When Wood returned to his home, he couldn't help but sigh that it was better to be at home.

Half a month earlier, in order to deal with a real estate dispute between the Duke of Connaught and the church, Wood, as a judge of the Imperial Court, had to leave for the western part of the empire, facing the sunset sea. The dispute took Wood half a month, and he rushed to Connaught shortly after returning from Fort Midnight, and it can be said that he had been on the go for a month.

He was already dusty and tired when he walked through the door, but returning to his home still lifted Wood's spirits. Although the Phil family's mansion is not as luxurious as Jericho and Metternich, it still has its own characteristics, and the entire estate is very white, as pale as the justice represented by the court.

"Father, you're back. "Mother and I were so glad to hear that you were coming back the day before yesterday, and now she is preparing lunch for you." ”

Wood looked at the little son who was smiling happily and sighed silently. If he really wanted me back, why didn't he pick me up at the station? Wood knew his son too well, and although he was eloquent and had a job as director of engineering with a Brian college graduate, he still couldn't get rid of the penchant he had been fond of spending time since he was younger. When Wood saw Herbert's messy hair, he knew that the kid must have gone out to fool around last night again, and that's why he overslept today.

Originally not expecting much from his youngest son, Wood just nodded and did not debunk Herbert.

"I have some business in the ministry, father, and I'll come back to you in the evening. Probably knowing that he could not fool his father, who knew him well, Herbert did not intend to stay long, he quickly took his coat and hat from the coat rack, and walked out of the house in a few steps.

Wood simply sat down on a chair in the hall and closed his eyes to recuperate. But he didn't have to rest long before he heard the voice of his eldest son, Carl.

"Father. When Wood opened his eyes, he saw Carl standing a few paces away from him. This son is silent and wooden, and his biggest characteristic is that he doesn't like to talk, which is a headache for Wood. Although the Phil family is an aristocrat that only emerged after the revolution, it is now also a famous family in the imperial capital, and communication on weekdays is absolutely indispensable. As the heir and eldest son of the Phil family, Carl's unspoken personality is very detrimental to the Phil family's consolidation and development of ties with other families.

"Ah, hello, Carl, long time no see. Wood patted the seat next to him with a tired look in his eyes, "Come and sit, and tell me what's happening lately." ”

Without saying a word, Carl sat down beside Wood, and when he sat down, he sat in a regular position, straightened up, and put his hands on his knees.

Seeing Carl's sitting posture, Wood couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. He sometimes felt that there was something very wrong with the way he raised his two sons, and he was too strict with Carl, so he taught him to be this taciturn, honest and honest, and too indulgent with Herbert, so that the child was overly indulged in pleasure. The two sons are like two extremes, and Wood can't say which one is better, their advantages and disadvantages are too obvious, and it is difficult for Wood to choose a better one among them as his heir, and probably in the end, the two brothers can only divide their inheritance equally. But in this way, Carl's temperament will be more disadvantaged. Wood thought to himself that if he were to choose emotionally, he would prefer Carl, although he was silent, but after all, he had many qualities that he hoped to cultivate, and he liked Carl's honesty and integrity, even if he would suffer, but it was better than losing his fortune like Herbert.

"Hadrian's side hasn't been at ease lately. Wood asked Carl to tell him about what had happened recently, and he really just talked about it, and he didn't say a word about the specifics at all.

"I've heard about this, is there anything else?" Wood asked, frowning.

Karl nodded, then shook his head. If it weren't for someone who knew him well, it would have been hard for him to figure out what he meant, that is, Wood, as a father, understood. Carl nodded to indicate that he also knew that his father would have heard about Hadrian's Empire, after all, this matter was now in trouble, and Wood could hear the news even in Connaught. Even Carl said that he thought that Wood had already heard about it, and he didn't need to go into details, so he took it out and talked about it. As for him shaking his head, it was clear that he was saying that there was nothing else new.

Wood sighed, it was so troublesome to talk to this son. "Forget it, you can go on your own first. ”

Carl nodded, got up and went upstairs.

Wood sighed helplessly and closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

This time he really fell asleep unconsciously, tired from the days of running, and when he came home to see his sons, he did not feel good, so the tired Wood sat down in his chair and gradually fell asleep.

In his sleep, he felt as if someone had covered him with something, but he didn't feel it clearly in his daze. It wasn't until lunchtime that he was woken up by his wife.

"Ellen......" He slowly opened his eyes, and his wife's wrinkled but familiar face met his eyes.

"Welcome home. Mrs. Phil looked at him with a smile, and she sat down beside Wood, smiling as kindly as Wood was familiar with.

"I'm back. Seeing his wife, Wood finally smiled from the bottom of his heart, and only his wife said this to him sincerely.

Wood removed the blanket from his body, and when he saw it, he smiled at his wife again and took her hand.

"Carl put it on you. After all, Mrs. Phil and Wood had been husband and wife for decades, and she could understand Wood's thoughts with just such a smile.

There was a slight warmth in Wood's heart, although Carl was a silent child, but sometimes he was very careful in some small things. He just doesn't say it, but that doesn't mean he doesn't understand.

"Let's eat first. Wood looked at his wife tenderly, "I'm hungry." ”

Mrs. Phil nodded. "I'm going to tell Carl to come down. ”

————————————————

After lunch with his family, Wood was going to take a day off at home, but things came his way.

Looking at the two men in front of him in the unique uniform of the Ministry of the Interior, Wood did not expect that he would be treated like this not long after he returned to Germany.

"Please don't be nervous, Lord Marquis Phil. We have only come to ask you about something, and you are a fair judge, and Your Excellency the Minister has a lot of respect for you. Seeing the uneasiness in Wood's expression, the taller of the two men played to appease Wood.

But I don't have much respect for your ministers. Wood sneered. However, although Wood and the Minister of the Interior were not on the right track, they knew that the other party was not here to investigate him, and Wood was also reassured.

"What do you want to ask?" said Wood, leaning against the back of the couch, his expression deliberately arrogant.

The two officials of the Ministry of the Interior were not annoyed, after all, with Wood's status and qualifications, they were qualified to pose in front of such a small person. "It's about Mr. Ernest No. Jericht, the commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison. At a gathering at the Marquis de Metternich last night, he drew his gun in the presence of the Marquis and several officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the intention of attacking Count Swain No. Jericht. Although in the end, according to eyewitnesses, the gun was not a real gun, and no one was injured, but because of Commander Jericho's special identity, we still need to investigate, is there any contradiction or hatred between Commander Jericho and Count Jericho?"

Listening to the words of the Home Office official, Wood's face became worse and worse. "What did you say, Ernest pulling out his gun on Swain?"

Another short man pretended to be surprised and asked, "Don't you know?"

"How could I have known that I had only arrived this morning!" Wood had no time to pay attention to the man's tone, and almost shouted at the question.

As if Wood's reaction had surprised them, the two men exchanged glances, and finally the tall man spoke, "I'm very sorry, Marquis Phil, but this was our negligence. However, please also answer our question if there is any contradiction between Commander Jericho and Count Jericho. ”

Wood took a deep breath to calm his emotions. "I can answer you this question, but you must also promise me one condition, and tell me what happened last night as it is. ”

"No problem. The tall man replied.

"You should know that Ernest and Swain are father and son. ”

The two of them nodded, although they had always called Ernest and Swain by their last names out of politeness, but how could they not see such an obvious relationship.

There was a bit of a contradiction between the two of them, to be precise, inherited from Ernest's father, the first Earl of Midnight, Winston No. Jericht. Ernest had a discordant relationship with his father, so when the first earl died, he made his grandson the heir in his will. And Ernest has not seen his son since he was born, and the relationship between the two is not deep, and Ernest was robbed of his title again, which naturally caused a rift between father and son. Wood briefly recounted the conflict between Jericho and his son, some of which he deliberately covered up, "That's about it, now you two can tell me what I want to know." ”

The short man quickly jotted down what Wood had said with pen and paper. The tall man saw that his companion remembered almost as much as he could, and said, "Thank you for your cooperation, Monsieur Marquis. As for what you want to know, by and large, yes and so. Last night the Metternich family held a grand party in the name of the Marquis, inviting many nobles of the imperial capital to come. And the marquis himself met privately with some people. At that time, the Marquis was receiving several officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Count Jericho and Commander Jericho joined in successively. Oh, Count Jericho was still taking his sister Miss Sophia No. Jericho with him at the time......"

"You said Sophia was too!" Wood hurriedly asked when he heard Sophia.

"Yes. ”

“...... Go ahead. Realizing his gaffe, Wood waved his hand and motioned for the tall man to continue.

According to the recollections of the person concerned, at first they were talking about diplomatic matters, of course, it was just small talk, and it did not involve the actual work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but when Commander Jericho came in, the topic turned to the dispute of ideas within the Jericho family, and the father and son had a big disagreement. Although the Marquis tried to stop them for a while, the quarrel intensified, and finally Commander Jericho drew his rifle and pointed it at Count Jericho, causing great consternation to those present.

Later, there was an accident, and the chandelier in the living room fell down for some reason, but fortunately there were no casualties. This plunged the parlor into darkness for about five minutes, and while the testimonies we have so far are inconsistent, it is certain that they heard gunshots during those five minutes. ”

The tall man paused, observing Wood's reaction, but to his disappointment, Wood had calmed down by this moment, and his expression was calm. Unable to see anything, the tall man continued: "Although there are several such testimonies, even those who say that they did hear the gunshots admit that after the Metternich brought the lanterns, they saw Commander Jericho holding a toy gun with the Imperial flag fired from the muzzle, and no one was injured. ”

Wood nodded, his expression unrecognizable. "So, the two of you have come here to inquire about me for such a joke, lest the work of the Ministry of the Interior be too busy. ”

"As long as there is the slightest possibility of danger to the country, we must do everything in our power to avoid it. The short man said a nice word.

"And," said the tall man, "do you think this is a joke? As far as you know Commander Jericho, could he be the one who carried a toy gun and acted like a clown in front of the Marquis of Metternich?"

Of course not. Wood immediately denied it, but he said diametrically opposite: "Who knows." ”

"yes, who knows. Maybe Commander Jericho was using a toy gun as a cover, trying to take advantage of the opportunity, or he had already successfully killed someone, but because of that one I don't know if it was an accidental accident, he had the opportunity to change the gun, so that everyone had the illusion. It's a possibility, isn't it?" said the short man, who didn't seem to have any kindness to Wood and Ernest, and kept saying something threatening.

Wood narrowed his eyes and took note of the man's appearance. "That's just your guess. If all you're trying to say is such unfounded speculation, then I'm not going to accompany you. ”

The short man wanted to say something, but his companion tugged at his sleeve. "We were rude, please forgive me. Now that the questions have been asked, allow us to take our leave. ”

Wood nodded slightly haughtily and watched the two men leave.

As soon as the two men left, Wood's face immediately darkened. Although the two men were white-faced and red-faced, and it seemed that the tall man had a more kind attitude, Wood knew that the most important thing was the attitude of the Minister of the Interior behind them.

"What the hell do you want to do?" Wood said to himself, staring at the void in front of him, "Belial. ”

After leaving the Phil family's estate, two Home Office officials got into a carriage parked at the door. After the two got into the car, the carriage quickly left the place.

However, there were more than two people in the carriage, and a third person was sitting in the carriage all the time.

"Director, we're sorry we didn't ask for too much information. As soon as they got into the car, the two men apologized to the third person.

The man looked at the two men in front of him, without a single expression on his face, and although their mission was unsuccessful, he did not look annoyed.

"yes, that's not much, to be expected. ”

He turned his head to look out the window at the scenery and said in a nonchalant tone.

"The Phil family is a staunch supporter of the crown prince, so naturally he will not be too pretentious about His Excellency the minister. Correspondingly, because of their position, there are many people who are also on the opposite side of His Excellency the Minister, such as the Viscount Jericho. ”

"We'll do our best to investigate his tricks. The short man said immediately.

"There's no rush in this matter. The Director shook his head, a smile on his face hidden by the shadow of the curtains, "I want you to do something else, to investigate the wife of our colleague Viscount Jericho." ”

"Investigation...... Mrs. Jerichault?" This task left the two men a little confused, why would they investigate a harmless weak woman.

"Just do what I say. The minister's voice was a little harsher.

"Yes! Hearing that the director was showing signs of anger, the two men hurriedly said.

The carriage drove out of the White Browning district and onto the White Shield Bridge leading to Kinness River Street. After losing the shade of the buildings on both sides, the afternoon sun shone into the carriage, and the dazzling eyes made people unable to open their eyes.

But the director didn't care about this dazzling pain at all, and still looked out the window, looking at the sparkling emerald river. The sun shone on his face, his face was relatively round, a little fat, his lips were thin, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his eyes, revealing a confident gaze, reflected the golden light of the sun.

Most importantly, this face is similar to Wood.

He was Wood's youngest son, Herbert Noe Fair. He is the Director of the Mines Department of the Ministry of Works and the Director of the Interior Ministry's most mysterious and feared Investigation Bureau.

He looked at the emerald river that reflected a golden light and grinned.

"Ho, Phil. Ho, Ernest. ”