The second prince calmly lowered his right hand and touched the JC dagger at his waist.
Zhan stared at him intently.
"Don't you understand, Thales?"
The Duke of Nan'an narrowed his eyes:
"You might as well think about it carefully: Do you really don't understand?"
Thales' expression remained unchanged, but he could hear his heart pounding.
calm.
If Zhan sees through me and knows that I am just pretending to be in harmony with the king...
So what will he do?
Fall out directly? Take action? Tell the world? Drive me out of the Emerald City?
still……
But the next second, Zhan En smiled slightly.
He turned back and picked up the kettle and refilled Thales' empty cup.
"Listen: The Kingdom Secret Service killed Moss, but that was just the beginning. The purpose was to attract your attention, provoke us to fight, and let you follow this clue all the way."
Zhan put down the kettle and gave Thales a very meaningful look:
"Just like now."
Thales held up the cup steadily: "You have said this before."
Zhan En did not look at him again, but poured himself a glass of clear spring drink:
"And they killed the wool merchant named Diop for the same purpose: to provoke you and your people to take action."
Thales' eyebrows moved.
"real?"
The prince tried his best to suppress the urge to snort:
"The secret department killed Diop to bait me?"
Zhan nodded: "They know your character, they know you will come forward and charge forward."
There must be something there.
The voice in his heart told Thales: Behind the deaths of Moss, Diop, and these people, there must be something that Zhan can't wait to hide, so much so that he uses the secret department as a shield.
"It's a pity that my people couldn't keep the secret killer in white," Thales sighed naturally, "otherwise, we could have asked for something."
"Neither do I have anyone," said the Duke of Nan'an calmly, "but that's the kingdom's secret department, so it's normal."
The killer in white.
Thales carefully observed Zhan's expression, but unfortunately found nothing.
No, it can’t be said that nothing was gained.
After all, the voice in your heart whispers that you knew from the beginning that Zhan couldn't be trusted.
After all, the true meaning of alliance is betrayal.
Zhan En paused for a moment: "But there is no doubt that the secret department uses you as a pawn and wants you to come forward to deal with me: from Moss to Diop, maybe to the next person, and so on, until you dig out the secret
The secret weapon prepared by Coe will oust me and Kevin Deere from office in one fell swoop.”
"Secret weapon?"
Thales nodded:
"So, there is indeed something wrong with Diop?"
Zhan fell silent.
After a few seconds, he seemed to have made up his mind, nodded and said:
"Yes, in addition to the wool business, Diop also has another identity: the secret accountant of Kongming Palace."
"Secret account?"
"Agents like Dagory Moss will bring some gray income to the Emerald City that is difficult to talk about and difficult to record," Zhan replied calmly, "and Diop is the one who manages these secret accounts.
One of the people."
"You mean, illegal income, accounting and money laundering?"
Duke Iris snorted:
"If the secret department digs up his identity and his accounts, and you issue open and just accusations with indignation and righteousness like you just did, it will indeed bring a lot of trouble to the Emerald City, and it will bring a lot of trouble to me and my officials.
We were in a hurry for a while.”
Thales frowned.
If what Zhan said is true, then Diop is the person in charge of the Emerald City's secret accounts, which is why Moss wants to see him.
But, Zhan actually confessed so simply?
That means he has already prepared everything.
He was confident that the affairs behind Diop had been cleared up, and no clues would be left to the enemies, especially the Kingdom's secret department.
Thales's mood became more and more solemn.
"Of course you wouldn't let this happen," the prince said expressionlessly, "that's why you hurriedly cut off the clues, even found a scapegoat, and closed the case to make sure it couldn't be raised.
Big waves?”
Zhan nodded:
"During the Emerald Celebration, this matter cannot become the focus of the whole city, otherwise it will play into the hands of the Secret Department."
"Like Moss?"
Jenn affirmed: "Just like Moss."
Thales was silent for a few seconds.
"Then you should tell me first, about Diop."
"I should indeed," Zhan admitted without any burden, "but please understand that it involves the internal operations and finances of Emerald City, and there may be some illegal income that is not easy to see. I don't want more people to know.
, at least until I eliminate the threat and ensure safety."
Eliminate threats and stay safe...
I don’t want more people to know…
For some reason, when looking at the master of the Emerald City in front of him, Thales thought of the kingdom's secret science.
"Of course, I can understand it, it makes sense, it makes sense." Thales raised the corner of his mouth.
"Believe me, Thales, the current handling method is the most ideal," Zhan En raised the cup, "You and I, we have skillfully maintained the balance of the situation in Emerald City under the overt struggle."
Thales' expression changed: "Balance?"
Zhan En took a sip of the clear spring drink:
"First of all, the Kingdom's Secret Service failed to succeed, and the Diop case entered the normal process, silently, without causing an earthquake or causing chaos."
"Yes, it is completely normal for Bedren to act violently while drunk and kill people in anger during a debt dispute." Thales said in a low voice.
"Secondly, you did not fall into the trap of the Secret Society and become their pawn, which led to the breakdown of our relationship and the imbalance of the situation."
"Thanks to you for cutting off the clues in advance and not letting me get the 'secret weapon' used by the secret department to deal with you."
"Thirdly, if I really want to cause trouble for you, Thales," Zhan put down his cup and suddenly raised his voice, "How could your men who went after Diop escape so easily from the Emerald Legion's blockade?
?”
Thales frowned deeply.
After a few seconds, the prince took a deep breath.
"So, Diop's line is broken, no matter what conspiracy is behind him..." Thales said slowly, "What do you think the kingdom's secret department will do next, and how should we deal with it?"
Zhan raised the corners of his mouth.
"Whether it's Moss or Diop, their deaths mean that the kingdom's secret department wants to change, wants change, and wants chaos." He looked at his wine glass carefully and looked at the distorted scene through the glass.
"And we give them the opposite."
The opposite thing.
"You mean, it's a backwater, just like the case of Moss and Diop, one is an old grudge and the other is a debt dispute?" Thales said quietly.
Zhan En didn't answer, just smiled.
"Besides, Zhan, you shouldn't be hiding anything from me anymore, right?"
Thales stared at him steadily:
"If so, now is the time to confess, lest yesterday's accident happen again and damage the trust between us."
After the words fell, Zhan En was silent for a long time.
"I can't make a guarantee, because even collaborators with the same interests will have reservations," the Duke said, "but I can say that if something like yesterday happens again, you will be informed in advance."
Thales looked at his expression and nodded slowly.
The two dukes had their own thoughts and said nothing.
Suddenly, the dining room fell into a suffocating silence.
Until Zhan En coughed: "Now, if we don't have anything else to do..."
"But you know, Jenn."
Thales suddenly spoke.
"If your Emerald Legion really catches my bodyguard at the scene of the murder," the prince looked at the Duke, "then I will be infamous for murder and unable to defend myself, so I will probably have to leave in despair.
Emerald City is withdrawing from this chess game."
Zhan paused: "Maybe."
"Then why not? Why don't you just kick me out of the Emerald City?"
Thales looked directly at Zhan, as if he wanted to see through his heart:
"In this way, no matter what backup plan the secret department has prepared for me, no matter what role they expect me to play in it, it will be discounted or even ineffective. It will be settled once and for all."
Zhan En was silent for a long time.
The atmosphere in the dining room became very strange.
"Because we have an agreement and cooperation," Zhan said slowly after a while, his voice a little hoarse and tired, "We are still on the same chariot, fighting against the most powerful person in the kingdom, right?"
The Duke of Nan'an raised his head and resumed his smile:
"If you leave, won't I lose an ally who can fight against the king together? I think we should be unanimous on this point, Thales."
On the same chariot, against the most powerful person...
Looking at the other party's appearance, Thales unconsciously stretched out his hand and touched the ferocious bone ring in his pocket.
"No."
Thales' answer made Zhan change his face slightly.
"The reason you didn't kick me out of the Emerald City once and for all was not because we had an agreement."
The prince said seriously: "It's because of my father."
"Because you are jealous of him and afraid of him."
Zhan En's smile froze for a moment.
Thales put down the cup and sighed:
"Whether the purpose of coming to the Emerald City this time is to meet my fiancée or not, I was sent here by His Majesty the King."
"No matter how disgusting I am and how much I make you hate, as long as I am still in the Emerald City, you can use me to spy on the plans of the Fuxing Palace, spy on the king's actions, and always be on guard against the secrets of the kingdom being used through me.
The conspiracy: whether it’s my marriage, my character, or the deaths of Moss and Diop.”
He raised his head:
"But if my bright chess piece is forced away, defeated by your methods, and completely leaves the chess game, who knows how the kingdom's secret department will react, who knows how my father will react? Who knows what they will use
Other methods that you don’t know about? Maybe it’s hard to prevent, maybe it’s worse, maybe the price is terrible?”
"And this is why I haven't been driven away by you, or why you dare not drive me away," Thales said lightly, "Look, facing him, you, including me, we even overturned the chessboard.
If you turn around and leave, you don’t have the right to say, ‘I won’t play anymore’.”
Zhan's eyes slowly focused and were fixed on the wine glass.
"Your Highness, it's time to mobilize for rebellion now," the Duke said maliciously, "Isn't it too early?"
Thayer paused for a few seconds.
"You didn't understand me," the prince said softly, "or do you not want to understand?"
Thales clutched his bone ring tightly.
"When we were in the Western Wilderness, I asked Falkenhausz: If you knew in advance that the king had bad intentions and knew the other party's conspiracy in advance, why didn't you stop him in advance?"
The Duke of South Bank did not speak.
"The Duke of Xihuang's answer was smooth and cautious. He said that the conflict was necessary. He said that sometimes doing nothing is the best choice," the prince said in a daze, "but behind that trace of cunning and wisdom, I
I saw the deep fear that only belonged to the Guardian Duke of the Western Wasteland, the Lord of the Ruins, Duke Cyril Falkenholz. That kind of fear may not be exaggerated and obvious, but it was so deep that he even had the courage to glance at it secretly.
Don’t even look at it.”
Zhan's face was expressionless and he didn't answer, but he held the napkin in his hand tightly.
"Yes, the meaning of my stay here, as you said, is to maintain balance," Thales said with some loss of interest, "to maintain the tacit understanding between the two parties, to maintain this invisible struggle, and to stay.
To the extent that you can understand, accept, and deal with it.”
"Because the butcher's knife above your head is intimidating you and me, and everyone: even if you resist, you must be respectful, polite, rational and peaceful, and you don't dare to cross the line or break this terrifying balance."
Zhan still didn't answer.
But it is worth a thousand words.
The dining room was completely quiet until Thales let out a long sigh:
"So, what's the point?"
Zhan raised his eyes: "What?"
Thales' tone was somewhat emotional:
"I mean, all these fights, cooperation, resistance, internal strife, intrigues, back and forth between you and Fuxing Palace, including my father and I, what's the point? After all, they are just discord under the butcher's knife.
, War in the Cage.”
He stared at Zhan, feeling depressed:
"Why, Jenn, why do we have to do this?"
Zhan En was silent for a while, but suddenly smiled, his smile was desolate and tragic:
"Because this is who we are."
Thales came back to his senses and looked at him.
"Sorry, I lost my temper by talking too much." The prince said solemnly.
But unexpectedly, Zhan shook his head.
"We all have moments like this."
The Duke was slightly lost in thought: "And you are right, there is discord under the butcher's knife."
At that moment, Thales felt for the first time: the man in front of him was in the same room as him, sitting at the same dining table.
Thales gathered his thoughts, eliminated unnecessary emotions, and took a deep breath.
"Then again, you know, things are not that bad, and we don't have to go that far."
"Which step?"
Teresa paused: "My father, maybe, maybe he doesn't want to kill everyone."
Zhan narrowed his eyes.
"If I can..." Thales took a deep breath and tried his best to sound confident, "As long as you and Emerald City take a step back..."
But he was interrupted by Zhan En.
"Take a step back?"
The Duke of Nan'an looked at him with a half-smile.
Facing the other party's eyes, Thales tightly clenched the bone ring in his hand, as if it could give him strength.
"I mean……"
"I know what you mean," Zhan En said coldly, "I figured it out. You probably solved the matter in Xihuang a while ago this way: take a step back, haha."
Thales frowned slightly.
"Taking a step back, yes, power belongs to the throne, finances are transferred to the central government, governance is subordinate to the Fuxing Palace, and resources flow into Yongxing City."
Zhan leaned back on his chair in a rare relaxed posture and enumerated:
"The Emerald City has lost its aura of autonomy, the queen of the city has put down her freedom and pride, Kevin Deer has given up the authority to dominate, and is willing to become the slave, servant, tool, weapon, bargaining chip and stepping stone of the Supreme King to help.
Influence to control other backward territories, distant frontiers, unruly subjects, to create more of the same kind, and so on, until every inch of the land is like this, in order to realize his grand ambitions: from now on, the stars will be integrated up and down, like arms and fingers,
Just like the empire of old."
Thales was in a heavy mood and was about to speak, but Zhan didn't stop:
"But why?"
The owner of the iris turned his head, his eyes sharp as a knife:
"The system of Emerald City has been established by us over the years. The wealth of the South Coast people has been accumulated bit by bit by us. The prestige and status of the Kevin Deere family here has been earned through hard work."
"Why should we pay, let us contribute, let us cooperate, let us sacrifice, let us destroy our families to help the people in trouble, let us be loyal to the public, let us hand over all the territory we have gained, and let us hand over more
To pay taxes, to serve more, to bear more debts, to support the royal family's soldiers, to help the officials of the royal capital, to write the history of the Brilliant Star, to strengthen the authority of the Fuxing Palace, to achieve the glory of the Nine-Star Crown,
To realize the ambition of the Supreme King, to share the disasters brought by them with the dignitaries from the central government, such as the Year of Blood?"
Thales wanted to say something, but he still gritted his teeth.
The Duke continued with a sneer: "Why, why should we let the people of the south coast, who live the best, best and prosperous life in the stars, take the initiative to retreat and support the idle people of the whole star for no reason, so that the mountain savages of the cliff land, north
The vulgar barbarians from the border, the profiteers and lazy people from the East China Sea, the unruly sand people from the Western Wilderness, the bandits and robbers from the Blade Leader, and the group of people from the Central Leader who have eyes above their heads and despise everything, looking at everyone like a king from the remote countryside.
You gentlemen, let them take away everything we have, share our dividends, and drag down our lives?"
"Just because a certain person from countless generations of your ancestors drank too much one day, except when he was peeing, he fainted and shouted, 'If the stars are here'?"
Facing Zhan like this, Thales took a deep breath.
"You just said, 'Everyone looks like they come from a remote place,' right?"
The prince looked at the Duke and showed a weak smile.
"But you, you talk as if the South Coast Territory is a person, a fisherman living on a deserted island without any friends, no one to rely on, and relying on his own efforts. You talk as if Kevin Deer has always been isolated from the world, as if he has been isolated from the world for the past seven hundred years.
It doesn’t exist. It’s as if you single-handedly built today’s Emerald City.”
Zhan frowned.
"But there are no islands in this world, Zhan En. You are no different from the stars, the kingdom, or the world."
"Without the developed transportation lines of the southern coast territorial water system, the population, territory, history, culture, market of the entire Star Kingdom... How do you think the trans-oceanic trade that you are proud of can be achieved? The resource goods you are transporting need to be
Where are you going? Every Queen’s Day, how can the Jade Celebration have so many visitors from foreign countries looking for business opportunities and profits?”
Thales raised his head and said decisively:
"Business, market, raw materials, supply, land, system, history, politics, immigration, culture, there are too many... The South Coast Territory is not only drawn on the territory of the kingdom, but also deeply embedded in the huge system called stars.
They interact back and forth and become one, making it difficult to tell them apart."
Zhan En was silent for a while, then sneered disdainfully.
"How long have you lived in Fuxing Palace since you grew up, Your Highness?"
Thales was startled.
"Long enough to think that the kingdom is you and you are the kingdom?"
Zhan En's words turned cold:
"According to what you just said, Xingchen and Exeter have been fighting for many years, with fits and starts. They have the same history and experience, and they have already interacted back and forth to form an indistinguishable whole. Why don't you go to Black Sand City and offer Nine Stars
Crown and staff of stars, kneel down on your knees and call Charmaine Lombard dad with tears of gratitude? Or cross the sea of terminus to the City of Hope to swear allegiance to the 'Kadir of the distant mountains and the earth', maybe he will be merciful and let him
The Canxing family becomes the eighth clan to serve him?"
Thales swallowed his throat.
"I don't make such sophistry, but you understand what I mean," the prince felt tired. He shook his head, "Sometimes, for peace, stability, and balance, maybe we have to pay a price."
"who?"
Duke Iris asked fiercely:
"When you say that, when you always say, 'We have to pay a price,' who are we?"
"Is it you? Is it the king? Is it the Star Kingdom? Is it the Central Territory? Is it the Royal Capital? Is it the Bright Star Royal Family? Or are those who can have enough food, clothing and warmth in these words, so they pretend to be righteous and move it out everywhere?
Someone else said that?”
Thales didn't answer.
Because he doesn't have an answer either.
He just held the "Gortaksa" tightly in his pocket.
He knew that his answer would seem pale no matter what.
"And who is the 'price'?"
Zhan En said disdainfully:
"Is it me? Is it the South Coast Territory? Is it the Emerald City? Is it the Kevin Dill family? Or are they just ordinary people who are living in a state of confusion and can only be manipulated by this huge mechanism called the stars?"
Thales gasped:
"A commoner?"
He shook his head feebly:
"These words should be spoken by the ordinary people who are struggling to make a living, not by a high-ranking feudal prince with a magnificent palace."
"When you face the Bright Star royal family with a long history and eternal authority, and the descendants of the Imperial line who have climbed to the top and overlooked the stars," Zhan En snorted coldly, "Who can say that he is not a commoner, just allowed to be slaughtered?"
Thales was silent.
He sighed finally:
"To be honest, after what I have seen and heard these days, I quite like the Emerald City..."
"Does your father like it?" Zhan interrupted him unceremoniously.
Thales frowned: "So, is there really no room left?"
Zhan looked at him seriously and smiled.
"When I was a child, at a family dinner, my father once said: 'As long as someone is willing to take the initiative to retreat, there will always be room.'"
Thales squeezed the bone ring "covenant" tightly again, feeling a glimmer of hope.
"Your father, the old Duke is a wise man."
But there was a mocking look on Zhan's face:
"Until my uncle added coldly: 'These words are only useful to the strong.'"
The words fell, and Thales understood.
The two were silent for a long time.
"Your uncle, he is also very interesting." Thales said bitterly.
“Not interesting enough.”
"Then do you think my father will take the initiative to retreat?"
Zhan En sneered: "What do you think?"
Thales looked at him, his eyes flickering: "What if he was forced?"
The Duke of Nan'an paused for a moment. He raised the cup, only to find that it was empty.
"Who in this country can force him, the supreme king?" he said quietly.
Thales turned his head.
"Believe it or not, Zhan," the prince said seriously, "he also has the kind of fear we face."
Zhan En snorted coldly:
"I will not participate in rebellion, especially one that is doomed to fail."
The two of them looked at each other in silence, without saying a word.
After a few seconds, Thales took a deep breath and stood up.
"I understand. So, wish us good luck."
But just when Thales was about to walk out of the dining room, Zhan suddenly stopped him.
"Tiles, if, I mean if, if things really come to that point, can I trust you?"
Thales stopped and thought for a while.
"No, we can't."
Zhan En frowned deeply.
Thales turned around:
"You know this yourself."
But the next second, Thales smiled slightly.
"But at least you can believe in interests," he nodded, "and now, our interests are aligned."
Zhan looked at his appearance and nodded in the same way.
Thales turned around, opened the door and left.
But the moment he stepped out of the dining room, Thales's expression turned cold.
"Did you get the interest you asked for?"
The watchman Marius, who had followed him at some point, asked him this.
Thales paused for a moment.
When he spoke again, he cleared out all the luck and weakness in his mind and threw them into the prison river together with Zhan's nonsense.
Because you know, Thales said coldly in his heart:
Behind you, Zhan is the same.
Even more decisive than you.
"Moss, and Diop," Duke Xinghu said coldly, "one is Zhan's agent, and the other is his accountant who manages secret accounts for him. They must be hiding something."
Mallos raised his eyebrows.
"Dig three feet into the ground, Thor. Even if you dig through the veins under the South Bank Territory, you must find out their secrets."
Mallos was silent for a while: "But you know that they are dead and the clues have been cut off, right? And according to official records, they all died of normal causes..."
"I do not care!"
Thales raised his voice in a rare move, causing Huaiya, who was waiting for them in the distance, to look askance.
"Find a way, Thor, find a way," the prince said with stern eyes, "I have a hunch: as long as we dig something..."
Thales loosened his bone ring and looked at the garden outside Kongming Palace.