Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

Chapter 113 Duke of Wellington

"Your Excellency Qiao Yelan."

"Ah, Mr. Kent, I was wondering when you would come, and here you are."

Qiao Yelan waved her hand cordially, motioning the man to sit down.

"I think His Excellency the Grand Duke has already told you the specific reason for your visit, right?"

"Yes, I will lead your delegation to the Duchy of Wellington as Windermere's envoy. I will also visit the Duchy of Wellington and try to make peace with Lord Wellington."

Qiao Yelan nodded.

"What does your wife, Lady Windermere, think of it?"

"She was very much in favor of my going, thinking it would be a great opportunity to increase my fame and prestige."

When talking about his wife, Kent couldn't help but smile. It was obvious that the couple was very loving.

"This is indeed a great opportunity. Lady Windermere thinks highly of you."

Qiao Yelan praised.

"However, apart from this, His Excellency Grand Duke Windermere actually has other expectations of you."

Uh?

Kent blinked in confusion.

His father-in-law did not like him very much at first, but later, seeing that he was determined to give his cabbage to him, he became much kinder to him.

It's just how much you value yourself...

Really? Really?

"Do you know what price the Duke of Windermere offered me yesterday after you left?"

"I don't know. The Grand Duke didn't tell us. Even though Amphillis begged him, he didn't tell us. He just told us to just follow our plan."

Kent shook his head.

"He couldn't tell his price - especially to his daughter."

Qiao Yelan said lightly.

"The price he gave me was the whereabouts of Her Royal Highness Alexandrina Vina Victoria, the last bloodline of King Aslan."

"This is impossible!"

The man stood up suddenly and his voice rose octaves. After he finished yelling, he realized that he had lost his composure. He glanced at Qiao Yelan nervously before sitting down again awkwardly.

"Well, I mean, His Excellency the Grand Duke has always been the most steadfast and loyal minister to His Majesty Aslan. He would not and could not do this. Five years ago, he was willing to confront the coalition forces of several Grand Dukes head-on in order to rescue His Majesty!"

"So he couldn't possibly betray his lord's daughter, could he?"

Qiao Yelan was not angry because of Kent's almost questioning tone, but was as friendly as ever.

"Yes."

"Then I believe your wife would think so too, right?"

"Yes."

"So if I said this to your wife, what would she do?"

"She will immediately question His Excellency the Grand Duke, because she has always been taught that -"

"That's why you can only come alone on this mission."

Qiao Yelan interrupted the man softly, and Kent opened his mouth wide, as if struck by lightning.

"Times have changed, Kent. Loyalty can no longer bring anything to Windermere. Instead, it will make you the common enemy of the other dukes. The Grand Duke saw through this five years ago."

"But if that's the case, then why did we have to fight such a battle five years ago? It can be said that the current situation in Windermere County was caused by that battle."

Kent still couldn't understand.

"That was an explanation, an explanation that had to be given. If Grand Duke Windermere had not done that, the sharp contradictions within the army alone would have completely torn Windermere apart."

"You said it yourself. Even your wife, the daughter of Grand Duke Windermere, would be furious and go to argue with her father when she heard the news. Then what about those soldiers who have been educated in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism?"

Qiao Yelan's voice was not loud, but it made Kent see stars.

"They heard that the Emperor was captured by treacherous officials in Londinium and his life was in danger, but Grand Duke Windermere said, 'It's meaningless, the sacrifice is in vain, we should retain our strength and maintain a semi-independent status like the other Grand Dukes.'"

"Do you think that under that circumstance, the situation faced by Windermere County will be better or worse than today?"

The answer is obvious.

Except for those troops who are most loyal to His Majesty the Grand Duke, the rest of the army will either lose their will to fight and start to disband, or they will rise up in anger and question the Grand Duke why he does this.

So that battle had to be fought.

After the fight, there will be an explanation both internally and externally.

Internally, he has done his best, and even ended up being bedridden and dying, which is enough to prove his loyalty to His Majesty, and the army will only think that it is a real gap in strength.

Externally, it was a complete failure, and the Windermere Territory was overwhelmed with internal problems, so it was only natural that Windermere would no longer participate in the power struggle.

Therefore, up to this day, although Windermere had fought fiercely with other Grand Dukes, miraculously, apart from being troubled by internal problems, no Grand Duke has ever questioned or taken advantage of the situation.

Although this gave some nobles an opportunity to usurp the throne, there was no doubt that most of the troops were still loyal to Windermere. As long as they were given some time and Amphillis regained control of them, the internal problems would naturally be solved.

Although she will receive help from external forces in this process, Grand Duke Windermere only used one piece of information to exchange for this help, which means that Amphillis' future development will not be hindered in any way.

Is this politics?

As a young man, Kent was able to win the favor of Amphillis because he had his own abilities, and he also possessed the pride of a young man.

But when the political wisdom of those old nobles was placed before him, he could only look on in confusion, and even needed help from others to understand it.

"You can check whether what I said is true or false, or you can look through the vast amount of intelligence. His Excellency the Grand Duke won't mind. He just hopes that you can become a powerful assistant to Ms. Anfilis - especially in the areas of politics and diplomacy, which she is not good at."

"I...I understand."

In fact, Kent already believed about 70% of the previous analysis. Moreover, if Lord Windermere really used the whereabouts of Princess Aslan as a bargaining chip, he would definitely be able to find clues in Windermere's intelligence system - this was not a part that could be covered up by lies.

"I am taking you with me to the Dukedom of Wellington this time because I want to take good care of you. After all, your first diplomatic mission is to meet such a person. The Grand Duke can only feel at ease if I take you with me."

Qiao Yelan emphasized.

"I understand. I will definitely follow your instructions strictly."

Kent said quickly.

If he had some thoughts about competing with Qiao Yelan before, he has now completely come to his senses and decided to follow this senior and learn more.

"Politics is like this. The more you see, the more you will naturally understand. Since the Grand Duke has paid, I must be responsible for after-sales service. If there is anything you don't understand, or if there is anything that is difficult to discuss with your wife, you can come to me."

"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

Kent bowed respectfully.

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After dealing with Kent, Qiao Yelan was not in a hurry to go to the Duchy of Wellington.

He had two more guests waiting.

"Thank you for waiting, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

Oren Agiolas, the former Cardinal of the Seventh Chamber of the Pope's Office, was now wearing a neat combat uniform and saluted Qiao Yelan with a smile he had never had before.

"Young people are really energetic. I have been traveling so hard these past few days."

Although Outcast complained, he obviously didn't have any real temper.

"Although His Holiness the Pope agreed to my temporary leave, there are still many matters that need to be handed over, so it was delayed until this late and I had to rush all the way. I am so sorry, Senior Outcast."

The old angel just waved his hand and saluted Qiao Yelan.

"Operator Outcast, reporting to you, Doctor."

"Welcome - welcome to join my team, Your Excellency Cardinal Oren, ah, it should be Mr. Messenger Oren."

"The messenger of all nations, Oren Agiolas reports to you, Your Excellency Qiao Yelan."

The arrival of the two Sakotas made everyone in the delegation curious, but as they had been lazy these days, they were too lazy to make any more fuss.

Since His Excellency the Minister of the Ministry of Rites doesn't think there's a problem, then we don't think there's a problem either.

Kent actually had a little more respect for Qiao Yelan's identity. After all, he had heard the name of Lord Oren - Qiao Yelan called him "Cardinal".

Is Rutland also getting involved in Victoria's muddy waters?

He couldn't help but guess.

In the next few days, Kent paid more attention to these two Sakotas, but unfortunately he did not find anything valuable.

And the delegation finally set out again.

This time, everyone couldn't help but have a serious expression on their faces——

After all, the person they were going to visit was the legendary Grand Duke.

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To outsiders, the Duchy of Wellington is a place full of troops and cold steel warships - but in fact, it looks unexpectedly very ordinary, so ordinary that there is no obvious difference from most areas of Victoria.

However, the purpose of the mission was not to move the capital of the Principality of Wellington.

Unlike all other grand dukes, Grand Duke Wellington does not like to stay in the city. He spends most of the year on his flagship named Gastriel with his steel fleet.

Therefore, it is also known as the camp of the Duke of Wellington.

That was the destination of the delegations.

But this time, there was no dinner to welcome them.

Several officers entertained them, but the reception was obviously more like a "surveillance meal". Then, they were taken to the living area prepared for them. The environment was unexpectedly good.

At this time, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple finally did what a deputy should do, submitting gifts, applying for visits, and negotiating with the outside world - it was obvious that the lazy life during this period did not make him regress.

However, the reply he brought back made him look a little secretly happy.

"Well, sir, the request from the other side is that they don't want to have a formal negotiation. The original words are - [His Highness the Grand Duke only wants to talk to someone who can make the decision on the spot, rather than boring discussions and arguments]."

"I understand. You need to keep an eye on everyone in the delegation, including the Windermere envoy and the two Sakotas. They must obey your instructions here and don't cause trouble, don't test us, and don't cause trouble."

"clear."

Shaoqing was obviously very familiar with this process - Qiao Yelan went for the "secret negotiations" and he was responsible for ensuring that the delegation could slack off "appropriately" behind the scenes.

Watching the officer pushing Qiao Yelan's wheelchair away, Mr. Shaoqing couldn't help but grin.

The previous part is fine, but this Victoria's [Empire's Death Knell] actually chose to have a secret conversation with His Excellency Qiao Yelan...

However, as a bureaucrat in the capital with rich professional ethics and political experience, he was well aware that the more he knew, the more dangerous it was.

He withdrew his gaze and began to recite to the other members of the delegation the military camp rules written by Wellington himself that he had just received.

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"You do look a lot older, my friend."

"I will still be like this in another twenty years. Even though I don't have your ability to reverse aging, I can still do it while I'm alive."

The old man's sitting posture, which was as sharp as a knife or an axe, was enough to make the young people feel ashamed in comparison.

"What about the big show in Londinium five years ago? I feel a little bit sad that I wasn't there at that time."

"I wasn't there either."

"Come on, even if you really weren't there, could your Iron Guard not have been there? That was the scene that cut off Aslan's kingdom. How could you possibly miss such a good show?"

Qiao Yelan teased.

"Don't interrupt me. You've never been one to reminisce about the past. This time you have to come to see me openly. What do you want?"

The old man didn't respond, but he didn't deny it either. He just stared into Qiao Yelan's eyes.

"Isn't it already written in the official document submitted before? I want to know your attitude towards Da Yan's promotion of Longmen Coin, whether there is a possibility of negotiation, and that Drake in Longmen is actually a fake. Our Majesty has already made the final conclusion."

"Really... is it fake?"

"Really, but it's not the one you're looking for."