There was chaos in front of Prince Mario's palace. In less than half an hour, the house burned down to a shell, and then collapsed into a pile of sand and gravel, burying the original prosperity and magnificence in the ruins. People rushed to avoid it, bandaging their wounds randomly, and then turned back to call for their missing relatives and friends, even though they knew that the possibility of those people surviving was very slim.
Minte stood in the crowd of onlookers and really couldn't understand why this happened
The sound of horse hooves came galloping forward. He turned around and saw that the leader was Prince Mario. His hair was a little messy, his face was stained with blood, and there was a faint hint of madness in his eyes. Behind him was Jada who was also galloping on horseback, followed by a large group of people, including Shade, whom Minte had not seen for many days.
Mario jumped off his horse and rushed straight into his house. He looked at the pile of ruins with disbelief on his face. Jada rushed forward and said sternly: "Don't think you can escape! Even if you destroy all the personal and material evidence, I can still prove your crime!"
His words attracted the sideways glances of several men and women dressed as servants around him. The glances directed at Prince Mario were immediately filled with resentment, but the latter was completely unaware of it and hurried forward with his feet raised. Jada hurriedly called to her subordinates behind her: "Stop him quickly!"
Shade and several other warriors quickly stepped forward to block Prince Mario's path. The latter shook them off and continued to move forward. They were worried that this was a prince and did not dare to draw their swords. Just as they were hesitating, Jay Da got on by himself angrily, and suddenly saw Minte in the crowd shrinking his head, and without thinking much he called him: "Minte, help!"
Minte secretly cried out that he was unlucky, so he had to jump out and chase him, but the strange thing was that Prince Mario didn't go too far. He stopped when he reached the backyard and stared at the gravel in a daze. Minte and Jada came to him, looked at each other, and were about to step forward. But I heard a hesitant voice coming from the side: "Your Highness the Prince? Is it His Highness the Prince?"
A man came out from behind the fallen tree and knelt down to Mario: "Your Highness, the old housekeeper...he didn't escape..." The man choked up after saying this, and then burst into tears. He said intermittently: "In the front house... there are dozens of people inside... none of them have been found... the guests in the west wing guest room have not escaped... the house has completely collapsed... we don't know what happened, why... it suddenly exploded..."
Mario asked blankly: "Where is my wife...and children?"
The man stopped crying. He raised his head in surprise: "The king...the princess and several Dukes are all in the palace, have you forgotten?"
Mario then remembered and breathed a sigh of relief, but his face was soon filled with doubts. He picked up the man's collar and said, "You just said that none of the guests in the West Wing guest room escaped?! These explosions and Fire, where did it start?!”
The man was startled. There was a cry in his voice when he answered: "I don't know... suddenly there was a boom. It started to burn..."
Mario dropped him. He looked around at his completely destroyed home. Gritting teeth.
Jada saw this. Also full of confusion. Didn't he do this just to destroy the evidence? Who could it be
But he can't care so much now. There are more important things to do. He took a step forward: "Since your family is fine, don't resist. Come back with me!"
A trace of unwillingness flashed across Mario's face. Looking back at Jada. Sneered. Then he followed Xie De and others out of the backyard. Someone had already driven a carriage and was waiting at the gate. Mario got into the car calmly. Shade immediately stood guard by the car door. Several other warriors under Jedda also stood next to the carriage. It was surrounded by water.
Jada breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back and smiled at Minte: "Why are you here? How are you today, Your Majesty?" Minte said hurriedly: "Your Majesty is in good spirits today. He even gave me a day off. He asked me to go home and rest. I am I was walking around the area when I heard the explosion. Is it going well over there?"
"It went very well, none of those bastards escaped." Jada was a little proud, but soon became serious again. "Minte, your Majesty is still very weak, isn't he? If he is allowed to meet Prince Mario, he will definitely be stimulated. How about not letting them meet first?"
A low snort came from the carriage, and Minte frowned and said, "Your Majesty is not as fragile as you think, and he must really want to see his brother. If you don't let him see him, he will feel sad."
Jada was a little disappointed when Sargent came galloping over on horseback. He turned over and got off his saddle, saluted him, and said, "I escorted all those people to the Wang Family Prison. What should I do next?"
"Send Mario to the palace first!" Jada swung the riding crop, turned to Mint and said calmly, "You should come back too. His Majesty is in poor health and needs you just now."
Minte had no choice but to agree. When he got on his horse, he glanced at Prince Lawler's house reluctantly, then looked back at the still-flame Prince's Mansion and the wounded and screaming people around him. He felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest.
As soon as Gale II received the news, he immediately ignored the court doctor's dissuasion and ran out of the room on crutches. He grabbed Prince Mario's arm, looked around carefully up and down, front and back, and then breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay..." He took back his hand and the worry on his face, and said calmly: "Come in." After saying that, he went back to the room first. Prince Mario lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking. He had a good time. After a while, he walked into the door.
Jada wanted to follow, but was stopped by the palace steward: "Your Excellency, Your Majesty wants to talk to His Royal Highness alone." Jada frowned and was about to say something, but saw the steward shook his head and closed the door. , had to stay outside the door angrily.
In the room, Gale II sat down on the chair behind the desk and said, "Your family is fine, but what happened in that explosion? I heard that more than twenty people died and a dozen more were missing. , I have sent a doctor there, and the pension will be issued soon, but...isn't it really you?"
Prince Mario sneered: "Why would I do such a thing?! I am not guilty! You forced me!" He stared directly at his brother and said: "Brother, to be honest, I have always been good to you. You If you are not in good health, I will help you handle government and military affairs; if your prestige is insufficient, I will help you suppress those who oppose you; I really want to sit in that position, but since you are sitting, I will not grab it! I will help you Isn't it good? Why do you have to join those bastards and force me to death?!" At this point. He felt a little uncomfortable: "Could it be that your concern for me just now... wasn't true?"
With tears in his eyes, Gale II said: "You are my biological brother, how could I not care about you? How could I want to force you to death? Even now, I will not do this. As long as you no longer plan any rebellion , I will never hurt you. My brother, my mother has passed away now. You are my closest relative..."
Prince Mario also became sad when he heard him mention his mother, and the two brothers sat facing each other and cried. After a long time, he shook off the tears on his face and said sternly: "In that case, let's talk about it. Brother, I won't betray you again, but don't stop me, I'm going to fight. You can help me prepare military supplies and armaments at home, and when I defeat those countries in the future, we can rule this continent together. How about it?"
Gale II gently wiped away the tears on his face, his face full of exhaustion: "No."
"Why?!" Prince Mario stood up suddenly, "You always say that I am wrong, that I sacrifice the country and the people for my own interests. This is bullshit! I am not doing it for myself!" He rushed to Gale II: "You know exactly what the situation in our country is now! There is little arable land, low food production, and barren land. Resources are scarce, but the population is increasing, and the lives of civilians are getting more and more difficult. , more than half of the people in the north don't even have enough to eat! If this continues, our citizens will starve to death! But those foreign businessmen still come to our country to purchase grain and use it to make wine! They sell the cheap grain they produce to We, our citizens, were foolishly deceived, but I will not be deceived by them! If I hadn’t discovered and stopped it in time, this country would have fallen into the hands of those foreign businessmen sooner or later!”
He strode to the window. Pushing open the window: "Look, what is outside?! In addition to mountains, there are still mountains! Our ancestors once ruled more than half of the continent, but now we have only left less than one-third of the territory! It is still the most It’s barren, and the people are so poor that they don’t even have enough to eat. As a descendant of Nicodemus the Great, don’t you blush?!”
Gale II opened his mouth but said nothing.
Prince Mario continued: "Now we have a good opportunity. I have a comprehensive plan to occupy those fertile lands. Let our people have delicious food, warm clothes, and beautiful houses. Live. There is fertile land for cultivation! Anyway, those countries in the south clearly have large areas of land, but no one cultivates it. If they have money, they just use it to do boring things and harm other countries. Why can't we rob those lands and wealth? Get it and feed our people?!"
He threw himself in front of his brother and said excitedly: "Brother, please promise me that together we can realize the ideals of our ancestors and make Nuojia a richer and stronger place!"
Gale II looked at his brother deeply, feeling that he did not really understand him in the past, and felt a little ashamed. However, on this issue, his stance was very firm: "Mario, let me ask you, if you really Once you occupy those lands, how do you plan to govern them?”
Prince Mario was startled: "What? Of course it means moving the people there and letting them cultivate land. The environment in the south is better than that in the north?"
"Is governing a country just about letting people farm? What about the people who originally lived on that land?"
Mario sneered: "Those people..."
"Have you not thought about them?" Gale II interrupted him, "Do you think that as long as your force is strong enough, you can scare those people and make them obedient?" He sighed: "Back then, Ni Emperor Cordymus once did this, which resulted in his subsequent failure."
"What?!" Mario stood up suddenly. "How is this possible! It's obviously because his son is fighting for the throne..."
"That's just one of the reasons!" Gale interrupted him again. "Before he died, rebellions had begun to emerge in various places. The cities he conquered were all in chaos because there were no suitable people to govern them. The regiment was quickly controlled by the original residents and gradually formed a resistance force. He once wrote in his diary that he regretted not preparing for a few more years. As long as he had a few more years to train a group of outstanding civil servants, this would not have happened. Something happened. Although he had already discovered the shortcomings, he died too quickly and did not have time to leave instructions. After the resistance forces learned of his death, they immediately rebelled, causing irreparable consequences." He stretched out his hand. He went to the drawer under the table and took out a very old booklet: "Take it and read it. This is the handbook left by Emperor Nicodemus. It was passed down from generation to generation by kings."
Prince Mario took the book, flipped through a few pages, and forced out his voice with some difficulty: "Since you know...every king knows it, why has no one ever said it?!"
Gale II smiled bitterly. That great emperor was the pride of Noga. How could he promote something like this that would harm his image and reputation? He said: "In short, I am not against you unifying the mainland, I am just against you doing it now. Our country does not have enough financial resources to support a war. Doing it reluctantly will only make the situation worse. Now East and Shaonan are no longer the weak countries we bullied before. Weisha... although they are brothers, they may not be of the same mind as us. My brother, now is not the time to unify the continent. …”
Mario suddenly trembled: "I...I...but...they said..." He opened his mouth to his brother, but it was as if something was blocking his throat and nothing could come out.
Gale II sighed and patted him on the shoulder: "Good brother, just rest for a few years. Maybe, in our lifetime, we will still have a chance..."
Mario grabbed his hand and wanted to say something, but after much hesitation, he still couldn't. Gale II thought he felt ashamed, comforted him a few words, and asked the palace steward to take him away: "Don't think too much, go and rest first. If you have anything else, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Mario left silently with the palace steward. , looked back at his brother and sighed softly.
Jada stared at him fiercely as he passed in front of her. She caught up and said a few words in his ear. When she heard Gale II calling her, she had no choice but to leave him and go into the room. Mint watched Prince Mario disappear around the corner of the corridor, feeling that his back was more desolate than ever.
That night, Prince Mario's temporary residence in the palace suddenly burst into flames. No one knows how the fire started. Some say it was Prince Mario who was afraid of crime. Others said it was someone who was afraid of his deeds being ruined and killed people. Some people said it was enemies venting their anger. It is so confusing that I don’t know who is telling the truth. . The princess lived in another palace with her sons, while the prince lived alone. They all escaped the fire, but Prince Lawler suddenly went crazy because of the stimulation of the fire. He hit his head against the wall and was bleeding. When the guards found out and asked a doctor to come over for treatment, there was no way he could be saved.
After Gale II got the news, he lightly ordered the funeral arrangements, locked himself in the room, and refused to see anyone. Jada tried to persuade him to open the door, but he ignored her and refused to see the minister. Everyone was at a loss. In the end, the palace steward, Mrs. Cole, and Minter persuaded him earnestly for a whole day before he relented, opened the door, and allowed them to bring food and medicine in. But for Jada and others, People still refuse to pay attention.
After hearing the news, Uncle Wang and several major lords came to comfort him. He barely managed to receive him. The next day, he ordered that Prince Mario and Prince Lawler be buried with their original titles, and both the princess and the prince were buried. Return your family's property and leave the palace life. The former regained a mansion because of the burning of the prince's palace. Although several dukes were deprived of the right to participate in political affairs and their titles were downgraded to earls, the luxurious life that the royal family could enjoy was not affected at all.
Only Jedda still failed to gain an audience with Gael II, and even Sargent, who was originally deeply trusted by the king, was also implicated.
Rumors slowly spread.
(There is a problem with the network and it keeps disconnecting. This is the fourth upload...)