27 Ivy and vipers

Early in the morning, in the camp tent of the Praetorian Guard, Duke Xia Fei had just woken up. Last night he fed the Praetorian Guard soldiers and gave them all the meat and fish in the supply. He understood: Fighting in such a cold and harsh environment, the morale and combat effectiveness boosted by food are far higher than the empty pre-war mobilization and flashy slogans, because everyone knows that after capturing Fengxing Town, you will get more things.

Xia Fei walked slowly to the outside of the tent and ordered the herald to inform the infantry to prepare to stand in the phalanx, while the cavalry continued to patrol around Fengxing Town, not allowing anyone to enter or leave, and if necessary, to kill those who wanted to escape, and by now, there was no need to put away their fangs. He returned to the camp, sat down in his chair, and breathed a sigh of relief—he was old, in his fifties, more than thirty years of military experience, and he instinctively enjoyed a place in the imperial political arena, but in the end he was only appointed commander of the Praetorian Guard, and everyone knew that this was only a superficial and glamorous position, but in fact a pension position, and he had no say in politics at all, which was far from what he expected of himself. Xia Fei also has a huge family, but several children, relatives and friends are all mud on the wall, can only barely eat, as a duke, always feel shameless, if he dies one day, the family's glory, wealth, status will definitely collapse. Fortunately, there was a turning point in front of him, which was the Djinn crisis. He saw this opportunity and proposed to let the prince lead the troops to the battle, using the powerful combat power and royal privileges of the Praetorian Guard to snatch a considerable amount of merit on the northern battlefield. The prince was very satisfied with Xia Fei's actions, because he could also take advantage of them to accumulate political capital and declare the image of his own proud son of the whole empire, but he did not know that it was Xia Fei and the family behind him who really benefited from these actions.

And this defense battle of Fengxing Town is also the right time for Xia Fei, but he has more vicious plans.

"Fengxing Town, this territory is too remote for the empire, dispensable, take this opportunity to destroy it, you can get the wealth accumulated in the town for many years, if anyone asks, it is said that the djinn captured this place first, and no one escaped." This is Xia Fei's suggestion to the prince, the naïve prince was bewitched in this way, and they discussed to deceive the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, making them think that Fengxing Town was going to take advantage of the chaos to rebel against the empire, and besides, the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard were also people, and they also knew that there was great wealth, food, and women in Fengxing Town...... Taking advantage of the fire is always addictive. But before the plan began, it encountered a small setback - the prince died, although this can be evidence of the "mutiny" of Fengxing Town, but his next political ambitions are not easy to achieve, and the plan can only continue. It wasn't until last night, when Charlie and a small group of soldiers traded the djinn's head for a chance to leave the area, that he learned that a man named Melo Entecoman was still in the town.

Duke Xia Fei did not hide the ecstasy in his heart, and almost shouted: "This cursed family has really helped me a lot!" ”

On the night of the 17th, the remnant sun was like blood.

"Milo's secret......" Charlie responded to the questions of his soldiers, his tone depressed, "then tell you......

The soldiers listened quietly, they had been waiting for the story for a long time.

"Many nobles know about this matter, and there is a legend that the 'Ente Koman' family has been cursed for a long time."

The soldiers looked at each other, and during the time they spent with Milo, they didn't notice anything special about him, so they continued to wait for Charlie to speak.

"A long time ago, probably hundreds of years ago, there was a coup d'état in our Sprelet Empire...... several soldiers were a little surprised, this was the first time they heard about it, Charlie ignored it, and continued, "It is said that the younger brother of the emperor at that time was dissatisfied with his brother's incompetence, so he overthrew his brother's rule and wanted to take power himself and lead the empire to gradually become stronger. Later, the coup d'état was successful, and the emperor died, but the crown prince was gone. Originally, the emperor's younger brother didn't want to kill this nephew of his, after all, he was related by blood, and he just wanted to govern the country in place of his elder brother, but then he ...... One of the crown prince's guards betrayed him, killed the crown prince, and cut off his head. When the soldiers heard this, they probably guessed that although the guard's behavior was very knowledgeable, it was a matter of selling the glory of the seller, and it would be looked down upon by everyone.

"The guard's surname is 'Enkoman', the earliest nobleman of what is now the Enkotman. The guards sacrificed the head of the crown prince and was canonized as a nobleman with a knighthood, but the new emperor did not like him because he killed his nephew. So the new emperor carved a line on his crown that said, 'Don't trust Entekoman' or something, I haven't seen it, I've only heard it. The soldiers thought that Charlie had finished speaking, and asked casually: "This is not cursed, but the reputation is not very good." ”

"You think it's over? After the Entekoman family became a nobleman, many crown princes have had accidents over the past few hundred years, and they are always related to their family. I heard that there was a crown prince who was killed by a beast while hunting, and he was accompanied by the Entekoman family. Later, this happened many times, and one can't help but wonder if the Entekoman family was cursed because of the previous betrayal of the crown prince. Charlie's words made the soldiers feel indescribably strange, like hearing a ghost story, but what followed was even more sensational. Did you know? The current emperor of our empire is a blind man. A few soldiers nodded, and it was no secret. But it is said that the one who blinded him was also the Entekoman family. When he was still the crown prince, he once fell off his horse and hit his head, so that his eyes could not see, and the horse he rode was a gift from the Entekoman family...... And then this time, the crown prince was killed, and Entekoman was on the scene again...... Their family's family crest is ivy, and some people say that the ivy is a poisonous snake that will bite its owner at any time......"

The soldiers' lips trembled, not because of the cold, but because the legend was more strange than they could have understood. Charlie lowered his head, and he finally finished speaking...... The group quietly continued on their way......

Charlie and Milo don't have much contact, but in the battle against the djinn together, he learns that Milo is a brave and strong man, and when a new crisis occurs in Windtown, Milo's integrity also impresses him. Therefore, Charlie did not tell Xia Fei and the Praetorian Guards about Milo's killing of the mutinous soldiers' captives, and he also wished Milo in his heart that he could successfully resolve the crisis.

Xia Fei's Janissary infantry phalanx had been assembled, and facing the frozen walls, he looked at the glittering fortress with a little admiration, he knew that the town had been emptied, and the inhabitants had taken refuge in the fortress, he sneered, it was even more convenient for him to slaughter the innocent people here. His Praetorian Guard soldiers were equipped with the most sophisticated equipment in the Empire, especially the more than 100 new flintlock pistols, which could be fired freely in the wind and rain, let alone siege the city. And in the fortress opposite, the strength that can fight is less than a fraction of the more than 800 people of the Praetorian Guard, and the great wealth and merit are now at his fingertips, and his ambition is about to be realized, and even the death of the prince has Ente Koman to become a scapegoat. Xia Fei is very proud, and the family finally has a bright future thanks to their own efforts.

Proud but not forgetful, this is also the advantage of Xia Fei, he deliberately set the date of the attack on the 18th, on the one hand, to be fully prepared, on the other hand, he also waited for the infighting in the town, so to speak, everything was expected by him, and now he only needs to do the final work.

Duke Xia Fei stared at Fengxing Town not far away, it was so fragile, as if it could crush it with a single force. Now Xia Fei is going to exert himself......

However, a strange situation arose in front of the Praetorian Guard infantry phalanx, and many soldiers whispered and discussed:

"That's ...... Alone?! ”