As night falls, the lights come on.
Hundreds of candles lit the banquet hall of the Benson Family Castle like daylight.
There are three rectangular dining tables on the precious oak floor, and the tables are filled with all kinds of food and wine.
The young and beautiful maid stood respectfully at the table with a trained smile, ready to serve the distinguished guests at any time.
The solemn and beautiful music flows from the harp in the corner of the hall, making people feel like they are under the vast and quiet starry sky.
However, the atmosphere of the banquet at this time was neither warm nor harmonious, but full of chilling atmosphere.
Viscount Benson, who was sitting on the main seat, had a flattering and awkward smile on his face. He didn't look like a master should, but was more like a servant trying to please his master.
In his lower position, sat Marquis Garcia with a frosty face, and he was actually wearing armor instead of a dress.
Not only the Marquis of Garcia, but the northern lords who were invited to the banquet at this time were all in armor. If someone who didn't know the place walked in, they would think that a military meeting was being held here.
As the host, Viscount Benson certainly didn't dare to reprimand the guests for their rudeness. Instead, he kept trying to ease the atmosphere, but his efforts didn't seem to get much response.
Just as the atmosphere became more and more stagnant, an attendant walked quickly to Viscount Benson and whispered something in his ear.
Viscount Benson, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, regained his energy in an instant, and said loudly:
"Master Marquis Garcia, Lord Earl Angelet, I just received news that Bishop Danny's crime has been confirmed!"
"Oh? Really?" Colin put down his wine glass, gave Viscount Benson an encouraging look, and signaled him to continue.
Viscount Benson also knew that he no longer had the power at both ends of the first mouse, and immediately said:
"Yes! My guards have found a large amount of gold of unknown origin in Bishop Danny's private estate, and the manor's steward has admitted that it is the result of Bishop Danny's privately accepting donations and illegally withholding tithes over the years. In addition, my treasurer also discovered a large amount of funds that have disappeared in the ledger of the Falcon City church!"
"Very good!" Colin nodded with a smile, "I believe your actions will be appreciated by the Lord! Bishop Danny will be temporarily detained on your behalf, and will be handed over to you after Cardinal Mensay arrives." Let him deal with it."
"yes!"
Colin immediately stood up holding the wine glass, and said loudly:
"Everyone, let us raise our glasses together to celebrate that another hypocrite who has tarnished the glory of the Supreme Lord has received the punishment he deserves!"
At this moment, the atmosphere in the hall finally changed. All the northern lords got up one after another and raised their glasses to drink together.
It's like welcoming another lord to join.
Viscount Benson himself understood that now he had to follow the gang from the northern border to the dark.
Even if Cardinal Mensay dealt with Bishop Danny according to the evidence he gave later, he would never praise the Benson family for this.
On the contrary, the church will only regard the actions of the Benson family as a serious provocation.
How many of these high-level church figures are completely innocent
How could they be willing to live a poor life like an ascetic monk with huge power that is almost unsupervised
This time, the Benson family pulled down Bishop Danny. If they hadn't received the due warning, could other lords learn from them and intimidate or even control the bishops in their diocese
In this way, the independence and autonomy of the church will be greatly weakened.
Moreover, if the corruption of a large number of high-level church figures is exposed, it will also be a great blow to the prestige of the church.
Therefore, this move by the Benson family basically cut off the path of reconciliation with the church, and they can only follow the northern border to make a big fuss.
After accepting the nomination certificate, the Benson family is "one of our own".
Finally, there was some banquet atmosphere in the hall, and it was no longer as stagnant as before.
Of course, the atmosphere of the banquet was still not that warm. After all, the Duke of St. Hilde was still unconscious and the Pope had not yet received the punishment he deserved. It was too early to celebrate at this time.
Especially Marquis Garcia kept a cold face, and everyone present did not dare to be presumptuous.
Of course, this restrained banquet did not last long, and it ended just after eight o'clock.
Everyone left separately, but Colin was stopped by Marquis Garcia.
The two left the banquet hall and walked along the silent corridor under the quiet moonlight. After a while, Marquis Garcia spoke:
"If you force the Benson family to join us, will it arouse the fear of the royal family?"
Colin immediately understood Marquis Garcia's concerns, and said, "Master Marquis, do you think the royal family is a force that we can win over?"
"Isn't it? Limiting the power of the church has always been the long-cherished wish of the San Lorenzo family."
"That's right, but I just received a message from Yulong City."
"what news?"
"Emperor Reinhardt originally planned a public speech, and it is said that he wanted to express his position on the current situation. But on the day of the speech, Emperor Reinhardt said that the illness did not appear."
After hearing the news, Marquis Garcia frowned immediately.
After thinking for a moment, he guessed: "So, he doesn't intend to publicly express his support for any party, but is ready to stand by and watch?"
"Yes." Colin nodded, and added, "Also, I got another piece of news. Queen Midella has left Royal Dragon City with Prince Harrison and Princess Judy."
Marquis Garcia paused and asked, "Where are they going? Could it be the northern border?"
"should be."
Marquis Garcia frowned and fell into deep thought.
Ke Lin waited for a while before whispering: "Lord Marquis, I guess that Emperor Reinhardt should have grown jealous of the St. Hilde family, that's why Queen Midella was forced to leave Yulong City."
Marquis Garcia snorted coldly and said, "Stupid!"
Colin also secretly agreed.
What the emperor did was really chilling. As the leader of the nobles, he actually stood by at such a critical moment. Couldn't he see that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to suppress the power of the church
"So, Lord Marquis, since the royal family is already afraid of us, there is no need for us to be restrained." Colin said forcefully, "I plan to use a similar method to force the lords of Crimson Flame to stand in line on this journey." , I would like to see if the emperor is still planning to continue pretending to be dead under such circumstances."
The Marquis of Garcia turned around, stared into Colin's eyes, and asked in a deep voice, "Colin, have you ever thought about whether everything you have done will be backlashed in the future?"
Ke Lin smiled faintly, and said, "Of course I thought about it. If the Glory Empire is calm, I know that my end will be extremely miserable.
But it's different now.
The invasion of the Orc Empire is imminent, and the Glorious Empire is facing an unprecedented threat.
The world of chaos is about to begin, and fear of the head and the tail is the way to death! "
Marquis Garcia stared into Colin's eyes for a while, with an extremely complicated expression on his face, and said:
"It's a pity. If you come from a paladin family..."
In the middle of speaking, Marquis Garcia suddenly shut up, turned and left.
Ke Lin watched the other party's figure gradually disappearing into the darkness, touched the tip of his nose, and smiled playfully.
(end of this chapter)