The moment Nazer said the last word, the entire Hall of Heroes fell into a strange atmosphere:
It was neither a half-dead silence nor a lively crowd, but the nobles on the side of the hall were whispering to each other in twos and threes. Amidst the vague buzzing sound, they raised their heads from time to time, with strange and alienated eyes.
Glancing at the Grand Duchess sitting on the seat.
Just like thousands of insects and ants, they are hiding in the tall and solid wood of the beams. The sound of gnawing and eating the beams makes people feel irritated. When they want to break the wood and search, there is no trace.
trace.
In the Grand Duke's throne, Thelma's expression froze on her face.
Although the girl had already expected it due to the weird atmosphere on the last government hearing and the reminders from Lisban and Thales who either bluntly remonstrated or made insinuating remarks, when this moment actually came, the Grand Duchess couldn't help but tense up.
It's like a veil that conceals flaws, finally being ruthlessly lifted off.
Thales listened to the whispers in his ears and looked at the girl's expression, feeling unspeakable in his heart.
Sitting under the Grand Duchess, Lisban had a gloomy face, his eyelids were slightly drooped, and a hint of coldness emanated from them, like the eaves of a roof about to be broken down by ice.
"Count Nazaire," after a long while, the expressionless girl slowly said in a crisp but cold voice: "Is this your suggestion? My marriage? For Longxiao City?"
The moment she spoke, the whispers in the Hall of Heroes suddenly disappeared.
Like insects and ants that stop gnawing and hide.
Nazer looked quietly at the girl who looked at him coldly, without any fluctuation in her eyes.
"This is what it should be," the old earl said lightly: "You know, Walton's bloodline must continue, just like the marriage of hero Sarah and Princess Renee, continuing the rule of Longxiao City."
"The Walton family also needs a legal, orthodox heir and male heir to appease the restless vassals and scare our opponents to tell the outside world: Longxiao City is under sufficient protection and is as stable as ever."
Nazer was still calm and calm, but every time he said a word, the whispers in the hall became less and less, and the girl's face became paler.
"For this reason, I suggest that you choose a young, promising and responsible man as your husband among the vassals and their equally noble and loyal families."
Count Nazaire said solemnly: "As the father of your future child, as the father of the future nobleman of the Dragonlance family."
The Grand Duchess did not answer immediately.
But Thales felt that the girl's eyes subconsciously shifted in his direction, but stopped abruptly halfway and focused on the floor tiles in the center of the hall.
Those are the floor tiles belonging to the Palace of Heroes. They are still strong after thousands of years.
"So, do you think that, as a woman," Thelma said softly, "in fact, I am not qualified to sit in this seat and inherit everything from the Grand Duke of Longxiao City?"
Her voice gradually disappeared from the panic and discomfort, but added a hint of bitterness and desolation consistent with her master:
"So you ask me to marry early and give birth to a real, qualified and powerful heir to Longxiao City?"
The hall fell completely silent. The vassals who had been loyal to the Walton family for generations no longer whispered to each other, but raised their heads one after another, waiting for the development of the situation in the hall.
The five earls had different expressions, but they all stared at their female monarch in silence.
Lisban's eyes were locked on Count Nazaire, but the latter was unaware of it.
Seeing this, Thales sighed, but Ian next to him shrugged.
"On the contrary."
"It is precisely because you have the qualifications to lead Longxiao City as a descendant of Walton," Nazer's voice came again. Compared to the elegance and even coldness of the Grand Duchess, his words were steady and powerful: "That's why
Even more so, as the nearest direct blood descendant in the family, it is your unshirkable responsibility to continue the Walton family."
Thelma lowered her eyelids and her eyes stopped on the long skirt on her knees.
At that moment, Thales, who was silently watching this scene, suddenly realized that the six years he had been away from the chaos and chaos of the palace were both unfortunate and lucky.
Finally, a low and angry cold shout resounded in the hall:
"As far as I know, we're talking about answering a lady's call."
"It's about sending troops to the Free Alliance," Regent Lisspan's voice was like a freezing snowstorm, instantly blowing away the last trace of smiles on the faces of the nobles in the hall, "rather than crudely changing the agenda privately, without any hesitation.
Disrespectfully interfering in a lady’s private affairs.”
"It's no different from forcing the palace to rebel."
Lisban ended his words coldly.
Opposite him, Nazaire turned his head towards Lisban, as if this was his biggest enemy today, as if the earnest instruction he just gave to the Grand Duchess was just an inadvertent reminder.
The old count stared intently at the regent, his eyes unmoving for a long time.
"What we are talking about is the future of Longxiao City, Lisban." The next second, Nazer seemed to be deliberately going against Lisban, and in the calmest and calmest language, he said the words that made Lisban's face change suddenly: "
It is about the fate of Longxiao City, do you think we will be so stupid that we let it be controlled by some powerful official with ulterior motives?"
In addition to the two of them, the other four earls also had slight reactions: among them, Linna and Curtson each snorted unabashedly.
Only the Grand Duchess said nothing, still staring at the long skirt between her legs.
The pattern on it seems to be very nice.
Lisban looked back at Nazer, no longer hiding his dissatisfaction.
The regent sneered: "So, you are going to force the Grand Duchess to marry your favorite candidate?"
"If you hold Longxiao City firmly in your hands, you won't be called 'faint', right?"
The argument between the two adults echoed in the hall, but no one dared to interrupt.
Thales listened to their conversation coldly.
Risban and Nazair, two Northland families with the same long history. In terms of merit, they are not even inferior to the "Nine Knights of Nekaru". They have been the right-hand man of the Walton family since the era of the Dragon Rider King.
, jointly support the flag of Yunzhong Dragon Spear flying in Longxiao City.
And now...
A second later, Nazer and Lisban looked away from each other with complicated looks.
"No one can ever force a grand duke to do anything, not even a king," Nazer said in a slightly lower voice and with a change of tone: "But the reason why grand dukes are qualified to stand in this position and accept the allegiance of the ministers is,
It is precisely because he fully understands his responsibilities."
Nazer no longer looked at Lisban. Instead, he was staring at Selma, whose face was green and red and whose eyes were frozen, with strange eyes.
"Madam, remember, you are not just yourself, not just Ms. Thelma, and not just a girl from the Walton family," Count Nazaire snorted:
"You are even more like Longxiao City."
His pronunciation is particularly clear and his accent is clear and unmistakable.
"Yes, don't always think about yourself, madam," Nazer said solemnly: "More importantly, think about Longxiao City."
Thelma's clenched teeth couldn't help but move.
"I am," she repeated with difficulty, "I am... Longxiao City?"
Nazer remained silent, and Lisban's face turned pale.
In the hall, the whispers of the other dozen vassals rang out again.
Bigger, more arrogant, and more unbridled than before.
Nicolai frowned. He wanted to raise his hand several times and reach for the weapon behind his back, but he put it down forcefully every time.
Thales bit his lower lip and his eyelashes trembled slightly.
In his peripheral vision, the once naughty little boy lowered his head and trembled slightly.
Ian gave him a strange look and whispered: "Hey, don't be distracted. When will we come?"
But Thales just pursed his lips and said nothing.
Ian soon stopped paying attention to Thales.
Because the next moment was beyond almost everyone's expectations...
The girl suddenly raised her head!
"What if I say no?"
The Grand Duchess's always clear but weak voice suddenly sounded with a short breath that was rarely seen.
Slight astonishment appeared on the faces in the hall one after another.
In a tone full of rejection, Selma's eyes flashed with anger that she hadn't seen for a long time, and she looked around the entire hall.
Especially the six earls.
Thales was surprised.
On the Grand Duke's throne, the girl showed a beautiful but indifferent face, and said loudly: "What if I say...I don't want to?"
As soon as these words came out, the six earls, including Lisban, all frowned!
The hall seemed to have been thrown into the lake with another stone, and the disturbing whispers were once again rippled.
Many people subconsciously looked at Earl Lisban, but the latter just frowned slightly.
"What are you doing?"
"Again? Last time I listened to Zhengri, did this little girl also..."
"I really don't understand...a little girl who doesn't understand anything dares to lose her temper on the throne of the Grand Duke..."
"Damn it, Longxiao City can't go on like this..."
"Hey, guess what, if she grows up another year, will she growl and order us to find a nice dress for her?"
"Like I said, she, like other women, owes a whip from her husband..."
"Look at her thin arms. She can't even lift a sword, so she dares..."
The voices in the hall were mixed, one after another, and the noise forced Nicolai to speak seriously again to maintain order.
Listening to the rumors in his ears, Thales gradually frowned.
But Thelma still held her head high and looked at her vassals without any sign of weakness. She glanced in a certain direction in the hall and took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind.
"What if I insist?"
Thelma glanced at Hester with a complex look, then glanced at the aggressive Count Linna with difficulty, and then cleared her throat, "If I insist in the name of the Grand Duchess of Longxiao City... No, I order: I
My marriage will not be decided here and will not be decided because of this matter."
In an inconspicuous corner, Thales raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
Yes.
It was the little lioness who puffed out her cheeks, blushed, lifted up her skirt, and kicked his leg bones hard.
I don’t know when...
"Everyone, if this is the case..."
The Grand Duchess's voice echoed in the hall: "What will happen to you?"
As soon as this statement came out, nothing seemed to change in the hall.
But Thales felt inexplicably that the temperature around the six seats beside the Grand Duke seemed to have suddenly dropped!
All the counts turned their heads together, their eyes fixed on one person.
Regency of Lisbane.
It seems like he is the source of everything.
But the Grand Duchess once again exceeded their expectations.
"Please don't look at Charles anymore, everyone," Thelma's voice trembled slightly, like a branch moving under the snow in the cold wind: "He never taught me to say this."
Lisban was stunned.
Count Nazaire's gaze slowly froze in mid-air, fixed on the Grand Duchess's hand holding the arm of the seat.
"Very good," he said softly after a few seconds, "You surprised me a little."
Thelma took a deep breath and felt that Nazer's strange gaze had a magical power that penetrated people's hearts.
But the strange color in Nazer's eyes only lasted for a short while, and he returned to his original seriousness and indifference, as if the accident brought by the Grand Duchess just now was really just an accident.
Count Linna next to him snorted softly
"You are the Grand Duke, and your power in Longxiao City is naturally supreme."
"But the question is, are you really ready?" Earl Linna's tone was emotionless, but he spoke with key words: "If you want to be here, you will have to abandon your vassals because of this matter, and you will be left alone."
, dominate Longxiao City?"
Turn your back on your vassals...
Lonely and alone...
This sentence made the atmosphere in the hall more and more tense.
But Count Linna still looked at the Grand Duchess on the steps with an expressionless face.
Thelma's face turned pale, and she gritted her teeth: "Count Linna, what are you..."
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Earl Hester, who had always been friendly, spoke.
He raised his hands towards both parties and spoke first as if to break up the fight: "Madam, Count Linner, I think we should all be cold..."
This time, Earl Hester was interrupted by Linna's ruthless words:
"We all know your blind thoughts, Lord Hester!"
"But don't 'teach me' how to do it. That power belongs only to the late King Nun."
Thales sighed: Although Linna said this to Earl Hester, his eyes remained on the Grand Duchess.
The pressure on Selma became even heavier.
Hester's golden beard twitched.
A few seconds later, the Earl of Iron County, who had eaten the nail, turned cold and did not answer any more words.
Calm returned to the hall.
Only Thales and Ian were paying attention to the development of the situation with completely different moods.
The Grand Duke's face was as dark as water.
The vassals' eyes were like swords.
Soon, Count Nazaire sighed and rejoined the conversation:
"That's a real pity, ma'am."
"Of course, as a count, I am unable to oppose or even block your decision."
Like a slightly disappointed old man, Nazer shook his head and said softly: "But of course I am just I will still advise you, and even use actions to advise you. In the face of the crisis of the Freedom Alliance, in this battle between Qiyuan City and the Black
In the duel at Sand Collar, we'd better protect ourselves wisely."
Thelma held her breath unconsciously and frowned.
"Suggestion? Action? Protect yourself wisely?" The Grand Duchess's arms stiffened: "What do you mean?"
Nazer looked at her indifferently and did not answer.
Thales exhaled from his nose unconsciously.
Well done, Thelma.
We are close.
Close.
In this game, complete the most important connection:
War, and marriage.
We will win.
Lisban on the opposite side chuckled disdainfully: "So, you, Nazer and even the many vassals who are dissatisfied with not being able to interfere in the marriage of the lord, before the crisis of the Free Alliance, you must refuse the lady's call and refuse.
Gather your troops, even..."
"Like many of the vassals of the Black Sand Territory and the grand dukes of other territories, just like they resisted King Charmaine and refused to pay taxes to the lady?"
Nazer paid no attention to him.
Count Curterson, who had always been straightforward, narrowed his eyes, looked at the Grand Duchess, raised his eyebrows and said: "Of course I hope it won't turn out like that, ma'am."
"But many times, we can't help ourselves."
Thelma's expression changed.
"The purpose of sending troops to the Freedom Alliance is to safeguard the honor of the Walton family, which your ancestors swore allegiance to."
"If we stand by and watch the war of the Freedom Alliance and refuse Qiyuan City's request for help, then whether we, as the Grand Duke of Longxiao City, or you, as the princes of Longxiao City..." the Grand Duke gritted her teeth and said coldly.
typical:
"We will all become laughing stock: whether it is a weak girl who cannot even defend the name of her father and ancestors, or a Northlander who is timid and cowardly and dare not face the defeated generals of the past!"
The other four earls, whether it was the ruthless Curtson, the heart-wrenching Linner, the taciturn Kierkegaard, or the gentle and courteous Hester, they all turned their eyes away and avoided Seth.
Erma's sight.
Only Count Nazaire looked at the Grand Duchess with eyes, and sighed helplessly: "During six years of internal strife and disaster, Longxiao City is already crumbling. Refusing to send troops may harm the Walton family and us.
It’s a reputation, but it’s a good way to ensure that we don’t sink in this whirlpool.”
Lisban on the side snorted coldly, quite disdainfully.
The Grand Duchess gritted her teeth: "You know, Count Nazer, and you, you all know that we must send troops! Even if it is not for the Dragonlance family, not to assist Qiyuan City, but just to suppress the king's ambition,
Don’t let us drift in the whirlpool within the kingdom!”
"This is also for Longxiao City!"
But the next moment, old Nazer's voice suddenly rose, interrupting Selma's words!
"Then, for the sake of Longxiao City, why can't you understand?"
Thelma was startled.
Off the stage, Thales' fists were loosening and tightening.
Close.
Coming soon, Selma.
Just one step away!
Count Nazaire's eyes when he looked at the Grand Duchess suddenly changed, revealing a sharp edge:
"If you can choose your husband enlightenedly and soberly, and re-stabilize the future of the Dragonlance family, then all problems can be easily solved."
"At that time, as the Grand Duchess, you will be in charge of Longxiao City, and you can legitimately raise Walton's flag of honor and order the aid to Qiyuan City."
"Your husband, who is also in the Walton family, led the troops and joined us vassals in conquering the West to cleanse the chaos of the Free Alliance."
Just listen to the earl speak coldly: "Restore the prestige of the family, safeguard the honor of Longxiao City, and win the alliance of Qiyuan City, and even dampen the arrogance of the king, and demonstrate our existence and strength. Is this possible?
Isn’t that a better solution?”
The Grand Duchess bit her lower lip and seemed a little panicked in front of more than twenty vassals.
At this moment, Selma's regent, Earl of Lisban, spoke at the right time.
"Against the king? Really?" Regent Lisban snorted: "At this moment when Qiyuan City is playing chess with the king, you deliberately interfere with the lord's marriage...Why, the sweetness given by Heisha Ling, Charman
Are the bones left behind by the king so easy to lick?"
At that moment, Nazer turned his head sharply and stared at Lisban like a vicious beast whose tail had been stepped on.
"Be careful, old friend."
"Rumba did come to see me," Count Nazer said coldly, as if he had an irresolvable grudge with Lisban: "But the Nazer family in Longxiao City is not like him who kills his relatives to seize the throne.
A rotten guy can be manipulated no matter how eloquent he is and his intentions are sinister."
"But please believe me, madam, this is purely my own decision, because I think this is the best future for Longxiao City."
Nazer's words continued: "Your rights will not be subject to any interference: as long as you are a noble man in Longxiao City, how to choose and which one to choose as your husband is still your wish. This is
It’s from Longxiao City…”
Unable to bear it, Lisban shouted angrily again.
"That's enough, Nazer!"
The regent said coldly: "You can just talk about 'for Longxiao City'."
"However, let the Grand Duchess marry one of you? Is this your solution?"
Lisban shook his head slowly, as if sharp knives were shooting out of his eyes: "Do you really know what this will bring to Longxiao City?"
The center of the fight seemed to be between the two counts again.
"certainly."
"Madam," Nazaire's voice became lowered, but his eyes never left Lisban: "I know what Charles... Count Lisban told you. It was nothing more than, 'The Grand Duchess wants to check and balance everyone and maintain Longxiao.
The balance of power in the city', 'The lord's hasty marriage to the vassal is not good for the internal governance of Longxiao City', 'You cannot entrust your identity and power within Longxiao City' and other excuses as reasons for your refusal to marry."
"Indeed, it is not unreasonable. I have worked with Charles for many years. I know better than anyone else: he is not a fool. This kind of worry does exist."
Nazaire looked at Lisban with complicated eyes, but when he turned to the Grand Duchess, his eyes became even more strange.
"I didn't want to say the following words, Madam," Nazaire said softly: "But you and I just suddenly realized that maybe we shouldn't treat you as a young child who knows nothing about you. You are the Grand Duchess after all."
Selma's heart moved.
Lisban frowned.
"So, do you think that your marriage is really just to tie the power of the Walton family to a certain family in Longxiao City and seize it into our hands, as some people say?"
"No."
Count Nazaire spoke softly with some fatigue: "This is for a higher and more important purpose."
Everyone, the next chapter has been coded and revised. It is scheduled to be posted at 12:30. I'm going to have dinner.