Because in the past few years, I have always lived in secluded life. Du Wei is not familiar with the children of other rich and noble families in the imperial capital. Although he came from a wealthy family, but because of his "fame" from a young age, he was almost always locked up at home without seeing outsiders. This kind of phenomenon is very rare in aristocratic families. Even the daughters of those wealthy families will have one or two close friends in their boudoirs.
As for Du Wei, he never participated in any gatherings of noble children, nor did he hang out with that bastard. Du Wei never inquired about the power strife or intrigue among the aristocratic upper classes, which families were allies and which families were political enemies, and naturally no one would tell this idiot young master who lived deep at home. So he didn't recognize the young prince in front of him at all, and even his name seemed strange.
However, His Royal Highness seems to be too young, right
The current imperial emperor, His Majesty Augustine VI, is a guy who has been a little more accomplished in recent generations of the empire. Although this old man is considered by many ministers as a typical "great success" guy behind his back. But I have to say, compared to those stupid kings in history. He's not bad.
only. His Majesty Augustine VI is probably over seventy this year, right? This overjoyed old man has become more and more irritable in recent years, and his behavior has become more and more absurd. As he got older, he also gradually showed some faintness. It's a pity that as long as he doesn't die, the throne of the throne still belongs to this violent old man in his seventies.
According to this age... the guy in front of him who is at most in his early twenties is the son of the emperor in his seventies
have to say. After all, Du Wei lived in a closed life since he was a child. Since he was a child, Du Wei wanted to get rid of those troublesome power gangsters. He only wanted to live a free rice bug life, and he lacked understanding of the power gangsters in the imperial capital.
This Chen Augustine. It is the youngest son of the current emperor, His Majesty Augustine VI. The old emperor is now seventy-five years old, and he has lived a glorious life under his rule. The empire has made many expeditions to Southeast Asia, and has also opened up countless maritime territories—although the later expeditions have degenerated into a flashy and ostentatious act of showing off force, often the harvests from the expeditions, and even the military expenses spent cannot be recovered. The triumphant ceremonies are getting bigger and bigger every time.
His Majesty's eldest son, the fifty-two-year-old eldest prince, was originally designated as the crown prince. And after that. His Majesty the Emperor gave birth to nine more daughters in one breath. It made Augustine VI, who was full of hope to have another son, furious, and even killed several of his concubines with his own hands—an emperor who killed his own woman because she couldn't give birth to a son. It is also considered unique in the history of the Roland Empire. And when he was in his fifties, the old emperor who wanted a son was finally favored by the gods again and gave birth to the "Chen" prince. The old emperor who got his son again when he was old, finally got his wish, for the next twenty years, he treated his youngest son. Almost pampered to the extreme!
Even, children of the royal family. All men. They all learned the martial arts fighting qi handed down from the Augustine family since childhood. But this Prince Chen has no intention of learning martial arts. But he is very interested in magic—this kind of behavior that deviates from tradition has been approved by the old emperor. He even asked a great magician in the court to personally teach this Prince Chen!
Even legends. A few years ago, at the old emperor's 70th birthday dinner, the old emperor once expressed his intention to return to the crown prince, but was opposed by many ministers at the time, so he reluctantly suppressed it...
Of course, Du Wei still doesn't know these things right now. Du Wei, who has drifted away from these things since he was a child, doesn't even know the origin of the Prince Chen in front of him. However, Du Wei reacted quickly, after listening to the other party's self-introduction. He immediately bowed his body, a standard aristocratic etiquette. However, the piercingly handsome prince smiled kindly, stretched out his hand to support Du Wei, and said with a smile: "You don't have to be so polite, Your Excellency Du Wei... Don't forget, you are a bachelor of magic. Magicians don't need to salute nobles. Even the royal family."
Seeing a prince inside the magic guild made Du Wei a little puzzled. The relationship between the royal family and the Magic Union is not very good. Du Wei at least knows something about this. Within the empire, the royal family represented the orthodox ruling group. The religious group represented by the temple, and the power of magicians represented by the magic union. It has always been three forces that rarely interact with each other.
Seemingly unaware of Du Wei's doubts, the Prince Chen smiled easily, and even gently pulled Radu Wei. He smiled and said, "Your Excellency Du Wei, I have been curious about you for a long time. Well, originally I just heard that Gabriel from Luo Lin's family is a genius. But recently, your name is often mentioned in my ears Ah. It is really an honor to meet you here today. I wonder if I have the honor to invite you, a magician, to have dinner with you?"
Um
Du Wei carefully looked at the strange prince.
"Oh. Please forgive me for taking the liberty to invite." Prince Chen still smiled so gently. In fact, it is a bit presumptuous to propose this kind of invitation between nobles in person. In the circle of nobles, let alone an invitation to dinner, Even if you invite the other party to have an afternoon tea together, you have to send out the invitation at least one day in advance, but Prince Chen's demeanor is impeccable, even when he apologizes, the smile on his face seems to make people feel like a spring breeze: "I just I have been very interested in the field of magic since I was a child, but you, a nobleman in the imperial capital, have never produced a magician, and you are still a young and talented magician like you."
Such an invitation from His Royal Highness is not easy to refuse. Du Wei thought for a while, and smiled: "It's a great honor."
When Du Wei and Prince Chen walked out of the magic guild side by side, the face of the Alpha bodyguard who was waiting outside became extremely ugly in that instant! But the chief guard had an ugly expression on his face. It just disappeared in a blink of an eye, and then came up to meet him. First, he bowed to Prince Chen and made a standard warrior salute.
"Oh. Your Excellency Alpha Warrior." Prince Chen seemed a little surprised: "I actually saw you here. Could it be that you accompanied Du Wei to come here in person? It's rare to see you go out recently."
After a pause, Prince Chen smiled lightly and said, "I'm about to chat with Du Wei about something, and I'd like to trouble you to go back and inform the Earl."
Alpha couldn't say anything, just nodded silently.
Du Wei was at the side. Although he didn't know much about the situation in the imperial capital, he saw the unnatural flash across the face of Alpha's bodyguard at the moment, and immediately guessed something: It seems that Alpha's bodyguard is very afraid of this Prince Chen
Almost without a sound, a gorgeously decorated carriage slowly approached them. The outside of the carriage shed of this carriage is actually inlaid with a thin layer of pure gold, which looks golden under the sun. And the wheel hub of the carriage. In Du Wei's view, they are all made of the best stainless steel, and around the carport, there are dead roots carved with gorgeous thorn flower vines, and several blue gemstones are inlaid on them.
From Du Wei's point of view, the horses pulling the cart are all high-grade horses. Such horses are no worse than the high-quality war horses in Luo Lin's family, but they are used by Prince Chen to pull the cart... What a waste. What surprised Du Wei the most was. On the side of this carriage, there are actually some finely polished magic crystals, and a miniature wind magic circle is arranged!
This magic circle cleverly used the wind force to reduce the weight of the carriage, so that the carriage could greatly reduce the degree of bumps and increase the speed when driving.
at the same time. This carriage is also the most popular style of open carriage in the imperial capital recently.
The cost of this carriage alone may be able to buy all of Du Wei's current businesses in the Luolin Plain!
luxury! Not ordinary luxury!
Of course, Du Wei didn't know that the exquisite carvings on the carriage were all written by a famous artist in the imperial capital. Those flashy carvings alone were worth tens of thousands of gold coins!
Quietly, quietly, I don't know when. Around the place where Du Wei and Prince Chen were standing, four thin people appeared silently. The robes worn by these four people are obviously magicians, but their robes are different from any mage robes in the magic guild. The bright red mage robes are as red as the juice of rose flowers, and the top of the head is pointed. On the tall hat, there is a totem of thorns.
Court magician
Du Wei immediately thought of the legendary land, a small number of land raised in the palace. It started in the age of Aragon and has been passed down from generation to generation. Only loyal to the royal court magician team. These four guys are obviously court magicians! It's just that the eyes of these four guys are very indifferent. Even Du Wei couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart when his sharp eyes swept across the ground at random! In particular, when the eyes of these four guys glanced at the magicians in the magic union in the distance around them, they all carried an indescribable rebellion and disdain.
"Your Highness, please get into the carriage."
A thick voice came from a coachman sitting in front of the carriage. It was only then that Du Wei discovered that this coachman might not be a simple character either! This guy is tall and thin, and he is dressed in gray cotton clothes, which looks like a court servant. The gaze in a pair of eyes is deep and steady, although there are several court magicians and strong warriors like Alpha around, his demeanor is still calm and calm. Judging from the outline of his strong arms hidden under the thin clothes, and the thin body that seemed somewhat incongruous, he might still be a master in the court!
Sure enough, when Alpha saw the coachman, he suddenly smiled wryly: "Your Excellency Chick, when did you become a coachman?"
This coachman named Chike is obviously an old acquaintance of Alpha's bodyguard chief. He gave Alpha a cold look, and said indifferently: "I made a mistake, and His Highness's punishment for me is to serve as a coachman for a month. But you, Alpha Your Excellency, long time no see, it seems that two years have passed since the last year's competition, right?"
The eyes of the two intersected, and immediately it seemed as if a series of sparks flashed in the air!
It seems that the two may still have a little grudge.
Du Wei thought to himself.
The atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment, but Prince Chen immediately smiled appropriately: "Okay, it's getting late. Your Excellency Du Wei, please get in the carriage."
The groom named Chikdi then looked away and lowered his head. No more talking.
Du Wei frowned secretly. After Prince Chen got into the carriage, the carriage drove slowly. Du Wei looked back at Alpha standing there, but seemed to see a flash of light in Alpha's eyes!
Earl's Court.
Earl Raymond's study.
"His Royal Highness Chen really appeared in the Magic Union? Did he take Du Wei away?" The earl frowned, his eyes full of gloom.
"Yes." Alpha nodded: "I suspect that this may not be a chance encounter. Also... I saw that Chick actually acted as His Highness Chen's groom."
"Chick? Groom?" The Earl smiled, "It's that court warrior Chick who fought against you in the competition two years ago? Hmph... It seems that the situation is not good. Your Highness Chen You have been dormant for many years, are you going to show your fangs now?"
Alpha shook his head: "Lord Earl, I'm worried about one thing... Chick is a court warrior, and belongs to the inner court! The inner court is a mysterious force in the royal family! Now it seems that Chick actually served as Prince Chen's subordinate ... I am worried, I am afraid that His Majesty is old-fashioned and confused, and actually handed over the inner court to Prince Chen! Moreover, what is even more worrying is that Chike is a very good warrior in the inner court, but he seems to have no respect for Chen. The prince is very obedient, I'm afraid, Prince Chen has successfully controlled the power of the inner court! This matter... "
"Of course this matter is not good for us." The Earl sighed. He seemed to have aged a few years in an instant, and shook his head with a wry smile: "Prince Chen's intelligence and intelligence are far superior to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... He has had a good relationship with the court magicians and those mysterious guys since he was a child. Now it seems that His Majesty not only treats the court magicians The team was handed over to him, and even the inner court was handed over to him... The situation is not good for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Hmm... Let's think about it, His Highness Chen appeared in the Magic Union... Hmph, did he go there for that matter too? Ya Ge Doug, an old fox, what is his plan? He will show his favor to His Highness the Crown Prince for a while. Now he is making friends with His Highness Chen... "
"I think this matter may not be good for us." Alpha shook his head: "The key is... Your Highness Chen took Master Du Wei away... Lord Earl, His Royal Highness, if you hear the news, what will you think? Master Du Wei It's your son, and before he returned to the imperial capital, he got involved with the Magic Union. Now... he's making friends with His Highness Chen again... I'm worried that if you do this, your situation will be a bit embarrassing."
Count Raymond stood up. He straightened his waist suddenly, and his stalwart figure seemed to glow with momentum again, as if at such a moment. This is already a somewhat old famous general of the imperial military. It reveals the arrogance of commanding the fleet and galloping the ocean back then!
"Hmph! Even if His Highness the Crown Prince has any ideas, so what! Although he has a lot of chips in his hand, he has few chips that can play the final key role! If there is no support from our Luo Lin family, what will he use to fight with Chen?" Fighting with the prince? Here in the military, the only one who is willing to stand on his side now is me. Everyone else is watching. Without me, Lei Meng. Out of the imperial capital. He can't even mobilize a single soldier!"
Alpha nodded. There was also a relieved expression on his face, but then. The loyal chief guard still whispered: "I'm not worried about the crown prince... The most troublesome thing now is the meaning of His Majesty the Emperor! His Majesty has not spoken recently, but seems to let his two sons act... Moreover, my lord, you have to be careful, your Majesty might do something to you! After all... Historically, before passing away, every Emperor His Majesty would first suppress a group of important military officials to pave the way for his successor The current situation! Now it seems that His Majesty may target us." Earl Raymond put his hand on the table, and after hearing Alpha's words, he remained silent. After a long time, I just smiled lightly: "Suppress it, just suppress it. This is the practice of the past. As long as we survive this test, the crown prince will have to rely on our Luo Lin family! If you want to use Luo Lin's family, you have to weigh it carefully!"
As he said that, he suddenly slapped the table, a faint golden fighting spirit flashed, and he heard a crisp crack, and the thick desk suddenly split into two halves!
The carriage gradually drove towards the outside of the imperial capital. When they left the gate of the imperial capital just now, the city guards saw Prince Chen's carriage from a distance, and immediately cleared the road to let it pass.
On the carriage, facing Du Wei's doubts, Prince Chen smiled lightly and said, "What fun is there in the imperial capital? Hmph, there are people from the military, people from my elder brother, and people from my father... Where else is there anything interesting? Your Excellency Du Wei, I will take you to an interesting place outside the city, I think you will like it."
In line with the policy of talking less and making fewer mistakes, Du Wei just nodded and didn't answer.
"That's right." Prince Chen suddenly seemed to think of something, looked at Du Wei and smiled, "I heard that you made something that can fly on the Luolin Plain... that thing is called a hot air balloon, right? With that said, the Prince Chen stared at Du Wei meaningfully for a while, then said in a calm tone, "That's a good thing! If it's used to transport troops, it will be quietly transported from various places. If two thousand elites arrive at the imperial capital, they will probably be unnoticed, no matter how tight the defenses of the city guards are, they will not be able to guard against the sky."
Du Wei was shocked! Quietly transporting troops into the imperial capital? This is a heartbreaking statement! The prince squeezed himself with such cruel words. why
Du Wei thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Your Highness, it's just a gadget, and I only have a dozen or so hot air balloons of that kind in my hand. It's also very troublesome to manufacture, and the delivery capacity is very limited. Usually, I deliver a little That’s all for cargo. If you want to transport an army, the weight of the soldiers plus the armor and weapons, let alone one or two thousand. It’s the limit to transport one or two hundred people. You’re kidding.”
"oh… "
Prince Chen nodded as if casually, then turned his head and looked at the scenery on both sides of the road.
The imperial capital is located in the central plain of the Roland Continent, and it is also on the verge of the Lancang Grand Canal. It is approaching evening at this moment, looking at the plains on both sides of the wide road. Villages, farms, it is approaching summer at this moment, and the trees in the wild have already been dyed with a thick layer of green...
Suddenly, Prince Chen turned his head and looked at Du Wei carefully:
"What if... I want you to help me transport things? For example... transport people?"
Du Wei was shocked...