Although the inexplicable interview left Thales confused, and the confrontation between Lisban and Cambida behind the stage was also full of doubts, the second prince did not intend to be troubled by it for too long. If he had been there six years ago,
What I learned from that thrilling night is...
"So you came to me?"
In the Blood Courtyard, Putilai, who was interrupted from his afternoon walk, was pacing and looking at the smiling prince with dissatisfaction.
"Yes," Thales leisurely imitated Putilai's pace, tapping the sword rhythmically with his right hand, Rolf and Wyatt followed behind them: "And I look forward to you giving me a satisfactory answer.
."
Putilai snorted coldly: "You expect a bad-tempered old man who has just arrived in Longxiao City for two days, is stupid, stubborn, and sarcastic to analyze such a complicated and difficult to understand diplomatic and internal affairs situation?"
The Lord flicked his pipe and said lightly: "Maybe you should ask Gilbert, but I'm really powerless..."
A bad-tempered old man who is stupid, stubborn, and sarcastic?
Thales took a deep breath.
"good."
The prince turned around, walked backwards in front, raised his hands and faced Putilai:
"I will not mention for now the most desperate moment six years ago, how the bad-tempered old man used his miraculous powers to find Mi Ke and Nicolai, and miraculously rescued me from the hands of the dark room and Rumba...
"
"He decisively supported us in breaking into the Palace of Heroes, and cleverly sent the prince into the Hall of Heroes, and finally miraculously saved the glorious deeds of Longxiao City..." Huaiya said cooperatively behind him, even Luo Luo
Wolf also nodded and said "ho" from behind.
Thales gave them a thumbs up.
Putilai showed an ugly smile: "...'Don't mention it for now'?"
"I'm just saying," Thales ignored Putilai's smile and said to himself: "That bad-tempered old man, on the first day he arrived at Longxiao City, how inexplicably, vividly, and in detail told
I, in the heavily-secret Hall of Heroes, in the inaccessible Longxiao City Political Day Meeting, what horrifying secret happened."
"Do you know how angry Lisbane looked when Cambida revealed the content of the hearing?"
Putilai raised his eyebrows: "I have more friends, that's all."
"And the most important thing is..." Thales stepped back, raised his right index finger, and pointed at Putilai: "In the complicated and complicated situation of Longxiao City, you, who have been missing for six years, suddenly appeared.
Already?"
Thales leaned forward and narrowed his eyes: "You want to tell me that this is a coincidence, that you just came to introduce a teacher and give me a pair of glasses by the way?"
"Aha," Putilai coughed awkwardly: "Speaking of that pair of glasses, you know, they were specially made for the Grand Duchess. They are..."
Thales frowned.
"Waiya, Medila, guard the surroundings and don't let anyone hear our conversation." He interrupted the other party and wisely cut off Putilai's intention to change the subject.
After the slightly confused two people took the order and left, Thales turned around again and looked at Putilai seriously.
Putilai looked at the prince, feeling slightly uneasy in his heart.
"You know, I didn't pursue the question that day," Thales' expression changed slightly: "But Wyatt reminded me more than once."
"After I was trapped in Longxiao City, you disappeared silently. It took more than six years before you reappeared in front of me." Thales raised his head, "It's not that I don't trust you, but why not
Earlier, not later, but now more than six years later?"
Putilai's face froze.
"Waiya inherited his father's sensitivity," Putilai sighed in a low voice a few seconds later, "but he didn't learn his grandeur."
Thales ignored him and continued:
"Six years ago, when I was just recognized as a prince...you had just returned to Dayon Star City, and you were entrusted by Gilbert to protect me as a deputy envoy when I went north."
Putilai stopped and lowered his head, making his expression unclear.
"Facts have proven that Gilbert's decision is correct: not everyone can use limited resources, in an isolated city, and rely on their sense of conspiracy and atmosphere to fight with the White Blade Guards, the Dark Room, and the Black Sands
Leader, the secret department, and the Earl of Lisban, not only did they not fall behind, they even managed to do it with ease."
Thales also stopped and shook his head: "Although you are very good at hiding yourself and no one cares about it, I know better than anyone else that a powerless prince can never be alone.
Save the world: Evacuate decisively, preserve strength, contact all parties, rescue the prince, hint for me to counterattack, break into the Palace of Heroes, compete with the Black Sand Leader, and reverse the situation..."
Thales took a deep breath: "Six years ago, the person who really saved Longxiao City countless times behind the scenes was actually you."
"Lord Putilai Niman."
"A former civil servant of the Foreign Affairs Department with a strange identity, a former Viscount who was demoted after the Year of Blood."
"And the eldest son of the late king, the attendant of Midir Shining Star,"
Putilai said nothing.
Thales lowered his head and remembered what Putilai had said to him in the Palace of Heroes about the Year of Blood.
"As far as I know, this is not something ordinary people can do."
Thales' face darkened slightly: "Don't you think there are too many mysteries in you, Putilai?"
At that second, Putilai paused slightly and his face became stiff.
It's like someone's heart has been revealed.
"Be honest," Thales observed the other party's reaction, sighed, turned around again and waited for the other party to catch up: "Putilai, don't learn the occult guys, you know I don't like them."
"Tell me, what kind of chess game am I in now?"
They walked past a big tree, and Putilai knocked the ashes from his pipe with a gloomy expression and said nothing.
Thales just stared at him silently.
"I understand," Putilai finally sighed slightly and replied to the tone he used when they first met: "What do you want to know about the current situation, troublesome little prince?"
Thales frowned slightly, recalling the many doubts in his heart.
"Connect." After a few seconds, the young prince looked around and said cautiously and quietly: "I want to know how all the major events on the table are connected through the hidden interests under the table. I think this is yours.
Long term."
Putilai put the pipe back into the pouch and was slightly startled: "Connect?"
Thales nodded, imitating Lisban's example and raising his hands behind his back, but his eyes drifted into the distance.
"Six years ago, Miranda Alland told me in the cell that everything that seemed unrelated to what happened in Longxiao City actually had an important clue running through it." Thales narrowed his eyes: "Later
We discovered that the clue behind the scenes is called 'Dragon's Blood'."
At that moment, Putilai unknowingly slowed down and fell one step behind the prince.
"In the past few months, since King Charman promulgated a new enfeoffment decree, Qiyuan City has roped in all parties to denounce the king, Lumba has been condemned and tortured, I have been accused as a hostage, the Grand Duchess of Longxiao City has been forced into marriage, and within the Freedom Alliance,
Unstable, the Black Sand Leader came to Longxiao City strangely," Thales was unaware of everything around him and continued to think hard:
"Although everything is fragmented, some things are not even related..."
"But I feel that the current situation is the same as then, and there is a faint clue connecting the before and after."
"I want to take hold of it...rather than react passively to the trouble that comes my way."
Putilai's eyes paused slightly.
They were both silent for several seconds.
Finally, Putilai let out a long sigh.
"You know, when we met the day before yesterday, I thought you were more cheerful than before," the thin man shook his head: "But now I find that the real you is more anxious, more vigilant, and more nervous than you were then. You are more nervous at night.
Can you really fall asleep?"
This time, Thales stopped.
"Six years ago, I fell down once due to carelessness and complacency," the prince's eyes slowly focused. "The price was my freedom and an enemy of the king."
"That feeling, that feeling of helplessness and fear that you can only drift in the wind, not knowing where you will go next second," Thales looked steadily at a stone slab under his feet that was broken due to age, and said calmly:
"I don't want to go through this a second time."
At that moment, Putilai felt for the first time that the fourteen-year-old boy next to him was a prince named Canxing.
The Lord shook his head slightly and whispered: "You have changed."
Thales came back to his senses and smiled slightly: "Everyone changes."
"more or less."
Putilai stared at him for a long time.
Finally, when Thales thought centuries had passed, Putilai took steps again. This time, the Lord's expression changed from the previous laziness and sarcasm, and became serious and nervous.
"For many years, the Freedom Alliance has relied on Qiyuan City for survival."
coming.
Thales quickly kept up the pace and pricked up his ears.
"As the vassals of the dragon, they convey the benefits of the Golden Corridor to Exeter. Exeter also maintains control over the Golden Corridor and the west of the continent through them, and restrains Conmas from a distance," Putilai
He scratched his chin and said seriously:
"You know, just like our relationship with the Principality of Thera: the vassal state of the Dragon Kiss Land controlled by the Stars controls the southeastern end of the Golden Corridor and the coast of the Corridor, and even affects the Thorn Land..."
"I know that the teachers in Selma taught me that Exeter and the Freedom League had a fight twenty years ago," Thales coughed and waved his palm to cut off the former
Minstrels' Confessions and Performances**: "Get to the point, the point..."
Putilai glanced at him dissatisfied, as if he was very unhappy with the fact that the little prince who was obsessed with listening to stories had turned into a teenager who would interrupt him, but he still continued: "As for what you said,
There was a fight..."
"More than twenty years ago, the governor of the Freedom Alliance found a new ally. He thought that King Nunn was busy with the dangers of the glacier defense line and was at odds with Qiyuan City, and had no time to take care of the west, so for the first time he came up with the idea of independence.
idea."
Thales was slightly startled: "New ally?"
Putilai nodded.
"White Mountain." He said cautiously.
"These arrogant white elves have rarely interfered in human affairs: they are not powerful but cannot be underestimated. They support the Freedom Alliance in seeking independence," the Lord said as he walked: "Of course, some people suspect that the Conmas people are also involved behind the scenes.
A marriage between Exeter and the Vine City in the south of Camas made several northern city-states in Camas very uneasy."
Thales was startled for a moment, remembering the Marquis Slice who always had a smile on his face.
"The results of it?"
"result?"
Putilai snorted, his tone somewhat sarcastic: "The overconfident alliance governor seized the tribute goods to the Kingdom of Exeter without authorization, and wrote a euphemistic but firm letter, asking to 're-focus'
mutual friendship'."
"Although there are many conflicts between Qiyuan City and Longxiao City, as the supreme ruler of the dragon kingdom, King Nuen did not gloat about the misfortune, nor did he reply to the letter to argue," Putilai said with a serious face: "He blew the whistle without hesitation.
With the call-up order, the troops from Longxiao City traveled a long distance, joined the soldiers from Qiyuan City and Guard City, and marched towards the Freedom Alliance."
Thales listened quietly to the past about the Freedom Alliance and Exeter, and quickly connected these details that would not be recorded in classes or history books with the current situation.
"As a result, more than 20,000 Exeter warriors broke through every gate and barricade of Freehold. Prince Suriel's troops even marched all the way into the White Mountains, threatening the ruling court of the white elves."
"They dyed the Shanliu River red with the enemy's skull blood," Putilai said with some emotion, as if he had seen it with his own eyes: "It is said that in the next two years, the nobles of Shanliu City all
We dare not drink the river water flowing from the upper reaches of the Freedom Alliance, and the prices of the famous river fresh fish in the Shanliu River Basin have also plummeted."
"That year, King Nun reaffirmed the dragon kingdom's absolute dominance at the end of the Golden Corridor, shocked the small countries and city-states who were forgetful in peace, and told the Freedom Alliance with blood: There has never been a relationship between dragons and ants.
What 'mutual friendship'."
"Nun," Thales muttered, thinking of the incomparable old king and his disappointing ending: "It's him again."
"King Nuen's thirty-year rule that shocked the Western Continent was not without reason," Putilai sighed softly: "Not every king is worthy of his oath to 'base himself at the forefront of the kingdom.' After that, Luo from Qiyuan City
The Ni family's attitude towards Longxiao City has changed from its previous unruly attitude, and even the people of Kangmas have become more disciplined. Shanliu City even lowered its status, and the Marquis of Yicheng came to Beidi in person to apologize with a smile."
Thales's heart moved.
"Twenty years ago, as the king, the Grand Duke of Longxiao City sent troops to support the interests of Qiyuan City in the name of All Exeter."
The prince punched his palm: "So, when the Freedom Alliance is unstable again, Lisban will say 'Ronnie must choose'..."
Thales recalled what Regent Lisban said in the hall: "If Qiyuan City wants to receive national support headed by the king like it did in the past, Grand Duke Ronnie must choose to compromise with the king and give up the move of gathering nobles to denounce King Chaman...
…”
The thin Lord snorted softly.
"Indeed, this is a good method: in the name of the king, with the great justice of Exeter, the initiative to order the princes to fight for the country is in the hands of the black sand leaders," Putilai nodded: "Okay
Imagine, facing the helping hand extended by King Charmaine, Ronnie..."
But Thales shook his head firmly.
"I know Archduke Ronnie, he will not choose to compromise." Thales' mind showed the ferocious expressions of Lumba and Ronnie, and a tense scene of them fighting each other in the hall: "He would rather fight in the blood.
Practice your beliefs in the fire and fight against the king to the end."
and.
Thales thought:
Now, the conflict between King Charmaine and the Grand Dukes is far from comparable to the conflict between King Nunn and the Grand Dukes back then.
Putilai laughed: "That would be more interesting."
They walked up the steps leading to the prince's bedroom and looked at a broken tree root extending to their feet.
"If Ronnie refuses the king's 'help', then he will have to face the civil strife of the Freedom Alliance alone. If necessary, he will even send troops alone to reaffirm the majesty of the dragon kingdom."
"It is a trivial matter to sit back and watch the Freedom Alliance lose its control and Qiyuan City to lose a large amount of income, but Archduke Ronnie's prestige will inevitably suffer a heavy setback: whether it brings humiliation to Qiyuan City or Exter's humiliation, it does not mean anything to him
Good thing."
Thales desperately recalled the geographical overview west of Exeter: "Solve the Freedom Alliance alone...can Qi Yuancheng and Ronnie do it?"
"It's time to test the strength of Qiyuan City and Grand Duke Ronny's control over the vassals," Putilai seemed to be recalling something: "But I think, even if it won't be like the three Grand Dukes working together twenty years ago,
That goes smoothly, but it is more than enough to deal with a small Freedom Alliance, which is adjacent to the desert and the Golden Corridor and is under constant guard in Qiyuan City."
"But the problem is, once all the energy is devoted to the alliance's internal strife, Ronnie's continued contact with the nobles and his actions to denounce the king will probably be affected."
Thales frowned.
"So Regent Lisban's suspicion is true: the civil strife in the Freedom Alliance is related to Lombard, and he may even be behind the scenes," the prince said lightly: "Let Qiyuan City and Grand Duke Ronnie, who were on fire in the backyard, stop and step in step.
He took steps to rescue the black sand collar from the burning nationwide condemnation."
Putilai raised his eyebrows: "Who knows."
But Thales stopped again, with a puzzled look on his face: "But I still can't figure it out: If this is just a game between King Gongju and Grand Duke Ronnie, then why did King Charman send Cambida to Longxiao City? Reese
Why did Ban say that Longxiao City was sent into the center of the storm?"
"Why Longxiao City?"
Putilai also stopped. He smiled slightly, his eyes emitting a strange light: