Nobles dressed in Tudor attire, hooded hats, and high riding boots, noble ladies and knights rode their horses on tall, handsome horses, surrounded by a large number of attendants, on the country road leading to the hunting grounds of Baron Walton. Along the way, everyone chatted and laughed, and walked in the countryside jungle to follow the footprints left by their ancestors over the centuries, chasing prey such as red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, red foxes, rabbits and birds, and feeling the fun and excitement of hunting.

Soon, the group led their hunting teams to the vicinity of the hunting ground keeper's house in the middle of the hunting forest. After the falconers, dog trainers, and game keepers had saluted the nobles, noble ladies, and knights, Isabel Walton, the organizer of the hunt, gave a few words to the two experienced hunters and game keepers.

Afterwards, the two guards took three pairs of foxhounds, two grey-backed falcons, light spears, longbows, arrows, swords and daggers, and immediately went to the ancient forest to search for all kinds of prey. The nobles, noble ladies and knights, as well as a large number of attendants, used this time to eat some of the food and wine they had brought with them in the grass near the house, and to re-examine and arrange their hunting weapons.

Two nobles from impoverished Lancashire had planned to use the hunt to bring Isabel closer together, but the sudden appearance of an arquebus succeeded in attracting their hunting interest. Looking at the spears, swords, or longbows in the hands of their squires, and at the arquebuses in the hands of the Duke of Richmond's squires, the two nobles immediately wanted to have a more advanced new type of weaponry, representing the dawn of a new era.

While several nobles and knights sat in the shade of a tree, drinking ale and eating prunes, raisins and figs, the Earl of Lancashire asked Isabel all about the arquebus. Isabel took a sip of the malt and spoke bluntly. "Actually, when I met the merchant ships of the Portuguese, I found that they had already begun to fight with arquebuses."

"Portuguese? Madame, how do you know that the other party's ship is a Portuguese one? Will they tell you at sea by the way they speak? The Earl of Lancashire wanted to know the origin of the arquebus, how it was used and how powerful it was when it was fired, but he did not expect that it would open another door to a new era for him and the others.

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Baron Montiguel, who was fascinated by the listening, hurriedly leaned forward and asked Baron Walton's daughter, "Madam, since the Portuguese merchant ships have weapons, do they have some very bad thoughts about you and your ship?" ”

"A very cup of thought? Lord Montigall, you mean sea raids, don't you? ”

"Yes, ma'am. Raiding at sea, sounds interesting. I know how thieves hide on the side of the road and plunder passers-by. It's just that this sea raid ... What can I do to plunder someone else's ship? ”

Baron Montigall was not at all aware of seafaring matters, and simply believed that raiding at sea would be carried out as if it were on land. What he said for granted naturally made the others laugh. Wolf and his cousin, who were sitting under another tree, were attracted by the laughter of the nobles, and with the permission of their respective mothers, they immediately jumped up from the grass and ran to their godmother Isabel and sat down on the grass.

Isabel knew that the two boys had forgotten the aristocratic etiquette that they should observe for a moment, but she still rebuked them sternly, "Wolf, how can you and your cousin be so deceitful without the permission of His Highness, Lord Lancashire, Lord Montigall, and Sir William?" ”

The two boys blinked a few times and stood up obediently. The Duke of Richmond looked at the two boys with a smile on his face, and then looked at Isabel reservedly and said, "Madam, how old are your father's heirs and his cousin?" ”

"Your Highness, the two little ones are both 6 years old this year." Isabel smiled and explained.

"Well, the two children will start training in knighthood next year." The Duke of Richmond nodded and said gently, "Madame, I can forgive them for their rudeness this year. However, not next year. ”

The two boys, having received the understanding of the nobles present, sat down again, and listened with relish to anecdotes they had almost never heard. Isabel recalled the silly question that Baron Montigall had just mentioned, and said solemnly, "Your Excellency, it is easier to plunder at sea than on land. All I had to do was keep my boat at a distance from the Portuguese and ...... Fire! You can dispose of them all with artillery. ”

The Earl of Lancashire, who had received a variety of educations, looked at her hesitantly, and then looked at the Duke of Richmond, "Your Highness, you are His Majesty's Lord of the Navy, is this battle at sea like this?" ”

After the Scottish War a few months earlier, the Duke of Richmond no longer looked at the way naval operations were conducted with unfamiliar eyes. He nodded thoughtfully, glanced at Isabel who was sitting beside him, and then looked at the Earl of Lancashire, "Your Excellency, fighting at sea is indeed a method of fighting. ”

He then recounted his personal experience of the Scottish Wars, "When I led the royal fleet in the siege of Edinburgh Castle, I ordered all the ships of the fleet to fire a large number of artillery projectiles at the city of Edinburgh. Without my fleet at sea to assist in the attack, Lord Hertford's army would have no way to face the whole city of Edinburgh. ”

Isabel watched a hunt that enriched daily life and was good for her physical and mental health turn into a social event for the nobles, and she felt helpless at the aristocrats. At this moment, her two gray-backed falcons flew rapidly over the ancient forest almost simultaneously, and also let out a series of high-pitched and piercing cries that rose rapidly.

Hurriedly said to everyone, "Everyone, my falcon has probably found the target, and the hunt is about to begin." ”

While the two nobles and a knight were still in the mood for their conversation, the Duke of Richmond, who had stood up, glanced at Isabel and whispered, "Isabel, I remembered Mary I when I spoke of the city of Edinburgh. When you return to your duties as an advisor, think about how to deal with the troubles caused by Mary I. ”

"Your Highness, you mean Mary I, Queen of the Scots?!" Isabel couldn't help but ask. Now, she felt like she couldn't escape from this vortex that could swallow everything.