Half a day ago, a small country manor in the south of Big Pudding City. // Visit to download txt novel //.
After noon, the sun sets much faster in the west. The gray-haired old man is laboriously washing the war horse that has been with him for many years in the stable. Perhaps it is more appropriate to describe this old man as a former war horse. In fact,
, this old horse is so old that now it has long lost its former strength and strength, leaving only bloated fat and dull eyes.
A large amount of sweat soon broke out on the old man's forehead due to physical exertion. There was an atmosphere of depression and silence in the entire manor. The only wind mill had been out of service for a long time, and the two tenant farmers responsible for cultivating several acres of thin fields were also working.
After the monthly farm work, there were only two people left in the small manor, so that the old man, the owner of the manor, had to do it himself.
Parked outside the stable was a dilapidated carriage that was 50% new and half of the wheels were broken. The old man glanced at the obviously cracked shaft and sighed in his heart.
Now, he can only hope that these old guys and this carriage can compete again. Tonight's banquet is almost the most important one in his life.
Thinking of this, the wrinkles on the old knight's face couldn't help but deepen:
He was always full of energy when he was young, and his loyalty also bought him a knighthood and this small manor. However, the old knight suffered from hidden diseases left many years ago, and coupled with poor management, his life was always passing. One day is worse than one day.
Fortunately, Ricky was with me.
The old knight's daughter's smile flashed before his eyes, and he suddenly felt more motivated. Ricky is a good boy, but a little shy. In addition, the old knight has never been good at communicating with others, so he rarely shows up in public and hides in the small house all day long.
In the small manor, he helped the old knight with housework.
Although the girl is only sixteen years old, she has sewed or starched countless pieces of clothing over the years. During busy farming days, she would even take the initiative to help with some relatively easy tasks, and she also cooked dinner for the sharecroppers.
, everyone who has stayed in the manor commented like this: Miss Rich is like a tireless little bee, she is so diligent.
But all of this only happened in this small manor. Since the girl grew up, she has not even been to the Big Pudding City a few times. She has very few noble friends, which is different from the old knight.
The status is somewhat inconsistent. After all, knights should also occupy a place among the aristocracy of the Ruha Empire.
The lonely and arrogant old knight thought it was nothing at first. Although his life was a little hard, it was still much better than those common people who had no land. In addition, his knighthood was personally conferred by Count Lyle.
, the previous tax collectors appointed by the city, in view of past kindness, collected enough tax money, and finally managed to survive by relying on a few acres of thin fields. However, when the farming was busy this autumn, the old knight accidentally heard that his subordinates
The tenant farmer's aunt was discussing Miss Rich's marriage, and he suddenly felt like he was struck by lightning.
The old man had been poor and dull all his life, and his brain was not very good, but this time he happened to hear the discussion of his subordinates. Even if he was not enlightened, he suddenly understood that the girl he had brought up had reached the age of marriage.
"What's hateful is that her useless father didn't know to take action in advance!" The old knight felt a little regretful when he thought about this matter. He was already old, and he expected to pass away soon, and then he would be the only one left.
What should I do if I have a helpless daughter?!
Once this idea arose, he couldn't stop it. The more the old man thought about it, the more anxious he became, fearing that he would accidentally leave too early and fail to arrange his daughter's future, causing her to suffer. So from that day on, the taciturn old knight
He started to make arrangements - in fact, he had few people to ask. As an old man who could barely get along with the nobility, he could not afford a dowry to attract a husband. His only property was in the real estate.
In the eyes of the nobles, they were completely penniless. The only thing that made the old knight a little proud was that Ricky was pretty good-looking, which she inherited from her mother. The two of them were almost cut out of the same mold. Sometimes, the old man's eyes would be in a trance.
He mistook his young daughter for his long-dead wife.
After a while, the old knight found a few old friends with a shy face and wanted to find out the situation. Unfortunately, many of his friends from back then had already left before him, and he didn't know any of the nobles in the city or even the suburbs.
After a busy day, I didn't find many desirable sons-in-law, but there were quite a few scoundrels who wanted to come to my house for free.
The old man also tried to find several well-known matchmakers in the city, but after he quietly visited one of them, the first price the other party asked scared him so much that he trembled all over and never dared to have similar thoughts again.
.His family background is indeed a bit thin, and even craftsmen with a little wealth among the common people may not be interested in him.
The only person who had any affection for Miss Rich was actually a widower who had been working as an ironworker for many years. Not to mention that this widower was almost twenty years older than Rich. This profession alone was not something that the old knight could accept. In his heart
She is still hiding a hint of arrogance, how could the daughter of a dignified imperial knight marry a lowly and ugly blacksmith? Even if the blacksmith's family has a lot of money after many years of business, the old knight will never consider it.
But as a result, he lost the channel to find a husband for Ricky, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot all day long. Ricky was not in a hurry, but instead spoke to comfort his old father, saying that he would accompany him in the manor.
Father, it doesn't matter if you never get married.
The old man knows that girls are filial, but as a father he can't even do this, isn't it too useless?
So he tried every means and led the old horse lamely into the city several times. He wanted to be shy and ask for an audience with the earl, hoping that he would talk about their friendship back then and help arrange Ricky's marriage. Who knew that as soon as he entered the city,
So he was rejected. The concierge of the Earl's Mansion had changed many people over the years. He didn't even know who the old knight was. He just mocked and reprimanded him. One arrogant boy even wanted to whip him. The old knight was very angry.
, but under the eaves, he had to lower his head, and could only swallow his anger for the time being, and return home. Later, when his identity was confirmed, the little guys didn't have a good face. Finally, he met the count once when they were arguing at the door.
Your lord's eldest son, this boy often went hunting with his father, and after so many years, he actually recognized the old knight.
The Earl's eldest son was naturally very generous. After he patiently listened to the old knight's difficulties, he asked someone else to get an invitation, inviting the young lady from the old knight's family to attend the harvest festival dance held by the Earl. The eldest son said, there are people at the dance.
There are many young men with great wealth. If Miss Richie is beautiful and lucky, she will naturally be chosen, and then she will not have to worry about dowry or anything like that.
The old knight received the invitation, thanked the eldest son happily, and sang a little tune all the way back to the manor. He had already started planning this important event.
…
When the old knight's memories came to this point, he was suddenly awakened by the old horse's "cry". He looked closely and saw that he had brushed the old man's sore spot. He stretched out his hand to comfort the old man, then dropped the brush and barely held on.
A wooden cane stood up.
"It's time for Ricky to dress up. Tonight is the most important thing." The old man thought in his mind and prepared to limp back to the house.
Who knew that at this moment, a scream suddenly came from the peaceful manor!
The old man's face turned livid in an instant. He suddenly picked up a shovel from the corner of the wall, limped quickly to the front room, and shouted loudly: "Who is there? Baby Ricky? Who is it?
Over there? Ricky?!”
The screams continued, and the old knight's blood surged. He was sweating profusely and struggled to get around the corner. He was shocked to see his daughter pushing and shoving with a man!
"Ricky!?" the old knight roared: "Who are you? How dare you break into my manor~!"
The man didn't actually look back. Instead, he threw poor little Ricky to the ground with a smile and started to move his hands up and down her.
The old man almost blacked out and fainted from anger. He walked with difficulty and walked over.
The man didn't take the old knight seriously at all. He tore open Ricky's coarse clothes fiercely, exposing large areas of gray hair directly to the air. The man's eyes suddenly became bloodshot, and he couldn't help but swallow.
.He pressed Ricky and whispered:
"Resist as much as you want, little girl. If you accidentally hurt me, you and your cripple dad will be ruined..."
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, there was only a clanging sound, and several streams of thick blood slowly flowed from the man's head. His body stiffened suddenly, and he collapsed weakly on Ricky's head.
On the body.
The girl let out a sharp scream. Behind him, the old knight was struggling with the shovel, with a trace of panic and sadness in his eyes.
A few drops of blood slowly dripped onto the thick soil along the tip of the shovel.
"Father, Father?!" The girl struggled to push away the man on her body, and threw herself into her old father's arms like a frightened little rabbit.
The lame old knight looked pale, and the father and daughter held their heads and burst into tears.
It took a long time for the two of them to recover. The girl looked at the shovel her father had thrown on the ground, her eyes full of panic. She looked at the old knight as if asking for help, but she could only see the sadness and pain in the old man's eyes.
"What should we do, father?" the girl said timidly, "this man, he said he is the newly appointed tax collector and the nephew of the Earl."
The old knight closed his eyes in pain and gasped. He had never been good at using his brain, and it was obvious that he had no choice.
Just when the father and daughter were almost in despair, a reassuring voice suddenly sounded:
"Don't worry, maybe I can help you." (To be continued.
