Our family is in decline

"I'll let you go back. All you have to do is control your own territory, help me pay attention to Bastia's movements, and if I want you to fight, bring troops to help me wipe out the cult. If I don't want you to fight, then save your strength and wait for me. Call over.

There is no need for you to come in regarding the earl's protection of extraordinary beings. You only need to tell me the key information, and someone will naturally handle it. "

The importance of Lawrence quickly decreased in Lance's mind. He was originally intended to be used as a pawn, but now it seems that he is just an afterthought.

"Where is my daughter?"

"I can send it to Totnes. Are you satisfied with that?"

Lawrence also knew that this was the best solution, because he also understood that it was impossible for Lance to let him go and let go of his daughter at the same time.

But the topic didn't end there. Lance suddenly asked a question that he had been wondering about for a long time.

"Margaret has barbarian blood, and her mother is a barbarian?"

Lance made a guess that should confirm Margaret's identity.

The reason why Lance admitted his mistake in the first place was because of his red hair. As a noble of the empire, he should have black hair like him. As for the civilians, they should have black hair, brown hair, and blond hair.

Most of the people with bright colors such as red hair, green hair, and white hair are representatives of the barbarians, such as Boudica's red hair, Greendale's green hair, and Wolf Warrior's gray hair. There is an influence of extraordinary power in them. Here I am.

An heir of barbarian blood is definitely not a good thing for a nobleman, but Lawrence still has the courage to admit it.

"Yes, Margaret's mother was a barbarian."

At this point, there was no need to be secretive between the two, but Lance was a little amused when he heard about it.

This is very interesting. Lawrence is such a conservative and feudal person, and he is also the count's right-hand man in suppressing the barbarians.

But he had a barbarian wife and gave birth to a daughter.

What's even more strange is that he is in his prime, and it is not a problem to marry another one, but he has never married again.

For an imperial noble, you can have fun, but it is impossible to marry a barbarian as your wife, let alone recognize an heir of barbarian blood. This is politically correct in the empire.

But Lawrence obviously committed a taboo, so it's no wonder that he tried his best to marry his daughter to Alvin, just to ensure that his daughter could have a good life after his death.

But I’m afraid you haven’t asked Alvin how he feels, right?

It's no wonder that Margaret mentioned that Alvin hated her, and this should be part of the reason.

"He owes me this." When Lawrence said this, he finally lost the last trace of respect for Count Bastia, and there was a hint of vindictiveness in his words.

Lawrence knew that Lance wouldn't trust him if he didn't explain this matter clearly, so he just kept talking to himself.

Lance also sounded a bit crazy. The simple reason is that the area was not developed before the city of Bastia was established. Although there is no perennial fog, it is still a place with high mountains and dense forests.

At that time, the war with the barbarians did not expand, and there was no coalition force. Regular robberies occurred very frequently.

In order to find out the situation of the tribes in the mountains, the earl wanted to find people to go in and take a look. Such tasks were extremely dangerous, and basically few people could come back.

At that time, Lawrence chose to take over the mission and go into the mountains to conduct reconnaissance in order to stand out. As expected, he encountered danger and was injured.

Just when he thought he was dead, he was discovered by a barbarian woman, who rescued him and brought him back to the tribe to recuperate. Judging from Margaret's appearance, you can probably guess that the woman must be quite beautiful, and Lawrence was also at the right age. He is full of blood.

I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional. During the recovery process, the two people inevitably had friction and even started a fire.

But Lawrence didn't know it at the time, and after recovering from his injuries, he hurriedly left the tribe and went back to resume his life.

With Lawrence leading the way, the Earl also became famous in one battle. He relied on this to make a name for himself and gain prestige in the surrounding area.

Lawrence naturally relied on this as a starting point, and then bravely killed the enemy and won a series of military exploits and continued to rise.

When Bastia landed and defeated the barbarian coalition, he was promoted to baron as one of the count's right-hand men. How glorious it was at that time. He succeeded in rebuilding the family's glory.

It was all good, even he had forgotten the woman who saved him.

Until the victorious Earl sent troops towards the mountains in order to clean up the surrounding barbarians, Bastia's army approached the tribe.

It was just a small tribe with no more than a hundred people. It could be said that they were basically related to each other, so they rescued him to borrow seeds, but they had saved themselves anyway.

Lawrence asked the earl to let them go, but Bing Feng pointed out.

These soldiers are not supported by the belief of protecting the home and country. They are selected from death. The reason why they fight against the barbarians is for money and plunder.

They cannot be quelled without killing and plundering the soldiers, and it would not be surprising if there is a mutiny.

The barbarians robbed the empire, and now that the empire is tyrannical, they will also rob the barbarians if they have the opportunity. The two sides have been entangled for hundreds of years, and even if God comes, they can't sort it out.

In order to maintain morale, the Earl condoned this robbery. There was actually no difference between soldiers and bandits at this time. Even if Lawrence wanted to suppress the crazy soldiers, it was useless.

This tribe was isolated from the world in a canyon, and the peace was broken without even knowing what was happening outside. When heavily armed soldiers rushed in, everything turned into a hellish scene in an instant.

In the end, he could only try his best to save the woman. Only then did he find that the woman was still carrying a newborn baby.

As I said just now, the people in this small tribe are all blood relatives, and the barbarians are also famous for their unity.

So among the ruins of the tribe, the woman said something to Lawrence

"I really regret saving you, and even more regret giving birth to her."

After saying that, he threw the baby in his hand. Lawrence didn't think so much and subconsciously rushed to catch it.

But when her daughter fell into his hands, the woman committed suicide.

Only then did Lawrence realize that he had fallen in love with the woman, but when they met again, he only got a corpse.

Then Lawrence left the battle with his infant daughter...

He may have somewhat believed that the small tribe that saved him was destroyed because of his leading party, which made Margaret lose her mother, so she did not marry again.

I'm afraid that the moment the woman died, Lawrence's heart also died.

After hearing this, Lance understood. No wonder Lawrence rebelled against Count Bastia after seeing his daughter in the morning. It turned out that there was such a reason.

If Lawrence hadn't been for his daughter, he would have already broken up with each other. Lance didn't even need to create a rift between him and the Earl.

At the same time, I understand why the earl actually agreed to the marriage. There is no way to make up for it, but Lawrence will cut off his arm as soon as he leaves.

But he did tell another interesting information.

"Everyone only knows that the count defeated the barbarian coalition, but most of them don't know that the count then led the army deep into the mountains. At first, he did kill some small tribes, but soon the big tribes jointly strangled them and suffered heavy casualties, and they could only escape back in embarrassment. In the city, if it weren’t for the newly built Bastia to hold on, and the barbarians didn’t have the strength to spare, I’m afraid the situation would have reversed again.”

If you underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, your knights can certainly overwhelm the barbarians on the plains, but once they enter the mountains, a group of knights who are unfamiliar with the environment, coupled with disorderly arrogant soldiers, fall into someone else's home field.

What's even more troublesome is that the earl allowed his men to massacre the barbarians, but instead forced the dispersed barbarians into desperate situations to reunite.

As the saying goes, the Ai army must win because the opponent's home court is still the home. The knight who cannot charge is like a can, no matter how hard he is, he will be knocked open.

The sword he was wielding would also be blocked by the dense jungle. Instead, barbarian warriors appeared everywhere. The soldiers who escaped even collapsed, feeling that "the trees were talking".

Such a simple truth can be seen by Lance, a person who knows nothing about military affairs. It took a big defeat for the Earl to wake up.

Originally having the upper hand, both sides suffered heavy losses. They could only huddle up and lick their wounds without any thought of fighting again.

Neither side could afford to maintain a superficial calm over the years, or they couldn't do anything to each other, so they sought cooperation.

The barbarian mercenaries came out and the caravans went in. The earl made a lot of money by grasping the choke points.

"Do you believe that guy, the count? I'm afraid you know it yourself. Even if they get married, as soon as you die, he will imprison Margaret directly, or simply arrange an accident.

In a few years, when he completely controls the territory and your reputation dissipates, he can just marry another one. Who will remember you then, and even if they remember, who will talk too much? On the contrary, your family will become the stepping stones of the Bastia family.

If you want to make a deal with a greedy evil beast, you might as well exchange your territory for a sum of money and take your daughter to Totnes or some other small country to enjoy life. "

Lance smiled ferociously, and his words became more intense.

“You know clearly what kind of person Alvin is, but you still want to push your daughter to him, completely ignoring his disgust for Margaret’s barbarian bloodline.

What I saw was not what a father should do, but a fool who couldn't wait to get rid of the burden!

What’s even more disgusting is that you have the nerve to be moved by yourself and think how much you have sacrificed. Then have you ever asked Margaret how she feels?

The person closest to her, that is, you betrayed her and pushed her to death. It was you who killed your daughter with your own hands. "

None of what Lance said happened, but it was enough to sting Lawrence.

Lawrence's will is being tested...Frenzy!

"Stop talking! Stop talking!"

The whole person did not look like a noble baron at all, and he was timidly begging for mercy.

Lance stopped his vicious words and looked at Lawrence coldly.

In fact, limited by the vision of the times and the internal shackles of the aristocratic class, Lawrence could do very little. Even if he deceived himself and others, was self-righteous, self-righteous, and suffered the consequences...but this was all he could do.

But that didn't stop Lance from mocking him fiercely.

For your kid to pretend to be so righteous in the early stage, Ling Ran, I don’t know why I thought you were a die-hard loyalist to the earl.

It takes severe torture to break the feudal ideas of the old society.

The conversation between the two actually ended before Lance asked about Margaret's life experience.

The latter is important, but not important.

Lance knew that Hamlet's strength did not support a two-sided battle. The operation being prepared had already affected most of the town's troops, so he wanted to temporarily involve Bastia.

Lawrence was scolded by Lance here, but in the end he was still the right-hand man of the count and had good prestige in Bastia.

It is not difficult for Lance to attack the city. In the extreme case, he does not even need artillery. He can kill all the resisters by himself.

But what's the point?

Everyone knows he doesn't like killing and gore.

The difficult thing is how to control an area, how to relieve the hostility of the local people and restore production and life as soon as possible.

That's what Lawrence does.

Lance's footsteps temporarily stopped in front of the pyromancer's cell door, but he hesitated and did not go in.

Although he and Lawrence had reached an agreement, the fat man was very hungry at first glance, and it should be okay to be hungry for another day.

Logically speaking, a war between nobles would be over after it is fought, but in the future, Lance may be the only one who is captured and tortured by the negotiators.

The local nobles are so rude!

…………

In Bastia's frontline camp, a battle is breaking out.

It was also a night attack, which was a common method used by the mountain barbarians. Their diet had a high proportion of meat and animal offal, so they did not suffer from night blindness.

On the contrary, the serf soldiers recruited by Bastia can basically chew a piece of black bread, let alone eat meat, so the rate of night blindness is very high.

When it gets dark, most people can't see anything, which is why the barbarians like to choose to attack after dark. This is the experience accumulated in the long-term confrontation with the empire.

That's why the previous night attack was so chaotic. In addition to the fact that it was the first time to participate in the battle, most of the soldiers could not see clearly. It was useless no matter how loud the veterans supervising the battle shouted.

The solution is also very simple, that is to raise the torch.

As a conductor, doesn’t Bruce know this?

He knew, but he had to make the Bastia soldiers weak and confused to misunderstand the barbarians.

But this time it was much better. The battle was not like the last time when someone was in front of them before they realized that the sentry on duty had discovered the barbarians who wanted to sneak attack, and broke out inside, giving the soldiers a chance to react.

The torches on the torch stands were lit, and the soldiers quickly gathered to fight the barbarians with the help of the camp's fortifications.

The archers occupying a high position on the arrow tower shot hard, but the number was too small to form a dense rain of arrows, and the distance was dim and unclear and it was impossible to see the specific situation. It was just a matter of luck.

The crossbowman who was clinging to the wall of the camp could vaguely see the black shadow with the help of the firelight, but before he could take action, he only heard a loud explosion, and the next second he turned over and fell.

When the firelight came on, his companions saw that half of his exposed head had been knocked off. That was the damage caused by the musket.

"Kill the barbarian!"

"Ah! I was hit by an arrow."

"..." (End of this chapter)