The prosperity of the imperial capital does not seem to have been greatly affected by the war. Since this year, the war situation in the north seems to have improved greatly. First, Duke Tulip regained the fallen eastern fortress, and then General Alpai on the western front succeeded in successive raids.
A series of news of major or minor victories has filled public opinion with an optimistic tone.
Originally, for the vast majority of people in the Roland Empire, whether they were the upper-class dignitaries or the middle- and lower-class civilians, they had never really regarded the invading monster races as a serious concern. After all, the national power of the empire lies here.
The empire owns the entire continent, with vast land and a large population. Human civilization is also in a relatively developed period. Moreover, under the leadership of the wise regent, the national strength is gradually recovering, and it has gradually got rid of the kind of power that existed during the reign of Augustine VI.
Drowsy twilight.
For most people, they just think that the war in the north is just a relatively large-scale local war. Even more people think that the threat of those invading monster races may not be as good as that of the Empire.
What about the northwest prairie people who have been fighting for decades?
But this time, His Majesty the Young Emperor, Charles, personally went to the front line to reward the troops. When the news came out, optimism reached its climax. Even the people believed that if they were optimistic, the war might end within tomorrow.
Moreover, because of the war, the empire vigorously developed the military industry, whether it was the supply of food, ordnance, etc., which also greatly stimulated civilian productivity.
After all, for a large empire that encompasses an entire continent, there is still a lot of potential in national power that can be tapped.
The empire funded the official purchase, which aroused great enthusiasm among private chambers of commerce. For a time, teams from some relatively large chambers of commerce from all over the mainland gathered in the imperial capital. They all rushed to the imperial capital in droves, trying to coordinate the logistics of the Finance Department and the General Headquarters.
Department, sharpened his head, trying to get in and open a way to get an official purchase order from the empire.
During this period, the busiest person was undoubtedly the fat man from Delan Mountain Warcraft who was promoted before the war to be the special minister responsible for the logistics and material supply in the war zone.
Delan Mountain Warcraft has been suppressed by the Tulip family for several consecutive years. Although they have a good personal relationship with each other, and this fat man is also very sensible. He knows that Duke Tulip is very popular, and he cannot compete with the other party, so he simply does not fight. But the war
Since then, after he was promoted by FireWire, he has also made a lot of war fortune by relying on the power in his hands, and his family's weapons industry has been operating at full capacity.
In the private rankings among the powerful circles within the imperial capital, at least this year, the Delan Mountain Warcraft has finally surpassed the Tulip family in the wealth list of the empire. Although the fat man said nothing, he felt it in his heart.
Not without pride.
Of course, what Delan Mountain Warcraft doesn't know is that many of Du Wei's properties are underground and not exposed to the surface.
On this day, the imperial capital was still noisy as before, but suddenly at noon, something unusual happened at the northern city gate!
At noon, the defenders at the city gate were meticulously inspecting the city defense and customs clearance, and then suddenly, dust rose from the far side of the road. A group of cavalry galloped in like a whirlwind!
This group of cavalry looked like there were more than 300 riders, but they seemed to be extremely arrogant as they ran wildly. They even ignored the newcomers and convoys on the road. They ran so fast that they even trampled them with their horses!
Such arrogant behavior immediately caused a chaos at the foot of the imperial capital.
The cavalry crashed into the city gate? Is this okay?
The Royal Guards guarding the city immediately stood ready! However, when this group of cavalry came closer, they found that the opponent's number was only more than a hundred, but each of them had two or three cavalry. It seemed that they had traveled a long distance.
If you are going crazy on the road, you can change horses if you bring extra horses to maintain your foot strength and speed.
Such a tense and rapid march is rare even among the army, let alone in a central area like the imperial capital?
The guards guarding the city were about to stop them, but the opponent's cavalry came far away. The leading cavalry rushed to the front and showed their flags from a distance!
Several knights held different flags in their hands, which were: an emergency military information card for the northern war zone! And... a golden thorn flower emperor flag!!
Seeing such a scene, the soldiers guarding the city did not dare to stop them. Although this group of cavalry came in a rampage, trampling many pedestrians and convoys on their backs and shouting and yelling all the way, these soldiers hurriedly
He opened the city gate wide, held weapons in hand, and dispersed all the civilians lining up under the city gate to enter the city!
Even though the people around were dissatisfied with such behavior, they did not dare to shout anything. The atmosphere became very tense for a while, as if it foreshadowed that something big was going to happen!
This group of cavalry rushed under the city gate like a whirlwind, without stopping at all. Like a gust of wind, they rushed into the city. The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves flew all the way, turning the soldiers and civilians under the city gate into disgrace.
Moreover, this group of cavalry came from afar. Although they were extremely tired, the knights on the horse were clearly the elite among the elite! Although the formation of this group of cavalry was somewhat scattered, the killing aura was obviously not
Ordinary military cavalry!
When this cavalry team entered the city, the soldiers and civilians under the city gate couldn't help but started talking in low voices: Could it be that the military information from the north had been reported back by rushing the city gate in such an emergency?
Could it be that he won another battle?
Immediately, someone whispered worriedly: "Looking anxious, it doesn't seem like we have won the battle. Could it be..."
Others immediately retorted: "Bah, bah, bah! How can we lose the battle when there is a hero like Duke Tulip on the front line!"
Others were talking a lot, but the officer guarding the city had a complicated look on his face!
It was a coincidence that the officer guarding the city was an old soldier. He had guarded the city gate all year round. After the cavalry team rushed in just now, he happened to see clearly that among the cavalry team, surrounded by the cavalry, the last one
The rider inside was clearly a half-grown boy wearing a long robe! Although this boy had a bamboo hat on his head, he had just glanced hastily and could see the other person's face clearly!
Is it...your majesty?!
What frightened the officer was, didn't His Majesty the Little Emperor reward the army soldiers in the north? What happened? Why did he come back in such a hurry and panic?
In the square outside the imperial city, people were trampled on their backs on the street. The cavalry team was almost barbaric in charging at passers-by! Naturally, there were countless injured people who were trampled along the way, but this team of cavalry was extremely fast, and even the people around them were trampled on.
The patrol team from the public security station had already rushed to the Imperial City area before they could react!
The Imperial Guards guarding the square quickly came forward to greet them, but then, after the group of cavalry stopped, the man in the middle rode up to the front. The murderous Imperial Guardsmen who came forward saw the person clearly and knelt down one after another.
Go down and shout "Long live your Majesty"!!
Little Charlie looked exhausted, and his physical strength had almost reached the critical point of collapse. At only eleven years old, he had been running around non-stop for days. Even though he had received riding training since he was a child, his physical strength was still extremely difficult.
Supported!
But after the news reached the north, how could little Charlie, who was rewarding the army, dare to waste half a day? He immediately dropped everything and hurriedly led his people all the way south to the imperial capital!
There were thousands of cavalrymen who originally followed him back south. However, in order to maintain mobility on the way, little Charlie temporarily ordered some of the people to be left behind and let go of the horses, maintaining the number of three to four hundred people, with each person having at least three horses.
It was almost a long drive all day and night!
Although there was an accompanying palace magician who gave little Charlie a lot of secret magic medicine to forcibly replenish his physical strength, running so hard made the eleven-year-old boy almost collapse.
At this moment, he finally arrived at the entrance of the palace. Charlie's first reaction was to look up at the flag on the wall of the imperial city. When he saw that the golden thorn flower flag was still flying, there was nothing unusual. And when he saw the Imperial Guardsmen guarding the imperial city,
He was still dressed in his usual armor, and there was no special service, so he felt a little relieved.
If the breath he was holding back was released, Charlie immediately felt his body go limp. At that time, he swayed and fell backward. The people around him were shocked. Two guards quickly ran over to hold him up. Charlie used all his strength to
He shook his head, gritted his teeth and pushed the people around him away, shouting in a low voice: "I can walk by myself!"
He took another look at the Imperial Guard officer who came out to greet him: "Quick! Take me into the city! I want to see my father! Right now!!"
Running all the way into the imperial city, Charlie no longer even cared about the series of shared bathing etiquette that the emperor had to perform when returning to the palace. He almost violently pushed the palace etiquette officer and palace servants in front of him away, and could not wait for the palace attendant to lead the way.
, he didn’t even take off his leather armor, he was still wearing riding boots, and he just ran away like that!
Passing through the main hall, the square, the corridor, and entering the interior of the palace, Charlie was surprised that what he saw was that the defense in the palace was obviously at least three times higher than before he left!
When he entered the imperial capital city, everything seemed to be as usual in the city. The number of shifts of the Royal Guards did not increase. There were not many security patrols on the streets of the imperial capital.
Even in the square outside the imperial city, the number of imperial guards did not increase.
However, when I arrived inside the palace, especially all the way in, I saw that the Imperial Guards were all fully armed and tightly guarding all the palace gates, corridors, and arteries in the imperial city!
Each of the Imperial Guards looked solemn, as if they were facing a formidable enemy!!
This scene made Charlie, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, couldn't help but feel nervous again. Besides being nervous, there was even more faint excitement in his eyes!!
Finally, he rushed into the hall that he was familiar with. He didn't even care about the announcement from the waiter outside, and strode in straightforwardly. He was the emperor of the empire, and the imperial guards outside dared to stop him. They had no choice but to do it.
He rushed into the hall alone...
This is the residence of Prince Chen, the current actual master of the empire and regent!!
When I walked into the hall, I was immediately greeted by a strong smell of medicine filling the air. This smell was very complex. It seemed that the smell of countless medicinal materials was mixed together, making people smell it.
Feeling quite depressed.
The hall was solemn. On a big bed in the center in the distance, among the surrounding curtains, there was a faint figure lying there helplessly. Around the big bed, several palace magicians in red robes were silently talking.
Stand solemnly.
Around them, two red-robed court mages were nervously preparing magic potions. There were even more court mages running back and forth, holding pieces of parchment in their hands. It was unknown what ancient potion formula was recorded on them.
Something like that.
Inside the curtain, there are two other figures sitting on the bedside, one large and one small. The slightly larger figure is naturally the queen of the regent, who is also Charlie's mother. The smaller figure has turned around at this moment.
Turning her head, she glanced at Charlie. Her delicate face had a hint of childishness. There was some faint uneasiness in her eyes. When she saw Charlie striding towards him, she seemed to be relieved.
He stood up and shouted quickly: "Brother!"
At this moment, Charlie was feeling flustered and excited, and there was still some vague expectation. When he heard his sister's call, he just nodded, but he had already lifted the curtain, rushed to the big bed, and his eyes fell on
The person on the bed couldn't help but froze...
The regent of the empire, Prince Chen, was lying quietly on the bed.
His face was so pale that it was almost transparent. There was no luster on his cheeks, and even his lips had little blood left! With such an appearance, he was obviously extremely ill!
When Charlie saw it, he couldn't help being stunned!
Is the person on the bed... really the father who fills me with awe?
The father, who was full of energy and not angry but seemed to have lost all his momentum at this moment, was lying there quietly, almost helpless.
The eyes that originally made me awe were half-closed. He was breathing lightly, as if he had lost his mind. And his father's slender and powerful fingers were weakly placed on the edge of the bed... His eyebrows were lightly frowned, as if he was suffering from the pain.
Tormented by illness.
Charlie stayed for a long time, but he felt a small hand next to him tugging at the corner of his clothes. He looked down and saw his sister, Princess Karina, looking at him. Only then did he wake up and quickly got up on one knee.
He knelt down and shouted in a low voice: "Father! I, I'm back!"
Prince Chen's wife, the Queen Regent of the Empire, is a graceful and kind-hearted woman. Her face was full of tears at this moment. She reached out and hugged Charlie. Before she could speak, she burst into tears.
When Charlie heard the cry, he didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a faint sense of confusion...
He is rational and understands what is happening!
Look at this...Father, it seems...
A few days ago, Charlie, who was rewarding his troops on the northern front, suddenly received an urgent secret letter from the imperial palace! This letter was not sent by the Royal Guards, but was sent by a court magician in person in order to rush for time.
!!
There are not many words in the letter, only a few words: The king is critically ill! The country has no owner! Come back soon!!
When Charlie saw this secret letter, he felt as if something suddenly burst in his heart! He didn’t know what it felt like, sad? Nervous? Excited? Expectant?
There seems to be a little bit of every feeling!
However, as a young and mature emperor, as a man who was already ambitious for power, he immediately dropped everything, led his people without hesitation, and used all means to rush back to the imperial capital!
My father is critically ill!
If he dies! You must rush back!
Otherwise, if his father dies and he is not in the imperial capital... God knows what trouble will happen!
Although the political situation in the country is now stable, the desire and ambition for power in his heart make Charlie absolutely not allow even the slightest threat!
Along the way, so many horses were killed that I was so shocked that I couldn’t care less!
At this moment, finally standing beside Prince Chen's bedside, Charlie seemed a little confused again.
My father has always been the pillar of the empire! Although I have vaguely hated that my father holds all the power in his hands, but...unconsciously, everything has always relied on him!
But now. He fell, standing in front of the power that was about to be at his fingertips, little Charlie couldn't help but feel a faint sense of panic in his heart.
Under the alternating impact of this feeling, he only shouted once and was already stunned. Even though the queen held him in her arms, the little emperor bit his lips and stared at his father lying on the bed.
, I can’t tell what is in those eyes...
Finally, the queen cried for a while and let go of Charlie. At this moment, Princess Karina spoke softly and told what happened.
Karina's voice was a little hoarse, she had obviously cried a lot, her eyes were a little red and swollen, and her cheeks were still stained with tears.
The little princess was sobbing while telling the story of how Prince Chen fell ill.
Many days ago, during a palace meeting, Prince Chen seemed to be in a slightly bad health. But in that meeting, he still managed to hold on. At that meeting, he behaved as usual. He was still the same.
He looked calm, serious and full of energy. He even got angry with Camisillo, the Minister of Military Affairs, over the issue of mobilizing weapons and military pay for the front line.
But as the meeting ended, Prince Chen walked to the back and immediately died!
Under the gaze of dozens of guards and servants around him, he suddenly fell down silently! The people around him were frightened at that time, but then, several palace magicians rushed up. Without any explanation, they forcibly captured Prince Chen.
He was picked up and taken directly to his residence in the palace.
The scene was a bit chaotic at that time, and in the hurry, the court magician almost had some misunderstandings with the imperial guards.
Fortunately, Prince Chen woke up briefly later and personally ordered the imperial guards to guard outside. His condition was left to the palace magician to handle, and no one else was allowed to interfere! Not even the main hall where he lived was allowed.
Any royal guards enter! It can be seen that Prince Chen deeply trusts the palace magician!
The palace magician had been busy all day and had been rescued, but Prince Chen was still half-conscious. He was in a coma most of the time, only occasionally waking up for a moment, but he would soon pass out again.
Later, the queen and the little princess came to guard the hospital bed. With the queen's arrival, although the royal family's practice is that neither the queen nor the queen will interfere in government affairs, after all, the queen is the official wife of Prince Chen, and she will take charge of the overall situation.
, and also made everyone feel a lot more at ease.
It's a pity that although this queen is graceful and kind-hearted, she is not a woman of great wisdom. Faced with such a crisis, she is a little panicked.
At this time, it was the little princess Karina who stood up. She first calmed her mother's emotions, and then conveyed the orders one by one through the queen's mouth!
Her first order was to summon Charlie back as quickly as possible! Because it seemed that Prince Chen's condition was in crisis, and if something unexpected happened, the empire was about to face a change of power! At this moment, Charlie must not be absent!
The second order is to make a series of mobilizations to the Royal Forest Army!
Karina ordered that this matter must be kept strictly confidential! All the forty-six guards and servants who saw Prince Chen faint that day were temporarily locked up. Karina was still a child after all. Although she was smart, she was still a child after all.
Soft-hearted. If it were another mature and ruthless politician who had dealt with this kind of thing, he would have ordered everyone to be killed long ago in order to keep it secret for the time being!!
Subsequently, the mobilization of the Royal Forest Army was also tightly restricted within the imperial city! Karina's political sense was far better than others. Although she was young, she knew who the enemies of the royal family were! At this moment, stability is the most important thing.
important!
Before Charles, the legal heir to the empire, comes back, the matter cannot be publicized. Otherwise, it is inevitable that some ambitious people will do something wrong! Especially... the temple!
Therefore, not many changes were made to the Royal Guards of the Imperial City, and even the Imperial City Public Security Bureau did not move much. Karina's principle can be simply expressed in four words: loose on the outside and tight on the inside!
At this moment, looking at her brother who was in a daze, Karina wiped her eyes hard, took a deep look at her mother, pulled Charlie again, and said sternly: "Brother, now is not the time to panic! Everyone is waiting for you.
You are in charge of the overall situation! Although I have made some arrangements, after all, you are the emperor of the empire, and your orders are justifiable! There are still a few important things to do at the moment!"
Charlie was a little confused, and couldn't help but ask his sister, who was two years younger than him: "I...what should I do?"
Karina sighed inwardly, frowned secretly, and looked at her brother deeply. She didn't know what the look in her eyes meant, but she finally spoke slowly...
