The lake in the mountains is as calm as a mirror. With a high-frequency roar of machinery, a biplane with a pontoon "stepped" landed in a light and natural attitude like a floating leaf, and slowly glided towards the shore of the lake. At this time, on the shore of the lake, there was a lonely car parked, which had a pair of headlights on, and waited there motionless.

On the taxiing plane, Weiss squinted to probe the situation on the shore. There were two people on the car, one was basically ineffective, and the other was weaker than ordinary soldiers, there was no ambush around the car, only on the searchlight side there was a certain number of enemy soldiers.

Weiss leaned forward and instructed the pilot: "Send me to the shore, I'll go up, you stand by." Stay far from the shore and be careful not to let the enemy take advantage of it. ”

"Be careful yourself!" Pilot reminder.

After a while, the plane reached the shore driven by propeller thrust. Weiss climbed out of the cockpit, climbed the fuselage to the wings, and then leaped to land on the shore of a hard cobblestone lake.

A man of not very burly figure stepped out of the back seat of the car and said loudly in the jerky Ulster language: "This gentleman, I have been ordered to wait for you here, and there is no other malice, please come with me!" ”

Whether there is malice or not, Weiss has come to this point, and there is no turning back. He simply walked over with his head held high, and replied in Norman: "I have come to see your governor, and let him come here, and we will talk here, and not anywhere else!" ”

The man replied in Norman: "Lord Alla Scala, the Baron of Sabre, is our military governor of Lorraine, and he is waiting for you in the castle in front of him, and he is waiting for you alone. ”

Weiss stood still, looking at the Norman officer with distrust.

"If we want to arrest or kill you, I don't have to stand here at all." The Norman officer said quickly, "We have shown sincerity, and you, can't you even show a little guts?" ”

It has to be said that this agitation method made Weiss difficult to refute, and after weighing it again, he followed the mediocre-looking Norman officer into the car.

The exterior of this sedan shows the rugged and rigid style of the big industrial era, long, large and heavy, and is matched with an engine that runs exceptionally loud, while the interior configuration of the sedan is completely different: the two rows of seats in the rear are opposite each other, the leather seats are soft and comfortable, the floor is covered with a thick red velvet blanket, and the door frames and glass rockers are all glittering gold......

The Norman officer who accompanied him sat face to face with his back to the front of the car, but he did not seem to intend to talk to Weiss, who was a little curious, but in this very special situation, pure curiosity was not enough to talk about. So, the two faced each other silently, speechless all the way. The sedan drove along the mountain road and soon came to the familiar Klumberg-Heisen Castle. The castle was dark and dark, and all the rooms except the main entrance were unlit. Weiss scanned again with great energy, and there was indeed only one person in the castle, a red virtual frame, and some enemies in the distance, they were scattered, and it seemed that they were on a guard duty, not to be killed at any time.

Does this prove his sincerity?

Weiss didn't have an answer in his heart, so he was still apprehensive at the moment.

The sedan drove into the castle gates, and although the night was hazy, by the light of the searchlights, Weiss could roughly see that the front yard of the castle was very clean, and there was no sense of abandonment and dilapidation, which was very different from the situation of the Resistance reconnaissance a few months ago. I think only Ze will keep this castle in a state of unoccupied and well-maintained out of personal feelings.

Passing through the paved forecourt, the car came under the porch of the castle's vestibule. The hall was lit up and there was the sound of melodious music, but there were no voices or shadows inside, and the music was clearly not related to events such as dinner dances.

After the car stopped, the Norman officer opened the door and got out of the car, stood by the door and said, "His Excellency Scala, the Baron of the Norman Empire with a sword and the military governor of Lorraine, is waiting for you inside." ”

Weiss tugged at the hem of his shirt, took a deep breath, and walked into the hall with his chest puffed. The layout of the hall remains the same, but the crystal chandelier seems to have been replaced, and the new ones are shining, and the displays seem to be a little less. Of course, that's not the point, it's the person sitting on the couch. The moment he met eye to eye, Weiss seemed to have a volcano suddenly erupting in his mind, and countless hot magma erupted, and his mind was overwhelmed, and as a result, he "crashed" on the spot. After some time, he woke up from his unconscious state and sat up reflexively, only to find himself lying on the couch with a thick blanket. The hall was silent, except for the crackling of firewood in the fireplace.

"Awake?"

A calm, easy-going voice came from the couch opposite.

Weiss raised his eyes and saw that although the appearance of the person in front of him was a little more vicissitudes and coldness, his thick eyebrows, bright eyes, high nose bridge, broad lips, and full chin were still the appearance in his memory, and the chic intimacy made him almost burst into tears. At this moment, I can't help but think of the images of him teaching himself to swim, riding horses, taking himself on hikes and skiing, and patiently explaining the principles of firearms. It turned out that he was so smart, diligent, positive, he was so upright, open-minded, and empathetic, he worked hard, struggled, he struggled, and he fought for, but his strength alone could not change the fate of the Clumber-Haytham family for many years of decline, and he was repeatedly frustrated, making him gradually become silent and misanthropic, until he packed his bags and embarked on a journey of adulthood that had been passed down from generation to generation......

"What are you doing? Don't believe your eyes? The bearded man on the couch in a military uniform still spoke in the calm and easy-going tone he had just had.

Weiss replied with a wry smile: "No, I just didn't expect that we would have a chance to meet again, and we met in a hostile capacity." ”

Ze, the eldest son of the generation of the Clumber-Haysen family, sat there quietly and said quietly, "Indeed. I thought about all the possibilities, and this was the most surprising to me - the weak and lazy brother who had been forged into steel in the Union Army was now a leader of the Lorraine Resistance, a specially appointed partisan colonel of the Union Army...... It's incredible! Regardless of who you are and where you stand, I'm really proud of you! ”

Wei Sike was not at all happy to receive his brother's affirmation, and he asked coldly: "In the Norman Empire, your talents and ambitions have been given the opportunity to be displayed, and your ideals have been realized one by one, do you feel successful?" Feeling proud? ”

Ze leaned on the sofa, turned his back to the sky, and said with emotion: "From a commoner with no status to a meritorious nobleman of the empire, it only took me seven years, which is unthinkable in the Federation!" However, a considerable part of this progress was based on the breaking of the old order by means of war, which brought untold suffering to the people of Wessex and Ulster, which I did not wish to see. ”

Seeing that his brother seemed to be remorseful, Weiss lost no time in persuading: "It's still too late to rein in the precipice and abandon the darkness and turn to the light!" ”

Ze laughed, and after laughing, he looked into Weiss's eyes, and his eyes showed a firm determination: "If you really think like this, it means that you are not clear enough to understand reality, and you have illusions about those who hold power, so sooner or later you will suffer a big loss!" ”

Weiss's persuasion just now was pale and weak, both logical and reasonable, and he did not have much hope, but a kind of posture temptation, or rather, verbal fire reconnaissance.

Ze continued: "In fact, with my ability, the impact on the war is minimal. In other words, in this war, no matter which side I join, the result will be the same. Now that I am a baron and general of the Norman Empire, the military governor of Lorraine, I can protect most of the Lorrainians in my own way and keep them alive, so, I have a clear conscience about my choices and actions! ”

Weiss smiled contemptuously: "Do you have a clear conscience?" If it were me, I would be able to do nothing in front of people, but when I was alone, I would definitely be tormented and miserable. ”

These words seemed to reach Ze's heart, he hesitated for a moment, and sighed: "You're right, I do often fall into this kind of pain, but ...... I believe that this kind of pain is the inevitable process of success, a test of will and spirit; I am confident that my efforts will pay off and that the Clumber-Haysen family will be able to regain its former glory. ”

In Weiss's view, Ze's assumption was a complete mistake: if the war destroyed the Federation, all the glory of the Clumber-Heyssen family would be lost, and the future glory and wealth would be nothing more than the survival of the Norman occupation. If the Federation were to reverse the killing, the Clumber-Haysom family would be disgraced by the fact that there was only one high-ranking Norman officer and meritorious armor among the direct members, how could they regain their former glory?

He stood up and moved his limbs. The previous fainting was obviously caused by the large influx of hosts' memories into the mind, and it only took a short rest for the body to return to normal. Weiss raised his hand and looked at his watch, it had been almost an hour since he landed, which meant that he had been lying on the sofa for more than half an hour, which was not long, nor short, and the pilot who was waiting for him on the lake must be anxious at this time. He decided not to dwell on these emotional and logical questions, but to cut straight to the point: "I'm here to take Bella away, where is she?" ”

Ze also stood up and confronted Weiss: "She's fine, safe, don't worry." I have already talked to her that the life of the guerrillas is not good for her health and that of her parents. I came to you today mainly to discuss this matter with you—I want my father, mother, and Bella to live in a neutral country, and then come back when the war is over. They are not soldiers, and there is really no need to get involved in battles between soldiers. In this war, they have done enough for the country to be able to leave with their heads held high. ”

Ze's views seem reasonable, but in fact there are logical flaws, but this suggestion alone moved Weiss. For the resistance of the people of Lorraine, the Lord and his wife have contributed all their family property, regardless of their safety, but they are not soldiers after all, and they do not have decent combat effectiveness. Rather than continue to put them in a state of torment, why not have a little selfishness and let them go to a neutral country that is not disturbed by the war, so that you can also travel lightly and lead the guerrillas to fight the Norman occupation army to the end.

"If I agree to your suggestion and let you take my father, mother, and Bella, will you let me go back to the Resistance and continue to lead the guerrillas to fight you?"

Hearing Weiss say this, an indifferent smile appeared on Ze's face: "I will not use despicable means to force you to bow your head, you are willing to fight, I will give you a chance, if one day, you know that you can't defeat us, I will still give you a proper arrangement." This is our brotherly love! ”

.。 m.