Brando's residence for Prince Lenaret is located east of Valhalla, in a section of the palace formed by the hollowing out of tree trunks. This is one of Valhalla's abilities, and for only one of Valhalla's mana payments, the Tree Fortress can generate an unlimited number of cavities inside, and of course, to turn these cavities into rooms, it also needs to be decorated and furnished, and Brando asked Antitina and Oldum to design the palace in imitation of the fir castle as Valhalla's guest rooms. Today, this luxurious room is occupied by the eldest son of the Cruz emperor, and is guarded by the Cruz sword-folding knights in turns, day and night.

Most of the knights knew Brando, and after being briefed, they respectfully invited him in after receiving Leonaret's approval. The entrance to the palace is cleverly arranged, it is located on a terrace, connected by a path made of vines; At the other end of the trail is the second level of the treetop plaza above, and the entrance is very remote and guarded by Dryad archers; Directly in front of the terrace is the main trunk of the giant tree that extends upwards, and in that direction there is a guard post for the tree elf archers and a tree house hidden between the branches, but through the lush shade on both sides of the branches, you can still see the mountains in the clouds to the east, which can be said to be a perfect design for safety and without hindering the owner of this place from enjoying the wonderful scenery.

At the entrance, vines with green leaves hang down from the tree walls, as if forming a curtain, and behind it is the main hall of the palace, which is also semi-open-air, and above the hall there is a large crystal that filters the light from the outside, allowing sunlight or moonlight to pour on the magic fountain in the center of the hall, and let the glittering spring water trickle over the pebbles. As Brando and Antitina entered the hall, they saw the eldest son of the Cruz standing by the spring, looking down at the stream of water that shimmered with golden light. I don't know what I'm thinking.

"Your Highness Lenaret, are you satisfied with your stay?" Brando walked not far from him and stopped to greet him.

Lenaret looked back at them and nodded, but didn't answer, just waiting for them to speak.

This guy is still as boring as ever. Bu thought to himself. He took the initiative to speak: "Your Highness Lenalit, the wind elves have started the battle in the field of the four realms, and the golden-maned lion people are also gathering their armies, and the holy war can be said to have begun, I don't know if Your Highness has any opinion on this?" ”

At the beginning of the Holy War, the Silver Queen had to rely on the military nobles in the empire, and most of these nobles supported the eldest son of the emperor. Lenaritt nodded silently and asked, "As is customary." It is time for the Temple of Fire to summon the envoys to Rusta, and I have not had time to congratulate Mr. Count on his appointment as head of the legation. ”

"His Highness Lenarat has also lived in Tonigel for a while, so he probably doesn't want to return to the Empire, right?"

The eldest son of the Cruz raised his head and looked at him with light blue eyes, and his indifferent gaze seemed to say, Could it be that your little Count Tonigel also wants to intervene in the battle for the succession of the Empire?

Brando spread his hands and smiled slightly, "Your Highness." It's not that I want to take advantage of the fire, but I am forced to do so. I have no intention of meddling in the internal affairs of the Cruz, especially the most troublesome battle for the imperial throne. But now that the matter has come to this, I am compelled to find a way to protect myself—this matter is good for you, good for me, and bad for me, so I wish to get a little advice from you. ”

"What is built?" Lenaritt asked.

"First of all, I want to know. In the Empire, who will spare no effort to support you? ”

Leonerett's brow furrowed slightly, as if considering the value of the meeting, and after a moment's consideration, he gestured to Brando, which meant: 'Please come inside, and say'. Then he turned and walked in the direction of the study. As if he had expected this, Brando took Antitina with him. They made their way to the study, where several spirits of light were waiting for the eldest son's orders, and Lenalet had them set up the room and put tea and snacks - although these spirits were also at Brando's orders, Brando's temperament was well enough to wait for the eldest son of the Cruz to exercise his power, although his power was limited to the palace.

After a few moments, when a few spirits flew out of the room, the eldest son of the Cruz replied solemnly: "Mr. Earl, the Octavier family is my wife's family, and Duke Ludwig will spare no effort to support me." ”

Brando really didn't expect that His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the emperor, would already have a wife at a young age, but this kind of political marriage is equivalent to standing in line in Vaynd, and the Octavier family can be said to be both prosperous and lossy with Lenaret, so Duke Ludwig can be regarded as the kind of person that the eldest son of the emperor can be completely trusted in the Cruz Empire. "What else?" He continued.

"The Nona family is my ally."

"What's going on?" Brando asked.

"Old Ino Marquis once openly opposed to the first king being in the queen mother, so he and my mother have a feud, and this hatred will not be resolved with the passage of time, so the most enthusiastic to let the queen mother abdicate is the Nona family. I have a secret agreement with the Nona family, and the Marquis of Innoen promised to give me a part of the mine shares in Inone, and unreservedly supported me in taking the throne. Lenaret replied calmly.

Brando was stunned, no wonder Mangrove was in such a hurry to come to Tonigel from the Empire before. The Imperial Legion is divided into four, and the current Ino Houmangrove is the leader of the Black Legion, in addition to the Blue Legion in the hands of the Erechick family behind Veronica, and the Nigel family, who are related to the royal family, control the White Legion on the border of Hazel and the Red Legion on the border of St. Osor. These three families are typical representatives of the military aristocracy of the north, and the attitude of these military nobles is generally biased towards the succession of the eldest son of the emperor - but this only represents an attitude, according to Lenaret, and according to Leinarete, it should be the Nona family who is really willing to help.

Brando noted this and continued, "Anything else?" ”

"Old Chancellor Nedwin."

"Prime Minister Nedwin?" Brando was startled, and asked again almost in disbelief. The old Chancellor of the Cruz Empire, Nidwin, this is not an ordinary person, he should be more than one hundred and fifty years old now, he is the elder of the three dynasties of the Empire, and it was with his help that the then Emperor Cruz regained power from the Temple a hundred years ago. If there is any legend of the Cruz people in this era, it should be this prime minister.

And with his identity and wisdom, or to put it bluntly, such an old fox, how could he choose to take sides?

Brando looked at His Royal Highness the eldest son of the Cruz man suspiciously, and Lenaret replied slowly: "The queen mother's favor in the Parut family is actually to use the power of the local nobles to suppress other forces in the court. The military aristocracy of the North had little involvement in government affairs, so her purpose was known to the world - nothing more than the prime minister and the temple. The prime minister understands that the queen mother has no good impression of him, so naturally he will not stand on that side. ”

"But it won't necessarily be on your side." Brando thought to himself, the empire has princes and princesses, and it is not enough to lose the eldest son of the emperor and the heir; However, the eldest son of the emperor is at least right about one thing, that is, no matter which prince and princess he chooses to inherit the throne, it is impossible for the old prime minister to stand on the side of the silver queen.

That's enough.

He silently estimated that the three forces mentioned by Lenaret came from distant relatives of the royal family, military aristocrats and ordinary nobles. The most hardcore of these should be Duke Ludwig of the Octavir family, followed by the Nona family, and the old prime minister Nidwin can only be seen as a potential ally, or only an enemy. Brando still remembers that he has offended the daughter of the prime minister of the empire and the precious granddaughter of the old prime minister, so he can not provoke and try not to provoke.

On the surface, there were several forces in the Cruz Empire, the royal family, the military aristocracy. Local nobility and the temple -

These four forces basically controlled most of the land, population, and resources of the empire, as well as the army, and the land, population, and resources of the empire were of little significance to Brando. The most critical to his plan was the army. Among the imperial armies, four traditional legions were controlled by the military aristocracy, and two of them were controlled by the royal family through guò marriage. The patrol cavalry and local garrisons in each region have long been the traditional sphere of influence of the local aristocracy, including the emerging navy, but the local nobility is divided into two, and the influence of the royal family and the temple is one in each. The royal family was more closely related to the autonomous Grand Duchy in the north, while the Templars mainly influenced the lords and lords in the south; Finally, the Templars themselves had a formidable military force, including the best part of the Cruz army, such as the Bishopric and the Knights of the Flames.

Brando thought for a moment. Suddenly I realized that I was missing something, "Where's Veronica?" Shouldn't she also support His Royal Highness? He looked up and asked Lenaret the question a little strangely.

The eldest son of the Cruz emperor glanced at him and shook his head: "Mr. Earl, the teacher supports me because of the honor and sense of justice of a soldier, but the Ereshiko family behind the teacher may not be on my side. ”

After hearing this, Brando understood what was going on, and couldn't help but be in awe in his heart, the names mentioned by Lenaret before, even including the military nobles in the north, can be called a qualified politician at most, but this female legion leader is the real soldier and the knight of the empire.

He tapped his knuckles, and as he began to analyze, he replied to Lenaret: "I have probably understood, Your Royal Highness, then let's determine now what our goal is." ”

In Brando's heart, of course, what he wants to see most is that His Royal Highness the Prince returns directly to the Empire, and pulls these supporters of his to fight against Her Majesty the Empress, the slightest result of this is also a coup d'état, but the more likely result is a civil war, of course, he just thinks about this idea, this eldest son of the emperor is not stupid, and his supporters have not been affected by the mentally handicapped aura.

What the ultimate goal of a plan is depends on the power they now have, a beggar will not rush to the whims with the goal of becoming a king, and the farmer's long-term plan is more than to buy a few more acres of land, rather than to become a wealthy merchant who travels all over the world. And Brando's goal for Lenariett is to protect himself.

"Self-preservation?" The eldest son of the Cruz munched on the word: "Self-protection, first of all, to ensure that my supporters in the empire will not be swept away by my mother, does that mean?" ”

Damn, this is really a demon, Brando couldn't help but curse in his heart. Although he had heard of the wisdom and martial arts of His Royal Highness the eldest son of the emperor in history, when he was really facing him, he couldn't help but have a feeling that his IQ had been crushed by the other party by several levels. He discussed this plan several times with Antitina and Karglis. In the end, the details were determined one by one, and the decision was made, but I didn't expect the other party to guess what they meant when they heard the name.

The Silver Queen set such a grand goal as unifying Vaughnd, and what she had to do was to gather the army first; It is conceivable that she will definitely take the Nona family first. And she suppressed the northern nobles before, and she was also preparing for this day - the military nobles are not fools, and naturally understand the truth that one is prosperous and one is lost, and the only way for the queen to deal with them is to use the peaceful time to reduce the army and reduce the power in the hands of these nobles. But the early arrival of the holy war forced the Silver Queen to let go of the constraints on the northern nobles, because she knew very well that she still had many opponents in the empire. If she loses the jihad, then these opponents who are hiding in the shadows will jump out and force her to abdicate.

She had been in the empire for forty years, and according to her earlier agreement, she should have abdicated the throne long ago, and if she was to continue to rule this vast empire, she had to increase her prestige and give herself a justifiable reason not to go.

The best reason for this is that she can lead the Cruz people to victory.

And this is the opportunity for Brando and the eldest son of the emperor. But at this time, not only can we not stand up against the Most High, but we must also gather our hands and feet. Try not to give her the opportunity to make mistakes. On the surface, the army that Lenarat can control is only the Black Legion, plus the local aristocratic forces that the Duke of Dweg in the north can influence, but in fact, the Silver Queen can control not too many armies, but only the Red and White Legions.

But she has more potential enemies than the eldest son, and she is at odds with the Kirk family. Fighting with the temple and the prime minister, the Erechko family is said to be very close to the flower and leaf leader, and they must not support this queen with iron heart, on the contrary. Although they were not loyal allies of the emperor's eldest son, they had no shortage of opportunities to turn enemies into friends - because at least they had a common enemy.

Brando's mention to Lenaret is that he first secretly links his forces at home in his name, aids each other, and then hides deep in the shadows, which is a means of self-preservation. Self-preservation is a kind of defense in itself, but defense is also for counterattack. This holy war is an indescribable vortex for the Cruz Empire, the Templars want to win, and the Silver Queen wants to win, but the Templars are not willing to make a wedding dress for the Silver Queen, and presumably the Supreme of the Empire thinks the same.

And the local nobles, also have their own ghosts, there are the queen's hardcore supporters, there are also the temple embrace, when the two sides wrestle with each other, the power owned by the emperor's eldest son has become a pivotal force, if he chooses to remain silent, then the silver queen's plan to integrate the imperial power to achieve a military victory in the holy war, it can be said that half of the failure.

Faced with this situation, it is not surprising that the old prime minister Nedwin will stand on the sidelines, and the attitude of the local aristocracy will become very different over time.

Because of a very simple truth.

A newly enthroned emperor, His Majesty, and an iron-blooded queen who has ruled the empire for forty years, have a completely different power in terms of governing ability, and there is no place where nobles will like an emperor who is too strong, this is a universal truth in Vainde, so it is self-evident who they will ultimately favor. As Her Majesty's prestige wanes as the quagmire of war deepens, the voices urging her to abdicate will one day reach a consensus among all the nobles.

At that point, Lenarat would be able to rightfully return to the Empire and accept the support of the nobility.

This is the final counterattack.

Of course, self-preservation at this stage is also good for Brando, he wants to go to the empire to reclaim the Azure Spear and Akane, and it is conceivable that his enemies should be Her Majesty the Queen and the Temple of Fire. Therefore, the last thing he wants to see is a completely unified empire, whether it is under the name of the Silver Queen or the Temple, so all he has to do is to maintain the status quo of the empire's chaos, and seek opportunities for himself with the help of many opposition. At the same time, Lenaret's allies in the north could provide him with the necessary shelter, such as arranging a safe escape from the Empire.

In this regard, he and the eldest son of the Cruz have a common interest.

Lenaret listened carefully to Antitina's analysis, nodded silently, and he finally looked at Brando, his gaze finally no longer so cold. He pondered for a moment before replying: "Thank you, Monsieur Earl, for your frank mention, I think I can fully trust you, and if one day I ascend to the throne, your friendship with me today will be a precious witness. ”

Brando smiled slightly, and finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: "So happy cooperation, Your Royal Highness." He replied.

Lenaret nodded slightly to him, as a gesture, but his stiff face did not loosen in the slightest, he thought for a moment, and suddenly said: "As a friend, I have some personal advice that I can tell Mr. Earl." ”

Brando was slightly stunned and asked, "What is built?" ”

"I know very well the character and character of my mother, and that your subordinate is in her hands, and she will use you and Eruin to coerce her into submission. I think Monsieur Earl, if your subordinate's inner world is not very impregnable, you had better make some moves to give her some confidence. The eldest son replied lightly.

His Royal Highness really knew the real reason why he came here, Brando thought in his heart, but he also immediately reacted to the information provided to him by Prince Lenaret, he thought about it for a while, and felt that with the character of Her Majesty the Queen, who would not stop for a long time, he would really do this, thinking of this, he suddenly felt that his trip was really not a loss, and he nodded to the eldest son of the Cruz Emperor: "I understand what to do, thank you very much." ”

……

(PS:) Correct, yesterday's fifty-fifth act should be the fifty-sixth act, and today the first chapter fifty-seventh act will be released first, and there will be another one later. I hope you will be comfortable watching it, and I also hope that you will cheer more and smash more monthly passes. (To be continued......)