Chapter 290 Chapter 291 Chapter 292 (Together)
In the royal palace of the capital of the Principality of Jean, King Lawrence sat on the golden throne that symbolized authority, while the eldest prince and several ministers whom the king relied on stood below.
"Derrick, this is a letter sent by Earl Alice of Rose Castle. It records the details of what happened in Rose Castle that night, including the results of the subsequent investigation. Take it and have a look."
The king held a thick letter in his hand, which was as many as four or five pages, and the letter paper was densely written with words.
Soon the servant respectfully took the letter from King Lawrence and delivered it to the eldest prince Derek.
After taking the letter, Prince Derek bowed respectfully to Lawrence and began to look through the letter in his hand.
Originally, Derek didn't care much when he read the first few pieces of letter paper describing the events of Roll's rebellion and the orcs' attack on Rose Castle, because this matter had already spread throughout the principality and was no longer a secret.
But when Derek saw the last two reports on the results of the investigation into the incident, as well as the final culprit, the eldest prince frowned and his face turned pale.
The eldest prince's behavior made several ministers beside him even more curious. What could have happened to make the eldest prince lose his composure like this?
Lawrence, sitting on the Iron Throne, did not say anything, but just watched the eldest prince's reaction silently.
When Derek finished reading the letter, he looked up at King Lawrence and handed the letter in his hand to the ministers who had already stretched their necks to read the letter.
Several ministers quickly took the letter, with one of them holding it while the others stretched their necks to look at it.
As they watched, the four ministers, who were originally full of curiosity, became more and more frightened, and finally they even broke out in cold sweats, looking even worse than the eldest prince.
When several ministers finished reading the letter and handed it to the attendants beside them, the conference room fell into silence for a while.
"Have you finished reading it? Do you have any opinions? Do you think the things in Earl Alice's letter and the mastermind behind it are credible?"
There were four ministers and his eldest son in the field. The four ministers were the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and two legion commanders. These four people could be said to be the people Lawrence trusted and relied on the most, so he showed them the letter presented by Alice.
In response to the king's question, the four ministers did not answer immediately. Instead, they glanced at each other and began to consider how to answer.
"Father, I don't think we can jump to a conclusion on this matter so quickly. Although all the evidence shows that the church may be the mastermind behind this, there is no guarantee that the other two principalities may not be deliberately framing us and want to provoke a conflict between us and the church."
"Moreover, the church and the kingdom have coexisted for so many years. Why did they choose to be the enemy of our Principality of Jean? You should know that the weakest principality should be the Principality of Alban."
While the four ministers were still organizing their words, the eldest prince stepped forward first, bowed slightly, and after getting Lawrence's permission, he expressed his own views.
Everyone is afraid of the church, so afraid that most people now act like ostriches, even the eldest prince. He only hopes to inherit the throne from his father safely, and then work hard to unify the continent. As for the church, he has no plans to be its enemy now, because the church is too powerful.
With the eldest prince taking the lead, several ministers also stood up and said, "We agree with what the eldest prince said. Your Majesty, the church has existed for hundreds of years. Although it has always been at odds with the nobles, they are just using cheap food to win over the hearts of the people."
"The church can only benefit from cooperating with us. Otherwise, without the restraint of the nobles, how can the common people be willing to work hard to farm and pay taxes? You know, the church can get half of the tax revenue from us every year out of thin air."
"Yes! Your Majesty, didn't the bellflower poison come from the Grand Canyon of the Principality of Alban? The Principality of Alban is also a big suspect."
After the ministers finished speaking, they all carefully observed Lawrence's reaction, but Lawrence's face did not show any emotion. They did not know whether their words could satisfy the king, but they thought that if they agreed with the eldest prince's words, it would not matter even if the king was not satisfied.
Bang!
Unexpectedly, when several ministers were relaxing, a loud noise came from the golden throne.
King Lawrence, who had originally had a blank expression on his face, now had a gloomy face, as if he was about to explode.
Lawrence's palm slammed heavily on the iron armrest of the throne, and the delicate iron armrest was deeply dented by King Lawrence's slap.
That's a solid iron handrail!
Several ministers, including the eldest prince, trembled all over. They did not expect the king to be so angry. This was the first time this had happened in recent times.
I remember the last time they met was half a year ago, when the Second Prince was explicitly rejected by Alice, and the old Earl wrote to King Lawrence asking him to restrain the Second Prince.
"You are in high positions, have you forgotten how the kingdom was divided? Have you forgotten that the church has never given up the intention to destroy the principality?"
"Especially you Derek, you disappoint me so much."
"More than a dozen orc warriors, thousands of orcs. Even we can't afford such a gift. Can other principalities afford it?"
Lawrence sat on the golden throne and shouted, pointing at the eldest prince and four ministers and cursing them.
The reason why the king scolded several people was certainly not just based on the one-sided report in Alice's letter. The king also had many spies in Winterfell. Although few people knew what the battle situation was that night, after all, the castle gate had been closed at that time.
But the next day, many people saw with their own eyes the orc corpses being cleared out. Alice did not immediately dispose of the bodies of the orcs and half-orc warriors, but deliberately displayed them for everyone to see.
Especially the noble representatives who attended the banquet, they all saw the orc corpses with their own eyes.
Since such a large number of orcs could be killed using elf bugs, Lawrence could conclude that the church was definitely involved.
Moreover, as the king of the Principality of Jean, Lawrence is also the eldest prince of the former Snow Eagle Dynasty and the biological son of Emperor Tred Jean. He knows more secrets about the church. Although these secrets cannot be shared with others, they remind him to be wary of the church all the time.
The reason why the Principality of Jean marches south every autumn is that King Lawrence is eager to unify the kingdom so that the kingdom can have the strength to compete with the church.
It’s just that the pace of unification has not progressed yet, but the church may have started to take action.
"Do you know why I asked all earls to build an orc arena that can accommodate 10,000 people in the main city last year? It's because I think there might be some conspiracy behind the church's purchase of purple elf bugs, so I want to make the purple elf bugs valuable so that people will no longer be willing to sell them to the church."
After venting his anger, Lawrence finally calmed down a little. He took a drink from the servant's tray and took a few big gulps. Then he continued in a slightly calmer tone.
"Whether or not Earl Alice's guess about the mastermind is correct, we should pay attention to the church's problems now. Fortunately, Rose Castle wiped out the orcs this time. If Rose Castle fell, the Principality would surely fall into turmoil."
Alice concealed the fact that Rawl rebelled because he received the spiritual power essence in her report, and only wrote about how to solve the poison of the wind chime flower. This made the king not 100% sure that it was really planned by the church.
Although he was not 100% sure, but considering Lawrence's original understanding of the church, Lawrence no longer cared whether Alice's guess was right or not.
Because from the disappearance of old Earl Jones to the current siege of Rose Castle by thousands of orcs, it has been revealed that someone wants to start with the Jones family and plunge the Principality of Zeon into turmoil.
"Father, I know I was wrong!"
"Your Majesty, we deserve to die. Please calm down!"
Seeing that Lawrence's tone had softened, several people quickly apologized, and several ministers even half-knelt on one knee on the ground.
"Get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Prime Minister Culver, go and inform the six earls to stop all actions against the Jones family!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom quickly saluted and responded. After the shock just now, no one dared to say another word.
"Antoni, Babette, you two should go back now to strengthen the army's armaments. I plan to take over the Principality of Alban in one fell swoop this year. Only by taking over the Principality of Alban can we use the rich mineral resources there to quickly expand the power of the Principality."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The two commanders-in-chief quickly took orders, their eyes shining with brilliance. As commanders-in-chief, as long as there was a war, it meant that the time had come for them to make a fortune.
As the commander-in-chief of the legion, although they have noble titles, they do not have real fiefdoms.
Of course, all this is temporary. As long as their merits are sufficient, they will be rewarded with fiefdoms when they retire from the position of commander-in-chief. This can ensure that the commander's strength will not expand to the point of devouring the master, and it can also give them hope and ensure sufficient loyalty.
Therefore, whenever a war comes, the commanders will fight without hesitation. The more wealth and merits they accumulate now, the higher their status will be in the future and the better their lives will be.
"Derrick, send someone to deliver 30 grams of mithril to Earl Alice."
"Yes, father!"
Since the potential enemy is the church, Lawrence dare not neglect it. He originally wanted to weaken the strength of the Jones family so as to annex the Jones family in one fell swoop.
But now that there is a more powerful hidden enemy, Lawrence has to make his attitude clear and even ensure the stability of the Jones family, so as to avoid turmoil in the principality and then concentrate on taking over the Principality of Alban.
…
In the following days, as King Lawrence's orders were transmitted to all parts of the principality, they once again caused an uproar among the nobles, both large and small.
They never expected that this was the weakest moment of the Jones Family. Everyone was gearing up to take a bite of the fat from the Jones Family, but now this opportunity was directly shattered.
Although it was the king who issued the order, their monarchs and several earls also agreed with the king's instructions and issued the same orders to their vassals.
Even Lanny received strict orders from his father, Count Yolande Kirwan, to suspend activities within the buffer zone.
Of course, although Lanny agreed to the old earl's order on the surface, he continued to do as he pleased in private and continued to send people to repair the camp in the buffer zone.
In addition to Lanny, there was actually another person in the principality who scoffed at the king's orders and cursed, and that was Kevin's mother Valerie Bax.
At this moment, Valerie was crying in Lord Avery Larkin's study.
"Avery, that's your son, your bloodline! Are you just going to watch him die at the hands of that bitch and that pretty boy and do nothing?"
When Valerie saw Kevin's body being transported back, she went crazy and wanted to start a war at all costs, vowing to make the Jones family pay with blood.
As for the fact that Kevin brought the four evil men carrying the elf bugs into Rose Castle and held Caroline hostage, he forgot about it.
In Valerie's opinion, no matter what the reason, Kevin died in Rose Castle and it was Gervis who did it, which means Alice and Gervis need to be responsible for Kevin's death.
"What do you know as a woman? The king has now issued a solemn statement that no one is allowed to do anything harmful to the Jones family!"
"If we start a war against the Jones family at this time, it will drag the entire Larkin family into the abyss!"
Avery frowned, his face livid.
Although Kevin was the third son and was not very popular with him, he was still a direct descendant of the Larkin family and his son.
Avery originally planned to have his vassals take down several Jones family strongholds on the border and plunder their wealth.
Even if the matter was reported to the King and the Lord of the North, he would not have to worry about being criticized because he had Kevin as an excuse.
But now the king suddenly issued a strict order, prohibiting any family from attacking Jones County, and also sent 30 grams of mithril, which forced Avery to carefully consider the consequences of launching an attack now.
As an earl, Avery still has the common sense to not be blinded by hatred.
But Valerie didn't have such a mind. Kevin, her youngest son, was the one she loved the most. At this moment, she was blinded by hatred and wanted to immediately kill the Jones family to avenge Kevin.
"King! It wasn't the king's son who died, it was my Kevin. I want to avenge my son. Even the king can't stop me. You are still a coward, you coward."
"My poor son, he died in Rose Castle, and you, as his father, dare not take revenge!"
Bang!
Avery finally couldn't bear Valerie's ridicule anymore and slapped her in the face.
Valerie was slapped by Avery and was dazed for a moment. She stood there with her hands covering her face, somewhat unbelievable.
After a moment, Valerie finally reacted. With a distorted face, she roared at Avery loudly, "You actually hit me, you coward. You didn't dare to take revenge for your son's death, but you still dared to hit me."
"Well, since you are not willing to avenge my son, I will go find my father!"
After saying that, Valerie covered her red face and ran out of the study.
"Charmian!"
After Valerie ran out of the study, Avery shouted in a deep voice toward the door.
"grown ups!"
Soon, a middle-aged man came in from outside the door. He was the butler of the Coconut Gold Castle of the Lakin family.
"Go and inform the people overseas to prepare for sailing. I have something for them to do!"
"Yes, sir! I'll do it right away!"
Hearing about the people from overseas, Chamian's face became serious. These were the forces secretly cultivated by the Larkin family, and any task assigned to them would be a major event.
"etc!"
Just as Charmian turned around and prepared to leave, he was stopped by Earl Avery.
"I will write a letter and you can give it to the guard later. Ask him to take the envelope and follow the lady to the Earl of Bacchus, and then give the envelope to Count Caster Bacchus!"
"Yes, sir!"
The reason why Valerie had the confidence to face Avery and demand that Alice and Gervis pay with blood was because Valerie also came from a prominent family, from the Earl of Bacchus family, one of the eight major families in the Duchy.
Although Avery could ignore Valerie's feelings, he could not ignore Count Custer's feelings.
Thanks to "book friend 20170627081634515" for the reward!!!
This is a combined chapter! 4500 words, the extra chapter is for the monthly votes! Thank you for your support!!
(End of this chapter)
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