I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 101 The Royal Family

The sky was getting light and it started to drizzle.

This should be the last apricot blossom rain in Kyoto Prefecture this year, so it was particularly lingering. The fine rain was blown away by the mountain breeze, more like fog than rain.

The willow wind is not cold on my face, but the apricot blossom rain is wet on my clothes.

These two are Li Chengzong's favorite in spring.

There were no disturbing street drums in the countryside, only early-rising birds singing on the branches. It was the first time that Li Chengzong discovered that the earliest bird to wake up was a gray sparrow, which kept scratching its feathers with its orange-red claws, as if it also needed to tidy up its head to greet the morning every day.

Yes, Li Chengzong and his friends are in the countryside now.

After the full-moon banquet, Li Chengzong brought a large group of people to the manor under the name of the royal palace. They stayed in this manor for a few days and then in that manor for a few days. They had been there for nearly half a month.

The spring examination has passed. This year, two people from the royal palace took the imperial examination. As expected, Fan Wujiu passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. He planned to start from the local level and has now been sent to Jiangbei to serve as an official.

In contrast, Lu Jun failed the exam and decided not to take the imperial examination again. He stayed with Zhao Huai'en all day, intending to take over the position of chief steward of the palace after Li Chengzong sent Zhao Huai'en away.

Although Li Chengzong was not in Kyoto, he was still relatively familiar with the news in Kyoto.

Just after the Spring Examination, someone came to find Fan Xian and sued Fan Xian's father-in-law, Lin Ruofu.

In addition, Li Yunrui used Yuan Hongdao as a knife, forcing Lin Ruofu to retire and return home.

Lin Ruofu's departure did not stop the fighting in the court, but instead intensified it.

Fan Xian used the Censorate to bring down more than ten officials under the Second Brother before the Spring Examination. The Second Brother was also not vague. He also used the Censorate's censor to bring down twenty or thirty officials under the Crown Prince and Lin Ruofu, including officials from the capital and local officials.

It can be said that in the past half month, there have been officials being dismissed every day, and either being sent to the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple.

When it comes to investigating corruption, the three parties seem to have no intention of giving up, and Emperor Qing, who was originally sitting on the Diaoyutai, is also getting a little anxious.

After all, if the situation continued like this, at least half of the court officials would be gone, so he found a reason to put the crown prince and the second son under house arrest as a warning to them.

As for Fan Xian, he was not under house arrest, but his marriage to Lin Wan'er left him with no time to worry about investigating corruption.

After breakfast, a scholar in blue holding an oil-paper umbrella blended leisurely into this ink painting of the mountain countryside.

Soon, Li Chengzong came to a large courtyard on a hill near Zhuangzi.

He was surrounded by burly men in their forties. They were the soldiers under the Blood-Clothed Guards back then, elite warriors who had fought in hundreds of battles. After retiring from the army, they settled down in several of Li Chengzong's farms and considered themselves as soldiers. The leisurely life in recent years had not diminished their essential qualities, and they still acted like soldiers. Years of fighting had left a deep mark on them from the army.

They seldom interacted with farmers and all settled their homes on the hills near the farm. The palace paid for a huge courtyard to be built on the hill, where hundreds of people and their families lived together. Even their children got married in the same courtyard. It was not a big deal for this generation, but Li Chengzong was very worried about their descendants. In a few generations, their bloodline would be assimilated, and Li Chengzong did not want all their descendants to be fools.

When they first came to Zhuangzi, Li Chengzong tried to persuade them, saying that it was inconvenient to do anything on the hill near Zhuangzi. They had to come down to fetch water, and it was far from the fields. He didn't understand why they chose to live on the hill.

Later, when Li Junxin learned about this, he specifically mentioned it to Li Chengzong, saying that the places chosen by those people were the key points of the formation on the village, where they could attack or defend.

Those retired soldiers could hardly read and could not speak what Li Junxin said, but relying on the intuition of veterans, they involuntarily chose the environment that was most favorable to them.

After that, Li Chengzong never persuaded them to move again, but he still reminded them to get married as usual.

"Old Jiang, your youngest son is getting married soon, right? Is there a suitable woman for him?"

Old Jiang is the leader of this group of people. He is over 50 years old and has several grandchildren. He still has a young son who is not yet married. With a family of thirty or forty people, life is not easy.

"Your Highness, that guy fell in love with the girl from the neighboring farm, but the bride price he asked for was too high, so I didn't agree."

These people were all stubborn, and life in the mountains was not easy. Li Chengzong once proposed to give them subsidies in silver and money, but unfortunately no one was willing to accept it. They said that the palace had already treated them very well, giving them a place to settle down, and allowing their children to go to school, etc. If they were asked for subsidies again, they would just move away, leaving Li Chengzong speechless.

"Life in the mountains is not easy after all, and people are worried. I've been thinking about it recently and I'm going to restart the caravan. You don't have to stay in the mountains anymore. No one dares to do anything to the manor under my name. Move down the mountain. If you want to make money, just work with the caravan. If you really don't want to, I won't force you. But I have to say, if not for yourselves, you should also think more about your children and future generations."

"We will listen to your highness."

Old Jiang smiled naively, which immediately attracted a wave of agreement.

"Yes, we listen to your highness."

"We will do whatever His Highness tells us to do."

"..."

These people liked the young prince from the bottom of their hearts. He was humble and easy-going, and treated them well. Not only did he give them land and build houses, he also hired teachers to open a school in the village and allowed their children to go to school for free. It was a pity that many of the children were not smart enough and did not learn anything after two or three years of schooling. However, it was much better than not being able to read or write. Their current life was completely a blessing.

The prince is the guarantee of their family's happy life. As long as the prince says, they will do it honestly. Even if they die in the end, the prince will remember their children. At least when the prince is alive, their descendants don't have to worry about their lives.

Hearing these people's words, Li Chengzong smiled and said, "You are the last group of troops under my name. I have already made an agreement with the previous groups. Those who are willing to go to the caravan can pack up and go to a restaurant to find Li Yi. Those who want to follow Zhao Huai'en and make achievements in the future can go to Li Junxin. They are all old acquaintances of yours. The younger generation, like you, want to live a plain life, so they go to the caravan. If you want to bring glory to your family, you have two choices, one is to go to the school opened by the palace, and the other is to go to the military school. Whether you want to rely on studying to gain fame or want to get fame immediately, it all depends on your wishes. You all go home and discuss it.

I still say the same thing, I won't force anything, just let you stay here, as long as I live one day, I will ensure your safety."

Just as he finished speaking, a boy of about sixteen or seventeen rushed out from a room.

"Your Highness, I would like to join the army, is that ok?"

"I remember your name is Li Rong."

The young man was stunned, and asked in surprise: "Your Highness, do you remember me?"

"You came to the manor last year and you teamed up with a group of young people to get me drunk. But you fell down drunk after just two sips. I have a deep impression of you!"

The dark and strong boy scratched his head naively and grinned, "I didn't expect that I can drink so little."

"Young people should drink less. I have no objection to your joining the army, but you still have to ask your father and mother if they are willing first."

"My father and mother will definitely not object. If you don't believe me, just ask."

Li Chengzong turned his head and saw a man in his thirties nodding and smiling: "Your Highness, this child is old. His mother and I can't control him. In the end, whether he lives or dies is up to him."

"Okay, you can do it, let your father take you to find Li Junxin, go to the military academy to study for two years, and then follow Li Junxin."

"Do you still need to study?" The dark and strong young man felt unwell.

Upon hearing this, Li Rong's father rushed out from the crowd, kicked his son on the butt, and cursed: "You bastard, do you know what a military academy is? It's a place where the sons of dukes and marquises go to school. Ordinary people can't even beg for it. How dare you despise it? I'm going to kick you to death, so that you won't bring shame to our palace and His Highness in the future."

Li Chengzong stopped the man from beating his son and said with a smile, "What you learn in the military academy is different from what you learned in the village. If you don't want to, don't even think about joining the army. There will be many more fighters in the world like you."

"No, Your Highness, I'll go. Can't I go study?"

The young man looked anxious, causing everyone to laugh.

Just then, Lu Jun walked in.

"Master, we received a letter from the mansion saying that Fan Xian is getting married tomorrow and invites you to attend the wedding banquet."

Li Chengzong hummed, stood up and said with a smile: "Okay, think it over carefully, and if you have thought it through, go to the main store of Youjian Restaurant. I have something else to do, so I'm leaving!"

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Li Chengzong waved his hand and followed Lu Jun down the mountain.

After packing up briefly, he left the village with his wife and children.

When he left, everyone in Zhuangzi, from the elderly in their eighties to babies in swaddling clothes, came to see him off.

There were several cars filled with eggs, bacon, vegetables and the like, and we had to wait for them.

Before this, Si Lili had always thought that the assets of the royal palace were the manpower in Kyoto City.

This time when I followed Li Chengzong to the farm, I found out that there were still people working in several farms under the name of the royal palace.

Even the ordinary people in the manor, from the seventy-year-old man to the seven or eight-year-old child, would charge into battle without regard for their lives as long as her man gave the order. In addition to the retired soldiers in the manor, these people were all the assets of the palace.

It can be said that as long as her man wants, he can form a team of thousands of people in an instant.

Don't underestimate this team of a thousand people. At a critical moment, they can even overturn the situation in the entire Kyoto.

After all, these people are all elite soldiers who have experienced many battles, especially the five hundred guards of the palace. At worst, they are masters who have just entered the eighth rank. Under the leadership of the Blood-Clothed Guards of the palace, a team of one thousand people can at least fight ten or even a hundred.

The reputation of the Blood-Clothed Guards is so big that even the young emperor of Northern Qi was uneasy about it. At least in Zhan Doudou's opinion, the Blood-Clothed Guards are more terrifying than the Black Cavalry, so she specially asked Zhan Pianpian to talk to her.

The general meaning is that if Li Chengzong suddenly gets crazy and is ready to send the Blood-Clothed Guards out, let her persuade him to stay. If she really can't persuade him, let her send someone to notify Zhan Pianpian for the sake of their years of friendship.

In the carriage, Si Lili held the child in her arms. She could not help but lift the curtain, looked back at the people seeing her off, and said to her infant son:

"You must be like your father and treat everyone around you kindly, especially the common people. Otherwise, I will beat your ass until it blooms. Do you understand?"

Li Jingxiu blew bubbles in his swaddling clothes and gave his mother a lovely smile...

(End of this chapter)