Kingdom’s Bloodline

Chapter Fifty-One Shezu (Part 1)

"no."

After Vogel pitched his idea, Mallos flatly rejected it:

"It's too risky to shoot now."

Vogel frowned:

"This is what you mentioned first, and now you have changed your mind?"

Mallos shook his head:

"Now he has a legitimate reason to ask His Highness to witness the duel in the name of revenge."

Vogel snorted in disdain:

"Just ass."

In front of them, Thales was still staring at Anke, who was holding the hostage, and his thoughts were confused.

what to do?

Deny him, allow him, kill him, convince him...

very messy.

"Bailal!"

In the hall, Earl Godwin, who came forward to communicate, was furious and denounced:

"You are too presumptuous! Staggering and intimidating His Highness, is this the behavior of a gentleman, the behavior of a courtier?"

But Anke was clearly prepared, he did not flinch, and looked back proudly:

"Don't everyone, as a citizen of the stars, have the right to appeal to our Supreme King?"

The strength of his hand made the hostage old baron groan again in pain.

"Is it not the duty of every king to listen to the sincere voice of every citizen?"

Anke's words resounded through the hall, which not only made Thales frown harder, but also made the already restless guests even more restless.

Earl Godwin was at a loss for words for a while, and couldn't find any words to refute—whether it was "appeal" or "king", the trap formed by these words was too obvious and too dangerous.

Mallos ignored the situation in the venue, remained calm, and continued to communicate with the deputy captain in a low voice:

"If we strike first,

The wrong person was His Highness Thales, a cowardly, incompetent, and despicable silencer—in his Mindis Hall, at the banquet he held. "

Vogel thought for a while, and said decisively:

"The Guards can take responsibility, you and me."

"It's no different to take the blame and resign when necessary."

But Mallos shook his head:

"You think people care?"

His words have profound meaning:

"The royal guard, the focus is always on the royal family, not the guard."

Listening to the conversation between the two guard officers behind him, Thales felt more and more heavy in his heart.

what to do?

"His Royal Highness Thales!"

Anke turned his head and looked expectantly at the tallest person at the moment:

"Heavenly justice is coming, just waiting for your order."

"how dare you!"

His aggressiveness once again drew Godwin's reprimand, but Anke ignored him and just stared at Thales.

Like stalking his prey.

"Reject him, Your Highness."

Vogel looked angry, and whispered behind Thales:

"Lord of the stars, the royal family is majestic and will never be coerced by anyone."

Thales was about to open his mouth subconsciously, but Mallos' voice came softly from the other side:

"And force him to kill the baron?"

"Let His Highness become a cold-blooded bystander, a conniving murderer?"

"Don't forget, those are still the Canxing Seven Attendants serving the royal family."

Thales' teeth were suddenly heavy, making him speechless.

Vogel immediately retorted:

"That can't encourage barbaric vulgar customs like 'duel duels'! Your Highness is contaminated with the influence of the Northland, so it's the second thing to keep people talking. If there are imitators in the kingdom in the future..."

Earl Godwin and Anke's high-pitched mutual rejection, Mallos and Vogel's low-pitched quarrel, the back-and-forth arguments of the guests, countless voices entered Thales' perception range from the senses of hell, shaking his consciousness , hit his spirit.

It made him, who had been tormented by the banquet all night, exhausted.

Mallos' voice continued, calm and indifferent, refuting Vogel:

"No matter how bad and outdated this custom is, it is still His Royal Highness' means to reject King Nuen. It has become a good talk and has become a symbol. Now deny it..."

That was a misunderstanding.

Thales was exhausted, expressionless.

Back then he was just, just scaring the Yankees, and Nunn never—why made it look like he really had a duel with a born king? "

Thales sighed heavily in his heart.

Why did he challenge King Nun to a duel in the first place?

God knows how much he regrets it.

Also, who spread the word?

In the Hall of Heroes back then, were the Grand Dukes of Exeter present so loose with their mouths?

There was a small commotion among the guards: D.D's expression was twisted, dragging Glover's chains, trying to squeeze in front of the two officers.

"Please allow me to duel with him, Your Highness, sir."

Doyle held down Glover, suppressed his emotions, and stared at the enemy who held his father hostage:

"I can kill him openly - this is just a grudge between two families."

D.D looked anxious, expectant and nervous.

Vogel snorted lightly in his nose, disdainful.

Thales' face was gloomy and uncertain.

"That's right in the arms of that guy."

Mallos shook his head:

"Bailal died in a glorious duel to avenge his father. His experience will be remembered and forgiven to the greatest extent. No one will remember his illegal actions and ulterior motives."

"His Royal Highness, including the royal family, will be forced to the cusp of the storm, and will be given the reputation of bullying others and taking their lives carelessly."

In the hall, Anke calmly and clearly refuted Earl Godwin's reprimand. Baron Doyle trembled under his sword, and the audience's discussions continued one after another, becoming more and more restless.

D.D gritted his teeth.

Mallos' words became more and more dignified:

"And he is just someone's tool, a pawn on the table."

piece.

[Children, be strong. 】

[Don't be a chess piece that is manipulated and sacrificed at will. 】

Thinking of Falkenhauser's words, Thales tensed the muscles in his arms.

"As for those people in the audience, the hands behind them..."

Mallos took to heart the following words:

Maybe they will take advantage of Bailar's death to exaggerate this case, which was originally just a contract dispute, and raise it to an unprecedented height-such as the rule of the kingdom.

Doyle and Bailar.

In the entire kingdom, how many cases similar to theirs can be counted?

How many situations are different from them?

There are similarities and differences with them, and how many examples are there for mutual reference?

Mallos stared.

No, it will be endowed with a different meaning and become the fuse of a series of subsequent political storms...

"But, Mallos," Thales tried not to care about the gazes cast on him by countless people, turned his head, and whispered, the words were tired:

"He's just a guy who's driven by the situation and puts everything in his hands."

Mallos looked at Anke with burning eyes and narrowed his eyes.

"So he's stubborn and dangerous."

"Even more so than the caring people behind him."

The watchman said gloomyly:

"It's a good chess game."

"A good sword."

Good chess.

Thales didn't answer, just closed his eyes, feeling even more tired.

"Your Highness!"

Anke became more and more impatient, and his urging voice overshadowed Earl Godwin's reprimand:

"What made you hesitate so far?"

The prisoner of the Bailar family took a step forward, making the surrounding guards even more nervous. At the same time, he raised his dagger and pointed it at the Duke of Xinghu on the steps!

"Hesitation about fairness and justice, or confusion about imperial traditions?"

Anke glared at Doyle beside Thales:

"Or there is a difference between intimacy and intimacy, would you rather protect the vassals under your command and the personal guards by your side?"

D.D's complexion changed, showing a scowl.

"Is there no other way?"

Doyle's fist was shaking, Glover had to hold him tightly:

"Just let this bastard talk nonsense here, hurt my father, and damage His Highness's reputation..."

"The best way is to strengthen the investigation beforehand to suppress the disturbance," Mallos said in a deep voice:

"Make this guy unable to speak."

"Let the guards keep this out of the hall so it doesn't exist—whether it's the case or the assassination or the kidnapping."

Vogel's complexion became more and more ugly, and D.D became more and more anxious:

"His Royal Highness..."

The guests' discussions once again ushered in a wave of climax, and there were many fierce quarrels among them.

Many people criticized Anke's disrespectful behavior, but the son of the Bailar family was not afraid, either standing still, or raising his voice to refute.

Thales was breathing in a trance, only to feel that the nails on the palm of his hand were pricking more and more painful.

at this moment.

"I figured it out."

Mallos spoke in a low voice, attracting the attention of the guards:

"There is another way."

"It can not only save the baron's life, but also solve the predicament."

Vogel and Thales looked sideways.

But Mallos turned to Doyle instead:

"Get ready for a duel, D.D."

Doyle should have instinctively, and was stunned after reacting:

"Okay—sir?"

I saw Mallos' face remained indifferent, but his tone became more serious:

"But, Danny Doyle Herald Officer."

He rarely called Doyle by his full name, making Doyle nervous.

"Listen carefully."

The next moment, the watchman's words made everyone's expressions change:

"You're going to die."

Thales was stunned.

Vogel and the surrounding guard members were also stunned.

What?

"This duel," Mallos said indifferently, but his eyes were fixed on D.D:

"you must……"

"Death at his hands."

Thales reacted and was startled.

He wasn't the only one with this reaction.

"What?" Vogel looked at the watchman in disbelief.

"The opponent wants to take advantage of public anger to make trouble, we will pay back the original amount."

Mallos turned his head indifferently, not looking at Doyle, who was completely stunned and in a daze.

"Doyle accepted the duel, but was killed by his opponent-in this way, no matter what the reason is, the Bailar family held a banquet, borrowed foreign evil methods, and killed their peers in the country. They are naturally wrong. Everyone remembers, only your family Bearing the burden of humiliation, and His Royal Highness Thales's last resort."

"After the incident, the royal family can take the middle ground to uphold justice, occupy the moral high ground, and calm the aftermath."

In the astonished eyes of everyone, Mallos was indifferent, telling his terrible proposal:

"Your Highness doesn't know, and is impartial."

"Doyle does not shy away from responsibility, and takes it personally."

"The end of the story."

There was silence among the guards.

"Death..." Doyle froze in place, unable to recover.

Only Vogel survived the initial shock, frowning and questioning:

"But this way, the Doyle family..."

"The son fought gloriously for his father, died in a duel, and saved the face of the royal family," Mallos stared at the old baron who collapsed on the ground:

"Father cowardly evaded responsibility, died of murder, and brought chaos to the kingdom."

"It's about the bigger picture, and they know how to choose."

Thales saw that Doyle trembled slightly, with a blank face.

It was as if the former D.D had disappeared.

"No," Thales said subconsciously:

"There must be a better way..."

But at this moment, neither Vogel nor Mallos seemed to care about his words.

"But after that," Vogel crossed his arms, as if he was really thinking about the possibilities and pros and cons of this way out:

"Canxing Seven Attendants, their attitude towards the royal family..."

D.D raised his head in a daze.

"There are pros and cons, but that's not something you and I can talk about, it's the consideration of His Majesty and the adults at the imperial meeting."

Mallos said indifferently, just like Thales "suggested" him to stay in the carriage on the day he returned to Yongxing City:

"In the chess game, Bailar is just a pawn, and the seven servants of Canxing are also pawns, and you and I are also pawns."

"You can only choose the move with the least loss."

Thales froze in a daze.

piece.

Another pawn.

Chess pieces at the mercy of others.

"Is it worth it?" Thales asked softly.

But Mallos was still discussing with Vogel and didn't notice him.

"So, Vanguard Doyle, how much do you want to save your father's life, save your family, and save His Highness from the current predicament?"

Vogel softly asked Doyle, who was already speechless-this was the first time he faced D.D directly, calling him his last name and position.

D.D trembled again!

But Vogel kept pushing:

"Is it to the point where you are willing to die for it?"

Doyle raised his head, his tone was terrified, his breathing was rapid and restless:

"me……"

No one knew what he was going to say.

"That guy's position is lax," Glover on the side suddenly said:

"Sir, let me go around to the rear, I am confident that I can kill with a single sword..."

Doyle looked at his partner, color in his eyes again.

Comalos interrupted them smoothly:

"It's the only way."

"Someone has set up an unsolvable chess game, and we can only make the most rational and concise choice."

The watchman looked at the distraught D.D:

"She pawn."

He looked at the unbelievable Thales again:

"King Bao."

The guards drew silence again.

Thales closed his eyes and let go of his fist.

She pawns.

Baowang.

Who is pawn.

Who is the king?

But in the hall, Anke was obviously tired of the entanglement of Earl Godwin and others, and didn't want to procrastinate: "Your Highness—"

"Is it worth it!"

Thales opened his eyes suddenly and interrupted him loudly!

The Duke of Xinghu spoke angrily, drawing the attention of the hall to himself again:

"does it worth?"

The Duke of Xinghu took a step forward, looking at the spoiler at his banquet with complicated eyes, and his tone was full of double indignation and injustice:

"Anke Bailar!"

"No matter who instigated you, they and their schemes, are you willing to be a pawn and exchange your life for it?"

Anke was stunned for a moment.

Not only him, everyone in the guard was also stunned for a moment.

A few seconds later, the hostage-taker laughed loudly.

"Instigate?"

Anke first glanced bitterly at the embarrassed old baron, then said coldly:

"You don't believe it, do you?"

"When you encounter similar things, you feel that it is a political conspiracy, that you have ulterior motives, and that it is a calculation of interests," Anke sneered, pointing his dagger at the crowd around him, causing the guests to commotion:

"Just like most of the high-ranking, self-conscious, cold-blooded, ignorant, smart, self-professed, selfish and hypocritical idiots think that when they are watching from the sidelines."

Thales frowned.

"'Why bother, there's always another way' and they say that, and 'it's a conspiracy,' and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and they say that, and that it's not that simple, it must be a conspiracy."

"Just like you are now."

Anke said sadly:

"You don't believe what I've done, you're already me, a flesh and blood person, the last and most desperate choice."

For a moment, Thales felt that he understood the meaning in the opponent's eyes.

But this feeling drifted away immediately, and Anke's gaze became strange again.

Thales was silent for a moment.

"Then where did your weapon come from?"

The prince said in a deep voice:

"The security of the banquet is very strict, you can't bring it in alone."

Anke was taken aback.

He looked at the dagger in his hand, first smiled, and then his eyes turned cold.

"For those who have suffered injustice and have no way out, Your Highness," Anke Bailar looked at Thales again, with a sad and firm tone:

"Weapons of resistance abound."

"Within reach."

He ignored Earl Godwin's almost maddened roar, and the blade hit the baron's neck again.

"My lord, choose for me—murder or duel?"

Thales swallowed his throat.

D.D's expression tightened, and his trance eyes regained focus, reflecting the struggle in it.

Mallos cast his gaze from the side and landed on Thales.

But compared to this moment, the eyes of anyone in the hall are more lethal.

She pawns.

King?

Anke, D.D, and Mallos all focused their eyes.

Thales only felt dry mouth.

But in the next second, another high pitched female voice cut through the air:

"Bullshit choice!"

"Shit Bailar!"

Everyone was startled, and when they turned around, they found that it was the Baroness Doyle who broke free from the crowd and described herself as embarrassed but with a ruthless expression on her face.

Her breathing was trembling, her heavy makeup had already been spent, and her gorgeous clothes were in a mess, but she still gritted her teeth and raised her finger, pointing directly at the captor:

"You young brat! What else do you know besides wielding knives, swords, drinking and drinking in a broken tower thousands of miles away!"

"What kind of scum your father is—don't you know it yourself!"

Anke was taken aback for a moment, then frowned.

Like a Jedi rebound from extreme fear, the Baroness's expression twisted.

"Before I remarried to the Doyle family, my ex-husband was born as a businessman in Yatiao Town. I know better than anyone—what kind of pickle your father is!"

"Bailal! Ha, that bastard son of a bitch! He was a first-class rogue knight when he was young, frivolous and vain, and even cheated in knightly tournaments!"

The baroness was full of contempt and hatred:

"So grandiose and self-willed, short-sighted but insatiable!"

"If it weren't for the luck of the four cousins and two brothers all dying naked after the bloody year, when will the Baron of Yatiao Town get his turn!"

Anke was a little unexpected, and didn't know how to react:

"you……"

"As a lord, your father only knows how to extort money and collect money! Under his rule, Yatiao's town service was extended, taxes and fees were added, but the punishment was harsh and never lenient! As a result, all businesses withered, public resentment boiled, officials were corrupt, and bribery was rampant. !"

Anke was very annoyed:

"No, he..."

But the baroness was obviously furious and didn't let him have a chance to speak:

"Aside from other things, it's just that he is financially poor but he doesn't know how to repent. He insisted on resorting to military and debt expeditions, and instead cost countless lives... just to go to the desert to take risks to make a fortune, grab military exploits, and save face?"

"Isn't that clear enough?"

Mrs. Doyle spoke disheveled and out of breath.

But the smoother her piercing voice became, even Thales could hear a few traces of the country accent of the Western Wilderness, which was obviously cultivated since childhood and hard to change:

"In Yatiao Town, from officials to farmers, from merchants to craftsmen, everyone hates your father, hate it so much!"

"Every month, the poor and overwhelmed people gather in the mountains and forests to engage in robbery business, which spreads to the surrounding area and causes endless harm. From the local townspeople to the Jinghe River across the river, they all suffer from it. My ex-husband died in it! "

"Not to mention that every year, countless refugees leave the wasteland and sneak across the Mirror River to other lands—including the territory of the Doyle family, just to eat and wear new clothes!"

In the hall, everyone was attracted by the Baroness's words, and surprise and discussion swept through the crowd.

"After I remarried, your father still shamelessly asked the lords in the Jinghe area for the 'redemption fee' of these refugees! The Baron—my current husband can only pay for his appetite sometimes, and sometimes appease the refugees. They go back to farming and labor to prevent the increase of thieves from endangering the surrounding area, and this is what you said, renting tenants in different places!"

Anke was so shocked and angry that he couldn't speak for a while.

"Mortgage the land in the contract? Damn it, do you think that in the whole country, which honest nobleman would take the ancestral fief population as a mortgage in order to make money? Do you think that after so many years, you have lent it to your father Is the Doyle family the only ones with money!"

"Whether merchants or nobles, knights and officials, once the deadline for repaying the money is up, he will use the noble law to play a rogue, threatening to sue the creditor for 'murdering the nobles, granting the land privately'-this kind of bullying, treachery, and shameless shit , he is much older than you!"

Anke held the sword tremblingly, his face pale amidst the discussions.

The Baroness exclaimed angrily:

"In the face of such a rogue lord, the vassals of the Bailar tribe are furious but dare not speak out—do you think Baron Jinghe has to be like a saint and how generous his shots are to make them cry and fight to the death? Come to flee?"

"In order to escape from your father, in order to survive, and for the children of the next generation, the people of Yatiao Town are desperately looking for a way out, and secretly unite to overcome difficulties. What's wrong with that?"

Under the surprised eyes of everyone, the Baroness gritted her teeth and continued:

"But our Doyle family is generous and generous. For the sake of being neighbors and close relatives for generations, we rent their wasteland, collect normal taxes, appease their spirits, and hire exiled labor so that people can live normally. As for turning grass into bandits, even clearing roads to protect the roads to drive away bandits and maintain the peace of the two places..."

"However, what's wrong with earning some profits and convenience in the middle?"

Under Anke's coercion, the old baron had tears and bruises all over his face, and nodded cooperatively, with an innocent expression.

The baroness became more and more rigid as she spoke, pointing with her hands on her hips:

"For your rascal father who is insatiable and ambitious, in order to stop him from going crazy, we show mercy and donate money to the dogs... What's wrong with that?"

"And now you came to look for us, didn't you? Still have the face to fight us?"

Anke faced these accusations with an ugly face, breathing faster.

"Lord Taron," Thales turned around and whispered to Vogel:

"Just now, can you let me have a look at the information about the Bailar family from the flag wing of the guard?"

The deputy captain was taken aback, apparently not expecting the Duke to speak to him.

But he only hesitated for a moment, then called his subordinates under Mallos' thoughtful gaze, and handed Thales a stack of papers.

"As for the truth in these territories, you little bastard who is away from home for ten months a year, this little young master who got all his food and clothing from his father..."

The baroness raised her eyebrows and raised her eyebrows, showing a fierce look:

"Do you think you have practiced swords abroad for two days, read two books, and slept with a few foreign girls, so you are qualified to shout at us!"

"I, this..." Anke's lips twitched, unable to refute for a moment.

Well, Thales thought to himself while flipping through the information, he had misread it.

In this hall, facing the iron thorns, the woman who is still calm...

Maybe not just Lady Eleanor.

But Thales flipped through the paper and frowned.

No, at most it only writes where the Bailar family came from, how long it has been in existence, how far the lineage is, how big the territory is, how many people have changed in the family...

These details of territorial rule and disputes between the two families are completely absent.

No evidence could be found to refute it.

"You said you would inherit your father's fiefdom and family property, the title of title?"

The baroness snorted coldly:

"Then why don't you contaminate the crimes your father committed to the vassals, the people, the neighbors, the kingdom, and everyone, the accumulated debts, the evils he did, the harm he left, and the life he owed over the years? His blood is all fucking inherited!"

"Bailal's brat!"

After the baroness finished screaming, she fell limp and sweaty, and was supported by several female relatives.

Thales frowned fiercely.

The whole hall fell silent.

It seemed that everyone was amazed by the Baroness's performance.

Even Doyle himself froze.

"D.D, right?"

Vogel called Doyle's nickname, and he looked at the baroness in the middle of the hall with a complicated expression:

"Your father... married a good wife."

Doyle stared blankly at his stepmother.

Glover remained expressionless as usual, but pressed his shoulder from the side.

"You know," Doyle said in a trance, as if talking to himself:

"When my father is going to marry again..."

"Over the years, my attitude towards her has not been very good."

Mallos didn't say anything, just sighed softly.

But Thales is as heavy as before.

He knew it wasn't over.

A few seconds later, the hall was once again flooded with turbulent discussions, and everyone was discussing the new news about the baroness just now.

Anke turned his head with difficulty, and noticed that the eyes of the guests had changed.

They started looking at him more.

Look at the son of the Bailar family.

No.

No!

In addition to being flustered, he was also quite angry from embarrassment.

"Listen, boy!"

Baroness Doyle breathed a sigh of relief, and seeing the guests talking a lot, she became more confident and arrogant.

Regardless of her embarrassment, she snorted coldly:

"I don't care whose high branch you climbed or whose orders you came to harm our family! Harm Your Highness's reputation!"

The baroness pointed at the person holding her husband hostage, and shouted angrily:

"But if you dare, go ahead and try!"

Anke trembled violently!

On the contrary, the old Baron Doyle, who was held hostage by him, changed his face and said in horror:

"That dear..."

The high-spirited baroness lowered her eyes, her face showing a ruthless look:

"you shut up!"

The old baron shuddered and closed his mouth obediently.

I saw the baroness looking fiercely at the embarrassed Anke, gritted her teeth and said:

"But I swear, Baelal's brat!"

"I swear to the setting sun, to Haoyue, to Mingye, to Moshen, to my aunt, to everything!"

"If tonight, my husband suffers even the slightest injury!"

She has a vicious look on her face:

"I will risk everything for the rest of my life, and make your remaining brothers, sisters, friends and relatives suffer all the tortures you can imagine in the most painful, cruel and terrifying way!"

"I'll let them end up crying and begging me to kill them!"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone's expression changed!

Including Anker.

But the baroness obviously didn't notice, she ignored the old baron who was giving her a wink, waved her arms and shouted:

"I will let your family die from descendants!"

"Just like the fate you should have!"

The guests immediately went into an uproar.

Thales, Mallos, Vogel and others frowned.

Oops.

"Sure enough, lying and sophistry are indeed the best of you."

Anke faded away the hesitation and annoyance on his face, and became indifferent again:

"Okay, since that's the case."