The dimly lit corridor of the main hall of the Heavenly Dome Palace, there are no ventilation openings, and the huge columns make the still spacious space very depressing, gloomy and terrifying.

And in this piece of coldness, there is a touch of red burning.

Although Loren had already met the eldest princess Fetronay de Salion at Conod's coronation not long ago, when they saw each other again, it seemed as if a long, long time had passed.

It's so long ago... The figure of the other party is overlapping with the appearance of a certain person standing on the street of Ebolden in his memory.

The black-haired wizard looked at Fitlonai silently, at the indifferent red-haired female knight in front of her.

"Proud?"

Fitlonai said lightly.

"Pride?"

"Defeat the Azorean elves, liberate countless captured imperial subjects, and open the gates of the imperial capital to you, and thousands of knights chant the prestige of the Black Duke......"

Her Royal Highness the eldest princess, whose face remained unchanged, said word by word: "In the eyes of your benefactors, this should be regarded as a manifestation of 'revival and glory'. ”

"In the name of salvation, trample on the pride of the Empire... The majesty of the Heavenly Dome Palace was swept away. ”

"Probably. Loren shrugged:

"Would you believe me if I said it wasn't me?"

"I believe, but it doesn't mean anything - the nobles of the imperial capital will not change their attitude towards you because of my likes and dislikes. ”

Fitronay shook her head: "So that's the end of the pointless small talk, tell me what you're going to do next." ”

As the words fell, Fitronay's piercing gaze narrowed, staring at the black-haired wizard's expression.

Dealing with such a person with a strong instinct is probably one of Loren's worst things - any tricks, deceptions, tricks, and "tricks" are no different from a jumping clown in the face of that unreasonable talent.

In the past, it might have been a hassle for Loren, but for him now, Fitronay, who is good at perceiving people's hearts, may be the easiest type to communicate with.

"Defend the Imperial Capital, repel the Azorean Elves, and hand over the city to Brandon de Salion upon his arrival. ”

Loren said very calmly.

"I don't need you to tell me about this kind of thing, and you know exactly what I'm trying to ask. ”

Loren smiled.

"In that case, you should have guessed what I would do to make it happen, didn't you?"

Fitlonay frowned slightly.

That's right, since the black-haired wizard chose to enter the Imperial Capital in such a fanfare and undisguised way, it shows that he will definitely not make any compromises to the Imperial Diet.

Since there is no compromise, then there is only one outcome - an empty parliament.

Threats, extortion, extortion, bribery...... With an army of 80,000 and the support of the Grand Duke of Elemmen, Loren Turin could do almost anything he wanted in the imperial capital, and it was only a matter of time before he could control the city's defenses in the name of fighting the Azorean elves.

And mastering the city defense of the imperial capital is equivalent to controlling the life and death power of the imperial capital - the imperial parliament and the imperial cabinet are useless, the prestige of the Tianqiong Palace is discredited, and the life and death of the imperial capital will be held in the hands of Duke Baine.

Something like this... Even Roland Torin, the black duke who was famous for a while, failed to do it.

And Loren, he's even started to do it.

The forces currently controlling the situation in the imperial capital are probably the royal family, the Holy Cross Church, the Chamber of Commerce, and the nobles of the imperial capital;

The small Yode of the United Chamber of Commerce, who is responsible for liaising with the Chamber of Commerce and "negotiating" with the nobles of the imperial capital who have a close relationship with the merchants;

Bishop Webb, Byrne, went to the Church of the Holy Cross for preliminary representations;

By reaching a more consistent "agreement" with these three forces, Loren can temporarily stabilize the current situation and consider how to deal with the elven prince outside the city, as for how to reach an agreement......

The aristocracy valued prestige, the clergy valued faith, and all valued money.

Byrne had money, and Byrne had merchandise – especially after the end of the important port of Ebolden, which became the most important source of luxury for the Empire.

Wine, honey, grain, medicine... The nobles of the imperial capital may be able to endure a life without good wine and sweets, and watch the poor starve to death, but they will never be able to accept a large-scale outbreak of plague, and without sterilized salt and healing potions, the seemingly safe imperial capital will soon become a ghost town.

Of course, the Imperial Capital also has a large number of highly skilled pharmacists and doctors, but in the Imperial Trial three years ago, the upper echelons of the Apothecary's Guild have been served by the Holy Cross fanatics, and the rest are the alchemists of the Royal Wizarding Academy.

The side of the wizards, who relied on His Highness Brandon and were led by the Royal Wizard Advisors, was a question that did not need to be asked.

As for how to negotiate with those people, Loren left it to Yord and Webb Jr. to decide on their own.

“...... As you know, thanks to the Imperial Capital Chamber of Commerce, as the president of the United Chamber of Commerce, he controls the Imperial Capital... No, it's the accounts of half an empire. ”

Lying leisurely on the comfortable and soft chaise longue, little Yode with a wine glass in his hand looked at the swaying liquor in the glass, and the almost transparent glass reflected the figure of the owner of the opposite house.

And in the corner of the room, a beautifully dressed young woman was clinging to the trembling little girl, staring viciously at the sneering little Yod.

"What can I say, there is a lot of debt to you and your family in that not-so-pleasant account, and it's a lot of money. Little Yod sighed:

"So you can surely understand that I, as the treasurer of Byrne, have an obligation to recover this debt for Lord Duke and make up for the loss... Either way. ”

As he spoke, little Yod looked up at the figure standing in the corner, and chuckled meaningfully.

"Really, really, that's unreasonable!"

The frightened owner of the room was shocked, and the panic made his voice extremely sharp: "I, I am a member of the Imperial Parliament, the head of the Port Chamber of Commerce, and I will never accept the blackmail of a single civilian!"

"No, no, no, you're not being blackmailed by a civilian. Little Yod shook his head: "You are dealing with a debt dispute with an imperial grand duke. ”

"And... Hehe, to tell you the truth, sending me to negotiate is the most 'gentle' act of the Duke - otherwise it would not be me sitting in your house now, but a whole dozen heavily armed Byrne knights. ”

"But if you think it's better to talk to them, I don't mind......"

"No!" the nobles of the imperial capital hurriedly stopped:

"But, aren't these all what we said we would do?! Just the accounts I helped you conceal, the price of the goods that were secretly smuggled is far more than that!"

"Yes, you're right. Little Yod nodded very seriously: "In this way, let's hand over these accounts to His Excellency the Imperial Justice, and see how he will judge this case?"

"Absolutely not!" the nobleman's chest rose and fell violently, "then, in that case, our family, our family's position, and its seat in the parliament... It's all over!"

"This must not be known to the Chief Justice, absolutely not - as long as you don't tell him, don't hurt my family... I—I'm willing to do anything, I'm willing to do anything!"

Little Yod finally smiled with satisfaction.

"Your Excellency, you are our Chamber of Commerce... No, it is an important business partner of the Grand Duke, and of course we can help you hide anything, or destroy any debts. Little Yode slowly got up and walked in front of the other party with a wine glass:

"But in return, the Grand Duke needs your cooperation. ”

"Cooperation, cooperation?!"

Trembling and looking up, the nobleman looked up at little Yode's face.

"We respect you, and we respect the Imperial Diet, so we need the Parliament to quickly pass a few bills – in short, to recognize the regency of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Brandon de Salion in the current turbulent situation. ”

"And Duke Byrne, who is His Highness's friend and deputy, has the city defenses, warehouses, and soldiers of the imperial capital before His Highness arrives in the imperial capital... And so on and so forth, ah... If we don't just give the duke the title of 'Guardian of Golovin', we won't have to talk so much about politics. ”

"Guardian of Golovin, wouldn't this be too ......" Looking at Little Yode's chilling gaze, the nobleman hurriedly changed his words: "I mean... Even if such a proposal is submitted to the parliament, it will be difficult to pass, and even if it does, it will take a long, long time. ”

"Your Excellency... I don't think I have that much time, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't take much time. The smiling little Yod "stuffed" the wine glass into the nobleman's still trembling hands:

"In fact, we have agreed to a deal with almost a tenth of the MPs, all of whom are helpful and very talkative, including the Charne family, who are the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Siscott. ”

"Cha, Charn's family?!"

"It is true that the current Earl of Charne understands the righteousness and is a good man who can see the situation very clearly, so he has given us a lot of help. Yood Jr. shrugged:

"And I believe that the members of the Imperial Diet must be such enthusiastic and good people, and if we explain the stakes between the two sides, everyone will be able to see the situation clearly. ”

The plain words made the nobles shiver.

"So can we expect you, Your Excellency Councillor, to speak up for the Duke of Byrne in the Imperial Diet?" said little Yod softly, and his "sincere" expression made the nobleman shudder again:

"Believe me, this is already a very advantageous condition, and I hope that you and I will accept it, otherwise it will ......"

Little Yod paused and shook his head meaningfully.

"No, you don't want to know what would have happened after 'otherwise'. ”

........................

“...... Really?" Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess said lightly:

"But even if you could convince the Imperial Council, the Holy Cross Church would never accept such an outcome - they may be able to tolerate the Black Duke, but they cannot tolerate a bishop who is against the Church, or even semi-independent. ”

"You're risking your friend's life by doing this. ”

"Maybe. Loren had no intention of denying it: "But I would like to give it a try, for the same reasons as the Reichstag, and if the problem can be resolved by peaceful means, then violence should not be resorted to." ”

"You call shameless blackmail and blackmail peace?"

"It may be ugly, but it's ten thousand times better than killing, and I don't intend to be above the Empire, I just need to gain the power to rule and govern the city for the time being. ”

"Arrogant to the extreme, you didn't think about me... And the royal family of the Heavenly Dome Palace will object?"

"I thought of it, so here I am - I don't want to fall out with the Empire completely, so I decided to negotiate with you to see if we can reach something that is acceptable to both of us. ”

The black-haired wizard said calmly, "To put it mildly, I can now have the Byrne Legion lock down the Sky Dome Palace at any time and put you and the nobles loyal to the royal family behind you under house arrest in this palace." ”

"And I also believe that even after Brandon comes, he will never blame me for such a thing, not only because he doesn't care, but also because Byrne has become the key to winning this war for the Empire - to defeat the Azorean elves, you need Byrne's knights and supplies. ”

"But I'm here anyway, and I'm willing to listen to your requests, and as long as it's not too much, I'm here to help... I hope you understand my sincerity, even if I don't really need it. ”

Fitlonay's face did not change, but there was a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.

“...... Shameless. ”

"As you like. Loren, who didn't care, smiled lightly and turned to leave.

Just as the black-haired wizard was about to leave the corridor, Her Royal Highness the eldest princess, who had always been silent, suddenly spoke, stopping him from taking a step.

"The head of the Eagle King. Fitlonai said coldly: "Didn't you kill the Eagle King, I want his head." ”

The black-haired wizard's face did not change: "I didn't bring it with me." ”

"It's okay, I can wait. ”

"To be honest, it doesn't look very good, and it's early spring, and it won't be long before it starts to rot, and I understand your hatred for avenging His Majesty Conrad, but it's ......"

"It's okay!"

Fitlonay accentuated.

“...... I understand. Loren bowed slightly: "Anything else?"

"Yes, a condition is too cheap for you. ”

"No problem, please tell me. ”

"The Supreme Emperor of the Fourteenth Generation. ”

"Huh?"

"What if my request is for you to betray Brandon and make me the Supreme Emperor of the Fourteenth Generation?" the corners of Fitlonai's mouth twitched slightly: "You can also ...... such a request"

"I'm sorry. Before she could finish speaking, Loren categorically refused: "Please forgive me for not being able to agree." ”

"Why can't you agree?" Fittronai asked coldly, "Aren't you a Turin, don't you want to accomplish the same great deeds as the Black Duke—the Black Duke of the past, but he personally supported an empress." ”

"You're right, I'm a Turin, but ......" Loren shook his head, curling the corners of his mouth slightly:

"You're not Charlotte. ”

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