The house is very large, with the door facing east, and divided into two courtyards: an inner courtyard and an inner courtyard. The village head and servants live in the outer courtyard, and the inner courtyard can only be seen through the outer courtyard.

Lou Jing reached out and took the Crown Prince's hand, leading him directly towards the inner courtyard.

Passing through the hanging flower door, and then bypassing a nine-curved corridor, at the end is a wide water pavilion, with tables, chairs, and soft couches placed on it. Under the water pavilion is a spring of running water, gurgling through the cobblestone-paved bottom of the pool. The water pavilion

The other end is connected to the door of the inner courtyard, which is a moon door that is not surprising. Inside the door is a rockery instead of a screen, which is covered with green wisteria and is completely blocked, so that the scene in the courtyard cannot be seen clearly.

"It's messy inside. Let's sit here and wait for them to come." Lou Jing pointed to the chairs on the waterside pavilion. The servants had already placed cushions.

Xiao Chengjun nodded slightly and sat down calmly. He had clearly arrived at the inner courtyard, but said it was messy and asked him to sit on the waterside pavilion. If he still couldn't see that there was something wrong with it, his work as a prince would have been in vain, "This Zhuangzi

Is it your private property?"

"Well," Lou Jing let go of His Highness the Crown Prince's hand, waved for the boy to go down, and made tea with his own hands and handed it over, "The Lou family has three farms in the suburbs of Beijing. This farm was rewarded by Emperor Taizong during the reign of Emperor Taizong. When he was eight years old, his grandfather

So he gave me this village."

"During the reign of Emperor Taizong, could it be that..." Xiao Chengjun looked around, "This is Youyun Village?"

During Taizong's reign, An Guogong was still the founding father who followed Taizu to conquer the world. After Taizu passed away, the old and strong An Guogong continued to follow Taizong to expand the territory.

At that time, the sixteen states of Youyun in the north were not the territory, and the remnants of the previous dynasty were entrenched there and invaded the border from time to time. It is said that at that time, Duke An Guo only led a team of light cavalry and broke through 16 cities in a row. He chased the enemy for 800 miles at starry night, leaving only the former dynasty left.

One of the princes was killed by a sword. Taizong Longyan was very happy, and this "Youyun Village" was one of the rewards at that time.

"I heard that Duke An Guo only brought sixteen people back then." His Royal Highness took the tea brewed by the Crown Princess, took a sip, and glanced at the Moon Gate, which was still very quiet.

"The story has been circulated for hundreds of years, so it is inevitable that it will be exaggerated," Lou Jing shook his head, "The Sixteen States of Youyun are what the previous dynasty called them. Although there are only sixteen counties, the terrain is difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and there are not tens of thousands of troops.

We can't attack anywhere, but chasing the enemy for 800 miles with only 16 men is really true."

Just as he was talking, Gao Yun came out of the inner courtyard with a dozen men in black. They kept a strange pace, with a hint of murderous intent in their lightness, like sharp daggers, coming through the air, unstoppable.

.

Xiao Chengjun squeezed the cup and saucer in his hand and slowly placed it on the table.

"This is what every generation of the Lou family will raise, Youyun Sixteen Guards." Lou Jing seemed not to notice His Royal Highness the Prince's alertness and raised her hand to fill his cup with water. "On the battlefield, it is called Youyun Sixteenth Guards."

ride."

Yesterday, Yun Ba came back after delivering the news to Lou Jing. Kneeling in front of them now is the complete Youyun Sixteen Cavalry, which has been passed down for more than 150 years!

Xiao Chengjun looked at the sixteen people kneeling in front of him quietly. From the moment they appeared to the moment they knelt down to salute, they did not make any sound. "Didn't the sixteen knights of the Lou family die in battle with Old An Guogong?"

Lou Jing's eyes darkened, "Each generation of sixteen knights was raised by the family owner when he was young. If grandpa died in battle, his sixteen knights would naturally be buried with him."

Xiao Chengjun was stunned, and slowly tightened his hands in his sleeves. But it turned out that what Lou Jing wanted to show him was not the fruits he planted by his own hands, but the dead men who cultivated them by his own hands. In this village, there are more than just these.

There are only sixteen people. How many dead soldiers can be supported in such a huge inner courtyard? And this courtyard is only twenty miles away from the capital.

"The sixteen knights of Youyun are only loyal to the head of the Lou family to whom they belong." Lou Jing slowly stretched out her hand and held the hand hidden in the sleeve of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, "and the king who is loyal to the head of the family."

Xiao Chengjun slowly turned around and looked directly at his Crown Princess. His Crown Princess was telling him that this power was not a threat to him, but a help to him. His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly realized that he had married Lou Jing

, seems to have made a lot of money!

It was rare to see His Royal Highness, who was a little dull. Lou Jing couldn't help but move closer, deliberately rubbing a white ear, and whispered: "Your Highness, are you satisfied with this dowry?"

The cool thin lips were pressed against his ears, and bursts of hot air blew into his ears. Xiao Chengjun couldn't help but tense up.

"Your Majesty, there is a man outside the village who calls himself Yao and wants to see him." Gao Yun lowered his head and said after listening to the boy's report.

There is no shortage of people in this world who are disgraceful, such as Yao Zhu, the Minister of Rites.

Lou Jing sat upright as if nothing had happened, waved her hand for the Sixteenth Guard to retreat to the inner courtyard, "Let him come in."

"Yao Zhu blocked Shen Lian's way because he was looking for a job for his younger brother." Xiao Chengjun picked up the cup again and took a slow sip.

Lou Jing chuckled, His Highness the Crown Prince was exchanging information with him. The cooperation between them has become more trustworthy than before. "If Yao Zhu is really so afraid of him, go and apologize to Shen Lian. This matter is not a problem."

Is it over?"

As the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs grew, the money-grubbing eunuchs occasionally engaged in the business of buying and selling officials, but they were always buying and selling official positions below the fourth rank, and the buyers were all well-known people, so this was not the case.

What a mess. Of course, this is also because Yang Youting, the Minister of Rites, who is in charge of the deployment of officials, is a very stubborn old man and controls the official department very strictly. Therefore, the quotas for eunuchs to buy and sell are relatively rare. It is indeed easy to offend Yao Zhu and Shen Lian when they fight for it.

Him, but it's not a big deal.

"There must be something hidden in this." Xiao Chengjun sighed. Yao Zhu's younger brother was a second-ranked Jinshi. He was originally the governor of Qingyang County. He was only implicated because the dam of Qinghe County under Qingyang County burst.

He was dismissed from office. It was understandable that Yao Zhu worked hard to find a vacancy for his younger brother, but offending the eunuch was an innocent disaster.

After Yao Zhu came to court, he got on his sedan chair and walked toward the west of the city. He was afraid of being seen by others, so he changed his carriage behind a temple that was popular with people.

"Your Majesty, Yao Zhu, is here to see the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess." Yao Zhu only brought a book boy with him, and was stopped by Gao Yun to the outer courtyard, so he came alone. When he saw the two people in the waterside pavilion, he knelt down and saluted.

"Master Yao, please get up." Lou Jing accepted the gift with a smile, and Xiao Chengjun also raised his hand to ask him to get up.

"Your Highness, I deserved to die for blocking a car yesterday, but I have no choice but to do so." Yao Zhu refused to serve as a servant to add a new chair for him and only stood. "When Geng Yushi is imprisoned, it will be useless for anyone to submit a letter."

, only His Highness the Crown Prince can persuade the Emperor, so I can only boldly ask His Highness to save my life."

Lou Jing supported her forehead with one hand and looked at Yao Zhu with a half-smile, "Master Yao, what you said is wrong. There are many people who can persuade the emperor, including the prime ministers, Lord Shen, the Duke Huaizhong, and even the imperial concubine."

, why don’t you go find them, sir?”

"Father, Emperor Qiangang, is arbitrary, and my words can only shake the tree." Xiao Chengjun held the cup and slowly drank the tea powder with the cup lid, completely ignoring Yao Zhu's earnest pleas.

Dense beads of sweat oozed from Yao Zhu's forehead. He originally only thought about how to persuade the prince, but he didn't expect that the prince was so difficult to deal with. He had to kneel down again and forced himself to go straight to the bottom. "I don't want to trouble your highness. In fact, I don't want to trouble your highness." This matter is also related to His Highness."

But it turned out that Yao Zhu's younger brother Yao Su had been the county guard in Qingyang County for three years and was about to be promoted. Unexpectedly, it rained heavily in August and the Qinghe River burst its banks, almost flooding the entire farmland of Qinghe County. They sent someone to check and found out that it was the Qinghe County Magistrate who had secretly withheld the imperial court's money for building the dam. Yao Su had given the Qinghe County Magistrate a good rating in the official assessment submitted to the Ministry of Personnel.

"What does this have to do with the prince?" Lou Jing looked at Yao Zhu, guessing that the Qinghe County Magistrate had given his younger brother many gifts. Otherwise, as a county magistrate, how could he not have known about such obvious cutting corners?

"Your Highness does not know something," Yao Zhu wiped the sweat from his head, gritted his teeth, and took a deep breath. "Someone in the court impeached him, saying that the money for building the dam was misappropriated by His Highness the Crown Prince."

"What?" Xiao Chengjun suddenly raised his head and looked at Yao Zhu who was kneeling on the ground.

Lou Jing was also shocked. Misappropriating the money for embankment construction was as serious a crime as embezzling money for disaster relief! Suddenly he stood up, grabbed Yao Zhu who was kneeling on the ground, and said word by word: "Sir, please speak with dignity. Proportionate.”
Chapter completed!