Upon learning that the 2,000 men of the Wells and Midsummer Legions had arrived in the town of Diguan, the Earl of Kodor had no rest. He didn't expect the enemy to advance so quickly, and as soon as he stepped into the gate of Kodor with his front foot, the people followed him.

"Report!" As the Earl of Kodor paced back and forth in the halls of the lord, the herald came to give an announcement.

"Is it about the Wells Legion?" Count Kodor turned and walked towards the herald at the door.

"Report to your lordship, it's an envoy sent by the Earl of Bernard at the Thorne court."

"What? Envoy? Count Kodor was surprised, and instead of immediately calling the herald to summon in the envoy sent by the Thorne court, he slowly turned around and sat down on the large leather chair in the lord's hall and closed his eyes in contemplation.

At this time, what did that old thing Bernard send an envoy to do? If it had been before, the Count of Codor would have already ordered the wine to be prepared, and the gold and silver to entertain the men sent by Bernard. After all, Bernard was powerful at that time, and he had a good relationship with the court, and his own benefits were indispensable in the future, and these small gifts should be paving the way for the future.

However, the world has changed, and the Thorne court, represented by Bernard, has been defeated in the north. On the other hand, the Liberation Army in Dongjing is pressing forward step by step, and has conquered and occupied many towns and strategic points in the eastern part of Saône Province one after another. The Thorne court was facing a situation of total suppression and contraction.

At this time, the external situation also underwent a fundamental reversal. The principality, which had originally supported the Thorne court, defected and saw the wind at the helm. The Kingdom of France and the Church of Paris were firmly on the side of the Flanders.

As far as the interior of the Thorne court is concerned, the Count of Kodor also received secret information. Seeing that the principality that originally supported the Thorne court transferred the army on the border, some of the ministers and nobles who supported Bernard had begun to waver, and secretly communicated with the Besançon court, intending to make peace. Now it is his henchmen who fully support Bernard. Although he knew that some guys had been frightened by Dongjing and were ready to move, Bernard still didn't dare to attack those people. Because he also needs the money bags of those people to serve him, and if he cleans them up too soon, it will inevitably lead to revolt. This is undoubtedly worse for the already stormy Thorne court.

After all the consideration, a thought flashed through the mind of the Count of Codor: to make peace. Before Flender fully occupied the province of Saône, he swore allegiance to the new king. Otherwise, when Bernard's Thorne court is completely defeated by Beverland, the new monarch will raise his sword and rip out his heart.

It's not too late to make peace. As an old-fashioned minister of the country, who has run the province of Kodor for decades and sworn allegiance to the new king, Flanders will definitely open up to himself. After all, it is much wiser to have one more ally than one more enemy, and Flender will not fail to understand this truth. To be able to win the battle for the succession, and even to have the support of Paris and a loyal follower like Arter, Flender relied on no luck.

But in order to find out what Bernard sent the envoy for, the Count of Kodor still planned to meet this guy.

"Bring that guy here." The Count of Kodor gave orders to the heralds who had been standing outside the door for a long time.

"Yes, Lord Count."

In a short time, the envoy sent by the Thorne court had arrived at the door of the hall of the lords of Kodor.

"Lord Earl, the envoy of the Thorne court has arrived." The herald was outside the door.

"Come in." Count Kodor's tone lacked the enthusiasm of his past. If it had been before, he would have been waiting outside the door.

Since he had been waiting outside the Earl's Mansion for a long time, the envoy's face was a little ugly. Hearing the summons of the Count of Kodor, the envoy strode into the hall of the lord.

Seeing that Count Kodor was sitting on a large leather chair in the lord's hall with his eyes closed, the envoy walked straight towards Count Kodor.

"Lord Earl, I~"

"Let's sit down first." As soon as the envoy spoke, the Count of Kodor interrupted him nonchalantly. The Thorne court envoy had to walk towards the seat on the side.

In the middle of the night, Count Kodor looked at the fellow with his eyes half-open. I remember that the last time the envoy of the Thorne court came, he informed the Count of Codor that the Thorne court had won the support of the Duchy, and his attitude was very arrogant, and he even did not take the Count of Codor seriously. Before leaving, the Count of Kodor also ordered a large amount of gold and silver to be prepared for this fellow, hoping to show goodwill to the court of Thorne.

Now, the face of this guy sitting in front of him has long since disappeared from the high-flying and domineering and no one in his eyes in the past, he just waited silently with a calm face, and he didn't even dare to come out.

Looking at the change in the envoy's attitude, the Count of Kodor had already guessed the purpose of the envoy's visit by the Thorne court.

"Ahem~" Count Kodor, who was already lying on the leather chair with some back pain, coughed twice pretendedly.

"Lord Count, you are awake." The envoy hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

"Oh, Envoy, I'm smiling you. Recently, I have been busy with business, and I am quite tired, and I fall asleep without paying attention. Count Kodor explained.

"Lord Earl, you have the responsibility of the country, but you should pay attention to your body." When the envoy saw Count Kodor descending the steps, he hurriedly got up and stretched out his hand to help him.

"Someone, hurry up and prepare drinks for the envoy." The Count of Kodor instructed the servant in the side room, leading the envoy to his seat.

"I don't know what instructions the envoy has for coming this time, is the principality preparing to send troops?" The Earl of Kodor tentatively pulled some useful information out of the envoy's mouth.

"Hey, hey, Lord Earl, the Duchy has already announced its support for the Thorne court, and it's only a matter of time before you send troops." The envoy said with a smile. "The Thorne court sent me here for two things."

"Oh, please let the envoy know." Count Kodor looked expectant, leaning slightly towards the envoy. I saw that the envoy glanced at Count Kodor, and then turned his head to look in the direction of the inner fort~

Of course, Count Kodor knew what this guy was thinking. In the past, every time an envoy came, the Count of Kodor would first ask the servants in the inner fort to prepare a bag of jingling "gifts" as the envoy's "hardship fee". I hope to get as much useful information as possible from this guy's mouth, and I can also use this guy's mouth to say a few kind words for myself in front of Thorne's court.

But now that the situation has changed, Count Kodor is no longer willing to reward the greedy guy in front of him with the wealth he has worked so hard to run the province of Kodor for several years.

"What is the envoy looking inside?" Count Kodor asked hypocritically. The envoy slowly turned his head, only to see that the smile on his face had disappeared.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, Lord Count." The envoy hastened to reply.

"Didn't you just say that the Thorne court sent you here for two things? Go ahead. ”

Noticing the change in Count Kodor's tone, the envoy dispelled the thought.

"Lord Earl, Count Bernard has asked me to convey to you that the rear of the army that attacked Fort Marcy has been destroyed by the men sent by the court of Thorne, and they will not hold out for long. That's the first thing. In addition, the Count of Bernard has told you to resist that army, and the court of Thorne has sent men to the Duchy to urge them to send troops to Besançon at once to encircle and suppress the Restoration Army with the Western Army. It will be a matter of time before you recover Dongjing, and when the time comes, you will be a meritorious servant of the country, and the new court will definitely not treat you badly. ”

"Oh, by the way, Count Bernard has a personal letter for me to pass on to you." As he spoke, the envoy pulled the letter from his waist and placed it on the table.

Count Kodor looked at the letter on the table, and did not rush to open it, but stroked the beard of his chin, thinking in his heart that the secret letter he had just obtained from two friends was not at all what the man in front of him had said. The reason why the Thorne court sent an envoy was nothing more than to appease him and work for the Thorne court. I'm not a fool myself.

Now, I will never be led by the nose by that old thing like Bernard. He was promised to join and support the court of the Thorne only because Bernard promised to give him half of the territory of the province of Lucesinn after the fulfillment of the matter. Now that the tide is gone, he has to think about his future and destiny. Before Bernard had even touched the piece of pie he had painted, he had already lost half of the territory of the province of Kodor, and by the way, he had lost countless money and troops, which was more than worth the loss.

The Count of Kodor thought for a while, took a sip of wine from his glass, and then said to the envoy of the Thorne court: "How can I hear that the Duchy has recently sent someone to Besançon to discuss with Flender in detail the matter of supporting the unification of the Empire by the Liberation Army. ”

"This~" The envoy was shocked, and his body was already trembling a little. His eyes also looked away from Count Kodor.

"Earl~Earl, this must be the rumor spread by those rebels in Besançon, destroying your friendship with Count Bernard." The envoy hastened to explain.

"Humph! Friendship? How long is that old thing going to hide from me? The Count of Kodor looked at the gibberish guy in front of him with disdain.

"Lord Earl, watch your words!" The envoy heard that Count Kodor was disrespectful to his master, and got up to remind Count Kodor.

"You bastard, you dare to play prestige in front of me at such a time!" Count Kodor scolded.

"You!" At this time, the envoy was so angry that his face turned pale, but he didn't dare to attack.

"Do you think I don't know? The Duchy, under pressure from the Kingdom of France and the Church, had already withdrawn its troops from the border. Moreover, he sent overtures to the court of Besançon, hoping to renew the covenant. Count Kodor said loudly, and the spit in his mouth kept flying towards the envoy's face, causing the envoy to cover his head and retreat.

"You're just in time for this, I'm worried about the 'gift' that I didn't take." Count Kodor smiled with satisfaction.

"What gift? To whom? The envoy seemed to understand the murderous intent in Count Kodor's eyes.

"You! Do you dare to collude with the rebels? The envoy asked, frightened, pointing his finger at Count Kodor.

"Collusion? How can this be called collusion? This is called peacemaking. "The Count of Kodor has finally revealed his intentions.

"You~" As he spoke, the envoy ran to the door of the lord's hall......

"Catch him for me!" As soon as Count Kodor gave the order, the guards outside the door grabbed the envoy who had just run to the door and pressed him to the ground.

"Let go of me, you two bastards!" The envoy struggled and shouted.

"Take the envoy down and lock me up, I'll still be useful."

"Yes, Lord Count."

"Mormont, you are treason! You traitor, you have to think clearly, Count Bernard will not let you go, you are going to the execution table......" The envoy scolded while being dragged out of the lord's hall by the guards~

"Someone!" After the envoy's voice died down in the halls of the lord, Count Kodor called the herald over.

"You go out of the city at once, and go to ...... with my secret letter," Count Kodor said to the personal guard in a low voice, looking left and right.

"Yes, Lord Count."