King Kessel was silent for a second and smiled softly.
"I?"
The king put down his knife, seemingly interested but his words were cold:
"Let me guess, Falkenhauser thinks so too?"
Thales shook his head.
"If the branches are rotten and the leaves are rotten, you need to ask about the roots."
"If there is a problem with your rule, Your Majesty, you will be the first person in the kingdom to pay the bills and the first person to reflect on accountability. It is absolutely and only you."
The king's disdainful sneer sounded in the room. He lowered his head again and continued to eat.
Thales also smiled and did not feel dissatisfied:
"Yes, you probably think that if the rule of the kingdom is not satisfactory and there are problems with the development of the stars, it must be due to deviations in the execution of officials and poor governance at the lower levels. Just fine-tuning and correction will not harm your overall strategy of governing the country, nor will it harm the princes before you.
You are wise, and your king is wise?"
"Just like the 'Sand King', in your eyes, how could it go wrong?"
"It must be that the person doing the job lacks courage, there must be something wrong during execution, it must be that the enemy is too cunning, it must be that accidents happen more often than expected, it must be... that unlucky prince's problem."
"However," Thales' smile turned cold:
"Only the simplest and kindest citizens can hold such innocent and beautiful illusions."
"Only the most insidious and vicious villain can say such ulterior motives."
Thales pointed to the king and said seriously:
"No, the reason why the 'Sand King' failed was because of nothing else but you, His Majesty the King."
What responded to him was the sound of the knife clashing with the dinner plate.
"Yes." Perhaps he was certain that he had a good chance of winning. King Kessel didn't even raise his head and spoke perfunctorily:
"I, the King of the Stars, am the weakest link in the kingdom?"
But Thales shook his head decisively.
"On the contrary, Your Majesty Kessel."
Thales smashed a spoon onto the dinner plate:
"In fact, you are the strongest link in the center of the kingdom."
King Kessel's knife cut the food in front of him in half.
He raised his head slightly, and the tip of the knife in his field of vision was directly facing Thales' face.
"But that's why it failed."
The prince said calmly, as if this was the most common common sense:
"Your Majesty, it is precisely because you are too powerful, too excellent, too wise, too terrifying, and too decisive."
King Kessel looked at Thales at the end of the knife and was silent for a while:
"Flattery cannot absolve you of your sins."
Thales shook his head, scooped up a spoonful of soup of unknown origin, and put it into his mouth:
"Recall, Your Majesty, before the 'Sand King', from the Desert War to the present, from the Blade Tooth Camp to the Town of Grace, from the "Emergency Control Order" to the "Border County Development Tax Exemption Order", from the Legend Wings to the Standing Army,
You are so skilled, how many things have you done to Xihuang, how many stabs have you stabbed, and yet they are gritting their teeth but can do nothing?"
Thales raised his head and his voice became louder:
"And since when did you replace the dangerous desert and become the number one enemy threatening their survival?"
Across the long table, King Kessel's eyes were focused on the tip of the table knife.
"So much so that today, before you even think about taking action, the frightened people of Xihuang have already made hundreds or thousands of plans - nothing else but how to resist the threat of Fuxing Palace. They even dream about it at night.
, are all scenes of the royal family’s standing army filling the mountains and fields, invading the Western Wilderness.”
"Under such a premise, Your Majesty the King, whether it is the army, taxes, land, or governance, no matter what you want to do with that land, the people of the Western Wilderness are destined not to let you get what you want.
willing."
Thales said coldly:
"So, how could 'Sand King' be successful? How could it be successful?"
This time, King Kessel remained silent for an extra long time.
Finally, the king raised his head slightly:
"You overestimate them."
Thales chuckled and nodded.
"Is it."
"So you think that when you ordered the army to march westward, everyone believed that they were going to rescue me?"
"Do you think that the princes of the Western Wilderness really took your bait and were completely unaware of the conspiracy?"
"Do you think that the main forces of the three major families were not attacked just because of Legend Wings' procrastination?"
"Do you think that the kingdom's secret department and standing army really messed up the plan because of their lack of ability?"
"Who do you think, you or Falkenhausz, found me first in the desert and took the upper hand in the 'Sand King'?"
At that moment, King Kessel's eyes sharpened.
Thales sat up straight and said solemnly:
"You underestimated them."
"Your Majesty the King."
King Kessel did not comment, only his eyes flickered.
"I know, I've made the same mistake."
Thales was slightly lost in thought, remembering the past:
"Years ago, when I escaped from Longxiao City, I thought I had done it perfectly and no one could see through it."
"With the help of the secret department, such a complicated political situation, such a strange situation, and such a coincidental time, no one should first suspect that Prince Thales was kidnapped by the forces in Longxiao City instead of secretly
Sneaked away."
Thales sighed deeply.
"But I was still caught - on the first day I escaped from Longxiao City."
King Kessel's eyes moved.
Thales stretched out his left hand and rubbed an abnormal bone, frowning tightly, as if feeling the pain of its cracking again:
"I was caught by a reckless man from Longxiao City who ranks at the forefront of the Western Continent in wielding swords and swords, but whose political IQ ranks among the lowest in the world."
Thales sneered lightly:
"Although it was later proven that the reasoning logic used by the Fallen Starmen to track me was simply mechanical and nonsense - damn Leland paper."
Thales raised his head and looked directly at the king with solemn eyes:
"So, like you, I have lamented my bad luck countless times, scolded the guy who made me exposed, and cursed that idiot's crooked logic, but I have never doubted my plan or reflected on my responsibilities.
"
King Kessel was silent.
"I was wrong," Thales sighed, calmly and helplessly:
"Because no matter how powerful my methods are or how clever my strategies are, he is destined to catch me at that moment and in that place."
"Because during the whole six years of the good times in Longxiao City," Thales held his left arm tightly and said gloomily:
"Meteor Seri Nicolai, he regards me as his biggest and most dangerous enemy: he will doubt me if there is an accident, he will be wary of me if he is attacked, he will look at me if his actions go wrong, and he will look at me when I suddenly disappear.
You will still think of me.”
"Even if one of the sewers in the Palace of Heroes is blocked," the prince sneered, with a hint of resentment, "in his eyes, it must be me who is behind it. This is a huge conspiracy that I have been planning for six years."
"So I was caught and almost taken back to Longxiao City."
Thales looked into the invisible distance:
"And I later understood that the reason why I was targeted by him was because I was setting myself up: I went on a rampage during the night of Dragon Blood and turned myself into the most terrifying, weird and dangerous person in Longxiao City in the eyes of others.
Variables, reversing the fate of the entire nation of Exeter."
The king listened silently, not knowing what to think.
"The same goes for Xihuang," Thales sighed and returned to the reality in front of him:
"Especially when they regard you as their most powerful enemy, Your Majesty."
King Kessel pursed his lips.
"them?"
The king said coldly:
"Just because of those decadent nobles who are selfish, fat-minded, and short-sighted?"
"They are scattered and fighting among themselves. They can't even unite under one flag."
Thales said in a sharp voice:
"Then they will never be able to bow down to you and obey your orders!"
King Kessel raised his chin.
"They will do it."
King Kessel's eyes sharpened, and he also raised his voice, speaking decisively and unquestionably:
"They have to do it."
"They have to."
Thales smiled.
"Yes, just like King Nunn once thought that as long as a bloody killing and a little political skill can make the poor people of the Freedom Alliance bow their heads and obey, obediently listening to Exeter's words, they will definitely not be killed in more than ten years.
His granddaughter's rebellion later this year shook the entire northern political situation." He said sarcastically.
The next second, the young man's expression turned cold and his tone changed:
"But do you really think that as long as you are strong enough and have clever methods, everyone will bow to you and everything will go smoothly?"
"Then why don't you simply declare that Xihuang is full of traitors and rebels from top to bottom, and order the standing army to attack and destroy them in order to secure the country's borders?"
"Why do you still do everything possible to bypass the imperial meeting and keep a low profile to promote the 'Sand King'?"
"Why are you still using me as a famous chess piece and bait?"
Thales paused, looked at the king, and called him by his name:
"Because you know it too, Kessel."
The king frowned.
Looking at King Kessel's profound expression, Thales understood something.
Unlike previous opponents, this time, he could not face the Iron-Fisted King with a sharp sword.
"Faced with domination, a person may cooperate, may be loyal, or may be obedient," Thales recalled the conversation in his memory:
"But a large group of people? They are giant beasts with bottomless appetites, sharks that are never satisfied. They will always give the ruler a response that is beyond his expectation and will catch you off guard."
The young man pointed behind him:
"If you ordered Mariko Pioneer to whip me, I can guarantee that he wouldn't even blink an eyelid."
"But what if your order is given to a group of people, such as the entire royal guard? I can also guarantee that there will be some who hesitate, some who are confused, some who are uneasy, some who are embarrassed, some who shrink back, some who are secretly angry, some who cope with the problem, and some who
The Yang serves and the Yin violates.”
At that moment, Thales' thoughts returned to the Bone Prison in the Western Wilderness.
Reminds me of the old guardsmen from the past.
King Kessel did not speak, he just stared at Thales steadily.
The young man swallowed his throat, walked out of the past, and continued:
"When your army was raging in the Western Wilderness, Your Majesty, would you have thought that a few months later, the son of one of the Western Wilderness nobles would actually hide a sword and break into a banquet to commit murder, causing the entire kingdom to be in a panic and caught off guard?"
"And when the 'Sand King' failed and you were trapped in the palace with nothing to do, did you ever think that the master of Xihuang would bet on me crazily and riskyly, offering you a bargaining chip that was detrimental to himself, and giving you another path?
A way out?"
King Kessel remained silent, but his expression became more and more tense.
Thales leaned back on his chair, looked at the ceiling, and felt something in his heart.
"As a ruler, Your Majesty, you have countless subjects, from the three noble families to the criminals and prisoners in the Blade Tooth Camp, but they will never, never, never follow your will step by step."
The king narrowed his eyes:
"Those are not your own words."
Thales lowered his head and met the king's eyes without flinching:
"But this is something you have to admit, you can never control it - 'Sand King' is just one example, and this situation is not limited to this corner of the Western Wilderness."
Thales got off the back of his chair, pushed away the dinner plate, and leaned back on the table.
It was like returning to the battlefield, returning to the place where he fell.
"Yes, Emory's orphan girl, she may be able to help you relieve your temporary difficulties and embarrassment. The three major families may cooperate with you humiliatingly to avoid the fate of ruin, but what happens next? What happens next?"
Thales looked solemn and repeated again and again:
"Then what?"
"What about outside the Western Wasteland?"
"What about Yadi, East China Sea, Blade, and the North? After the reform of the military system, when you become stronger and more powerful, and you want to do more and more excessive things, you have to make more and more angry.
How many enemies are there?"
Thales said in a stern voice:
"Are you still counting on the emergence of a second Falkenhauser, a second adventurous and slippery old man who, by some combination of circumstances, will obediently hand over the chips into your hands and let them be slaughtered?
?”
The Iron Fist King still stared at Thales without saying a word, but the emotion in his eyes was different.
"As for, as for this letter..."
Thales stretched out his hand, grabbed the "Emerald City Replacement Petition" that had been forgotten for a long time, and chuckled.
"Why, do you really think that the Lord of the Iris, the Guardian Duke of the South Coast, the young Jann Kelvindir, is as elegant, easy-going, and well-informed as he appears? And this inferior temporary contract horse will successfully lead the battle.
The car, starting from the South Bank, will benefit the whole country and bring you the ending you want?"
The next second, the king's eyes changed:
Thales used both hands to tear the letter in half without hesitation!
King Kessel finally spoke, unable to conceal his shock and anger: "You——"
But Thales stopped smiling and interrupted him:
"Believe me, Your Majesty, even if you send the standing army into the Kongming Palace in the Emerald City, the treacherous and ghostly Zhan - do you know what method he used to make the vampires catch up with me - can still find you.
A lot of trouble is definitely not half as easy as it is in the Western Wilderness."
"And this is just the Western Wilderness, it's just the south bank, it's just that the powerful princes here are trying to oppose you, hinder you, and frustrate you."
"And next time, there will be other people in other places, countless people, for the same reasons and worries, they will use more and more complicated ways that you can't even think of if you rack your brains, and hinder you.
, to frustrate you.”
Thales was extremely determined and tore the letter into pieces without stopping:
"It's not just the 'Sand King', it's not just the military, it's not limited to lords and vassals, it's not just the Imperial Council."
"Farther away, there is the national meeting six years ago, and there is the 'Rising Star' and Val Allende who were defeated by you."
"More recently, there was an accident at the royal banquet, and Zhan's hypocritical petition was buried in countless holes."
Thales raised his hand and let the fragments of the letter scatter on the floor.
King Kessel looked at these fragments from a distance, clinging to the arms of his chair with great anger in his eyes.
"Once interests are harmed, governance encounters difficulties, and living space is squeezed," Thales's voice continued, sounding cold and ruthless:
"Their first reaction can always be to resist and fight back, and the first target they fight against will always and only be the Fuxing Palace."
"It's you."
At that moment, Thales' eyes were like swords, and he struck back:
"Because for them, the Iron Fist King is too powerful and terrifying."
"You are so powerful that you don't have time to do anything. As long as you are still sitting on the throne, you are already everyone's enemy, and you will inevitably encounter their instinctive vigilance and resistance, whether it is openly or secretly."
"Because for them, the Iron-Fisted King is too obvious and too special."
"Now that things have happened, the excuses and conveniences given to you in the Year of Blood to 'Restore the Kingdom' have been exhausted. Your actions have long been unable to be concealed. The Renaissance Palace has long since unknowingly surpassed all threats and become their primary concern.
Enemy."
King Kessel took a deep breath, suppressed his raging anger, and closed his eyes.
But Thales was not affected at all, as if all this was expected:
"So you look around, but you are surrounded by enemies everywhere. You move forward, but every step is difficult."
"Therefore, everything is not going well for you from the inside out, and from top to bottom, everything is difficult to achieve."
Thales shook his head slightly: "No, Your Majesty."
"There's nothing you can do."
"Nothing can be done."
His voice was sad and deep:
"Nothing can be done."
The next second, King Kessel suddenly opened his eyes!
"Alarmist."
He said coldly: "You are eloquent."
Thales hummed and spread his hands:
"But there's nothing you can do."
The young man's brows gradually gathered:
"You can defeat them, but you can't destroy them: faced with a mess of loose sand and a mess, you are in a dilemma and have no idea what to do. You don't even know where they will jump out to hinder you, or which link will cause problems. 'Sand King'
Throughout the whole process, you seemed to be majestic and took the initiative, and no one dared to challenge you. In fact, most of the time you just wielded the sword in vain and suffered a lot of hidden losses."
At that moment, King Kessel's expression became a little ferocious.
But Taylor's words continued, which was disturbing:
"And they, they are all over the kingdom, up and down the hierarchy, all over the world, southeast, northwest."
"They hide in every gap of interests, ambitions, desires, positions, and wills. Unexpected and unpredictable, they may change from cowardly to fearless at any time, from humble and submissive to generous and fanatical.
, from indifference and selfishness to anger and despair, from being conservative to being bold and enterprising."
"You can never see them: when you swing your sword to kill, there is no trace of your opponent, but when you look back at dusk, you realize that there are enemies everywhere."
Thales thought of something and couldn't help but hum:
"Just like a vigilance officer on the streets of the royal capital, it is not enough to only kill the most ferocious and vicious criminals, because he is facing the entire lower city, and his enemies are hidden in unreachable corners and the most inconspicuous mediocrity.
Here, it took root and sprouted in an endless stream, leaving him exhausted and unable to do anything."
Thales raised his gaze and looked directly into the king's eyes:
"And you, Your Majesty, what you are facing..."
"It's the whole star."
At the end of the long table, the king's face sank into the darkness where the light could not illuminate it.
"When the enemy is weak, we are strong; when the enemy is decayed, we are new; when the enemy is scattered, we are united."
Thales said in a deep voice:
"This is your greatest and only advantage."
"But the enemy is divided and we gather together, the enemy is hidden and we appear, the enemy is dark and we are clear, the enemy is muddy and we are clear, the enemy is numerous and we are few, the enemy is strange and we are right."
Thales said coldly:
"These are your most painful and uncomfortable dilemmas."
King Kessel looked at Thales with a strange look.
"If you act as usual, your Majesty," Thales said:
"Then it is not difficult to predict that not only the 'Sand King', but also everything you want in the future will be half the result with half the effort and be faced with many obstacles."
The next moment, Thales looked sharply:
"You're not going to make it, that's what I'm telling you."
"Whether it's military reform, land inventory, tax hikes, centralization of power, or other nonsense."
"You won't even succeed."
Thales glared at King Kessel, as if he wanted to open the other man's skull with his eyes and see the thoughts inside:
"Until the day you die with hatred and unwillingness to achieve your ambitions, Your Majesty."
He repeated word for word:
"You won't succeed."
The voice fell.
There was dead silence in the Ballard Room.
For a long time, Thales and the king looked at each other in silence, and neither of them said a word.
Finally, King Kessel moved.
He reached out and grabbed the knife.
Amidst the rustling, the king lowered his head and started cutting and eating again.
"Just now, you changed your title," King Kessel said calmly:
"Don't call me 'Father' anymore."
Thales' eyes moved slightly.
yes.
"Because I no longer sit here as your son, Your Majesty."
The prince remained calm, but his voice was calm and determined:
"In the name of the Duke of Xinghu, I am attending the royal meeting to give my advice to the noble and wise King Kessel."
The king's action of cutting meat stopped for a second.
"interesting."
King Kessel's expression did not distinguish between joy and anger, but he started eating again:
"Then what's your suggestion?"
Thales took a deep breath and spoke cautiously:
"You know I'm right, you've always known it."
"It's just that you are used to having great power and once your words are fulfilled, you are no longer willing to condescend and stoop down," the prince said with a frown:
"To hear different voices."
King Kessel picked up a glass of wine, took a sip, and snorted coldly.
Thales lowered his head and adjusted his breathing.
"The old method no longer works, Your Majesty," the young man said seriously:
"You need - we need..."
Taylor paused for a moment and then changed back to his original statement:
"No, it's still you, only you - facing such a dilemma, you need to change your mind."
King Kessel's eyes moved imperceptibly.
"Change your mind?"
Thales nodded slightly with a serious expression.
"Let me come forward regarding the matter in Xihuang. Your Majesty, I will take over and achieve your wishes."
The king was silent for a while and smiled coldly.
"So in the final analysis, this is still the same condition as before."
He looked at Thales coldly and said disdainfully:
"The so-called 'change of brains' means accepting the deal Falkenhausz gave me, pushing you out, and exchanging his bargaining chips, which will eventually cause the royal family to fight and destroy the foundation of the Renaissance Palace."
He was rejected again, but this time, Thales had no unnecessary reaction. He just exhaled and shook his head with a smile.
"No, fuck Falkenhauser."
Thales said with a smile.
King Kessel narrowed his eyes.
The prince chuckled and said rudely:
"Screw the deal, screw the sword, screw the chips."
He said sincerely:
"Go to that treacherous and malicious old man."
"From this moment on, this has nothing to do with him, Your Majesty."
Thales said solemnly:
"It's only about you and me."
King Kessel opened a piece of meat and responded with a sneer.
"That's you, Duke Thales."
"It's because of your own kindness or greed," the king raised the knife, and the tip of the knife met Thales' cheek again in his field of vision:
"You want to persuade me to face those local princes, slow down the pace of moderation, and gradually govern with gentleness?"
Thales smiled slightly and did not answer.
King Kessel's smile disappeared.
"Then I also saw it, and I will give you the exact words," the High King said coldly:
"You are destined not to succeed."
Thales raised his eyebrows.
I heard King Kessel say quietly in a preaching tone that he rarely heard:
"Moderate means compromising, compromising means giving in, giving in means wavering, wavering means giving up, and giving up..."
Kaiser V paused and hummed:
"It means you took the wrong path from the beginning."
"You will soon be trapped in their seemingly upright, but in fact insidious and cunning stance, and you will be unable to control yourself."
At that moment, a cold light flashed in the king's eyes:
"And one day, when you no longer conform to their interests, when you no longer respond to their voices, when you no longer cater to their wishes, you will be opposed, despised, expelled, abandoned, and betrayed by them."