"Uncle San, you are finally here. You must help me this time!" Zhao Xu immediately shouted to him with a sad face when he saw Zhao Yan coming in. Three years have passed, and Zhao Xu has grown into a seventeen-year-old young man. His appearance looks very similar to Zhao Xu, but he is a little less steady than Zhao Xu. His personality and temperament are a bit similar to Zhao Yan.

"What's going on? You've already taken charge of the government now. What else can you not solve?" Zhao Yan smiled and sat down. Although Zhao Xu had not really taken charge of the government, since Empress Dowager Gao was seriously ill, all government affairs could only be carried out by him. In addition, he has been in the Political Affairs Hall in the past few years, so he is very skilled in handling government affairs. The ministers in the court also had a very high evaluation of him, thinking that Zhao Xu would definitely become a promising king in the future.

"Uncle San, taking power does not mean that I will take charge of everything. For example, although the empress dowager was seriously ill this time, she actually wanted to choose a queen for me, and she also received the support of Empress Dowager Xiang and my mother. Now this matter has been decided. I guess someone will be selected to enter the palace tomorrow. At that time, one of the empresses who will be my husband will be selected from these women. What should you do about this matter?" Zhao Xu said anxiously at this time.

However, when Zhao Yan heard this, she looked at Zhao Xu strangely, then touched the beard on her chin and asked in confusion: "Xu'er, I remember when you were only eleven or twelve years old, I asked me to help you change the old palace maids around you with young and beautiful palace maids. Now the empress dowager and the others are going to choose a queen for you. Isn't this a good thing? What else can I do?"

When Zhao Xu heard the third uncle mention his past embarrassing things, he couldn't help but feel a little amused, but he quickly said with a sad face: "Uncle San, how can the palace maids be compared with the queen? The palace maids who serve you can change at any time. But the queen is a person who wants to live with me for the rest of her life. How can she choose a woman and let her be my queen?"

"It seems that you are unwilling to hand over your marriage to the Queen Mother and the others. Then I'll ask you. Do you have any women you like?" Zhao Yan finally understood what Zhao Xu was thinking, but he did not agree to Zhao Xu's request for help. Instead, he asked back.

"Happy... the woman you like?" However, Zhao Yan's question made Zhao Xu look bitter again, "Uncle San, don't you know me yet? You usually come to you except the palace. Although you are very close to the girls' school, I have never been there at all, and I have never met any women. How could there be a woman you like?"

"Look, you don't have a woman you like, and you are not young anymore. You are indeed at the age of becoming a queen. In addition, the queen's illness is so serious. To put it bluntly, maybe you may never be able to open your eyes one day. So she wants to make a queen for you in the end so that she can leave with peace of mind. So if you agree to this matter, it is a filial act. In this way, what reason do you have to refuse?" Zhao Yan said again at this time.

"But...but..." Although Zhao Xu felt that what Zhao Yan said seemed to make sense, he was still a little reluctant to settle the marriage so easily. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a reason to refute, so he could only lower his head dejectedly.

Although Zhao Xu couldn't speak it, Zhao Yan actually understood his state of mind very well. It was nothing more than a young man of Zhao Xu's age who still had some romantic fantasies about love and marriage. However, now he needs to obey the arrangements of his elders and let an almost strange woman be his wife. Therefore, Zhao Xu was a little unwilling and instinctively rejected.

"Xu'er, people always have to get married. And it's nothing bad to be arranged by elders. Look, your aunt and I are also arranged by elders. But the relationship between us and our husband is very good. We have never quarreled for so many years after getting married. And I believe that with the eyes of the Queen Mother and others, we will definitely help you choose a gentle and virtuous woman to be the queen." Zhao Yan advised again at this time that free love is not popular at all in this era, and Zhao Xu does not have the conditions for free love, so Zhao Yan could only persuade him to accept reality.

"Uncle San? Can I really only accept the arrangement of my marriage with the Queen Mother and the others?" Zhao Xu finally smiled bitterly when he heard this. Although he was repaying his grudges, he actually felt a little bit accepting his fate.

"This is also impossible. Speaking of which, your father was like this at the beginning. He was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged by your grandfather and the queen mother, so he insisted on choosing it himself. He almost turned against your grandfather. I said all the good things in the middle, and this finally solved this matter. But you are different from your father. At least your father had a woman he liked at that time, but you didn't even have a woman he liked. How could I help you?" Zhao Yan spread his hands at this time.

"This...I..." Zhao Xu was speechless again when he heard this. After all, he was blamed for not finding a woman he liked in advance, but this made some sense. Think about his elder brother Zhao Jia, who has been with his fiancée Yang Yan since he was a child, and his childhood sweetheart is enviable.

"Okay, although the Queen Mother and the others choose the queen for you, this is not something that can be selected in a day or two. In advance, they will definitely choose a group of girls who pick them into the palace, and then spend a while with them to choose women with good character and appearance from them. In the end, you will definitely need to choose from these women yourself, so don't worry, the final choice is still in your hands." Zhao Yan said again at this time. The process of these first queens or princesses was decided by Zhao Xu before his birth. At that time, he spent a lot of effort to choose the princess himself.

When Zhao Xu heard the above words, he felt a little better. After all, the queen's final decision was still in his hands, which made him feel that in this marriage, he didn't have to watch.

Seeing that Zhao Xu seemed to have figured it out, Zhao Yan comforted him a few more words, but at this time, Zhao Xu seemed to think of another thing, and suddenly said: "Uncle Third, the Empress Dowager's condition is coming in a fierce manner this time, and I'm afraid it's a little bad, but during this period, the Second Uncle ran to the palace every day. Do you see if he has any intention?"

When Zhao Xu spoke at the end, his two long sword eyebrows also frowned slightly. He used to feel that Zhao Hao was good to him, but as he grew older, he also noticed Zhao Hao's ambitions, which made him increasingly dissatisfied with Zhao Hao. Especially during this period, Empress Dowager Gao was seriously ill, and Zhao Hao frequently went to the palace to show his attention to Empress Dowager Gao. Although it was natural for his son to take care of his mother, Zhao Xu always felt that Zhao Hao's purpose was not so simple.

Thinking of his ambitious second brother, Zhao Yan also had a headache. He rubbed his forehead in distress and then said, "You don't have to worry about your second uncle's affairs. No matter how hard he is, the empress dowager will not support him. In fact, as early as the Empress Dowager's serious illness in the third year, the empress dowager was willing to return the government to you, but she herself did not expect that she would recover, so she made you wait for another three years."

"Really, the Queen Mother was preparing to return the power to me three years ago?" Zhao Xu couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard this. This was the first time he had heard of this.

"Yes, the Empress Dowager was worried that I would not support you in power, so she specially tested me for this. It was then that I realized that the Empress Dowager was actually like me and was willing to see you in power. It was just that you were too young, so the Empress Dowager was a little worried." Zhao Yan continued to explain at this time. It was logical that Zhao Hao should have given up three years ago, but he didn't expect that he had not given up yet. Being able to have such perseverance is one of his few advantages.

"I didn't expect that my grandmother had such a plan. I... I blamed her wrongly before." Zhao Xu was also moved when he heard this. The relationship between him and Empress Dowager Gao was not very harmonious, which is also well-known. The main contradiction between the two was in governance. Zhao Xu always believed that Empress Dowager Gao was in control of the government and had no intention of returning power to him at all. However, now after hearing Zhao Yan's account, he realized that he had blamed Empress Dowager Gao for wrongly.

Seeing Zhao Xu's look of self-blame, Zhao Yan stepped forward and patted his shoulder. At this time, he also realized that Zhao Xu was almost as tall as himself, which made him sigh and said with some emotion: "Xu'er, the Empress Dowager is a very complicated person. It is certain that each of us is very complicated. It is impossible to simply define it with 'good' and 'bad'. Even your second uncle is the same. Don't just think he is hateful. In fact, in my opinion, he sometimes seems pitiful, so if we want to truly understand a person, we need to look at it more than a few more angles. You may not understand this principle, but it doesn't matter. When you get a few years older, you will slowly understand the meaning of these words!"

"Thank you for your teachings from Uncle San. My nephew will always remember them!" Zhao Xu also bowed to Zhao Yan when he heard this. Over the years, he studied with Zhao Yan. Almost all of his outlook on life and worldview were established by Zhao Yan. Therefore, he also respected and admired Zhao Yan very much. In a sense, Zhao Yan has even replaced the role of his father in his life.

"Just remember, the Queen Mother's illness is so serious, and the burden on you must be very heavy. However, if you have time, you still need to go to the Queen Mother's place more. Even if you take a look and say something, the Queen Mother can feel your filial piety!" Zhao Yan reminded again at this time.

"My nephew understands!" Zhao Xu said again.

Seeing Zhao Xu's appearance, Zhao Yan nodded with satisfaction. Then he thought of Zhao Jia's marriage and said with a smile: "By the way, the queen mother is going to choose a queen for you. It just so happened that the marriage between your elder brother and the girl of the Yang family should be done. Just now, your aunt and I told you to let your elder brother come back during the Chinese New Year to get married. Maybe you brothers can get married together by then."
Chapter completed!