our family is gone

Chapter 730 Lance is both insidious and cunning
"I wrote this letter while watching Tiffany. The Lord did not force us to do anything. It's just that the children have grown up."

The woman sighed, and these words also made Walter lose his temper, and he sat aside dejectedly.

grown up……

Then he opened his daughter's letter again and read it carefully.

There wasn't much nonsense, just a simple statement that Hamlet was safe now and there was no need to leave.

It also shows that leaving will cause great damage to her career. In Hamlet's collective spirit and the atmosphere of unity and mutual assistance, power and responsibility are corresponding.

Once she leaves, she will lose everyone's trust, and no one will listen to her as a "traitor" anymore. This is a price she cannot afford.

Similarly, my younger brother is unwilling to leave because he cannot let go of the students in the school. If he leaves, all the students will laugh at him as a coward, and he will never be able to gain a foothold in the school again.

Just like a guy who runs away before the battle even starts is not qualified to be a general.

What's even more heartbreaking is the example Tiffany gave. Why does Walter feel like she's targeting him?
If I hadn't run away back then, how could you two have been here? You're a general, but I was just a private at the time.

"Sometimes you should really go back to Hamlet to take a look. You've been away for too long and you don't know how well it has developed under the leadership of the lord."

"It seems that you have been convinced by the two of them."

The woman gave some advice, but it made Walter unhappy. It was still difficult for him to bow his head to his daughter. Don’t I have any face?
But he couldn't come up with any words to refute, so he could only say something in a sarcastic tone, as if blaming his wife for not standing on his side.

"You know their personalities. Only the Lord of Reims would be willing to tolerate your daughter, and only Hamlet could protect your son."

It was indeed very abstract, and the woman couldn't understand why Tiffany dared to fight the lord directly and the lord had to go along with her.

If it were another noble, Tiffany would have been "bewildered" by the fact that someone like her dared to speak like that.

Similarly, his son's cowardly character makes it difficult for him to survive in this desperate and cruel world. The crisis caused by Walter's disappearance last time makes the woman afraid now.

The people in the city could also hear news of the chaos in the outside world. Until now, the empire had not been able to quell the rebellion and was in a stalemate. If they were to attack one day, only Hamlet could make her feel at ease.

So the woman had no problem with the lord of Reims, or anyone who stayed in Hamlet for a while would feel that kind of security.

Of course, the woman didn't know that it was Lance who deliberately let Susan spread the news that Tiffany had made a big scene with him in order to stay.

Because of the woman's series of capitulationist actions, even asking the lord to let her go in the street, not only Lance was implicated, but also her children.

Lance released this news just to protect Tiffany.

This not only helped her to eliminate the influence of some negative rumors, but also served to raise the banner of "resolute resistance" for other government officials and suppress the surrender faction.

Once the flag is raised, those resolute factions will naturally gather around her, which is to flatter her. These are all prestige and political resources.

This is external, and internally - the conflict between Walter and the lord was easily transformed by Lance into an internal conflict within their family.

Lance didn't understand politics, but he was cunning and treacherous, and let Tiffany take the lead, and for that she had to thank him.

Walter gradually calmed down and realized that his children had indeed grown up. Even his son, who had always been cowardly, had changed. Perhaps he should really go back and take a look.

"Write a letter back to your daughter. We are all family."

"Humph! What reply? Is that what your daughter wants? She's asking me for money!"

How could Walter not understand what this meant? But at this point, he was too lazy to be stubborn. They all belonged to the lord anyway, so he waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, I'll send someone to transport the horses and supplies back right away."

The reason why Vic came here in the first place was because a new batch of supplies had arrived in Owendo, and the things given to Count Bastia were just picked out rags.

The real good things like intact armor, bows and crossbows, war horses and various military supplies were all supplied to Hamlet.

There were also resources he collected from other places with the help of river shipping. It can be said that the caravans from Owendo to Hamlet often traveled back and forth on the old road.

Until the extreme darkness fell, he sent people back to investigate. Although he received the news that Hamlet and his family were fine, he still suspended all caravans heading to Hamlet because the people had not been picked up, and at the same time he was also preparing troops.

It was obvious what he wanted to do, he felt that Lance had imprisoned his family and was going to rescue them.

But the funny thing is that Vic and those who came out of Hamlet would definitely not fight with him, and those people under him, the city defense army, could barely maintain the law and order in the city, so how could he let them go?

What! I hit Hamlet?

It was just self-consolation, because the reason he summoned the soldiers was to prevent the chaos caused by the vision. In fact, he himself knew very well that it was impossible for them to really fight, he was just expressing his stance.

To put it bluntly, those people might not even be able to defeat the cavalry team just now. When their eyes swept across the soldiers in the manor, the expressions they inadvertently revealed were full of indifference to life.

Walter knew that the only reason he was still alive was because Lance didn't care.

Because he was sure that Vic must have reported it to Hamlet, and he also intended to use this to express his dissatisfaction and show that he wanted to use Owendo to exchange his family back.

As I said just now, no one else can make a decision before the lord comes back. They can only suppress this matter, otherwise my wife would have come to deliver the letter long ago.

Then the fact that my wife came to deliver the letter meant that the lord must have known about this. Since he knew that he was gathering soldiers, he only sent a team of cavalry and didn't even write a letter or say a word. The meaning was obvious.

It was a simple disregard, just like people would not pay attention to the movements of an ant in the corner, and would not even think it was a demonstration, but a joke.

What else can I say? Just accept my fate.

Thinking of this, Walter laughed for no reason. If it were another noble lord, he would probably have been beheaded, and no matter how merciful he was, he would have removed him from this position.

But this lord doesn't seem to care at all, which is really interesting.

"What are you laughing at?" The woman looked at Walter with some concern, "I'd better stay and take care of you."

"If you don't go back, you'll have to worry about them. I'll be fine here, so don't worry about me."

In fact, Walter also heard that his wife didn't want to stay, but came to deliver the letter. Although he was a little unhappy, he also heard that his wife was worried about his imagination. But Walter was also a smart man, how could he do such a stupid thing.

However, this incident made him feel a little resentful.

Damn it, whoever wants to be the governor of Owendo can be him. I should have retired long ago. You young people can do whatever you want and don’t bother me.

…………

In Bastia, somewhere in an underground river connected to the sewers, whispers were heard in the darkness.

“Your daughter is safe. This is all part of the Lord’s plan to clear out the ruins and deal with the outbreak of evil and cults.

As long as this is resolved, the entire Hamlet will be liberated, and then we will be able to deal with Bastia. Besides, there are tens of thousands of adventurers and thousands of troops on the front line. The situation is stable and has nothing to do with the city. "

There is no doubt that the people talking here are Vic and Baron Lawrence, the undercover agent planted by the lord in Bastia.

The Hamlet vision broke out that day, and its coverage was so wide that even Bastia could see it, and the caravans active in the surrounding areas also brought back all kinds of outrageous news.

This situation will be a huge blow to Lawrence and Francis who have bet on Hamlet. If they waver in their confidence and cut off relations, or surrender to the Count, it will be troublesome and will be a huge blow to his spies in Bastia.

So after the fast horse made a trip back and forth to confirm that Hamlet was fine, he did not wait for an accurate response and hurried back.

To be honest, he didn't know what had happened, but he was not a child anymore, so of course he knew what to say, what not to say, and how to say it.

No matter what, grasp the main contradiction, stabilize the people first, and put other things aside.

After hearing these words, the person hiding in the darkness did not say anything. They were all adults and it was impossible for them to believe a word easily. Without even a letter, how could they be sure of their daughter's safety?
However, it is easy to get on the boat but difficult to get off, so Lawrence can only hope that the man can really protect his daughter.

Vic didn't dwell on this matter, but talked about another thing to cheer up the person opposite him.

"This time, the Lord raided and broke into the cult's lair. Although the cult leader escaped in advance, we got the list of the members developed by the cult, among whom..."

Vic called out a few names, which really attracted Lawrence's attention, because many of them were nobles and bureaucrats of Bastia, and their positions were not low.

You must know that Count Bastia, who has a group of eagles in his hands, has a strong control over the territory. Apart from some messy cult activities in the first few years, they disappeared under the double attack of the church and the count, and have not been heard of in recent years.

I didn’t expect the corruption to be so deep!

"Is the information accurate? There is no reason for these people to come into contact with a cult, right?"

"We can all talk here, what's so strange about that."

Lawrence couldn't be helped by such a simple sentence. Yes, I am a spy now.

Vic couldn't help but complain, "Those guys have nothing better to do than eat their fill. Isn't the ascension that the cult promotes just what they want? If they knew what the ascension those cultists meant."

Only by going to the grassroots level can you understand how backward the feudal aristocracy is. Just as the lord said, the grassroots are in such a mess, how can you still talk about governance?

Sometimes he would get very angry when he saw bureaucrats and thugs bullying ordinary people. As a character inspired by Hamlet, he couldn't stand seeing that.

How can you manage a territory with a group of insects?
Vic has secretly recorded the list, and when the lord calls, he will send them all to the sanatorium!
Lawrence felt that Vic was being sarcastic to him, but he had no evidence, so he could only change the subject and talk about Bastia's recent troubles.

He was not sure about the new round of war instigated by the count.

“The lord warned us not to enter the mountains. The beast disease is spreading there. The barbarians have suffered heavy casualties. They are not enemies that ordinary people can defeat.

More importantly, this is contagious. The barbarian tribes are sparsely populated, but humans gather in towns. If it spreads in the city, I'm afraid the whole of Bastia will fall into chaos."

Lawrence was also a little surprised. It was so serious, and how did the lord know the exact information?
However, he was tactful enough not to ask, but chose to ask about the lord's mission.

"But now the Earl is forcing most of the nobles to declare war on the mountains. This is difficult to stop. What should we do?"

"Simple. Make the existence of the cult known and use the Earl to fight against it."

"But doesn't this give the Count an excuse to eliminate dissidents?"

Fighting the mountains means death, and being labeled a heretic by the count also means death. What's the difference?
“Church, you have overlooked a very important force in Bastia. The church is the most urgent to deal with the emergence of the cult, and they also need manpower.

Besides, we all know how Alvin could beat his elder brother, and they are still a family after all. Who knows if it was a trap set by the Count, but the church is different."

Lawrence suddenly reacted after being reminded by Vic, an outsider.

Lawrence didn't expect that it was because ordinary people didn't dare to take advantage of the church. The church had a transcendent status in the empire, and the church would not participate in the struggles between nobles.

Just as the nobles would not interfere in the grassroots, and no matter who came to power, they would tacitly acknowledge the status of the church. This was a tacit understanding between the two parties.

But Lawrence also heard that Hamlet's church had been demolished, and that man didn't care about the church.

Those nobles supported Alvin because they had to make one of the two choices under the system if they wanted to raise the banner. It was impossible for Bruce to stand with them.

But if they use the cult to force the church to take action, they can unite around the church to wipe out the cultists, and even the count will have to bow his head.

Even pointing the finger at the Earl... might not be impossible...

Many of the people on those lists have close ties with the Earl.

As for what he would do after the nobles who originally supported Alvin ran to the church dock?
Who the hell cares about this kind of crap!
He used the cult to divert the conflict between the earl and the nobles, and to stir up conflict between the earl and the church. No matter who of them got hurt, it would be good for Hamlet, and he could also strike the cultists at the same time.

That lord messed up Bastia without firing a single bullet. What a sinister plot! He was not in Bastia, so how could he know so much about the situation here?
No matter how much Lawrence didn't want to admit it, he had to assume that his daughter was fine. After all, the pressure of becoming an enemy of that man was really desperate.

"I see." Lawrence agreed, but he still couldn't help asking, "I hope to see my daughter's letter next time."

"I will arrange."

A slow voice came from the darkness, and soon everything returned to complete silence.

(End of this chapter)