"Your Excellency, as you have told me, I also hope that I can be promoted to my title and gain more wealth and land by doing my duty. However, I support these petitioners spiritually and faithfully, what do you think I should do? From the eyes of the obese Baron Haswell, there was a hint of cunning and shrewdness.

As an aristocrat who owned a lot of land, property, and was still in business, Oliver McGuinness had the right calculations. Perhaps, this well-fed former gentleman has long known the truth that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. It's just that Isabel didn't know his plans until today.

It would not be easy to get such a shrewd nobleman to be removed by Henry VIII for inappropriate reasons. It seems that she will have to use some illegal, violent, and espionage tactics to remove Baron Haswell from his position and prop up her father to power as the new county magistrate and chief of the guard in Richmondshire.

Speaking of espionage, Isabel Walton, who will be in the US Naval Intelligence Agency after graduating from the Naval Academy, has always resorted to more secretive means, even at the expense of traditional American values and morals, to obtain intelligence. Perhaps because she had learned more sophisticated and effective methods of obtaining intelligence than the CIA, she despised the CIA's clumsy and often failed espionage methods.

Of course, the era we are living in is different from the high-tech era of later generations. Therefore, to deal with an English aristocrat in the middle of the 16th century, the only way to deal with it is to use some of the traditional espionage methods of the CIA.

The first method is the countermeasures, which use eavesdropping, lobbying, and money bait to instigate against the servants and guards around Baron Haswell. If these people are completely loyal to the baron, it is necessary to resort to the second method when they are unable to rebel.

The second means is subversive activities.

First, try to use material and female sex to seduce the people around the baron, and break these people's loyalty to the baron from the aspect of loyalty.

Second, within the jurisdiction of the Duke of Richmond's domain, the Baron of Haswell, there were often incidents that were exploited to attack the Baron for failing to perform his duties as a magistrate of the county. But on the surface, it is necessary to act in a friendly, charitable manner to help and aid the Baron.

Thirdly, to transport all kinds of weapons to equip all of the Baron's enemies, as well as those who might become the Baron's enemies, thus causing war and ethnic conflict in the county. When wars and conflicts broke out, the Duke of Richmond or other nobles sent by the king intervened to destroy the good image of the baron in the eyes of the king and other nobles.

Assuming that none of the above methods and activities have achieved the desired effect, and Baron Haswell is a counter-espionage genius nobleman who has never been seen before or since, then the only way to send members of the "Blackfriars" to assassinate the Baron is to blame the Catholics who participated in the "Grace Tour".

When Oliver McGuinness, who thought he was smart, threw the question to the Duke's Privy Counsellor, Isabel Walton was already planning in her head how to deal with him. Looking at the baron, who seemed to be smiling but not smiling, she deliberately showed a very helpless look, and said softly: "My lord, what I want to say to your question is that when there is a conflict between duty and faith, you had better listen to God's arrangement. ”

"Your Excellency said it very well. God does not tolerate acts that are disrespectful to him, which is why he acquiesces to his Christians in doing something to defend the faith. ”

"My lord, I see. Well, the boy's father, if he is indeed an ordinary tenant farmer and a devout believer, and has not done anything unlawful against the property or person of others, I would like to ask you to give him a lenient punishment. ”

"Your Excellency, what is the name of the boy's father?"

Isabel briefly recalled: "Thomas Clark. ”

Oliver thought about taking a few steps into the drawing room. With a smile on his face, his eyes were fixed on Isabel's eyes and said, "Your Excellency, this Thomas is just a farmer. Why would you want to help him, though?

Isabel said unusually calmly: "Yesterday, the son of this farmer came to my father's estate and begged me to help him. It just so happened that my mother saw it, so she asked me to solve the matter of the farmer's office. ”

"Well, I know that Lady Sir is also a devout Catholic. Probably Lady Sir can't bear to see a child who has lost her father starving to death, so let you take care of it, right? ”

"Yes, sir."

"But, Thomas's son, why did he think you could help him?"

"Maybe it's because I often help some of the poor servants in Nottingham Castle."

Oliver didn't see anything on her face, walked back to his seat and sat down, and said, "Your Excellency, Thomas did do have some behavior that caused a riot. If such people were allowed to return to the county, I feared that it would lead to even greater riots. ”

Whether Walter Clark's father was as he said he was, Isabel didn't know everything. So, she plans to go to the prison to investigate the veracity of Walter's account of his father.

However, the prison is an important and special place within the jurisdiction of Baron Haswell's judicial affairs. Therefore, anyone entering or leaving the prison will need to present a letter of certification.

However, Isabel, who often goes out in a simple knight's attire, has not a single object or letter on her body that can prove her identity. She had no choice but to say to Oliver, "My lord, please write a letter that will prove my identity." In this way, I was able to go to the prison to investigate the situation of Thomas Clark. ”

Perhaps, she never thought that Henry's Duke coat of arms was the best proof of identity when she was away. Or maybe Henry's duke's coat of arms was too conspicuous to prevent her from doing many things, such as looting monasteries and looting wealthy Catholic churches.

Seeing Oliver's hesitation, she hurriedly said, "If this bookkeeper is indeed guilty of a crime, then I will no longer interfere in your judicial affairs." ”

"Well, you can wait a while, and I'll go to the study and write you a letter." In the end, Baron Haswell agreed to her request.

Isabel Walton walked out of the McGuinness estate with a letter of proof written by Oliver and a smile on her face. When Herbert and Conrad rode back to the main road along the only path, her face immediately turned ugly.

When Herbert rode up to her, he was too cautious to say a word. Isabel scolded herself irritably: "Son of a bitch! Oliver, this bastard, dares to support the rebels at this time! ”