The crowning ceremony is only the part of the entire enthronement ceremony that attracts the most public attention. It is followed by a grand banquet for important people at home and abroad.
Sharlayan is not very interested in the same hedonistic banquets, but this banquet is different. The new king Kael'thas will announce some important news at the banquet.
Kael'thas and Anasteria had to return to the royal court to change out of their heavy attire.
After that, the old king who has abdicated will no longer attend the banquet.
Anastria is not someone who can't afford to let go. Now that he has officially resigned, he has handed everything over to Kael'thas, and he can enjoy his old age with peace of mind.
The Sun King will not participate in the first half of the banquet, which is to give representatives of various countries and the dignitaries of Quel'Thalas time to build relationships with each other.
Sarlayan was still not interested in this kind of banquet communication as always.
After a brief exchange with Uncle Villes, Baron Sangunar and other nobles, he walked out of the familiar banquet hall alone and came to the small garden on the side of the hall like last time.
"Uh~"
Just like last time, someone has already taken the lead in the small garden.
But this time it was not Sylvanas, but four people who surprised Sharlayan.
'Calpurnia, Solanlian, Mattis...who is the other one?'
Calpurnia and Solanlian are both members of the Silver Moon Council, while Mattis is a rising star in the Flame Eagle Legion and will succeed him as the Legion Commander sooner or later.
The above three people have one characteristic in common, they are all leaders of the younger generation of the four nobles.
Then, the origin of the fourth young man unknown to Sarlayan is obvious. Obviously, he is also a member of the four nobles.
Looking at the four noble young talents who turned to look at him at the same time, Sarlayan's eyes narrowed slightly. He did not believe that it was just a coincidence that these four people gathered neatly here.
'Waiting for me here on purpose?'
It is not difficult to find out the news that Sharlayan does not like banquets. Not many people know about the last "tryst" between him and Sylvanas in the small garden, but it is not a huge secret.
As long as you are willing to inquire, it is not difficult to obtain this information with the power of the four nobles.
With the barrage of comments, Sarlayan guessed the purpose of these four people.
Calpurnia, Solanlian and Matis are not the heads of the four noble families yet, but with the potential they have shown, it is only a matter of time before they gain sufficient support within the family.
The ones at the forefront were undoubtedly Calpurnia and Solanlian, who gained the trust of Anasteria and entered the Silver Moon Council, while Mattis was slightly behind.
The Flame Eagle Legion is not a newly established force like the Morning Frontier Legion.
The four legions of the Fire Eagle, Firewing, Fireblade, and Sunfury are the largest and most elite troops in Quel'Thalas.
The two major legions, the Flame Eagle and the Fire Wings, are in the hands of the Flame Eagle family and the Fire Feather family respectively, while the Flame Blade and Sunfury are directly managed by the Sunstrider royal family.
As the four nobles bowed their heads to the royal family, Quel'Thalas' four most elite legions were all brought under the control of the royal family.
Most of the remaining medium-sized legions such as Yang Yan and Sun Shadow are in the hands of noble families loyal to the royal family, and only a few small-scale legions have been infiltrated by the old nobles.
Moreover, this was deliberately opened up by Anasteria in the early years, in order to prevent the nobles who were unable to control the military power from leaping over the wall and using their remaining influence to damage the political ecology and people's livelihood economy of Quel'Thalas.
Sarlayan did not believe that those small legions fattened by the old nobles could play a role. Since Anasteria dared to let go, it meant that he had already made relevant emergency preparations.
There is an old saying in another world, once the emperor is the emperor, there are only his ministers.
Both Calpurnia and Solanlian were promoted by the old king. It is still unknown whether the new king Kael'thas will continue to use them.
The old king admired Matis for his bravery and prowess in battle, but would Kael'thas, who was used to seeing super-level warriors like Sarlayan, still trust him?
Today's four major nobles no longer have the confidence to dare to challenge the Sun Chaser royal family head-on. The civil strife three years ago almost broke their backs. A large number of elite tribesmen were forced to deal with it internally, resulting in heavy losses in talent.
But a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even now that their power has been weakened, not everyone can touch the four nobles. They still have considerable influence in Quel'Thalas.
The old king reused the four nobles who had undergone internal self-examination. On the one hand, he cared about old friendships, and on the other hand, he retained them to deal with those old nobles who had inflated ambitions.
The intelligence gathering capabilities of the four nobles are certainly not as good as those of the Sun Chaser royal family, which possesses the Backlight Blade, but they also have their own channels to understand the direction of the high-level trends in advance.
As the old aristocracy headed by Darkan was brutally cut in half, only Darkan saw the opportunity and cut off his throne early. The power of the old aristocracy has long been reduced to what it used to be.
The marquis and earls that Sarlayan saw before only inherited the titles of their elders at the mercy of the old king, and their influence and financial resources have been greatly reduced.
In other words, the four nobles who were used to check and balance the old nobles are no longer as useful as they used to be.
Kael'thas has not yet clearly expressed his attitude towards the four nobles, which makes them very uneasy. The purpose of finding Sarlayan is to find out Kael'thas's true intention through indirect means.
The four nobles are not the old nobles who still want to fight to the death. They have long known the importance of Sarlayan in the eyes of Kael'thas.
According to their speculation, Sarlayan should be reused after Kael'thas initially straightens out the government affairs.
As a confidant of the new king, he must know a lot about Kael'thas's governance plans, which may include his attitude towards the four nobles.
Not to mention, Sarlayan really knew, Kael'thas told him personally during a private chat.
Regarding the treatment of the four nobles, Kael'thas has not yet made up his mind. He should continue to maintain the status quo in the short term and make adjustments at any time according to subsequent changes in the situation.
The old nobles have indeed lost power, but there are still noble forces in Quel'Thalas.
Don't look at the fact that the nobles are united around the royal family and are unanimously targeting the evil old nobles.
Once the remnants of the old nobles are uprooted by Kael'thas, will the attitudes of the nobles without their enemies change?
Everything is still unknown.
There is a saying that those who slay dragons will eventually become evil dragons.
In order to avoid finding a check and balance tool when an accident occurs, Sarlayan suggested that Kael'thas leave the four nobles behind, which can be regarded as leaving a conspicuous target for the nobles to work out in Kael'thas.
The big frame is desperately inward.
No one does not want domestic peace, but there will not and cannot be only one voice within any country, even if that voice comes from the royal family.
If you listen to both, you will be enlightened; if you listen to one side, you will be dark.
It doesn't matter if you listen to those flattering remarks all day long, but no matter how wise you are, you will inevitably relax if you continue for a long time. This is human nature.
Saryan hopes to establish a competitor that can be seen before them while ensuring that the two sides will not compete viciously.
Competition can ensure the rapid development of society. From a long-term perspective, it is beneficial to Quel'Thalas to retain the four nobles.
Although Kael'thas has not yet made up his mind, his attitude is obviously inclined to accept Sharlayan's proposal, and the old king also persuaded him on this matter before abdicating the throne.
Kael'thas just couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart. This was the psychological shadow left before he was forced to study in Dalaran.
When he thought of how his old father had been squeezed out by the four nobles, there was always an evil fire in Kael'thas's heart that could not be dissipated.
This is something that Kael'thas, as the king, must figure out for himself.
The two ends of the scale are state affairs and personal grudges. If Kael'thas really wants to become the ideal king of ZTE, he must learn to abandon personal grudges and put state affairs first.
But this kind of persuading people to be generous... especially when it comes to the humiliation of their parents, Sarlayan, who is also the son of a human being, cannot do it.
In principle, he could understand Kael'thas's mood, but from an objective point of view, Sarlayan hoped that Kael'thas could control his emotions and successfully overcome this hurdle.
After retracting his wandering thoughts, Sarlayan looked calmly at the brown-haired man he didn't recognize among the four.
"Who is this?"
"Let me introduce you."
Mattis and Sarlayan had a conflict before. Although it was just a dispute of temper, it was still a bit embarrassing for him to take the initiative to speak.
The Great Astromancer Solanlian has always been taciturn and not good at words.
So the job of introduction fell to the versatile Calpurnia.
Calpurnia introduced Sarlayan with a friendly smile: "Count Deep Shadow, this is the deputy leader of the Fire Wing Legion, Petra Fire Feather."
Petra politely bowed to Sarai and said, "It's an honor to 'encounter' you here, Earl of Deep Shadow."
"Did you meet... by chance? Ha~ just treat it like this."
Sarlayan, who was confident in his heart, smiled calmly: "Since you can guess that I will come here, you should also have an understanding of my temper."
"I don't like beating around the bush, four of you, if you have anything to say, please just say it."