Heart of the Castle

Chapter 517 Demonstration of force, strong force to make peace

The city of Glory, Fermeyer, has a warm and pleasant climate, and the air is not dry even in winter. Although there are a few thin snowfalls every year, they are melted by the warm sun in an instant, and rarely remain.However, at dawn on the same day at the north gate of Chen Bing, Philmeyer, the lords of the northern border, a very special heavy snow fell at the same time as the sunrise, and hundreds of beasts with the characteristics of both lions and eagles roared over the king's capital. Countless white snowflakes as big as palms then fell in the streets and alleys of Firmeyer.

Although these snowflakes are large, they do not bring a trace of chill.When a citizen carefully picked up one of the pieces, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide and let out a low cry of surprise.

"Father, this is not snow, it's parchment!"

These "snowflakes" are indeed paper, but not parchment. In fact, all the goats, sheep and bighorn sheep living in Arthur's Kingdom were slaughtered. The collected parchment may not be able to make so many parchments. Come.

This is a kind of fiber paper made from sedge, a specialty of rotten swamp, which is crushed, refined, whitened, rolled, and dried.

Originally, this technology came from the hands of the aborigines in the rotting swamp. The paper produced was brittle and yellow, and the surface was uneven. Except for the use of the aboriginal tribes, even the most impoverished scholars were unwilling to use it.But after Mr. Dish's improvement, several steps use simplified alchemy to make the finished product whiter and tougher, easy to write and paint.

This kind of paper is called heavenly paper in later generations. It has completely defeated parchment in many important fields, including the compilation of classics, the calculation of alchemy formulas, and the transcription of magic scrolls, and it has been completely sent out of the stage of history.Due to its low cost and high quality, and without the disadvantage of parchment paper being prone to mildew, deterioration and cracking, it has greatly promoted the development of research in literature, history, magic, alchemy and many related fields. Great invention, no other invention can be compared with it.

But that was hundreds or even thousands of years later. At least this morning, the task carried by the paper from heaven was far from that great. The meaning of the expression spread to every corner of the royal capital Fermeyer.

As the greatest invention since the Dawn Era, one of the most commendable achievements of later generations of scholars is that it greatly reduces the cost of popularizing knowledge.Because slaughtering an adult goat or sheep can produce at most six to eight sheets of parchment with normal specifications, and a series of processes such as tanning, polishing, and soaking potions are complicated and troublesome, requiring a skilled worker to keep busy It will take several days, and all previous efforts will be wasted if you are not careful, so the price of parchment paper is high.

As a carrier of knowledge, parchment is expensive and the cost of acquiring knowledge remains high. In fact, before the era when paper from heaven can be popularized, any knowledge is a precious wealth that can only be mastered by a small group of people. The status of scholars with all kinds of knowledge, education, politics, economics, etc. has always been noble, only inferior to alchemists who can create mysterious potions and magicians with powerful power.

It is conceivable that being able to read and write is an amazing and enviable skill in this era. Although Li Wei has the ability to read and write under the guidance of his teacher, Knight Ston, most knights only have the ability to read and write. A semi-literate man who can read and write his own name and family motto.Aristocrats with titles are slightly better. Their rich family background and noble social status allow them to gain access to knowledge more easily.But easy access does not mean easy mastery, and even if many of them can barely read and write, other aspects of knowledge are still as puzzling as magic symbols.

Therefore, most aristocratic lords will choose an official bachelor as their advisor. Among them, master scholars who are qualified to wear red robes are even more popular, just like Master Sugard, who is regarded as a right-hand man by Viscount Ryan. He will be consulted for everything, and will not easily go against his advice.

If Li Wei is so stupid that he writes all the words against the current regent, Duke Raul Adams, on the paper from heaven, even if he presents evidence that Duke Raul colluded with the devil, murdered the former king, and betrayed the kingdom, all of which are as conclusive as iron and stone. It will only become a laughing stock among bards, and provide some extremely expensive fuel to the residents of Fermeyer who are forced by the severe cold.However, Levi Ston's flyer only had "Kingslayer, brother Raul Adams!" in large characters, and the rest of it was filled with pictures with simple and powerful lines, which just happened to be a story when connected.

The main body of the first picture is Castle Black. There is clearly no complete woman in the picture, but judging from the many skirts and arms that appear in front of the windows and doors, it gives people a feeling that the whole castle is full of beauties Feel.The owner of the castle stood on the roof with a complacent look, which made everyone who saw the picture think of the famous and strong Duke Raul Adams.

The second picture no longer has Castle Black, but instead turns to a wilderness. Grand Duke Raul whispers to a guy hidden in the shadows with a sneaky expression on his face. The layout of the picture is ingenious, making people notice at a glance The guy hiding in the shadows has a pair of demon-like horns on his head.

In the next few pictures, Grand Duke Raul appeared on the battlefield, in the palace and in front of the throne. He watched the knights blood flow into rivers on the battlefield and their corpses piled up like mountains; he watched His Majesty the Dragon King being shadowed in the palace. He was besieged and died unexpectedly; he looked at the orphans and widows in front of the throne with sad expressions, embracing and crying.The image of Grand Duke Raul is more sinister and sneaky every time. Although there are still a few strokes, people who read the picture can't help but think that his robe is full of purple-black pus and blood, and there are wings belonging to the devil hidden. and tail.

After reading the piece of paper in his hand, Sir Al-Adir couldn't help but take a deep breath. As the confidant of the Grand Duke Raul, he was well aware of many of the Grand Duke's private activities, including colluding with the devil.There was a considerable discrepancy between the content of these pictures and the facts, but it gave him the illusion of believing it was real.What surprised him even more was that the pictures on these pieces of paper were exactly the same. It is conceivable that the same pictures must be drawn on the pieces of paper floating in the streets and alleys of Wangdu.

Fear stretched out its sharp claws and grabbed Sir Al Adir's heart. He took a quick breath, then turned around and walked towards Grand Duke Raul. "His Royal Highness, excuse me for disturbing you, please take a look at this." He reported in a low voice to Grand Duke Raul, who showed a surprised expression, and handed over the stack of papers at the same time.

Grand Duke Raul just glanced at it briefly, his face that was pretending to be relaxed showed an unconcealable stiffness, and then his lips turned into a twisted black line that was tightly pursed, burning the vicious tongue like coals. Cursing and panic roaring were all sealed inside.It took him several minutes to control his emotions, the corners of his mouth relaxed, but his gaze was so menacing as to curse, that Sir Adil, who was close at hand, couldn't help shivering.

"My lords, take a look, the Kingslayer has played a new trick. It's ridiculous, does he think he can smear my reputation with a few graffiti?" Grand Duke Raul threw the stack of papers in his hand In the middle of the round table, several hands stretched out and divided it up.

Cardinal Enoch Sebasta also reached out to take a piece of paper. As soon as he took the paper, there was a flash of interest in his eyes immediately, and then he examined it very carefully.He didn't like reading it quickly, but among all the important ministers and nobles who got the leaflet, he was the first to express his opinion.

"Grand Duke Raul, is the content of this painting true or false? Li Weiston seems to be accusing you of being the kingslayer."

A series of laughter came from Grand Duke Raul's mouth, as if he heard something extremely interesting, but his smile only hovered around the corner of his mouth, but did not enter the pair of eyes at all. "Is it true or not? Your Excellency Cardinal, your question is very interesting. If you are talking about the content in the first picture, then I seem to be unable to defend myself, but the rest are all random guesses. These pictures say I conspired with the devil and murdered the former king, Gods, what a sinister slander! There is one last picture, look at it, my lords. This is to say that I forced the widow of the former king and His Majesty the present king to surrender power, at the court All of you can see clearly that the Empress Dowager Lilaya and my nephew pleaded repeatedly, so I reluctantly took over the heavy burden of the regent king!"

"It's really a wonderful speech. It's well-founded and eloquent. It's even a star mentor." Director Bamili Yang said with a smile, and at the same time folded the flyer in his hand and stuffed it into his sleeve. "His Royal Highness, your words are absolutely wonderful, and they can completely offset the effect of the Griffon Lord's spreading these leaflets. However, it won't work just for us to hear them. You must immediately organize your people to send your Repeat these words to the people in the capital, otherwise, it won’t be long before the regent’s name will be associated with the Kingslayer in the hearts of the people in Firmeyer.”

There was a sharp needle in the words of Manager Bamilian Yang, which stabbed Grand Duke Raul with a dull pain in his chest. He really wanted to growl and beat the table, let Sir Magellan or Sir Adil or...in short, anyone... Get down the eunuch's head to see if he can still keep that annoying smile on his face.

But he knew in his heart that what Manager Bamilian said was true. Li Weiston's move was vicious, and it hit his weakness. Now the rumors have spread throughout the city like a raging fire. Impact doesn't happen overnight.In addition, the lords of the northern border brought a large army to threaten the capital... A lot of pressure spread to Dilai. Although Grand Duke Raul remained calm, cold sweat had already soaked through his silk shirt and slid down his spine like a stream of ice.

"My lords, does anyone still choose to fight to the death with the Griffin Lord?" Director Bamili Yang said in a relaxed tone, "No matter how he got so many leaflets, after this throwing, it's just to eliminate the influence in the army. , will consume a lot of your time, and there is no guarantee of the outcome. In my opinion, His Excellency the Cardinal’s proposal is wise enough. Peace talks with the Griffin Lord are our only choice now. Your Highness the Regent, you What do you think?"

"I think the heads of those who proposed peace talks should be chopped off!" Grand Duke Raul thought viciously, but obviously this sentence can only be thought about in his heart.

"The Lord Chancellor of the Palace proposed peace talks again, do you have any different opinions?" Grand Duke Raul said in a flat tone, then closed his eyes, pretending to be thinking about the pros and cons, but what he hoped in his heart was that someone would be able to Come forward and continue to put forward the argument of the main battle.

However, the psychological pressure brought by this batch of leaflets is really not small. Even the young nobles who strongly advocated going out of the city to fight remained silent. They may be reckless and arrogant, but they are definitely not idiots. It's hard to be an elite, and these air troops throwing leaflets have greatly lowered their original confidence, and they have given up the idea of ​​​​a face-to-face decisive battle.

So what if, instead of harmless leaflets, a rain of deadly arrows fell from the sky?

There was an awkward silence for several minutes, and no objection to the contrary was raised.In the end, Grand Duke Raul stood up with a stiff expression, but he did not speak immediately, but condescended, scanning every face beside the round table with gloomy eyes.

"It seems that peace talks are the general trend. Well, if this is the case, then, as the regent and the guardian of the whole territory, I will announce the implementation of the decision of the round table council. Tomorrow morning, I am going to hold peace talks with the griffin lord Li Weiston." He put Turning his gaze to the palace chief, "Boss Bamilian, I will leave the matter of negotiating with Li Wei to you. After all, among us, you have the best relationship with the Griffin Lord."

"This is not a good job, Your Royal Highness, I'm afraid you have misunderstood me." Director Bamili Yang said in a sad tone.

"Misunderstanding? Maybe. But my lord, if it wasn't you who contacted Li Weiston, then who can contact him?" Grand Duke Raul said meaningfully, and then raised his hands, palms outward, "This time This concludes the agenda of the round table meeting, my lords, please go back."

Star Mentor Satzien Hell was one of the first group of people to leave the round table meeting room. Different from his usual calm and solemn posture, since seeing Levi Stern's leaflet, the chief master seemed a little distracted, with a sad expression from time to time. , sometimes indignant, sometimes even a little hideous.As he walked, he was still immersed in his own thoughts, so that he didn't see the few nobles paying their respects to him, and hurriedly passed them by.

"Your Excellency Star Teacher, please stay." A gentle voice came from behind, and then Enoch Sebasta, wearing a triple crown and a gorgeous bishop's robe, walked slowly, with a solemn and sacred smile on his face .

Star mentor Satzi Enheer stopped in his tracks, and a slight puzzlement flashed in his old eyes, "Your Excellency Cardinal, what are you doing?"

"I found that after you finished reading the leaflet, you left in a hurry with indignation on your face, which is a little different from your usual appearance. May I ask what exactly did you see on this piece of paper?" the cardinal asked softly.

"I have seen fools gain wisdom through this, I have seen knowledge become worthless, I have seen outstanding students who graduated from Star Academy shivering in the cold wind, and finally died of freezing and starvation!" Sacienhe, the mentor of Stars Er said in a ferocious tone, shaking the leaflet of the Griffin Lord in his hand. "This thing is the most evil invention I have ever seen. As the controller and guardian of knowledge, I must root out everything related to this thing and kill it."

"Then what I see is exactly the opposite of what you see, Your Excellency Star Instructor." Enoch Sebasta said softly, his tone was gentle, but the meaning in his words was equally strong. "I saw the teachings of our Lord spread to every sun-drenched corner, I saw countless believers praising the golden face of our Lord in unison, and I heard the name of our Lord Flandala echoed through the ages, never fading! "

"So, you won't agree with my approach?" Instructor Xingchen narrowed his eyes, looked at the cardinal and said word by word.

"It is my lifelong dream to spread the teachings of the Lord of Radiance throughout the world. I am willing to pay any price for my dream, even my life." Enoch Sebasta said in a sermon-like deep and deep voice, with a smile on his face. With a compassionate expression unique to priests.

"Me too." Sach Enher whispered, then turned up his collar covered in golden swirls, and left the Grand Duke's mansion without looking back.

The preoccupied Grand Duke Raul returned to his room without waiting for the crowd in the round table to disperse. Then, with the help of several beautiful maids, he changed out of the regent's fine clothes and put on a costume with a strong sense of adventure. Orator style jacket and half cape. "Get Sir Adair," he ordered, wearing a plain dagger in his girdle.

Sir Canjian appeared next to Grand Duke Raul one minute later, "His Royal Highness, where are you going?"

"Brothhouse, you choose a few people, and then go with me."

The brothel that Archduke Raul often visited is located at the junction of the slum area and Xicheng District. It is an independent two-storey wooden building. Midnight was originally regarded as the prime time for the brothel to open, but due to the severe disturbance caused by the curfew, the building was closed The surroundings seemed deserted, only two coolie-looking guys were flirting with a wandering warbler, and harsh laughter sounded from time to time, but the surroundings seemed more and more cold and lonely.

Sir Al-Adir went to the door to check carefully, then returned, and shook his head at Grand Duke Raul, "There is no one inside, it seems that they have moved away for a while."

"The gods should be damned, then how do I contact..." Grand Duke Raul's cursing suddenly stopped, because the two coolies actually left Liu Ying and walked straight towards him.

"Your Highness the Regent, it's rare to see you like this." One of the coolies said in a hoarse voice, as if he was greeting an old friend who worked hard, rather than the number one power person in the kingdom.

"Who are you? How do you know I'm here?" Archduke Raul asked in a cold voice, and gestured to Sir Al-Adir with his hands behind his back. Sir Canjian then quickly walked around behind the two coolies, Pressing the hilt cut off their retreat.

"Because the sleepless eyes are always paying attention, I happened to see you hurrying to this brothel." The coolie who looked a little fat said as he lifted the hood on his head, revealing the face of Director Bamilian. With a fat face that had been dusted with powder, "I'm really sorry for Kui Ye's visit, His Royal Highness the Regent."

Seeing the court chief appearing in front of him like a conjurer, Grand Duke Raul's eyes were almost straightened in surprise, but when he saw the person brought by the chief Bamilian, his excessive shock finally made him blurt out.

"Lord Juno Ameriste?"

"It's me." The tall and thin coolie took off his hood, revealing his fiery red hair like the signature of a fire magician, and his attitude was also aggressive like a raging fire. "Raul Adams," he asked bluntly, "the eunuch said you might want to sabotage tomorrow's peace talks, is that true?"

If the gaze could be lethal, then there would definitely be two blood holes on Steward Bamilian's fat face. Grand Duke Raul glared at the steward resentfully, and then nodded reluctantly.

"That's right, what is there to talk about with the Kingslayer? Yesterday I asked Director Bamilian Yang to negotiate with him as an envoy of the kingdom, hoping to resolve it peacefully. In the end, he not only refused to plead guilty, but also wanted to accuse me of killing the former king. on his head." Grand Duke Raul said with a sneer, "What a joke, no one loves the prince more than me, and if I plotted to assassinate him, why don't I sit on the golden throne myself, but take the crown What about his son?"

"I'll give you that chair, can you sit still?" The fire magician asked bluntly, with the sound of crackling flames at the end of the sentence, which made his words full of mockery. "In my opinion, you are very suspicious of this. The flame burning deep in your pupils makes me feel familiar. The name of that flame is persistence, and it is also burning in my heart. But I am here to study magic more deeply. domain, and you are trying to grab secular power?"

And life.Grand Duke Raul smiled a little embarrassedly, and decided not to continue to entangle the issue of who is the kingslayer with the fire magician. "Your Excellency Qiu Nuo'an, you asked the head of the court to bring you to me in the middle of the night, probably not to discuss with me about the death of the former king?"

"No, time is precious, and the dead are not entitled to let me waste it." The fire magician said succinctly, he was always so straightforward, and never considered other people's feelings.Although Grand Duke Raul played a dishonorable role in the death of the Dragon King, it doesn't mean that he felt a little more at ease when he heard someone contemptuously call Brother Wang a "dead man who has no right to waste time".

"Then why do you want me?" Stung by the fire wizard's contemptuous attitude, Grand Duke Raul's tone also became tough.

"About the matter of you and I working together to deal with Levi Stone by taking advantage of the opportunity of negotiation." The fire magician said calmly, with a calm expression on his face, as if what he was talking about was not a conspiracy, but a matter of course.

"I believe that Your Excellency the Fire Magician will never come to make fun of me in the middle of the night, but the Merister family has never been attracted by secular power." Grand Duke Raul said with a serious face, "You help me What is the reason for dealing with the Griffin Lord?"

"The reason is that we can get what we need by cooperating, because what you want is Li Weiston's life..." The fire magician's eyes flickered, and Grand Duke Raul could clearly see the greed and persistence inside. Scorching flames, "And what I want is the secret of his ability to unleash magic, and his method of making those magical papers!"

(End of this chapter)