Arthur and his men rode Joan's luxurious beast drive to a huge mansion on the west side of the Imperial City.

The three-zhang and three-high gatehouse is carved and painted, and the vermilion gate is covered with neatly arranged yellow copper nails, and dozens of forbidden soldiers guard the gate.

The grandeur of this mansion was by no means inferior to the Archduke of Palmer and Ross, where Arthur had been before.

The beast drove directly into the mansion and stopped in front of the small gate of the second courtyard.

Joan beckoned Arthur and the bearded ranger to get out of the car.

Seeing that Joan's two friends didn't come with him before, Arthur grabbed Joan's collar and pulled it over, raised his fist and was about to hit him in the face, "You fool, you left without even saying hello!"

"Let go, there are a lot of people watching?" I'll explain to you in a moment. ”

"Explain what? Forget about hiding your identity, and deceive us with a fake name for so many years?" Arthur still clung to Joan's collar, but his fist never stopped.

"You've wronged me, Joan is my real name. ”

"What's the matter with that Yages calling you Ulan Jiali?"

"My full name is Ulan Carrie Joan Edgeworth, and Joan is my middle name, and everyone who knows me calls me Joan. You let go first, you don't have a good impact like this. ”

Arthur looked around, from Becky, the bearded ranger to the chauffeur who was driving, and the palace guards next to him all looked at the two with surprised eyes, and couldn't guess what the relationship between the two was? His Highness Eleven, who had beaten Yegis just now, was actually grabbed by the collar and wanted to be beaten, and with a begging expression.

Thinking that this is Joan's palace after all, and he always has to save some face, Arthur let go of Joan's collar and clapped his hands unsatisfied.

Joan immediately arranged a feast for Arthur and the bearded ranger.

The wine banquet in the palace of His Royal Highness Eleventh is naturally a list of delicacies from the mountains and seas, jade plates, and wine is also a high-quality wine that cannot be found in the taverns outside.

But the atmosphere at the wine table was a little weird, perhaps because of Joan's identity, the three bearded rangers couldn't let go, but they just briefly exchanged some experiences with Arthur in recent years. Arthur also had too many secrets to tell outsiders, and his experience after breaking up with a few people in the church was also a few words. Qiong smiled and drank wine throughout the whole process, but did not mention anything about her identity and the imperial capital.

After eating a sumptuous banquet, I am afraid that only the little witch Becky is satisfied, but she does not have so many secrets and involvement, and only cares about the feast like a storm.

After the banquet, the bearded ranger and Arthur left each other's temporary addresses in the imperial capital before taking their leave. Joan arranged for the beast driver to send Becky back to the Kingdom Inn, leaving Arthur alone.

In the pavilion of the palace garden, the sky is red and blue, and there is a bottle of wine in the pavilion.

Joan poured a bowl of wine for Arthur and herself, looked up at Arthur, was speechless, but sighed softly, and then looked up and drank it all.

Arthur also drank the wine dry, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said to himself: "The world envies wealth and goodness, but hates to be born in the emperor's family." ”

Joan stepped forward and grabbed Arthur's arms, and said with some excitement, "You actually understand the bitterness in my heart?"

Arthur looked at the strange flowers and plants in the surrounding garden, and said softly: "No matter how beautiful this garden is, it can be regarded as a prison for a long time, right?

Joan poured another bowl of wine, "Do you know? The years I have spent with you have been the happiest since I was a child! This palace is just a visible prison, and there is an even bigger invisible prison that imprisons you breathlessly! As the son of the emperor, there are countless eyes watching you all the time, and your words and deeds must have rules, all of which represent the royal etiquette and image, and you must not be neglected at all. ”

Arthur and Joan touched the edge of the bowl lightly, drank the wine again, and said with a smile: "So you are desperately resisting? As the son of the emperor, but fighting with people on the street, I am afraid that only you can do such a shocking thing, right?"

Joan smiled bitterly: "How can I have the ability to resist? I am on the run, trying every means to escape, to escape the eyes of the emperor, to escape the attention of my brothers!"

Arthur suddenly approached Joan and smirked, "So you deliberately were taken for a fool?"

"Born in the family of the emperor, you will inevitably fall into the whirlpool of power, as long as you are in that position, whether you want to or not, there is no way to stop others from treating you as an opponent and a stumbling block, and you may be able to live a little longer if you are stupid. Joan shook her head helplessly and sighed.

Arthur's expression suddenly became serious, "You know, Joan, there are some things that you can't escape if you want to, such as responsibility!"

Joan was stunned for a moment, and was speechless for a while, only bowed her head and said, "Drink." ”

Under the moonlight, bowls of wine were served, and the two young men soon drank too much......

......

At the same time, in a palace in the imperial capital, there were also two men drinking under the moonlight.

The man at the top was slender, with a short golden beard under his chin, a look of sight, a resolute face, and an amber liquor syrup in the jade cup in his hand. The man's glass stopped at his lips, as if thoughtful, and he didn't finish it for a long time.

"Your Highness, if you don't drink the wine when it's already on your lips, isn't it a tyrannical thing?" a middle-aged man with a thin figure and a gloomy face on the opposite side persuaded with a smile.

This person is none other than the emperor's eldest son, His Royal Highness Alex, who is considered one of the most likely candidates for the next emperor.

"The wine is good, but too many people want to grab it, so this wine is not so delicious!" Alex said with a slight shake of his head.

The middle-aged man suddenly lowered his voice and said: "It is precisely because too many people want to drink that His Highness should make a decision as soon as possible! I am afraid that the emperor's body will not last long, this time the emperor of the alliance wants to test the attitude of various countries, I am afraid that the final decision will be announced after the conference of the alliance." ”

Alex drank all the wine in the glass, gently turned the wine glass and said expressionlessly: "I hope the emperor will not be confused and make wrong decisions." ”

Seeing that Alex had made up his mind, the middle-aged man changed the topic and said, "I don't know if Your Highness has heard about it, our Highness Eleventh, who likes to mess around, beat up Gan Guifei's own brother Yegis on Tianxiang Street this afternoon. ”

Alex smiled, "A gentleman like Yages, the people who want to clean him up are afraid of power and dare not do it, and the people who have the ability to clean him up are afraid of face and don't want to meet him in general, I'm afraid that no one in the entire imperial capital can beat him except for Joan, a guy who loves to mess around." ”

"His Highness Eleventh was ruthless enough to beat Yegis half to death. There was news in the palace that Concubine Gan was crying in front of the emperor for a while. At this sensitive time, he is not afraid of angering the emperor and Gan Guifei, it seems that His Royal Highness Eleventh really has no intention of becoming the prince!" the middle-aged man analyzed seriously.

Alex said thoughtfully: "From studying in Isaac to avoid this whirlpool, and now deliberately doing things that do not please the emperor, it all shows that Joan is a smart person." You arranged for someone to keep an eye on him, and I will never allow any accidents to occur in this matter!"