Little Pine and Osvid who returned in triumph were not commended by Arrod, but the two knelt in the palace of the former Danish king Banuk, and their monarch Arold sat in front of them with an angry face, except for the crackling torches on both sides of the palace hall, the attendants did not dare to say anything, and they also heard what Little Pine and Osveld did in the Quinton village, and they couldn't help but feel that their two partners had gone too far.

"It's really good, killing prisoners, robbing villages, burning women and children, I really didn't see that you could do such a big thing." Arold looked at the two little squires kneeling in front of him, and pointed at them with his finger, these future elites of Mecklenburg, whom he had bothered to cultivate, actually did something that made him feel extremely cruel, even if he fought mercilessly with the enemy on the battlefield, but Arold was still not mentally prepared to do anything to civilians.

"I'm sorry Lord Earl, it's all my fault." Osvid looked up, he was determined to take all the blame, even if it was self-exile, after all, he was a nobleman, and little Pyne was a commoner, and if he was questioned, he would probably go to the gallows.

"No, Ausveld has stopped me several times, but I think it is in the best interest of Lord Count to do so, and all those stubborn people have done these things, and those Viking soldiers can prove it." Little Pine raised his head and said to his monarch, Arrod.

"Oh, are you accusing me of being responsible?" Arold snorted angrily and said to little Pine below. That cold tone seemed to have lowered the temperature in the palace a lot.

"Everything we do is in the interests of you, Lord Earl." Little Pine could of course hear Arrod's annoyance, but he was determined to be pulled out of the gallows by the guards immediately, and to speak his mind.

"My interests, those villagers killed are the people of my territory, and you actually say that it is for my interests?" Arold angrily stood up and asked loudly, a village burned down would cause the economy of Zealand Island to suffer, and what made Arold most angry was that although he gave them the right to command the battle, how to deal with the Quinton people was his lord's right, and Little Pyne was simply violating the lord's rights by doing so.

"Yes, Lord Earl, please take a moment to calm your anger. Listen to my explanation. The Quintons refused to surrender, and thought they had bargaining chips, and if we made a gesture of negotiation with these rebels, it would inevitably make other families on the sidelines think we were weak and bullying. As soon as they are given time, a wider rebellion will occur. So I think it's time to attack and destroy the Quintons. "Little Pyne has thought of himself as dead in his heart. He spoke his thoughts to Arrod, and his childish voice echoed through the hall, and listening to his explanation, others seemed to make sense.

"Then burn the women and children. Why do such a cruel thing? Arrod's brow furrowed, but he didn't continue to get angry, and then asked.

"The Quintons have already formed a blood feud with us, if we can't kill them all, I'm afraid that when you return to Mecklenburg with your army, Lord Earl, you will bury an even greater hidden danger here, as far as I know, the three families are intricate and intermarry, and if they incite other families, then we will lose sight of one or the other, and don't forget that the crisis of the West Slavs in the east has not been resolved." Little Pine talked eloquently to Mecklenburg and Arold, the lord of Sealand, and listened to his wordsArold sat down again, he didn't expect that this little doctor apprentice had grown to this point, which is the overall concept that only a commander can have.

"Just because they have in-laws, doesn't your indiscriminate killing of innocents make them even more disgusted with us?" Arold asked curiously.

"No, as far as I know, most of the low-class civilians intermarry among the Quintons, and their direct members believe that they need to maintain their bloodline purity, and rarely intermarry with outsiders, so killing those people will not have any negative effect other than the deterrent effect." A smile tugged at the corners of Pine's mouth as he explained to Arryd.

"Well, hmph, in any case, you have gone against my will and made your own decisions without asking for instructions, and the reward that was supposed to be given to you is gone, and I will punish you two for daring fellows, and immediately take off your squire's robes to receive the whipping, and then go to the stables to report and work with the grooms." Arold ordered Pyne and Osveld Jr., and immediately several guards stepped forward and took them down to be whipped.

"Smack, smack." Soon the sound of leather whips whipping flesh/body sounded in the open space outside the palace, and little Pine and Osvid were stripped naked, their hands tied to the wooden posts on which their horses were tethered, and they stood with their backs to the executioner, who lowered the leather whip in his hand and slid to the ground, and then with a flick of his wrist, a black shadow passed by, and with a snap, he slapped the two of them on the back, and clearly visible blood marks appeared.

"Hopefully this will give them a long memory." Listening to the sound of whipping in his ears, Arold nodded slightly, but although Little Pine's approach was a bit extreme, it could indeed save Arold a lot of trouble, and said to himself in his heart, "It needs to be honed and honed." ”

Early the next morning, when Arold came to the palace to summon the magistrate to deal with affairs, he found that the magistrate had been waiting here for a long time, which made Arold ask with some curiosity why he came to see him so early.

"Good news, Lord Earl, the Rhodes and the Gary family have sent messengers to ask for an audience with you, Lord Earl, and their men are waiting outside with gifts." The magistrate bowed to Arold with a smile and reported to Arrod.

"What? People from the Rhodes and Gehrys. Slightly surprised, he sat down in the lord's chair, waved at the magistrate and motioned for two messengers to come in, and when the two envoys of the Rhodes and the Gary family entered, they were extremely respectful and humble, and they had come to ask Arold for instructions and pledged allegiance to Arold.

"Our patriarch is willing to pay allegiance to the esteemed Earl." The messenger of the House of Rhodes and the House of Gehry addressed Arrod.

"Hmm, will you pledge your allegiance to me? Well, the autumn harvest season is approaching, and I want to hold a banquet here, and invite all the chiefs of Zealand to come. "Arold wants to take advantage of the banquet to gather the chiefs into the palace and make them pledge their allegiance to him.

"Yes, Lord Count." The two messengers looked at each other, they already knew what was happening in the Quinton village, and the name of Arrod's ruthlessness had spread throughout the Isle of Zealand, and their patriarch did not want to fight against such nobles, and the people were also terrified, which made them think that even the King of Denmark was no match for Arold, and that now, as lord of the island, he could at any time declare disobedient people rebels, and it was common for rebel villages to be razed to the ground in war.

"Wait, there's one more thing." Arold looked at the messengers who turned around and were about to leave, and suddenly stopped them again, and the two messengers quickly turned around.

"What else does the Earl command?" The emissaries of the Rhodes family and the Gary family looked at Arrod suspiciously, they didn't know what else Arrod had to do.

"Have your patriarch bring his son with him to the feast." Arold commanded.

"The sons of the patriarch?" The emissaries of the Rhodes and Gary families were taken aback, and when they heard this, they understood that Arold was begging for hostages, and that the sons of the patriarch would definitely be left here.

"Why, isn't your patriarch going to be loyal to me? Then it is also in accordance with the custom of the Germanic nobility that I keep their sons in the court as chamberlains. "Arold used aristocratic traditions to disguise his true purpose, and the envoys knew that there was no way to do it, otherwise Arold would not trust them.

The messengers of the Rhodes and the Gary family brought Arold's message to their local chiefs, and when they heard Arold ask them to keep their sons hostage with Arold, the two patriarchs looked at each other for a long time and were speechless, although they were extremely reluctant in their hearts, but they did not have the courage to rebel, and the smell of burning human flesh in the village of the Quinton people was still permeating the sky several miles away, which was a very clear signal and warning, and anyone who rebelled against Arold would be severely punished.

"There's no way, let's get our son ready." The patriarch of the House of Rhodes sighed, he decided to submit to this terrible Germanic nobleman, he did not want his people to be thrown into the fire and barbecued, and even he released a captured Catholic friar slave and let the monk baptize him and his people to Catholicism.

When the day of the feast set by Arold came, the patriarchs of the illustrious families of Zealand came with their children, and standing on the steps outside the palace could be seen the endless stream of people at the foot of the mountain, Arrod's mouth showed a smile, his authority in Zealand had been established, this land that had been originally a pagan land, and now it was under the glory of God, oh no, it was in Arrod's own hands.

"How are the two children doing in the stable?" Arold asked his groom.

"Oh, noble Earl, they are doing a good job, young, energetic and industrious." The groom hurriedly reported to Arrod.

"Isn't there a little complaint?" Arold asked again.

"Well, the little man didn't, he always buried himself in work, and the big man complained about the little man from time to time, but they got along well." The groom thought for a moment and said to Arrod.

"Oh, hehe, let them return to the squire team, these two days will be very busy and I need manpower." Arold smiled and said to the people around him. (To be continued......)