In the early morning of Yongxing City, on the way to the North City Gate, a group of soldiers from the city defense team kept away from the people in the open space in front of them and consciously prevented others from approaching.
"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to openly kill the prince in the royal capital."
I saw the Guardian Duke of the Cliff Territory, Coste Nantriest, standing tall and tall in the middle of the road. He flicked the snow covering the giant-horned deer logo on his cloak and said coldly:
"I just want to see him."
He stood in front of the continuous motorcade, looking at the wary-looking Bright Star private soldiers in front of him, waiting for their master's answer.
Gilbert got out of the carriage and frowned as he looked at the giant-horned deer carriage parked not far away, several guards of the South Triest family, and another carriage marked with tricolor iris flowers in the distance:
"Your Majesty, Duke of South Triest, if you want to see off the envoy, you can wait at the North City Gate... Intercepting them halfway is really not the behavior of a local lord."
"It's not just me," Costard said with a grim look on his face, pointing to the carriage in the distance: "There's also the boy with the tricolor iris."
Gilbert quickly thought about the situation.
"We all know that although he is only seven or eight years old, he is not an ordinary child," Costard shook his cloak impatiently: "Send the news to the second prince and let him make the decision."
A childish voice came from the third carriage:
"It's okay, Gilbert! Let me handle it."
Thales pushed open the car door, and walked up to Coste with a calm expression, accompanied by Wyatt Kasuo who looked nervous and Medila Rolfe who looked like she was facing an enemy.
Coster looked at the child with complicated eyes and pursed his lips toward the roadside.
Thales took a deep breath, nodded, waved to the attendant and Sui Feng Ghost, and followed Coste to the side of the road.
"What kind of drama is this?" The thin Lord Putilai, the deputy envoy of the mission and the prince's tutor, walked out of the carriage impatiently, as if he had been disturbed in a beautiful morning.
Gilbert shook his head: "There is internal fighting in the kingdom."
"So peaceful?" Putilai squinted his eyes and looked at the two figures of the Duke of Yadi and the second prince, one large and one small, in the distance.
"Peace?" Gilbert frowned and glanced at his old friend.
"The peace makes me almost cry," Putilai curled his lips and said sarcastically: "You should go to the Eastern Continent, to the Qilin Holy Capital, to see the internal fighting between the Chen family and the eunuchs and nobles in the Suye Dynasty -
—Of course, you’ve never been there, so your limited knowledge is normal.”
Gilbert exhaled through his nose in dissatisfaction, unable to find any effective words to refute him.
Damn bard.
Thales looked at the unkind-looking Duke of Giant-horned Deer in front of him, thinking deeply about his purpose.
He must have come with some purpose.
But we are already destined to be enemies.
Be alert.
"I didn't expect that the first person to come would be you." Thales said silently.
Coster snorted softly.
"I don't want to see you in front of so many people... Falkenholz's cynicism is so annoying," the one-eyed dragon stared at him sternly: "Kid, I know you are very smart - no more nonsense, listen...
…”
"I don't like you - no one has ever dared call me a hypocrite."
Thales spread his hands helplessly: "Then what do you want me to call you? Liar? Deceiver?"
Or...acting school? movie king? leader Yue?
Coster ignored his words, and his blind left eye had a hideous scar:
"But I can still put aside my prejudices. In the future, the Cliff Territory can fully support you to become the supreme king, suppress those nobles who are ready to move, and the lords with ulterior motives - the giant horned deer will serve you as the master, and the bright star will still be the royal family."
Thales was stunned for a moment.
What?
"I thought," Thales' eyebrows trembled: "The giant-horned deer is no longer sworn in with me."
But Coside ignored him.
"There is only one condition." One-Eyed Dragon's words were authentic.
"As expected," Thales, who was frightened by the one-eyed dragon's anomaly, breathed a sigh of relief: "You won't show your kindness to me for no reason."
"War comes in price, victory comes in reward. (war_comes_in_price_as_victory_comes_in_trophy)" Coste narrowed his only eye: "This is the clan language of the South Triest family."
The time traveler raised his head and looked at the one-eyed dragon.
"So, what 'price' do I have to pay to get your 'reward'?" Tails, who was extremely vigilant, said cautiously.
"It's very simple," Costard said with a stern expression:
"His Majesty Kessel abdicates, and you will be crowned king in advance."
abdication... coronation...
Varied……
What?
It took Thales three seconds to understand this sentence.
Then he suddenly changed color!
Coster didn't mean to be joking at all and kept looking at him seriously.
The two looked at each other directly for five seconds.
"Ha, you actually tried to provoke the only pair of bright star father and son," Thales grinned: "Don't you know that everything I have now is because of my...father?"
"This is not a provocation, it is a sincere proposal and invitation." The one-eyed dragon's expression remained unchanged and his tone was serious:
"What we fear and hate is not the bright star, nor you - our grudges are nothing compared to the kingdom - but your father."
"The Iron-fisted King."
Thales looked at the one-eyed dragon with burning eyes.
"Why do you think 'New Star' was formed? Do you think Allender's behavior is really just due to personal hatred and dissatisfaction?" Costard said in an unprecedented seriousness:
"This is all for the lords to protect themselves! In order to preserve the family that has existed since the founding of our country..."
"enough!"
Thales interrupted him without hesitation.
Just kidding, this level of provocation...
"I only see you working hard to persecute the disaster-stricken royal family and my father," Thales said coldly: "Questioning my identity and obstructing the rights I deserve..."
But the one-eyed dragon's face changed, and he interrupted him loudly with an angry look on his face!
Just listen to him say: "Kid! If you can only hear the story of the tragic king and the resolute royal family described to you by the royalists - then you might as well dig out your own eyes and leave only your ears!"
Thales was stunned for a moment.
The one-eyed dragon took a few breaths and said to him word by word: "You underestimate your father, the King of Iron Fists, and the fear he brings to the stars."
Coste said slowly:
"Since the Year of Blood, Kessel has become more and more domineering, almost crazy in his pursuit of power."
"From the establishment of a blade-collar duchess who can only rely on the prestige of the royal family to survive, she indirectly controls the two major families in the southwest - the Piranha who controls the southwest outlet of the kingdom and the richest Sunflower."
"Until he recruited 'three commanders' in an unusual way and established an astonishing royal standing army."
"Then the central tax bill that weakened the major lords, the timed recruitment bill, and the border county development bill that produced a large number of new nobles."
"And his favorite state is the conference - using thousands of public opinions to force the lords to submit and hand over power to the royal family. This is the case with the desert war, and the same is true with the succession of the throne. The high council where the lords jointly speak out is in name only, and decision-making
At that time, all I could hear was the king’s voice and the cheers in the square.”
"He even wants to intervene in the succession of the six wealthy families and the thirteen famous families."
"Even the internal strife in Kevin Deere's family two years ago had his shadow in it."
Thales's heart shivered.
What's this?
Kousted said with a sullen face:
"Do you think that when a national war is imminent but no one is willing to send troops for the king - do you really think that we have no regard for the life and death of the stars?"
"Your father and his skills are terrible."
"If Tartarus is allowed to do so for twenty years, our nineteen noble families will be completely devoured from power, wealth, status to people and territory... Either surrender, or be destroyed - the stars will return to the empire!
With such a king here, how can we not panic, how can we not resist, how can we not do our best to protect ourselves?"
Koust's eyes were on fire, and he took a step forward in an oppressive manner:
"You saw... the Northern Territory was forced to rebel, the Blade Territory almost became a royal territory, the South Coast Territory was severely weakened by the family struggle, the East China Sea Territory was scared to death, and the Western Wilderness tried its best to protect itself by relying on the importance of the western front.
"His eyes were stern and solemn: "And Ya Di Ling doesn't want to sit back and wait for death."
"Xinxing uses Exter's power to curb Kessel's royal power - this is our last resort when we have no choice but to raise troops and revolt."
Coster gritted his teeth: "We didn't succeed. This is a small matter..."
"But if Kessel continues to have his own way..."
Thales looked at Duke Yadi in shock.
This is another version of what he heard about the current situation of the stars.
Far different from the version Gilbert instilled in him.
"The Year of Blood has changed him. Kessel is like a true imperial emperor," Costard said in a sad voice, "wanting to dominate everything in this country."
"He regards every lord as an enemy, never shows mercy in suppressing schemes, treats the stars as his own carriage, and has no restraint on his whip and spurs..."
"What can be exploited is a bargaining chip, and what cannot be exploited will be suppressed and eliminated. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish."
Thales frowned tightly, remembering that at the beginning of the meeting, several earls questioned the king's power.
"This is not a good thing, whether it is for our lord, the bright star, or the entire star..."
"This ancient country, if it continues like this, will cause disaster sooner or later!" Costard gritted his teeth and his eyes were like lightning:
"You are about to go to Exeter. This is not a good job... but it will allow you to see another star from another angle - see how the children of the North Wind and the Dragon see us."
Thales lowered his head and calmed his breathing.
"Why does Tormund want to make an agreement with the lords to rule together? Isn't it precisely because of the tyranny of two generations of empires that led to its own ultimate destruction?"
Thales opened his mouth, but then swallowed the word "disaster" into his stomach.
He had a hunch that the end of the empire might not be as simple as the "disaster strike" Gilbert mentioned.
"If your goal is to become a tyrant like your father, even at the cost of the sinking of the stars," Costard turned around sternly and pulled up his cloak, "then just pretend I didn't say this today."
The one-eyed dragon looked at Thales, who was deep in thought, with complicated expressions: "But you said that day... if you care about the stability and stability of the stars, peace and prosperity... if this is your wish, rather than becoming the supreme and only one.
king……"
"Then my proposal is valid forever."
The Duke of Nantry left his last words and turned to leave:
"Have a safe trip and don't embarrass Xingchen."
Thales stared blankly at the departing Cyclops.
this person……
This is another Coste that is completely different from the Duke of Yadi who forced the king to appoint a heir at the state council.
No, he told himself: This is all a trick by the other party, to tarnish Kessel's image, to drive a wedge between father and son...
And - a long-distant voice sounded in my mind
[From a feudal country to a centralized absolutist country, it is the only way for almost all European countries...]
But Thales still gently clenched his fist.
He raised his head and looked at Koust who was walking away, and who was passing by him - Jann Kelvindir.
"I hope I didn't disturb you." Zhan saluted gracefully.
"Where," Costard replied coldly: "I will be satisfied if I don't get fooled and don't think of me as the mastermind behind the assassination."
Zhan's expression froze as he watched Coste board the carriage.
Thales, who felt that he was in over his head, sighed deeply, looked at Zhan, and asked angrily: