More than a decade after the empire was founded, a town sprang up near Abbasquia. Among them is a small town near the west, called Mogia.

And there is a manor next to the small town of Mogia.

At the door of the manor house, a man in a silk robe staggered out of a half-opened carriage. I saw that his face was flushed, and the hem of his clothes was stained with a small yellowish wine stain. I saw the man take two steps towards the door, then patted his head with some remorse, turned back to the carriage, and his hand passed through the curtain of a section of the carriage, and a bamboo basket covered with a layer of cloth was raised.

As the man's body shook repeatedly, two red cherries rolled out of the basket. One was large and plump, with a hint of dew on it, while the other, though fairly pretty, was noticeably smaller than the first, and was a little more shriveled.

The man bent down and picked up the two cherries that had fallen to the ground, and the cherries were held in the man's hand like two sparkling rubies.

The two boys ran out of the villa in a hurry, and when they saw the red cherry in the man's hand, they almost subconsciously drooled. The younger boy's eyes widened, and two clusters of sparkling red reflected in his blue-purple eyes. The older boy walked around the one in front of him and found the basket hidden behind the man, and he looked at ease, except for the slight stirring of the eyebrows in his eyes.

The man looked around and brought the cherries to the basket in front of the two children, smiling kindly.

"Astan and Langton, do you two want to eat cherries?"

"I want to eat, Dad, I want to eat cherries!"

"Yes, Father, my brother and I want to eat. ”

"If you want to eat cherries, answer me a question first. The man played with the two tempting fruits in his hand, "Look, there are two cherries here, one big and one small, which of you two eats the big one and the one who eats the small one?" and looked at the older boy, "Astan, you are the elder brother, you can answer first." ”

"Father, you have said it, I am the elder brother, then I must give the big cherry to the younger brother, I just eat the small one. Astan swallowed hard, raised his head and replied resolutely, although he said this, his eyes were fixed on the gauze basket behind the man, and he could almost smell the ripe cherry fragrance in the basket.

The man didn't speak, he walked to the little son's side, he squatted down, touched the little boy's head, and asked, "Langton, my brother said he gave you the big cherry, do you want to eat it?"

Langton lowered his head, his face flushing a little. With an older brother who grew up together on one side and a big red cherry on the other, this is really a difficult choice for a child who is only four or five years old.

"Just tell me what you really think. There seemed to be some encouragement in the man's words.

Langton raised his little face, put the whole cherry in his eyes, and nodded slowly.

"I ...... I love big cherries. ”

Langton's words landed, and Astan's eyes lit up, and he pursed the corners of his mouth vigorously to hide the smile he had smiled after his victory.

And the smile on the man's face became more and more mysterious.

"Oh, that's right. The man said slowly as he divided the two cherries among the two brothers. As mentioned before, the big one went to Langton, and the small one went to Astan.

Langton held the cherry in his hand, treating it as a rare treasure, and sniffed it on the tip of his nose for a while. And Astan Yu wiped the small cherry he got in his hand twice, threw it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed the sweetness in his mouth, there was a whole basket of cherries waiting for him, what is it.

The man groped his way behind him to find the basket, and lifted the cloth on the basket behind him with one hand, which was a basket full of cherries. Langton looked at the basket full of cherries, opened his mouth in surprise, and the big cherry in his hand fell on the grass and rolled out several times in a row. Astan, on the other hand, looked at the cherries in the basket with a smile on his face.

The man took a handful of cherries from the basket, turned around and handed them to Astan, "Since you want to give cherries to your brother, then give you these cherries, and give the rest to your brother." ”

Astan's smile stiffened, and he mechanically took the cherries from his father's hand, holding them in his hand with difficulty. He turned his back on him, like a loser.

Just as the man and the two children were sharing cherries, an emaciated old man in a black robe quietly walked out of the villa, stood behind the man and coughed lightly.

Seeing this old man, the two boys' faces suddenly turned pale, and they didn't even care about eating cherries, so they stood upright in a proper manner, until the old man beckoned and came forward as if they had been amnestied. After bowing his head to the old man, Astantjeon trotted out of the villa, followed by Langton. The old man frowned slightly as Langton staggered as he ran up with cherries.

The man stood respectfully behind the old man and bowed to the old man meticulously.

"Good day, father. “

The old man turned around, looked at his son, who was full of alcohol, and sighed, "Just like you, how can I give you my title with confidence." Then he looked the man up and down, "Orlando, come with me first." ”

Immediately, the old man took the man into the villa, this villa built in the countryside is almost entirely wooden, the house is divided into three floors, the first floor is the living room and kitchen, the second floor is divided into the main bedroom, the second bedroom, the study and the utility room, the utility room was packed up to make a maid's room, there is a floor underground, mainly a cellar for wine, the top of the villa is made of several wooden planks spliced into a triangular plank.

Although the interior of the villa has a window, it is shaded at this time, so that the house looks dark, and the father and son look at each other, but neither of them is willing to speak first, just like that, the two stand in the house awkwardly.

In the end, it was Orlando who spoke first, "I went to the town this time and found out more about the gold mine, and it is true that someone has picked up gold nuggets on the river beach of Saiwang Port. ”

The old man raised his head and looked at Orlando, and said word by word: "Whether the gold mine matter is true or not, it has nothing to do with you, understand?"

"Why? So many people have already set off on the road, why can't I go and make a fortune back? Since you retired from the army, the situation of the family is getting worse day by day, and if we continue like this, we must go bankrupt!"

"The knight's task is to guard the territory for the country, practice martial arts at home in his spare time, and contribute to the country in time of war, this is the right way! As long as you are my first heir, I will never allow you to leave Mogia. In the face of Orlando's doubts, the old man's attitude did not waver in the slightest.

"Then I'll give up your inheritance and leave you to live on this land by yourself!" Orlando jumped up on his stool and was about to leave the room.

Although they were nobles born with golden keys, Astan and Langton did not live very happily.

Their mother was a devout Sardinian, and every day in addition to locking herself in a secret room to recite scriptures, that is, directing the servants to clean up in the manor, the two children never felt a little maternal love in their lives, and the mother slept in a separate room with them all her life, and only saw her mother every day at breakfast and the priests when they made sacrifices.

As for their father, it seems that Orlando has been coming home only once every few days since they can remember, and each time he has to leave again after not staying long.

As a result, their daily lives were taken care of by their grandfather, Sir Stout.

Sir Staint was a poor farmer, when he was young, under the call of King Abbaschia, he left his young wife and young son who had just turned one year old and resolutely joined the army, followed the king to participate in two expeditions, participated in dozens of battles, served in the army for nearly 20 years, rose step by step in the barracks, and participated in the famous "Forbidden Sergeant Regiment" as a junior officer before the Red Lion Expedition In the end, the emperor was crowned as a first-class knight of the knight at the burial ceremony, served as the captain of the knight, and received the knighthood.

There is such a grandfather who has been in the barracks for almost half his life, and he doesn't know whether it is a blessing or a curse. Since Langton's birth, Sir Stout has completely resigned from the Knights and returned to his fiefdom to enjoy his old age, and the education of his two grandsons has also fallen on the head of the old knight.

For as long as Langton can remember, the grandfather has been "tormenting" himself. Every day, I have to get up before dawn to exercise, and I have to study and practice martial arts, and I have no idle kung fu all day long. In terms of diet, my grandfather also strictly restricted himself, his favorite foods were honey and apples, and only dry and hard bread and salted fish or salted broth were full, and cabbage leaves were full.

While children of the same age were sleeping, Langton and his brother were running, and while they were playing, they memorized and studied, and rode horses to practice swords. If they did something that displeased their grandfather, they would be punished mercilessly, and they were afraid of Sir Stout.

In the same kind of education, there is an obvious gap between the two brothers, Astan Ling is gradually adapting to his grandfather's education, striving to satisfy his grandfather in all aspects, but Langton is not, Langton is always a little absent-minded about his grandfather's education, always doing things half a beat slower, usually either looking out the window when reading, or squatting on the ground to count ants during training.

Despite such an unhappy childhood, today is a good day for Langton.

First, the father returned home and brought delicious cherries to himself and his brother, and then the grandfather gave him and his brother time off, so that they could get rid of the heavy training tasks and have an afternoon that the children should enjoy.

In the evening, the Langton family had a sumptuous dinner, not only Langton's favorite honey and apples, but even his brother's favorite black pepper spice, and his grandfather and father drank some wine together. It would have been better if my father hadn't broken his nose and swollen face while chatting with my grandfather in the house.

Every time my father came home, after meeting my grandfather, he would fall in the house.

It may have been difficult for the sluggish Langton to understand the meaning behind the meal, but for the town of Astan, he had already sensed a hint of unease in the seemingly sumptuous dinner.

At dinner, my mother always deliberately sat far away from my father, but today my mother was dressed in quite modest clothes—her dowry, the velvet gown she had brought from Abbasquia, and she whispered something to her father, and she did not refuse his courtesy. Only my grandfather was still the same, still holding the dagger he had taken back from the battlefield when he was eating, and used this dagger to silently cut the meat on his plate and eat it.

Several farmers from the manor near their homes also came to the house, but instead of the usual excitement and restraint of being invited to the dinner party, their faces were a little nervous and lost written directly on their faces, in short, there was an indescribable emotion that enveloped everyone at the banquet, and from the lips of each of them was saying a word that Astan had never heard before, "Saiwang".

After three rounds of drinking, Langton swallowed the last piece of bread on his plate, raised the wine in front of him and drank it down, then grabbed a piece of the table and wiped the corners of his mouth, and turned to jump off the chair.

At this moment, a pair of hands pressed Langton's shoulders, and Langton looked up and saw that it was his mother's personal maid. "Wait and see, Young Master Langton, the master has something to talk about today. ”

Orlando put down the cutlery in his hand and arranged them neatly at one end of the plate.

"I have always taken care of you, and I hope it will continue to be the same. Allow me to bring you another glass of wine, for the sake of my father's health, and for the sake of what I will eventually achieve over there. ”

Just as Orlando was saying this, a tall, stout farmer rose from the corner at the end of the long table, raised the wine in front of him with a red face, and drank it down. "Orlando, although you and I have different identities, we grew up together and have something to say. ”

"Things to the south are so far away that I left my hometown just by one rumor...... Do you really think so?"

"I've done ......it before," Orlando said to his glass, trying to say something to comfort his friend, but he didn't want to be interrupted by a loud noise. It was the sound of a dagger nailed to the table.

The people at the table were startled by the sudden noise, and they tried to find the source of the sound.

Langton saw that his grandfather had finished eating the food in front of him, and he stuck the dagger in his hand on the table, his eyes a little red and swollen.