Imperial Crown.

Chapter 278 The final conclusion
Many thanks to Qidian Dad [Book Friend 20170610093211508] for the 10000 reward for [Denise]!

……

In the dim hall, Waltz No. 37 by the famous composer Monet echoed.

This piece of music is known for its cheerfulness and brightness, depicting the tender feelings between lovers. Once it appeared, it quickly spread and became a frequent guest at aristocratic cocktail parties.

But for Marquis Anthony, this song is a bit outdated.

But there is no way. After all, the Nord Province, a border area of ​​the empire, has never been associated with fashion. Things that are popular in the royal capital often take more than ten years or even dozens of years to spread here.

His eyes swept across the hall.

This is not Fox Castle, but the most high-end theater in the city of Hovey. Anthony rented it as the venue for the cocktail party.

The nobles gathered in groups of three or five, and men and women were dancing.

The cups of Angel's Tears were arranged into a wine tower, 6 stories high, with a wide tray underneath filled with wine.

There are 4 such wine towers.

There is no doubt that most of it will flow down the drain after the party.

Of course, there are also all kinds of delicious food that are constantly served and will be taken away if they are not fresh at all.

Anthony did call on the province of Nord to practice frugality and not engage in any extravagant activities, but since it was set by the governor, how could this rule possibly bind him?

He needed this cocktail party to appease the nearby nobles; and the nearby nobles also needed this opportunity to get close to him and end their endless suspicion.

But Anthony was old after all, and had old injuries on his body. Although the temperature control array was working, he still felt stuffy in his chest. So he walked to the edge of the window in the corner, gently pushed it open, took a deep breath of the air flowing in - and then almost vomited.

It stinks.

I glanced out the window and saw that there was a pile of fresh... human excrement under the windowsill, and flies were flying around on it.

"Uh..." After closing the window, Anthony took out a bottle of mint-flavored Angel's Kiss and placed it under his lips, sniffing it gently. Only then did he barely suppress the feeling of nausea in his heart.

He forgot that this was the city of Hovi, not the royal capital.

Like most cities in the empire, residents would dump their feces and urine on the streets, while nobles would choose to solve their physiological problems in random places because they thought the toilets were too dirty.

This situation is very common. Anthony still remembers that seven years ago, an earl from a southern province could not bear it any longer, so he fertilized the King's favorite flowers during a banquet.

For a moment, Anthony missed Eagle Territory a little bit. At least he wouldn't see any metabolic products on the streets of Eagle Town.

But the Nord province was relatively good. In some southern provinces that Anthony had visited, the nobles even built cesspools under the castles. The smell...

At this moment, footsteps were heard, and Akori walked straight up to Anthony and bowed, saying, "Governor, the results from Fox Castle are out."

"No hurry." Anthony coughed and said, "Let's talk about it upstairs."

After taking another look at the nobles who were indulging in pleasure, Anthony took Akori to the private room upstairs.

The relatively clean air here made Anthony breathe a sigh of relief: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Akori took out two documents from his bag and handed them to Anthony respectfully: "Governor, the cleanup of Fox Castle has been completed."

"A total of 237 bodies were cleared this time, 165 bodies could not be identified, and the names of the victims are all here."

"In addition, the Fox family's collections have also been cleaned up and filed."

"Please take a look."

Anthony took the two documents and opened the top one first.

Scanning the list, we can see that all the members of the Fox family from Montreal onwards are on the list, and the youngest victim is a 2-year-old baby - that is Sanchi's youngest son.

"Are you sure the cleanup is complete?" Anthony asked.

Akori was about to say he was sure, but before he could say it, he saw Anthony's playful look, so he changed his words and said, "...well, maybe when I was counting, I was careless and didn't find the person I should have found."

Hearing these words, a hint of relief flashed in Anthony's eyes, but after waiting for a long time and not hearing the next words, that hint of relief turned into disappointment.

As the illegitimate son of Duke Ferdinand, although Acorre inherited his father's talent in combat and fighting, he was still too dull in politics.

As Ferdinand's close friend, Anthony still hopes that Acori can stand on his own.

Picking up the feather pen on the table, Anthony made some notes on the list, then threw it to Akori: "Rearrange the list and arrange the order of the names."

Akori took a look at it and was stunned because the name Gul'dan appeared on it. "But we didn't find Gul'dan's body."

Anthony held his brows together. "You said before that there were 165 bodies whose identities could not be confirmed. Is it possible that Gul'dan was among them?"

Akori knew Gul'dan and had even fought with him. Even if Gul'dan turned into ashes, he would still be able to recognize him. He was sure that this person did not exist among them.

But Anthony obviously didn't want this answer, so Akori could only bite the bullet and say, "Maybe."

Anthony was really disappointed: "It's not a possibility, it's a must."

The Fox family must be destroyed, and there must not be any possibility of resurgence, so no matter where Gul'dan is now, after the inventory is completed, it must be confirmed that he is dead.

Only by making this into ironclad evidence can we guarantee that even if Gul'dan were to come forward alive again, he would never be able to obtain the inheritance rights of the Fox family.

Otherwise, why would Anthony rush to Howe City in such a hurry? Did he think there weren't enough suspicions about him?

Seeing Akori nodding silently, Anthony couldn't get angry anymore and focused his attention on the second document.

This is a list of the Fox family's possessions.

Even Anthony, who is well-informed, was a little shocked by this list.

He personally presided over the punishment of the Fox family, and knew clearly that in the previous audit of military merits, the total amount of fines paid by the Fox family itself and on behalf of its vassals was as high as 207 million gold coins.

But it has only been over a year, and there are still more than 170 million gold coins in their family's inventory.

There is still a lot of equipment in the warehouse.

One set of third-level enchanted armor, 11 sets of second-level enchanted armor, and 107 sets of first-level enchanted armor.

One third-level enchanted weapon, 37 second-level enchanted weapons, and 523 first-level enchanted weapons.

There are also many types of magic raw materials, ranging from magic cores, magic ores to magic plants, as well as many third-level and second-level magic crystals, and various magic beast raw materials that are calculated by "boxes".

In addition, there are a large number of precious works of art, as well as large quantities of grain and cloth.

All in all, the total value of the Fox family's assets is actually over 700 million gold coins.

"This is the legacy of a century-old earl family." Anthony sighed and said, "Acorri, go get Ezio."

Akori nodded and soon a man dressed like a playboy with a pair of playful moustaches pushed the door open, smelling heavily of perfume.

"Oh, my dear Governor, what is it that requires you to call me now?" Ezio took off his hat and saluted. "I know this may make you uncomfortable, but I just made an appointment with three ladies to have afternoon tea. Please finish what you want to say quickly."

Anthony was already used to Ezio's jumping around, so he didn't care too much and threw the property list in his hand: "Here." Ezio took the list and immediately snapped his fingers: "Wow, this order is really worth it."

As he said this, he walked around Anthony, sat behind the table under Akori's angry gaze, picked up a clean list and began to copy it.

He behaved like a dandy boy, but his calligraphy was quite beautiful. His handwriting was neat and clear, with a kind of aesthetic quality like calligraphy and painting. It was obvious that he had received a very good education.

"Okay, it's done." Ezio handed the copied copy to Acorri and asked him to pass it to Anthony.

Akori frowned as soon as he saw it: "Isn't this right?"

Anthony coughed, "Give it to me."

"But, Governor, the number here..."

"give it to me!"

Taking the list from Akori, Anthony said somewhat dissatisfiedly: "You can leave now. Come back when you have figured it out."

It’s no wonder that Akori reacted so strangely, because the shrinkage of this list was indeed quite exaggerated.

The decimal points of all the numbers were basically moved one place to the left. 170 million gold coins became 15 gold coins. The third-level armor and weapons were erased, leaving only single digits for the second-level and tens digits for the first-level.

As for the magic raw materials, they were cut down as much as possible, and the magic crystals were all cut down directly.

As a result, the collection, which was originally worth more than 700 million, shrunk to less than 60.

"Very good. I will immediately register these things and send them to the treasury." Anthony nodded and said, "The remaining value..."

"Of course, I will personally escort the cargo worth 500 million gold coins and deliver it to His Majesty the King," Ezio said with a smile.

500 million plus 60 still leaves 700 million short of 140 million, but neither Anthony nor Ezio showed any signs of abnormality.

A good horse always needs to eat more food and grass before it can work.

Just when Anthony wanted to discuss the details with Ezio, there was a knock on the door. Anthony's expression relaxed: "Come in."

Seeing Akori come in, Anthony asked, "Have you figured it out?"

“Um, no…” Akori smiled awkwardly: “I just received a letter from Baron Raven.”

Anthony looked at Akori helplessly, took the letter in his hand, unfolded it and began to read.

Ezio came closer without any hesitation, put his arm on Anthony's shoulder and then shook it off, but he didn't care: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, this young man Raven is really smart."

Anthony nodded: "Indeed, this little guy lived up to His Majesty the King's favor."

After saying that, he placed the letter on the table.

Akori couldn't resist his curiosity, so he leaned over to read the contents of the letter, and his facial features twisted into a knot.

This is clearly just a letter warning about a locust plague, and the locust plague was discovered by Count Jonah. What does this have to do with intelligence?
Looking at Akori's confused look, Anthony sighed in his heart, knowing that Akori might be isolated from politics in this life.

But it's better this way. I can still live for a few more years, and I can protect him by my side. After a few years, I can find some merits for him, and then send him to an inland province and get him a viscount title. He can then live a peaceful and stable life.

"Okay." Anthony put away the letter, sat back at the table, and began to draft the decree.

There are two decrees in total.

The first thing was to release information about the locust plague and call on the entire Nord province to take active preventive measures.

Secondly, when the list of victims of Fox Castle was posted, it was announced that all members of the Fox family except Nancy had been killed, and since Nancy had married into the Griffith family, she had no right to inherit the title.

Therefore, the Fox family's territory, Feldoro County including the city of Hovi, will be temporarily under the direct jurisdiction of the empire until a suitable heir is found or the family is officially declared extinct.

After finishing writing, Anthony rubbed his wrist and said, "Order these two documents to be copied and sent to all provinces."

"Yes, Governor." Akori took the document and glanced at it: "Is there something wrong with the prevention of locust plagues?"

"It doesn't matter, just send it as it is." Anthony pushed his palm and said.

In Anthony's opinion, Earl Jonah was trying to show goodwill to him through Raven, and indirectly to His Majesty the King, so a locust plague was likely to occur, but it would definitely not be too serious.

They are just a bunch of bugs, can they eat people?
The reason why Raven is smart is that he only stated the fact without exaggerating the danger of the locust plague to highlight his own importance.

Another point is that Raven's letter did not mention the Fox family at all.

In fact, on the continent of Middles, women theoretically have the right to inherit titles, but the specific implementation methods vary from country to country, and the conditions are generally quite harsh.

For example, in the Keynes Empire, if an aristocratic family has no male heirs but only females, they cannot inherit directly.

In order for a woman to obtain inheritance rights, the current head of the family needs to clearly draft a will under the witness of the Council of Nobles, and it also needs to be reviewed to confirm that the heir is capable of managing her own territory before she can be sure of inheriting the rights.

As for what exactly constitutes "ability", that is left to the discretion of the Council of Nobles.

The Noble Council is full of landless nobles who wish everyone could become like them. It is not easy to feed them.

Specifically speaking of the Fox family incident, Raven could have forged a suicide note from Montreal and sent it to the Council of Nobles to secure the earldom for Nancy.

If successful, then by the generation of Raven's children, the Griffith family could be upgraded to an earl family.

But Raven controlled his greed very well and didn't even have the intention to pry into the matter. It was obvious that he had completely given up the idea of ​​getting his hands on the title.

Not only smart, but also clear-headed.

"Oh, it's perfectly resolved!" Ezio snapped his fingers. "Then I don't have anything to do here for now, right?"

After saying that, he walked out of the house.

"Don't drink too much." Anthony looked at his back and warned helplessly.

"Don't worry, I'm not Adjani." Ezio waved his hand and closed the door.

Although Akori was not politically sensitive, he was very efficient. Soon the two notices were spread throughout the Nord province by the mercenary guild's fast horses.

The announcement was not sent directly to every noble, but first to the county governors, and then distributed downward by the county governors step by step.

For a time, the two notices were posted on bulletin boards of all sizes in Xuefeng County.

In the crowd, a thin figure looked at the bulletin board and clenched his fists.

He wore a leather helmet on his head, a slightly worn and ill-fitting mail armor on his body, leather boots on his feet, two weapons slung randomly around his waist, and his figure was a little loose.

Combined with his greasy face and stubbled beard, he looks like an inconspicuous and down-and-out mercenary.

At this moment, Nancy's personal maid Jenny came to the man, restrained the urge to salute, and whispered:
"Madam, please see me."

……

(End of this chapter)