Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 38 Uncle and Cousin
In early February, Zhao Xing's uncle and his family arrived in Bian Jing.

The government rewarded him with a house in the inner city of Bian Jing. Although it was only a dozen acres, it was very rare.

The Song Dynasty had been established for nearly a hundred years, and there were almost no vacant houses in the inner city. Many third- and fourth-rank officials in the court had to live in the outer city.

There is no other reason, I can’t buy it and I can’t afford it.

The rewarded house had been repaired and cleaned early on. When the Zhu family arrived in Bian Jing, they moved directly into the rewarded house.

On the day of arrival, before the Zhu family had even settled down, many officials in Bian Jing sent people to deliver gifts and invitations, planning to visit them in the near future.

……

When the emperor learned that the Zhu family had arrived in Bian Jing, he allowed Concubine Zhu to leave the palace to visit them the next day. Zhao Xing also got a day off to accompany his mother.

When Concubine Zhu knew that her brother and his family were coming to Bian Jing, she prepared a lot of gifts. After getting permission, she packed up the gifts early and left the palace with her son early the next morning.

Along the way, Concubine Zhu was very happy and excited. It had been more than ten years since she entered the palace. Apart from correspondence with her family, the only time her brother and sister-in-law came to visit her was when Zhao Xing was just born.

Zhao Xing sat in front of his mother, but he was not that happy.

Zhao Xing had heard that when the Zhu family arrived in Bian Jing yesterday, many people came to give gifts.

This matter is not a big deal, but as his uncle, he should avoid suspicion at this time. However, his uncle accepted all the gifts and visiting cards sent to him.

When dynasties changed in ancient times, they liked to learn from the shortcomings of the previous dynasty and formulate some rules and regulations to prevent them.

However, there have been many cases in history where foreign relatives have monopolized power, and even seized the throne, but successive dynasties still love to use foreign relatives.

This is because of the needs of imperial power, which requires external relatives to balance the various forces in the court.

The wealth and prosperity of the maternal relatives are all due to the emperor. If they want to prosper forever, they must maintain the imperial power.

Moreover, it is very easy to promote relatives by marriage and give them high positions, just like Zhao Xing's uncle, who didn't even pass the imperial examination, but in just a few years he went from being a county magistrate to a fourth-rank censor.

If this happened to someone else, many people in the court would definitely oppose it, because the court has its own promotion system, and even the emperor cannot do anything too outrageous.

But when such a thing happens to relatives by marriage, no one objects, as if it is the way it should be.

Zhao Xing is going to be the emperor in the future. The civil officials are the dominant ones in the Song Dynasty. Although these people are not of the same mind, they will stick together when their common interests are touched.

Naturally, he also thought about supporting his relatives by marriage to check and balance the civil servants.

However, if the relatives by marriage are used well, they can help consolidate the imperial power like Huo Qubing and Wei Qing. If they are used poorly, they can lead to the downfall of the country like Wang Mang and He Jin.

In the past, he had mostly heard about his uncle's affairs, but after all, they were far away, and Zhao Xing had no idea how much truth there was in the stories that reached Bian Jing.

Therefore, although he was somewhat disappointed with his uncle, he still held out some hope.

However, his uncle's behavior after arriving in Bian Jing yesterday had made Zhao Xing completely disappointed in him.

Although he had decided not to use his uncle in the future, Zhao Xing could not let him do whatever he wanted. He was still thinking about how to teach him a lesson and make him behave himself.

While Zhao Xing was daydreaming, the carriage stopped.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, we've arrived." said the eunuch accompanying the carriage.

The palace maid lifted the curtain and Zhao Xing got off the carriage first.

When he leaned out, he saw a plump middle-aged man and a woman, along with several young boys and girls, waiting at the door with their heads bent.

Seeing Zhao Xing coming out, they all said in unison: "Greetings, Your Highness!"

"Uncle and aunt, you are really embarrassing me. Please stop being polite, or my mother will scold me."

Zhao Xing hurriedly stepped on the stool and got off the carriage, then went forward to help his uncle up.

"Brother, sister-in-law!"

Concubine Zhu, who got off the car later, shouted in an excited tone.

"Greetings to the imperial concubine!"

Zhu Shiquan led his family to pay their respects again.

"Brother and sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Concubine Zhu scolded. "Haha, etiquette cannot be abolished." Zhu Shiquan smiled.

"Is this Brother Yu?"

Concubine Zhu looked at a young man of about eighteen or nineteen years old behind her eldest brother and said with some nostalgia: "When I left home, I had just learned to walk, and in the blink of an eye I have grown up so big."

Her eldest nephew was born when she was at home, and she never saw him since then.

"Your Majesty, it's Jing Yu." Aunt Sun replied quickly.

"Jingyu greets Her Majesty!" Zhu Jingyu hurried forward to pay his respects.

"Why call her Madam? Call her Aunt." Concubine Zhu said with some displeasure.

Zhu Jingyu looked at his mother and saw her nod slightly. He bowed again and said, "Hello, aunt."

Concubine Zhu nodded in satisfaction, called Zhao Xing over, and said, "Fuer, this is your eldest cousin."

"Hello, cousin!" Zhao Xing bowed.

Zhu Jingyu quickly responded: "Your Highness..."

"Cousin."

Zhao Xing interrupted Zhu Jingyu with a smile and said, "My mother and I are here to visit relatives today. Cousin, there is no need to be so distant!"

"Yes, we are all family, there is no need to be estranged, Yu brother." Concubine Zhu said with a smile.

Zhu Jingyu hesitated for a moment after hearing this, and then called him cousin.

"Is this Brother Yuan?"

Concubine Zhu pointed at another boy about fourteen or fifteen and asked.

Zhu Shiquan had three sons and one daughter. When Concubine Zhu entered the palace, only Zhu Jingyu was born, and she had never seen the others.

However, Zhu Shiquan told her everything in the letter, and she remembered the names and ages of his nephews and nieces very clearly.

Among them, the second son and the fourth son were both born out of wedlock, and their names were Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Jingyan respectively.

One of them was fifteen years old and the other just ten years old.

The only daughter is the third child, born of a legitimate wife, and is eleven years old this year.

After recognizing everyone one by one, Zhu Shiquan and Sun invited Zhao Xing and his mother in.

Arriving at the main hall, Zhu Shiquan asked his sister and nephew to sit up, but Zhao Xing refused and sat down at the lower left.

Concubine Zhu and her brother sat in the main seats, while Sun and a few children sat down on the right.

After expressing her longing for him, Concubine Zhu looked at her nephew and said with a smile, "Brother Yu is not young anymore, has he decided on a marriage yet?"

"No, before in Quanzhou, many people were interested in marrying into our family, but your sister-in-law insisted on waiting until he passed the imperial examination before arranging a marriage for him." Zhu Shiquan's tone was a little angry.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xing looked at his aunt Sun in surprise. From what his uncle said, he was willing, but his aunt firmly refused.

After passing the imperial examination, one can discuss marriage in order to marry someone from a high-class family with a good in-law family, which will help one's future.

This is exactly what Old Madam Sheng did in the beginning, even at the cost of offending her own family.

However, as the Zhu family is his maternal family, any family that wants to marry into the Zhu family must be of high status.

Under such circumstances, Sun still refused to agree. It seemed that this aunt was sober.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Zhu said, "Sister-in-law, Yu Ge'er is the eldest son of the family. He is already nineteen years old, and it is time for him to get married. Taking the imperial examination will not hinder him from getting married, right?"

"Your Majesty is right. Yu'er failed the provincial examination twice. I also intend to arrange a marriage for him. However, I haven't found the right one yet. As his aunt, Your Majesty will have to put in some effort." Sun said with a smile.

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(End of this chapter)