1025 in the imperial calendar, December 5, early winter.

More than two months have passed since the unprecedented fierce battle for the recapture of the imperial capital, the revolutionary army that had once flourished was completely destroyed, the civil strife ceased, and the new empire was re-established in such an environment.

Humans are tenacious creatures, whether it is war or disaster, no matter how difficult the environment is, they can struggle to survive, and when the wind and rain have stopped, they have sprung up like mushrooms after the rain, bringing this ruined imperial land back to life.

In the past two months, many things have happened in the empire, big and small.

Among them, the high-profile is Javier Salmondo's ascension to the throne as emperor, and the people of the empire are no strangers to this young ruler, whether it is the prestige of the "spear of judgment" that once exterminated the foreign peoples in the southwest, or the imperial heroic posture of the later expedition to the east and the annihilation of the revolutionary army, he has won a lot of praise and popular support.

The royal family is gone, and Javier, as the current head of Salmondo's family, is one of the most iconic representatives of the aristocracy, coupled with his deep prestige in the military and civilians, there is indeed no more suitable candidate for the new monarch in the entire empire.

So, on November 1, 1025, in the imperial calendar, Havel ascended the throne as emperor, and the whole country was amnesty, and the whole country celebrated.

In the process of the enthronement ceremony, the ceremony of awarding the meritorious heroes of the founding of the country was also carried out step by step, and it caused heated discussions throughout the empire.

Arowen was exceptionally promoted to lieutenant general because of his outstanding military exploits, Estes was also reinstated as lieutenant general, and Will, who began to emerge in the Battle of Anning Dao, was promoted to major general and became a dazzling new star in the military world, as for the position of general that was missed by countless people, it was temporarily vacant.

This is not surprising.

After all, before the revolutionary army set off civil strife, this position was originally reserved for Havel himself, and after excluding Havel, the other alternatives were either personality problems, or lack of qualifications and abilities, in short, there was no suitable person, and it was logical to be vacant.

And the most surprising thing is the attribution of the minister's position, that lucky person is actually a little-known Lan in the imperial political circles, many nobles have expressed objections to this, but they were all vetoed by Javier domineeringly, in the face of Javier's kind of "whoever will cut whom" The aristocracy can only admit it.

In addition to these most topical and popular figures, there are many other generals and literati of all sizes who have received awards, so I will not discuss them one by one here.

As well as the enthronement ceremony, the Western Kingdom's army was also widely concerned, with Estes leading the "Demon Legion" to garrison the Changge Fortress, and had already broken out several bloody skirmishes with the forward troops of the Western Kingdom in the border area.

The other side obviously has no intention of negotiating, and the armed conflict is escalating little by little over time, and the troops on both sides are constantly being sent to the front line, presumably in a short time, when Javier settles down the overall situation within the empire, he will let most of the affairs be handled by Lan, and he will lead his army to the front line to fight to the death with the Western Kingdom.

Although the clouds of war still loom over the people of the empire, it is incredible that people feel that their mentality is somehow much more optimistic, perhaps because of the presence of that person, the young emperor who always brings nightmares to the enemy, but brings them victory and hope, as if as long as he is there, no matter how big the crisis can be survived without danger.

People believe it.

-

The central region, Ruyao City, Taishou Mansion.

Kairol Yolanda was sitting behind her desk in her study, carefully reading a letter that had just been sent from the imperial capital, and after reading the last word, a sweet smile appeared on the woman's face.

"What did Lord Lan say in the letter?"

The housekeeper standing on the side was about thirty years old, wrapped in a professional suit that wrapped her plump body, capable and charming. She watched as Carol carefully kept the letter, but after all, she couldn't resist the curiosity in her heart and asked.

"Lan said that for a long time in the future, the government affairs of the imperial capital will be quite heavy, and he has no way to return to Ruyao City, but he hopes that I will go to the imperial capital to help him, and he will also choose a civil official to temporarily top him in Ruyao City." At this point, Carol paused, and looked at the housekeeper with some amusement, "Speaking of which, when did you start to change your name to Lord Lan, Yvonne?" I remember you weren't very kind to him before. ”

Yvonne was a little surprised when she heard this, but she still replied: "Although Miss likes him, the former Lan Lord was just a powerless commoner after all, and he and Miss are still not compatible in terms of status...... But now is different from the past, Lord Lan is now in a high position, and he will definitely be able to get the title in the future, and he can indeed be called a good match for the young lady. ”

Hearing her lover being praised, Kairol's heart was also happy, and the smile on her face became more and more bright and moving, "I told you a long time ago, don't look down on Lan because of his bad background, with his ability, as long as he works hard, a nobleman's vacant position can't tie his hands and feet at all, in fact, isn't he now entrusted with a heavy task by His Majesty the Emperor?" And he's also the head of the civil service, which is very powerful, isn't it? Right? ”

"Yes, yes, Miss is right......"

Yvonne nodded on the surface, but kept rolling her eyes in her heart, oh my god it started again, as soon as Lan was mentioned, Miss Carol would lose her image as a quiet lady, and she would babble for a long time like a little nag, why did she talk cheaply just now?

After about twenty minutes in Yvonne's ear, telling all the merits of Lan's existence or not, Carol stopped talking and waved his hand to Yvonne to go out, and the latter immediately left the study as fast as he could.

The room was silent for a while, and Carol leaned on the table with her cheeks in her hands, and fell into deep thought, and when she was quiet, she became the dignified and gentle female taishou again.

Although she had just told Yvonne a lot of things in one breath, she subconsciously omitted some sensitive topics, which were not something that a housekeeper should know.

Lan became the head of the Empire's civil servants, and although it was a very happy and exciting event, Carol saw more from this incident and thought more.

Cairol has always been very confident in Lan, believing that he can break out of the world in the imperial capital, but no matter what, the position of minister is still too early for Lan now, beyond the limit of hard work, which is not normal.

Obviously, all this is behind the scenes of His Majesty the current Emperor, and Havel wants Lan to become a minister, so Lan is a minister, and no one dares to oppose it, even those ancient nobles who have a three-foot stretch for the position of minister.

Looking at the position of the general, although it is now said that it is vacant, anyone with a discerning eye can see who this position will be given to in the end - "Black Fox" Arrowen, the veteran subordinate who has followed the current emperor on the battlefield for many years, it is only a matter of time before he becomes the next general.

At first glance, it seems that the two most important positions were occupied by low-status civilians, but Carol never believed in such things, she just saw a signal in them.

His Majesty the Emperor, a signal of Javier Salmondo's intention to prop up the upstart forces.

The bad influence of Earnest's tyranny has not been completely eliminated to this day, and the old aristocracy of the empire is still very large, and Havel wants to cure this unhealthy political structure at the root, so he plans to let another force representing the common class develop, and generally maintain a kind of competitive and healthy checks and balances, so that the old aristocracy will not be monopolized.

In order to achieve this goal more thoroughly, Carol even guessed that the queen of the empire in the future would most likely not choose from a noble family, maybe it would be a commoner girl with no background.

Thinking of this, Cairol shook her head with a smile and withdrew from her contemplation.

The last point is really just her brain diverging and adding her own subjective conjecture to the extended reasoning, even if there is a real chance of a few percent becoming a reality, it is definitely not her pot......

-

Western Kingdom, Molgar Castle, Templar.

With his sword hanging from his waist and dressed in grey-and-black monastic robes, Savimin walked silently among the bluestone paths lined with churches, passing Christians and Templars saluted the new archbishop with respectful expressions, and then looked curiously at the black-robed figure behind him.

It was actually led by a templar archbishop himself, and I don't know what kind of dignitary person it was.

After a little more walking, the two finally came to a large and majestic building, which was the cathedral of the main hall and the place of worship for the head of the Templar.

"Open the door."

With a gesture from Savimin, the two Templars guarding the door respectfully opened the door, and when they looked up, a majestic and solemn aura emanated from the inside of the church.

"Please come in."

Savi raised his hand and made a gesture of please, and then walked ahead himself and led the way, while the black-robed man followed without hesitation.

The interior of the cathedral is surprisingly spacious, with several tall white stone pillars supporting the space, the walls are beautifully carved around the walls, and the long windows inlaid with stained glass give the place a strong religious atmosphere.

A few steps further, I was greeted by a huge golden statue of an unknown god, and several people stood under the statue, as if waiting for their arrival.

The man at the head had an elegant face, wearing a luxurious robe of gold and red, which set off his slender figure, and his long golden hair fell down softly to his waist, and he was as noble as a god.

Seeing Savimin and the black-robed man behind him, a gentle smile appeared on the man's face, and he took the lead in greeting the two.

After nodding slightly, the man looked at the black-robed man who seemed to be shrouded in darkness, and sighed: "I was really shocked when I received that news just now, I didn't expect to see you again one day, I originally thought you were ......"

"I also thought I was going to die, but maybe because the position of my innate heart was a little offset from that of ordinary people, I still didn't die that time." The black-robed man pulled down the hood on his head, revealing the pale golden hair and grim face inside, "Long time no see, Ulysses." ”

"So do you, Reinhardt." Ulysses's smile showed a rare sincerity, "You have disappeared for more than two months, where are you recuperating?" ”

"That's right," Reinhardt nodded, unable to tell what emotion was in his eyes, "I just recovered from my injuries recently, and I heard about your side of the action, so I rushed over immediately." ”

"Hahahaha," Ulysses laughed heartily when he heard this, "you came at the right time, I happened to be working on a strategy against Javier, and with your joining, this time I will definitely make that man doom!" ”

Reinhardt just listened in silence and didn't reply.

Ulysses, who had long been accustomed to his cold temperament, didn't mind, turned around and pointed to the people under the idol and said, "By the way, there are a few new faces here that you don't know, let me introduce them to you, they are from the Templar...... Uh......"

A sword tip suddenly pierced through Ulysses's chest, and the red blood quickly stained Ulysses's clothes, and he didn't even have time to react, and the black flames instantly engulfed Ulysses's entire body with the momentum of a prairie fire.

"Ahh

The black flames that even Javier didn't dare to try frantically burned Ulysses's body, clothes, hair, skin, muscle tissue, bones, everything, all faced fatal destruction at this moment, and the unprecedented pain and torture made Ulysses scream like crazy.

"Master!"

"Master Ulysses!"

"What the hell did you bastard!?"

There were cacophony of angry or panicked voices around them, but no matter what these people did, it was useless, and the creatures contaminated with the "immortal fire", whether they were gods, demons or monsters, would inevitably turn to ashes.

"The trials of the empire are over, and you have no need to continue living, so I have come to kill you."

In an emotionless voice like steel, Reinhardt looked indifferently at Ulysses, who had been burned to an inhuman form, and there was no sadness or joy in his eyes.

"You...... Reinhardt ...... Did you intend to ...... from the beginning?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ulysses's broken body had already collapsed on his stomach, and he had lost his breath, but the black flame continued to burn until the person's existence was completely wiped out, and the black flame would not be extinguished.

"It's over, so are you, and so are your games...... Go to hell and step into reincarnation, Ulysses Ignacio, and be a good person in the next life. ”

The wind was whistling in my ears.

"Boom!"

Reinhardt casually held the horizontal sword in his hand, blocking the angry slash that Savimin poured into his whole body strength, and looked at him coldly, "Don't worry, none of the people in this church can leave today." ”

On December 12, 1025, Ulysses Ignacio, the former leader of the Revolutionary Army and now the head of the Templar, was assassinated by a black-robed man in the city of Morga, killing him instantly, causing great chaos in the Templar.

In the ensuing scuffle, Savimin, Cardina, and other former Revolutionary Army leaders and even the Templar leaders were all killed by the black-robed men, and no one still knows the true identity of the killer.

The only thing that is certain is that the black-robed man wielded a strange sword burning with black flames, and disappeared after killing the city of Morga alone.