As the largest and best-preserved Cistercian monastery site in the United Kingdom, it is a listed British Grade 1 building, and the Fountain Abbey, managed by the National Trust for Places of Monuments, was closed by Henry VIII more than 470 years ago in 1539 for just one year, and was turned into a dilapidated and overgrown "haunted house".

Built in an enclosed valley, surrounded by forests on all sides, and the River Skelle to the south of the abbey, the abbey once boasted more than 500 acres (about 3,035.14 acres) of cultivated land, making it an ideal refuge for landless vagrants, felons and thieves.

In summer, the monastery provides shelter from storms and rain from all directions. In the cold winter, it also allows the landless wanderers who shiver in the cold wind to raise piles of bonfires in the main hall, nave, living room and corridor to drive away the darkness and cold that envelops them.

Now, this once glorious but dilapidated monastery has welcomed a group of uninvited guests. The uninvited guests came from Richmondshire, about 25 miles north of the abbey, and their commander was Isabel Walton, a privy counsellor trusted by the Duke of Richmond.

If the Duke of Richmond hadn't assigned Isabel a duty of escort, perhaps she would not have made such a trip to such a place of filth and filth. The change of route and the extra four miles southwest to a closed monastery can only be explained by one way: the adventure gene in her head is at work.

In order to find a plausible excuse for her adventure, she needed to exaggerate the current state of the Fountain Monastery to the guards, and whispered solemnly, "Brothers, although the Fountain Monastery has been closed, it has long been occupied by a group of evil, felons, thieves and rebels from hell. You say, 'What should we do?' ”

Half-squatting on the grass, holding a pestle and a spear with a spear flag on the ground, Fast looked at her with a confident smile on his face, "Your Excellency, this is very simple. We are God's knights, and it is our duty to stand up to the enemy, to confront God's sinners, to protect women, children and homes. ”

"Well, that's good. Now, I wonder if you are all in favor of expelling from the convents of peace those sinners whom even God will spurn? ”

"Yes. Your Excellency, my brothers and I have no opinion. One of the guards raised his arm excitedly, looked at the people around him and said loudly.

"That's right, brothers, if these bastards run into His Highness's territory, we still have to get rid of them for His Highness and the Duchess. It's better to kill all these bastards now. The other guard swung his half-sword a few times.

"Maybe the magistrate here will thank us for our help."

"Hahaha...... Brother, that's right. When the time comes, the magistrate may send a lot of ale and roast meat to His Highness's castle to thank us for our valiant battle here. ”

"Yes, Your Highness and the Duchess, after listening to the Yorkshire magistrate, will certainly praise us for our bravery and fearlessness."

"Your Highness and the Duchess, as soon as they are pleased, will give us all these gifts."

For a moment, the emotions of the guards, both sitting and standing, became extremely excited and high. At this time, John Neville, a young man sitting next to Isabel, hurriedly leaned his head against William, who was sitting on the other side of him, and whispered in his ear, "Uncle, how can there be so many lawless people in a holy abbey?" ”

William glanced at Isabel with a happy look on her face, and her lips quirmed, "After the abbey was closed, there were many local thieves, criminals and outlaws in Yorkshire who used it as a place to hide, rest and hide their money. ”

Then he added, "So, we need to get rid of the makers of chaos and protect the farmers, their wives, and their children from being harmed." ”

Little John's expression immediately became excited, and he grabbed William's arm on his knee and shook it, "Uncle, I also want to participate, and I also have to fight these thugs and rebels." ”

"Shhhh

"However, my godmother once promised me that I could dispose of all the loot I received." Little John yelled at Isabel who turned his head to one side, "Godmother, I ask to join in this fight. ”

"John, wait." Isabel glanced at him, then turned to the others, "Brothers, if there is no opinion, we will immediately start preparing for combat operations. ”

"Your Excellency, I think I have something to say." Baldwin, who was standing on one leg and acting calmly, suddenly burst out with a sentence.

"Well, let's talk about it."

"Your Excellency, Fountain Abbey and the nearby villages may be under the jurisdiction of the magistrates of Rippon, will we interfere with the jurisdiction of the magistrates here?"

In terms of jurisdiction, Isabel and the guards attached to the Duke's Court did use their powers of arrest at will in Yue County. There is not only the criminal act of killing a criminal suspect at will, but also the criminal suspicion of snatching the criminal suspect's property. Once the magistrate of the town of Ripon was held accountable, the Duke of Richmond would reprimand them for their murder and greed for money.

Isabel thought quickly, and quickly came up with a plausible-sounding explanation: "Baldwin, you're right. However, I will say that, firstly, we were a party assigned by the Duke of Richmond to Leeds City, and secondly, the team stumbled upon an outlaw who had committed a crime in Richmond County while passing through the town of Richmond, so we tracked them all the way to Fountain Abbey. ”

After thinking about it, she gave another reason, "Thirdly, in order to prevent these lawbreakers from entering Richmond County again, we have decided to arrest these people immediately and send them to the magistrate's court for trial by the county magistrate. ”

"In the end, in the process of arresting, we were met with violent resistance from the outlaws, and out of the need to protect ourselves, we finally chose to kill or capture these outlaws."

Baldwin nodded, "Your Excellency, what if the magistrate of Ripon asks us to bring people over to their courts?" ”

Isabel grinned at the corners of her mouth and sneered, "Let them take people away." All we need to do is take the money, the weapons and the horses with us. ”

Subsequently, even Baldwin, who had always been steady, had no objections. Isabel glanced at the guards with satisfaction, "Now, I'm here to deploy the combat mission. ”