…
Horford Quinn was holding a wine glass, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, staring at the city shrouded in darkness.
This is the center of the dawn, and it is also known as the capital that never sleeps. The lights are centered on the Rising Sun Avenue and extend to both sides, like a tree of light with luxuriant branches. The tree is the most famous hypermarket in the kingdom. Every day, countless treasures flow here from all over the world. For businessmen, night is the beginning of their lives.
In order to maintain this splendid splendor, the daily consumption of candles, firewood and lamp oil in the capital is an astonishing amount. This industry alone is conservatively estimated to feed nearly 10,000 people and more than 100 businessmen.
And this is just a corner of the commercial trade in the royal capital.
If it is normal, one of Horford's great pleasures is to enjoy the night view of Glorious City. Under the joint governance of the Moa royal family and the three major families, the city has changed from a wasteland to a well-known and prosperous place today, among which there are The sacrifices of the ancestors.
But today, he was inexplicably tired.
The night scene of Glorious City looks the same as before, still gorgeous and moving, but outside the range where the light tree can't shine, the faint surging undercurrent can no longer be ignored.
Even in the face of such a brightly lit territory, he felt a strong sense of unease.
Maybe I'm really getting old... Horford took a sip of the wine, the bitterness in his mouth seemed to be better than the sweetness.
"Father," the study door was pushed open, and a young man walked in, "Baron Alphonse of North Wind City wants to visit you."
"No," Horford said without looking back. "Just say I'm sick."
"But..." He hesitated for a while, then waved to the old housekeeper beside him.
The latter nodded knowingly, turned around and walked out of the study.
Seeing that there were only the two of them left in the room, the man said with some concern, "Father, this is already the twelfth noble you have rejected. Even I know that something is wrong with the one in the palace. The purpose of entering the city is obvious, you may make them mistakenly think that…”
"Why?"
"Mistakes..." He bit his lip, "You are still standing by His Majesty Ampain Moa."
"Horn..." Earl Quinn turned around and frowned at the intended successor of the Quinn family, "Don't you think that it is a mistake for the three major families of the Guangguang family to stand on the side of the Dawn Lord? something!"
"But now His Majesty doesn't need us anymore," Horn said, plucking up his courage, "since the army suffered a crushing defeat at Hermes, he has never asked you to discuss political affairs! One step into the palace, and even the outer city patrols have been replaced by mercenaries. Look at the people who are called into the castle by the king every day. Now he only needs clowns, actors and geishas!"
The count did not answer, but looked at the glass in silence.
Horn is only eighteen years old now, and even he can see the meaning behind "nobles from all over the country flocking to the capital". It is impossible for other local nobles to not notice any changes. In fact, when he learned the news of the defeat of the army, he expected the arrival of an army of more than 10,000 people on this day, and the lords of most of the towns participated in it, hoping to scrape a piece of flesh from the about to fall giant. . However, the end result is that not only did everyone not get the slightest property, but they lost their lives.
If only that was the case, the key was that the Lord of Dawn had returned alive, but his knights had been completely destroyed. When Am Paine returned to the capital in a state of embarrassment, the news spread almost like a fly. This means that two conditions are met at the same time, and someone needs to be responsible for this failure and the unfulfilled promise; and the power at Ampein's grasp can no longer dissuade other nobles from their eagerness to move.
These nobles who entered the city silently and came to visit at night were a clear signal. They undoubtedly want to see the reaction of the three major families, and then decide whether to attach or unite, but absolutely none of the answers will be to maintain the status quo.
Horford could guess the thoughts of those people with his eyes closed. Since he had lost so much in Hermes, he naturally had to find other places to make up for it.
"Father," Horn became a little anxious when he didn't speak, "it's not ten years ago, and Amperne Moa is no longer that Majesty Moa. Look at the Loseys! Now Otto Lowe Xi is still imprisoned in the palace! You are the former prime minister of the royal family, and you have a very high prestige among the people. As long as you stand up and pull in the other two families, those nobles will definitely be headed by you!"
"Stand out?" Earl Quin narrowed his eyes, and there was a hint of danger in his tone.
"Uh..." Horn suddenly suffocated, he lowered his head in fear, and murmured as if to answer and justify himself, "You don't really have to stand on His Majesty's side, do you? Otherwise, why would you say that you are ill and cannot see anyone. If it was the old king, you would definitely persuade those nobles to put the stability of the kingdom first.”
Horford sighed lightly after hearing the words, he was still a little too young, "Even if it is, do you think Ampere Moya can't see this?"
"What?" Horn was stunned.
"I bet that there are several pairs of eyes staring at us outside the mansion now, including who I met and where I went, Amperin must know." The Count returned to the desk and sat down, "Guess what? If I see those nobles, what will he do to me? Don't forget, even if he loses the entire knight order, his control over the capital will not be weakened. From the day Ampein ascended the throne, he began to I'm going to replace the bodyguards and castle guards! Open rebellion in front of the opponent's nose? Do you think those lords will raise troops to save me when he puts the noose around my neck?" Speaking of indignation, he couldn't even help it He slammed on the table, "Why today, it is always the nobles from other places who come to me, not the Losey and Tokat families, do you understand now!"
Horn sucked in a breath, "Then why don't you go back to the territory first? There are at least your knights and mercenaries, plus the serfs you have recruited, even if he wants to harm you... "
The Earl shook his head, "The Quinn family has been rooted here for too long. Branches, distant relatives, estates, powers... Even if I can sneak out of the city, I can't bring everyone out. As long as there is any trouble, they will not end well. , I can't make such a rash move. The fact that I stay in Radiance City is a guarantee in itself. The absence of illness is the limit of what I can express, and there is nothing else to do. "
Being closely connected with the capital, which was once the pride of the family, has now become his fatal weakness, which has to be said to be an irony.
"Really... But I don't think so." At this moment, a strange voice suddenly sounded outside the door.
Horford's face changed suddenly, the speaker was obviously not a servant or guard in the house, otherwise it would be impossible to do such an offense, and the housekeeper should be guarding the door, why there was no response from the outside when this person spoke.
"Who!" Horn was also shocked. He turned his back in a panic, trying to find a self-defense weapon, but in the end he could only hold a candlestick.
"It's me," the door opened in response, and in front of Horford Quinn was a blond woman who was both unfamiliar and familiar. "Do you remember me? Lord Earl."