The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chen Tong knew very well that if either of these two people gave him a little encouragement, he would be set for life.

"Then I'll trouble Eunuch Chen to take good care of it for me from now on."

Zhou Chu patted Chen Tong on the shoulder and said.

Zhou Chu was not opposed to eunuchs who were eager to climb the social ladder.

As long as one wants to climb the social ladder and has great ambitions, one will do everything in one's power to do good for oneself and the emperor.

Those in high positions are never afraid of people who have desires; what they fear most are people who have no desires.

"Please rest assured, sir, I will take good care of your precious child every day from now on."

Chen Tong smiled broadly.

Zhou Chu took out a piece of silver and casually tossed it to Chen Tong, who quickly caught it with both hands, looking rather comical.

However, Zhou Chu knew very well that Chen Tong was doing this on purpose. The more ridiculous and helpless the subordinates were in front of their superiors, the more accomplished the superiors would feel.

After leaving the Imperial Horse Stables, Zhou Chu looked at Huang Jin beside him.

"Please convey my message to His Majesty: Thank you for the gift. I really like this horse."

"Rest assured, Lord Zhou, I will certainly convey your message."

Huang Jin said with a slightly respectful tone.

After saying goodbye to Huang Jin, Zhou Chu went home.

At this time, both the Zhou and Lu families experienced a dramatic change in their circumstances.

The Lu family, in particular, has had their doorstep practically worn down by people trying to pull strings.

Because of Zhou Chu and Lu Bing, and because Yang was Jiajing's wet nurse, Lu Song won without any effort and rose to the rank of commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He didn't even have the title of "Deputy," he was a proper commander of a thousand households, a fifth-rank official.

Although the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was only a fifth-rank official, even officials of the third rank had to greet Lu Song politely and dare not offend him.

Even though Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was only a third-rank official, he was already at the pinnacle of power. No official in the court, including Yang Tinghe, dared to ignore Zhou Chu.

That's truly a meteoric rise.

However, news of Zhou Chu's appointment as commander had not yet spread, so there were not many people at Zhou Chu's door.

Occasionally, someone who somehow found out about the relationship between Zhou Chu, Lu Bing, and Lu Song would try to get close to Lu Song or Lu Bing through Zhou Chu.

Those who came to establish connections were mostly members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but a small number were also officials.

Officials who could establish connections with the Embroidered Uniform Guard were mostly not upright individuals; they were people who didn't care much about their reputation.

After all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was notorious in the eyes of those civil officials.

When Zhou Chu returned home, he saw Lu Wei reading in his yard.

"Second brother, you are back."

Lu Wei seemed very happy to see Zhou Chu.

Six months ago, Lu Wei returned to his hometown in Hubei to participate in the county and prefectural examinations. He did well in both, ranking first in the county examination and third in the prefectural examination.

Lu Wei is now a scholar who has passed the county-level imperial examination and is preparing for the provincial-level examination. However, the Lu family is currently too noisy to study, so Lu Wei has gone to Zhou Chu's house to hide away.

Zhou Chu knew very well that Lu Wei was originally academically inclined, but he had just been unruly in the past.

In the original history, Lu Wei rose to the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices through the imperial examination.

"Second brother, the teacher just arrived."

Lu Wei said with a complicated expression.

Both Zhou Chu and Lu Wei had mixed feelings about Master Yang.

If it weren't for Master Yang, Zhou and Chu wouldn't have become Tang Bohu's disciples.

Moreover, Master Yang did his best for the two of them at the time.

However, after the Lu family's incident, Master Yang lost contact with them and never even came to see Zhou Chu once in all these years.

It is human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm, and Zhou Chu could understand that.

But despite his understanding, Zhou Chu was not a generous person.

“His mother’s attitude towards him wasn’t very good either; the teacher scolded him severely.”

Lu Wei added.

Zhou Chu knew that the teacher Lu Wei was talking about was Tang Bohu.

Compared to Master Yang, Tang Bohu regarded Zhou Chu as both a teacher and a father. When the Lu family encountered trouble, Zhou Chu came to him for help.

At that time, Zhou Chu also felt helpless, after all, he had just come from a comfortable environment and knew nothing about the future.