greater than those of death. To a certain extent, Zhou Chen's life and death are closely related to him.

If Zhou Chen lives well, he can live freely. If Zhou Chen dies, he can only be manipulated by Emperor Qing.

In this case, any fool knows how to choose.

As for the so-called loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, forget it, this concept does not exist in the dictionary of the great master.

Whatever Ye Liuyun could think of, Emperor Qing could naturally think of it too, so he was so angry at Ye Liuyun who didn't reply.

In the past two days, because of Lin Gong's death, the court officials' impeachment of Ye Zhong also gave him a headache. In the past, he used the Ye family to control Ye Liuyun, but now he also uses the Ye family to stabilize Ye Liuyun.

For Emperor Qing, a chess player, Zhou Chen has become the most uncontrollable chess piece on his chessboard, and this piece may bite the master at any time.

Ye Liuyun was unreliable. Emperor Qing had no confidence based solely on Chen Pingping's words. At this moment, he really hoped that Zhou Chen could become an official in the court, and that the Zhou family could be as big as the Ye family, so that he could use the imperial power and even Lin Ruofu is here to deal with the Zhou family.

But it's a pity that Zhou Chen is not an official, and Zhou Xingniang's family, the only one related to Zhou Chen, still can't hold up the wall, so now they can only stand still and continue to endure, and deal with Beiqi first.

In order to start the war, he called the crown prince, the second prince, Lin Ruofu, and Fan Xian over, and asked Chen Pingping to cooperate with him. Together they put on a movie-level performance, and blamed Lin Gong's death on Beiqi and Dongyi City Si Gu Jian.

Although Lin Ruofu felt aggrieved, facing Emperor Qing who had made up his mind, he could only hold back his blood and tears, and agreed with Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping's inference, blaming Beiqi for his son's death.

In the imperial study room, only Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping were left.

"There are two parties who want to kill Lin Gong. Have you not found out the origins of those who came later?"

The Inspection Institute who participated in Lin Gong's murder knew best. Many people did not know that Lin Gong was almost attacked and killed by two parties.

Chen Pingping replied: "Your Majesty, those men in black were all dead soldiers, and no one was left alive. Our Inspection Institute has carefully investigated. There is no identity, no origin, and no sign. It is impossible to determine which force it is, but it is certain. What’s more, the other party wants to kill Lin Gong, and his status in Kyoto is not low.”

Emperor Qing was very dissatisfied with this answer: "After checking for so long, I found nothing. Your inspection institute is becoming more and more disappointed with me."

"Your Majesty, forgive me."

Chen Pingping admitted her mistake honestly.

When Emperor Qing saw this, he didn't say anything. He just said, "The real culprit behind Lin Gong can only be Sigu Jian."

"I understand."

"Also, the Duke of Zhenguo, you are being watched closely."

Chen Pingping's eyelids sunk slightly and she responded: "I understand."

He already knew about the Queen Mother's bedroom and the Crouching Tiger and Coiling Dragon escorted by Emperor Qing and Zhou Chen a few days ago.

As a minister, he would naturally not expose Emperor Qing's shortcomings, but he was still amazed by Zhou Chen's behavior. There were very few people who could force His Majesty to do nothing.

As soon as Chen Pingping walked out of the palace, Shadow came over and told him some news.

"Lin Ruofu went to the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion."

Chen Pingping smiled slightly and said: "The murderer is Si Gu Jian. It is really ridiculous."

Shadow asked: "Then he went to see Duke Zhen. Could it be that he suspected Duke Zhen?"

Chen Pingping shook his head and said, "Lin Ruofu is not that stupid. If we talk about the person in Kyoto who is least likely to kill Lin Gong, the Duke of Zhenguo is definitely one of them. If that young man wants to kill Lin Gong, he might kill him in the street like Fan Xian."

"It is said that young people who become famous will be arrogant, but we have all seen that young man. That kind of temperament is not something a young man can have. Among the five great masters, he is the youngest, but in my opinion, he is the most extraordinary and unworldly grandmaster among the five great masters."

"You think so highly of him?"

"That's the fact."

"It seems to be true. At least in martial arts, he is really gifted, and the other four great masters are not necessarily better than him."

Shadow is a martial arts fanatic. In martial arts, Zhou Chen can become a grandmaster without anyone teaching him, relying only on his own talent. This is something that the other four great masters do not have, so he always thinks that Zhou Chen must be the most talented one among the five great masters.

Chen Pingping looked far away. He knew that Emperor Qing wanted to deal with Zhou Chen, but fortunately he didn't really make that decision. Since he met Zhou Chen, he felt that Zhou Chen might be the most difficult one to deal with among the five masters.

After fighting Ku He and fighting with Si Gu Jian for three days and three nights, the great master in the palace could sense when Si Gu Jian attacked, but he didn't notice Zhou Chen sneaking into the palace at all. All of this can show how powerful Zhou Chen is.

Zhou Chen may be unruly, but he is not a person who takes the initiative to cause trouble. No matter from what angle, he doesn't want to see Emperor Qing attack Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen was very surprised to learn that Lin Ruofu was visiting, but he immediately knew why he came, so he met him in person.

"Duke Zhou."

"Minister Lin."

After the maid served the tea set and poured the tea, Zhou Chen signaled her to leave, leaving only Zhou Chen and Minister Lin in the side hall.

"Speaking of which, I have lived in Kyoto for 20 years, and today is the first time I have met Prime Minister Lin. I have heard a lot about Prime Minister Lin's deeds since I was a child."

Lin Ruofu said: "Duke Zhou, please forgive me for making fun of you. Compared with you, I am just a little older. When I was your age, I was still a nobody. Unlike Duke Zhou, at the age of twenty, he has become a great master who can stir up the world. This achievement is much better than mine."

Zhou Chen said calmly: "Prime Minister Lin is too modest. Whether it was before or now, Prime Minister Lin's demeanor is one of the best in Qingguo."

Lin Ruofu came here today for his own purpose, not to chat and flatter each other.

So he suddenly changed the subject and said, "Duke Zhou, you must have guessed why I came here without telling you?"

"Prime Minister Lin, it should be about the matter of your second son?"

"To be honest with you, Duke Zhou, I just came out of the palace and met your Majesty not long ago. Your Majesty and Chen Pingping said that the one who killed my son was a grandmaster."

Lin Ruofu's eyes were fixed on Zhou Chen, trying to tell from Zhou Chen's expression.

Zhou Chen's expression did not change at all, and he raised his hand to pour tea for Lin Ruofu.

"What do you think, Minister Lin?"

"There were two groups of people who assassinated my son that day, but one person killed my son and his guards. My son's guards were all above the seventh rank. There were not many people in Kyoto who could kill them so quickly. According to Chen Pingping, my son and his guards died very quickly. It can be said that they had no ability to fight back. If it wasn't a grandmaster, who else could it be?"

"Then Minister Lin came to me, is he also suspicious of me?"

Lin Ruofu did not deny it, and said directly: "I have investigated. When my son died, the five grandmasters, Ku He, Si Gu Jian and Ye Liuyun were not in Kyoto. Only Duke Zhou and the mysterious grandmaster in the palace were in Kyoto."

"So Minister Lin suspected me , and it does make sense. "

Zhou Chen was not annoyed by being suspected, but said: "But I think Lin Xiang's suspicion of me is not deep?"

"Yes, I did suspect Duke Zhou, but then I thought about it carefully. Our Lin family has no conflict with the Duke, and the Duke is a man of Jiyue Qingfeng. There is really no reason to kill my son."

"But Lin Xiang is unwilling to accept it, so he wants to come to me for verification, right?"

"Yes."

Lin Ruofu did have doubts about Zhou Chen, but his suspicion was very shallow. As he said, Zhou Chen had no conflict with their family at all. Looking at what Zhou Chen did after returning to Kyoto, he was not the kind of person who liked to fight for power and profit.

A grandmaster who is not even cared about by the royal family or even His Majesty, can't become someone else's thug, right?

"I suspect the mysterious Grandmaster in the palace. I wonder if Duke Zhou knows about the Grandmaster in the palace?"

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I do know a little about the Grandmaster in the palace, but I don't know if he was the one who did it. But one thing is that the person who killed your son does have the fighting power of a Grandmaster."

Lin Ruofu's eyes flashed, and then he stood up and saluted Zhou Chen: "Thank you, Duke Zhou, I owe you a favor. If you need me in the future, I will definitely not refuse."

Zhou Chen bowed and said, "Prime Minister Lin, you don't have to be like this, and you don't have to feel that you owe me a favor. I'm just telling the truth. It's not easy for Kyoto to stand firm now."

"What the Duke said is very true." Lin Ruofu understood what Zhou Chen meant.

After Lin Ruofu left, Zhou Chen's eyes flickered. He guessed correctly. For Emperor Qing, the most urgent task now was to attack Northern Qi and weaken its national strength. It was not yet a life-and-death battle with him.

However, his choice was indeed correct. The current Northern Qi was not as strong as Qing in terms of national strength and military. If a war really broke out, it would definitely not be able to defeat Qing.

Although Northern Qi had not been established for a long time, it inherited the foundation of the former powerful Wei. It was possible to be defeated, but it was wishful thinking for Qing to destroy Northern Qi in one fell swoop.

Because Emperor Qing attributed Lin Gong's death to Si Gu Jian and Northern Qi, the entire Qing was united and started a war against Northern Qi.

The previous memorials impeaching Chen Pingping and Ye Zhong, the garrison of Kyoto, were also suppressed by Emperor Qing, and Kyoto temporarily returned to peace.

In a blink of an eye, a month had passed, and the war between Qing and Northern Qi was also coming to an end.

Qing's national strength was stronger than Northern Qi, and Emperor Qing had been planning for a long time. Once the war started, it was unstoppable, and Northern Qi was defeated step by step, occupying a state of Northern Qi.

After occupying a state, Qing temporarily stopped the attack and turned to confront Northern Qi.

Northern Qi did not want to continue fighting, so it wanted to make peace with Qing and sent an envoy to Qing to negotiate with Qing.

Although the war stopped, many people in the court were dissatisfied because Qing still had the strength to continue fighting. Many people wanted to continue fighting, and it would be best to destroy Qi in one fell swoop and unify the world.

However, Emperor Qing was very sober. Qing was stronger than Qi, but it was nonsense to say that he wanted to destroy Qi in one battle.

Apart from the army, the reason why Northern Qi could not be destroyed was the Grandmaster Ku He.

If the Grandmaster Ku He did not die, Northern Qi would be difficult to destroy. This is also the biggest reason why Emperor Qing arranged the Battle of Dadong Mountain in the original book.

Only by destroying the Grandmaster could he destroy Northern Qi and Dongyi City. Otherwise, Ku He and Si Gu Jian would support each other from a distance, and Qing could not destroy Northern Qi and Dongyi City at all.

Because of the victory, the capital of Qing was very happy and joyful. Qing was strong, and as the people of Qing, they were naturally proud.

Lin Gong's death had long been forgotten. Now, apart from his relatives, there were not many people who remembered Lin Gong.

After testing Fan Xian, Lin Ruofu now regarded Fan Xian as his successor and was ready to help Fan Xian take the position with his own connections and support.

After a while, the delegation from Dongyi City participating in the negotiation arrived in Kyoto first, and not long after, the delegation from Northern Qi also arrived in Kyoto.

The delegation from Dongyi City was led by Yun Zhilan, the eldest disciple of Si Gu Jian. After arriving in Kyoto, he also came to Zhou Mansion to meet Zhou Chen and gave Zhou Chen a gift.

It is impolite not to reciprocate. Yun Zhilan gave a gift, and Zhou Chen did not act pretentiously and also returned the gift.

What Zhou Chen really cares about is the delegation from Northern Qi, and the most famous person among the delegation is the literary giant, Zhuang Mohan.

Zhuang Mohan stayed at the Honglu Temple under the arrangement of the Honglu Temple, and many people came to visit him on the day he arrived.

The next day, Zhou Chen sent a carriage to Zhuang Mohan's residence and asked He Qin to take Zhuang Mohan to his mansion.

After more than half a year, Zhou Chen met Zhuang Mohan again. Compared with the last time they met, Zhuang Mohan looked a little older.

"Mr. Zhuang."

"Mr. Zhou."

After Zhou Chen greeted Zhuang Mohan, a person suddenly jumped out from the group of people accompanying Zhuang Mohan.

"Zhou Chen."

Looking at the girl in front of him dressed in men's clothes, who still couldn't hide her beautiful face, Zhou Chen also smiled from the bottom of his heart.

He walked forward, gently touched the nose of the smiling girl, and said in a very gentle tone: "I guessed that you might come this time."

Zhan Pianpian tilted her head, her face full of joy, not minding Zhou Chen's intimate behavior at all, but smiling even sweeter.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, I miss you very much. The teacher said he would come to Nanqing. I asked His Majesty for instructions, and His Majesty agreed, so I came with him. I am really happy to see you doing well."

As he said, he couldn't help but grab Zhou Chen's hand, his eyes full of joy of wish fulfillment.

"I heard that you were named Duke. It seems that your Nanqing emperor also has vision and knows that you are excellent."

Zhou Chen also held Zhan Pianpian's hand and said with a smile: "Sit down first, Mr. Zhuang is still here, don't let Mr. Zhuang laugh at you."

Zhan Pianpian finally came to his senses, looking at his teacher with a blushing face, looking embarrassed.

Zhuang Mohan smiled and waved his hands: "It doesn't matter, she has been talking about it so many times along the way. Seeing you like this, it's very good, very good."