Under the night, Zhan frowned deeply, Shilai was surprised, and Seychelles and others on the other side had ugly expressions.
The vassals were discussing endlessly, and the audience further away did not know what was going on, and the noise became louder and louder.
"Great, I knew that His Highness would always find a way," D.D was excited, lowering his sword in his hand, "There is no need to fight them desperately."
Everyone in the Star Lake Guards breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wait a minute!"
At this moment, a strange voice sounded from the crowd.
"Your Highness, this is very inappropriate!"
I saw the local great vassal on the south bank, the Earl of Lassia from the swamp, coming out more and more, and he was very angry, but his eldest son could not stop him:
"Noble arbitration is limited to public matters!"
Thales's face darkened.
"Family affairs of vassals, including inheritance disputes among blood relatives, all fall into the category of 'self-determination in the fortress' and are not included here!"
Lasia looked seriously at the other vassals:
"We cannot set such a bad precedent!"
"What the count said makes sense," the guest of honor at this Emerald Celebration, Count Noah Havia from Yanbi Port in the East China Sea, agreed. "We cannot repeat the mistakes from 'Dark Blue Stranding' to 'Red King Tyranny'.
Let the internal affairs of a family deteriorate and expand into civil strife sweeping the kingdom!"
The speeches of the two imperial earls attracted a chorus of support.
Thales remained calm, but Zhan relaxed his brows and smiled.
"Pooh!"
Federico, who was pressed to the ground, said angrily:
"In history, isn't it you, the Sun-shooting Bow, who provoked internal strife in the Almond family, helped Red King John initiate a coup, and brought about tyranny?"
People began to whisper to each other again, but Count Xavier's expression remained unchanged and he took it calmly.
"And you, Atchison Lacia, have you replaced them - the two teeth that were knocked out by my father..."
Before Federico could finish speaking, he was suppressed and gagged again by several security officers.
Count Lassia was not so well-behaved. His expression changed drastically and he became furious:
"Little bastard, your father is a shameful traitor——"
In the midst of the chaos, Paul from the Star Lake Guards suddenly raised his voice and attracted everyone's attention:
"In fact, we have a precedent for this!"
In full view of everyone, he gave his usual bow to the confused D.D. He tried his best to change Xihuang's rural accent and spoke politely:
"More than twenty years ago, the late Earl of Wing Castle, Spencer Chroma, killed his wife while drunk. The nature was vile and involved many parties. It threatened the rule of the kingdom and could not be stopped by a single family. The principle of 'self-determination in the castle' has been
No longer applicable."
Amid everyone's surprised gazes, Paul turned around calmly:
"So this case was discussed among a group of noble vassals - Lord Cyril, the Guardian Duke of the Western Wasteland, Lord Turayan, the Earl of Vola Land, the eldest heir of the Earl of Stone City, the uncle of the Earl of Grayman Harbor, and my father.
Under the witness of Lord Lewis, Earl of Heroic Soul Castle, and others, the late Crown Prince Midir, in charge of the king’s orders, arbitrated and decided!”
Thales's eyes lit up.
Zhan En frowned fiercely.
Among the vassals, Count Xavia was shocked and confused, Count Lassia was in disbelief, and the twins of the Karabyan family all changed their colors. They unfolded their folding fans, hid half of their faces behind them, and discussed hurriedly.
"Yes! Therefore, a major matter like parricide cannot be settled by the Kevin Deere family on their own," D.D reacted, raised his bow and sword, and loudly supported, "His Royal Highness Thales has legal basis for arbitrating this case.
, there are precedents to follow, it is neither inappropriate nor arrogant!"
"Unless someone has objections to this," Paul said coldly, looking around, "do not agree with the decision of His Majesty the late King Eddie and question the final result of the Wing Castle case?"
After the words fell, Paul returned to the queue. The surrounding audience and vassals looked at each other and whispered, but no one spoke in public.
D.D looked happy and exchanged the bow and arrow with Paul: "Yes, Master Xihuang, it is quite useful to bring you here - why do you look so ugly?"
Paul shook his head.
"What case did you just say, killing your wife?" Miranda turned around, slightly surprised.
Paul sighed and nodded:
"My father said that the crown prince issued a gag order."
Until now.
D.D's eyes moved: "Wait a minute, that means the Earl of Wing Castle, my grandmother's brother-in-law's grand-nephew's cousin, his parents are..."
"Shut up, D.D." Paul interrupted.
The setting sun - he looked around and laughed at himself - I have completely offended the Emerald City...
And the wing fort.
The lights were flickering, the moonlight was dim, and amid the discussions of countless people, Thales took a deep breath and turned to Zhan, who had a deep look in his eyes.
In this case...
"Now, as the glorious and honorable Lord of Iris, the owner of the Emerald City, the founder and defender of the southern part of the kingdom, Jan Kelvindir, tell me," Thales said coldly, "You are still a star.
People, are you willing to accept my arbitration?"
But Zhan didn't respond, he frowned:
"You planned this all, right."
Not good.
Thales frowned slightly.
The Duke remained silent, while Seychelles and others on the other side also had bad expressions, and even many sergeants of the Emerald Legion looked at the Star Lake Guards with bad intentions.
"Please, Zhan, don't," Thales whispered, "your sister is still here, she shouldn't be implicated by us."
But Zhan En's face remained expressionless, except for his eyes, which became colder and darker.
"Do you know what Federico is like? Do you know what he wants?"
Oops.
Thales' heart sank:
At this point, he wouldn't still want to overturn the table, would he?
Like Charmaine Lombard?
"Zhan, I don't want to help him..."
At this moment, a huge commotion broke out at the other end of the arena, interrupting the conversation between the two.
"what happened?"
"What kind of flag is that? Why is it so bright?"
"It looks so strange. Isn't it from the local area?"
"Fuck, I've seen it before, that's..."
"Sir, should we intercept?"
"Interception? You don't want your life. Do you know what that is?"
Some people exclaimed, some were confused, some were excited, and the restless emotions were passed on layer by layer, and finally reached the Duke and Prince from a distance.
Thales turned his head as everyone looked at him, and immediately jumped:
They saw a silvery, hard-to-ignore banner appear at the entrance of the arena, slowly coming towards them. The crowds and soldiers along the way slowly dispersed, not daring to stop them.
The flag was firmly guarded by a team of people and was heading here unstoppably. The flag glowed against the lights, sometimes dazzling and sometimes clear, causing the entire arena to let out one after another exclamations of surprise.
The next second, Thales and Zhan saw the pattern on the big flag clearly at the same time, and they were both stunned:
That is the nine-pointed star.
A silver light shines brightly, which is hard to ignore...
Giant nine-pointed star.
Zhan looked at Thales in surprise, and Thales looked back at him in confusion and shook his head.
"That's..." D.D looked at the group of people following the flag, his eyes widened.
"The leader is 'Ghost', uh, I mean, Flag Officer Hugo Fubi." Glover saw clearly the person at the front.
"So we just couldn't find him because..." Seeing the team getting closer and closer, D.D's expression changed, "I knew this kid would come to us sooner or later to settle a score..."
"It's not just him. The person holding the flag is Custa, followed by Comuto, and old Gennard... Ah, they are the people who separated from us when we led His Highness to break out of the encirclement. They merged..."
Miranda woke up.
D.D has an ugly expression:
"It's over, it's over. These unloyal people must have wiped out everything. We acted impulsively and took unauthorized actions. The ghosts have to keep a small notebook..."
"Wait a minute, ghost, he," Niexi was startled, "he, he is supporting someone - the chief!"
Everyone, including Thales, was shocked!
"You're right, Thor."
Under the banner of the nine-pointed star, Hugo held the man on his shoulders and looked at the scene in the arena where the sergeants were heavily guarding and preparing for battle. Everyone felt like they were facing a formidable enemy, and he sighed:
"They really messed up."
"I knew it. It's a good thing you came back to me," the person supported by Hugo - the thickly bandaged royal guard watchman, Tormund Mallos, limped and grunted in displeasure, "
Wait, what did you call me?"
He frowned and looked at Hugo.
"Thor - I know, but," Hugo sneered, ignoring the Emerald Sergeants who gathered from every corner of the arena and harbored ill intentions toward him, "either this or the Terror Blade, you have to choose one.
?”
Mallos took a deep breath and expressed a bad expression.
Not long after, this group of people crossed the obstacle, crossed the checkpoint, and arrived in front of Thales.
"Thor, you, are you awake?"
Thales looked at Marius, who was covered in bandages and looked sluggish and needed help to walk, and was surprised and happy.
As for the other people in the guard, most of them kept their heads down and did not dare to speak out loud.
"Yes, I just slept," Mallos said with emotion as he looked at the ugly-looking Zhan across from him, the ferocious-looking Seychelles, and the dark army behind him, "but you just took it off for fun.
"
Thales looked embarrassed.
"Believe me," the prince said bitterly, "I was also caught off guard."
Marius looked at him, sighed, and turned to the Duke of South Bank:
"So now, where does the election go?"
"Lord Mallos," Zhan looked in amazement at the nine-pointed star flag above his head that was fluttering fiercely in the wind and eye-catching even at night, "This is..."
Mallos's eyes lit up.
"Oh, this, Your Majesty the Duke, I forgot to introduce it. This is a gift from the Castle of Heroes to His Highness, a silver nine-pointed star banner..."
Like everyone else, Thales raised his head in confusion and looked at the big flag above his head.
It's like looking up at the stars.
"Is this flag...the one my father gave me?" Paul in the team said in a low voice with complicated emotions, "Didn't you say that His Highness doesn't like it?"
D.D and Glover looked at each other.
"Believe me, after tonight," Conmuto sighed, "His Highness will love it to death."
Paul hesitated to speak.
Mallos patted Hugo and signaled him to let go of him, then reached out and took the flag from Cuesta's hand.
The flagpole was heavy and heavy, and Mallos was still injured and was struggling. Wyatt and Glover wanted to help, but he waved them away.
"Except for the six unmovable flags on the top of the Fuxing Palace," Mallos glanced at Thales, struggled to hold the flag, using it as a crutch, and walked step by step towards the Duke of the South.
"It is the largest Brilliant Star Clan flag in the world, and it is the most conspicuous symbol representing the royal family."
The Seychelles knight who stopped in front of him cautiously looked at the huge flashing flag and subconsciously stepped back.
"Of course, I also have a headache. After all, with such a big flag, if something happens to it, for example, it breaks, fades, or even worse, in a big event, the flagpole breaks or the flag falls off when it is in full view of the public.
fall down……"
As Mallos spoke, he took a step forward. He saw the flag rising and falling with his steps, and everyone's expressions changed.
"Hey, then you'd better ask someone to help..." the Seychelles knight wanted to remind him.
"That would bring shame to the royal family, humiliation to the kingdom, and disgrace to the bright star, enough to be recorded as a 'bad omen' or 'shame' by the chief priests and historians." The watchman's words suddenly changed, making everyone look ugly, "
Even 'the kingdom is in disaster' or 'defeat is imminent', or even 'the dynasty is short-lived' such major and evil things..."
Mallos clasped the flagpole, looked around, and said with profound meaning:
"Whoever caused it, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is suspected of having ulterior motives to humiliate the royal family and subvert the kingdom..."
"The crime is so great that it cannot be atoned for except by death."
Including Thales and Zhan, everyone around looked at the flashing flag above their heads and all shuddered.
"So we usually fold it up and hide it, and don't take it out easily," Mallos suddenly laughed, "but for such a big occasion like the election, how can His Highness not live without it - help me, stuff it
Captain Shir?"
"What?" Before the Seychelles knight could react, he saw the nine-pointed star flag crashing down and the flagpole coming towards him!
He stirred up his spirit, used the finishing power, and grabbed the flagpole. He immediately saw Mallos looking tired, but looking at him with a smile.
Seychelles suddenly became angry: "You——"
"Thank you, Captain," Mallos waved to him, with a look of relief on his face, "You have saved the Bright Star Royal Family."
Seychelles paused in his words and looked at the flag in his hand.
With his strength and ability, it was not difficult for him to hold the flag, but for some reason, Seychelles only felt his mouth was dry, and the flagpole in his hand tilted left and right, making it difficult for him to hold it steady. He had to use all his strength to hold it.
Hold on to the flag.
"Just be careful, don't let such a big flag fall down."
Mallos said meaningfully:
"It will kill people."
Seychelles' eyes turned cold, anger arose in his heart, and he pushed the flag back!
Everyone was shocked!
But the other hand stretched out from the side and firmly held the nine-pointed star flag to prevent it from falling to the ground.
Seychelles turned his head in surprise:
"what you do?"
Knight Cassian held the flag calmly and said without any doubt:
"Save your life."
The Seychelles knight was quite unhappy and hesitated to speak.
His master, Zhan, stared at the big flag with unpredictable emotions, lost in thought.
"As for those who succeeded in bringing it down," Mallos turned his back to them, "Captain Seychelles, do you want a nickname? 'Starfaller' or 'Starreaper'
?”
Seychelles was shocked.
The watchman struggled to smile, held Hugo's shoulders again, and began to groan and pant from the old injury:
"Maybe you'll be... the same name as that Yankee named 'Falling Star'."
Seychelles was in disbelief. He looked at the nine-pointed star above his head and looked at Mallos walking away from him, feeling frightened and angry at the same time.
At this moment, everyone in the entire arena was staring at the nine-pointed star flag in awe, and Thales was among them. He also subconsciously stretched out his hand to block its flickering and flashing eyes, which occasionally invaded his sight and stung.
Every inch of the eyes is silvery.
As if from unknown time, an invisible pressure enveloped the entire arena and even the Emerald City, forcing everyone to look at this light nine-pointed star.
No, Thales, that's not a nine-pointed star.
The voice in the prince's heart rang out quietly and said to him:
that is you.
Thales couldn't help but tremble.
And, what you symbolize.
Thales lowered his head in a daze and looked at his sleeves - there lay a dark pattern of a nine-pointed star.
"enough!"
Zhan En's cold voice sounded, causing everyone who unconsciously looked at the flag to wake up.
"Yes, yes," Thales came back to his senses. He steadied his breathing and forced himself to regain his senses. "Then, Lord Zhan, going back to just now, are you willing to abide by the "Sacred Star Covenant" and accept my
Arbitration?”
At that moment, the vassals, distinguished guests, soldiers, Star Lake Guards... everyone held their breath, waiting for the Duke's answer.
Zhan En's eyes turned cold.
arbitration.
He turned back and glanced at Hilley, who had been silent since just now.
arbitration.
He lowered his head and glanced at Federico, who was gasping loudly on the ground.
Finally, he turned his head with difficulty and looked at Thales with burning eyes.
This damn little brat.
"I--"
The Duke of Nan'an was about to speak, but the wind came and the flag above his head roared!
His words suddenly stopped.
Not only that, the silver embroidery on the flag reflects extremely well, and the nine-pointed star emblem floats back and forth in the night sky, shining with silver light.
The iris flags in the distance are even more dim.
At that moment, Zhan En looked at the huge nine-pointed star above his head with complicated eyes.
Finally, when the nine-pointed star rose in the wind for the third time, the owner of the Emerald City, the Guardian Duke of the South Bank, took a deep breath and lowered his head.
"Look, Thales, when you take off your mask and start playing cards seriously, you're quite good at it, aren't you?"
Zhan sneered lightly at Thales, but the laughter was quite sad:
"Even if it's someone else's hand."
Thales was shocked.
Zhan En smiled slightly:
"It's a pity that no matter how good the cards are, you can still only make your own bets in the game."
The next second, before Thales could react, Zhan took a step forward and spoke loudly:
"Of course, Your Highness! Since I am a citizen of the Star and a noble of the kingdom, I shall accept the arbitration of Your Highness! No complaints!"
The crowd around was in an uproar.
The Emerald Sergeants gathered in the front row looked at each other in disbelief, while the chatter among the vassals and guests subsided a lot, and many people secretly glanced at Thales.
Finally - after hearing the other party's conclusive answer, Thales breathed a sigh of relief.
fine.
Didn't cause any big trouble.
Zhan En smiled, but his smile was extremely complicated and contained deep meaning. He waved his hand and ordered:
"Emerald Legion, put down your weapons, clear the way, and let them arrest me."
Seychelles gritted his teeth and was quite dissatisfied:
"grown ups--"
"Under the nine-pointed star flag, His Royal Highness Thales has given orders, and the Kevin Deere family will all obey them!" Zhan stopped him from speaking, his tone unquestionable.
Seychelles took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and ordered his men to retreat, but when he looked at the Star Lake Guards, his eyes were extremely cold.
Soon, the Emerald Sergeants looked at each other, put away their weapons, and retreated voluntarily or involuntarily. Many of them also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thales breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to his subordinates. Wyatt and Glover looked at each other. They stepped forward cautiously, passing by the leaderless and helpless Emerald Legion, and came to Zhan's side.
Glover wanted to take action and escort him to show his dignity, but Zhan didn't give them such a chance:
The Duke himself held his head high, moved decisively, and walked out of the legion's defense on his own.
Enter Taylor's team.
"If you have any opinions, Zhan, you are welcome to appeal to me during the arbitration and make your own voice heard." Thales looked at him with a complicated mood. "You can also ask someone to speak on your behalf. If
I remember correctly, the defense lawyers' guild is in the honor zone - it costs money, but it saves a lot of trouble."
Zhan En smiled slightly and didn't take it seriously.
Compared to the noise and noise just now, all this happened quietly. People watching might whisper, but no one dared to speak loudly.
On the other side, Morgan pushed aside several stunned security officers, roughly dragged Federico up from the ground, pulled out the cloth from his mouth, and escorted him to the Star Lake Guards.
"Not bad, cousin," Zhan En glanced at the culprit of everything today, with unspeakable emotions hidden in his eyes, "Not bad."
He looked at Thales and his words had profound meaning:
"But you thought that was the end?"
"Yes, cousin," Federico, who was being escorted, responded very quickly, panting non-stop and with evil intentions, "You are finished."
The two cousins' eyes met, and the air around them seemed to be anxious.
"Duke, he surrendered just like that? So simple?"
In the guard, Nexi was in disbelief:
"They have a legion, an entire city, and two extreme masters..."
D.D shook his head, thankful that he had survived another night under the prince's hands:
"That's right."
"And we only have..."
"We have the wrath of the kingdom."
Nixi was suddenly startled:
"What? Where?"
D.D patted his shoulder and smiled:
"Behind."
Nixi looked behind her, but saw nothing. When she looked back, she looked confused.
"No, Jenn!"
At this moment, Shilai, who could no longer bear it any longer, broke through the obstruction with a cry and rushed to his brother.
Huaiya frowned, but Glover glanced at Thales and shook his head at him.
I saw the eldest lady grabbing Zhan En's hand, and then looking back at Thales who had his head lowered in a daze, she wanted to speak, but she didn't know what to say.
In the end, it was Zhan who pulled her back without any doubt.
"It's okay, Cecilia, sister, listen," the Duke held his sister's hand with complicated eyes, "We are Kevin Dill, right."
Xi Lai looked at his brother blankly, his eyes red.
Zhan smiled, glanced at Thales, and then turned back to hold his sister's hand.
"Don't forget, Ning is a friend..."
Xi Lai was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth, nodded, and said decisively:
"Don't surrender to your enemies."
Neither used to nor liking watching this scene that seemed like a separation between life and death (especially since he was the instigator), Thales sighed and turned around with complicated emotions.
The jade sergeants who were guarding this direction all changed their expressions and retreated suddenly.
Thales was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly and turned around to explain.
"Listen, everyone, don't be nervous, I'm not trying to take away..."
But when he turned back, he happened to face the local vassals on the south bank. The latter were startled and quickly turned sideways or stepped back to avoid looking directly at him.
After Thales spoke for a moment, he turned to the foreign guests. They originally looked solemn, but when they saw the prince looking at them, they all smiled and saluted in a friendly manner.
The Karabyan sisters were more cautious than before, a little less frivolous and a little more distant. Count Xavier performed the ceremony as usual as if nothing had happened. Count Lassia reluctantly bowed his head at the urging of his eldest son, Changqing Island.
The Earl of Chaoyanghua frowned and didn’t know what he was thinking. The captain of the sea wolf, Tanganga, had a flattering attitude and his mouth was full of shining gold teeth. The ambassador of the Tyran State, Hasha, had an exaggerated and passionate smile. Yannick, the leader of the feast, smiled and said to him.
There was a gesture of applause, and the Count Le from Corleone had long since disappeared.
Thales frowned deeply.
Only then did he realize that wherever he looked, everyone in the arena was lowering their head to dodge, turning their heads to retreat. If they couldn't avoid it, they would bow respectfully and carefully, lest they offend someone.
everyone.
Almost everyone.
"Your Highness," Mallos' lazy voice sounded, "Are you ready?"
Are you ready...
Thales came back to his senses and subconsciously touched the bone ring "Covenant" in his pocket.
It's strange that Gurtaksa, who looks ferocious and has bone spurs pricking his hands, is lying quietly in his inner pocket at this moment, docile and natural, as light as nothing, as if the heavy weight and faint stinging pain before were just momentary.
illusion.
The night wind blew in, blowing the big flag in Cassian's hand again, making the silver light shine everywhere.
The moment he stood under the nine-pointed star, Thales held the bone ring that had never seen the light of day, looked at Zhan En who said goodbye to his sister in a low voice, looked at Federico who was looking at him with stern eyes, looked at him who was unhappy but swallowed his anger.
Seychelles, looking at the vassals and guests who were whispering in fear, looking at the Xinghu Guards who were all talking and laughing...
Finally, he raised his head, looked at the starry night sky of Emerald City, and suddenly understood:
No matter what the process is, what the details are, what the result will be...