"Hehe~, Your Majesty lost again. What do you reward me this time?" In Zhao Xu's bedroom, an unparalleled girl held a chess piece in her hand, and said to Zhao Xu, who lost the chess in front of her with a clever smile.

"My beloved concubine has unparalleled chess skills. I admit defeat. As for the rewards, why don't you give me the position of queen?" Zhao Xu threw down the chess piece with a smile, half serious and half joking. The girl in front of him was his favorite beauty Liu. Some time ago, in order to choose a queen for Zhao Xu, Empress Dowager Gao entered the palace from all over the country. Meiren Liu was one of them. Moreover, her beauty was amazing and she was even the best in the harem, which made Zhao Xu particularly favor her.

"Your Majesty is not joking. If I become the queen, I can be with Your Majesty every day!" Liu Meiren's eyes lit up when she heard Zhao Xu's words. She immediately rushed to Zhao Xu and said coquettishly. The queen's candidate is very strict, with strict regulations on appearance, background, personality, etc. Although Meiren Liu is unparalleled in beauty, her origin is not very good, so the chance of being elected as the queen is very slim. However, if Zhao Xu insists, it is not impossible.

"My words are naturally a matter of words. A few days ago, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager asked me who I wanted to make the queen. I told them at that time that I wanted to make you the queen. Although the Empress Dowager later proposed that Meng Meiren had the best temperament, I insisted on making you the queen. In the future, you can wait to be my queen!" Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Cai Nu who was selected to enter the palace this time may be the candidates for the future queen, so they were all named beauties as soon as they entered the palace. When the queen was selected from them, other beauties would be immediately enthroned. However, in comparison, Zhao Xu still prefers Meiren Liu, which is not only because of the other party's beauty. In addition, Meiren Liu is versatile and lively, and is very bold in front of him, which is also the most loved by Zhao Xu.

After hearing Zhao Xu's promise, Meiren Liu couldn't help but feel happy. After all, which woman who entered the palace did not come for the position of the queen? Thinking that she could become the mother of a country in the future and thus become the mother of the world, Meiren Liu was so excited that she wanted to tremble.

However, just as Zhao Xu was talking to Liu Meiren, an eunuch hurriedly ran in and reported: "Report to Your Majesty, Prince Yue came to the palace to ask for a meeting!"

"Hey, brother is back!" Zhao Xu couldn't help but stand up excitedly when he heard that Zhao Jia had entered the palace. Some time ago, he heard that his third uncle Zhao Yan said that Zhao Jia was coming back. But he didn't expect that he would enter the palace today, which made him a little surprised. He immediately spoke, "Hurry... hurry up and Brother Xuan enters the palace!"

When he heard that Zhao Xu was going to summon others, the beautiful Liu next to him said reluctantly: "Your Majesty is usually busy with government affairs, and he finally had time to spend time with me today. Why did you have to summon others again? I think it would be better to let the Prince of Yue come again tomorrow!"

"What nonsense? My elder brother is here. How can I turn him out of the palace?" Zhao Xu couldn't help but say angrily when he heard the words of Meiren Liu. However, when he saw Meiren Liu being scolded, he immediately burst into tears. He immediately said softly in his heart, "Okay, I must see my elder brother today. You go back to the harem to rest first. I will take time to accompany you in two days!"

Zhao Xu's words finally made Meiren Liu burst into tears. In addition, she secretly remembered Zhao Jia's name in her heart and marked it with a label that she must not be provoked, because this was the first time she was scolded by Zhao Xu for others. This shows that Zhao Jia is very important in his mind. In addition, she also heard that the throne of Yue is high and powerful, and even Empress Dowager Gao was very afraid of King Yue, which made her even less afraid to underestimate the prince of Yue.

At this moment, beautiful lady Liu stepped back. After a while, she saw Zhao Jia walking into the palace with a large food box in her hand. Zhao Xu hurriedly came forward and smiled, "Brother, when did you come back? Why didn't you tell me in advance?"

"Haha, I just came back yesterday and I wanted to notify you. But my father said that you are busy with government affairs and it is not convenient to leave the palace, so I didn't tell you!" Zhao Jia walked in and put the food box in her hand on the table next to her, and then said to Zhao Xu with a smile.

"Hey, brother, you are still carrying something when you enter the palace. Could it be a gift from the south?" Zhao Xu couldn't help asking as if he saw the food box that Zhao Jia put down. As he reached out to take off the lid, Zhao Jia didn't stop him, but after Zhao Xu took off the lid, he showed a surprised expression on his face.

"Birthday cake?" When Zhao Xu saw the things in the food box, he couldn't help but scream in surprise. The cake was also circulated from the Yue Palace. Zhao Xu could see at a glance that the cake was from his third uncle Zhao Yan, because every year on his birthday, Zhao Yan would help him make birthday cakes, but today seemed not his birthday.

"Brother, who is this cake for?" Zhao Xu raised his head and asked strangely. Apart from him, only his third uncle would make cakes by himself on his birthday. However, as far as he knew, Zhao Jia and his friends' birthdays were not today, and there seemed to be no one in the palace who deserved Zhao Yan's cake to celebrate his birthday by himself.

"This cake was given to an old friend in the palace by my father. You will know who it is in a while." Zhao Jia said this and covered the cake again, then raised it to signal Zhao Xu to go out with him. Speaking of which, he is already an adult and it is not convenient to enter and exit the palace. He wanted to give this cake to the old friend of Zhao Yan, and Zhao Xu also had to lead the way.

Zhao Xu was also very curious about what kind of old friend he wanted to make cakes by his third uncle himself, and now he followed Zhao Jia out of the bedroom. Zhao Jia often entered the palace when he was a child, so he was very familiar with the layout in the palace. In addition, there was Zhao Xu around him, so there was no taboo in the palace. Finally, he walked through the numerous palaces and came to the Jingfu Hall in the northeast corner of the palace. However, this also made Zhao Xu even more strange, because most of the people living in Jingfu Hall were concubines, that is, the concubines of his father Zhao Xu. His mother, Concubine Zhu, also lived here before, but Empress Dowager Gao changed her attitude and moved away.

"Brother, my third uncle's old friend lives in Jingfu Hall?" Zhao Xu said with a strange expression at this time. This place is his father's concubine, but my third uncle made a cake and delivered it here. Could it be that he has an old relationship with any concubine?

"Don't think about it. If it was really like you thought, my father wouldn't leave this matter to me." Zhao Jia saw the expression on Zhao Xu's face, and immediately gave him a blank look. He knew what Zhao Xu was thinking without asking him.

"Hehe, this is true, but I'm a little strange. I know most of these concubines, but I haven't heard of anyone having anything to do with the third uncle?" Zhao Xu smiled shamelessly when he heard Zhao Jia's words, and then asked in confusion.

"Okay, don't you just want to ask who this cake is for? Now let me tell you that this cake is for Concubine Taishu!" Zhao Jia said with a blank look at Zhao Xu again when she heard this. After a few years, Zhao Xu has learned to be stingy. The words just now are nothing more than asking about the owner of this cake.

"Concubine Taishu? Isn't that the eldest brother's mother's concubine?" Zhao Xu was surprised when he heard this, and his eyes widened. This time, the eldest brother he mentioned was his elder brother Zhao Qi. When Zhao Xu passed away, Zhao Yan wanted to choose the person who continued the throne. Zhao Qi, the eldest son, was one of them. However, Zhao Qi's mother was Hua Zhi, which was the Dangxiang woman who rescued Zhao Xu from attacking Xixia. She was named Shufei by Zhao Xu and later became Taishu Fei. Because she was a Dangxiang native, in terms of blood, Zhao Qi was the first to line up outside the heir to the throne.

"Yes, it's Brother Yi's mother, let's go in!" Zhao Jia said and pulled Zhao Xu into Jingfu Hall. Jingfu Hall is not a separate hall, but a large-scale palace group. All concubines who died after the emperor lived here, which is equivalent to a nursing home in the palace.

Although Zhao Jia knew that Hua Zhi lived in Jingfu Palace, there were many palaces inside, and he didn't know which palace the other party lived in. Fortunately, Zhao Xu was very familiar with this place, so he took Zhao Jiaqi and finally came to a quiet palace. As soon as he arrived at the yard in front of the palace, he saw a woman in blue squatting in the yard to loosen the soil for flowers and plants. When he heard Zhao Jia and the others' footsteps, he stood up and turned his head to watch. At this time, Zhao Jia realized that the other party was actually a woman in her forties. Although she was still very slim, her face had quietly climbed onto a lot of fine lines, and her temples were a little bit gaudy, and she looked a little old.

"Why is Your Majesty free to come here?" The middle-aged woman couldn't help but show a surprised expression when she saw Zhao Xu.

"Hello, Concubine Taishu, I am here with my cousin today!" Zhao Xu immediately bowed and smiled to the other party.

However, Zhao Jia was also surprised when he heard this. He did not expect that the middle-aged woman in front of him was the Concubine Taishu he was looking for. However, he remembered that the Concubine Taishu was about the same age as his mother, but the other party was so old. On the other hand, his mother did not look old at all. Standing with his son, he looked more like a sister than a mother.

"Cousin?" Hua Zhi was stunned when she heard Zhao Xu introduce Zhao Jia, then turned her head to look at Zhao Jia. Especially when she saw the food box in Zhao Jia's hand, she immediately guessed Zhao Jia's identity. She smiled slightly and said, "It turns out that it is the Prince of Yue. In the past years, your sister or sister sent it, but I didn't expect that you would deliver it in person this year."

"Previous years?" Zhao Xu looked at Concubine Taishu in surprise when he heard this. According to the other party's words, his third uncle seemed to give this Concubine Taishu every year, but he never knew about it. This made him even more suspicious, could he really have any affair with Concubine Taishu? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!