Law of the Devil

On the summer festival day in the 960th year of the Roland Empire, the imperial capital was in chaos. The eldest prince Alvin Augustine mutinied the imperial city, and more than ten thousand rebels surrounded the palace. The next prince, Chen Augustine, used the soldiers of chatting and with the help of the temple to command the forest army And the remnants of the Public Security Department rose up to fight. During the scuffle, Prince Chen stood under the palace gate, showing the spear of Longchinus, an artifact. Thousands of knights knelt and stood under the imperial city regardless of enemy or friend. The rebel army's morale collapsed.

The eldest prince shouted: "I am defeated, not because of the war, and the fate is not on me." He also pointed to the prince Chen and said: "I would like to ask the flag to be buried and die!"

After speaking, he drew his sword and killed himself on the horse. The subordinates mourned, dozens of people died, and the rest of the troops surrendered.

And, the rest of the rebels. The Solomons descended from the Marquis, and the Luolins from the Earl of Raymond fought hard and were captured, and the rest were captured. King Qin’s army suppressed the rebels. There were more than 4,000 leaders and more than 6,000 prisoners. The chaos will be peaceful in three days.

——"Imperial Chronicles, Chapter 15, Chapter 6: A Brief Life of the Regent"

This is the record of the coup d'etat in the official historical materials of the empire that year. In the entire text, Du Wei, the eldest son of the Luo Lin family, was not mentioned at all. Such a person who played a subtle role in the coup d'etat However, under the instigation of relevant parties, the historian had no choice but to write down the spring and autumn, and disappeared in the writing.

Bucket after bucket of water was poured down. After thousands of people were busy, the blood stains in the central square under the imperial city had been washed away. The soldiers walking back and forth with serious faces were all wearing the uniforms of the security forces of the Public Security Department. .Like facing an enemy.

There was chaos in the city for three days, when Prince Richen showed the spear of Longchinus, Du Wei couldn't help but see it, and the eldest prince himself could see it too. He had lost but never won.

Those knights kneeling on the spot were like sharp needles that easily pierced the confidence in the eldest prince's heart. Looking at the knights kneeling in the dark, the eldest prince suddenly made the last correct decision in his life Decide.

Do you want to continue fighting? Looking at the knight kneeling in the middle of the field, the First Prince's heart was as cold as ice. He raised his long sword tremblingly, and then turned his head to look at Earl Raymond.

"Raymond, we lost."

After finishing speaking, the prince suddenly raised his chest and said loudly: "I am a royal family, I will not surrender even if I die!" Then he pointed his long sword at Prince Chen in the distance and shouted loudly: "It's not that I'm inferior to you, it's just that fate is not on me... ...You! You're just luckier than me!"

After finishing speaking, he swung the long sword across his neck and lightly wiped it on his neck, a splash of blood spurted out, and his body was already limp and fell under the horse.

Earl Raymond was clearly close at hand, but he didn't try to stop him. Because the old earl also understood at this moment that the situation was over.

Then the scene was chaotic. The rebel army's morale was already in disarray, Prince Chen took the opportunity to order the guards to charge and kill, the gate of the palace opened wide, and the remaining Imperial Forest Army also took the opportunity to rush out.

The Marquis of Solomon surrendered, and Earl Raymond, under Alpha's swearing-in protection, originally planned to rush out a bloody road to leave, but the Earl of the Luo Lin family gave up at the last moment.

He pushed away the Alpha bodyguard who was guarding him covered in blood, and then threw away the long sword with a proud expression on his face. At this moment, Earl Raymond was acting like a true aristocrat.

"The Luo Lin family, how could they run away like bereaved dogs!"

After finishing speaking, the noble general stood upright as he watched the guards rushing towards him, and was quickly caught. With the rope attached to his body, he sneered and said nothing, but glanced at the distant imperial city Above. There was a black figure there, which was his son Du Wei. There was a hint of deep meaning in the Earl's eyes, and even a complicated smile flashed across his eyes, and then he glanced at the direction where the eldest prince fell, and sighed. Tone: "Shuzi's insufficiency and strategy."

And the rebellion of the coup was followed by the capture of Earl Raymond, and the overall situation was settled.

"Actually, he doesn't need to commit suicide." Du Wei looked at the First Prince's body.

Underfoot, the body of the eldest prince was covered with a flag of thorns and flowers—this is the tradition of the royal family of the Luo Lin Empire. The royal family's "flag burial".

Even if it is treason, if he has not been officially sentenced for one day, the thorn flower flag on his body cannot be taken down.

The blood of the corpse seeped into the thorn flower banner, and the thorn flower pattern on the banner seemed to be dotted with bright red blood.

Prince Chen was standing beside Du Wei, his expression seemed to be unable to tell what he was thinking in his heart, only after hearing what Du Wei said, Prince Chen turned his face to look at Du Wei: "Oh? What do you mean? What?"

"I said, in fact, he shouldn't commit suicide." Du Wei said with a wry smile, "Unfortunately, he doesn't understand chivalry... Seeing so many people kneeling before the knight's spear in your hand, he frightened himself to death Courageous."

After a pause, Du Wei continued: "Knights value loyalty the most. Although the holy spear in your hand is a holy weapon, those knights kneeling does not mean surrender or rebellion against the prince. On the contrary, if you take out the holy spear, those Once the knight is inspired by the spirit of chivalry, he will swear allegiance to the First Prince even more... At that time, in a big battle, although he is already at a disadvantage, he still has a three-point chance to win. It's just a pity...he looks at his subordinates facing you Kneel down, but don’t understand that they kneel down is just the Holy Lance, not you. He thought the situation was over, so he gave up.”

Du Wei looked deeply at Prince Chen: "I really can't figure it out... How did your head calculate these things? You have already figured it out, take out the holy gun, let the knight kneel down, and you will be able to The eldest prince was so frightened that he gave up Prince Chen's words and dodged them. He smiled and said, "When things come to an end, no one can be said to be absolutely sure. But of course I know better about my brother's personality."

Du Wei was silent. He lowered his head and thought for a while, before he said: "You first pulled the temple into the water, then the magic union, and then you took out the gun of Longchinus, you have so many chips in your hand. One after another As for the matter, I think about it now, and I feel that no matter what happened that day, your strength is far superior to that of the First Prince. But if this is the case, why didn't you stop him before the coup d'état?"

Du Wei said. His eyes were like lightning, and he looked closely at Prince Chen. Prince Chen looked calmly, looked back at Du Wei deeply, then left a word, turned and left slowly.

"Since you have already guessed it. Why do you need to ask me again?"

Du Wei stood in the same place, speechless. Looking at Prince Chen's back, he felt that the people he had seen in his life, no matter whether it was his own father or a strong man from the mainland, no one had a more powerful mind than this one. Prince Chen is even deeper!

He sighed. He whispered to himself: "You don't stop him, you purposely make him a coup, just to let him jump out. If he doesn't jump out, how can you get rid of him openly? If you don't get rid of him, how can you get rid of him?" To be able to justifiably take power..."

Said these words in a low voice, Du Wei smiled wryly himself first: "It seems that I am not a political material."

Prince Chen walked a few steps ahead, stopped, turned around, looked at Du Wei, and said with a gentle smile, "Aren't you coming?"

Du Wei smiled, and the two glanced at each other, thinking about each other for a while. Du Wei raised his footsteps and followed.

In the palace, the Royal Forest Army had already replaced the gorgeous equipment on the day of the celebration. Fully armed, with armor, shields, long swords, axes and spears, teams of Royal Forest Army came and went in a hurry in the palace. Those palace attendants were also killed Temporarily restrained. Prince Chen had a great idea in his heart, and as he walked along with Du Wei, he kept issuing orders to his subordinates behind him.

Du Wei knows. At this moment, the guards outside should have started to take over the city defense.

Following Prince Chen walked for a while, in front of him was a group of golden armored warriors guarding a tall palace, Prince Chen and Du Wei stopped before the palace, "I want to see my father."

The leader of the team of golden-armored warriors hastily saluted: "Your Highness. Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time. He told you to go in as soon as you arrive."

Prince Chen smiled slightly. Looking at Du Wei: "Let's go."

The leader of the golden-armored warrior stepped forward to stop him, with a troubled expression on his face: "This... His Majesty seems to only invite you in."

Prince Chen's complexion changed, and he stared at the leader of the golden-armored warrior. A hint of majesty suddenly appeared on his gentle face, and his cold eyes made the warrior take a step back involuntarily, and quickly lowered his head. No Dare to make eye contact with Prince Chen.

Prince Chen withdrew his gaze, didn't even speak, but just grabbed Du Wei with one hand, and walked into the palace without looking at the golden armored warrior in front of him.

The golden armored warrior was sweating coldly, watching Prince Chen disobeying His Majesty's order and bringing people into the palace, how could he dare to stop him?

bar?

He is an officer of the Emperor's Guards in the imperial army, but after knowing what happened today, I'm afraid... the palace will have a new owner. This Prince Chen is still "His Royal Highness", but I'm afraid that after going in to see the emperor, When you come out, you will become "Your Majesty"!

In this case, why should I go against his will?

Who else doesn't understand this truth? They all retreated to make way. As soon as Prince Chen brought Du Wei into the palace, the inner court warriors he commanded surrounded him, and immediately replaced these golden armored warriors and took over the defense around the palace. If you dare to resist, you can only go aside honestly.

In such a large and spacious palace, the tall pillars all around are covered with golden walls, but the candlesticks that are as tall as a person are not lit, making the palace that should have been glorious with golden walls become lifeless.

The air of wealth and honor on the golden wall and jade wall penetrated from afar, but it was full of depression. Du Wei just took a deep breath, but he seemed to smell a decadent air that made him uncomfortable.

Well, psychological effects, these are all psychological effects. Du Wei reminded himself carefully, and followed Prince Chen expressionlessly.

Going forward, the servant who already had a timid face quickly pushed open a door and lifted the screen curtain inside the door. In this room in the palace, there is a large square bed in the middle. The four pillars above the feet of the bed are straight Poke the ceiling, and it is densely covered with exquisitely carved patterns. Inside the moon-white bead curtains, the old emperor Augustine VI can be vaguely seen lying on the bed, breathing heavily like a bellows.

"Chen, you're here..." There was a soft call, followed by a rush of coughing, the old emperor seemed to try his best to stand up, and waved his hands vigorously, a timid servant next to him lifted the curtain, and hurriedly retreated out.

"Father." Prince Chen knelt down on one knee, lowered his head and did not look at the old emperor: "Brother is dead."

"You... did a good job." The old emperor's face was sallow. It was a color full of withering and old taste, and there was no trace of light in his eyes, full of old turbidity, it seemed that even the eyelids were hard open.

However, after the father and son had such a simple conversation, they both shut up as if they had a tacit understanding.

For a long time, the only sound in the room was the old emperor's breathing like a bellows.

Du Wei quietly followed Prince Chen and knelt behind him on one knee. He quietly raised his head to look at the old emperor, the former hero of the mainland, and now he is completely a dying old man, with his robe crooked and his face full Wrinkles are like tree bark, on his gray face, there is no trace of an emperor's look, most importantly, in his cloudy eyes...

Um? That is clearly vigilance!

That's right. The old emperor looked at his son in front of him, at Prince Chen, his eyes were full of vigilance and vigilance instead of the joy of quelling the coup d'etat.

Time froze as if dead, and the emperor and the prince seemed to be testing each other's patience. Du Wei suddenly felt a movement in his heart, and he clearly saw the emperor's crooked robe kicking down, and a sword hilt was faintly exposed. That big skinny hand was holding the hilt of the sword with all its strength.

Finally, after a long time, the old emperor suddenly sighed, and there was a trace of complexity in his voice, a trace of embarrassment: "You are here to ask me to abdicate."

Prince Chen didn't answer.

Suddenly a morbid blush flashed across the old emperor's face, he sat up with difficulty, still pressing the hilt of the sword in his arms with one hand, looked at his son carefully, and said slowly: "This time, it was your hand." Calm down, now everything in the imperial capital is under your control. You are young and courageous, you are thoughtful, you are secretive in your actions, and you are born with perseverance... It is mostly due to your own credit that you can get to where you are today. And, According to the current situation, it seems that I should announce my abdication and pass the throne to you, right?"

Prince Chen still didn't answer.

Du Wei sighed inwardly - the emperor's family has no family!

Although the old emperor likes this youngest son, and has always been inclined to regard the young emperor as his heir. But... there is a premise.

If I pass the position to you, I must wait until I am willing to pass it on!

Facing the throne, who would be willing to give it up? The old emperor originally meant that he still wanted to hold the emperor's position for a few more years until he died. Then give up the position! No one is willing to give up the power in their hands.

Even his own son! Even if he is his own heir!

If you want to inherit, you have to wait until I die!

At this moment, Du Wei clearly grasped Augustine VI's mind.

Prince Chen still didn't speak, the haze in the old emperor's eyes revealed little by little, and he breathed little by little. He seemed to be gritting his teeth: "You...you have to be like him, and you want me to abdicate now ?"

Finally, Prince Chen raised his head. At this moment, the prince had a gentle smile on his face: "Father, you are overthinking."

After finishing speaking, the prince stood up easily, and he walked into the bed with a gentle smile on his face. But the old emperor suddenly became tense like an old lion approached by the enemy. On the hand of the sword hilt, the veins were bulging. But when Prince Chen walked to the bed, he only stretched out his hand, gently helped his father straighten his robe, then lowered his eyelids, looked at his father, and said softly: "Father , my brother and I are different."

The decline and embarrassment of Augustine VI all fell into Du Wei's eyes. At this moment, a sentence flashed in Du Wei's heart:

This, is politics!

"Father, you are still the emperor. It is my elder brother who is responsible for the coup, not me." Prince Chen smiled, his eyes were very bright, half of them were confident, and half of them were cold: "However, father, you are indeed You are old. The state affairs are complicated, and your energy is low. This time Earl Raymond helped your brother mobilize troops, but you didn't realize it at all... From now on, my father may need to spend more time on this. As a son, I can guarantee I won you once, but it may not be able to help you pass the test every time."

Although the voice is soft, the meaning in the words is unspeakably hard!

After finishing speaking, Prince Chen took a step back and bowed to say goodbye: "Your body has not healed. Leave the outside affairs to me for the time being."

After finishing speaking, Prince Chen walked up to Du Wei, gently pulled him up, seemed to smile at Du Wei, and took Du Wei away.

Before leaving, Du Wei glanced back. The old emperor had a complicated expression on his face. Those cloudy old eyes were full of depression and emptiness...

After walking out of the palace, Prince Chen didn't leave immediately, but just dragged Du Wei to stand at the gate of the palace and waited. His eyes were full of confidence, and there was a determined smile on the corner of his mouth.

Sure enough, in less than a moment, a servant came out of the palace. The inner room looked terrified, holding something in his hands. He trotted all the way to Prince Chen, kneeled on the ground with a plop, and held the thing above his head with both hands .

Prince Chen gently took it over and opened it.

"Establish the prince Chen as the regent, and then all state affairs will be decided by the regent, and he will act as the emperor!"

This sentence was scribbled on the white cloth, and the handwriting was a little crooked. It was obvious that the old emperor was already extremely weak when he wrote it himself. The signature below was even more scribbled, and the seal affixed on it was also because Not strong enough and a bit blurry.

Prince Chen showed a satisfied smile on his face. Then he recruited one of the inner court guards and handed over the square white cloth.

"Send it to all departments."

Du Wei looked at Prince Chen, smiled, and said lightly, "Should I call you Your Majesty now? Or Your Highness?"

"Your Highness." Prince Chen glanced at Du Wei: "I am the regent, not the emperor. This should not be confused."

The news of the regent's initial establishment was immediately passed along with Augustine VI's personal order, and the various departments in the imperial capital were not too surprised by the news. In this coup, the old emperor's aging state was undoubtedly revealed, and the eldest prince defeated and died,

It was a matter of course for everyone that Prince Chen ascended the throne. The only thing that was slightly surprising was that the old emperor did not abdicate immediately, and Prince Chen did not ask for succession immediately, but became a regent.

Prince Chen acted resolutely, and immediately dispatched a thousand soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army to guard the old emperor's palace. The original subordinates of the Imperial Forest Army were changed beyond recognition under his deliberate arrangement.

Because the Imperial Forest Army lost 3,000 people in the coup, Prince Chen added 5,000 people from the security force of the Imperial Capital Public Security Department and transferred them to the Imperial Forest Army.

Afterwards, the regent's orders were passed down like water.

The Marquis of Solomon cut off his title, all the royal firms under his original name were cut off, the territory was taken back, and the family's private army was dismissed on the spot.

General Junker (dead in battle) was stripped of his title of baron. He was stripped of his military post and buried with civilian ceremonies.

The rest of the nobles and officials who participated in the coup were all imprisoned in the prison of the Imperial Supervision Office. At the same time, 3,000 garrison troops were dispatched to monitor the mansions of the prisoners, and they were not allowed to enter or leave.

All soldiers and warriors who participated in the mutiny were dismissed from military posts on the spot, and those who died were buried with civilian ceremonies. The living were imprisoned pending trial.

What made everyone heave a sigh of relief was that this Prince Chen, the newly-appointed regent, did not seem to have the intention of killing anyone for the time being. Among all the orders, he was detained, but he did not order to kill a single person. Even the dead A rebel leader like General Junker is only expelled from his title, and can be buried with civilian ceremonies...

This is already extraordinarily tolerant. Just think about the royal coups in the history of the empire. In any one of the hands, the winners brandished butcher knives to kill the losers. The scene of blood flowing into rivers in the imperial capital is vivid in my mind!

It's rare to be kind like Prince Chen, who only closes but doesn't kill. It's just that everyone hasn't grasped the winner's current intentions, except for a few two hundred and five nobles who are anxious to pat their horses and propose severe punishment for treason. In the end, Prince Chen I ignored it, and then realized that I patted the horse on the horse's leg.

Another three days later, the magic circle of the imperial capital had already been eliminated. Prince Chen mobilized the guards of two divisions loyal to the royal family from the acropolis around the imperial capital to enter the city and controlled the city defense. The rebels of the Second Division have already canceled their designation, and thousands of rebel prisoners of war have been held in the camp outside the city.

Prince Chen issued a series of orders again, but this time it was a reward. After all, a coup d'état is like a gangster meeting.

After it's over, it's time for the winner to share the spoils.

To everyone's surprise, the name that ranked first in this commendation order was actually the name of Du Wei, the eldest son of the Luo Lin family!

Du Wei, given the surname "Rudolph" (it is said to be the surname of a knight in the Saint Laurent Knights around Aragon in history.), awarded the title of Duke, the title of Palace Magic Advisor, the title of Palace University Scholar, and the title of Palace Astrology Master title, and the prince's magic tutor.

The thing that made all the rich and nobles stare blankly is that the title of "Duke" that Du Wei got was clearly written in the Regent's order...

hereditary! ! !

This news almost immediately caused a gust of wind in the aristocratic circle of the imperial capital!

When Prince Chen was in the coup, many people heard Du Wei's promise of a duke title. However, everyone naturally thought that the duke promised by Prince Chen must be something similar to a court title.

There are two types of titles in the Roland Empire, hereditary titles and lifetime titles. Lifetime titles are only granted to individuals, not hereditary. There is no territory, and no private army can be formed. Once the person dies, the title will naturally be cancelled.

Generally speaking, such a title is something that the royal family is often willing to award. Because the cost of the land is small. Although it is glorious, it does not have much real power.

But hereditary titles are definitely not easily rewarded! A hereditary title means that the conferred can get their own territory. They can collect taxes in the territory by themselves, and they can also form their own private army, and pass it on from generation to generation! It is equivalent to adding another country within a country in the empire. The emperors of all dynasties are not stupid, of course they understand that the fewer such hereditary titles, the more stable their empire can be. Therefore, unless the credit is great, they will never seal anything Hereditary title!

Otherwise, the more and more hereditary titles will be awarded, and more and more territories will be rewarded. No matter how vast the territory of the empire is, there will always be a day when the titles will be exhausted!

Back then, the ancestor of the Luo Lin family, the general Luo Lin who assisted the Augustine family in rising to unify the mainland, had made great achievements in battle, and he only got one hereditary earl. And Du Wei, although he stood on the side of Prince Chen during the coup... But the credit is hard to say. It can be considered great if it is big, and it can be said to be small if it is small, but it is not easy to evaluate. It’s just that you can be named a duke in this way, and it’s still hereditary. It’s too shocking for these nobles!

And the even more shocking scene that everyone didn't know happened in the palace, Prince Chen's original residence, and now the Prince Regent's palace.

In front of several trusted subordinates, including the ten-year undercover agent who played a key role in the coup d'état, the guy named Camisiro, the former head of the Public Security Department, Baron Sark, and several subordinates of Prince Chen Confidential confidants.

The regent casually threw a map of the empire in front of Du Wei. With a smile on his face, he said, "My lord, look at the map! Where do you want to be your territory? Pick whatever you want on the map." !"

When this word came out, everyone was shocked, and everyone changed color! ! .