This is a remote place dozens of kilometers away from the empire, a small town with only about a few hundred households and a population of more than a thousand.
The name of this town is: Prancing Horse Town. There is a strange-shaped hillside next to the town, with a long and narrow valley in the middle, cutting the original hillside in half. And locally, there is a hillside on this hillside that once made Du
Wei's most embarrassing name: Brokeback Mountain.
This is a very remote place. If you look at the official map of the empire, you have to be very careful and attentive to find the mark of this place. It does not produce any precious minerals, and its geographical location is far away from trade routes.
There is only one road outside the town. If you walk along this road for about an hour, you will reach the official road leading to the imperial capital. Then if you ride a horse and run wildly, you may be able to reach the imperial capital in one day.
If you walk... I'm afraid it will take more than two days.
Even in history, there seems to be no famous big shot. Naturally, few people know about such a town. The status of Prancing Horse Town is like that inconspicuous dot on the map...
Of course, no one knows that this unknown town is the hometown of Gandolf, the greatest magician in the Roland Continent in the past two hundred years.
The folk customs in the town are very simple, and many people have even lived together as neighbors for several generations. There is only one tavern, two tailor shops, and two grocery stores in the whole town.
Such an inconspicuous little place does not even have its own religious center. The believers in the town often even drive horse-drawn carriages together and walk several hours to the nearest religious center in the Imperial Acropolis to pray.
Most of the residents in the town are farmers, but every year during the slack farming season, some young and powerful villagers will go to the imperial capital, or one of the bustling acropolis around the imperial capital, to find a part-time job as a horse and carriage dealer.
Earn some extra money to support your family.
It can be said that if it weren't for Du Wei's unexpected intervention, this town would have been an inconspicuous backwater.
But about half a year ago, a noble man in fine clothes, who was said to be from the imperial capital, came here in a beautiful carriage. The man politely visited the mayor and talked with him for an entire day.
afternoon.
Finally, the mayor called a meeting of all residents in the town and announced an exciting thing in public:
The most prominent dignitary in the empire, Duke Tulip, decided to "invest" in this remote town. Although most of the villagers didn't know what "investing" meant. Even the mayor didn't understand. But it didn't matter, because
That noble man from the imperial capital claimed to be a subordinate of Duke Tulip, and his name was Mr. Zack.
He announced that he would pay to buy the entire "Brokeback Mountain" on behalf of the Tulip family! And the official land purchase and sale procedures of the empire had been completed.
As for the money to buy the entire Brokeback Mountain, part of it will be used and divided equally among all the residents of Prancing Pony Town. Everyone can get two silver coins.
This incident was immediately warmly welcomed by all residents.
Although everyone doesn't know what attracts Duke Tulip to the Brokeback Mountain behind the town. It's basically a hillside without any minerals. Apart from the woods on the mountain, this mountain only has stones.
There is nothing else of value.
On behalf of the Tulip family, little Zach announced in public that after purchasing the entire Brokeback Mountain, from this moment on, Brokeback Mountain became the private property of the Tulip family. No one is allowed to walk into Brokeback Mountain at will!
Every plant and tree on the mountain, even an inch of land, is the sacred and inviolable property of the Tulip family.
Okay... No one has any objections, because this order has little impact on everyone: except for some woodcutter who make a living by going into the mountains to cut firewood. But there are other woods around, so in the future, we will just take a detour. This
There is only one hunter in the town. From now on, they will not be able to go hunting in the mountains. This is okay, because the mountain is not big. You can only find some small things like hares or pheasants in the mountains. Not to mention wolves. There are not even foxes.
!
Moreover, Duke Tulip was very gracious. He also opened a workshop in this town, where he purchased grain from farmers in the town and used it to brew wine. The workshop also recruited many people from the town and provided them with
Work.
This place is indeed a good thing. For a long time, the residents of Prancing Pony Town lived a very prosperous life, and everyone praised Duke Tulip for his kindness and kindness.
In the next few months, three hundred fully armed cavalry soon arrived in the town!
These villagers, most of whom had never seen the world, were shocked when they saw those majestic and powerful cavalry, riding horses and wearing bright armor. And these cavalry quickly arrived at the back of Brokeback Mountain.
Later, in less than a month, a new manor appeared in the back mountain.
The manor was built on the mountain. The location was very good, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The mountain area behind was very large, so horse racing was no problem. However, to enter, you had to pass through the valley in the middle of Brokeback Mountain.
During that time, some strangers often appeared in the town, and those people were members of the Tulip family. More than 500 private troops of the Tulip family came here.
According to external news, it is said that Duke Tulip took a fancy to the scenery here, and he built a villa behind Brokeback Mountain so that he could come here for vacation in his spare time.
Well, most villagers cannot guess the thoughts of a high-ranking figure like Duke Tulip. No matter what, he has received enough benefits in his pocket. Who cares about the rest?
Moreover, with the arrival of so many outsiders, those members of the Tulip family live in the back mountains. They always want to eat and drink. On weekdays, they bring a lot of consumption to the town. This makes the town become increasingly prosperous.
However, the rules of the Tulip family seem to be a bit bigger.
Since that time, there have been warriors from the Tulip family patrolling Brokeback Mountain behind the town, and no one is allowed to approach the hillside anymore.
A woodcutter from the town once tried to get close to him, but he was politely chased away the first time. The second time, this man who was looking for a small gain even tried to quietly go into the mountains to chop wood because it would take a longer walk to chop wood elsewhere.
As a result, he was unceremoniously tied up by soldiers of the Tulip family who were patrolling the mountain, and thrown into the town.
No one in the town sympathized with the woodcutter, because he got two silver coins from selling the mountain! Now that you have taken the money, of course you can no longer just go to other people's land.
In this regard, most people in the town are still very simple.
The Tulip family's courtyard in the back mountain is surrounded by a high fence wall, which is built against the mountain. In addition to soldiers patrolling the mountain, there are also cavalry patrol teams around it who take turns patrolling according to shifts every day.
The degree of defense seems to be a bit overblown. Because Lord Tulip Duke has never come here for vacation.
There seems to be no need to go to such great lengths to protect an empty courtyard. Therefore, people in the village often secretly speculate whether the Duke has some mistress here... Isn't this kind of thing very common among nobles?
?
In the courtyard, there is a flat grassland inside the tall courtyard wall. The simple wooden buildings in the middle were built in just one month, and every day, there are still people in the wooden sheds one by one.
There will be sounds like howlings of young animals.
In order to cover up this sound, little Zach built a row of stables outside the manor to raise horses.
In the evening of this day, the manor finally welcomed its real owner.
Du Wei did not make any fanfare, but arrived at the manor in a very simple carriage with a small team of guards.
When the carriage drove into the manor, Du Wei was very satisfied with the vigilance of the defenses around it.
When entering the valley, hidden sentries have been arranged on the hillsides on both sides. If the enemy forces their way in, the hidden sentries on the hillsides on both sides will fire crossbows! The dozen or so crossbows arranged on both sides can fire a powerful crossbow in a very short time.
In a matter of seconds, a carriage was blown to pieces! And there are still archers guarding the area. Even if hundreds of people try to break in, they will definitely be set as hedgehogs!
And below, there are a hundred elite cavalry from the Tulip family patrolling. These cavalry were mobilized from the northwest by Du Wei, and they are all the real elites of the Tulip family. Their origins and family backgrounds have been strictly investigated, and they are absolutely sure about the Tulip family.
A loyal direct descendant.
In fact, even these teams responsible for guarding can only be stationed on the outside of this manor and are not allowed to enter inside!
Therefore, even these soldiers don't know what secrets there are in this manor.
When the carriage entered the manor and finally stopped next to a small stone building, little Zach got off the horse immediately, came to the carriage, and opened the carriage door with his own hands.
Later, Du Wei's bodyguard, Elder Yan, personally took Du Wei out of the carriage and placed him in the prepared wheelchair.
In winter, Du Wei was wrapped in a thick fur robe and a mink scarf, which covered a small part of his face. He was sitting in a wheelchair with a thick blanket covering his legs.
.
It seems that he really fits the appearance of a "seriously ill" person.
But only he himself knows how ridiculous this dressing up is.
It is true that he is seriously ill, but his body is not so weak at all. On the contrary, his physical condition has probably never been so good! Every muscle in his body is full of elasticity and strength. Even in winter, even if he is only
Even though he was wearing close-fitting clothes, he didn't feel the slightest bit cold. His face was rosy, and if you looked at him purely from the outside, he looked incredibly healthy!
But he had to wrap himself in a blanket and pretend to be seriously ill.
Because, he is "paralyzed".
In order not to cause more verbal trouble, it is difficult for you to explain to others why you can't move your body even though your face is rosy and shiny. Your muscles are obviously full of vitality and elasticity, but you can't even lift your arms.
In the palace, Prince Chen has summoned him twice recently, but Du Wei avoided him both times with the excuse of being seriously ill, so he had to "pretend to be sick". Even if he was really sick, he still had to pretend to be "sick".
Come on.
Therefore, Du Wei had to dye his cheeks waxy yellow when meeting guests.
Lao Yan personally pushed the wheelchair into this small building.
Then, in this small building, Du Wei met Hussein.
Hussein looked at Du Wei sitting sluggishly in the wheelchair, his brows knitted together tightly.
"Don't look at me like that. This is temporary. Before long, I will be dancing in front of you." Du Wei laughed.
Hussein was wearing a white cotton robe. When Du Wei came in, he was gently wiping the edge of the sword in his hand with a whetstone.
Lao Yan walked out of the room very smartly and closed the door behind his back.
"How have you been these days?" Du Wei sighed: "You have lived here for a few months, are you still used to it?"
"It's okay." Hussein has never been in the habit of talking nonsense. He went directly to the topic: "Since last month, someone has been spying on us from the outside. The patrolling soldiers had two conflicts with those guys and drove them away.
We ran away, and we had no casualties. But judging from the situation reported by the soldiers, I think it was probably someone from the church who did it."
