The aristocratic quarter of Blinor, the reception room of the Marques' House at Wimbledon.

Dressed in a splendid marquis' dress and with her purple hair in a flamboyant purple hair, Sophia sat on the throne and personally received visitors from the Duchy of Teuton, Count Greer Moonbear.

Unlike the handsome and elegant common to the southern aristocracy, the Earl of Moon Bear was tall and burly, with heavy hair, and his skin showed a rough feeling of being worn by wind and snow, his facial features were profound, his eyes were light brown and almost gray, his complexion was ruddy, his broad forehead was tied with a circle of shiny reindeer skin bandages, and his long golden hair and beard were tied into small braids with bear's tooth headbands.

This unique outfit instantly recognises him as a Northlander, and his well-proportioned body and facial proportions indicate that he is a knight.

The mood and character of the high-ranking knights determine their temperament and physical characteristics. Greer had the ruggedness and straightforwardness of the Northlanders, and he said in a loud voice:

"Sophia, we are old friends, I only have two requests, one is to lend us the Moon Bear family 2 million gold soles, and the other is not to vouch for the other families of Sassan. Sophia, you help us this time, on behalf of my brother, I promise you that the Moon Bear family will have a good reward. ”

1,200,000 gold soles is not a small amount, but the Marquis of Wimbledon is not out of reach. Sophia's headache was Count Moonbear's second request.

The cause of the incident began a month ago. The Duke of York invited representatives of major families to a banquet at the Duke's Palace. Towards the end of the dinner, the Duke of York set a unique ornamental dish on each guest's plate - dark red iron bricks.

Iron bricks, bricks like iron!, the name given by Lady Sylvia herself!

These bricks as hard as iron made the climax of the dinner party instantly fall into the oppressive silence of the approaching rainstorm, and the distinguished dignitaries left the duke's palace without saying a word, each carrying the iron bricks on their plates. That night, the Knights of the Hippriffs of House Barcelius, the Horned Wolf Knights of Frederick and the Church, the Unicorn Knights of Dordor, the Knights of the Sword Mantis of Neville, and the Fierce Moon Bear Knights of the Duchy of Teutonia all left the city of Blinor. The representatives of the major families of the Suth Kingdom and the Borui Kingdom did not have Alien War Beast mounts, and they simply sent Silver Knights or Senior Knights to return home overnight with iron bricks, which would not be slightly slower than Alienated War Beasts.

That night, Edward Auguste, in the name of the king, summoned the Duke of York to the court. Early the next morning, Patriarch Tamor personally visited the Duke of York's house and had a full morning of secret conversations with the Duke.

No one inquired about the conversation between the Kite Castle, the Church, and the Duke of York, and the city of Blinor remained ostensibly peaceful. Ten days later, however, the Duke of Ludwigsi, the Golden Knight of Dodor, arrived in the capital of Cambys, and fourteen days later, the Duke of York's biological mother, Countess Dolly de Caeser of the Kingdom of Neville, visited Blinor for the first time in more than twenty years.

Obviously, both the Duke of Ludwig and the Countess de Caeser came for the iron bricks. Strangely, they did not visit the Duke of York, nor the Patriarch of Tamor, nor even meet with representatives of other families in their country. In fact, since the Iron Brick Dinner, the representatives of the kingdoms have been shut down, and the social activities of the noble district of Blinor have stopped.

Sophia knew that this was because the brick was so important that the church and the families wanted it. The Duke of York usually pretends to be stupid, but under his pompous and vain appearance hides a treacherous and cunning heart, in short, he is very shameless. For such a big matter, taking the initiative to negotiate with him will not lead to anything, but will be probed out of his bottom line by him. Everyone waited patiently for the York family to open their first card, and if they were too demanding, it would not be too late to join forces to put pressure on them. But before that, no one wants to take the lead first, jumping up and down and colluding around, which will anger the two highnesses of Centaur Hill, and maybe they will be out of the game in advance.

On the eve of Sylvia and Victor's arrival in Blinor, the Duke of York held another feast and publicly announced that the blueprints of the giant brick kiln and the craftsmanship of making the iron bricks would be presented to the royal family of Auguste as the dowry of Angelina Branstet York. At the same time, the relevant technology was sold to a family in the kingdoms for 600,000 gold soles, but the family of the Sassan Empire had to pay 2.4 million gold soles to buy it.

For the major powers, it would be nice to be able to sell the giant brick kiln and the iron brick manufacturing process for money.

Duke Ludwig immediately made a decision, and the Golden Bird family invested 600,000 yuan to purchase iron brick technology on behalf of the Kingdom of Dord. His Royal Highness Andrea Christophe also bought the Iron Brick Technology on behalf of the Borui Kingdom. They were the only two Golden Knights among the envoys, and the other great families of Dordor and Borui were unable to resist their will and congratulated the Ludwigs and Christophers. In addition, the Kingdom of Neville and the Kingdom of Seuss purchased the right, which the Duke of York personally assigned to the House of De Kaiser and the House of Branstedt. As for the Sassan Empire, the House of York let the Sassarians negotiate the results themselves, and they did not intervene.

Early this morning, the Earl of Greer Moonbear visited the Marquess of Wimbledon.

The Duchy of Teutonic is arguably the most important partner of the Wimbledon Chamber of Commerce at the moment, and even for a long time to come, the Moon Bear family will be of great significance to the Golden Regiment. Unless Sophia is willing to give up her monopoly on barbarian trade, the Duchy of Teuton is a trade route and bazaar that she cannot part with.

The Sasangian Empire had a developed agriculture and animal husbandry, and was responsible for the grain and meat part of the barbarian trade, of which the reindeer meat of the Moon Bear family accounted for forty percent of the meat trade, and the remaining sixty percent was mainly cured meat. It was impossible for barbarians to eat cured meat all year round, and cattle and sheep could not cross the northern tundra. As long as the Moon Bear family increases the price of reindeer meat, the Wimbledon Chamber of Commerce will not be able to bear it.

However, Greer asked the Marquis of Wimbledon to make a choice on such a major issue as iron brick technology, Sophia was secretly annoyed, and naturally she would not give him a good face, and said coldly:

"That dignitary will bring hundreds of thousands of gold soles to Cambis to attend the king's wedding celebration? Duke of Goldsparrow, His Royal Highness Christopher, Earl Branstette, and Countess de Caeser have not paid to the York family, and the Moon Bear family does not need to be in a hurry to pay, as long as you negotiate with the other families of Sassan and make a promise, Lady Sylvia is not afraid that you will dare to repay the debt...... Greer, what do you mean you're coming to me?"

Greer Moon Bear paused for a moment and said, "I'll pay the money first, and the matter will be settled." ”

"In other words, you and the other families of the Sursan Empire have not reached a consensus?" Sophia raised her purple eyebrows and said unhappily: "In other words, I favor you, and the Sursan royal family, the Barcelius family, and the Bronze Halberd City will all hold a grudge against me?"

The Earl of Moon Bear touched his braids and said nonchalantly: "Lord Marquis Wimbledon, you are not Your Highness, but you are not inferior to Your Highness. You have the ability to make a choice, you have to make a choice. If you don't support the Moon Bear family, then I can say goodbye now. ”

Sophia's mind flashed with inspiration, and after thinking about it carefully, the corners of her mouth outlined a charming smile.

"I didn't know about the invention of iron bricks in the centaur hills. But my husband has returned, and with a single word, I can designate that family in the Sarsanid Empire to have the right to buy iron brick crafts, even if you agree on it, it is useless...... Greer, why should I support you?"

Count Moon Bear said bluntly, "Because the Duchy of Teuton is especially in need of giant brick kilns and iron brick craftsmanship. You know, there's not a lot of wood in the Northland tundra, and there's not a decent stone mine. We dare to dig stones on Mount Ariel, and the barbarians will have to break our heads to pieces...... There are countless sheep monsters in the Arrett Mountains, and if they rush down one day, they will only be smashed to pieces in front of our iron brick fortress! If Barcelius or Frederick had bought the iron brick craft, the Teutonic Duchy would have paid a greater price if they wanted to own the iron brick fortress, perhaps not in exchange for gold...... Sofia, you don't want us to be on the side of Barcelius, and you don't want to see us on Frederick's side. Of course, I don't want to take sides for the sake of iron bricks, but others have giant brick kilns and iron bricks, and the Teutonic principality also has them. ”

"Of course, we don't want to offend the two royal families either. I will follow the example of the Duke of York and sell the iron bricks to Barcelius and Frederick for 800,000 gold soles, and the Duchy of Teutonia will remain neutral...... Fat York's heart and eyes are like honeycomb holes, he can sell iron brick technology, and we can sell it too. Ludwig, Christopher, De Kaiser, Branstedt can all make a fortune. ”

He smacked his lips and shook his head, "But if the royal family buys iron brick technology, they will never exchange it for gold...... I suppose that the sale of the iron bricks to non-royal families was the result of secret talks between Patriarch Tamor and Fat York. Because we can't keep it, we can only sell it for gold...... Now, all the major families have it, and there is no need to quarrel. ”

Count Moonbear's argument was reasonable, but Sophia felt that he still had reservations, and for a moment she could not understand what he was concealing. But she was sure that the Golden Order did need the central powers of the Sarsanid Empire to continue to maintain an unbiased political stance.

Sophia pondered for a moment, her red lips lightly opened, "Princess Angel of Bronze Halberd City is your niece and my friend. Although Bronze Halberd City is located in the southern part of the Sassan Empire, she also belongs to the lords of Central Sassang. ”

Greer patted his chest and promised, "There is no His Highness in Bronze Halberd City, but we will not let Angel suffer." The Duchy of Teutoni got the iron brick technology, and we only charged 200,000 gold soles to the Halberd City and sold the technology to her. ”

"200,000 gold soles?"

"Sophia, iron bricks and giant brick kilns are not things that can be exchanged for gold, and 200,000 gold soles is already the lowest price...... Families who can't afford this amount of money are not qualified to make iron bricks. ”

"It seems that the Moon Bear family is ready to make a big profit. Sophia smiled and said, "You owe me a favor." ”

Count Moon Bear was overjoyed, stood up, and saluted Sophia's chest: "The favor of our Moon Bear family cannot be exchanged for gold either. In the future, if the Marquis needs the help of the Duchy of Teuton, he can say it directly. ”

Sophia Yingying got up, returned the salute, and raised her hand to lead, "Don't worry about buying the iron brick manufacturing process, please go back, Lord Earl." ”

Before leaving the door, Count Moon Bear turned around and said, "Lord Marquis, you can decide the qualifications of the Duchy of Teuton to buy giant brick kilns and iron bricks, not because of your husband, but because the centaur hills borrowed your power. Otherwise, the emissaries of the Highnesses of the Knights of Radiance would not have remained silent on this great matter. ”

Sophia watched Greer walk out of the antechamber of the Marquis's Palace, and after a long time, she wrinkled her nose and pouted to herself: "Hmph, I want you to remind you." ”

At this time, Natalia, dressed in a lizard fur suit, commanded a team of strong guards to carry several large water tanks into the courtyard of the Marquis's Palace. When she saw Sophia, she stopped and told the guards, "Be careful, don't spill it, send it to the water tank in the backyard first." ”

Sophia leaned forward and looked into the sink curiously, "Blinor's sockeye salmon?"

"yes. Natalia grabbed Sophia's arm and said with a smile, "Victor used to like to eat my roasted sockeye salmon the most." I took someone to the Blinor River to catch dozens of four-foot sockeye salmon for the main course of the evening. By the way, you're dressed in formal clothes, are you going to meet Victor? Wait for me, I'll change my clothes and go with you. ”

Sophia took Natalia's hand, shook her head and said, "I'm not going to pick up Victor. Just now, Greer Moon Bear visited the Marquis's Court, and I changed into my formal attire. ”

"Count Moon Bear, is he looking for you for something?"

“...... And not for the sake of iron bricks. ”

Sophia described what had happened to Natalia, frowned and said, "Although the Moon Bear family is strong, due to the family's bloodline and territorial location, they are not the leader of the forces in the middle of the Mulberry. In fact, the lords of central Sasang were faintly repulsive to the Moon Bear, and no one was willing to marry the Moon Bear family except for the Bronze Halberd City at the far edge of the south. When they get the iron brick manufacturing technology, they can increase their influence on the Central Lord Family...... The value of the Yorkist family's iron brick and giant brick kilns cannot be measured in Kinsol. Sylvia and Victor won't fail to understand this...... You say, why would the York family sell iron bricks and giant brick kilns when they have a better choice?"

Natalia blinked, bit her lip, and said with a smile, "Wait for Victor to come back, tonight...... We'll interrogate him again. ”

Sophia rolled her eyes angrily and said angrily, "If he is willing to tell me, he won't hide it from me...... Thanks to them, they also borrowed the power of the barbarians, so that the Knights of Radiance could not interfere openly. ”

"But what does it matter?" said Natalia indifferently, "Anyway, we don't need to build a fortress out of iron bricks. What's more, the Moon Bear family has received your favor, and we can also take advantage of the centaur hills. Besides, Victor is now a highness, and sooner or later he will have to be promoted to the Sun Elf. With him and Sylvia in the Centaur Hills, even if you don't consider your position, the Knights of Radiance will most likely take a cautious approach when it comes to the issue of iron bricks. ”

"Alright, alright, dear Sophia, don't think about these things. Natalia took Sophia's hand and walked up to the master bedroom in the inner court, and said with a smile: "Help me pick a dress, choose a set of jewelry, and we will go to meet Victor's car." ”

Sophia stood in place, sighed and shook her head, "Victor won't live in the Marquis of Wimbledon's house...... He is now the Guardian of the Centaur Hills and will only live with Sylvia in the Yorke House. ”

Natalia stopped and said in surprise, "But ...... You are his wife, and he is our companion. ”

"Victor will be reunited with us. Sophia was silent for a moment and said apologetically: "Actually, I don't want to be with him for a long time. ”

"Why?" asked Natalia, her face furrowed.

"I'm in a state where I can't stand being around strong people. Sophia pursed her lips and smiled, shaking her head, "Victor, he'...... His mildness is character, and his strength is his will. Ever since he left the Marquis of Wimbledon, he has been carrying out his ideas, always unconsciously achieving his goal...... I now understand that it's not called being strong with a straight face, but being able to lead you by the nose is really strong. His Highness Randall is such a person...... Except for Sylvia, I'm afraid there is no high-ranking female knight who can match him. I'm a little afraid of getting along with him now, and one of them was accidentally taken away by him......"

Natalia's eyes widened, she looked the beautiful Sophia up and down, leaned over to her, bit her ear and whispered, "Dear sister, are you mistaken? His Royal Highness Randall is a Sun Elf...... He can make you a mother, what's wrong with her? We said okay, you and Victor's children should call me mom too. ”

Sophia chuckled, her amethyst eyes flowing with astonishing color.

"I didn't say I didn't want him...... It's just not suitable to live with him every day now. When I get to the Golden Rank, it doesn't matter...... However, I will definitely try to see if my husband can resist the charm of the gold-rank purple-eyed female knight!"