Viscount Prescott was now in the tent of the camp, discussing the next move with several of his advisers.

"Your Excellency, don't listen to slander!" shouted a gray-haired advisor, "The overnight sneak attack has done too much damage to our army, and as long as the siege continues, the Shadow Dancers will surely be wiped out!"

"And then?" another middle-aged adviser was not only dismissive of such advice, but also full of disdain, "military action is always just an extension of politics. The siege of the Shadow Dancer is of course simple, and the supplies and military expenses consumed in the siege operation are not considered by a rural nobleman like you, right? If the siege continues, it will take at least three months to ensure the complete destruction of the Shadow Dancer. By then, His Majesty Bruce's deadline has already passed! With such an excuse, the royal family will definitely take the opportunity to send the Knights into the Duchy, and then take the opportunity to cut down the domain! Now not only should they attack overnight, but they should also return to Fort Grant as soon as possible to regroup their troops! The Knights loyal to His Excellency George should be deployed in Fort Grant immediately!"

As with other aristocratic armies, Viscount Prescott's chain of command was filled with the opinions of the nobles themselves. In general, at the moment several barons and their knights have their own plans. One faction felt that the Shadow Dancers should be eliminated as soon as possible and then returned to the capital, while the other faction believed that they should be preserved and that they should not continue to fight the Shadow Dancers, as long as they were trapped in Thunder Bluff.

Viscount Prescott just sat on a chair in the tent and watched the advisors in front of him spat at each other and curse at each other. When it comes to the nobles' own interests, they don't know what etiquette is. The foul language that erupted from the mouths of the two nobles vying for the copper coins could make even the despicable gang members in the underground chamber of commerce find it unbelievable, not to mention the huge interests they are fighting over now.

The Viscount is not a second ancestor who knows nothing about politics, on the contrary, the Viscount, who is responsible for cleaning up the underground chamber of commerce all the year round, is also responsible for monitoring the nobles who are outside the Grand Duke's domain. These village nobles may have felt that their tandem was secretive, but the Viscount had long since mastered their movements through the spies he had planted in the various nobles' mansions.

The rural aristocracy had a long history of dissatisfaction with the Grand Duke. In fact, ever since Archduke Samuel Grant succeeded to the throne and announced several reforms, the rural nobility began to prepare for the overthrow of their lords. From this point of view, they are indeed very good nobles. Greedy, shameless, ignorant, incompetent, and inefficient. Twenty-three years did not allow the nobles to complete their plans, but because of the game of "unfair distribution of spoils", this aristocratic alliance that almost did not even have a prototype continued to split itself. It can be said that before they had an impact on the rule of Archduke Samuel, they had already beaten themselves into a mess.

But this group of village nobles, who should have been scattered, seem to have found their goal again after learning that Archduke Samuel had been killed.

The village aristocracy was divided into two factions. One faction, led by Baron Tucson, received the covert support of the Sibrus Empire's royal family. Baron Tucson is the gray-haired man who advocates that the Shadow Dancer should be besieged.

The other faction was extremely dissatisfied with Viscount Prescott. They believed that the Archduke's second son, George Grant, should succeed him, try Viscount Prescott, and use George as a banner to rebel against the barbaric rule of the Celebrus Empire, whose death must have had something to do with the Empire's policy of cutting feuds. At the head was the Duchy's Chief Chancellor, Kimbier, who was very disdainful of the Baron of Tucson.

But this cannot be simply understood as a polemic between the capitulation faction and the main battle faction. You know, Kimpier was George's maternal grandfather, and the younger brother of Viscount Prescott did not have any title - he was the illegitimate son of Archduke Samuel and Kimpier's daughter.

In short, the current political situation in the Principality of Grant is a chaotic mess. Only Viscount Prescott struggled to hold on in the wind and rain.

Seeing that the advisors in front of him were almost unafraid of their own selfishness, but instead blatantly began to compare the forces behind them, Viscount Prescott acted as if he had not heard anything.

In fact, he really didn't hear anything.

"So that's the way it is. Shen Xi's voice sounded in his head, detailing the information gathered by the Divine Servant - from the founding of the Shadow Dancer to his assassination by Viscount Prescott as an elder of the Chamber of Commerce, Shen Xi concluded, "Your father's death is already a given. The most important thing now is to remaster the Shadow Dancer and use it for yourself. As for your father's purpose and consideration when he founded this organization in the first place, now is not the time to pursue it. ”

"I can't confirm your identity right now. Viscount Prescott's answer was very shrewd, and Shen Xi's current identity really couldn't be proven. This method of communication is not unique to the gods, and some powerful beings can do similar things. For the nobles of the present world, God and the Church are just a relatively useful tool. "Taking a step back, even if you are indeed a great god, it doesn't do me any good personally to forgive and control the Shadow Dancers now. On the contrary, it will make me bear more infamy in public opinion, and in this case, some people will even directly question that my father's death was planned by me. That won't do me or your order. ”

"If the siege continues, you won't gain anything. Shen Xi knew too well how to deal with this kind of person. In fact, Qian Sanming is also such a character, they are extremely shrewd and extremely calm. Even in the worst case, they still have the ability and confidence to exchange interests with anyone who can negotiate. By turning sideways, you can get amazing benefits in places where there is no chance of a turnaround. Under this premise, we can only use the stupidest way to put every bit of advantages and disadvantages on the table and make it clear. This will discourage them from continuing to try to move. "There are only two outcomes you are facing now, either the Duchy of Grant will be directly taken over by the Sibrus Empire, and from then on it will become several provinces directly under the empire, and the entire Grant family will disappear from now on. Either be deposed by your father's treasurer, prop your half-brother to the throne, and then hold the entire duchy hostage and the Celebrus Empire in a war of independence. Of course, you won't see the day when the foundation you and your father have worked so hard to build will be destroyed by the war, and you'll be sent to the gallows by Kimbier before then. ”

Viscount Prescott thought for a long time, and suddenly laughed, "You shouldn't just be some kind of protector of criminals, thugs and fraudsters. In my opinion, you should be the god of negotiation and politics. ”

Shen Xi watched Prescott be moved by his own words, his spirit relaxed a lot, and replied with a smile, "Politicians and negotiators are not my protectors, who can say for sure?"

The quarrel in the camp continued, and Viscount Prescott left on the pretext of being unwell. Both the Baron of Tucson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Kimpier cast undisguised disdain at the current nominal ruler of the principality. It's like looking at a coward who has no responsibility and has begun to evade problems.

Viscount Prescott also saw such a look. If it had been a few minutes ago, he would have reacted violently to this, such as denouncing the two of them for completely forgetting the honor and oath of the nobles, and showing no respect for their lord. But now he is completely too lazy to care. According to the oracle, he had to leave the heavily guarded camp within twenty minutes and quickly sneak three kilometers in the direction of Thunder Bluff to connect with the main pipe of Shadow Dance and begin negotiations on the reception. At this critical juncture, arguing with a group of brainless guys about respecting the lord is completely more than worth the loss.

Shen Xi sat on the dragon chair in the Taihe Palace, looked at Viscount Prescott in the ball of light in front of him, and praised it in his mouth.

"Hey, I didn't expect it, this old boy has two brushes. Shen Xi was amazed as he held the tea bowl sent by the purple-robed divine servant. "Look at this method, sneaking past a dozen or so sentinels less than a meter away, but they didn't get noticed. At this point, he has to be a high-level thief or something. ”

The purple-robed servant stood aside, like a comical cross talk actor, and then said, "Isn't it!"

Shen Xi glanced at the purple-robed divine servant, put down the tea bowl and asked, "I've been busy for so long, I don't know what your name is." What do you call it?"

"Master, you're welcome. "If the divine servant has a hometown, he will rush to the poor mouth of the purple-robed divine servant, and ninety percent of them must be from Tianjin Wei. "The little one is called Yu Qian. ”

"Yu Qian, how can you call Yu Qian!" Shen Xi laughed and was almost out of breath, "You don't smoke, you don't drink, and you don't burn your head." Blind for such a good name. ”

Yu Qian was also happy, "It's also a loss to the little ones who are not from Qiantang County." If you don't look at the Manchu text written in this hall, one of the three heroes of West Lake with the same name is afraid that he will die again in anger. ”

Yu Qian said that the "Yu Qian" from Qiantang County was a famous minister in the early Ming Dynasty, and the official was a secretary of the military department. and Yue Fei, Zhang Huangyan is known as the "Three Heroes of West Lake".

While Shen Xi was telling jokes with Yu Qian, he secretly pondered to himself, according to Panakaya, the Divine Servant was born when the temple was generated. So how did this Qian in front of him know that he still had a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty with the same name and surname?

"Who gave you this purple python robe on your body?" Shen Xi picked up the tea bowl, flicked the tea leaves floating on the water, and suddenly asked Yu Qian.

"This set of clothes, when the little one was just conscious, put it on his body. Yu Qian tugged at the front of his python robe and showed Shen Xi the beautifully embroidered python on it, "I didn't see that the other servants were not wearing such clothes, and then I realized that the villain was probably the steward of this temple." Before the adults came, the little one wanted to gossip with the other servants, but found that except for the Ruan steward who took Sonia to visit, the rest couldn't even tell a joke, let alone know who the three heroes of West Lake were. ”

Shen Xi glanced at Yu Qian with interest, the divine servant in front of him was also a wonderful person. I could hear that there was an inquiring meaning in my tone, so I simply came to a bamboo tube and poured beans. Explain your own affairs and other people's affairs clearly, so as not to arouse your own suspicions.