The night is black as ink.
The sound of the carriage rang out on the street outside the quiet palace. Linley was sitting in the carriage by himself, and Beibei, the shadow mouse, was lying on his lap. Next to the carriage were more than a dozen knights on horses, led by a court attendant who was a messenger.
Inside the carriage.
Linley frowned, "It's getting late now, but Clyde suddenly summoned me, what is he going to do?" The so-called "no ghosts" in his heart, naturally, he was open-minded.
But Linley killed Paderson, and Linley knew very well that it was Clyde who instructed Paderson to send someone to capture his mother. Speaking of which, he still has a big hatred with this Clyde.
Linley naturally had to be careful about Clyde.
"I heard that Clyde had captured the butler of the duke's mansion two days ago and began to investigate the matter about Paderson. Then Paderson told me that he did not tell anyone to see me. But is this correct? Where's the letter?" Linley was at a loss.
Maybe the butler knew about Paderson's meeting with Linley.
If the butler of the duke's mansion told Clyde this news, then Linley would naturally be on the cusp.
"Linley, don't worry."
Dering Cowart appeared next to Lin Lei, comforting Lin Lei and saying, "Lin Lei, even if the butler of the duke's mansion knows that Paderson is seeing you, it will be fine."
"Are you all right?" Linley looked at Derlink Cowart in confusion.
Dering Cowart nodded confidently and said, "Of course, even if Clyde guessed that you killed Paderson, he wouldn't say it explicitly."
"Because... Clyde, I don't know why you killed Paderson." Dering Cowart's face was full of confidence.
Linley was startled, even though he didn't know the reason for killing Paderson, he was the one who killed Paderson after all.
"It's very simple. Judging from the conversation you had with Paderson in the back room that day, this Paderson and Clyde did not have a good relationship. When Paderson was 'Chairman of the Exchequer', there was a lot of corruption. Clyde I'm afraid I don't have much affection for Paderson in my heart. One more thing... Clyde doesn't know, you have a deep hatred with him. So he won't deal with you for no reason. Because, to punish you or kill you, you must go through the light The Holy See agreed." A look of disdain flashed in Dering Cowart's eyes.
"Hmph, then Clyde is also considered a king? The Holy See of Light has the right to dismiss him. And you are the Holy See of Light to value. Does he dare to deal with you at will?"
lei nodded.
He understands this.
But…
Linley really didn't want to make Clyde become wary of him. Once he became wary, how would he investigate his mother's affairs, and how would he take revenge for what happened to his mother
"Open the door, it's me." The high-pitched voice of the court attendant sounded.
Linley knew as soon as he heard it that he had entered the palace gate of the palace at this moment.
…
In the dark night, the vast palace is like a giant beast quietly entrenched on the ground. The carriages entered the palace one after another in just half an hour.
Among them were the carriages for Linley, the carriages for Bernard, and the carriages for other nobles.
…
In the Chamber of the Royal Palace.
Except for the two guards at the entrance of the council hall, there are eight nobles in the council hall with relatively high status in Finlay City. They are the patriarch of the Debs family, Bernard, the first magician of the court, Linley, the left minister, Duke Bernard, and the minister of supervision, Hampton...
"Linley, you are here." Duke Bernard greeted warmly.
Several nobles who were already present immediately came to say hello. Linley couldn't help but feel in his heart when he saw these nobles. It seemed that he was not looking for him alone.
"My lords, I wonder if you know your Majesty the King, why are you looking for us this time?" Linley asked immediately.
The Duke of Bernard, as the left minister. There is a lot of information known.
"This time we are called, it should be for the disappearance of Duke Paderson." Duke Bernard replied kindly with a smile.
Bernard next to him immediately asked: "Lord Duke, Duke Paderson is missing, what is he doing to me, and I don't hold any important position in the court?"
"Today, Your Majesty is not calling the important ministers, but investigating the matter. Otherwise, why am I here? Why didn't the right minister come, and why only one minister of supervision came?" Duke Bernard could see clearly.
Bernard nodded.
It's just that Bernard's heart is still a little uncertain.
Since Paderson disappeared, Bernard has been worried in his heart, worried that their Debs family and Paderson's smuggling of water jade ore will leak out. If this thing leaks out, the Debs family is really finished. .
"Your Majesty, to-"
Suddenly, the high-pitched voice of the court attendant sounded. From the side door of the council hall, Clyde walked directly to the seat and sat down with the respectful following of the two court attendants.
"Meet Your Majesty."
The eight nobles on the field bowed and shouted at the same time.
Clyde glanced at the eight nobles in front of him and nodded indifferently: "It's almost late at night, I didn't want to disturb you, but the disappearance of my second brother, Duke Paderson, is too important. I have to ask you Gather here."
"The Duke of Paderson is missing, I don't know why His Majesty called us?" Linley asked directly.
Among the eight people below, Linley was probably the only one who dared to speak to Clyde like that. Because everyone else looked at Clyde's face, but Linley actually belonged to the Holy See of Light, and only had a name in the Kingdom of Finlay.
"Linley, I just want to find out the facts." Clyde smiled slightly, and then said aloud, "Bring Lodi, the housekeeper of the duke's mansion, here."
Lodi? The butler of the Duke's Palace
Linley and Bernard of the Debs family were a little surprised.
The entire council hall was silent, and everyone was waiting for Lodi to be escorted over. Linley was standing on the side, while Beibei, the shadow mouse, was on Linley's shoulders.
just for a moment-
The middle-aged man with long blue hair walked in under the escort of the palace guards.
However, Bernard recognized at a glance that this person was Lodi, the butler of the Duke's House who had been looking for him some time ago.
"Lodi, you explain the matter honestly again." Clyde asked directly to Lodi.
This Lodi had clearly explained it to Clyde long ago, and apparently it was only for Linley and the others to hear. Lodi replied very honestly: "Your Majesty, on June 18, the Debs family held an engagement banquet, and the Duke went to the engagement banquet. After the engagement banquet, the Duke never came back."
"Lodi, you stand aside first." Clyde said coldly.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Lodi looked a little frightened and hurriedly stood in the corner.
Clyde glanced at the eight nobles below.
"According to the information I checked, on the night of the Debs family's engagement banquet, you were the last ones to leave. I want to ask, have you seen Paderson?" Clyde asked very simply.
"Just after the banquet was over, Paderson left first." Left Prime Minister 'Berner' said directly.
Linley also nodded: "I also saw Paderson leaving very early."
Several other people either said they didn't see it, or that Paderson left early.
Hearing what everyone said, Clyde nodded with a smile, but looked at Lodi next to him: "Lodi, you continue to speak."
"Yes." Lodi continued, "Duke Paderson told me before he went to the Debs family mansion that he wanted to meet someone who was very important to him this time, but this matter was very important. , can't be known by others. So he ordered me to arrange a puppet to pretend to be the Duke and return to the Duke's mansion. In fact, the Duke is still in the Debs family."
"The Duke also said that the Debs family will arrange a hidden place for him to meet people." Lodi added.
This sentence immediately made Bernard, the patriarch of the Debs family, pale.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
Bernard hurriedly said, "This has nothing to do with me. The Duke told me that he wanted to meet someone, so he asked me to arrange a secret place. I had to arrange it."
"Bernard, don't worry, I won't wrong anyone." Clyde said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Bernard stepped aside immediately, but his face was a little pale.
Clyde looked at Linley and a few people: "Paderson wants to see someone, and this person should have some identity. Who will he meet? I think it's very likely that it's a guest who left late that day."
Linley was shocked.
The Duke of Bernard, the Earl of Juno, and the Marquis of Hampton all looked at Clyde in surprise. They kind of guessed why His Majesty the King invited them here.
It turned out that His Majesty the King suspected them!
"Your Majesty, we didn't meet him." Duke Bernard, Hampton and others said in succession.
Clyde said with a smile, "I'm just suspicious. You guys have nothing to worry about. Look, among you guys, Linley is the calmest."
Linley smiled indifferently and didn't say anything.
Clyde glanced at the group of people and sneered in his heart: "I don't care who Paderson is missing. Instead, I want to thank that person for giving me the best chance to destroy the secret established by Paderson. people network."
Paderson has been the Chancellor of the Exchequer for many years. A very dense network of relationships has been established, with great influence. Clyde did not dare to check Paderson at will, for fear of causing turmoil in the entire kingdom.
That's why the Debs family and Paderson teamed up.
And now Padson is missing, leaderless.
Clyde used the thunder method and ordered his subordinates to quickly resolve Paderson's wings, directly destroying the relationship network that Paderson had been operating for many years.
Without Paderson's deployment, the group of people who messed with him would naturally be in a mess, and could not resist Clyde's methods at all.
Clyde looked at Linley and the others and said with a smile, "I had to investigate the disappearance of my second brother Paderson, but what surprised me the most was that I found out a lot of things. Especially Lodi , he told a lot of secrets."
Linley couldn't help but look at Lodi.
"Lodi, tell them." Clyde smiled and looked at Lodi.
At this moment, Clyde is complacent, and the death of a brother is nothing to Clyde at all. The important thing is... He is finally in full control of the power of the entire kingdom.
Lodi respectfully said: "Your Majesty, Duke Paderson attended the engagement banquet of the Debs family that day. The reason why he wanted to meet the mysterious man was to have a relationship with the Dawson Chamber of Commerce. So... the person he met must be with The Dawson Chamber of Commerce has a close relationship."
"Dawson Chamber of Commerce?"
Linley felt his heart twitch violently.
"Do you want to know why my second brother has a relationship with the Dawson Chamber of Commerce?" Clyde smiled and looked at the people below, "Lodi, you continue to say."
"Yes." Lodi was obviously completely convinced by Clyde, what to say, "Duke Paderson has done a lot of betrayal of the kingdom's interests over the years, just to satisfy his personal desires. A few months ago, together with the Debs family, we started to smuggle water jade ore on a large scale, which is the largest smuggling of water jade ore in the history of my Kingdom of Finlay."
"boom!"
The patriarch of the Debs family, Bernard, knelt down and said quickly, "Your Majesty, you are wronged. Our Debs family has always followed the rules in business and has never done anything that betrayed the interests of the country. Our Debs family is wronged. "
"Wronged?" Clyde gave Bernard a cold look.
"Bring Brother Lancier up." The Debs family shouted to the outside.
When Bernard, the patriarch of the Debs family, heard the name 'Lancier', his face turned bloodless.