The castle's dungeon is not as damp and dark as the Border Town Prison, and the duke probably doesn't want his basement to become a haunted house, or to smell disgusting as soon as he walks down the stairs. In general, the dungeon is relatively clean. Different cells have different decoration grades, some are empty, some not only have beds, but also wardrobes, desks and chandeliers. Probably the Duke originally regarded this place as a place to imprison certain nobles, and the basic etiquette had to be guaranteed.
Roland also found a special cell in the corner. A large bed took up half of the room. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, but the iron chains tied to the chains were still wrapped in a layer of sheepskin. Assorted whips. It seems that Duke Ryan has also studied in some aspects, he thought, but unfortunately he will be leaving here in a few days, so he can't figure it out.
As the most valuable prisoner, Xia Lafei Hermon was naturally locked in the best cell. If you didn't look at the iron railings on the outside, you would have thought it was a luxurious bedroom. The viscounts of the Maple Leaf family and Benlang family, the eldest son of the Wild Rose family, and the second son of the Elk family live in the same room as him. These families, together with Lion the Lion, constitute the six families of the Longsong Fortress. Of course, the Ryan faction has already Disintegrated by Roland, his wife and son are locked next door.
Seeing His Royal Highness appearing in the dungeon, the nobles stood up one after another. Without waiting for them to ask questions, Roland said first, "Count Hermon, you can come out. As for the others, when the ransom is delivered, I will naturally release them. You go out."
"Father," Peiro felt relieved when he saw the count's ruddy face, he glanced at his friend, then looked at Roland, "His Royal Highness, I didn't see the name of Earl Elk on the list, if he died on the battlefield , The eldest son of their family should still be in the capital, and there is no one in the family who can be in charge. Is it possible to release Ren Meade first and let him go back and raise the ransom for himself? I am willing to vouch for him."
"The eldest son of the Elk family, do you mean Jacques Med?" Roland shook his head. "He's back. Not only did he come back, he also came to the castle yesterday. But... I don't think he intends to pay the ransom."
Hearing this sentence, Ren leaned against the cage in disbelief, "Why?"
"He said that you failed to protect your father on the battlefield, and that you were the executioner who killed Earl Med."
"Why did he say such a thing? It's obviously the one who killed his father." Ren suddenly closed his mouth.
Roland said indifferently, "You want to say that it was me who killed the earl, right?" He walked to the cage, "Your father sent someone to sneak into my castle before the Devil's Moon, wanting to burn food and grass. Now I followed the Duke and attacked my territory with a large group of knights. I just fought back and repelled the invaders. So am I a murderer? Who should be blamed more than the original creator, Duke Ryan and accomplice, Earl Med? In addition, If it wasn't for Hills' confession that you didn't know anything about the grain burning incident, you would be dead by now."
"..." Ren was speechless.
"Your Highness," Peiro asked worriedly, "if no one is willing to pay the ransom, will you execute him?"
"That's not true, I have always been kind," Roland grinned. "Probably bring it back to Border Town and dig mines in the North Slope Mine for 20 years to atone for his sins."
"The ransom... how much?"
"As the second son, I don't have the chance to inherit the title. Naturally, the price is not as good as that of Earl Honeysuckle, as long as there are materials worth a thousand." Roland glanced at him with interest, "Why, you want to pay the ransom for him? "
"What value, a thousand golden dragons?" the earl who was released by the guards interjected.
"Your son will tell you," the prince made a gesture of invitation, "let's go, there is nothing to be treated here. As for the matter of the second son of the Medes, you don't have to rush for a while, you can go back slowly and think about it.
When the group left the dungeon and walked to the gate of the castle, the earl suddenly stopped, "Your Highness, I know that Duke Ryan's actions are unforgivable, but... his wife and son are innocent."
"Perhaps," Roland couldn't deny, "I didn't intend to sentence them to exile, hang them, or anything, but only bring them back to Border Town to be imprisoned." Until the day I ascend the throne, he thought. Now is not the time for women's benevolence. If they are acquitted, there will be no benefit other than mixing up the water in Longsong Fortress even more. The eldest son has the legal right of inheritance.
*****************
"What did you say!?" Xia Lafei. Hermon's eyes widened, looking at Peiro in disbelief, "His Royal Highness does not plan to live in Longsong Fortress, and he will hand over this city to you to manage ?"
Back at the Earl Honeysuckle Mansion, Pei Luo immediately told his father carefully what had happened in the past three days. When he heard the agency contract, the earl couldn't bear it any longer. After getting a positive answer from his son, he stood up. Going around in circles in the study, it is obvious that he is in a complicated mood.
"Father, are you okay?" Peiro asked worriedly.
"In this way, our opponents are mainly the Elk family. Apart from them, the other three families are inferior to us in terms of background and strength."
"What?" He didn't come back to his senses for a while.
"An opponent, an opponent!" the earl shouted, "You have disappointed me too much. Your Highness has given you such a good opportunity. Haven't you analyzed your opponents yet?"
"Well, don't you find it strange?"
"It's strange why His Royal Highness insists on going back to Border Town? Of course it's strange," the earl stroked his beard, "but what does that have to do with us, as long as this contract is true."
Rather, Pei Luo thought, His Highness couldn't just want to amuse himself with so much trouble. As for the reason why he loves Border Town, he can slowly think about it. However, he did not expect his father's ability to accept it to be so strong.
"I heard that the boy from the Med family is your friend?" Xia Lafei suddenly stood still and said, "Go and fish him out tomorrow."
"You agree with me to spend a thousand points to redeem him?" Pei Luo was stunned.
"Think about it, Count Elk is dead, and the eldest son is unwilling to redeem the second son. In this battle, except for a few knights, there is almost no loss. Once Jacques Medre inherits the title, it will inevitably hinder you from taking charge... No, take charge of Longsong Fortress." The Count explained, "Why is Jacques reluctant to redeem Ren? Because he is afraid that the other party will threaten him."
Well, it turns out that for this reason, Peiro smiled bitterly in his heart. But he knew that his father was right. Ren liked long swords and spears since he was a child, and he was very close to the knights in the territory. Unlike the eldest son Jacques, he thought that hand-to-hand combat would be a loss of aristocratic style, and he preferred the romantic scene in the capital. Although Rennes has repeatedly shown that he prefers to be a knight, that is without the right of inheritance. Now that the earl is not bound, who knows if he will summon his knights and kill the eldest son with one knife? Jacques's decision to pay to redeem a man who made him restless was succinct and ruthless.
"My friend wouldn't do that," he asserted.
"Perhaps, but after you redeem him, Jacques will have a headache whether he intends to do so or not." Xia Lafei continued, "As for materials with a thousand value, we can choose a craftsman with a higher score. ."
"When preparing the ransom for you, I have already selected some craftsmen. If I fill in more, there will not be enough craftsmen in the territory."
"Don't worry, do you know that the Northland is in chaos now?" The count said confidently, "All the four kingdoms' coalition forces were destroyed in Hermes, and the lords have forced their citizens to join the army, and a large number of fleeing people have appeared there. We can take this opportunity to eat a little more, and in the future, we will even save the materials that we hand in every month."
Only then did Pei Luo discover that his father, who was also a master of business, was at least much stronger than his ability to go to the battlefield. (.)