Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 337 The Cruel History of Yanxi City
After learning that Xia Houyan was going to meet Mr. "Pangolin", the senior agent of Rose City, Count Anthony Dimitri hurriedly resigned on the grounds of assisting the coalition forces in preparing for the camp, and left the lobby on the first floor of "Kingfisher Feather".

In fact, this is exactly what Xia Houyan admired Dimitri the most:

This unattractive governor of the Southern Territory is actually quite transparent about the world in his heart - the reason why the spies from the Whitehall of Rose City came to visit is purely because of the well-known little prince of Shuangfengling and Rosario's imperial nobles. relationship, but the Southern Governor's District has no intersection with the Rosario family, an oriental giant;
That being the case, of course Earl Dimitri has no reason to participate in the meeting between Lord Frost Maple Ridge and the "Pangolin". He might as well run away early to avoid getting himself into trouble.

Count Dimitri, an outsider, took the initiative to resign, and a group of Frost Maple Ridge thugs felt much more comfortable.

Although the other party has expressed their absolute support for the Igor family, after all, Anthony Dimitri is the governor-general conferred by His Majesty himself and the nominal leader of the Frost Maple Ridge territory, so everyone still has some dignity in front of him. put on airs;

As soon as Earl Dimitri left, Eldridge sat down at the lord's table without hesitation, picked up a shiny chicken leg and opened his mouth to bite. Master Laurie, who had been missing just now, also shot He popped up from a corner of the hall, and wanted to take a seat beside the lord with his sleeves on, but was stared at by Karen Lepergue who came slowly, so he had to find an armchair in a hurry. stay aside.

"I heard that you want to meet Rosario's agents?" Karen patted the lord's dishonest hand away and asked with a frown.

"That's right, the code name is 'Pangolin', Ai Shuai said he will be there in a while." Xia Houyan looked at Karen a little depressed, "What's the matter?"

"I'm a little curious about the intelligence work in Rose City." Karen shrugged and said bluntly, "No matter what I ask on the Phoenix Terrace, that bastard Karim Loch will pretend to be deaf and dumb, and won't tell you anything. I……"

Xia Houyan rolled his eyes.

The Rose City spy and amateur troubadour, Karim Loki, who had a close relationship with Frost Maple Ridge before, has been playing the piano and singing in the Phoenix Terrace for free after being sent back to Frost Maple Ridge by Rosario , have a good time;
But this time, in order to prepare for the war with the orc invaders, Xia Houyan, while building the structure of the Frost Maple Ridge General Staff for Sean Mountbatten, also found a serious job for the spy talent Rocky:
Not long before the "Battle of the Red River Valley", the Military Statistics Bureau under the General Staff of Shuangfengling was formally established. Karim Lodge, a former Whitehall spy in Rose City, was appointed as the director of the Military Statistics Bureau, code-named "Spring Breeze". The intelligence work of the Igor family.

Of course, in a remote place like Frost Maple Ridge, the talent gap is as huge as the lies told during the presidential campaign of the United States. It is not easy to have enough food, who has the leisure to be a spy?
What's more, Shuangfengling established an intelligence agency just to compete with Rose City, and to find something for the idle Rocky to do: Xia Houyan is not responsible for the military affairs of a country, and aims to deploy military forces all over the world. Grand Duke Rosario, his wish is always to keep his own one-acre three-point land in the land of broken souls. To be honest, he really doesn't need any spies or agents.

So so far, the tasks Xia Houyan has arranged for Rocky are very simple:
First, recruit some new recruits from the Military Statistics Bureau with experience in intelligence work (mainly referring to bandits who have been undercover in other cottages), and then initially establish a simple intelligence network in the towns on the left bank to monitor public opinion and collect news. ——Xia Houyan has always had little trust in Faulkner's old thief and the leaders of the left bank towns, so he just took this opportunity to add an extra layer of insurance.

Therefore, in general, the current Shuangfengling Military Statistics Bureau is such a weak department that is better than nothing.

However, Karen Lepage, who was born in the Demon Military Academy, has been very interested in intelligence work from the very beginning, and has repeatedly proposed to participate in intelligence work-Ms. Everyone understands the great role of intelligence and information in warfare.

Unfortunately, Karim Lodge obviously doesn't trust Karen, a human-devil hybrid, and has repeatedly declined the lord's inquiry about whether Karen can participate in commanding intelligence work:

Lodge from Whitehall.She was educated by the Rosario family, and she has always had a heart for human beings. It is absolutely impossible to feel at ease to share power with a demon lady who is not of my race.

Xia Houyan is not the kind of control freak boss who likes to arrange every detail and adjust the position of each machine gun himself, so he has no intention of forcing Rocky at all: In the eyes of the lord, Karen and Rocky are very reliable. It really didn't matter who was put in charge of the intelligence work.

Originally, Xia Houyan almost forgot about the Military Statistics Bureau, but now that Karen suddenly appeared, he could only laugh or cry:

Grand Duke Rosario's Whitehall is almost the best and most advanced intelligence department in the entire continent, and it is also a mysterious existence that countless demon soldiers yearn for;

Knowing that a Whitehall spy would come to visit, Karen, who had been enthusiastic about intelligence affairs in the past, certainly would not miss the opportunity. She had just left with the local celebrity, and rushed back as soon as she received the news.

Xia Houyan didn't have the narrow racist views of Rocky, and he didn't care about Karen's presence, so he asked the pioneer army soldiers to add an armchair to her beside him.

And the "senior agent of Rose City 'Pangolin'" that Eldridge said did not make everyone wait.

When Xia Houyan crossed his legs and lit the second cigar, the door of the lobby on the first floor of "Kingfisher Feather" was pushed open.

Then, a guy with an unremarkable appearance and old-fashioned attire, who looked like a poor farmer, walked into the hall cautiously.

At first, the soldiers of the pioneer army thought it was the civilians of Peacock City who had gone through the wrong door, and they wanted to drive them out with a wave of their long halberds;

But as soon as this guy saw the lord, he hurried forward two steps and bowed deeply:
"Honorable Duke Igor, Rose City's special envoy to Rock Creek City, 'Pangolin' is at your service, may the Holy Spirit bless you!"

All the Shuangfengling scum all stared round their eyes.

They never expected that the senior agent "Pangolin" whom Eldridge had touted for a long time was actually such a humble and honest-looking guy.

However, Xia Houyan thinks that Mr. "Pangolin" is more like a serious spy than Karim Lodge:
Rocky just looked at his cynical and handsome face, coupled with the overly ostentatious false identity of "troubadour", Xia Houyan felt that it would not be uncommon for Ya to be accidentally beaten to death during the lurking process;
But this "pangolin" is different: his appearance can be said to be nothing special, and it belongs to the kind that cannot be found in the crowd. 99 out of [-] senior spies in Rose City Whitehall would not believe it.

Only such an unremarkable guy can best avoid unnecessary attention during the undercover process.

And Mr. "Pangolin"'s subsequent narration also proved his professionalism very well.

After the "Pangolin" saluted the lord humbly and not obsequiously, he greeted Eldridge, who was also a subordinate of the Rosario family before, and then cut directly into the got to the point.

According to what "Pangolin" told the lord, when he was young, he was recruited into Whitehall by Graham Rosario, who had not inherited the title at that time but was already in charge of Whitehall affairs. Rock Creek City settled down, and now, he has been lurking in the Grand Duchy of Houston for nearly 30 years!

And according to the meaning revealed in the words of "Pangolin", Xia Houyan was surprised to learn that it turned out that the information on the entire lower reaches of the Lion Heart River, that is, the southern part of the empire, was collected and sorted by him before being sent to Rose City - so Speaking of which, Karim Lodge, who was stationed in the town on the left bank, was actually his downline.

Regarding the inside story of the Rosario intelligence network, "Pangolin" was vague, and Xia Houyan didn't want to ask too much, but this ordinary old farmer still shocked the old Shuangfengling soil hat present with his outstanding qualities. : In the past 30 years, "Pangolin" started as a servant, and now he has become the supervisor of the Grand Duke of Houston's private wine cellar. "Pangolin" is solely responsible for it!

In the empire, "wine making" is a seemingly inconspicuous, but actually extremely important position. Every banquet of the nobles must have their own homemade wine to add style - which means, "Pangolin" "Just keep an eye on the storage records in the wine cellar and the wine list, you can deduce what the Duke of Houston has done and who he has met, and then secretly send these precious information back to Rose City!
When the Grand Duke of Houston conspired to steal the "Flower of Abundance", why did the Grand Duke Rosario and Quentin's chief of staff get wind of the news and come to confront the Grand Duke of Houston?

Wasn't it because the Grand Duke of Houston sent a few bottles of fine wine to the "Desolate Wind" mercenary group as a reward, but was caught by the "Pangolin"?
The most amazing thing is, don't look at the "pangolin" who has passed countless information to the east in the past 30 years, but no one in Rock Creek City has ever doubted his identity—in the eyes of everyone in the Rock Creek Castle He is just the loyal and honest wine cellar manager "Old John"!
Knowing that Grand Duke Rosario's spy network is so powerful, the people of Shuangfengling are really ashamed:

What is strength?What is the background?What is the thickness of accumulation?
Don't look at the fact that the Igor family has earned a lot of gold and silver inside and out after being transferred to the Land of Cracking Souls, but compared with other people's Rose City, they are still low-ranking mud legs!
You must know that according to "Pangolin", their senior spies in Rose City even use the two expensive magic props "Meucci Microphone" and "Nihls Positioning Lens" as standard configurations!

They are even equipped with full-time magicians, who use the "Achilles Magic Cube" exclusive to element masters to transmit important information-don't forget, the dignified junior magister Victor Laurie, who was previously in the pocket Shy, but I can't even afford a Magic Cube!
However, before Shuangfengling felt bitter because of the huge development difference between the north and the south, the "Pangolin" solemnly explained to the lord the intention of coming.

Previously, he was entrusted by Eldridge to help Shuangfengling steal a magister robe from the Rock Creek City Mages—although it is not clear what this magic robe is for, the "Pangolin" still relies on his senior The sensitivity of the espionage workers realized that Shuangfengling was preparing to attack Rock Creek City.

Grand Duke Rosario's instruction to these southern spies was to "cooperate as much as possible with the Igor family's work." "Pangolin" thought about it, and finally decided to ask the Duke of Houston for leave under the pretext of "investigating new grape varieties". He secretly came to Peacock City to find the lord, in order to provide the lord with some information about Rock Creek City, so that the coalition forces can start operations.

I have to say, "Pangolin" is really a timely help this time:

The Houston family has completely lost contact with other southern aristocrats since a succession civil strife occurred. Although merchants and farmers can freely enter and leave Rock Creek City, the old lair of the Duke of Houston, the Rock Creek Castle, has become a black box that outsiders cannot spy on. , no one knows what happened inside.

There are even rumors in the market that the Duke of Houston is seriously ill and will return to the arms of the Holy Spirit soon—of course, there are many people who say that he has actually lost his hair.

It is not an easy task to rely on the coalition of nobles to extract Houston, an angry and resentful guy, from the castle without any intelligence—the people of Rock Creek City are innocent, and the army will definitely not be able to enter the city, but if The Duke of Houston really huddled in the castle and resisted, and the noble coalition army fighting away was really uncomfortable.

However, after the "Pangolin" handed over a smuggled deployment map of the Yanxi City defenders to the lord, everything became much simpler.

"Pangolin" also told the lord that the current situation in Rock Creek City is "a bit complicated".

The Archduke of Houston has had troubles in the past two years (mainly because of an unsightly territory of the Land of Souls), and a civil strife over the succession that occurred before completely destroyed the spirit of this old bastard.

After the civil turmoil, the former chief of staff of the Grand Duchy of Houston, Hollenfen, was beheaded because he failed to murder the Grand Duke. The first successor of the Grand Duchy, Leon Houston, the nephew of the Grand Duke of Houston, fled to avoid disaster and is now missing.

The Duke of Houston, who had been hit hard, first suffered from a serious illness, and then his temperament changed drastically.

According to the "pangolin", the Duke of Houston no longer trusts anyone around him. He locks himself in the attic of the Rock Creek Castle every day and does not know what he is doing, and does not allow anyone to approach easily.

And the one who took over the power of Rock Creek City was a newcomer "Black Priest" who had sprung up like bamboo shoots.

When the Duke of Houston was seriously ill, it was rumored that it was the "black priest" who cured the Duke of Houston by using magic. Since then, he has won the absolute trust of the Duke of Houston. "Mr. Black Priest" can directly contact the Grand Duke, and then pass on the Grand Duke's meaning to the subordinates of the Grand Duchy outside the attic.

During this period, some people were dissatisfied with the style of the "black priest", and even several officers of Rock Creek City suspected that the Grand Duke had been murdered by the "black priest" - but in a denunciation against the "black priest", the Duke of Houston, who had not seen visitors for a long time, actually Showing up and going out, he scolded the subordinates who tried to attack the "black priest", which proved that he was still alive and well.

But since then, the power of the "Black Priest" has become more and more out of control.

"Pangolin" told Xia Houyan with a troubled face that today's Rock Creek City is regarded as a new world dominated by the "Black Priest". This mysterious man also recalled the Houston private army stationed in various parts of the Grand Duchy, and set up a tight defense in the castle. The core area of ​​Rock Creek City is arranged as a tortoise shell that cannot be pierced by needles and cannot be pecked by birds.

"Pangolin" said frankly that what he was worried about was not that the coalition forces of the nobles would not be able to enter Rock Creek City, but that he was worried that the "Black Priest" was really in a hurry and let him jump off the building with the Duke of Houston in his arms!

According to the law, even if the Duke of Houston is really treasonous, he should go through a trial and then execute him publicly—what's more, if the "black priest" really leads the army to resist the revolutionary dictatorship under the pressure of the army, it will cause fire among the imperial nobles and cause civilian casualties , both a great challenge to the political stability and imperial traditions of the South.

Therefore, "Pangolin" believes that it is okay for the coalition forces to go north and encircle Rock Creek City to put pressure on them, but they must not really use their swords against the compatriots of the empire during the sensitive period of emergency on the Eastern Front;
The best strategy in this campaign is to capture the Duke of Houston alive without bloodshed—when he is in his hands, if he wants to arrange some crimes for her to see the Holy Spirit, it will be Shuangfengling's words.

"So, we want to catch that old bastard in Houston, but we can't use force?" Xia Houyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry after listening to the report of "Pangolin", "Then they...the 'black priest' you mentioned will obediently surrender and put Is the Houston bus coming out?"

"If he's not stupid, he definitely won't." The Rose City agent thought for a moment and replied seriously, "The Grand Duke of Houston is the one he relies on to dominate in Rock Creek City. If he really wants to hand over the Grand Duke, he will die." gone."

Speaking of this, "Pangolin" thought for a while, then shrugged and said:
"However, since they have offended you, Mr. Igor, they are actually doomed..."

Hearing this insight, Xia Houyan couldn't help but deeply doubt whether the "Pangolin" had already investigated the mysterious cause of death of the "Desolation Wind" mercenary group and Ander Spencer during the lurking period...

(End of this chapter)