Located in the northernmost and smallest province of the Orlando Empire, De Malagu has only four cities and two cities under construction. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 The reason for the small size of the info is also that the environment here is too harsh compared to the warm south, and the crops grow and mature too slowly, and can only be harvested once a year. If the weather is bad and there are many rainy days, the harvest may be lost.

Whether a region is prosperous or not has little to do with the nobility in the territory. Even if the best policies can't attract more residents, it will be difficult for the city to prosper. The harsh environment of Demalaghu was unacceptable to the civilians, and only those who had lived here for generations and were accustomed to this harsh climate could persevere. Even so, they often face food shortages.

The Empire, for its part, will try to tilt the food of Demaragu as much as possible, so that at most the commoners will not go hungry. The population of the only four remaining cities is not very large, and in addition to some meat scraps leaking from the teeth of smugglers, there are also jobs from the government. In order to maintain stability and sovereignty in the border areas, the governor of the province of Demaragu would from time to time make decisions that would be considered mediocre to the eyes of the common people.

For example, he had to repair the city wall every year, and he wanted to open up wasteland and so on. In many cases, the walls are not too damaged and do not need to be repaired. Even if farmland is cultivated suitable for planting, it is not necessarily planted by anyone, and it becomes wasteland again the following year.

But these works were the key to the Governor's lifeblood in these last four cities. The work needs people to do it, and you can get paid after you do it, and compared to the more competitive south, it is like a large nursing home, or a pension company.

When Wren's carriage drove into the capital of Demalagus, Hucusius, only the governor Gahel and a few of his retinue came out.

"I'm so sorry!", Gahel also seemed to feel that there were less than twenty people in total to welcome an empress envoy from the imperial capital, and he apologized to Wren with an apologetic face. Gahel was in his fifties, with pale blonde hair, and his eyebrows were a little slender and a little weak. It seems that the eyes are always open, as if they haven't woken up. The face is slightly pale, and I have made up a little makeup, but the makeup used does not seem to be particularly high-end, and some rough powder particles can be seen on the face.

He bent down, his tone sincere and sincere, "Now is the time of the year to rush for planting, most of the people have gone to the field to farm, and most of the people left in the city are old, weak, sick and disabled, so I canceled the greeting ceremony. ”

Wren looked through the gate behind him and looked into the city, and there were indeed no pedestrians on the streets, and it was extremely deserted. The whole city was very quiet, like a long-abandoned city, and there was not much life to see. As the empress's envoy, when you come to the place, you should be warmly welcomed by the local people. This is not a superficial work under ideology, but a manifestation of local support and loyalty to the central government, and a kind of etiquette norm.

Of course, if not, it doesn't matter, at least Wren knows that his trip won't be peaceful. This can be seen from the attitude of the magistrates, in the northernmost provinces of the empire, the people here do not seem to have much fear of the royal family and the central government.

He pursed his lips, the muscles on his left cheek tightened slightly as if he had rehearsed it countless times, and the corners of his mouth curved upward, "Don't worry about these little things, Count Gahel." He reached out and shook his hand, his heart moving slightly, Gahel's hands were called on two calluses, poking at his silky and elastic skin as he shook hands. The corner of his eye swept over Gahel's hand, and he let go of his hands, "I came here on the orders of the Empress to inspect some smuggling transactions that damage the empire, not to enjoy or winter hunt, and I personally don't pay attention to these things. ”

Wren glanced at the dozen or so guards beside Gahel, who were all looking at him curiously, and he smiled slightly, "I've been on the road for many days, I think you've already prepared hot water, right?"

"Of course, Count Wrenne, please get into the carriage and follow me into the city." ”

When he returned to the carriage, Wren lowered the curtain on the carriage window, and he had a vague feeling that the governor of Gahel did not seem to have chosen to ignore the smugglers' smuggling behavior, as he had described in his letter to the Empress of Pars.

In this era when information exchange is still a little weak, the local government is always imbued with an innate reverence for the central officials, and this reverence is transmitted to others by the attitude of the highest officials. It's like in ancient China, when the ministers went to the local area, the magistrates were genuinely afraid, and their attitude made their subordinates and other people also become honestly afraid. The reason is very simple, even the one who hangs the most is afraid of the minister, why are the rest of the little minions not afraid?

Gahel did a good job, and he couldn't find any fault with him except for a few details, but the attitude of his guards was a bit playful.

If the two sides were to be reversed, he was the governor of the province of Demalaghu, and when he was going to meet the envoy from the imperial capital, and for some reason he could not gather a guard of honor to welcome the envoy, he would not only appear humble, but also make his subordinates even more humble than himself. But look at the guards of Gahel, they are only curious about Wren, and they are not afraid, what is the reason for this? There may be only one answer, that is, whether in daily life or today, Ghahel is outside of Wren's sight, and does not show fear or respect.

There are no dogs for what kind of owners there are.

Wren suddenly felt a rush of pressure hit him, and De Maragubi's problem was even more serious than he had imagined.

The carriage staggered into the city, and the whole city was very quiet, as quiet as a quiet village in the mountains, not a governor of a province. There are very few pedestrians on the street, and even if there are, they are in a hurry.

The temperature in the imperial capital that has just entered summer has risen rapidly, but here, it is still an atmosphere that has just passed the harsh winter, and the temperature is also very low, only four or five degrees. There was still a layer of ice in the ditch on the side of the road, and the water in the trachea seemed to be sucked away when the air was dry.

After about twenty minutes of travel, the carriage stopped outside a somewhat dilapidated manor.

This is the Doge's Palace, which doesn't look as imposing as the Lord's Mansion in Ortlenburg. Gahel also seemed to feel that this was detrimental to his identity and status, and his face became more ruddy.

"De Malagu is the Land of Flying, and was not originally part of the Orlando Empire. The two entered the Doge's Palace, and Ghahr began to introduce the place, "as a buffer zone with the ice fields, where the Empire declared its sovereignty during the reign of Orlando III and incorporated Demalagus into its territory. At that time, the empire's economy had just recovered from the civil war of Orlando II, and in the face of a more severe form of the interior, de Maragu seemed to be somewhat unpopular with the imperial capital's magnates, who did not devote much energy here. ”

"Many of the facilities in Demalagu were built gradually, which is a bit lower than that of the mainland. For example, I am ...... the Governor's Palace," Gahel smiled with a self-deprecating smile, "The Governor's Mansion of Zhejiang used to be a manor built by a merchant for himself, and then the merchant made some money and left here for the interior, so I bought it as a residence for the Governor's Palace. If you see the actual Doge's Palace, you may be even more surprised that it is a place with only a humble house and high walls, like a prison more than the supreme ruler of a city. ”

"Your room is on the far left side of the third floor, the hot water is ready for you, and after you have freshened up and rested for a while, I will have a big dinner party for you in the evening. ”

Under the guidance of the maid, Wren stepped onto the third floor, and the decoration of the third floor was obviously much better than that of the first and second floors, and the grade had also been improved, but it still could not be compared with the mainland. The maid is not good-looking, she is not tall, her face is pockmarked like stars in the sky, and her figure is even more messy. Such a woman is not qualified to enter the City Lord's Mansion in the interior at all, let alone the Governor's Palace. There was an eerie atmosphere to everything here, which alerted Wren.

He touched the pendant hanging from his chest, which contained the cardinal's own blessing to detect evil, which could detect all malice against him within ten meters of his surroundings. He didn't dare to stuff the pendant into his thick clothes, but took it out. His small movements attracted Jasmine's surprise, she knew about this ornament, and she was somewhat envious. This kind of thing is simply the most desirable thing for warriors, and there is no need to worry about someone sneaking up on or assassinating you without noticing at any time.

"Are you scared?", Jasmine asked a little directly. Wren nodded.

"Yes, I'm worried about my safety. Jasmine will be living in the outhouse of his master bedroom, just one door away, "Everything here is very different from what I envisioned, and we have to be careful." I had a premonition that danger was looming. Wren cautiously ordered: "You must be ready to fight anytime and anywhere!"

For the first time, she saw worry on Wren's face, which made Jasmine herself a little nervous, and her hand pressed on the hilt of her sword, clenching it hard, "Don't worry, I will be by your side all the time." ”

"Not leaving for a moment?", Wren also felt that he was too sensitive and gave Jasmine too much pressure, he smiled, "So do you want to take a bath together?"

It was just a joke, and Wren believed that he had just arrived here, and even if the other party wanted to do something to him, he would not choose this time. No matter who the enemy is, they must have a process of understanding each other and testing each other. An enemy does not become an enemy by a small accident, but through many attempts, until each finds that the other's position is exactly opposite to one's, one can become an enemy.

The people here will not do anything to Wren at the first time, there is no benefit in doing so except to provoke the imperial capital, they will try to get in touch with Wren, find common ground in their differences as much as possible, and then become friends, at least not directly enemies. Only when the positions and interests of both sides are opposed and irreconcilable contradictions can the two sides become enemies.

It's not the first time that Jasmine outside the door has seen Wren's fruit, the life of the nobles is even more absurd than imagined, since Blair suspended the task of guarding Wren, Jasmine is responsible for protecting Wren. Wren doesn't care about these things that much at times.

After taking a shower and sleeping beautifully on the bed, this time Wren did not jokingly invite Jasmine to lie down with him, but asked her to stand guard by his bedside.

He slept until the maid knocked at the door in the evening, and he was awakened by the knock at the door.

Jasmine sat on the sofa next to the bed, and for an abnormal human like her, who could be said to have escaped the maximum limit of human beings, such an exertion would not affect her energy and physical strength.

After getting dressed, the two of them went out of the room.

There was also a groom with him, and of course it was impossible for a groom to live here.

The so-called grand dinner party can actually be regarded as a little lively at best, just some. There were only about thirty people sitting or standing in the whole hall. Among these thirty or so people, there must be the goal of Wren's trip, which he is very sure of.

Gahel picked up the spoon beside him and knocked on the crystal goblet, the crisp knocking sound made the entire banquet hall quiet, he walked to Wren's side, filled with a warm smile, puffed up his chest and introduced to everyone: "This is the empress's envoy from the imperial capital, one of the golden nobles of the Orlando Empire, the contemporary patriarch of the Thorn Family, Count Wren." ”

The enthusiastic applause somewhat made this somewhat comical gala party a little more presentable, and Gahel took a step back to highlight Wren's status, and at the same time let Wren say a few words for everyone, which was also the process of the dinner. As the well-deserved protagonist of today's dinner, Wren really wanted to let these people understand the purpose of his trip. Just like all the dinners held in the Lord's Palace, the City Lord's Mansion and the Governor's Palace, the people who can be invited are celebrities, the spoils of the upper class, and these people are the real masters of this remote city.

"Some of you here may know something about me, but some of you don't know about me. Wren spoke keenly looking at the faces of the feasters, hoping to find something, "I have come here on the orders of the Imperial Emperor, Pars Orlando, to investigate some crimes that have violated the Imperial Code. I don't care about small things, and that's not something I need to care about. ”

"I'm here to investigate the illegal trafficking of Tiberium hedrons. As we all know, Tiberium spars play an important role in both civilian and military use. Not only does it give us light ......," Wren said, pointing to the carved Illumination Magic Base in the ceiling, "but it can also make some combat equipment extremely lethal." ”

He noticed that the eyes of one of the people in the crowd flickered.