Above the towering imperial city, the sky was covered with thick dark clouds, and the clouds almost pressed down on the highest corner of the palace. This oppressive atmosphere seemed to envelope the entire palace.
The Royal Forest Army, which was originally reduced due to the war, seems to be wearing gorgeous armor again today. The long feather cloak is still as bright as before, but if you look closely, every soldier of the Royal Forest Army has a solemn expression on his face. , and never regain its former prestige.
The atmosphere was extremely tense. Under the steps outside the palace, several important ministers of the empire, the old prime minister Sarum Bonelli, the minister of military affairs Adric, and the minister of finance of the empire, etc., were almost all present, and everyone stood there. Under the steps, obscure expressions were written on every face, staring at the palace above with serious and somewhat sad eyes.
Almost everyone came in full costume, even Adric, who was always relatively simple, put on a heavy and cumbersome uniform with ribbons and badges.
Among the crowd, the only one who looked more relaxed was the fat man standing behind Adric.
Ruhl was still wearing a simple military uniform, which was a bit dirty, with a suspicious smudge on his chest, which looked like some kind of broth or something, and even the leather boots were covered with mud. . The fat man's hair was messy, and he smelled of alcohol on his body. His chubby body was hidden behind Adric's tall and burly figure. The sneer at the corner of his mouth seemed to be mocking, but more of it was disdain, and …deeply contempt.
A gust of wind blew, obviously the warm summer wind, but it blew over the person, and the old prime minister Sarum Bonelli, who was standing beside him, shivered a few times.
The atmosphere was too heavy, and everyone could not feel the warmth in the wind, and their hearts were cold.
"Do we have to stand here and wait?" Ruhr looked indifferent, even raised his fingers to dig his ears, and then blew forcefully in front of his mouth: "So many people, their faces seem to be in mourning, If you don't know, you would think that the emperor of our empire has died again..."
His voice was not disguised suspiciously, so the old prime minister next to him listened, frowned tightly, turned his head to look at Ruhr, and tried his best to say in a gentle tone: "General Ruhr, if you feel that the person standing here is There is no point in waiting, so please go back to rest first... We understand that your body's wounds have not healed."
Ruhl stared at the old prime minister, as if he was about to say something, but then the words came to his mouth, but the fat man sighed a long time: "Master Prime Minister, I know the pain in your heart... In fact, I have nothing to do with this country. Your love is no less than yours. It's just... Does it really make sense to stand here and wait?"
He pointed to the imperial ministers around him who came here in full costume, and sneered in a low voice: "What are we here to see? Witness the birth of a humiliating treaty that has never been seen since the founding of the empire? Standing here to witness such a thing Does it really make sense to happen? I'd rather go to town and kill a few more rebels."
The old prime minister pursed his lips tightly, and he could see that the old man was clenching his teeth hard. The empire of , is the empire we are loyal to, so... even if bad things happen, we should stand here to witness the arrival of all this. The misery of fate, or happiness... hum, witness, it seems It's the only thing we can do now."
Ruhl listened, narrowed his eyes, and was about to say something, but Adric suddenly said in a solemn and low voice: "Okay, Ruhl, don't say any more... They came out!"
As soon as Adric's voice fell, on the steps, the tightly closed gate guarded by two rows of golden-armored knights finally slowly opened.
The footsteps inside were brisk and had an unpleasant taste of pleasure.
A tall and straight figure came out of the door at random.
Ghisrent is in a gorgeous uniform, with badges all over his chest, neatly trimmed beard, and even the wounds he was stabbed a few days ago have been healed by magic treatment (I heard that because of that assassination. In the incident, the young emperor summoned General Adric into the palace and scolded him for a full hour, and then sent a palace magician to personally treat Ghislent's injuries.)
The expression on Ghislent's face was clearly high-spirited. Although he tried his best to hold back his smile, he didn't want to stimulate the emotions of the Byzantine ministers at this time, but when he saw more than a dozen Byzantine ministers standing in front of him, they were all the same. With a depressed look, Ghisrent's eyes still couldn't help but flash a gleam of light.
He walked to the steps and bowed to the crowd to perform a standard court ceremony. The leather boots under his feet were joined together, making a crisp sound.
"The contract has been successfully concluded, gentlemen, from this moment on, we will be the most unbreakable allies. Long live Landis, long live Byzantium!"
After saying these words in a smiling voice, Ghislent took off his hat and tucked it under his arm: "Now that the contract is signed, I still have a lot of work to do, so let's go first."
As he walked all the way down, the ministers subconsciously gave way. But when Ghislent walked in front of Adric, the scar-faced general didn't seem to know whether it was trance or intentional, but he still stood in front of Ghisrent without any intention of turning sideways to give way.
Jislent sighed, stopped, looked at Adric, and whispered: "Dear Your Excellency, as a soldier, I can understand your concerns at this moment, but the bigger picture is the most important..."
Before Ghisrent could finish speaking, Adric suddenly said coldly, "How much?"
Gissrent was startled: "What?"
"How many, how many benefits did you extort." Adrick's voice was as cold as ice: "How many open ports, how much military spending? And... how many troops were dispatched?"
Ghisrent faced Adric's calm and terrifying eyes, and he even took a half step back subconsciously! At this moment, Adrick, although he doesn't seem to be angry, but the indifference of his expression has something that makes one feel chills in his bones!
"... the opening of eleven ports and the legal entry of the fleet, the dispatch of 200,000 troops, and... the military expenditure of 67 million gold coins." Ghislent raised his eyebrows: "Your country will use the Trade tax as collateral... Trust me, Adric, with our Lantis help, you will win this war very quickly."
Adrick listened, and he clenched his fist little by little, and the knuckles even made a crunching sound! Under that terrifyingly calm expression, his fists were bleeding! The fingernails had pierced his own palm, and the blood fell silently, drop by drop, on the cold steps!
Then, a big fat hand grabbed Adric's fist, and then opened Adric's fingers bit by bit.
The fat man stepped forward and looked at Ghisrent: "Okay, you have got what you want, now, Ghisrent, please get out of here, otherwise, I, the fat man, can't guarantee whether Acts that insult diplomatic etiquette."
Ghisrent pursed his lips and smiled, then walked around Adric's side and strode down the steps.
The luxurious royal carriage stopped below, and Ghisrent got into the carriage and left calmly.
During the whole process, Adric stood there motionless, and even when Ghislund walked around him calmly, the general didn't even turn his head to look.
Until the carriage left, the old prime minister sighed bitterly: "The opening of eleven seaport cities! Sixty-seven million gold coins... Ten years of trade tax... God, Your Majesty, what are you doing!"
With that said, the old prime minister headed, and many ministers rushed into the palace in a swarm.
Everyone ran by, but only Adric remained motionless. Waiting for the many ministers on the steps to run in, he still stood there like a sculpture.
The sloppy fat man was the only one who stayed by Adrick's side.
As if stiff for a long time, Adric suddenly let out a long breath. He turned his head and looked at the fat man, but his eyes were surprisingly gentle.
"Okay, fat man, let go of my hand. I don't have 'that' hobby." There was even a smile on Adric's face.
Ruhl frowned, let go of his hand and took a step back: "You..."
"I'm fine." Adric lowered his head and said, "In fact... just now, I suddenly realized that I wasn't as furious as I expected, and I didn't even feel too much anger. Really... Ruhl, you say, is this strange?"
Ruhl closed his mouth and stared at Adric.
"Okay, I'm really fine." Adric suddenly adjusted his hat, and then smiled: "Standing here has already delayed a lot of time, I still have a lot of things to do, let's go!"
Saying that, he didn't even wait for Fatty, and turned around and strode down the steps.
"Hey, wait, don't you go in and talk to His Majesty? You dragged me out of the tavern early in the morning just to let me accompany you... Are you really not going in?" Ruhl shouted from behind.
"No need!" Adrick waved his hand without looking back: "I was too naive before, the contract has already been signed, and what to do to waste the saliva in it - we have more important things than spit. do it!"
Ruhl looked at Adric's back, and then he suddenly widened his eyes with a look of shock on his face!
Because, when the fat man saw Adric going down the steps, he made a move that seemed to be very casual: Adric stretched out his hand and pulled the row of shiny badges on his chest. Come down, hold it in the palm of your hand, and after a flash of fighting qi flashed on the palm of your hand, the various emblems that were shiny and gorgeous have turned into rotten iron that twisted into a ball. stuff stuffed into pockets.
He just left in the wind and walked away without looking back.
…
Many, many years later, when a memoir written by the famous general Ruhr recorded this important event at that time, he used the following words to describe the scene at that time: "When General Adric left, I watched His back suddenly realized that this guy has finally made his final choice!
I used to laugh at him for being too persistent before, but on that day, I suddenly realized that when the real thing came to an end, this guy was far more free and easy than me! When he turned around, it was as if he had left all his previous obsessions behind!
Thank you, Your Majesty Garcia! The covenant he signed with the Landis did not seriously damage the interests of the empire for the next ten years. At the same time, it also successfully destroyed a patriotic general's last illusion about the royal family.
From that day on, it was clear to me that Adric had chosen a different path…”
- This memoir of General Ruhr was later unable to be published because it involved too many state secrets and was suspected of being disrespectful to the imperial family.
…
On the other hand, the gorgeous royal carriage carried Ghisrent to the harbour area.
After Ghisrent got out of the car, the Landis general's face was not as relaxed as it was in the palace. He wasn't even showing the kind of victorious smile he should have at the moment.
After the escorted royal guards all left, Ghislent boarded a battleship berthed in the naval port Lilantis, and after walking into the cabin, he slowly took off his hat.
At this moment, this "Child of the Storm" looked a little dazed.
boom!
With a crisp voice behind him, Ghisrent turned around, and saw a handsome young man holding a bottle of Lantis specialty wine, the bottle cap had been unscrewed.
"Should I congratulate you, General Jislent." The young man smiled: "The contract you signed is the most important document after the founding of the Kingdom of Landis since the founding of the Kingdom of Lantis. This signed document of yours will go down in the history of Landis forever!"
Jislent twitched the corners of his mouth, he walked over, but suddenly grabbed the wine bottle without regard for etiquette, and took a few sips into his mouth, and the wine flowed down his mouth to his neck , the golden liquor stained his clean collar.
After drinking most of the bottle of wine in one breath, Ghisrent released the bottle and gasped violently for a while.
"...What's wrong with you?" The young man frowned: "You don't seem happy, my general, you know, because of the document you signed, Landis' army will be the first since the founding of the country. The next step is to set foot on the mainland! This is a great victory... "
"They won't give up and compromise easily." Ghisrent suddenly interrupted the other party's words: "My esteemed highness, I have this hunch."
The young man frowned: "The 'them' you said is..."
"Adric, and that Ruhl." Ghislent sighed: "I must admit that the Byzantine Empire still has a group of loyal and patriotic soldiers - these people will not give up easily. "