Chapter 1466: The Marriage Is Done, and the Situation in Shangjing Is Chaotic

Zhou Chen personally brought the betrothal gifts to the harem. Zhan Doudou, who was well prepared, immediately had someone bring Zhou Chen into the harem to meet the Queen Mother after learning that Zhou Chen had come.

Zhou Chen had met the Queen Mother of Northern Qi twice before, but it was not a formal meeting. This time was different. He came to ask for marriage, so this time it was a very formal meeting.

Because Zhou Chen's identity was not ordinary and he came to ask for marriage in person, the Queen Mother of Northern Qi had a very good attitude.

"Mr. Zhou, I really approve of your marriage with Pian Pian, but you may not know that not long ago, the Emperor of Qing of your country expressed his desire to marry our Great Qi to jointly achieve peace between Great Qi and your Southern Qing."

Hearing the words of the Queen Mother of Northern Qi, Zhou Chen remained calm. No matter whether what she said was true or not, he was a Qing countryman after all, so it was better not to show anything at this time.

"Queen Mother, this is my betrothal gift. Please take a look."

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi gestured to Haitang Duoduo beside her. Haitang Duoduo immediately walked to Zhou Chen, took the betrothal gift list, and handed it to the Queen Mother of Northern Qi.

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi opened it and took a look, then her face was surprised.

"Mr. Zhou, are all the things on it real?"

Even the Queen Mother, who was high above her, felt that the things on this gift list were extravagant. She didn't expect Zhou Chen to be so extravagant for Zhan Pianpian.

"Of course."

Since these things had been brought here, he naturally didn't plan to take them back. Besides, he gave so many betrothal gifts, and the Northern Qi royal family couldn't possibly give less dowry.

He didn't care about the dowry, but this was what Zhan Pianpian deserved. Since he was going to marry Zhan Pianpian, he naturally had to consider more for his future wife.

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi didn't make it difficult. To be precise, she didn't want to make it difficult, and she didn't even dare to make it difficult.

She didn't have much affection for Zhan Pianpian, and she wasn't her biological daughter. Even if Zhou Chen wasn't around, she would have married Zhan Pianpian to someone else for the sake of profit. Now that Zhou Chen, the Grand Master, was willing to marry her, and she could be on good terms with the Grand Master, she naturally wouldn't have any objections.

So, the Queen Mother agreed to Zhou Chen's marriage proposal on the spot, but as a princess of a country, marriage had to go through the Ministry of Rites, so this was also a complicated process.

"If Mr. Zhou is not in a hurry, my family's birthday banquet will be held in a few days. Let Pianpian accompany me to celebrate my birthday before leaving, okay?"

"Listen to the Queen Mother."

Zhou Chen naturally had no objection, and it was just right that he could return to Qing with the Qing Kingdom delegation at that time.

After leaving the Queen Mother, Zhou Chen went to Zhan Pianpian's bedroom and told her the good news.

Zhan Pianpian was overjoyed when she heard this, but she also showed shyness at the same time.

Her heart was relieved, but when she thought that she would soon marry Zhou Chen and become husband and wife, she felt shy and happy.

"My mother said you'll leave after the birthday banquet. I know. Before that, I'll make good preparations."

Zhan Pianpian suddenly felt reluctant to leave Qi after the Queen Mother's birthday banquet.

Although she didn't like this cold palace very much, it was where she had lived for more than ten years. She would soon leave here and go to Qing to live. She felt reluctant and uneasy.

Feeling Zhan Pianpian's uneasiness, Zhou Chen gently held her hand to comfort her.

"Don't be afraid. With me here, everything will be fine."

"Yeah."

Zhan Pianpian responded softly. She was uneasy, but she was not so afraid when she thought Zhou Chen would be by her side.

Zhou Chen went back in the carriage driven by Wang Qinian. When he learned that Zhou Chen's marriage proposal was successful, Wang Qinian was full of blessings.

"I know it will be fine. You are young and promising, talented and wise, and you are the only one in the world. You are a perfect match for the Grand Princess of Northern Qi."

I had met Zhan Pianpian once in Qing before and had a meal together. He had a very good impression of Zhan Pianpian, the Grand Princess of Northern Qi.

"You are very nice. I am in a good mood. I will give you a reward."

A jade pendant flew out of the carriage, and Wang Qinian immediately reached out to take it.

"Oh, this jade pendant is too precious. You should take it back."

He said so, but he held the jade pendant with both hands, and had no intention of returning it.

Zhou Chen was happy: "Don't pretend in front of me. Keep it and buy more meat for your daughter when you go back."

Wang Qinian immediately responded happily: "Okay, then I will thank the Duke of Zhenguo on behalf of my Baba."

Hearing the name "Baba", Zhou Chen's mouth twitched. Calling him "Baba" all day long really made it difficult for Wang Qinian and his wife.

Today is the second day since the Qing Kingdom delegation arrived in Shangjing City. From today, Fan Xian and Shen Zhong and others began to fight.

Fan Xian wanted to leave Northern Qi immediately, but Shen Zhong was unwilling to let Yan Bingyun go, and he also found a high-sounding excuse, so he had no way to turn his face, and could only find a way to find Yan Bingyun first.

At night, Zhou Chen sneaked into the palace again, and sneaked into Zhan Doudou's bedroom with familiarity.

Zhan Doudou seemed to know that Zhou Chen was coming, so she prepared in advance. As soon as Zhou Chen arrived, she pressed him down, and then began to "bully" Zhou Chen.

Zhan Doudou was in a very good state today, as if she was stimulated. Zhou Chen felt her strangeness, so he deliberately let her go.

After a long time, the rain disappeared.

"You and the emperor sister are doing it, are you very happy?"

Listening to Zhan Doudou's resentful tone, Zhou Chen laughed: "Are you unhappy because of this? I remember that after we were together, you said it yourself that we were just using each other, there was only interest, no feelings."

Zhan Doudou blushed and retorted: "Who said I have feelings for you? We are originally in a relationship of interest. You are just a tool for giving birth to children for me. I have no feelings for you. I am worried about the future of my sister because I see you are so romantic."

Now she doesn't even use "I" when talking to Zhou Chen.

"Yes, yes, yes, I am your tool for giving birth to children, I am also romantic, but I must have feelings for the mother of my future child."

"Humph, who cares."

Zhan Doudou's tone was proud, and she looked like she didn't care at all, but she couldn't help showing an imperceptible smile.

"We have been together for a while, why haven't I reacted yet?"

"It's only been a dozen days, not so fast."

"How long will it take?"

"It will take at least a month to know."

"Ah, will it take so long? But aren't you going back to Qing after your mother's birthday banquet? Will you be in time?"

Zhan Doudou looked worried. Her original purpose with Zhou Chen was to have offspring. If it didn't work out, she would definitely be anxious.

Zhou Chen said, "There is no good way to do this. We can only keep working hard. Come on, keep going."

"Okay..."

Zhou Chen was very busy during this period, because the goal of having children was not one, but two.

In the second half of the night, after Zhan Doudou fell asleep, Zhou Chen quietly left and came to another place, Si Lili's bedroom.

Si Lili had been prepared. She had been like this these days. She was used to it, so she had slept for a while. She just woke up not long ago, and then she didn't sleep. She was quietly waiting for Zhou Chen's arrival in the bedroom.

Hearing Zhou Chen's arrival, Si Lili was immediately surprised: "Sir."

"I'm here."

…………

While Zhou Chen was enjoying the blessing of having two wives, Fan Xian was still racking his brains to think about how to find Yan Bingyun.

In the blink of an eye, a few days passed. During these few days, Fan Xian finally completed his first goal, which was to find Yan Bingyun who was imprisoned by the Jinyiwei, and successfully rescued Yan Bingyun and brought him back to the posthouse where the Qing Kingdom delegation lived.

Shen Zhong almost fought with Fan Xian for this, but fortunately he was stopped by the people sent by the Queen Mother and ordered him to let Fan Xian and Yan Bingyun go. So no matter how unwilling he was, he could only swallow his anger and dared not speak too loudly. After all, his sister took a lot of responsibility for this matter.

Then Fan Xian, Shen Zhong, including Shangshan Hu, began to play around Xiao En again.

Zhuang Mansion.

Zhuang Mohan rarely continued his research, but played chess with Zhou Chen in the courtyard. However, during the game, he seemed a little uneasy and made frequent mistakes.

Zhou Chen saw his problem and asked, "Are you worried about Sean?"

Zhuang Mohan sighed and said, "A little bit. I thought saving him back to Northern Qi would be a good thing for him, but now it seems, alas."

He knew very well that although Sean had escaped from the dungeon of the Qing State Inspection Institute, his experience had not changed much after returning to Qi State, and it was even worse.

"Do you need my help?"

"No."

Zhuang Mohan rejected Zhou Chen with a complicated expression, but his tone was firm.

"He is my brother, but everyone has his own life. We can help him once, but we can't help him all the time. He has his own way to go. No matter what the final result is, it is his own choice. We are not qualified to make decisions for him."

Zhou Chen didn't say anything. In fact, he has always been like this in his dealings with others, letting go of the complex of helping others and respecting the fate of others.

Of course, if it was someone he cared about, an important person, he would change these principles.

If Zhuang Mohan asked, he might consider helping, but since Zhuang Mohan himself didn't have this idea, he naturally wouldn't meddle in other people's business.

A game of chess didn't end after an hour, mainly because Zhuang Mohan was playing chess, but his mind was not on it at all. Zhou Chen was not in a hurry and accompanied him patiently.

In the end, Zhuang Mohan didn't finish the game of chess because of his old age, and went to his room to rest with a melancholy face.

Just as Zhou Chen was about to go out for a walk, he heard the servants report that someone came to visit, and the person they wanted to see was him.

"Lang Tao, meet Mr. Zhou."

The person who wanted to see was Lang Tao, the eldest disciple of Ku He. Zhou Chen had met him outside Shangjing City before. The dark circles under his eyes and smoky makeup were so unique that he couldn't forget them even if he wanted to.

"Sit down."

After Lang Tao sat down, Zhou Chen asked again: "Lang Tao, is your teacher's fight over?"

Lang Tao was stunned. He didn't expect that the first question Zhou Chen asked was this.

"Yes, sir, my teacher is doing well now and is practicing in seclusion."

He knew that his teacher had a fight with someone some time ago, but he didn't know who the other party was. Since Zhou Chen asked this, he must know more than him.

"Your teacher asked you to come to the capital to kill Xiao En?"

"Sir, I know that you are good friends with Mr. Zhuang, and Xiao En is Mr. Zhuang's younger brother..."

Zhou Chen interrupted him directly: "Don't tell me these things. Xiao En has nothing to do with me. What you want to do is your business. There is no need to test me."

Hearing this, Lang Tao was slightly relieved. He had obeyed his master's order and must get rid of Sean.

But because Sean was Zhuang Mohan's younger brother and Zhou Chen was good friends with Zhuang Mohan, he came to visit today, mainly to test Zhou Chen's attitude.

Now that Zhou Chen didn't care about Sean, he was relieved. After all, he didn't want to offend a great master.

After saying this, Lang Tao didn't stay for long. After a few more polite words, he left the Zhuang Mansion.

After a few days, Sean finally died under Shen Zhong's calculations. This result was actually the best result for many people in Northern Qi.

Only Zhuang Mohan, Sean's elder brother, was silent for several days. After a few days, he cheered up again, as if everything had passed, and once again devoted himself to his great cause.

But Zhou Chen could feel that this incident was still a big blow to Zhuang Mohan, but he just didn't show it.

Sean's death did not make Fan Xian sad, but the secret Sean told him shocked him.

On the one hand, it was the truth about his mother Ye Qingmei, and on the other hand, it was the fear of Chen Pingping's calculations.

After so many years in this world, it was the first time that he had such a great fear of a person, so he had a strong fear of Chen Pingping.

At the same time, Sean's death also made him see the way to deal with Shen Zhong, so he personally went to find Sean's adopted son Shangshan Hu and planned with him to deal with Shen Zhong.

After the plan was made, Fan Xian took Shangshan Hu to the palace, met the Queen Mother, and said frankly that he would send a birthday gift to the Queen Mother, and this birthday gift was Shangshan Hu.

Fan Xian's operation confused the Queen Mother of Northern Qi and others. After the detailed explanation, the Queen Mother of Northern Qi was already shocked.

After all, Fan Xian, a foreign minister, could make the general of Northern Qi surrender. This calculation and eloquence were shocking.

After Shen Zhong learned about this, he could not sit still. Although he did not know what Fan Xian wanted to do, he still hurried into the palace.

Everyone gathered in the harem. After a confrontation, Fan Xian took the initiative to mention the smuggling cooperation, which made the queen mother very excited. Shen Zhong tried his best to persuade her. Although the queen mother was dissatisfied, she did not want to cause discord between the monarch and ministers of Qi in front of Fan Xian, a foreign minister.

Shen Zhong was very unhappy with Fan Xian's move and soon found a way to attack him. He said that Fan Xian was revered as a poet in Nanqing and had a bright future. There was really no reason for him to plan for Qi, and there was no need to ignore his bright future for the sake of a mere smuggling wealth. He must have had ulterior motives.

Fan Xian did not expect that Shen Zhong could still fight back at this time, so he did not think of an excuse at all, so his mind turned quickly, trying to find a suitable excuse.

Facing Shen Zhong's questions and the questioning of the Queen Mother of Northern Qi, he was silent for a while, and suddenly a light flashed in his mind.

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, in fact, the foreign ministers did this not for the profit of smuggling, but for selfish reasons."

"Oh, then I am very curious. If you are not smuggling gold and silver, what selfish motives do you have?"

The Queen Mother of Northern Qi was tempted by the profits of smuggling, but she also wanted to know Fan Xian's purpose, so she had to be on guard against him.