(Two chapters in one)

The conference room was completely silent. The officials of Danyu City were frozen in place like statues, and the surroundings seemed to have turned into a still picture.

Gome opened his eyes roundly, and after a while, he asked in confusion: "Your Highness, haven't you received the news? The 1.62 million tons of relief grain shipped from the royal city had been destroyed by fire on the night of the Dragon Fire Festival, and are now in Danyu City.

There is no more food."

Lin Gengsen's face was full of remorse, and he poked his heart with a heart-wrenching tone: "Although the then grain officer Kai Rui has been beheaded, the burned grain cannot be replaced... We can't escape the consequences of oversight.

Sin! Please, Your Highness the Prince, deal with us according to the law!"

"Pretend?" Lorna slowly leaned back on the chair, casually put her two long legs on the table, held her chin on the back of her hand, and said in a mocking tone, "Your people have all explained the matter. Long

On the night of the Fire Festival, what was burned in the eight granaries was not food at all, but the bags of sawdust that you secretly exchanged."

Gome and Lin Gengsen suddenly felt cold and their scalps were numb...

Why does His Royal Highness know this?!

A few days before the Dragon Fire Festival, when they secretly exchanged food, they only used their trusted confidants. There was no way that anyone could expose this matter!

Could it be...a scam?

Gomer stabilized his mind and did not reveal any flaws. His face was still full of confusion: "Your Highness, we don't understand what you are talking about... Can you explain it to us?"

"It doesn't matter. People don't shed tears until they see the coffin." Lorna touched the ring on the index finger of her right hand, and the surrounding space began to distort.

People with a discerning eye have already recognized it. This is an extraterrestrial instrument. It looks like a ring, but it can open some kind of storage space out of thin air. When the alchemist first came into contact with this kind of ring, he bluntly said that it was comparable to the power of the gods.

The ring on Lorna's hand must have been a gift from Kino, but I don't know what is inside it.

As the space distorted, the shadow slowly emerged, it was a huge... sack.

When the sack fell to the ground, blood was still leaking out. Lorna casually untied the sack and pushed the sack to the ground.

When the contents rolled out, some officials with poor psychological quality vomited directly.

Head!

That sack was full of bloody heads!

Judging from the horrific scars on the heads, they experienced indescribable torture before being beheaded, and their expressions were frozen in that painful moment.

Although Gome didn't vomit, he was still very frightened. His eyes swept over a human head, and suddenly he felt something familiar. After careful observation, he found that it was the grain officer who succeeded Kerry after the Dragon Fire Festival.

This new grain officer is Gomer's confidant and one of the executors of the secret grain exchange. Gomer saw him in the temporary granary yesterday and gave some instructions by the way. Unexpectedly, only one head was left today.

Looking at the rest of the heads, they were all officials or soldiers who had been on duty at the granary recently. These people were Gomer's confidants, and they were also the people who secretly helped him exchange grain.

Lorna can pick out people so accurately, does she really have some information in her hands?!

It shouldn't be... These close confidants have always been tight-lipped, and there is no way they could betray their master...

"There are only about twenty heads here, and one sack can only hold so many." Lorna stroked the ring and asked lazily, "There are more than a dozen sacks in my ring. Do you want to see it?"

"No, no! We believe His Highness the Prince!" Gomer and others waved their hands hurriedly. This sack was scary enough, and more than a dozen sacks were taken out to fill up the room.

Just when Gome and others were calm on the surface but anxious on the inside, Lorna put the heads back into the space ring, then slowly walked to the window, looked at the scenery outside the window, and said sincerely: "You guys, you should really screen them carefully.

My men's mouths are really weak, I just used some small tricks to get them to attack them all."

"You are unfortunate to have cultivated these weak-willed people who betrayed their masters. But you are also lucky, because I have helped you get rid of these dregs, and they will no longer be able to communicate with outsiders. If they confess, they will not be able to communicate with outsiders anymore."

Only the people in this room know."

"What? Are you still unwilling to admit it?"

Gome was extremely anxious. After so many dead soldiers were killed, he was afraid that someone had really recruited something?!

However, there seems to be good news - His Royal Highness the Prince noticed that they exchanged wood for food, but he didn't know where the food was now hidden.

If someone among the dead soldiers found a hiding place of stolen food, His Royal Highness would not need to come to the door at all, he would just go and find the food. How to deal with it at that time is not a matter of her words.

The reason why she is here now is because she doesn’t know where the food is!

There is even a possibility that these dead soldiers who were killed overnight...did not confess at all!

His Royal Highness deliberately killed these people and then lied about them and tried to deceive them.

As for why she could accurately guess that what was burned on the night of the Dragon Fire Festival was wood chips, it might be that there were traces left at the granary that had not been cleaned up.

The case cannot be concluded based on just some traces and confessions. As long as they kill a few of them and don't tell where the food is, His Highness will have nothing to do with them.

Killing a few petty officials and soldiers is a trivial matter, but killing eight provincial-level officials without any evidence or using torture requires a responsible person. She must not have the guts!

Thinking of this, Gomer pretended to scratch his head and said with doubts on his face: "Your Highness, you have a mouth on them, and I really can't control what they have to say. But you can't just rely on those who were tortured and interrogated.

Confession, just come and label us. How do you want us to admit something we haven’t done at all?”

Lorna turned around, with a bit of sarcasm in her eyes, and said with interest: "Do you think that as long as I don't have enough evidence, you can live in peace? Let's talk about the scandal earlier. In normal case trials, evidence is really important.

chain."

"But for a serious political case like this, no matter whether you admit it or not, and no matter whether the evidence is complete or not, as long as I report this matter to the royal family, you will have your skin peeled off even if you don't die. The executioners in the royal city are all good skinners.

And the guy next to me, if I leave you to him, how long can you last? One day? One week? One month?"

Kino, who was beside Lorna, narrowed his eyes intentionally or unintentionally, and looked at everyone with a sly smile.

Kino's gaze made everyone shiver. They lowered their heads and did not dare to look at him. This guy was famous for his torture methods. If he really fell into his hands, life would be hell, and death would be the worst.

of mercy.

Lorna changed the subject and her tone became more relaxed: "The reason why I didn't report it directly is actually to give you a chance to cooperate - I need money now, a lot of money, so I came to you."

Gomer thought to himself: My uncle, after talking for a long time, it turns out that you are here to extort money? A noble prince can actually do such a thing...

He directly gave up his position, smiled and said: "You can talk to Mr. Du Mingwei about money. We have been officials for so many years, and we have always had a lot of money and not much money."

"Du Mingwei..." Lorna looked at the other side of the long table and said with a smile, "Oh~ I've heard of you, the richest man in Danyu City and the representative of hundreds of noble families."

Du Mingwei was still wearing the simple civilian clothes, lowered his eyes and said: "Prince Lorna, you said you need money, which makes me very confused. You are a nobleman of the royal family, and you are the daughter of Lord Sting, the king's right hand.

Are you still short of money?"

Lorna said casually: "What's wrong with my daughter? Sting is Sting, and I am me. The money he earns belongs to him. Unless he dies one day, it will never get into my pocket."

"Besides, my annual pocket money is only 20 gold moons. What can I buy with this little money?"

Gomer and others said in their hearts, 20 gold months a year is not enough? The salary of the provincial "governor" is only 100 gold months a year. This prince is really a waste of money.

Du Mingwei thought for a moment and nodded slightly to Lorna to show his humility: "In the past, if His Highness the Prince was short of money, we would sell it for you and no one would be able to give it to His Highness."

"However, Danyu City's officialdom has always been clean and honest. The annual salary of several adults is just that much. Even 20 gold moons a year is not enough for you. Naturally, the salaries of these adults are even less impressive."

"As for me, I have accumulated some wealth through many years of business, but this time Danyu City suffered a famine. I have already dispersed all my property and distributed all the property and surplus food in the house to the victims. Now I am penniless."

"So, I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I'm afraid we can't do anything about your request for money."

The corners of Lorna's lips slowly dropped, and her expression became obviously unhappy.

Seeing that the atmosphere had become a little tense, Kino quickly stood up and tried to persuade her earnestly: "Everyone, why can't you understand what His Highness the Prince means? She is no longer a child. The lack of money is not because of insufficient pocket money, but because of the lack of pocket money.

We are considering long-term planning in the political arena.”

Lorna snorted coldly and returned to the topic: "Let me tell you something. Bolton returned from Danyu City in disgrace and contradicted the king in the palace. His Majesty was so angry that he fell ill and passed out on the ground."

Gome and others were so frightened that they broke out in sweat: "His Majesty the King...this?!..."

Lorna shook her head and said silently: "Your Majesty has been rescued, but now he is lying on the hospital bed in a state of unconsciousness. How long he can live... It's really hard to say. To put it bluntly, the old king died, and the new king died.

The king’s coronation is not far away.”

Chino lowered his voice and asked cautiously: "Everyone, let me ask one more question, which of the three candidates for crown prince do you support?"

Gome hesitated for a while, then smiled and said in an official tone: "No matter which crown prince you support, aren't you working for Doguland? We are not anyone's party members, and we have no factional tendencies. We just hope that His Majesty the King will take care of his health.

, be sure to be well! If... if you are really ill... no matter which prince or princess succeeds to the throne, they will receive our greatest allegiance."

Kino waved his hands, as if he was laughing at their hypocrisy: "Everyone understands. Everyone says there are no factions, but in fact they have already made a bet secretly. Of course, if you don't want to say it, I won't force you.

It’s good if everyone knows it well.”

Gomer smiled and said nothing.

Kino sighed and changed the topic: "But I still want to remind you today that political struggle is extremely cruel, and one step forward will be doomed. You must not stand on the wrong team."

Gomer smiled slightly and said mysteriously: "No one can predict the future, they just follow the trend. Who can guarantee that he will always be in the right position?"

"I can." Kino's voice instantly suppressed the entire audience. After he finished speaking, he looked at Lorna's back intentionally or unintentionally.

Gome and others also looked over subconsciously, their eyes flickering between Kino and Lorna.

Kino walked up to Gome, put his arm around his shoulders, and took Lin Gensen beside him, and whispered: "Think about it, Perseus only has three children - Andre, Bolton,

Solandelle.”

"The crown prince who succeeds in the future can only be one of these three people. No matter who you bet on, the probability of winning is only one-third. You are willing to hand over your fate to the one-third probability.

?"

Lin Gengsen frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Then what do you mean?"

"Why don't you understand? No one can say for sure who the future king will be. The person you support may be crowned king, or he may be inactive. But there is one person who will always be the winner." Kino secretly looked towards him.
To be continued...