♂?，，

  Chu Tao only led Zhu Yi Chen to walk around Qingyuan today, Chu Kei because of the last time has been converted, it is familiar, and even helped Chu Tao to explain.

  Back in the study, Zhu Yuxuan said, "I think this mansion needs to find a guardian urgently! Just relying on a few old and weak family servants won't do."

  Chu Tao nodded and said, "That's what I thought, but it's already the end of the year. Firstly, last year was too hasty and there may not be a good outcome. Secondly," he paused slightly and said, "After this incident, I have had another idea. One must always leave enough room for oneself to retreat."

  Zhu Yichan was taken aback and asked: "What did you just say?"

  "I wanted to leave the county king's mansion, I've thought about it for many years, but when I really came out, I found that many places were still not fully prepared and were still hasty. Also... maybe it's my own business, making me feel like I should leave a way back."

  Chu Xue heard this and her heart skipped a beat.

  Zhu Yichen furrowed his brow and said, "Now is already the best! Must you really wander all over the place? Here in Shuo State, it's safe and comfortable, close to us, what more could you want?"

  "It's not that... " Chu Tao saw Zhu Yutong being a bit repelled, and since his own idea was just a fleeting thought, he smiled and said: "Then let's not talk about it."

  Zhu Yichan nodded and said, "Don't let the previous matter make you worry all day, hurry up and solidify your house, add more manpower, buy some land next year, and live a stable life."

  Chu Ke looked thoughtfully at her brother and Zhu Yuxuan.

  After leaving Chu Tao, Zhu Yi Zhen was a bit downhearted and didn't speak when he got home. Chu Ke Qi finally couldn't help but ask: "Is it because of what brother said about leaving a way out that's hard to bear?"

  Zhu Yicheng nodded slightly and said, "Mm, he's a bit uncomfortable. He must be feeling uneasy about being here... that's why he has this idea."

  "It's not necessarily so, brother had such an experience before. Having such thoughts is also normal..."

  Zhu Yichan shook his head: "No, I also feel that his house is not safe..." He stood up: "Ke Qi, I'll go ahead and take a look!"

  Chu Xue was stunned for a moment and nodded slightly.

  Zhu Yichan ran to the front yard and called a young servant to summon the commander of the guards in the mansion.

  In a moment, the captain of the guard came over and bowed as he entered: "Second Master, you were looking for me?"

  Zhu Yichen nodded and said: "Assign some men from under you to me."

  The captain of the guard hesitated for a moment and did not immediately respond. Zhu Yuxuan frowned at him, and the captain was slightly startled. After a pause, he suddenly knelt down.

  Zhu Yi Chen took a look and clearly saw that something was amiss. He walked over to sit down in the chair, looking at the leader of the guards and asked: "What's going on?"

  "This morning, Fifth Master called me over and asked...asked Second Master what instructions he had given me..." The leader of the guards lowered his head and stammered.

  Zhu Yichan's fingers lightly tapped on the desktop, and he softly said "oh".

  The captain of the guard hastily kowtowed and said: "I didn't say anything! I only talked about the usual defense arrangements in the mansion and the city, but the fifth master didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he asked a lot about my family and the organization of the guards, as well as the names of the small heads, which I wrote down for him." After finishing speaking, he prostrated himself on the ground.

  Zhu Yuchen fell into deep thought and didn't speak for a long time.

  He is also a member of the royal family. The intrigues and struggles between his brothers, he was very clear about, but because he had always been alone since childhood, his fifth brother was always younger than him, and he never had those calculating thoughts. Therefore, these people, he had never deliberately tried to win over.

  These guards, although they have been taking orders from me since Father's passing, it was only because there was no one else to listen to. Fifth Master is still young and can only take my instructions, but now that Fifth Master wants to intervene, they are in a difficult position and must take sides.

  If the county king had established the position of the crown prince when he was alive, it would be simple. They wouldn't need to take sides or worry about whose words to listen to. The crown prince is the future county king, so naturally they should listen to the crown prince.

  This situation in the mansion is probably the most special case among all the royal families. The king has passed away, but there is no heir yet, let alone who will inherit the title of king.

  Now, the difficult problem has become easy for these guards.

  Zhu Yichan didn't want to go that far, forcing these guards to take sides. These guards have been following the Duke's mansion for generations, with no merit but hard work. Besides, forcing the guards to stand on his side was not worth it. If he really had a mind to, he would have gone to the Emperor to ask for an edict to grant him the title of Duke long ago. Why bother? If he had the title of Duke, the guards would naturally listen to him.

  Zhu Yichan was a bit annoyed, he really didn't think that his fifth brother would suddenly strike such a pose!

  "He waved his hand and said, 'Go down.'"

  The captain of the guard was slightly uneasy and said in a low voice: "Second Master?"

  "I understand, and it's no big deal. From now on, I'll try to bother you less with my own affairs... let's just wait and see."

  The captain of the guard said with gratitude: "Second Master, I... You didn't have to wait that long."

  Zhu Yichan understood his meaning and sighed: "Alright, you can go now."

  The captain of the guard went down.

  Zhu Yichan knew that he didn't have to wait so long, when his fifth brother was still very young, he could ask his father to grant him the title of Crown Prince, and at that time, his father had also asked himself if he wanted this title, if he did, his father would go and request a prince's position for him...

  He retorted: "If I take it, does that mean I won't be able to leave Shuozhou?"

  "Of course." His father nodded: "I won't be able to leave either, spending my whole life defending Shuo Prefecture."

  He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

  Is it time now? At the age of 18, he is an adult. The fifth brother's move today to shock the tiger is really inexplicable. By doing so, he has no benefit for himself except to alert himself or force himself to rush to ask for the title of Duke. Why did he do this? He was in a hurry to reveal his intentions and startled the snake, but he had no chips at all, and he was still young. Even if he went to ask for the title, he would definitely not be able to get it, and instead reminded the ministers and the Emperor that the Duke's title of their mansion had not yet been granted...

  What's in it for him?

  Zhu Yicheng sat in contemplation for a while. He felt that Zhu Yizheng might have seen him get married and was anxious, wanting to start from now on. Slowly, he would win over the guards, otherwise, even if he grew up and took the position of Duke, it was possible that he couldn't win over the military hearts of these guards.

  This move was probably taught to him by his legitimate wife.

  Zhu Yichan shook his head, speechless. He loudly called in a young servant, saying: "Mai Cao, ride to the Zhuangzi and summon Cui Zhuangtou."

  The wheat straw hastily agreed and went.

  Chui Zhuangtou. Externally known as Zhuangtou, but in fact everyone who knows Zhu Yucheng is aware that he is actually the leader of Zhu Yucheng's hidden guards.

  The fief of the imperial clan is granted according to individuals, such as Zhu Yuyan's Zhuangzi. That belongs to Zhu Yuyan, similarly, Zhu Yuzheng also has his own fiefdom and land, as for how he manages it, whether there are guards inside, that is Zhu Yuzheng's own business.

  Cui Zhuang quickly arrived, and when he entered the door, he bumped into the captain of the guards in the mansion. The two exchanged a smile and a greeting. After Cui entered the second master's courtyard, the captain of the guards in the mansion felt some regret.

  Zhu Yuchen ordered Cui Tongling to select twenty young and unmarried guards from under his command, train them for a bit, and he would come over himself in three days with some instructions.

  Chui Tongling didn't say another word and immediately nodded his head in agreement. He went to take care of it right away.

  After finishing all these things, Zhu Yucheng's mood improved a bit, and he went to the backyard.

  Chu Xue was still worried, seeing him come over in a good mood, and only then did she smile and ask: "Is everything taken care of?"

  Zhu Yichan nodded: "Mm, I've found twenty guards. In a few days, I'll go and tell them to go to Big Brother's mansion to keep watch."

  "Would they be willing?"

  "Life and death are mine to command, dare you disobey me?" said Zhu Yichen with a smile.

  Chu Xue's smile also came out, she naturally knew that some of the king's family and royal clan's servants were like the general's family soldiers, very iron-blooded.

  Zhu Yichan told her what the commander of the guards in the mansion had just said, saying: "I think it might be the Empress's intention, and Yichong is still young, so he listened to the Empress's words."

  Chu Ke'er listened and thought of what her brother had said, hesitated for a moment and asked: "Hui Zhen, what do you think about the matter of being crowned?"

  Zhu Yicheng said, "Originally, I didn't want to get myself stuck so early, but now that the legitimate queen is in such a hurry, it doesn't matter if I'm sealed off. Let her be at peace." He saw Chu Keqi's face clearly showing hesitation, and asked, "What? Don't you want to be the king's consort?"

  Chu Xiang thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "I haven't figured it out myself, but being trapped like this is also unbearable. How about waiting two years? Hui Zhong is only thirteen now, even if we wait two years, he'll be just fifteen. It's impossible to get him to agree to the engagement, nor can we force him. Let's see how far the Empress will go."

  Zhu Yichen furrowed his brow and said, "Aren't you annoyed? I'm quite annoyed."

  "What's the big deal? If something can't be done openly and honestly, but instead has to be done secretly and with a guilty conscience, that's what's really frustrating." Chu Keqi said with a deliberately casual smile.

  Zhu Yichan smiled: "Whatever you say is what it is, as long as I'm happy and carefree, everything will be fine."

  Chu Ke smiled and leaned into his arms, her fingers lightly tracing the front of his chest, but in her heart, she was thinking, I wonder if this is true...

  From that day on, Zhu Yanzhong indeed paid extra attention to the guards in the mansion, often having meals and drinks with them, and getting close to several small leaders.

  But after all, he was just a young boy, although his personality was deep, but Zhu Yuxuan had been in charge of the house for many years, and it would be impossible to win him over with just a few words and meals.

  It was the leader of the guards in the mansion who felt particularly regretful, thinking that he should have taken a stand. Even if the position of the king had not been passed down, did he not understand the situation in the mansion? The second master was superior to the fifth master in every aspect and was several years older, so how could the position of the king not fall on the fifth master's head unless the second master refused it?

  Zhu Yuchen went to Zhuangzi on the third day and saw the twenty young men selected by Cui Tong, ordering them to clean up the garden as guards. These twenty people naturally did not disobey.

  Zhu Yichan took it away, and Chu Tao naturally didn't have any courtesy. The people who guarded the house were indeed in urgent need, and he lived with his mother and daughter-in-law in this mansion, with such a background, he was not afraid of being polite, someone protected him, how could he be polite?

  These twenty people stood in two rows on the empty ground on the other side of the Qingyuan gate, Chu Tao followed Zhu Yucheng to take a look, neat and tidy black robes, each with their waist and back straight, looking like they were all around seventeen or eighteen years old.

  Chu Tao also brought over his attendants, knowing that the younger they were, the better. Those who were slightly older were more loyal to their original master and harder for him to control.

  He chose two who looked spirited to be his guards, and the position of leader was temporarily vacant, because he still needed to understand them a bit more, and this was also a motivation for them. Everyone would naturally work harder in order to become the leader.

  Yufeng's two brothers, Afu and Agui, were called over and instructed to lead the guards in a tour of the entire Qingyuan, familiarizing themselves with the route. Meanwhile, Chutao and Zhu Yichen returned to their rooms.

  "These people are trustworthy and are all my confidants. In the past, they only listened to me alone." Zhu Yuxuan said: "Absolutely no mistakes will be made."

  Chu Tao smiled and patted his shoulder: "Don't I still care?"

  "Get rid of those thoughts about having a back door, and focus on managing Qingyuan well. Next year, we can buy land... right next to my estate. That way, if anything happens, it won't implicate us," Zhu Yizhen said with a smile: "Unless the world is no longer ruled by the Zhu family!"

  Chu Tao also smiled.

  Chu Xue followed the Imperial Concubine and started preparing for the New Year, as half of the eleventh month had already passed. Gradually, people began to visit with gifts, some of whom needed to be recognized, so the Imperial Concubine brought her along; most of them were not worth bothering with and were ignored.

  She stayed at home every day, and often Zhu Yuchen was also at home with her. The newlyweds were affectionate and intimate, fortunately it was time to celebrate the New Year, so even if they were sweet-talking in their room, others were too busy to disturb them.

  Zhuangzi brought more things, and Zhu Yucheng went out. The concubine had already handed over these matters to Chu Keqian in order to establish her prestige in front of the servants as soon as possible. It just so happened that Chu Keqian still wanted to give some things to Qingyuan, so after the servant girls and the Zhuang masters finished counting, they stepped aside, and she went over to distribute them.

  The things were not unloaded in their yard, but in a special unloading yard near the stable. Chu Xue was following the servant girl to distribute them when she saw Qiu Yufang walking over from afar.

  These days she was busy, never leaving her own courtyard. All the maids and servants in her courtyard had been scolded, and no longer dared to let outsiders into their own courtyard. Therefore, they hadn't seen Qiu Yufang for many days. However, Chu Keqian hadn't forgotten that Qiu Yufang had slapped Qingguo's face without permission. If this slap wasn't returned, how could Chu Keqian swallow her pride? Her personal maid, who represented herself in the husband's household, was actually dared to be hit by an outsider like Qiu Yufang! Was Chu Keqian someone who would eat such a loss in silence?

  She hadn't even looked for her, and Qiu Yufang herself came knocking on the door! What a reckless thing to do!

  Chu Ke's eyes were cold as he watched her walk in, but his heart was already filled with joy.

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