Imperial Crown.

Chapter 566 Every family has its own troubles, and everyone has their own worries.

The night wind howled, and the sky was filled with glittering snowflakes. Under the dim, yellowish light of the magical streetlights, everything in front of one's eyes was fragmented into a hazy, indistinct scene.

A figure in a black overcoat walked quickly forward. This was a street called Two Rivers Street, because the Marquis's newly built castle was located at the confluence of the Golden Sand River and the Crystal River. Over time, this street, not far from the castle, came to be known as Two Rivers Street. Actually, it had a more official and formal name—Nun's Walk. Not far away was Whispering Square, leading to the new Eagle Castle. But the locals preferred to call it Two Rivers Street—simple, clear, and very down-to-earth.

Compared to the renowned establishments of Eagle City, such as the Wallace Hotel, Crystal Palace, Paramount, Lion King's Pride Tavern, and the Colosseum, Two Rivers Street lacks entertainment and is less lively. This is because the security here is exceptionally good! Thanks to its proximity to the New Eagle Fortress, patrols are often conducted by two groups of guards: the Eagle Army and the Eagle Eye Guards. Forget fighting; even a minor argument will quickly result in someone being taken away.

The man's destination was a tavern called "Broken Sword's Lament," also known as the Sword's Lament Tavern.

"Ouch!"

The man let out a yelp; despite his caution, he nearly slipped and fell. His leather shoes offered little protection against the snow. He regained his balance and looked up to see a massive sword standing in the distance. It was the sword of Lord Eric, the Suncrown Baron, broken during the battle of Eivor and purchased at great expense by the tavern owner. After some simple repairs, it was placed by the entrance. It was fortunate this was on Two Rivers Street; elsewhere, it might have been stolen long ago. But who knows, given the sword's immense weight. An ordinary person could hardly lift it.

Pushing open the heavy tavern door, a cacophony of noise immediately assaulted the senses. The warmth was so inviting that it made the man want to strip naked. Soft music soothed the soul, and several groups of young women were toasting each other, paying homage to their damned, yandere, sensitive, fragile, and melodramatic youth. Despite the tavern's colorful and dazzling magical lights, several enormous tiered candelabras hung overhead, emitting a unique pine scent and a warm yellow hue. Each candle burned silently, occasionally dripping a drop or two of melted wax. Several tables were laden with boxes of potato chips, next to large bunches of grapes surrounded by silver goblets. The plump, dark purple grapes, glistening with dew-like ice beads, were the perfect fruit for sobering up. On the bar's cash box lay a curled-up, furry yellow cat, its tail tucked up, fast asleep. The man recognized the cat; her name was Poppy, a sleepy female. The tavern owner said that the more people and the noisier the tavern, the more soundly and peacefully the cat slept. If the tavern was quiet and deserted, she wouldn't be able to sleep. In the center of the tavern was an antique stone archway. In the corners of the archway and on wooden shelves, several broken swords were displayed—swords left behind by soldiers who had used them to exchange for drinks. Everywhere in the tavern were potted plants carefully cultivated by the owner, such as red court ivy, ivy, white wedding dress ivy, and yellow night-blooming chrysanthemums… a feast for the eyes.

The man hurried to the bar, shook his shoulders, and breathed out hot air, saying, "Hey old buddy, a Violet Fizz, please." Clearly, this tavern dared to open here for a reason—it had its own unique selling point. Its specialty was cocktails, and it also had a retro style. It was said that the owner, Zan Linning, was once a member of the Bloodstained Harpoon gang, but later grew tired of the fighting and killing, so he brought all his savings and belongings from Mon'en City to open this Broken Sword's Lament tavern.

"Haha, please wait a moment, esteemed Knight Hu Xia." Upon hearing the voice, Zan Linning pulled aside his waiter and personally stepped forward to warmly greet the guest. Although far removed from the violence of the underworld, the tavern was close to the intricacies of politics and social dynamics. Without a keen eye for these things, the tavern's business wouldn't last long.

"sizzle"

Sitting next to Hu Xia was a guy drinking silently, his cheeks flushed, hair disheveled, and eyes glazed over, clearly having drunk quite a bit. He looked like he was drowning his sorrows. Hu Xia leaned closer, took a deep sniff, and immediately said, disgusted, "Where have you been? You stink so badly, anyone would think you fell into a latrine."

"Does it smell strong?" Beta lowered his head and sniffed. "I just accompanied Pip and Moas to clean the Marquis's stables."

"I knew it!" Hu Xia shook his head. "Why does it smell like manure?" He then looked around again. "Didn't they come?"

Beta smoothed his tingling scalp and pointed to the door. "They left a long time ago."

"That's so unfair! Leaving you here alone to drink in silence," Hu Xia said, disgruntled. He then glanced around, his gaze sharpening as he spotted a beautiful woman also drinking alone in the corner of the bar. But leaving seemed inappropriate; after all, he had just criticized someone for being "unfair," and leaving now would appear hypocritical. Clearing his throat, Hu Xia had an idea. He put his arm around Beta's shoulder. "Try to look on the bright side! My brother! Although your father is gone, I completely understand your feelings. I share your respect and sorrow. But because of this, you're able to inherit the title and achieve your long-cherished goal—becoming a baron!" Hu Xia lowered his voice, whispering in Beta's ear, "Although the Marquis set a three-month deadline, requiring all those with grievances in Snow Maple County to come to New Eagle Castle to appeal their grievances, I've seen the files, and only two people from your family, Moerling, have come."

Beta was taken aback, let out a hiccup, and frowned as he asked, "Which two?"

Clearly, the so-called "March Clarification" order was a means of investigating the situation in various regions. If noble families were to exploit their territories and people too much, their titles would be stripped. This was the Marquis's order, and also the inviolable law of Snow Maple County. Currently, throughout Snow Maple County, people were flocking to lodge complaints, and a large number of knights and noble sons from other territories had already been arrested! This had created a fait accompli: the entire Snow Maple County was now entirely under the Marquis's control. Beta had also heard inside information: originally, the people paid taxes to their lords, the lords paid taxes to the governors, and the governors paid taxes to the Emperor. But now, Marquis Raven seemed to intend to make these territories pay taxes to him. This was tantamount to blatant treason, but the Marquis had clearly won the hearts of the people of Snow Maple County; the people were very vocal in their support, even willing to bypass the territorial nobles and pay taxes directly to Marquis Raven. So how could Beta not be nervous? But this wasn't his biggest worry.

"I can't say that," Hu Xia hurriedly shook his head vigorously. "I don't want to be detained. I've heard that those who are detained either become mentally confused or even mentally unstable." "No matter how capable someone is, they confess everything and sign documents within a few days of being detained." "It's more terrifying than torture."

Beta sighed, then slammed his glass down, splashing the drink onto the bar, but still couldn't wake the curled-up mother cat Poppy. "I have only one goal now: to avenge my father! To kill that damned traitor, Vesdon!"

"Sigh!" Hu Xia sighed as well. "It's too tragic! I never imagined that Vesdon would be so ruthless just to curry favor with the Great Emperor! But your father, Baron Kate, is certainly not as innocent as Viscount Broca!" "Howell is still in custody. He's already confessed to Viscount Broca giving money to the Razorfen Downs!" "Your father was involved too, and not only did he give money, but he also seems to have arranged for people to do it. Luckily, you went to the Orc Empire with him, otherwise you would have been arrested and detained too." "Good luck, my brother!" Hu Xia said, patting Beta on the back. "Thor has already destroyed five Razorfen Downs strongholds with the Hawkeye Guard. In a while, they will be publicly tried and sent to the guillotine."

"I'll skip the first toast and toast you first," Hu Xia said, taking the cocktail Zan Linning had handed him. "May you achieve your revenge soon and kill that traitor, Vesdon!"

Beta remained silent, lost in thought. Hu Xia extended his glass, clinked it against Beta's, took two sips, and then walked away.

"Hey, beautiful lady."

Hu Xia sat down to the side with a grin, his eyes fixed on the other man's full chest as if he were aiming at him.

"roll."

Julia didn't even glance at Hu Xia, and said coldly. "Uh..." Hu Xia awkwardly lifted his still-unseat-up bottom and walked towards a booth in the distance. Then he sighed, took out paper and pen from his pocket, and began to write quickly.

In truth, very few people in Snowmaple County knew that Julia was Melove's biological mother. Rumors circulated: some said it was Patty's, others Fiona's, still others Lux's, and some even claimed that Lady Nancy, though dead for many years, gave birth to a child while her body was pregnant. More outlandish rumors even claimed that Melove was born to Lord Raven and a warhorse… But the most widespread and convincing version was that Marquis Raven and Denise had an incestuous relationship, and that Melove was only publicly known to be born to another woman to avoid suspicion. This also provided Viston with a perfect reason and excuse to betray Lord Raven. Despite New Eagle Keep's repeated clarifications, people clearly only believed the "truth" they wanted to believe.

However, as a close advisor, Hu Xia naturally knew the truth and that Julia was Melove's biological mother. But Julia's status was far too low. Unless the Marquis could still have children, which seemed highly unlikely after so many years, Melove would be Lord Raven's only son. However, Julia's status was detrimental to Melove's upbringing. After all, once Julia's identity was revealed, Melove would at best be considered an illegitimate child. Forget about inheriting the throne; even growing up safely would be a problem.

Being born an illegitimate child is a reputational blow, especially for nobles. While Marquis Raven is indeed powerful, he is far from powerful enough to change the rules of the world. It's like the famous quote from Emperor Keynes XII: "I thought that once I became king, I could do whatever I wanted." This stemmed from his attempt to instigate the Fourth Continental War, but he was quickly overthrown by the nobles, leading to the establishment of the First Republic of Keynes and the legendary Council of the Eight Princes. Therefore, even emperors cannot act with impunity, let alone mere nobles. An illegitimate child attempting to ascend to the throne would almost certainly not be accepted by the people. Not only would his own nobles find it unacceptable, but even his subjects and serfs would likely find it unacceptable.

But these political factors were clearly beyond the comprehension of young Julia. That's why she came here alone to drink and drown her sorrows.

"call……"

Julia let out a long sigh, tossed down the gold coins, stood up, and walked out of the tavern. The cold snowflakes fell on her, making her shiver involuntarily as she stumbled home. Of course, she couldn't understand it, and even if she did, what difference would it make? Would she then be able to sympathize with someone taking her child away?
She had indeed secretly peeked into the Marquis's notes, which contained many words Julia couldn't understand. For example, things like—Westerners will never understand, in the East, heroes can kneel. Things like Han Xin's humiliation of crawling between someone's legs! Things like King Goujian of Yue's perseverance and humiliation! Things like the First Emperor being a hostage as a child, having spit on his face and whipped with a horsewhip! Julia was completely baffled until she later saw the widely circulated photographic crystal, and only then did she begin to understand. But that was years ago. Could Lord Raven have already planned this years ago? Could a person really be so calculating? Was abandoning herself also part of Lord Raven's calculations?
Back home, Julia collapsed onto the soft bedding, the alcohol taking effect. She didn't even bother to take a bath, let alone undress. "I hate you, Father," she murmured, tears welling in her eyes. Lying on the bed, Julia soon fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

……

The capital city of Mingnagar, the elegiac alley.

“Winry, Conger…” “Call me Daddy.” Veston came to the bedside and said with a grin.

His eldest daughter is named Winnie, and she is 2 years old. His youngest son is named Conger, and he is 1 year old.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "If you're going to call someone, you can only call them 'Mom' first."

After playing with the child for a while, Vesdon stood up and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to trouble you again, my lady. I need to continue my cultivation."

Melissa nodded. "Go ahead, you're the one who's really working hard."

“The situation is turbulent, and there’s nothing I can do.” Viston embraced Melissa and kissed her deeply. “I must improve my strength as soon as possible.” After saying that, he turned and left the room, heading towards his private training room.

Melissa watched Veston's departing figure, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat complicated.

Upon entering the room, Viston locked the door and took out a bottle of bright red potion from his ring. This was an extremely precious Doumu potion, which he had retrieved from the old castle. It was specially left for him by his elder brother. Since his brother had given the other two gold coins, he naturally wouldn't neglect him either. With this Doumu potion, he could quickly break through from the third tier to the fourth tier.

In fact, the day after the gold coins were stolen, his elder brother wrote him a letter explaining that the reason he waited so long to summon the people of Xuefeng Territory for a meeting was to buy him time to get back. Viston spent exorbitant amounts of gold coins traveling via teleportation arrays to get back as quickly as possible.

This bottle of Doumu potion was also the last one in his elder brother's possession. The secret letter said that only six bottles were made in total: one was given to the champion of the Raven Arena; one to Mansonia; one to Hyena; one to Link; one as compensation to Julia; and the last one was given to himself.

"I wonder what my martial spirit will be?"

Vesdon muttered to himself, feeling both expectant and nervous.

Too many people in this world have a misconception that cultivation is as simple as eating and drinking, and that those who don't cultivate diligently are simply foolish. Imagine, even if someone could live forever, the price would be being confined to a small room forever. Would such immortality have any meaning? Or, one could move freely, but be the only one left in the world, spending their days feeding birds, fishing, and talking to themselves. Is such immortality truly what everyone desires? Cultivation is like that; it forces you to abandon all human desires, locking yourself in a dark, secluded room for months or even a year and a half. That's why very few nobles engage in dedicated cultivation; they almost always cultivate their subordinates. No one would willingly waste their limited life on meaningless years of cultivation. So-called cultivation, like "common prosperity," goes against human nature. And things that go against human nature are destined to require unimaginable sacrifices to succeed. It's not that it can't succeed, but the prerequisite and price for success require great sacrifices from generation to generation. The earlier, easier levels of cultivation were manageable for nobles, who could grit their teeth and persevere by setting aside a few hours each day. However, the higher the levels, the more difficult it became, and the fewer nobles were willing to cultivate there. Moreover, prolonged seclusion was impractical for nobles who needed to frequently socialize and attend banquets.

But all of this is obviously not a problem for Vesdon, who now has expensive cultivation resources and can take shortcuts!
……

(End of this chapter)