After the destruction of the Archon's residence, Alcott had no choice but to move his office to the palace and handle government affairs under the heavy protection of the Cold Mountain army. Echoing this action, Arnold also transferred his army to the palace on the grounds that "the emperor has a white family of spies lurking and needs to protect the royal family members closely".

Of course, the inner city where the emperor lived was still garrisoned by the remnants of the Praetorian Guard, which saved some face for the imperial family.

"Your Highness, the order to transfer His Highness Iscario back to the imperial capital has been prepared. Izzo, the clerk, handed a document to Alcott, "Please sign and seal." ”

Alcott glanced at the clerk, and even a good man like him felt very uncomfortable with the clerk who could be placed next to him.

This person named Izzo is actually a person in the Cold Mountain Army, because Farage was thrown into prison, Arnold used the excuse of "the acting ruler can't be left unassisted", and he forcibly planted this Izzo next to Alcott, which is equivalent to using this person in disguise to remotely control Alcott to issue one order after another that Arnold wants to issue.

Alcot took the paperwork and looked at it carefully. To be honest, he didn't think it was right or wrong to transfer Iscario back to the imperial capital at this time, but this decision was made by Harold III, and he insisted on carrying it out, and even Arnold, who had reservations about this order, could not refuse.

Alcott stared at the document, word by word, reading it with great care, trying to drag out the review time. But how many words can there be in this short order, and no matter how much Alcott wants to delay, he still has to sign and seal it in the end.

Iza respectfully accepted the paperwork, glanced at the signature on it, and smiled with satisfaction.

"I'm sorry for you. He said as he handed the paperwork to his men.

Hearing this, Alcott couldn't help but blush, Izzo's attitude was as if he was just a stamp tool, and the only thing that needed to trouble him was when he signed and sealed.

Despite his anger, Alcott couldn't do it, the temporary mansion of the acting government was full of soldiers of the Cold Mountain Army, and if he made any move, he would be immediately crushed.

He couldn't help but glance at a seat in the corner, which was originally Arnold's location, and sometimes the Duke of Leng Shan would come here in person to "guide the acting consul in handling government affairs".

But he wasn't here at the moment, which made Alcott a little glad that he had developed a vague fear of facing Arnold since the coup.

"By the way," he asked in a deliberately casual tone, as if only improvisedly, "where has Duke Arnold gone?"

Izzo's hand paused and looked at Alcot a little strangely.

"The Duke has other priorities. ”

What kind of priorities would Arnold have? Indeed, as the de facto ruler of the imperial capital at the moment, his affairs were quite busy, but sometimes it was not necessarily government affairs that kept him busy.

Something that Alcott couldn't have imagined could also be the reason for Arnold's busyness.

For example, to receive the messengers of the people of the White Land.

Due to the peculiarities of the identities of both sides, this meeting was arranged extremely secretly, and no one knew the location of this meeting except Arnold and his extremely confidant Cold Mountain Army.

Arnold reclined in his chair and looked coldly at the messenger opposite, although the other party claimed to be the chief of the Jackdaw clan of the White Land tribe, Arnold could not find any trace of the barbarian tribe from the middle-aged gentleman's body.

"Lord Duke seems to be interested in my dress?" Jackdaw was naturally able to spot Arnold's gaze, he smiled slightly, and took the initiative to speak, "Maybe Lord Duke has always misunderstood us, thinking that the people of the White Land are barbarians who drink blood, but in fact this is not the case. It is true that we have our own culture and customs, but we can also learn from the virtues of other civilizations. As now, our great chiefs look forward to the establishment of a formal state, free from tribal backwardness. You see, we are not people with whom you are completely incompatible, and although it is not very pleasant at the moment, I believe that in the near future we will also become a country with normal diplomatic relations. ”

Arnold looked at the jackdaw quietly, if it was Alcott, he would have felt uncomfortable to be stared at like this, but the messenger of the white people still looked at it with a confident expression on his face.

So Arnold had a thought in his mind that this man should be one of the few people in the White Land who was good at dealing with people, and it was clear from the way he took the initiative to talk from the beginning that he was the most difficult kind of opponent in the diplomatic arena.

"You say 'we'......" Arnold spoke slowly, his voice a little low and unfriendly, "who are 'we'?"

The smile on Jackdaw's face was even brighter, and he had already received the response he was expecting.

"According to the current situation, it can be said that it is your Cerodib Empire and our Empire of the White People, of course, if you wish, it is also possible to become your duke and our empire. ”

"I'm sure to say it. Arnold sneered, glancing at the guards in the corner of the secret room, "Is there any need for me to have diplomatic relations with you? You and we were enemies in the past, and we are and will be the same in the future, have you ever seen any people in this world who can give up their hatred and shake hands with their enemies? Even the mountain people and the Venons who have been conquered by the empire have not yet eliminated their grievances in their hearts to this day? So, your proposal, part-time work is no different from nonsense, this kind of thing is not enough to be a condition for negotiation. ”

Jackdaw's face remained unchanged, even though he was so belittled by Arnold, he still had a kind smile on his face.

"I can understand your position in saying this, so please also be a little more considerate of my position? I believe that it is each other's interests that determine diplomacy, and each other's interests are determined by the situation. ”

"And who decided the situation?" Arnold smiled sarcastically, "do you guys? I have to admit that you started this war, and it did determine the direction of the situation, but this trend seems to be narrowing the distance between the two sides, not narrowing it." ”

"We can guarantee that you will be able to return to the territory safely, and we will not infringe on the Leng Shan Territory, before I set off, the Great Chief has already handed me the blood seal document, if you have a request, this document can be handed over to you now. The Jackdaw didn't answer Arnold's words, he didn't intend to be led by the other party, so he decisively threw out a bait that Arnold had to respond to, "Also, I heard that you haven't decided on a spouse yet, and if you want, the Wind Caller family is happy to marry the famous Figlaf family." ”

Arnold fell silent, the sarcastic smile on his face gone, replaced by a somber face that made Jackdaw slightly uncomfortable.

"That's your bottom line, and what do you want of me?"

Jackdaw winced his eyes, knowing that this was Arnold's temptation, not a prelude to his promise.

"You misunderstood, this kindness was made out of respect for you and your family, and this is not a transaction. ”

"There may be malicious intent for no reason, but there will be no good intentions for no reason. Arnold stared at Jackdaw, staring at Jackdaw more and more uncomfortably, "You say it's not a deal, so what is the deal you want?"

Jackdaw exhaled, and he gradually felt the chill in the face of Arnold, and his face no longer looked so calm.

"The High Chief wants you to surrender Iron Turin, and she believes you have the power to persuade several of the Storians to make concessions and recognize our country, which is long overdue. As a token of gratitude, the High Chief wants you to lead the affairs of the Empire, and she marries you to strengthen the bonds between them, so that the two countries can truly unite and unite. ”

"What an honor, I heard that your Great Chief is already the last descendant of the Wind Caller family, the last dragon descendant, the entire Wind Caller family, there should be no other women to marry, right?"

"If you see her," Jackdaw said calmly, avoiding a positive answer, "you'll be impressed by her charm." ”

Arnold raised an eyebrow.

"That's interesting...... However, although I have not been married yet, it does not mean that my heart does not belong, so I can only forgive me for this kindness. ”

As if he had expected Arnold to answer like this, he just nodded slightly, without any other reaction.

"What about the former matter, then?" he continued, "with your wisdom, it is impossible for the Empire to be able to stop the advance of our army. To put it mildly, the Great Chief sent me this time to be a great gesture of kindness to you, otherwise, when the Mirror Lake Territory is breached, you may not have a chance to negotiate with us again. ”

Jackdaw's attitude suddenly changed to a high profile, although his tone was still so modest, but the meaning of his words was already faintly threatening. The diplomat, who was quite observant of the situation, immediately resorted to Arnold's refusal, trying to bring Arnold to his side by threatening.

However, his attitude was quite good, and after seeing that Arnold was the same hard-minded person just now, he did not make explicit threats, and still tried to convince the other party from a rational point of view.

"As far as I know, some time ago, you also lost a game in Kuknis City, and even lost the chief of the Fireeye Clan, right?"

Jackdaw chuckled, seemingly unoblivious to the matter, and obliviously observed Arnold's expression with his peripheral vision.

"This victory or defeat is actually meaningless, although His Highness Iscario did complete a beautiful ambush battle, but as far as I know, the result of this battle is still greater casualties on the Imperial side, the forward force of 40,000 people has already caused more than half of the casualties to the elite main force of nearly 70,000 people in the First, Third, and Fifth Legions under His Highness Iscario, as long as we can afford this price, it is not a problem to fight. ”

"It seems that you are in the snow and ice, and you are very well informed. The corners of Arnold's mouth sank, and his eyes gleamed with fierceness.

This didn't frighten the jackdaws.

"When you arrived in Titurin, you must have sensed that something was wrong. A smart person like you, without being reminded by me, should be able to understand the situation. ”

Arnold was silent for a moment, then abruptly stood up.

"Then let's get here today, I have to say, you really surprised me, I didn't expect that there are characters like you among the people of Baidi, if I fight in the future, I will definitely be careful." ”

"You're in for a treat. The jackdaw leaned down and smiled in acknowledgement of the compliment.