Count Bernard was assassinated, and several high-ranking commanders of the Western Frontier Army were assassinated. The Saône Province fell into panic and anger in one day.
This sudden series of horrific attacks were all directed at Count Baldwin, lord of the province of Yona in the east, deputy palace minister, and military deputy.
However, something strange happened. It was not until the third Sunday in June, the fifth day after Count Bernard was assassinated, that the expected earth-shattering change did not happen. The city of Besancon, which had been noisy for two days, suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
It was as if nothing had happened, and no one in the court even made a single inquiry about these matters.
The Western Border Army was in a state of excitement for a whole day, but the air that was about to explode in the evening of the second day suddenly condensed into ice, and all the blood of revenge was frozen...
Matt, who was sitting in the Wincheston Manor waiting for the storm, was a little panicked. It had been three days since the first express letter was sent back from Besançon three days ago. During these three days, there was a secret letter sent back from Besançon every morning and evening. However, these secret letters sent back at a cost of a huge amount of money brought him increasingly weird news, and he became increasingly confused about what was going on.
He even doubted whether the task force had never been to Besançon and the Western Territory at all, but Stanley, who had already driven back in a detour, and the soldiers who were casualties in the assassination proved the authenticity of an assassination that stirred up huge waves, and there was also the large-scale dispatch of the Besancon army reported back three days ago.
“Call Odo to lead the entire Welsh army to the town of Boulder. Everyone in the army is in a state of combat and is on guard against any possible crisis.” Art had a premonition that this was the most terrifying calm before the storm. Perhaps his plot had failed. The border troops on the Lucy border had already gathered. What’s more, Baldwin might have learned of his plot and had reached a consensus with Bernard. He was mobilizing armies from the east and west to attack Count Longxia and his own army...
Yate really thinks too much. At this moment, no one notices that a small army of several hundred people is preparing to move in the south. Even the assassinations a few days ago cannot affect the sensitive nerves of the upper echelons.
Because on the morning of the second day after Bernard was assassinated, a truly shocking event happened in the County of Burgundy—the ruler of the County of Burgundy, the Marquis Ivrea, suddenly fell ill.
On the day of Ivrea's death, the steward of the inner court blocked all news, and the informants of Count Baldwin who had worked so hard to plant in the inner court were all silenced in less than half a day.
· Two days after the death of the Marquis, Earl Bernard, who had just stopped the wound of a poisonous arrow, entered the inner court through a secret passage under careful protection...
· As the creator of the turmoil, Art was still confused, and Count Baldwin, the vice-minister of the palace who was even more confused than At, was even more confused.
When the news of Bernard's assassination reached Baldwin's ears, his first reaction was that everything was Bernard's conspiracy. He believed that this was a frame-up conspiracy played by Bernard. He actually praised Bernard's conspiracy. For this reason, Baldwin had already written a letter of defense to the Marquis in the mansion.
However, two days after Bernard was assassinated, several high-ranking commanders of the Western Border Army were assassinated overnight. This news was confirmed by his informants in the Western Army.
This time, Baldwin was confused. He would not have used his high-ranking commanders as bait to frame him.
What Baldwin didn't understand even more was that Bernard and the palace suddenly cooled down on the matter, and a group of people who had been sharpening their knives near Earl Baldwin's residence a few days ago also suddenly evacuated.
Baldwin had a premonition that something big was going to happen, and he was going to go to the inner court in person to defend himself to the Marquis of Ivrea, lest Bernard, who was full of bad water, give him a fatal blow.
However, Baldwin failed to see the Marquis of Ivrea, and even failed to enter the inner court. This was not the first time that Baldwin was rejected by the inner court, but this time Baldwin's inner uneasiness spread more and more. He suspected that the Marquis had known about the conspiracy between himself and Count Longxia.
After returning to the mansion from the inner palace gate, he mobilized the elite members of the Palace Guards who were loyal to him and stationed themselves in the count's palace and the streets and alleys around the mansion. The part of the Guards that was under his absolute control also quietly prepared for martial law...
East of Besançon, in the huge palace where the palace and the inner court are located.
"Earl Bernard, the Marquis's ring cannot be taken off. We dare not use too much force for fear that someone will discover that the ring has left the Marquis." An old man who looked like a secretary tremblingly found Bernard, who was waiting coldly in the palace of the Marquis in the inner court.
Bernard's face was livid. He turned his head and glared at the timid palace clerk, and snorted, "It's useless, you can't do anything like this."
Bernard pushed aside the guard who was supporting him, and walked towards Ivrea's body with slightly bumpy legs and feet. He held a piece of gold-trimmed parchment that had just been drafted in his left hand, and raised the stiff palm of the Marquis of Ivrea; next to Bernard With trembling hands, the old clerk poured a spoonful of fire paint onto the end of the parchment where Ivrea's name was written. Bernard lifted Ivrea's middle finger, twisted his stiff palm and pressed the heraldic ring symbolizing the ruler of the County of Burgundy on the parchment.
Bernard raised the bordered parchment in his hand and said to the clerk beside him: "Send this succession will written by the Marquis to the hands of the Marchioness."
The clerk held the bordered parchment in both hands and hurried towards the Marchioness who was waiting in the inner palace.
After the secretary left, Bernard said to the officers and guards surrounding him: "I ordered the door of the inner court to be opened, summoned a meeting of the palace ministers, and declared the Marquis to be immortal."
Sir Bernard, what should I do with those chamberlains and servants?" The person who asked the question was the core minister of Bernard's group, the palace steward.
· Bernard turned his head and glanced at the inner hall of the temple where the Marquis's servants were detained, and said calmly to the chamberlain: "Kill them all, leave no one alive."
· "Lord Bernard, this~"
· "There is nothing like this, leaving these people behind will be a trouble in the future, kill them!"
· ...
"...I think we should kill them all to avoid leaving any further trouble. These guys are elite commanders of the Western Border Army. They will definitely return to the army. They will undoubtedly add powerful enemies to ourselves." When it comes to the treatment of those Western Army commanders, Obote, who was born as a civilian, has no concern for the honor of the nobility.
In Wincheston Manor, Art, Angus, and Obote discussed the issue of the captured Western Army commanders in the manor house.
These Western troops have been "guests" in the Wincheston Manor for a long time. After the letters demanding ransom were sent to the West, relatives successively sent ransoms. However, the garrison at the Wincheston Manor refused the request to release the captive officers for reasons that could not be decided in the absence of the regiment commander. Of course, the ransom must be fully accepted.
These guys are really difficult to deal with. Ordinary soldiers don't care. The main reason is that the commanders of the Western Army are very troublesome. They are all leading soldiers and there are a lot of nobles. With Ater's current strength, he does not dare to easily send all the nobles of the same noble family to heaven. These people are not bastards like Bazel who are good for nothing except being domineering.
However, it was impossible to just let them go back. The Western troops sent to attack Wincheston Manor were all elite, and these officers were carefully selected to investigate the war. Moreover, they had fought against the Welsh Army and knew the Welsh Army better than the ordinary Western troops, so they could not let them go easily, at least not now.
Hite asked for the ransom but did not think about actually releasing the prisoners. Anyway, his reputation in the noble circle of the County of Burgundy had been completely ruined. He did not mind wearing the hat of being dishonest and shameless again.
“Sergeant Major, you lead the cavalry team to invite those “adults” back to Beiguan Army Fort as guests, and ask Bass to keep a close eye on them. These "adults" are all nobles, so they don't have to participate in the heavy labor. The food supply is sufficient. Just don't let them escape from the cell. There are many wild beasts in the valley. If they escape, they will easily be killed. "Art has no intention of letting them go or killing them. He will consider releasing them when the time is right. Anyway, the ransom sent by their relatives is enough to feed these people for a year and a half.
"Sir, those guys will not be willing to be detained by us for a long time." After Obote was stationed at Wincheston Manor, he would hear the officers shouting and cursing in the cells of the manor every day, which was very annoying.
"Tell them that they can either be my guest or God's guest. They can only choose one."
“I’m afraid they would rather die than endure prison,” Obote muttered.
Angus snorted after hearing this, "Obot, you overestimate those guys. Their lives are precious and noble. If they really wanted to die in the battle in the north of the county, they would have died. Those who can lay down their weapons and surrender are those who cherish their lives."
Obote thought about it carefully and agreed with Angus's point of view.
After deciding on the placement of the prisoners, Angus glanced towards the north through the window of the house, "My lord, Northland~"
"Ron has led people to sneak into Lucesien Province. If there is any change in the Northland, we will get news soon, so wait with peace of mind."
...
In the Longxia Territory southwest of Wincheston Manor, all 1,300 elite standing soldiers of the Longxia Legion gathered in Longxia City. County soldiers from various places in the Longxia Territory gathered various county soldiers and stood ready. The first batch of 500 conscripted peasant soldiers were also recruited and distributed weapons.
In the military camp south of Longxia City, Count Flanders of Longxia stood in the military camp training ground wearing fine plate armor and personally commanded the actual combat training of infantry, cavalry and archery. A palace guard rode a fast horse into the military camp and came behind Flanders. Zhuma picked up the reins and jumped off his horse and presented a thin piece of parchment to Flanders, "My lord, a secret message from Besancon's Eagle Eye and Flying Pigeon."
Flanders took the note and unfolded it and took a look, and his face was suddenly startled.
"Sir, what happened?"
Flanders handed the note to the earl's advisor beside him.
「Ivrea is dead!」