The envoy sent by Grand Duke Handela was still an old acquaintance, Earl Churchwick, but this time his face was a little pale and his expression was very depressed. After entering the tent, he respectfully saluted the Second Highness: "The Duke of Handela The Earl of Nottingham Churchwick salutes His Majesty the King."
His Highness's face was livid, and he was furious because Lorist refused to carry out his attack order, saluting Earl Churchwick seemed unheard of. He didn't come back to his senses until the Grand Duke Feisabrun coughed repeatedly.
After waving his hands casually, the Second Highness said impatiently: "So who, if you have anything to say, just say it, that rebellious Handra asked you to come, do you have anything to say?"
Earl Churchwick's pale face flushed instantly, and he felt very resentful at the Second Highness's casual attitude and rude words. He straightened up and glared at the Second Highness with eyes angrily: "Your Majesty, please respect the honor of a nobleman. I am the Earl of Nottingham Churchwick, not that one! In addition, our Grand Duke is not rebellious, he has never rebelled against the empire !"
"Hehe, a traitor will never admit his crimes. As for you, the earl appointed by a traitor, it's already very polite for me to call you that..." The Second Highness smiled instead of anger.
"Really, it turns out that His Majesty regards his ancestors as rebels. If so, I have nothing to say. However, I doubt that a person who regards his ancestors as rebels has any qualifications to claim to inherit the greatness." Christen Empire!" Earl Churchwick confronted without showing any weakness.
"What did you say?" The Second Highness was furious. What he cared most about was that he inherited the legitimacy of the Christen royal family. Now that he was accused by Earl Churchwick for no reason, he immediately became furious, wishing he could draw his sword and cut off the emissary standing in front of him.
Churchwick sneered quietly.
Grand Duke Feisabrun had no choice but to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, please calm down. This emissary is the current Patriarch of the Nottingham family, a descendant of the blood knight Nottingham Jedweis, and his title was bestowed by Christen VI. , not appointed by Grand Duke Handela... "
His Highness was stunned, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He asked in surprise, "Blood Knight Nottingham Jedweis? Then why is he with Duke Handra?"
The Second Highness knew that he had said something wrong. He could claim that Grand Duke Handra was rebellious, but he could not accuse the Nottingham family of being rebellious. It would become a joke if it was spread out. In the history of the Krissen Empire, Krissen VI was a mediocre emperor who only reigned for seventeen years. In just seventeen years, he continued the policy of Christen V and continued to launch an invasion war against the Ford Business Alliance. However, during his reign, he personally sent troops to conquer the Ford Business Alliance only once.
It was this time that the royal conquest had fulfilled the prestige of the Nottingham family. The expedition of Christen VI this time was one of the few major defeats in the history of the war between the Christen Empire and the Ford Commercial Alliance. Not only was the army completely defeated, but even Christen VI was besieged under heavy siege. among. Fortunately, the various armed forces of the business alliance at that time did not realize this. They were going to deal with the enemies who had fled all the way first, and then deal with the remnants who had already been surrounded. This is the principle of eating meat first and then gnawing bones.
At this moment, Baron Jedweis of Nottingham, who came one step behind, led his family's small army of more than 1,300 people to the battlefield. The fleeing soldiers held the defensive line. Near dusk, some nobles and ministers who had fled back finally got together, and only then did they realize that they had lost King Krissen VI.
It's just that these nobles and ministers had already been terrified by the armed forces of the business alliance, and they finally escaped. They only knew how to push each other away from the responsibility of Christen VI, and no one dared to lead the troops to search and rescue. Seeing this, Baron Jedweis of Nottingham was furious, and returned to the battlefield with his family's armed forces to find the whereabouts of Christen VI.
I don't know how many times Baron Jedweis of Nottingham has gone through many fights and bloody battles. In short, he was lucky enough to rescue King Christen VI in the end, avoiding the great tragedy of the emperor falling into the enemy's hands. It's just that after he brought Christen VI back from the siege, the family armed forces of more than 1,300 people were still with him. Thirteen cavalry. However, the baron fell to the ground covered in blood and passed out. It was only when he was rescued that he discovered that there were forty-six wounds on his body...
Looking at Baron Nottingham Jedweis's blood dripping all over his body, remembering his heroic demeanor of leading the charge, opening the way for himself and protecting himself from the encirclement, King Christen VI was very moved to call him his blood knight, and said On the spot, the title of the Nottingham family was promoted from baron to earl. That is, this failed battle fulfilled the reputation of the Nottingham family as being unparalleled in loyalty and became a role model for noble knights.
The Second Highness did not understand Earl Churchwick's self-reported family name, and even called him a rebelliously appointed Earl, which was indeed a slap in the face. Christen VI should be his great-grandfather, and the Nottingham family is the earldom promoted by Christen VI himself. This is a fact that is known to all noble families in the empire.
"Your Majesty, the territory of the Nottingham family is located in Westwood Province. During the imperial civil war, Westwood Province was entrusted by the late king to the Grand Duke Handra and became the territory under the jurisdiction of the Handra family. After signing the armistice agreement, it belonged to Handra The Principality. So the Nottingham family became the nobles of the territory under the Duke of Handela." The Duke of Fisabrun explained.
After listening to the explanation given by Grand Duke Fessabrun, His Royal Highness made an unexpected move. He walked up to Earl Churchwick and bowed solemnly: "I'm sorry, Nottingham Church Lord Earl Wick, I sincerely apologize for my gaffe and rudeness, and please forgive my ignorance and offense."
Earl Churchwick was moved, and quickly stretched out his hand to help him: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be so polite. I took the liberty to ask for an audience and didn't explain clearly, which made you make a mistake. I can't afford your great gift."
His Royal Highness smiled and said: "If you make a mistake, you can correct it, as long as the Earl of Nottingham doesn't blame you."
The Earl of Churchwick waved his hands again and again: "Your Majesty, please call me by my first name, please don't call me the Earl of Nottingham..."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Your Majesty, my father let me inherit the title and territory before his death. His last words said that the Nottingham family now belongs to the Principality of Handela. Before the empire is restored, the name Nottingham should not be used again. You can only use the name in front of the title. He said Nottingham Forever the Nottingham of the Crimson Empire...”
After listening to Earl Churchwick's statement, His Royal Highness was very moved: "The Nottingham family is indeed a model of imperial nobles, a symbol of loyalty!"
After sighing, he glanced at Lorist by the way, Lorist pouted...
"Come, please sit down, Sir Earl Churchwick. Come, serve tea, and let the steward prepare the banquet. I want to entertain the Earl." His Highness ordered the guards around him.
After the guests and hosts were all seated, His Royal Highness asked with a pleasant smile: "Lord Churchwick, what can I learn from this visit?"
Earl Churchwick said: "Your Majesty, in fact, I am here this time on the order of Grand Duke Handela, and I mainly want to ask how His Majesty can agree to the peace and truce of the four Grand Dukes in the middle of the country. ?”
His Royal Highness shook his head: "Lord Earl, I cannot forgive the rebellious behavior of the four Grand Dukes in the middle. I respect the loyalty and inheritance of the Nottingham family very much. If you want to return to the kingdom, I welcome you very much. But I hope that you will not get entangled with those rebellious people. together."
"Your Majesty, you are wrong. The four Grand Dukes in the middle are not rebellious, and they have never betrayed you." Earl Churchwick argued.
"Have you never betrayed me? Hehe, I captured the Kingdom of Ridley back then. If the four principalities in the middle had raised their flags to respond, the empire would have been unified long ago. But those four rebels refused to remove the title of the principality and were greedy for power, and refused to return to revive the empire. Instead, I linked up with the business alliance and those rebellious bandits in the Kingdom of Ridleys and fought against them. In the end, my efforts to unify the empire failed and I defeated King Frederica. I swear that I will give these rebellious crimes their due No matter what, they can't stop my determination to unify and revive the empire." His Highness stood up, angrily expressing that he would never forgive the rebellious behavior of the four Grand Dukes in the middle.
Earl Churchwick applauded: "Your Majesty, I appreciate your efforts to revive and unify the empire. All nobles loyal to the empire understand your determination. But you are still wrong. The four grand dukes in the middle have never betrayed you. They are not Rebellion of the Empire.
As we all know, the families of the four grand dukes in the central region have been loyal since the empire era. Whether it is to conquer rebels or send troops to the business alliance, they have always sent troops and efforts, and have never disappointed the empire. The families of the grand dukes sacrificed many family members for the empire.
Until the civil war broke out in the empire and the three kings fought for the throne, the four princes in the middle had always supported the former king, believing that he was the orthodox inheritance of the Krissen royal family. , and even suffered bloody revenge from the eldest prince and the second prince, and the territory was greatly damaged. Because of this, the former king entrusted the remaining four provinces in the central region to the jurisdiction of the four grand dukes in return for their merits. Your Majesty, you will not deny these facts, will you
With the spared support of the four princes in the middle, the army of the former king defeated the first prince and the second prince. When the rebellion was about to be quelled, Grand Duke Madras unexpectedly raised the flag of rebellion, splitting the four princes in the middle. The communication channel with the imperial capital, so that the civil war of the empire can continue. At that time, the four princes in the central region also had to hold together to protect themselves because of the exhaustion of their soldiers and soldiers who had been fighting for years, and they were unable to send troops to quell the chaos.
It wasn't until the business alliance sent people to mediate that an armistice agreement was signed to quell the civil war in the empire, and the four central duchies were established. At that time, they also obtained the approval of the former king. The four grand dukes expressed to the former king that once the Antinac kingdom had hope of reviving the empire, they would definitely raise their troops to return to the embrace of the empire. For this reason, they were envied by the eldest prince, and shortly after the establishment of the four central duchies, they were attacked by the eldest prince, and the battle lasted for three years.
But at that time, the kingdom of Antinac was assassinated by the previous king, and it was in chaos. It was not until His Majesty took power that the situation in the kingdom was stabilized. At that time, His Majesty was furiously mobilizing horses, and the four princes in the central region, regardless of the poverty of the people, received His Majesty's request for help and squeezed their money out of their teeth to support His Majesty. Your Majesty, is this true
When His Majesty's powerful troops raided King Federica's city and defeated the Kingdom of Ridleys in one fell swoop, the four grand dukes in the middle and us nobles of the principality were overjoyed, thinking that there was hope for the revival of the empire. However, when His Majesty came to the four principalities in the central region, he suddenly raised a harsh request, asking the four princes in the central region to remove their country titles and transfer or reduce their seals to other places, and the place where the seals were transferred still belonged to the Principality of Madras. Why? Your Majesty, you actually gave such an order, how can the four Grand Dukes in the middle feel sorry for you and the kingdom? What mistake did they make to allow you to treat them this way? Can just an excuse not to send troops to help people be convincing
When the news came out, almost all the nobles of the principality were outraged. You didn’t even show yourself, but let one of your knights announce such an order to us. That’s why the four grand dukes in the middle fought against each other. All the nobles of the principality joined their ranks. Your Majesty, we are not rebellious, we are just resisting unfair orders, this is what all nobles with conscience will do! The four princes in the middle are not rebellious, and neither are we! "
Earl Churchwick became more emotional as he talked, and Lorist laughed beside him. He had heard this version of the story once, but it was a rare scene to confront the Second Highness like this. He believed that His Royal Highness would make such a decision based on the nature of His Highness the Second Highness. Back then, when he raided the King City of Federica with an army of 300,000 in his hand, he was triumphant and high-spirited. It is not surprising to make such a condition. It can only be said that he was already dazzled by the victory.
The Second Highness glared at Lorist with a dark face, and said to Earl Churchwick with embarrassment: "I'm sorry, my lord, I caught a cold and was injured when I surprised King Federica when I climbed over the snowy mountain. , has been ill in bed. I have never issued such an unfair order, it is likely that my knights misheard my will and caused such a misunderstanding... "
The Second Highness blamed those knights who died in battle for all the misdemeanors at that time, but he was indeed seriously ill at that time and rarely showed his face in front of people.
Earl Churchwick did not expect His Royal Highness to answer in this way, and immediately reacted in a daze: "Your Majesty, since it is a misunderstanding, can we stop fighting now? The war between the kingdom and the four principalities in the middle will hurt the vitality of the empire." The four Grand Dukes in the middle have never objected to returning to the embrace of the empire, and they also hope to revive the great Krissen Empire."
His Royal Highness pondered for a while, then sat down again: "Master Earl, I think Grand Duke Handela should have mentioned their request when you came, please tell me."
"Your Majesty, the four Grand Dukes in the middle are willing to remove the duchy title and return to your command. At the same time, they are willing to offer you three million gold blessings. The only request is to stay in their traditional family territory." Earl Churchwick Concisely and concisely stated the minimum requirements of the four Grand Dukes in the middle.
Lorist blinked at Grand Duke Fessabrun, meaning look, the one million gold dollars they promised to give to our family is gone, and now it is dedicated to the Second Highness.
"Well, Lord Earl, you rest here for a few days first, and I will seriously consider this request." His Royal Highness said to Earl Churchwick very politely.
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