In the splendid castle hall, reflected in the astonished gray eyes of the eldest prince, were three powerful nobles exuding impressive aura.
The person standing at the front was a middle-aged man with an indifferent expression.
He was wearing a set of luxurious knight's casual clothes of pale gold and creamy white, and a dark red velvet jacket. He looked to be about the same age as the eldest prince, and he was also in his forties.
Different from the grumpy eldest prince, this middle-aged man is obviously the type who keeps his emotions and anger secretive. Even in the face of the tense and tense situation at hand, his expression remains calm.
The most eye-catching thing is the family crest engraved on the middle-aged man's chest.
It was a golden stag with its forelimbs raised and facing the sun. The thick antlers on its head that looked like tangled roots looked very special.
Not to mention the princes and nobles present, this picture is familiar to even the three-year-old children of the common class. It represents the Shangluc family, one of the three wealthy families in the Cold Flame Kingdom!
Since the Phytolacca Trade Fair is spread throughout the cities of the Cold Flame Kingdom, it is naturally a household name.
In addition, a golden strip and eight golden balls were engraved above the coat of arms of this middle-aged man from the Shangluc family.
Only three high-ranking nobles in the Cold Flame Kingdom are qualified to wear this gorgeous logo, that is, a handful of dukes.
At this point, the identity of this middle-aged man is self-evident. He is the current head of the Shanglu family, Duke Hanshui!
On the left hand side of Grand Duke Hanshui is an old man with white hair and a slightly stooped figure, wearing a luxurious sky blue robe.
The old man in blue robe had a red face and a faint smile on the corner of his wrinkled mouth. Although the smile was pleasant on the surface, there was a fierce flash of light in his muddy old eyes from time to time.
Of course, these are not the most conspicuous.
On the chest of the blue-robed old man, there is also an eye-catching coat of arms engraved on it.
It was a pterosaur with fangs and claws. Its wings that covered the sky and its blood-stained beak appeared on the coat of arms, and it looked shocking.
This rather special coat of arms comes from the Lancaster family, one of the three largest families in the Cold Flame Kingdom.
The blue-robed old man's aristocratic logo of one gold bar and eight gold balls, which is the same as that of Grand Duke Hanshui, also clearly shows his noble status. He is the current head of the Lancaster family, Grand Duke Stone.
It is different from the Phytolacca family whose fiefdom is concentrated in the central area of Lengyan.
The Lancaster family's fiefdoms are all located in the western region of Cold Flame, and the Sunset Fortress at the West Gate of the Cold Flame Kingdom has been guarded for generations.
In order to compete with the neighboring Kingdom of Graeme, which has developed combat airships, the Lancaster family has the most professional and powerful anti-aircraft magic army in the Cold Flame Kingdom, and the battle magicians they have trained are the strongest in the Cold Flame Kingdom.
All in all, the overall strength of the Lancaster family is by no means inferior to the Phytolacca family whose trade fairs are spread all over Lengyan. Otherwise, they would not be able to deter the Kingdom of Grim next door on their own.
As for the right hand of Grand Duke Hanshui, there was a middle-aged strong man with a tall body and gray hair on his temples.
This burly middle-aged man is wearing a set of gold and gray aristocratic clothing, a slightly tight style, which vividly outlines the explosive muscles on his body, giving people a full sense of oppression.
The family crest worn on his chest is a running earth dragon, which looks strong and strong.
This is the emblem of the Yorkman family, one of the three wealthy families of Leng Yan, together with the Phytolacca family and the Lancaster family.
The sphere of influence of the Yorkman family is located in the southern area of the Cold Flame Kingdom, and is responsible for the defense of the rainforest fortress at the southern gate of the Cold Flame Kingdom.
When the situation on the border was tense, he even went to war with several large tribes in the Prairie Kingdom at the same time without falling behind. His strength was top-notch.
It is worth mentioning that the first head of the Yorkman family was Peilan, the leader of the Earthly Dragon Knights during the Hero King period when Leng Yan was founded, and he was also the training base for the current Royal Earthly Dragon Knights.
As for this burly man, he is the current head of the Yorkman family, the Duke of Kent.
Seeing that the heads of the three noble families who occupied almost half of the Lengyan Kingdom gathered together and stood in front of the fourth prince, the surrounding traditional nobles and new nobles couldn't help but take a step back in astonishment.
You must know that the comprehensive strength of any of the three noble families is comparable to that of the royal family, which has eight major legions, the Guards Corps, the Earthly Dragon Knights, and the city garrison directly under the royal family!
For hundreds of years, the reason why the three powerful families have been at peace with the royal family and have not taken a step forward is because of the checks and balances between the three, and they have always been in a state of overt and covert struggle.
But now, the heads of the three wealthy families have actually put aside their previous grievances and stood in front of the fourth prince. The result is naturally self-evident.
"The ones supporting His Highness the Fourth Prince are actually the three wealthy families that have always claimed to be neutral?!"
Thinking of this place in their hearts, beads of sweat began to fall from the foreheads of the traditional aristocrats and new aristocrats around them.
These three wealthy family heads are all top-notch powerhouses except for the fifth-level powerhouses. They are almost unrivaled in the Cold Flame Kingdom, and their retainers and other family members are all talented people, and they cannot easily compete with them.
Object.
"Don't panic! Don't forget that this is my territory!"
The eldest prince snorted coldly, looked down at Grand Duke Hanshui, Grand Duke Stone and Grand Duke Kent, raised his eyebrows and asked: "You three, you have declared your neutrality many times before, why do you go back on your word and help this despicable bastard?"
?Have the three wealthy families in our Lengyan Kingdom fallen to the point of telling lies?"
"His Royal Highness, your words are wrong."
The slightly stooped Archduke Stone stepped forward, stroking his gray beard, and said with a confident smile: "We have always said that we will never participate in the competition for the throne, but we have never said that we will not support a certain heir to the throne.
, so everything we do is reasonable."
"That's right. Since these guys can choose their allegiance, why can't we?"
The tall and burly Duke of Kent glanced at the old and new aristocrats around him with sharp eyes, and said disdainfully: "Is it true that only the state officials are allowed to set fires, and the people are not allowed to light lamps?"
"You are making excuses!"
The eldest prince had an angry look on his face and shouted filial piety loudly: "Are you really planning to become our enemy? You are provoking the Lengyan King's power!"
"His Royal Highness, this hat is so big."
A hint of joking suddenly appeared on Grand Duke Stone's old face, and he said leisurely: "We are only fully supporting His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince who is more suitable to become the new king. How can we challenge the royal power?"
"That guy is a bastard with unknown origins. You guys with ulterior motives are just as good as that damn despicable alien!"
The eldest prince spat, pointed the long sword in his hand at the three nobles and wealthy family heads below him, and said coldly: "If this prince hadn't fallen into the hands of that despicable alien several times, where would you be waiting here?
Is there an opportunity to make a big statement here?”
After hearing the eldest prince's hysterical words, Grand Duke Stone and Grand Duke Kent both laughed confidently. Even the corners of Grand Duke Hanshui's lips showed a disdainful smile, obviously not taking the eldest prince seriously.
.
"Brother Wang, don't waste any more words with them here. It seems they are determined to go against us."
The second prince also held the staff in his hand. He looked at Stone and the others and said in a low voice, "What do you want?"
"Your Highness, Second Prince, isn't this an obvious thing?"
Grand Master Stone spread his pale old hands, and the joking look on his face became even more serious, and he said arrogantly: "His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince just said, you two noble princes, how can you show your dignity and surrender without mercy?
? Or will I go up and drag you down?"
"How outrageous! No matter how powerful you are, you are just vassals of my Lengyan royal family, how dare you act so boldly!"
The eldest prince pointed his long sword directly at the tip of Grand Duke Stone's nose, and said to the traditional nobles and new nobles in the lower position: "Whoever can kill these three self-righteous guys will be the new cold flame noble family.
!”
After hearing the cry of the eldest prince, the powerful traditional nobles and new nobles, who were originally timid, had murderous intent and greed in their eyes, and began to prepare for attack.
You must know that no matter which one of the three major aristocratic families, the total number of main cities and affiliated cities is over 20, not counting the small forces attached to them. Their power and influence are far beyond the comparison of ordinary nobles, and they are already comparable to those of real noble families.
The country is no different.
If you can really become a new noble family, it will be like ascending to the sky in one step, it is simply equivalent to being crowned a king!
For a time, the originally frightened atmosphere in the hall became overflowing with hostility again.
A pair of eyes filled with murderous intent stared closely at the three wealthy family heads standing in front of the fourth prince, obviously looking for each other's weaknesses.
No matter how powerful these three wealthy family heads are, they have not yet broken through to the fifth level and are still at the fourth level.
And the fourth-level powerhouses don't have the same indestructible energy barrier as the fifth-level powerhouses. If they take one step slower, it will be a disaster!
Seeing the atmosphere change instantly, the eldest prince and the second prince couldn't help but look at each other, and both clenched the weapons in their hands.
The two of them are also fourth-level senior experts, and in terms of trump cards, they are definitely not much worse than the three Stones. What's more, this is the home court of the Great Prince.
This means that as long as the morale is still there and the traditional aristocrats and the new aristocrats work together, they may not have no chance of winning!
"Oh? Do you still plan to give it your all in this situation?"
Seeing this, the Duke of Kent couldn't help but show a hint of surprise on his originally contemptuous face, and unexpectedly said: "These two guys who can't help themselves are really surprisingly stubborn."
However, despite saying this, the Archduke of Kent still did not show his weapons, and still looked confident and indifferent.
"The unexpectedly tenacious old man didn't realize it. These two stupid guys who don't know whether to live or die, just haven't figured out the current situation yet, and they actually thought they had hope for a comeback."
Grand Duke Stone chuckled a few times and said disdainfully to the two princes at the top: "I just stand here and don't move, I'm afraid you can't attack either!"
After hearing Grand Duke Stone's arrogant words, the traditional nobles and new nobles who were ready to attack began to look at each other again.
You know, compared to the other two Grand Dukes, Stone is a physically weak magician. How could he be so unscrupulous under such circumstances?
"That old guy is just bluffing."
The eldest prince's patience had obviously been completely exhausted, and he ordered with a serious look on his face: "Kill them!"
"Your Highness is right, kill them and I will be the new Grand Duke!"
I saw that the loyal dogleg Sable had already been filled with murderous intent. Not only did he quickly change his armor, but he also started to wave the flail in his hand crazily, causing strong winds to rise around him.
Although he is fat, he is a genuine fourth-level physics powerhouse. The flail in his hand is enough to shatter a fourth-level heavy armor!
Hearing the shouts of the eldest prince and Sable, other traditional nobles and powerful new nobles no longer hesitated. The sharp blades flashed with cold light one after another, and the stream of magic began to shine in the hall one after another.
But just when Sable, who had a ferocious face, bore the brunt of the attack, he was about to swing the blunt end of his flail at Archduke Stone.
Burning magic fires flew from behind.
A sharp sound broke through the air, and the blazing arrows one after another easily melted through Sable's armor, turning him into a burning hedgehog. He rolled his eyes and fell straight down.
Go down.
Until the last moment of his life, the notorious chief referee of the royal family did not understand why the fatal attack came from behind.
As Sable's fat body collapsed, the attacker behind him gradually became clear. It was another tall and thin old traditional nobleman.
"Sir Shaplai?!"
The eldest prince had a look of astonishment on his face, looking at the elderly nobleman who had sworn allegiance to him in disbelief, and shouted: "Why did you kill Sable?!"
However, before the eldest prince could finish his shocked words, more backstabbing began.
Among the camps of traditional nobles and new nobles, at least half of the powerful men suddenly turned their guns and poured deadly blades and magic on the other half of their unsuspecting colleagues without hesitation.
For a time, there was an endless stream of screams in the splendid hall, and the smell of blood and burnt lake rushed straight to the glazed roof.
As the stunned corpses continued to fall to the ground, it didn't take long for the traditional and new nobles who were caught off guard to die, causing pools of bright red blood to spread along the smooth white marble floor.
Then, the other group of traditional aristocrats and powerful new aristocrats who had carried out the murder stood in the camp of the fourth prince without saying a word, and aimed their weapons at the stunned eldest prince and second prince.
"You two stupid brothers, as I said just now, I will not take risks and come here if I am not sure."
The fourth prince slowly walked out of the crowd and said with a joking smile: "Can I ask you to die now?"