"That wine was brought over from Lingnan by my second uncle, and I only got two jars." Lou Jing was a little surprised. She didn't expect the queen to like lychee wine so much. "This is not a particularly precious thing in Lingnan. I would like to ask someone to give it to me again."

I'll bring a few jars with me, but it will take at least a month."

There were only two jars of wine, one jar was given to the queen and one jar was given to Xiao Chengjun. Xiao Chengjun also liked this wine. It was impossible for Lou Jing to take the wine from her husband to honor the queen.

"I'm just asking casually, why don't you go to such trouble," Ji Zhuo waved his hand, "Did General Zhengnan leave the capital?"

"I just left the city this morning and am rushing back to Lingnan to celebrate the New Year." Lou Jing said with a smile.

The queen nodded, said nothing more, and told Lou Jing to send a message to Xiao Chengjun. Marquis Jingnan will arrive in Beijing in three to five days. Since he has reported illness, he will rest for a few more days. "You must not participate in corvee matters."

It is not impossible to collect corvee. If you want to collect corvee, you must have a king with clear rewards and punishments, and an upright and honest court. This can ensure that the laborers are not abused and that money and food are provided in a timely manner. However, looking at the history of thousands of years, few dynasties can do this.

, not to mention the dim-witted court now, if it doesn’t go well, it will trigger a mutiny. At that time, whoever supervises the river will be the chief culprit and will be despised by all the people.

If Xiao Chengjun supervises the river cleanup and repairs, he will be infamy, and even if he seizes the throne in the future, there will be nothing good about him in the history books.

After bidding farewell to the Queen, Lou Jing did not go back to Zhuque Hall, nor to Prince Min's Mansion, nor to Beiya to work properly after leaving the palace. Instead, she went to Prime Minister Zuo's Mansion.

Zhao Duan, the left prime minister, was still a director of the Shangshu Province and was not at home, so his servants took Lou Jing directly to the yard of the Ninth Young Master.

"Several gentlemen are all in the yamen. Don't blame me for being so careless." The housekeepers in the Zhao Mansion all spoke in a refined manner, with a Jiangnan scholarly air.

Lou Jing waved her hand to indicate that it was okay, she was just here to find Zhao Xi.

"A rich house, a virtuous body, a broad mind and a fat body, so a gentleman..." The sound of reading echoed from time to time in the small courtyard planted with green bamboos. Lou Jing couldn't help but take a few steps quickly, wanting to laugh at Zhao Xi who was finally willing to study seriously.

Two sentences.

After walking around the bamboo forest, I saw Zhao Xi standing in front of a stone table in the yard. There were many books scattered on the ground. He was holding a brush and writing and drawing on the white paper on the table.

Lou Jing quietly walked up behind him and was about to pat him, but Zhao Xi suddenly turned around and both of them were startled at the same time.

"Ah!" Zhao Xi suddenly shouted.

"What's your name!" Lou Jing quickly slapped him on the head. Before the housekeeper could go far, he heard the cry like a pig being killed. He must have thought that he had hit Zhao Xi, so he hit him before Zhao Xi complained.

, so as not to suffer a loss.

Zhao Xi hugged his painful head and glared at Lou Jing, "I suddenly understand why I can't be a gentleman."

"Why?" Lou Jing lowered his head and looked at the words written on his desk. There was a big page full of "Heart is broad and body is fat"!

"Because I am too thin," Zhao Xi took out the book "The Great Learning" and pointed it to Lou Jing. "Virtue nourishes the body, and the heart is broad and the body is fat. I have no virtue, so I cannot nourish my body, so I cannot grow fat."

Lou Jing took the book out of his hand, threw it to the ground, and sat down on the stone bench. "Master Zhao asked you to study at home, and this is how you study! I think you don't want to take the Jinshi examination, so you might as well dress up as a woman and get married."

You've got it." He said, picking up the snacks on the table and taking a bite.

"How dare you mention this!" When Zhao Xi heard this, he became furious, "Your prince has done me a lot of harm. For his letter, my second uncle punished me for writing it for half a month.

It’s time to discuss the strategy.”

"Your Highness has an appointment with Zuo Xiang, why should he punish you?" Lou Jing glanced at him, this idiot was probably deceived by Zhao Duan again.

"What did you say?" Zhao Xi jumped up immediately. How dare he think that all his strategy and discussion in the past half month were in vain?

"Let me ask you, has the Zuo Prime Minister mentioned the construction of rivers these days?" Lou Jing grabbed Zhao Xi, who was going to the Shangshu Province to discuss matters with the Zuo Prime Minister, and pushed him down on a stool.

"The corvee was brought up by the right minister," Zhao Xi finally showed some seriousness on his face when talking about this. "It is said that it is because the refugees in Qinghe have caused harm to the surrounding areas, and the mess in Qingyang County cannot be covered up. I want to take advantage of this

There is a way to arrest those refugees who are making trouble and serve them as corvees."

Lou Jing understood. Sure enough, the civil servants saw things from a different perspective than his, but the news was very useful. "Does the Prime Minister know who caused the trouble for the refugees in Qinghe?"

"Tch, is there any need to think about it?" Zhao Xi curled his lips, "People from the Right Prime Minister faction are like mad dogs, they dare to do anything."

Lou Jing raised her eyebrows. The word "mad dog" was quite appropriate. She stood up and patted Zhao Xi on the head, "You should study hard. I'm waiting for you to pass the three yuan exam."

"Your stepmother, what are you going to do?" Zhao Xi frowned and looked at Lou Jing. He hadn't heard any news from Duke Anguo's mansion these days. He was still very worried, for fear that Lou Jing would suffer a loss. "If you want to quarrel, remember to bring it with you.

I."

"Don't worry, you don't need to get involved in such a trivial matter." Lou Jing laughed. Zhao Jiu never forgets to quarrel. If he is allowed to go, it will probably make the Wei family angry to death, and this matter will be difficult to handle.

In the evening, he returned to the Prince of Min's Mansion and had dinner with Xiao Chengjun. Because he slept too much during the day, His Highness the Prince of Min did not feel sleepy at all, so Lou Jing took him to the courtyard to eat.

The autumn wind rustled, causing the dead leaves on the trees to fall. Xiao Chengjun couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the desolate courtyard, "The weather has turned colder, and I don't know what will happen to the refugees in Qinghe?"

Since he lost the position of prince, Qinghe disaster relief matters are no longer under his control, and every time he hears bad news.

"I heard that the right prime minister is trying to recruit corvee labor just because he wants to recruit these refugees." Lou Jing took the cloak that Anshun held up.

"What's wrong with the people?" Xiao Chengjun sighed and reached out to put it on, but Lou Jing put the cloak on himself, then hugged him tightly and wrapped him in the large cloak.

Xiao Chengjun looked at him dumbfounded, waving his hand for Anshun to step back. If he continued like this, he would definitely become lazier and lazier. His Highness, the King of Min, thought for himself and leaned against Lou Jing.

"I have a way to turn the corvee into a laborer." Lou Jing said, rubbing a slightly cold ear.

"What can I do?" Xiao Chengjun turned to look at him.

"You'll know tomorrow," Lou Jing pecked him on the lips and said deliberately, "But we have to wait until tomorrow night to do it. I can go out with you to play during the day."

The busiest among the Yulin Army is General Yulin Zhonglang, who has to lead the Yulin Army on duty every day to guard the palace. Lou Jing is now the commander-in-chief of the left, and is only busy during the New Year and festivals.

Xiao Chengjun did not ask further questions, but smiled slightly, "Aren't you afraid that people will find out if you haven't been in the house for many days?"

"I have separated from my father," mentioned this, a cold light flashed in Lou Jing's eyes, "I will ask Wei to go to the county in the next few days." But this is a small matter, for Lou Jing now

, nothing is more important than not being able to play with your husband.

In the end, Xiao Chengjun did not agree to the suggestion of going out to play. He had just taken sick leave and could not run out casually. However, he did intend to go to Jingyi Mountain to see Xiao Chengjin.

The next day, the two of them drove the carriage early and quietly headed to Jingyi Mountain in the east of the city.

The imperial doctor said that King Jing's condition was not good these days, and Xiao Chengjun had been very worried.

The surroundings of the palace are still quiet, nearly half of the red leaves have fallen, and the mountain shows a somewhat sad feeling of late autumn. Changchun Pavilion is still as warm as spring, but the faces of the people in the pavilion are full of sadness.

"The prince is not doing well recently. I heard that His Highness was dethroned as crown prince, and that night... he vomited blood." The housekeeper whispered to the two of them in the front yard, his face full of sadness.

Lou Jing frowned and held Xiao Chengjun's increasingly tight fist, "The prince is not in good health. You should show a smile. If you are so worried every day, even those who are not sick will become sick."

The housekeeper heard the dissatisfaction in Lou Jing's tone, and then he realized that he had caused trouble for his master, "This old slave is guilty."

Xiao Chengjun waved his hand to stop the housekeeper from talking, and pulled Lou Jing inside.

The second prince, Xiao Chengjin, was still lying in the pavilion in the middle of the hot spring, with his eyes closed and his brows slightly furrowed. He seemed to have not slept well, and his face was much paler than last time.

"Chengjin..." Xiao Chengjun sat down beside the couch and called him softly.

Xiao Chengjin slowly opened his eyes, saw who was coming, and couldn't help but smile, "Seeing you all coming together makes me feel relieved...cough cough cough cough..." Before he could finish his words, he began to cough violently.

"Your Majesty!" Princess Jing, Princess Zhang, hid in the cubicle. Hearing the sound, she quickly came out to support Xiao Chengjin and comfort him, "Your Majesty is unwell and I can't avoid you. Don't be surprised if you forget about your uncle."

"We are all members of our own family, there is no need to talk about false etiquette." Xiao Chengjun looked at his brother's condition, but he didn't care about these things.

After finally stopping his coughing, Xiao Chengjin took his brother's hand and took a breath and said, "I feel like I don't have much time these days, so I have something to say to you."

Xiao Chengjun looked at him, trying to tell him to stop talking nonsense, but the words were choked in his throat and he couldn't make a sound, because what his brother said was true, and his body really couldn't hold on much longer.

"For the Right Prime Minister's faction, external forces cannot be solved and must be resolved from within." Xiao Chengjin handed a palm-sized booklet to Xiao Chengjun, "These are what I have copied these days. The names, place of origin, and official positions of the Right Prime Minister's disciples. Among them

I have also written down all the connections, I hope it can help my brother."

Lou Jing looked at the booklet and admired Xiao Chengjin's wisdom. He accidentally glanced at a name. A past event from many years ago suddenly appeared in his mind. He couldn't help but be stunned. That person might be the one who disintegrated the Right Prime Minister's faction.

The essential!

Xiao Chengjun didn't notice Lou Jing's expression. He just held the booklet, pursed his lips tightly, and said for a long time: "I said you are not allowed to work anymore, when will you be obedient!"

"I just want to do something for my brother," Xiao Chengjin smiled and sighed, "Rui'er is still young. It turns out that my brother is the prince, so I can't say this. Now that my brother has become a prince, I asked him to take care of me.
Chapter completed!