The sound of horses' hooves striking in the afternoon mist grew louder in the silence. A white mist drizzle smeared the meadows, towers, and sky, and a group of knights walked in the rain from afar, blurring the colors and looking like an oil painting.

In the rain and mist, their armor no longer shimmered, turning from silver to a long strip of light gray. As the knights approached, the rain-soaked red feathers on their shoulders, the darkened flags, and the swords hanging from their horses' sides became clearer in the view of the main castle.

From the pale yellow rock-brick castle gate, a few horsemen immediately greeted them and marched towards the Knights of the Holy See's Trial. At the forefront was a brown-haired man with flat shoulders and a narrow waist, and the tall horses below him looked small compared to him. After he and the knights at the head exchanged salutes, the brown-haired man turned his horse's head and talked as he walked in parallel with the other horses in the direction of the castle.

"My father's illness has become more and more serious in recent years, and this time the jury came to carry out the pope's dictation, and it was handed over to Romandan to deal with. Ada's voice sounded beside her, and although her voice was soft, her tone was low and deep: "My sister will be ...... soon It's about to be knighted. With Romantan here, my father can finally rest assured. ”

Lin Yuqing leaned on the windowsill and glanced at her.

When Ida said this, her expression was not very sad, but a little lonely and numb that did not match her age—Count Mesoko had been sick for several years, and everyone on and above the manor had already been mentally prepared for that day. Completing the ceremony of succession before his death is also the intention of Count Mesoko himself.

Lin Yuqing didn't know what to comfort her, sighed inwardly, and poked his head out of the rock-brick window of astonishing thickness.

Outside the window, the rain was falling, sticking to the unkempt black hair of the forest fish, wet and cool, and the roots of the hair were full of moisture. When the group of knights had completely disappeared, he retracted, reached out and grabbed his hair, and asked Ada, "That's your brother-in-law." I've been here for almost two days, and I haven't seen your sister. ”

"I haven't seen her in days. The Raid Ceremony is very important, and it involves our family's Falling Spirit Inheritance, and she has too much to learn during this time-" Speaking of this, Ida suddenly glanced at Lin Yuqing, and her tone softened: "That's why I went to pray for her on that day." ”

Lin Yuqing nodded disappreciatively, leaned on the windowsill and asked, "Which knights are coming today?"

At the mention of this, Ada couldn't help but sulk.

Since the Knight Captain Shalurt was unexpectedly injured and returned to his territory, the Holy See seems to have suddenly become very interested in Jiyingling, and in the past few days, several more groups of knights have arrived from all over the alliance one after another, not to mention that it is only noon at this time, but now this team is already the second group of people who have arrived today.

"I can't see their family crest," Ida was not tall enough, and stretched her chin to look out, "But I think eighty percent of them are from some big families in China, and they may not belong directly to the Holy See." In fact, the east or the west, what is the difference, it is always a group of guys who follow the pope, and their eyes are born on the top of their heads. ”

Lin Yuqing pursed his lips—at this time, from his point of view, he could only see the tail of the knights' ranks; he endured it, but he still couldn't hold back: "I can't figure it out! With the Pope's order, can we slaughter innocents? More and more people are coming, and if they don't tell the Earl, I don't know how many people will die outside." When are we going to find your father?"

"My father's spirit has been very poor for the past two days, and he can't say a few words, and he is wheezing, coughing, and very uncomfortable. Now tell him what if he gets sick?" Ida frowned, apparently reminded of another thought: "Aren't you in a hurry?" I think about it, although you said that the assassin was not from the vicinity of your village, he must have been an exile who had just escaped from the massacre. Other than that, no one else wants me to die. ”

Lin Yuqing sighed anxiously, feeling that a noble lady like her could never understand the seriousness of the matter—but even he didn't know what to do.

In the sixteen years of his life before that, the biggest thing that had happened to him was that he had lost his money bag while buying seeds, and now that he had suffered a series of accidents overnight, and had countless lives on his shoulders, he was already at a loss.

Just as the two children were silent and silent, there was a soft knock on the hidden door. Immediately, only to hear Shi Lao's voice faintly pass through the door panel and echo in the masonry room: "Miss Ada, are you inside?"

Ida bent down to untie her knotted dress and cover her canvas pants, walked over and pulled the door open and asked, "What's the matter?"

Shi Lao glanced at her crumpled white silk skirt, and his throat moved, before continuing: "That's right, the group of knights who arrived at Chongsen Fort just now is the last group of people summoned by the Holy See. Lord Romantan has decided to set up a dust-washing feast for them tonight, and Lady Mia and you must both attend......"

"I'm not going!"

Ida pulled her light yellow hair, and a few words were nailed out like nails. Shi Lao's face was lowered, and familiar lines appeared on his mouth again.

"It's not good that you don't go," he advised, "it's not a small party, even the Overseers are going to be there. Our Lord Count can't get up, but we're counting on Lady Mia and you—"

"I can't get up, I'm not angry with that fat man!" Ida snapped up, and was about to sneer at the Fat Overseer as usual, but suddenly stopped, she turned her head and exchanged glances with Lin Yuqing, finding a sparkling light in each other's eyes.

Although the two children have no choice for the time being, they both feel that an idea seems to be slowly forming.

Ida coughed and said to the manservant, "But such a big thing, it stands to reason that I should go." ”

Shi Lao's eyes opened suddenly, as if he couldn't believe his good luck today.

"I'm going to take him with me, though. After Ida finished speaking, she raised her hand and pointed to the young man by the window. "Remember to tell Romandam, arrange a seat for him too, and sit next to me. ”

"W-That...... He was not a nobleman, and it was disrespectful to dine at the same table with the knights. ”

"He's a guest I've invited from the East!"

Two days ago, Ida used this reason to bring Lin Yuqing into the manor. Because Lin Yuqing's appearance and name are similar to those of the Tongyuan Empire, it is credible to say that he is an Oriental-although he was dressed like a beggar at the time, covered in mud and water, and even took off the burqa of the idol.

Shi Lao brought him with a full of complaints, but as soon as he got off the carriage in front of Chongsen Castle, Lin Yuqing's burqa was recognized by a papal priest, and almost caused a storm;

Shi Lao wrinkled his face and stopped talking.

"If we say that he is a nobleman of the Tongyuan Empire, then how will the fat man know?" Ida glared, "They can't go to the Emperor of the Tongyuan family to confirm. You just do it, or I won't go. ”

Straw muttered a few words, "I'll tell Lord Romandan," and finally saluted her, and turned away with the wrinkles on his lips.

He felt Ada's gaze on him until he went downstairs and heard the door shut. Thinking that the errand last time was not done, Shi Lao sighed, walked through several stone corridors, and walked to the other hall.

Two red velvet annex doors stand far and high at the end of the stone corridor. From the beginning of the construction of the fort to the present, this stone corridor has been nearly a thousand years old, and old moss grows in the brick joints.

At the top of the door, the Messoko family coat of arms is carved into the head of a stunningly fierce beast, immersed in the shadows cast by the circular vault, with only the long fangs gnawing at the door frame, revealing a snow-white silhouette.

The family crest of the Mesoko family, like many noble families, is said to have originated from the spirit of the family. However, Shi Lao has only served in the Mesoko family for three years, and he has not yet seen the Earl's fallen spirit - after all, the Count of Mesoko is seriously ill and should not be able to summon the fallen spirit. Maybe at the knighthood ceremony, you can feast your eyes, right?

Shi Lao craned his neck and stared at the huge beast for a long time, and finally heard Lord Romandan pass him in from inside. He hurriedly straightened his robe, pushed open the heavy door, and entered.

"What's the matter?" asked Romandan, pulling a few grapes from his lunch plate and frowning.

He was now sitting alone at the long table, with an attendant standing behind him. The daylight filtered in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, dyeing Romandan's brown curls with a curly and shiny edge. He was handsome in appearance, but unlike some of the nobles, who were keen to dress themselves up in a pretty and frivolous manner—Romandan had a dignified expression, a slightly serious personality, and did not know how to appreciate jokes.

Grau stepped forward and whispered Ada's words.

The boy saved her life, and it's no wonder that the two had a good relationship. Let it be up to her. Romandan had just ordered the new batch of knights to arrive at Chongsen Fort to be settled, and he was finally able to have a quiet lunch in a few days, so his mood was a little lighter: "Just don't let her run around today, and call a few maids to go up and wait for freshening up and changing." ”

This thing is not difficult, Shi Lao hurriedly answered: Yes.

When Romandan responded, he had already turned to his attendant and asked about the next thing: "By the way, hasn't the new batch of goods been delivered yet?"

Seeing this, Shi Lao knew that he should go, and as he exited the other hall, he vaguely heard the attendant say, "My lord, it has been raining heavily for the past few days......

When Shi Lao instructed a few maids to hold down the reluctant Ida to freshen up and change her clothes, Lin Yuqing was naturally driven out of the corner tower.

He waited on the stone corridor for a long time, thinking that he would be able to go back in a while. Unexpectedly, he greatly underestimated the time for the aristocratic lady to change her clothes and prepare, and it seemed that there was no end to the wait. He was originally a person who couldn't sit still, and he turned back and forth a few times, and when he saw that no one paid attention to him, he simply shook his hand and wandered around by himself.

The Manor House of Mesoko is a vast area, including several courtyards and towers in the main fort of Chongsenburg alone, and outside the fort, there are groves of trees and lakes. Lin Yuqing wanted to go to the forest to see, so he followed the stone walkway in that direction, passed through one courtyard after another, turned one bend after another, and it didn't take long to find that he was actually lost.

Lin Yuqing's eyes turned around, and he couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

He didn't know where he had gone wrong, and he was caught in the middle of two high masonry walls, with the walls of Chongsenburg in front of him, but it was a dead end. The young man was stunned for a few seconds, turned his head to look around, turned around and retreated back the way he came.

The path was so quiet that you could hear the rain dripping from the eaves.

It was only after half an hour, accompanied by the sound of footsteps from a distance, Lin Yuqing's stunned face appeared at the entrance of the trail again.

"Eh, isn't it just a family of three...... Four," he found out that he was back again, and he couldn't help but complain in a low voice: "Why do you want to build such a big place to live?" ”

As soon as he said this, a cough suddenly sounded in the air, startling him, and when he looked up, Lin Yuqing found that there was a window on the stone wall above his head.

"Who's down?" a hoarse voice came from behind the window, its tone so weak that it seemed as if all its energy had been drained.

The most famous patient in Mesoko Manor was none other than the old Earl, but the voice, though hoarse, sounded thin, not so much like a man, but perhaps an old woman. Lin Yuqing hesitated for a moment and replied, "I'll leave now." ”

"Wait," the voice suddenly raised, coughing and calling out to him, "You kid is too anxious. Don't go, I'll talk to you for a while. ”

"What did you say?"

"You're not from the Mesoko family, are you?" the voice asked, accostingly, "Probably not from Jiyingling." ”

"How do you know?" the boy took two steps back, tiptoeing up into the window—but he couldn't see anything but the dark red curtains.

As soon as he asked this, the low voice suddenly trembled: "I, I smell the smell of you, it smells like a mountain forest." Do you still have cat leaves on you? I smell it too. ”

The cat leaves were only occasionally chewed by the mountain people when their mouths were light, and I didn't think that anyone in the Mesoko manor knew them—Lin Yuqing sniffed his sleeve with suspicion, but he didn't smell anything, and he plucked the cat leaves to make snacks for the poor salt and sugar seller, which had been a few days ago, and naturally there was no smell left.

"No, I don't. ”

"There must be! ”

Lin Yuqing couldn't laugh or cry: "I really didn't! I even changed my clothes." ”

"Trust me, my nose is never wrong. You look where you haven't changed. The voice sounded earnest, as if all hope was pinned on him.

Even though Lin Yuqing felt that the current situation was a little inexplicable, hearing this voice, he couldn't bear to turn around and leave. He sighed, bent down and scratched at his hair, realizing that nothing had been hidden in it as before, and reached out and touched his undergarment as well. The old woman's voice trembled, and she couldn't help but encourage him: "It must have fallen somewhere, you take a closer look at ......"

Lin Yuqing simply sat on the ground and untied his boots, and just took off his boots and socks and shook them vigorously, and a small piece of flattened broken cat leaf really fell out of the mezzanine, which was not as big as a fingernail.

"Look, I'll say you have!" the old woman seemed to cry with excitement.

Lin Yu Qinghu suspiciously put the blackened cat leaf under his nose and sniffed it, except for a little stench, he didn't smell anything. He put on his boots and socks, held the cat leaf under the window and asked, "Do you want this-"

Before he finished speaking, he saw a white shadow suddenly flash in the window, and the dirty, smelly cat leaf had been taken away by the splitter.

"Huh?" Lin Yuqing was startled, looked at his empty hands, and didn't find out when the person snatched it, and he didn't have time to react at all. The cat leaf, which had been like garbage to him a few seconds ago, was worth a very different price when it was snatched away - the boy burst into flames in his chest, pointed to the window and scolded, "Why did you snatch it with your own hands?"

The window was quiet, and there was no sound.

"Call you!

The old woman seemed to be just trying to trick the cat leaves, so she refused to speak out again.

"I don't believe you can still grab it and run," Lin Yuqing lost his temper, took a few steps back and ran a run, jumped suddenly, and reached out to grab the window sill. Twisting his body to peek in, the window was covered with thick red velvet curtains, and through the gap in the curtains, I could vaguely see that there was a very spacious room inside—this room was empty, and the door was being pushed open by someone, and it was slowly closing.

Obviously, the sick old woman just now really grabbed it and ran away.

Lin Yuqing had just seen it clearly, and his fingers finally couldn't stand the force and slipped, and he fell to the ground again. He looked at the window and scolded the old woman a few times, but finally reason prevailed and did not chase in. He turned around and departed in the direction he had come, but wandered about until it was getting late, when he finally found Ada's turret, and when the maids saw him, they immediately went back to the house to tell Ada.

Ida had already dressed up, and although she was in a hurry, she couldn't go anywhere. Finally, I heard from the maid that Lin Yuqing was back, and she hurriedly ran out a few steps according to her skirt - before anyone stepped out of the door, she had already shouted first: "You guy, where are you going?"

As she asked, she poked out a clear face.

The little girl who had just been dressed up, with a thin and light yellow hair tied in a neat bun at the back of her head, and a shawl woven with gold and pearls over a milky white dress, looked slender and delicate, like a doll made of cream, clear and delicate.

Even Ida knew that she looked very different now, she was a little uncomfortable, and a little ashamed to roll a hanging ribbon on her fingers, looked up at Lin Yuqing and smiled: "I have prepared all your clothes for you, if you don't come back, we won't be able to catch the dinner......"

"Did you know that there's a robber behind your manor? Lin Yuqing interrupted her unceremoniously. After thinking about it, he felt that he had been robbed of a cat leaf, and he really couldn't say anything: "-Forget it, it's not important." ”

He didn't notice Ada's slowly elongated face, and his mind had turned to today's dinner. The young man walked into the house: "Have you finished changing your clothes?" Wait for me for a while, I will move faster than you, and I will be able to clean up immediately." ”

It wasn't until he was led to another room by the maid with his clothes in his arms that Ida suddenly turned around and entered the room and slammed the door shut.