Riding and Slashing

Chapter 189

"Why can't we live in harmony... Most of the storybooks written by humans regard elves as allies. But in fact, why do they retaliate with malice..."

Wentierff sighed and expressed her incomprehension.

"Because the scriptures are written by poor scholars...but those who control power have never been poor scholars. Besides, do you think those ebony gauntlet knights really hate Noldor that much?"

The lord shook his head and smiled: "Wendy, in order to maintain the species balance in the Noldor Forest, your clan will control the number of animals in the forest, so you will be asked to shoot rabbits and wild deer...but you really like to shoot rabbits ?"

Wendy looked at the nearby forest thoughtfully: "My lord, what would you do if you became the one who controlled the continent? Would you also use this method to maintain the balance of species?"

"Haha...Wendy, the best way to maintain the ecological balance is to introduce the missing animals into the forest to make the ecology complete. Killing innocent herbivores is not something worth advocating... The elf kings probably It’s just a matter of helplessness when there is no other way.”

The lord said with a smile.

"Introducing missing animals... I understand. Our forest lacks beasts, so there are too many rabbits, but the beasts have nowhere to look, so we have no choice but to kill the extra rabbits. Then Pendor continent... Your lord, you should It is the rarest kind of beast, right?"

Wentierf looked at the lord, eyes full of anticipation.

"No, Wendy, I am the one who breeds beasts."

The lord looked at Wendy Erfu and said seriously.

"My lord, maybe you really should be in charge of the continent..."

Wentierff seemed to be joking, half teasing and half serious.

At the same time that Li Ang returned to White Hart Castle, the latest incident in Changhe Town just happened to be reported back to White Hart Castle—Eric also came back at this time.

Changhe Town was controlled by Grand Long, the flag officer of the Lion Lake City Banner Guard, and he held the golden seal of the king of the Lion Kingdom...

While everyone thought it was outrageous, Eric said Lord Godric was sure the seal was genuine.So although everyone is uneasy, they can only wait and see the situation first.

But Godric did not return to White Hartkeep.

He is the Chief of Eastern Military Affairs appointed by the king. Now that Changhe Town is in such a situation, of course he will go to Sarleon City to find out. This is his duty.

Only the operation of the Long River Express was not affected at all-Grand Long may not know that the Long River Express is actually an army.

Therefore, it didn't take long for the Changhe Express convoy to bring complete news to White Deer Castle.

After Fawcett killed all his brothers and sisters, he took Lion Lake City to treason!

The crime of killing relatives cannot be concealed. Alma once lost his territory because of the same thing. If Fawcett does not do something, he will definitely end up in a more tragic end.

Therefore, before Sarleon City had time to respond, Fawcett unilaterally revoked his allegiance to King Ulrik on the grounds that "the king cannot protect the lives and interests of nobles", and publicly declared that he would no longer obey Sarleon. any command of the kingdom.

This reason is actually reasonable, because the death of Duke Elfwan was very strange before, but Ulrik didn't care about it at all, and instead seized Elfwan's fiefdom.

During the time when Fawcett was in charge of Lion Lake City, the king did not help him, but kept using him to contain Alma.

When Changhe Town was besieged by the Three Prophets before, the king did not send troops to crusade. Instead, the Three Prophets were symbolically 'imprisoned' after everything was over - without even a punishment.

As for Alma's death, the king didn't care about it at all-of course, it was because it happened so suddenly that he didn't have time to care about it.

But in any case, many nobles in the northern region felt that Fawcett's actions were actually understandable, and indeed many nobles who were closely related to the Horton family responded to this matter.

And another part of the nobles who did not want to join Fawcett were forced to leave the territory and relocate - Fawcett asked them to leave Beibu Gulf by themselves, or the whole family would be exiled.

However, after Fawcett rebelled against King Ulrik, he did not foolishly establish himself as king.

He began to publicly support Lady Ursula of Ravenland, and announced that he would help Queen Ursula restore her country!
It is said that Mrs. Ursula promised that if Fawcett could help her restore the country, she would seal the entire inner sea of ​​Lion Lake to Fawcett, the first duke.

In fact, Fawcett has now been appointed as the "Grand Duke of Lion Lake Land" by Mrs. Ursula—not Lion Lake City, but "Lion Lake Land", which refers to all the cities along the inner sea of ​​Lion Lake.

This is a huge area that spans most of the rich towns and cities of Ravendrow and Sarleon, almost the size of a country.

Fawcett's series of actions strengthened the Horton family's confidence in Fawcett—this young playboy, after experiencing many things, finally grew into a real duke like Alma.

The way he was acting now, it looked like Alma herself.

Of course, the promise made by Mrs. Ursula is not a real reward.

Ursula is actually just a rebel in the Ravencrow Kingdom, just like Darion, a claimant to the throne, not a real king.

It's just that she claimed the throne of the Ravencrow Kingdom - Ms. Ursula is the older sister of the current King Gregory IV of Ravencrowland, her own sister.

In fact, the jurisprudence she made is quite reliable, because according to the order of succession in Pendor Continent, Ursula, as the eldest daughter, does have the right to inherit the throne, and logically speaking, she is indeed the first heir.

In addition, Mrs. Ursula is the chief knight of the Falcon Knights. Although this 'chief' must be due to her background, it can at least prove that she is not the kind of noble woman who knows nothing, at least she is considered a knight. All-rounder, both civil and military, should at least have the same inheritance and ruling rights as Gregory IV.

However, Ravencrowland is a relatively 'traditional' place.

The men of Ravensrow call themselves 'the brave guardians of the North', yes, even the farmers do - because 150 years ago, the warriors of Ravensrow did fight back the Misty Mountains in their own right massive invasion.

These self-proclaimed brave warriors of the Ravencrow Land advocate force, so they have some psychological barriers to obeying a woman, especially the highland warriors who fell into the bay.

Strange to say, those so-called 'barbarians' don't discriminate against women, and neither do real civilized people. On the contrary, the half-tone between barbarians and civilized people will discriminate in this way and that way...

Probably because of inferiority complex.

Six years ago, when Gregory IV competed with Mrs. Ursula for the throne, the original words of Gregory IV to attract supporters were: "My sister, the pretender and private knight, no matter what She's all a woman. No self-respecting Northland man would follow a woman!"

As a result, such words really provoked the so-called 'dignity' mentality of the men in Ravencrow Realm. Lady Ursula lost the battle for the throne for this reason, and even the Falcon Knights were defeated by Gregory IV. Declared an illegal knight order...

As a result, the civil war in Ravencrow has continued until now, and the 'Battle of Restoration' initiated by Mrs. Ursula has not stopped for a moment in these six years.

But no matter what happened between Lady Ursula and Ravensaw, at least Fawcett, who declared his allegiance to Lady Ursula, must be treasonous.

As for Ge Langlong in Changhe Town, it's a different situation...

According to the bodyguards of Changhe Express, after Grand Long occupied Changhe Town, he did not take down the Golden Lion Banner of the Sarleion Kingdom. He even put the flag of the Duke of Alma on the head of Changhe Town again.

Moreover, he did not restrict the entry and exit of Changhe Town, or even harass the residents of Changhe Town, he just kept increasing his military strength.

The Lion Lake City Banner Guard has [-] heavy cavalry. In addition, Grand Long got a few hundred motley troops from nowhere, but these motley troops seem to be quite powerful in combat.

In addition to constantly increasing his military strength, Grandlon only did one thing in Longhe Town——re-organized a large-scale funeral for Duke Alma.

Or rather, it should be called a memorial service...

After all, the bones of Duke Alma had already been buried near Lion Lake City.

But the funeral that Nelda organized for Alma was simply unimaginably sloppy—the former First Duke of the Kingdom was buried with only dozens of relatives in the family present. ...

According to the etiquette that a duke should have, Grandlon formally reorganized a due ceremony for Alma.

There were indeed many people in Changhe Town who voluntarily participated in the funeral, most of whom were middle-aged and elderly people.

Alma actually did a good job when he governed Changhe Town. He may have spent his whole life chasing power, rising and dying in conspiracy, but he never harmed the civilians of Changhe Town.

Alma had governed Changhe Town intermittently for many years as an acting lord or administrator. To the old people in Changhe Town, he was actually a good lord.

Therefore, 2000 people participated in this memorial service. Residents brought daisies that bloomed in early autumn to the ceremony, and the petals covered the Changhe Town Square.

Alma's life is now considered to be the real curtain call.

Before he died, he actually fulfilled most of his wishes, and after his death, 2000 people were sincerely willing to present him with bouquets. This may be a satisfactory result for Alma.

Of course, Grandlon held the funeral in Changhe Town perhaps not out of loyalty to Duke Alma.

Maybe he was telling people in this way that he was still Alma's son-in-law!
Moreover, he achieved his main purpose in this way - Fawcett only brought a guard of more than a hundred people to Changhe Town to mourn his father!
The funeral was watched by the bodyguards of Changhe Express. The bodyguards saw Fawcett appearing in the square alone, surrounded by people led by Grand Long.

The two sides argued for a long time.

Of course there is no way of knowing what they said specifically, but in the end, Fawcett was brought to the square by Grandlon, knelt down in front of Alma's portrait, and sent his father off for the last time.

No matter how father and son fight, they are still father and son after all...

After the funeral, the guards brought by Fawcett left Changhe Town, but Fawcett himself could not leave.

He was detained by Grand Long.

After learning all this, the lord rarely hesitated.

He began to repeatedly calculate the strength in his hands, as if he was determined to do something, but he was a little undecided.

In fact, Li Ang seldom hesitates. Most of the time, he makes quick decisions—even if his judgment is wrong, it is better to make a quick decision and make a quick correction than to hesitate.

But this time, he fell into long-term thinking, and didn't even organize everyone to discuss it together.

In fact, this time, no one can discuss with him other than Godric who is not here...

He wants to raise the banner of the rebels and crusade against the rebels in Changhe Town and Lion Lake City!
The Lion Kingdom is now full of traitors and thieves... What a great opportunity!
However, you have to do your best to seek rebellion, many things must be stopped, and once you send troops, you can't turn back, there are many sequelae...

The lord's hesitation is actually because it is difficult to measure the cost-effectiveness-is it more cost-effective to send troops to fight against the rebellion, or is it more cost-effective to concentrate on development?
If we raise our troops against the rebellion now, and when Fawcett is still under the control of Changhe Town, the bodyguards who use Changhe Express to attack Changhe Town should have a high chance of success.

By taking down Changhe Town at this time, Fawcett can be controlled—this is almost equivalent to taking down Lion Lake City at the same time!

But taking Changhe Town has sequelae, just like Godric is unwilling to resist Grand Long, attacking Grand Long who is holding the king's gold seal, this matter may be settled by Qiuhou.

At the same time, Li Ang's troops are insufficient. Changhe Town has the Lion Lake City Banner Guards, and there are hundreds of unknown troops with strong combat power. s level.

And he didn't know Grand Long, nor did he know the unknown army, so he could only do his best.

This means that the power of the Noldor may be needed to fight the war.

However, when the Noldor elves were not accepted by the people, they appeared in Li Ang's team to cooperate with them... This may make Li Ang a target of public criticism, which is not good for future development.

At the same time, now is a good opportunity to hide in White Hart Castle for rapid development. So many arrangements have been made before, and those Noldor Rangers are allowed to live in White Hart Castle.As long as the wretch develops for a period of time, reach a long-term cooperation with Islandil, and then control the eastern region with food and logistics according to the predetermined plan, it is inevitable and relatively safe to become a big brother in the east in a few months.

Once a big war is fought, these stable development plans will be interrupted, and many things will be wasted.

Therefore, the lord hesitated all night without making up his mind.

……

Changhe Town.

Grandlon was playing with the king's golden seal.

He was also hesitating, and he also hesitated all night.

What he hesitated was whether to kill Fawcett or exchange Fawcett for Lion Lake City.

After welcoming Fawcett back from Ravencrow Realm and taking charge of the Lion Lake City Banner Guard, Grand Long was the first to discover the king's golden seal in the Lord's Hall of Lion Lake City—this seal seemed to appear out of thin air.

Of course, Igor's men secretly put it in a drawer in the lord's hall.

Fawcett almost never stayed in the lord's hall of Lion Lake City. After he returned to Lion Lake City, he lived in the garrison camp—he killed his own sister in the lord's hall, so of course he didn't want to stay there.

Therefore, Fawcett was unaware of the sudden appearance of the king's seal.

Grandlon wasn't going to tell Fawcett either...

In fact, Grandlon wanted to kill Fawcett.

On the one hand, Nelda is Grandlon's wife after all!Husband and wife for one day, one hundred days of grace, even if the relationship breaks down and divorces, at least there are still bonds...

But Fawcett killed Nelda as soon as he came back!
On the other hand, when Grandlon welcomed Fawcett back, his original idea was to use Fawcett and Milgan to fight in the ring, while he himself controlled the military power to benefit from it.

If he hadn't had this idea, he wouldn't have supported Fawcett, but he remembered Fawcett's method of controlling the First Banner Guard in Lion Lake City - controlling everyone's wives and children!

Moreover, Grandlon jumped back and forth between the Duke of Alma and Fawcett. This was a sign of disloyalty, and Fawcett would not tolerate him sooner or later...

But who knows, Fawcett quickly took control of the power in Lion Lake City with a series of vicious performances, Milgan didn't even have room to play, and Grandlong's thoughts were also lost.

So Ge Langlong felt that his own life was in danger, and his whole family was in danger.

Therefore, Grand Long took the Lion Lake City Banner Guards and left Lion Lake City on the grounds of hunting down Milgan, and at the same time took away the king's golden seal.

Then, he went to Changhe Town to try to cheat the city, but he did not expect to take down Changhe Town with the king's seal easily!
Grandlon felt that the opportunity had come—he felt that Fawcett could be lured to Longhe Town to kill him.

If Fawcett died, Lion Lake City would definitely be in chaos again. Grand Long could rely on his connections in Lion Lake City to take the flag guards who were the representatives of the citizens of Lion Lake City to occupy Lion Lake City!
Even when the time comes, they will be able to return to the Sarleion Kingdom with the saying of "bear the burden of humiliation and eliminate the country's treason"...

Grandlon felt that he might be able to sit on the Duke's position because of this!
It doesn't matter if I occupy Changhe Town with lies...

Duke Alma's series of operations after returning to Lion Lake City not long ago have made Grand Long understand a fundamental truth - as long as he has soldiers and horses in his hands, someone will naturally help him weave lies!

So Grandlon organized a memorial service.

Fawcett did come, and entered the memorial service alone, and fell into the hands of Grandlon.

But Grand Long didn't dare to kill him...

Because Fawcett claimed that he had detained all of Grandlon's family members in Lion Lake City. If something happened to him, his men would kill Grandlon's family.

Moreover, Fawsert also proposed a plan that made Grand Long very tempted - the two sides are now holding each other hostage, then Fawcett is willing to exchange Lion Lake City for Changhe Town, let Grand Long become the owner of Lion Lake City, in exchange for Fawcett Settled in Changhe Town!
From the bottom of his heart, Grandlon is willing to change the city, but the problem is that his status is embarrassing now. With Fawcett still alive, it will be more troublesome for Grandlon to completely control Lion Lake City.

Only after Fawcett died, Lion Lake City would really listen to Grand Long's orders.

But if Fawcett was killed, his whole family would probably die too, and he didn't want to gamble with the lives of his whole family on what Fawcett's men would do.

So Grandlon hesitated, hesitating all night.

(End of this chapter)