Extra 10 Grandma 3
Zhou Yun'an's plan was slowly being realized. In the fifth year of Kaiyao, the empress seemed to have finally discovered his feelings and accepted him. He became a close minister to the emperor, but what this close minister was about to do was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"Why not?"
The empress's old voice echoed in Zhou Yun'an's ears. Zhou Yun'an immediately came back to his senses and lowered his eyes and said, "Yes."
"Then help me bathe and go to bed."
Zhou Yun'an appeared obedient and helped Xiao Yuluan walk towards the inner hall, but his heart was beating fast.
To be honest, he didn't expect that the empress had such a need. After all, the empress was already sixty-eight years old this year. He imagined that the close ministers would prefer to have emotional intimacy with the empress rather than physical intimacy.
Xiao Yuluan's eyes were always looking forward, but she could still see the young man walking beside her from the corner of her eye. At thirty years old, he was much younger than her. He had fair and smooth skin, a handsome face, and a tall stature. He was a truly handsome man.
She knew he wasn't telling the truth. Who would really like her, an old woman who was almost seventy years old? He liked her power. Xiao Yuluan knew all this clearly, but it didn't matter to her.
No matter what he likes about her, as long as he is willing to put in the effort, she allows this exchange of interests.
But what she doesn't allow is wanting to get something without being willing to pay what is due.
Feeling the well-hidden resistance of the person beside her, Xiao Yuluan showed an obvious smile on her lips.
Zhou Yunan helped Xiao Yuluan take off the dragon robe, one piece at a time, until the skin underneath was exposed. Zhou Yunan's hand paused.
In fact, Xiao Yuluan has the habit of practicing martial arts and is not exposed to wind and sun all day, so her skin is well maintained, white and smooth. However, the traces of time cannot be faked. No matter what, a seventy-year-old man cannot compare to a twenty-year-old girl.
The empress's skin has become loose, just like her face. Although she still has charm, there are obvious signs of aging.
This is especially obvious when compared with Zhou Yunan's exposed skin.
Seeing his hesitation, Xiao Yuluan didn't get angry. It wasn't worth it for her to get angry over such a small matter. She waved her hand and said, "Xiao Zhou, get out."
She knew her own limitations and allowed him to withdraw at any time before anything really happened. This was her magnanimity and tolerance as an elder.
Lord Xiao Zhou, who was standing aside, raised his eyes quickly. He knew what this sentence meant, but he also knew that if he retreated today, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
No, it can't.
Zhou Yunan took a deep breath and smiled, "Your Majesty, please allow me to serve you."
Hearing this answer, Xiao Yuluan was not surprised at all. She glanced at him calmly and said, "Yes."
Zhou Yunan took off his outer robe and was about to roll up his sleeves, but the empress said, "Take it off too."
The young man's body was obviously shocked, but he had already prepared himself mentally... Zhou Yunan took off his clothes by himself until he was naked.
Xiao Yuluan examined Zhou Yun'an's body for a few seconds. He was like a newly grown bamboo, tall and green, and one could tell at a glance that he was in the prime of his life.
"Serve me while I bathe."
Xiao Yuluan gave a simple instruction and then enjoyed Zhou Yunan's awkward service.
To be honest, this feeling was a bit novel. In the distant memory, when she was young, no man would be so polite when serving her a bath. They always teased her subtly, and a bath would usually become a blessing, but now it happened.
Xiao Yuluan laughed at herself, she was indeed getting old. Those thoughts that hadn't been there for a long time, which were already shallow, disappeared immediately.
She didn't ask for anything and quietly let Zhou Yun'an help her take a bath. After she finished, she casually said, "You take a bath too."
Xiao Yuluan walked straight out, leaving Zhou Yunan naked and stunned. After a while, he took a deep breath and stepped into the bathtub where Xiao Yuluan had just been.
Zhou Yun'an was not fully prepared, so he subconsciously hesitated for a long time. When he entered the empress's bedding, the empress was already fast asleep on the dragon bed.
He stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do. After a few moments, the female official outside the door asked him to leave.
Zhou Yunan remembered the lady-in-waiting's words for a long time. The lady-in-waiting said, "Your Majesty has fallen asleep, so Mr. Zhou is no longer needed."
At first he felt humiliated by the word "use", but later he only felt regret that he had missed the opportunity that he had finally gotten.
In the next two years, no matter how Zhou Yun'an tried to please her, Xiao Yuluan remained unmoved. She remained kind to him and promoted him, but he was transferred to the Censorate.
Not all of his colleagues were upright, but none of them were as obviously close to the empress as he was. No one made things difficult for Zhou Yun'an, but he felt very uncomfortable.
Zhou Yun'an began to long to return to the empress, only then did he realize that he was so greedy for the gentleness and kindness that the empress gave him. However, in the yamen where he worked, he could only see the empress when he attended court.
He began to try his best to meet and contact the empress. He tried to return to her side again, but all those little tricks were ineffective.
The frustrated Zhou Yun'an had to change another approach. He seized every opportunity, worked hard to do practical things, and made outstanding political achievements. When he heard the empress's praise from far away, he felt so happy that tears filled his eyes.
In the seventh year of Kaiyao, Zhou Yun'an became the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and finally had more opportunities to see the empress. However, the empress had no time to see him because the Minister of the Chancellery Shen Yushan died suddenly at the age of sixty-two.
The empress stopped attending court, posthumously awarded Shen Yushan the title of "Grand Master", bestowed upon him the posthumous title of "Wenzhen", and allowed him to be buried with her in the imperial mausoleum.
That was the first time Zhou Yun'an saw the empress's weak appearance. She was like a real old man, standing in front of Grand Tutor Shen's coffin, crying silently.
What caught Zhou Yun'an off guard was that the empress suddenly announced her abdication, the crown prince ascended the throne, the crown prince's wife became the empress, and the reign was changed to Shengli.
By this day, it could be said that Zhou Yun'an's previous plan had completely failed. On the day the empress abdicated, he was still not a close minister to the empress. Although he had a smooth official career through his own efforts, Zhou Yun'an still felt a little sad.
Later, when he kowtowed to the new emperor and empress, he understood why - it would be even more difficult for him to see Xiao Yuluan.
After Xiao Yuluan became the emperor emeritus, she would never interfere in state affairs unless the new emperor asked her. She would either stay in the deep palace or go to the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion.
At this time, the relationship between Lord Zhenbei and the retired emperor was known to everyone, and Zhou Yunan naturally knew it as well. He had no reason to go to the deep palace to visit the retired emperor. He could only wait near Lord Zhenbei's mansion and glance at her from afar.
In just a few months, she seemed to have aged even more. Her temples were completely white, without a trace of gray left.
Zhou Yunan couldn't help but blame Marquis Xue. Wasn't this old man useless? He couldn't comfort His Majesty at all.
On the other side, the two people walking side by side into the mansion were also talking about Zhou Yunan.
"That kid is still peeking. This is the third time. You might as well just take him in."
Two years ago, Xue Chen gave up competing against Zhou Yunan under Shen Yushan's persuasion, but this kid was really disappointing. At first, Xue Chen felt happy, but later, as Shen Yushan's health got worse and worse, his body gradually became weaker, and he truly understood what Shen Yushan felt at the time.
So, today he will also speak well of Zhou Yunan.
Xiao Yuluan just shook her head and said nothing. How could she have such thoughts now? Seeing the old people around her leave one by one, even she could not resist the sadness.
Xue Chen did not try to persuade him any further.
Zhou Yun'an watched the two men disappear from his sight. He returned to his residence in the capital, but suddenly saw his parents and younger brother in his hometown appear in front of him, with a young woman standing beside them.
"Yun'an, this is your distant cousin."
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Yunan knew what they were here for.
"Mom, didn't I tell you? I don't want to get married!"
But Zhou Yunan couldn't stand his parents' obsession, so he simply said, "I actually like girls who are older than me!"
Zhou's parents were stunned for a long time. Zhou Yun'an thought that this would calm them down, but a few days later they excitedly told him, "We've found a wife for you. There's a wealthy woman in the west of the city who is 35 years old and has a daughter. If you're interested, we'll ask someone to propose marriage to you tomorrow."
Seeing that his parents were determined to achieve their goal, he steeled himself and spoke in a low voice, each word clearly, like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake:
"Mom! You don't understand what I mean. I'm not talking about a few years older, I'm talking about... the best age to be my mother!"
In an instant, the hall was dead silent.
Zhou's father and mother opened their eyes wide, their mouths open, as if someone had strangled them. After a long while, they wailed:
"My son! You...what's wrong with you?! You like...someone who can be your mother?! Then...how can you still have children? What will happen to our Zhou family's incense?"
Zhou Yunan looked at his parents' incredulous eyes, a flicker of guilt flashing through his heart, but more of a broken jar of determination. He took a deep breath:
"Incense? Don't I have a younger brother? Let him have a few more children, and I can adopt one of them under my name. From now on, you guys...don't worry about my affairs anymore."
Zhou's father and mother wanted to say something but were stopped by Zhou's younger brother. No one knew what Zhou's younger brother said, but two days later, the distant cousin got engaged to Zhou's younger brother and became Zhou Yun'an's brother-in-law.
While Zhou Yunan breathed a sigh of relief, he also truly understood his inner thoughts and understood what he really wanted.
One day, Zhou Yunan met an unexpected person - Xue Chen, the Marquis of Zhenbei.
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