Silver Ring, Royal Gallery.

"Your Majesty, this is your favorite painting, are you sure?"

A one-meter-square canvas depicts a calm sea, a golden sun, and fishing boats going out to sea, as if it had magical powers, allowing the viewer to obtain a moment of tranquility and serenity.

Queen Mary's hands trembled slightly, her eyes full of reluctance and melancholy, and after a long time, she put down the frame and said to the maid beside her, "Cathy, find someone to wrap these paintings, it's time to find a new owner for them......"

The maid glanced at the empty walls and said to the queen cautiously, "Your Majesty, maybe we can keep a few, and we don't have to sell them all, right?"

"No...... You don't understand, at a time like this, not a single painting can be left. The queen waved her hand and whispered, "All right, go out, I want to be alone." ”

Cathy glanced at the queen, exited the corridor, and closed the door.

Queen Mary sat down in a chair at the end of the corridor in despair, watching the sun shine on the empty wall outside the window, she bent her straight back, her arms were pillows, she buried her face in her bosom, her body rose and fell slightly, trying to suppress herself from making a sound.

Outside the door, Cathy leaned one hand on the handle, her forehead against the door panel, her face full of sadness and unbearable.

Turning back one step at a time, the maid left the corridor.

Outside the main entrance of the palace collection hall, several knights and guards of the guards were quietly guarding their posts.

Cathy's appearance diverted the attention of everyone at the door.

The knight at the head greeted him, nodded slightly to the maid and asked, "Her Majesty is still inside?"

The man in front of him was only twenty-five or sixteen, with a dignified appearance and bright eyes. Cathy blushed, bowed and said, "Knight Commander Herman, Her Majesty the Queen is still in the gallery, saying that she wants to be alone for a while." ”

The man nodded, and just as he was about to speak, the guards behind him, neatly standing in place, attracted his attention.

An old man wearing chain mail and carrying a long sword at his waist walked towards him, his eyebrows were angry and his face was unkind.

Herman was stunned for a moment, then stood up straight and puffed up his chest: "Baron Cumberland......"

Before he could say anything more, the old man kicked the knight in the ass, nearly knocking him to the ground.

Herman's face was flushed, he looked at the old man with shame, and protested loudly: "Lord Baron, you are insulting ...... doing this."

Cumberland didn't bend his knee and hit the knight's ass with a second kick.

The knights and guards around them snickered quietly when they saw the embarrassment of the chief.

Herman covered his hips with both hands, went around the back of the post, and cried out, "Oh my God, father, stop!"

Cumberland stopped, stroked the silver hair hanging from his forehead, and sneered: "I didn't expect that you would still recognize me as a father." Why didn't you go to the ball held by the Viscount of Cologne?!"

Herman raised his head: "Prom? I don't have time for that kind of boring party." As the Captain of the Guards, I have my duty. ”

"Bastard! I told you to come! You know how much face I lost just now?!"

Seeing his father raise his leg again, Herman quickly took two steps back, and said, "I know, you want me to meet the viscount's youngest daughter, right?

The old man trembled angrily and pointed his finger at his son: "If it weren't for your deceased mother's sake, I would have tied you to a tree today and whipped your elm head!"

Baron Cumberland glanced at the knights and guards standing beside him, took a few steps closer to Herman, tapped his forehead with a headache, and whispered, "Listen, bastard! I'm going to transfer you to the east!"

Herman's eyes widened: "You don't have the right to do that!"

"No, I can do that. And you don't understand, I'm doing it for your own good. ”

The knight clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth, and said, word by word: "If you insist on this, I don't mind being a deserter!"

"Bastard thing!"

The enraged old man raised his fist above his head, but what he saw was a pair of resolute eyes that would not budge.

The father and son were in a stalemate for a long time, and the father finally dropped his fist.

Cumberland glanced at Herman, then in the direction of the Royal Gallery, sighed dejectedly, and left the place under the gaze of everyone.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the Silver Ring, another father and son are talking.

Viscount Kennard threw a grape into his mouth and said to his father, the Count of Narr, with his legs crossed: "The king has withdrawn his plan for tax reform against the nobility, and we have won." ”

The short and fat earl read the documents on the table, looked at the eldest son with a villainous appearance, and frowned: "In order to avoid intensifying the conflict, withdrawing the tax reform plan at this time is the only choice for the king." Otherwise, he would offend a large group of people and would have to face the wrath of both the populace and the nobility. By the way, those rumors against the queen can be stopped. ”

Viscount Kennard sat up straight with a reluctant expression: "Hey, why? Every time I see that woman, she always looks high and unpleasant, and I want to see her panicked appearance more." ”

The Count put the papers aside, tapped the table with his knuckles, and said in a deep voice: "Don't mess around!

Viscount Kennard tilted his head back and said regretfully, "It's a pity, I heard that she sold all her paintings today, and in a few more days, maybe she will ...... all her jewelry."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed the Earl, looking up in surprise, "What did you just say?!"

Kennard looked at his father inexplicably, and said slowly: "The queen sold all the paintings in her collection, saying that she wanted to support the king......"

The Count rose from his seat and walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back, his face restless and nervous.

His son opened his mouth, looked at his father's abnormal behavior, and asked suspiciously, "Eh, what's wrong with the queen selling paintings?" Dad, do you want to buy them all?"

"Fart, you idiot!" the Count shook his head, and paced back and forth a few more steps with a look of hatred, and said to himself, "I seem to have underestimated that woman a little......

He thought for a moment, then turned to Viscount Kennard and said, "Listen, the rumors continue, and our plans need to change!"

——————————————

Monastery of San Sidro, High Friars' Synod.

"Masters, thank you very much, for taking the time out of your busy schedules to meet me. ”

Todd, who had taken off his priest's robe and put on his monk's robe again, bowed to the five respected monks in front of him.

The eldest monk in the middle smiled and returned the salute: "Brother Todd, we are very happy to see you again, I wonder why you came to the monastery?"

Todd glanced at the five old monks in front of him, who were quite kind, and understood that the other party was so polite, on the one hand, because he had studied in the monastery, and on the other hand, because he had left the method of refining silver to the other party before leaving.

Thinking of this, Todd did not rush to make his request, and first asked a question: "Excuse me, all the masters, have you ever worked as a scripture copyist?"

The so-called scribe is an extremely tedious but very important profession in the monastery. These people sat all day in a small, dimly lit house, with nothing but wooden platforms, scriptures, white paper, and ink in front of them. They need to carefully and stroke by stroke the contents of a scripture or manuscript onto a blank sheet of paper and compile it into a book.

It's a job that not only has to endure the heat and cold, but also has to keep your full attention in every moment, and if you get a word wrong, it can mean that half a day's hard work is in vain. In addition, not to mention rats, snakes, lead ink, myopia and other injuries......

Moreover, it is a job that almost every monk has done.

Seeing that the five old monks nodded in unison with doubts, Todd asked a second question: "May I ask you, how long does it take to complete the copying of a Bible?"

The eldest monk touched his beard, thought about it, and said, "If you are a skilled scribe and there are no mistakes in copying, it will take about a year at the earliest." ”

Todd pulled out a piece of paper with 24 lines of scripture neatly printed on it, and handed it to the monks: "Masters, this is the first page of the Bible, please judge it." ”

The old monk took the paper, looked at it repeatedly, and exclaimed sincerely: "The font is straight, the lines are equal, the writing is smooth, and the most difficult thing is that the same letters can be written exactly the same! This scribe was, in my opinion, a senior and conscientious expert. ”

The monks circulated the papers, and they all made a sound of praise and agreed with the old monk's judgment.

"What if I said that it only takes a week to transcribe such a perfect Bible?"

Todd's words immediately stunned everyone in their seats, and they forgot to speak.

After a few moments, some of the monks shook their heads in questioning, and some even burst into laughter.

Todd leaned forward, a smile on his face, "Masters, why don't you let us work together?"

The monks stopped talking, stopped laughing, and waited for what the other had to say.

"I hope to recruit fifty monks in the monastery to convey the Father's true knowledge to the people of Twilight, and I hope to borrow 50 books a week from the monastery's library. Todd held up a finger to the monks: "In return, I will give the monastery a beautifully copied Bible every week." ”

Todd's tone was sincere and reverent: "Masters, please think about what a wonderful and fair cooperation this will be!"