Happy life in the world of film and television

Chapter 1601 "God of War Zhao Zilong" - Xiahou Qingyi
"Not long." Cai Wenji had gone to see Tang Ying earlier, and although she hadn't seen Tang Ying, she knew that Jiang Chen had already arrived. And since Jiang Chen was here, he would definitely come to her room, so she bathed and changed early to wait.

"Have you already taken a shower?" Jiang Chen asked.

"Mm." Cai Wenji nodded gently.

Jiang Chen embraced Cai Wenji and began to grope her.

"Husband, you're in too much of a hurry." Even so, Cai Wenji still moved to a more convenient spot for Jiang Chen.

"Isn't it because I miss you too much?" Jiang Chen asked.

“It’s the dead of winter outside, is my husband cold?” Cai Wenji said with a smile.

“Yes, I want to warm my hands.” Jiang Chen’s hand had already entered Cai Wenji’s collar, and then slithered inside like a snake.

Of course, although it is January now, Jiang Chen is a Martial God Realm expert, how could he be cold?
“An excuse.” Cai Wenji rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen.

“Wenji thinks it’s an excuse, but do you know what I want to do?” Jiang Chen whispered in Cai Wenji’s ear.

“How would I know…” Cai Wenji’s face flushed slightly.

Although she knew what Jiang Chen wanted to do, she couldn't say it.

Or perhaps it's a woman's reserve that prevents her from saying it.

"You really don't know?" Jiang Chen used her actions to show Cai Wenji what she wanted to do next.

"My lord, you should take a bath first," Cai Wenji said.

"Then help me," Jiang Chen asked.

Cai Wenji nodded slightly.

Serving her husband during his bath was the most normal thing in Cai Wenji's eyes.

At that moment, Jiang Chen picked up Cai Wenji and carried her to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Cai Wenji had already instructed her maids to prepare hot water.

"Husband, put me down," Cai Wenji said.

"Okay." Jiang Chen put Cai Wenji down.

Cai Wenji stood in front of Jiang Chen and began to untie his belt.

“Together.” Jiang Chen looked at Cai Wenji with a smile.

"I've already washed." Cai Wenji glanced down and suddenly felt her mouth was a little dry.

"Is it pretty?" Jiang Chen asked.

"What? I don't know." Cai Wenji's beautiful eyes flickered.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, we…” Jiang Chen untied Cai Wenji’s belt.

Cai Wenji rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen, but cooperated perfectly.

Soon, laughter filled the bathroom.

……

The next day, Jiang Chen summoned Mi Zhu, Zhen Yan, and Wei Zi.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Mi Zhu and the other two bowed.

"Get up." Jiang Chen's gaze fell on Mi Zhu.

Unlike Mi Zhu, whom I met at the Mi residence last night, Mi Zhu was dressed in fine clothes. Although he was a merchant, he had the air of a gentry. The difference was that Mi Zhu had the shrewdness of a merchant.

The situation of Zhen Yan and Wei Zi next to them was similar to that of Mi Zhu.

"Yes," Mi Zhu and the other two replied, standing up.

“Mi Zhu…”

Jiang Chen and Mi Zhu started chatting.

Jiang Chen's purpose in gathering wealthy merchants like Mi Zhu was actually quite simple.

That is to utilize their resources and channels to accelerate economic recovery.

A year ago, even if Jiang Chen were the emperor, people like Mi Zhu wouldn't have chosen him. But things are different now. Jiang Chen now commands an army of over 100,000, and he has almost finished dealing with the warlords in the Central Plains.

In this situation, even if someone is dissatisfied with the emperor, they will not show it openly.

For Jiang Chen, that was enough.

The Mi family, the Zhen family, the Wei family, and the Jiang family could form the new four great wealthy merchants of the Eastern Han Dynasty, absorbing merchants and small and medium-sized gentry to fight against those large families and gentry.

Finally, Jiang Chen gave one spot each to the Mi, Zhen, and Wei families to enter the palace.

Jiang Chen's goal was simple: to bring the three families closer together through a marriage alliance.

An hour later, Mi Zhu, Zhen Yan, and Wei Zi left.

"Is Your Majesty preparing to hold a talent show?" Bi Nan came out from behind.

"No." Jiang Chen shook his head.

"Not a talent show?" Everyone knows that as long as Jiang Chen is an emperor, he will hold a talent show, especially in the Qing Dynasty. They have already selected nearly two hundred beauties. So, when I heard Jiang Chen give each of Mi Zhu's families a spot to enter the palace, I thought Jiang Chen wanted to hold a talent show.

"No." Jiang Chen's attitude was firm.

In the Han Dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the first and second emperors successively established a set of standard rules for selecting imperial concubines. In addition to age and beauty requirements, the selection also stipulated the location: the selection should be carried out in the capital Luoyang and the surrounding countryside. The candidates should come from good families, be of legal appearance, be virtuous and talented, and their every move should conform to the norms of court etiquette and they should not make any transgressions or violations.

A "good family girl" refers to a woman from a respectable family. It is acceptable if her hometown is in Luoyang or the surrounding countryside, but she must be a "legal person," possess both virtue and talent, and her behavior must conform to court etiquette. She must not make any inappropriate or transgressive remarks. These are actually "female virtues." However, "female virtues" exclude ordinary women from common families from the selection of imperial concubines. Those who are illiterate and do not understand female virtues are basically not recognized by society.

The goddess Zhen Mi once said, "I have heard that virtuous women of the past all learned from the successes and failures of their predecessors, taking them as a warning to themselves. How can one learn this without reading?"

This demonstrates that educational resources were scarce and knowledge was expensive in the Han Dynasty, monopolized by the upper class. Commoner women lagged far behind women from aristocratic families in competition for female virtues, or more accurately, educational resources. It wasn't simply a matter of a beautiful young girl entering the palace as a concubine.

To put it bluntly, the Han Dynasty's system of selecting imperial concubines was intended for beautiful young women from the families of court officials, aristocratic families, and meritorious officials. The goal was to select elegant and dignified young ladies to serve the emperor in the palace, because only prominent families and families of officials and meritorious officials could provide their children with a good educational environment and a complete set of upper-class etiquette, manners, knowledge, and rules through verbal instruction and personal example.

However, this system of selecting concubines actually reflects the relative weakness of the Han imperial power. With powerful clans dominating the Han state, the emperor chose to marry into noble families and families of meritorious officials to form alliances of interests, protect the imperial power, and maintain the dynasty's rule.

Therefore, the imperial concubines of the Han Dynasty were not intended for poor girls to rise from poverty to wealth.

There may have been a few young ladies from low-class wealthy families who met the requirements for being selected as imperial concubines and entered the harem. Even during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, in order to satisfy his own pleasure, the emperor expanded the harem to five or six thousand women. As long as one was beautiful, regardless of family background or talent, as long as one pleased the emperor, it was not impossible to be selected to enter the palace and become the emperor's favorite concubine. However, it was not so easy for one to rise from the emperor's favorite concubine to the throne of empress.

In the later years of Emperor Huan of Han, he favored a concubine named Tian Sheng and intended to promote her to empress. However, this was strongly opposed by officials such as Grand Commandant Chen Fan and Commandant of the Capital Region Ying Feng. They believed that Tian Sheng was of humble origin and should not be promoted to empress. Under the insistence of Chen Fan, Ying Feng and other officials, Emperor Huan of Han finally made Dou Miao, whom he did not favor, empress. This was because Dou Miao came from a prestigious family and was a descendant of Dou Rong, a founding meritorious official, just like Empress Dou of Emperor Zhang of Han.

It can be said that before He Shi became empress, all empresses of the Han Dynasty were selected from prominent official families. The empresses of the Han Dynasty were actually selected from a closed royal marriage network composed of powerful families of founding heroes.

At the beginning of Emperor Ling's reign, Dou Wu, a general from the powerful Dou clan of Fufeng, actually collaborated with Chen Fan and other scholar-officials in an attempt to completely drive the eunuch clique out of the center of the imperial power stage. This ultimately triggered the Xinhai Coup in September of the first year of Jianning. The Xinhai Coup ended with a great victory for the eunuch clique, but it made the eunuch clique, which had been growing in power during the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, deeply wary and worried about the empress and her relatives from powerful families.

The eunuch faction also repeatedly instilled in the then-teen-year-old Emperor Ling of Han the threat posed to the emperor's power by empresses dowager and generals from powerful families such as Empress Dowager Deng, Empress Dowager Liang, Dou Xian, and Liang Ji. This planted deep fear and suspicion in Emperor Ling's heart about establishing women from powerful families as empresses of the empire.

Empress Song, the first empress of Emperor Ling of Han, became empress because it was a compromise between Emperor Ling, the eunuch faction, the scholar-officials, and other forces.

In terms of family background, Empress Song's family, the Song clan of Fufeng, was not as prominent as the Yin, Deng, Dou, Ma, and Liang clans, but it was still a well-known and prestigious family. The reason why the Song woman was chosen as empress was that she was neither particularly prominent nor a major threat to the eunuchs; she had a certain family background and prestige, which met the perception of the bureaucrats and officials that an empress should come from a prestigious family. Emperor Ling of Han also hoped that the new empress would have a certain family background, so that she could be a kind of help to the young emperor who was weak at the time, but not so much as a woman from a prominent family like the Dou and Liang clans who would pose a significant threat to the imperial power. Thus, with the compromise of all parties, the Song woman was made empress.

This, to some extent, foreshadowed the tragic fate of Empress Song, who was later deposed, because she was made empress through compromise among various forces, and neither Emperor Ling of Han nor the eunuchs were truly satisfied with her.

From the perspective of powerful eunuchs, they preferred to support commoner women of low birth and without a prominent family background to ascend to the position of empress. This was because empresses and their families of commoner origin did not have the natural sense of superiority or aversion towards eunuchs that aristocratic families possessed. Women from commoner families also lacked strength. If they wanted to become empress, they had to rely on the strong support of powerful eunuchs. Because of their low birth, they had no connections, foundation, or capital to compete with the eunuch group. They could only cooperate with the eunuchs. In fact, this was an attempt by eunuchs to lead the reconstruction of the alliance between eunuchs, maternal relatives, and the inner court, choosing to support an empress and her maternal relatives of low birth.

It was because of He Shi that Liu Biancai married Tang Ying.

Tang Ying's father was Tang Mao.

Tang Mao belonged to the Yingchuan Tang clan. Although this clan did not become a powerful maternal relative during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was a local gentry family, whose members included Tang Mao, the governor of Kuaiji, and Tang Xiang, the governor of Danyang. The Yingchuan Tang clan was not a prominent maternal relative family in the Eastern Han Dynasty, not reaching the same status as the Dou or Liang clans, but it belonged to the local gentry class. Its members held various local official positions; for example, Tang Mao once served as governor of Kuaiji, and his younger brother Tang Xiang later served as governor of Danyang. Jiang Chen has now succeeded Liu Bian, and Tang Ying is already under his control. Naturally, he will not depose Tang Ying.

However, Jiang Chen did not want to participate in the talent show in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jiang Chen only wanted Tang Ying, Diao Chan, Fu Shou, Cai Wenji, Li Feiyan, Liu Qing'er, and the Qiao sisters.

But you don't need a talent show to get these people.

Jiang Chen didn't want any of those who hadn't received an education.

Therefore, Jiang Chen does not need to participate in the talent show.

“Alright, but if we don’t choose any of the women from those wealthy and powerful families, they might band together when we’re implementing reforms,” Bi Nan said.

"Let's wait until they unite," Jiang Chen said.

"Wait until they unite before you talk about it?" Bi Nan was taken aback for a moment, then said, "You want to use this to break their alliance when they unite?"

"Correct."

Jiang Chen nodded and said, "As long as we hurt them, we only need to send them a message, and they will come to us on their own."

“That’s true.” Bi Nan nodded.

"What I'm most worried about now is that the Mi family, the Zhen family, and the Wei family won't be able to withstand the pressure from those powerful and influential families," Jiang Chen said.

"Would those powerful and influential families take action against these three families?" Bi Nan was slightly taken aback.

"Correct."

Jiang Chen nodded: "The reason why families like the Mi family were able to become wealthy merchants is probably because they attached themselves to those powerful and influential families. Even if I extend an olive branch in the name of the emperor, the Mi family may not be of one mind."

"They definitely won't be of one mind." Wherever there are two people, there is a world of intrigue, let alone a family.

"I'll leave the rest to you," Jiang Chen said to Bi Nan.

“Okay.” Bi Nan did not refuse.

"By the way, why are you up so early today?" After sleeping with Cai Wenji yesterday, Jiang Chen went to Bi Nan's room. Given his strength, Bi Nan should be resting now.

"Isn't it because I have something to take care of?" Bi Nan rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen.

If she didn't have something to take care of, why would she get up?

I'm up now, and I'll go back and rest for a bit when I have time.

"Really? Then I'll talk to you about it later?" Jiang Chen said with a smile.

"Husband, why do you think about these things all day long?" Bi Nan glared at Jiang Chen, annoyed.

"Isn't this good? Aren't I taking care of you all?" Jiang Chen now has many women around him, so naturally he can't have feelings for every single one of them. However, doing some things often leads to better feelings.

“An excuse.” Bi Nan rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen chuckled and waved to Bi Nan.

Bi Nan came to stand in front of Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen reached out and pulled Bi Nan into his arms.

“Your Majesty…” Bi Nan looked at Jiang Chen and said, “The way you are right now gives me the feeling that you’re having an affair or something…”

"Snapped!"

Jiang Chen slapped Bi Nan on the butt: "What did you say?"

"Who told you to disguise yourself?" Bi Nan pouted and said.

Because of his travels to several worlds, Bi Nan is actually in his forties.

However, Bi Nan looks to be only in his early twenties.

Therefore, even when Bi Nan acts coquettishly, it doesn't seem out of place.

Jiang Chen smiled.

However, in Jiang Chen's view, disguise is just role-playing.

Half an hour later, Jiang Chen left the palace, intending to visit the Jiang residence in Luoyang.

This time, in cooperation with the Mi family and the other two families, they will also go to the Jiang family to inquire about information. Therefore, Jiang Chen went to the Jiang residence to meet them in his own name.

However, before Jiang Chen even arrived at the Jiang residence, he saw a beautiful figure walking towards him from a distance.

"is her?"

Jiang Chen's gaze sharpened.

Almost simultaneously, a system notification sounded.

"Sign in."

Jiang Chen silently recited in his heart.

[Congratulations, host! You have successfully checked in and obtained a second-tier, low-grade spiritual vein.]

"A second-tier low-grade spiritual vein?"

"This is the twentieth time I've checked in."

"A first-grade low-level spiritual vein is the lowest level of spiritual vein. A second-grade low-level spiritual vein is the second lowest level of spiritual vein."

"A first-grade low-level spiritual vein can produce one hundred low-level spirit stones a year, while a second-grade low-level spiritual vein can produce four hundred low-level spirit stones a year."

"This is good stuff."

"The Jiang family needs such a spiritual vein to build a system for obtaining spiritual stone resources."

At that moment, Jiang Chen looked at the female lead who had signed in.

Xiahou Qingyi is a character in the TV series "God of War Zhao Zilong".

In the drama, she was born into the wealthy Xiahou family, the daughter of Xiahou Jie, the governor of Changshan County. Intelligent and kind, she was a well-known young lady in the area, a naive girl raised in her chambers, and unaware of the ways of the world. Dissatisfied with the marriage arranged by her family, she ran away from home. On her escape, she met Zhao Yun, a man of great justice, and then clung to him, following him to various places. During their time together, the two became a pair of bickering but endearing lovers.

"Xiahou Qingyi from 'God of War Zhao Zilong'?"

Why did she come to Luoyang?

In the drama, Xiahou Qingyi, the daughter of Xiahou Jie, the governor of Changshan County, not only possesses stunning beauty but also a cheerful personality. Xiahou Qingyi has no romantic feelings for Gao Ze, with whom she grew up, and secretly slips away with her maid, Shi Yan.

During the battle of Tiger Tooth Mountain, Zhao Zilong bravely rescued her, and from then on, she fell deeply in love with this valiant general. However, Gao Ze's framing led Qingyi to mistakenly believe that Zhao Zilong was the murderer of her father, plunging her into confusion and grief.

Fortunately, a chance encounter revealed the truth: Gao Ze was the mastermind behind the murder of Xiahou Jie and the subsequent framing of Zhao Zilong, aiming to incite Xiahou Qingyi's hatred for Zhao Zilong. Upon learning the truth, Xiahou Qingyi, in an attempt to protect Zhao Zilong, was tragically assassinated by Gao Ze. Before her death, she recalled their time together in the Valley of Death, reflecting on how fortunate she was to have met Zhao Zilong and deeply loved him, while her greatest regret was that she had harbored resentment towards him at the end of her life. Thankfully, in her final moments, she finally uncovered the truth and reunited with her beloved Zhao Zilong. In her dying moments, Qingyi made a request to Zhao Zilong, hoping that after his death she would not be buried in a dark grave; she wished to transform into countless drifting catkins, high above, to guard her beloved general.

Xiahou Qingyi is skilled with dual swords and possesses special moves such as "Wind and Grass". His skills include combo moves such as "Swallows in Pairs", which can quickly defeat enemies.

"Now that Xiahou Qingyi has come to Luoyang, could it be to elope?"

Has the story begun?

"Is it because of Zhao Zilong?"

Jiang Chen recalled the plot involving Xiahou Qingyi.

A moment later, Jiang Chen walked towards Xiahou Qingyi.