"As usual, two gold Luo coins."
In the middle of winter, the blond whore, who was dressed very thinly and had a gorgeous appearance, was skillfully wrapped around his waist. While pushing away his impatient hand, the prostitute touched his chest suggestively, and laughed with him upwards. go.
The demeanor and behavior of the two of them are no different from all the whores and clients who enter the brothel.
After the gentleman in the dark blue short cloak went upstairs, an unremarkable prostitute on the first floor quickly glanced up.
Second floor, second room.
After the blonde prostitute and the guests entered the room, the smile on the prostitute's face disappeared instantly. After she saluted, she quickly retreated to another room through a secret door in the partition wall.
"You are late."
The person waiting nervously in the room suppressed his anger and said.
There was a gloomy and cold voice in his voice, as if it was a poisonous snake full of murderous intent, ordinary people might feel uncomfortable after hearing it.
People in the room moved the candles on the table.
The candlelight illuminated that calm, but vaguely gloomy face—Otto Heinrich's uncle, the lord of Moon Harbor and Moon River Valley.
Sir Alvaro.
In that mansion, Heinrich stabbed Sir Avaro with a rapier thrown and threatened him with "cutting off the Moonport trade route". It stands to reason that after being threatened by Heinrich, Sir Avaro had already returned to Moon River Valley, and he did not come to accompany the Queen's parade this time because of illness.
Right now, he appeared in Rose Strait with a sullen face, sitting in this humble brothel.
"Those ascetics scatter the streets and have to be careful, sir."
The "prostitute" said in a low and gentle voice, took off his hood, and the exposed face was also illuminated by the candlelight.
It was a face that seemed to be overly indulgent at first glance, pale and swollen, with a bit of black under the eyes. His brown hair was draped over his shoulders, and the fingers of his hands were fat and long, the kind of hands used by people who are good at calculating benefits. On the left hand, with a bronze ring, the finger plate is like a fish biting its tail.
Sir Alvaro, who was sitting across the table, frowned: "Does the Confranc family fear even a group of ascetic monks?"
"Those may not all be ordinary ascetics," Patriarch Confranc said. "Who says they can't be the Queen's eyes?"
The surname "Confranc" is quite old in Rose Strait.
Along with the surnames "Martin" and "Heinrich", it is the largest shipbuilding family within the Rose Strait.
About ten years ago, the Martin family began to decline, and only the Confranc and Heinrich families were left to compete in the field of shipbuilding. However, after the Heinrich family reconciled with the queen after the rebellion, and obtained the license for armed civilian ships and a certain monopoly on red wine, the Confranc family found it difficult to resist the persecution of the Heinrich family.
"A pack of hyenas wagging their tails at women," Sir Alvaro cursed under his breath. "Please sit down, Monsieur Confranc."
While Chief Confranc was speaking, he watched Sir Avaro calmly.
The younger brother of the previous patriarch of the Heinrich family, as one of the important members of the Double-headed Snake family, although Sir Avaro is not as powerful as his nephew, he is still young and leads a group of subordinate families. But his ruthlessness and shamelessness are unavoidable.
—Even the devil in hell probably has a little more conscience than Sir Avaro.
"I already know your wishes," said Chief Confranc, "but please tell me, why should I join hands with you to sell the empire to the merchants of the free commercial city? This is treason, As far as I know, Her Majesty's executioners have sharpened their knives last year and today."
"The Alliance Executive Government of the Free Chamber of Commerce is willing to give the Confranc family a generous reward - all the ships of the Free Chamber of Commerce are purchased from the Confranc Family. The family's precious franchise," Sir Alvaro said unhurriedly.
"What about the request?"
Patriarch Confranc pondered for a moment and asked.
"The Confederation Government does not want to see the implementation of the "Port Regulations" and "Navigation Regulations", and it is even more unwilling to see an ignorant and ignorant woman who destroys the harmony between Roland and the Confederate Government continue to wear the crown." Sir Avaro said .
"It's very rich, but don't forget that the Iron Cross and other pirate groups are now loyal to Her Majesty, Archbishop Rodri and the Knights of the Temple are also serving her." Chief Confran shook his head, "Once the fleet is mobilized, it will be completely exposed. After that, there was a mutiny, and your rebellion in the capital was unsuccessful, and the Confranc family took on the rebellion? I'm not that stupid yet."
"Do you think Otto and that witch are not suspicious of the port's taxes? She has killed the governor of Port Zaragog. Do you think she will show mercy to the Confranc family after she realizes this?"
"This navy was secretly built by the Confranc family in accordance with the order of Edmund IV. At most, the Confranc family did not have time to report the matter to Her Majesty the Queen. And... the decision to conceal this matter was unanimously agreed by the three navy chairmen. Passed." Patriarch Confranc was tight-lipped, "Are you trying to threaten the entire Navy Council?"
Sir Avaro raised his eyelids: "I didn't mean to offend the three chairman of the navy. It's just that you are a member of the chairman, do the other two chairman know how many gold coins King Jager VI gave you? One hundred and fifty thousand? Or two hundred thousand?"
Patriarch Confranc's pupils shrank slightly.
"Could it be that you forgot to share with the other two gentlemen?" Sir Avaro said with a half-smile.
He stared at Sir Avaro for a while, then smiled: "Sir, you are joking."
"Bagley."
Sir Alvaro grimly announced only one name, which broke the smile on the face of Chief Confranc.
Six years ago, the Roland Empire was still in the reign of Queen Adele's weak elder brother Edmund IV, and the struggle for power in the Imperial Council was unprecedentedly fierce. Patriarch Confranc once secretly sent one of his illegitimate daughters to the Kingdom of Jager to become the mistress of King John VI.
"Bagley" is the illegitimate son of King John VI and Mademoiselle Confranc.
Although it was not obvious on the surface, the Confran family was indeed a member of the pro-Jacque faction in the Roland Empire, but no one thought that Adele, the forgotten princess, would be crowned king.
The veins on Patriarch Confranc's face twitched violently.
In order to ensure that the news does not leak out, all the insiders of the year have been disposed of. Unless... Yager Kingdom revealed the news, Sir Avaro could not know about this matter.
He couldn't help cursing John VI angrily in his heart-that guy is simply a fat pig with a stinky head and a merciless betrayal of news about his allies.
"It's really rare," Patriarch Confranc said with a cold face, "It turns out that the Sir also took refuge in Jager. However, Mr. Otto, the Minister of State, is still the patriarch of your Heinrich family, right? A double-headed snake known for family interests When will it split into two?"
"The Heinrich family doesn't need a patriarch who will lead the family to extinction. The family will naturally abandon him if he forgets the interests of the family." Sir Avaro held the wine glass on the table, "Break off the head with a different heart, naturally There will be a second new snake head, Mr Confranc need not worry."
"Give me a reason so that the Confranc family can form an ally with you."
Chief Confranc bit down on the word "you" and stared at Sir Avaro through the candlelight.
He had heard about the disputes within the Heinrich family, but for a villain like Sir Avaro, this reason was far from convincing.
"Otherwise, I would rather go to plead guilty to Her Majesty the Queen than cooperate with a guy who doesn't know when he will betray me."
"He killed my son."
Sir Avaro raised his head slowly, and said coldly.
"He killed my son for that witch-born bitch."
Patriarch Confranc was taken aback. Sir Avaro was famous for doting on his son back then, and he was depressed for a year after he died in a shipwreck.
The room was silent for a long time, and Patriarch Confranc slowly showed a smile.
He picked up another silver wine glass and put it in front of himself, and poured wine for Sir Avaro and himself: "She let a pirate, a slut like her, serve as a member of the Naval Council, and almost insulted the entire Naval Council, The entire navy. There are many people who want to defend the glory, but with the power of the Thousand Islands Fleet and this part of the navy alone, things may not go so smoothly... "
"We'll take care of that bitch and her lovers as long as you can take down the other navies and the pirates."
Ser Alvaro agreed.
He took out a secret letter from the ambassador of the free commercial city negotiating team, put it on the table, and pushed it to Chief Confranc.
after an hour.
The "client" wearing a blue short cloak naturally went downstairs with the prostitute. This time, his clothes were half-opened, and there were traces of scratches from the woman's fingernails on his neck. A common face in a brothel—the head of the Confranc family, known for his indulgence.
Among the three chairmen of the Navy Committee, he is the most low-key and incompetent. He became the chairman of the Navy purely by inheriting his father's position.
He was greeted by the noble boys who came here for fun, and he stumbled out drunk.
… … … … … … …
When Prince Arthur came to see the queen, the queen was standing in front of the table with one hand on the table, leaning slightly to look at the charts spread out on the table. Those routes and markings that would make ordinary people feel dizzy seem to have no difficulty for the Queen.
The queen wore a pair of sapphire earrings, the earrings swayed slightly, with a few small discs of light jumping at the corners of the queen's eyes and brows, like the sun secretly kissing her thin eyebrows and the slightly upward eye ends. Prince Arthur stopped in his tracks, stared at her for a long time, and then walked forward.
Prince Arthur wore a black coat with red trim today, and his brilliant blond hair hung over his shoulders. When he walked through the corridor, the maids couldn't help but peek at this handsome Prince.
He is probably the most special guest of the Queen in the Rose Strait palace at present.
When the nobles saw him, their expressions were as if they had seen a ghost, but the Queen had no intention of restricting his freedom or deporting him back to the Root Empire.
As for the Root Empire, I don’t know what gift Prince Arthur prepared for his brother. When the rumors were flying, the Emperor Orsis even claimed nonchalantly that “Arthur was appointed by him to Roland, so he got engaged The first representative who will be in touch with the ceremony.
"I'm afraid you need to remember that you are still the prince of the Root Empire," the Queen said calmly. "Many people have told me that you were sent by the Root Empire to Roland as a spy."
"I'm very glad that in their impression, my brother Wang's IQ is so low."
said Prince Arthur with a touch of genuine glee and gloating.
Adele glanced at him, but didn't refute anything.
Unless Orsis has a brain problem and his IQ has been fed to orangutans, he will send a lunatic like Prince Arthur, whose values and rules of conduct are completely different from ordinary people, to be a spy.
—Smart people know that "predecessor representative" is just a term used to save the face of the Root royal family. In fact, there is no difference between Prince Arthur today and being exiled to the Roland Empire.
However, it seems that Prince Arthur does not have the melancholy that he should have in the state of "exile".
Archbishop Rodri had already fought with him several times in the corridor in private, but no one got any favors.
The nobles of the palace dare not mention these things in front of the queen, and the queen also pretends to be ignorant and doesn't ask at all. For a queen who is not yet officially married, there is never a shortage of scandals, true or false, it doesn't matter.
Prince Arthur moved closer to the Queen and looked down at what she was looking at.
"Thousand Island Bay?"
He recognized at a glance where the place on the chart was.
There are very few maps that can fully depict the whole picture of Qiandao Bay, and even if there are, most of them are untrue. This is why Qiandao Bay has become the cradle of pirates. Qiandao Bay hides many messy groups, such as pirates, spies, overseas spies, mercenary ships, exiles, criminals, etc., so that it finally became a "place outside the law".
Even in the most powerful period of the Roland Empire, they did not consider including this vortex that seemed to breed countless evils into the empire's territory.
The prevalence of armed civilian ships traveling between the Sea of Heaven and the Red Sea is also inseparable from this "place outside the law".
However, it is clear that for Prince Arthur, known as the "Prince of Sin" by later generations, this kind of extrajudicial place is his favorite place. He also has certain eyes and ears in that evil triangle bay—at least, Adele guessed, the two letters he sent her that day were connected with Qiandao Bay.
"Do you want to go here to see the scenery?"
Prince Arthur stood beside the queen for a while, and proposed enthusiastically.
"There is a reef bay here. In the early morning, the fog will rise from the hollow reef, and the flying fish will jump out of the sea at this time. A colorful manta wing fish will migrate here to lay eggs in this season... Would you like to see it? Flying fish and batfish?"
Mrs. Kelly, who was sitting in the corner of the room, frowned, looking unkindly at this psychopath who described Qiandao Bay as a romantic scenery to the Queen, and even wanted to take the Queen there.
The insanity continued to describe the beauty of Qiandao Bay to the Queen, from the shimmering mist that shrouded the sea at night to the surf breaking into rain in a reef forest, from a small island with four strange wind-moving rocks to A broad-bone fish with a reddish back... The "outlaw land" that made the businessmen turn pale after hearing it became a grand sight in his mouth.
"What are you doing here?"
the Queen asked casually.
She is not interested in flying fish or batwing fish. She even hopes to establish an anchorage point in Qiandao Bay and become a naval stronghold, from the south to the north of Qiandao Bay, and then to the Rose Strait, forming a large triangle of mutual support.
Prince Arthur blinked innocently, as if he didn't feel Mrs. Kelly's growing unkindness.
"Ah..." he said slowly, "I want to ask you, if I have the honor to dance with you for the first time at the ball the day after tomorrow? Your Majesty Adele."
Prince Arthur's speech at the end was soft and fast, his pale cheeks even flushed shyly, like a young man at a loss for his sweetheart. But his pair of blue eyes were staring at the queen closely, with shadows cast by eyelashes falling inside, just like Qiandao Bay's magnificent, blurred but dangerous sea.