next morning.
As soon as Colin finished his breakfast, the attendant came to report that Cardinal Mensay had arrived in Falcon City.
It stands to reason that Colin should go to the gate of the city to greet him, but now that the two sides have already torn their skins, he is too lazy to do these superficial efforts. He just asked Viscount Benson to greet him while he went to the living room to wait.
After sitting for a while, Marquis Garcia also received the news and came to the living room.
Colin got up to greet him.
Marquis Garcia nodded and said hello, "You will be fully responsible for negotiating with Mensay later."
After this period of observation, the Marquis of Garcia has recognized Colin's political talent, and he himself is not good at it, so he simply delegated power this time.
"Okay." Of course Colin would not be polite, and immediately agreed.
The two sat for a while, and saw a hale and hearty old man with white beard and hair, led by Viscount Benson, into the drawing room.
The red priest's robe on his body showed his identity——Cardinal Mensay of the Radiance Church.
"Marquis Garcia, I haven't seen you for many years, I didn't expect you to age like this!"
When we first met, Cardinal Mensay sarcastically said.
"Don't worry, Mensay, you will die before me." Of course, Marquis Garcia would not back down.
Colin frowned when he saw this tense situation—
The development of things is a bit different from what he expected.
Originally, he thought that since the church sent a cardinal to the meeting, they should also try to see if they could reach a reconciliation with the northern border, but why did this Mensay open fire as soon as he came up, so there was no intention of peace talks.
It was only then that Colin realized that Marquis Garcia had expected Mensay's attitude long ago, so he just said to let him take full responsibility for the negotiation—
I thought it was trust, but now it looks like a dumping...
"You are Count Angelet, right?" Mensay finished yelling at Marquis Garcia, and immediately turned his gaze to Colin who was aside.
Colin squeezed out a perfunctory smile and said, "Yes."
Mensay looked Colin up and down with rather impolite eyes, and finally said:
"What a young man who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth!"
The smile on Ke Lin's face instantly subsided, and there was no doubt in his heart—this old guy didn't come here for peace talks at all!
Seeing that the situation had completely collapsed as soon as it came up, Viscount Benson shrank aside, trying to reduce his sense of existence, for fear of being affected.
But Mensay obviously didn't intend to let him go. After sitting down on the sofa, he asked Viscount Benson:
"Viscount Benson, I heard that you detained the Bishop of Falcon City?"
Viscount Benson's heart skipped a beat, but he still bite the bullet and said, "That's right, Lord Mensay, I have found evidence of Bishop Danny's corruption, so in order to clean up the hypocrites of our lord and to protect the reputation of the church , I ordered its temporary seizure.
Of course, it is up to you to decide how to judge Bishop Danny in the end. "
Mensay smiled slightly, and said: "When judging a bishop, you must be cautious, and the 'criminal evidence' you mentioned must also be carefully examined by the church, otherwise a pious believer may be wronged.
Viscount Benson, are you right? "
Viscount Benson opened his mouth, not knowing whether to say right or wrong for a while.
But before he could figure out how to answer, Mensay changed the subject and said:
"However, Viscount Benson, if I remember correctly, the "Glorious Code" clearly stipulates that the lord is not allowed to enter the private residence of the church and church staff without the Pope's permission, right
So, how could you break into Bishop Danny's private estate and search it? "
Viscount Benson was dumbfounded, and quickly looked at Colin and Marquis Garcia for help.
Just as Ke Lin was about to speak, he saw Mensay's eyes had turned and he asked aggressively:
"Marquis Garcia, Count Angelet, do you think Viscount Benson should be tried for this?"
This time, Colin knew that the cardinal was not an easy character to mess with, so he immediately cheered up and said:
"Cardinal Mensay, although Viscount Benson's actions are suspected of violating the "Glorious Code", they are also for the sake of safeguarding the glory of the Supreme Lord, which is understandable. Even if Viscount Benson is to be judged, it will be up to the Senate and His Majesty the Emperor." to make a decision.”
"That's natural." Mensay nodded, "Who is right and wrong between Viscount Benson and Bishop Danny, and how to deal with it? Let's not talk about it for the time being. Let's discuss Cardinal Tournance in Winter City first. About being killed."
Colin chuckled, shook his head and said:
"Cardinal Mensay, you didn't understand the crux of the matter. The reason why Tournance was killed was because he conspired to assassinate the Duke of St. Hilde, causing her to fall into a coma and has never woken up.
This time, 200,000 soldiers from the northern border came to Fei Yanling, just to ask the church to explain this! "
"Explanation?" Mensay stared at Colin and asked blankly, "I don't know what kind of explanation the North wants?"
Colin immediately said: "We only have two demands. First, Pope Gregory, the mastermind of this conspiracy, must abdicate. Hypocrites and blasphemers like him are not qualified to continue to serve as Pope!"
Second, the Northern Diocese must be independent! "
"Independence?" Mensay narrowed his pupils and said in a deep voice, "Count Angelet, can you explain to me what it means to be independent in the Northern Diocese?"
"That is to say, although the Northern Diocese is nominally under the unified jurisdiction of the church, it has a high degree of autonomy.
Specifically, the diocese's finances are self-supporting, the diocesan staff are appointed independently, and the believers of the diocese manage independently... Oh, and, most importantly, the post of the archbishop of the northern diocese will be appointed by the Duke of the northern border. "
"Ha ha ha ha… "
After hearing Colin's explanation, Mensay suddenly burst into laughter, as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.
After a while, he calmed down, stopped smiling, and said:
"Count Angelet, do you know what you are talking about?"
"Of course." Colin nodded with a serious face, "This is the requirement of the North."
Mensay stood up, walked slowly in front of Ke Lin, and said lightly:
"Then do you want to hear the request of the Church?"
"Please say."
"We also have two requests. First, hand over the murderer who killed Cardinal Tournance!" Speaking of which, Mensayi gave Marquis Garcia a serious look, "Second, the northern army unconditionally withdraws from the Flame collar."
Colin smiled and said: "Cardinal Mensay, it seems that our differences are still a bit big under the current situation! However, I believe that as the northern army is getting closer to the holy mountain, the differences between us will decrease accordingly.”
Mensay smiled noncommittally, and said, "Really? Then I'll wait and see."
After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked out, saying in his mouth: "I will report the situation of this meeting to His Holiness the Pope, and I hope that you in the north will think about it again, and don't make a decision that you will regret for the rest of your life."
Watching Mensay's back gradually disappearing outside the door, Ke Lin fell into deep thought.
The attitude of the church was extremely tough, which surprised him a little.
I just don't know if it's just the church's negotiating skills, or are they really confident
(end of this chapter)