An old lady's life

After entering Zhuangzi, Ai Cao ordered Steward Xu to check and find out as much as possible. She would go back to Lin's house tomorrow and ask her son to help.Hou Yuanlong was just frightened, he was not so timid in the middle of a group of children, and the adults were kind.

Having never been in contact with too many children, Hou Yuanlong was particularly curious about the children on Zhuangzi.

Ai Cao observed for a while, he didn't seem to be arguing for his parents, which was not at all like a normal five-year-old child.

The overnight guests have also been arranged. They live in the courtyard on the east side, and Ai Cao lives in the second courtyard on the west side. I originally thought that this kid comes from a wealthy family, so I took him to live with him, but the kid himself was not happy, and he liked to be with other children. living together.

When eating dinner, Ai Cao ate with everyone. She focused on observing Hou Yuanlong. When he first saw the food on the plate, he seemed a little surprised. He looked around and found that everyone else was eating deliciously. He tried to bite After taking a mouthful of white flour steamed buns, his eyes lit up, and he took another mouthful of porridge, which was delicious, and he was very happy to eat like others.

Ai Cao raised his eyebrows, he can eat by himself proficiently, which shows that he usually does it by himself at home.Looking at the child's actions and analyzing the metaphor behind the actions, Ai Cao felt that there were too many things about the Hou family.

Thinking of this, Ai Cao frowned suddenly.It's all her fault, she only paid attention to the matter of the emperor and the emperor's princes, and didn't ask about the appointment status of the officials in the court.

However, Xiuguo's mansion should be one of the eight great mansions in the Red Mansion that is as famous as Rongning and Ningfu.

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In the east courtyard, the guests are also having dinner.

Lou Gao, the closed disciple of Wu Zuo, commander of the Imperial Guard Army, is equivalent to the second in command of the Imperial Guard Army. He is in charge of Emperor Changping's trip this time.The other three are Yu Yang, Shang Yong, and Yu Jiang. They are also soldiers of the Imperial Guard, and they are all good players.

Emperor Changping likes the surprises brought by inadvertent actions, so after he met the eminent monks who had returned from a long journey in Huiqing Temple, he did not stay in Huiqing Temple, but returned to Beijing directly. I don't go to court tomorrow, so I want to stay outside for one night.

At this time, Lou Gao has already found out the identity of the owner of Zhuangzi here.

"Master, Mrs. Lin, the owner of the Zhuangzi here, is the last Mrs. Jing'an Hou. This Zhuangzi is a place established by the old lady to take in orphans and homeless people. The seven children were adopted by the Zhuangzi. There are several old people Mr. He was also taken in by Zhuangzi. First-class general Hou Hongwen, as far as I know, his current wife is his step-wife, his original wife passed away half a year after giving birth to Hou Yuanlong, and his step-wife is uncle Hou Hongwen's cousin."

Emperor Changping sneered: "So, what happened in the backyard again?"

Lou Gao solemnly said: "I don't dare to make a rash decision. I have already ordered the subordinates to investigate, and the results will be available tomorrow morning." This place is so close to the capital, even if the subordinates investigate clearly and send the results in person, they will be able to catch up tomorrow morning.

Emperor Changping took a sip of hot water, "I don't worry about your work." He murmured to himself, this village doesn't even have tea, even if the Lin family lost the title of Marquis of Jing'an, it wouldn't mean that they couldn't even drink good tea, right?

"I remember that the last Tanhualang, Lin Hai, came from the Lin family." The Tanhualang he handpicked was young, handsome and talented, and he planned to observe him for three to five years. If he could stand the test, he would definitely use him again.

Lou Gao remained silent, he was not able to comment on the court officials.

"Lin Hai is very similar to his father. It doesn't refer to his appearance, but his bearing. The late emperor valued Lin Hai's father very much. When the lineage of the Lin family came to an end, he even allowed Lin Ye to inherit it for one more generation."

Emperor Changping's tone was subtle, but Lou Gao remained silent.

"Lin Hai's Yue's family is the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, Jia Daishan." Emperor Changping's tone was very nostalgic, "The Shi family sent two sons back to Jinling to keep filial piety for Jia Daishan for a hundred days. Has there been any change in Rongfu recently?"

Lou Gao said solemnly: "The Rong Mansion is closed to observe filial piety. Mrs. Jia has never been out of the mansion except to visit Ning Guogong in the Ning Mansion. However, the eldest son-in-law of the Rong State Mansion, the doctor of the military department, Qi Frame, contacted him in the name of his son-in-law of the Rong Mansion. After entering the old department of Rongfu in the army, some people were persuaded by Qi frame, and Qi frame has always wanted to have a relationship with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Emperor Changping had deep eyes, the room was dimly lit, and it was so quiet that one could tremble, but Lou Gao had gotten used to it, and he naturally knew exactly when to reply to His Majesty.

After a while, Emperor Changping said, "How about Jia Daihua?"

"Duke Ning is sick and bedridden, but according to the feedback from the imperial physician, Duke Ning's health has basically stabilized. The imperial physician judged that it would be next year, but now the imperial physician thinks that if he keeps it up, he can live two or three years longer." Lou Gao He said sternly, "Because Duke Ning's prestige is still alive, the soldiers brought out by Duke Ning are still stable."

Emperor Changping sneered: "So people leave the tea to cool down, and the trees fall and the monkeys scatter. This is the norm in the world. It's a pity that Jia Daishan has been shrewd and capable all his life, but he didn't raise two good sons."

Lou Gao murmured in his heart, "Tiger father and dog son, there are many such situations in Beijing, not just Rongguo Mansion.

If it was in the palace, Emperor Changping must still be reviewing memorials in the imperial study or summoning ministers or accompanying concubines in the harem, but in other people's Zhuangzi, there are no memorials, ministers and concubines. A guard gossips.

Lou Gao and the others were all orphans. When they were homeless children on the street, they were picked up by Wu Zuo. They trained with Wu Zuo, and when they were able to perform missions, they joined the Imperial Guard. At the age of 20, they began to protect Emperor Changping. Emperor Ping was very clear about their origins.

After talking for more than an hour, Emperor Changping went to bed when it was close to Haishi.However, it seemed that he hadn't slept for long before he was woken up by the noise from Zhuangzi.

There were two people in the room protecting Emperor Changping alternately with a good look. Lou Gao would be awake now, he didn't go to check it himself, and the other guards went to the front yard.

Emperor Changping was wearing a thick robe, and Lou Gao was standing behind him. The two saw the sky in front of Zhuangzi, reflecting the bright firelight.

At this time, Ai Cao was woken up by the frightened servant girl, "What happened?"

"Old lady, a dozen masked men in black came up ahead, holding swords, and kept asking us to hand them over, saying that we detained their people."

Ai Cao was startled, quickly put on her clothes, and came to the front.

Sure enough, I saw Guanshi Xu, a few strong men in the Zhuangzi, and men from tenant households confronting a dozen black-clothed masked men holding swords, and the leader held a torch in his hand to demonstrate.

Ai Cao looked at the sky, there was still snowflakes in the sky, and the ground was completely white, these people were out of their minds and even dressed in black?

Ai Cao was about to step forward, when the guest from the east came out, the master was still in the dark place, leaving behind a guard, and the other three came out murderously.

Emperor Changping took Lou Gao to look in front of the arch, and signaled to Lou Gao and others to deal with it. If he guessed correctly, it must be that gang of kidnappers came to the village to ask for someone in the dead of night and when they were most tired.Now that he met, and the owner of Zhuangzi is an old lady, he will definitely not let a woman take risks.

So while Ai Cao, Xu Guanshi and others were stunned, Yu Yang, Shang Yong, and Yu Jiang had already subdued a dozen men in black. Seeing this, the big man on Zhuangzi immediately tied them up with ropes.

Without wormwood to signal, Xu Guanshi ran to thank Emperor Changping and the others, and Xu Guanshi also saw that the guest who stayed overnight must be from an unusual background, it must be some high-ranking official, and he looked at Lou Gao eagerly.

Lou Gao said without changing his face: "Don't worry, Guanshi Xu, these people will be sent to the government, and the follow-up matters will be handled by the government. Kidnappers are hated by the government and the people, no matter what their background is, they will definitely not be forgiven."

Only those born as orphans understand the sadness of orphans. Kidnaps are what he hates the most. In the past, he assisted in several operations to capture kidnappers by taking advantage of his position.

Manager Xu had a friendly smile on his face, "Thank you, master and young man."

This night's absurdity ended like this, Xu Guanshi thought to himself that what the old lady said is that good deeds are really rewarded, if it wasn't for the guest who stayed overnight, I'm afraid the Zhuangzi would not be able to please him.

The second half of the night was very peaceful, and the snow stopped. Ai Cao woke up the next day and told stories to the children in the front hall.

"Last night, those people in black were really out of their minds. They were still wearing black clothes in the heavy snow, did they think they were playing the role of the black-clothed killer in the storybook? In the end, they were subdued by those handsome uncles in a few strokes. The children I also want to learn martial arts, I don't ask you to knock down a strong man, at least you can run fast when you encounter anything."

Hou Yuanlong was afraid at first, but Ai Cao's serious nonsense made him laugh too, but learning martial arts is really necessary, if he can beat Xiao Lu, he won't be taken away.

"Wow, uncles are so good. I decided that I want to practice martial arts too, so I won't be afraid of being robbed of my things in the future." He has short legs and weak strength, and the food he begged is often robbed by others. Being robbed of food is definitely the worst thing for these children. A detestable thing.

Emperor Changping didn't know whether he should enter, but Lou Gao and the others couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

It just so happened that Manager Xu walked in. He entertained a few guests into the house, had breakfast later, and then ran to Ai Cao, and the two entered the back to talk.

"Old lady, this old slave just understands a little bit. Hou Yuanlong didn't lie, and Xiuguo's mansion is wrong. The plaque on his house is hung with Xiuguo's mansion. It's just that Hou Hongwen inherited the title of first-class general. Hou Hongwen is older than us. The old man is a few years older, but he and the old man passed the Jinshi examination in the first class, and the last few of the second-class Jinshi. Our old man is the seventh-rank editor of the Hanlin Academy, and Hou Hongwen is the eighth-rank book of the Imperial Academy."

Ai Cao nodded, and Xu Guanshi continued: "Hou Hongwen's current wife is not Hou Yuanlong's biological mother. Hou Hongwen's original wife passed away half a year after giving birth to Hou Yuanlong. After Hou Hongwen's father became filial, he married his uncle's cousin as his stepmother."

Manager Xu's expression was a bit tangled, "This stepwife is as old as the original wife, and the original wife gave birth to Hou Yuanlong two years after marrying into the Hou family. Before that, Hou Hongwen's father passed away, and he had to keep a filial piety for three years. Madam was already 21 years old at that time, she had never been married, and then married into the Hou family as her successor."

Because it was related to Hou Yuanlong, when Manager Xu asked to investigate the situation of the Hou family, he specifically ordered to pay more attention to the backyard, especially the situation of Hou Hongwen's wives and concubines.

Ai Cao thought in her heart, I don't want to think so badly of my step-wife, but I can't stand it. It's really worth thinking about.