A month later, the imperial capital, Fort Midknight, inside the palace of the Golden Lake, the office of Emperor Sarantos.

Baron Baldwin, the Minister of the Imperial Stables, came with a thick stack of papers: "Your Majesty, this is the account statement of a new batch of heavy military horses purchased by the cuirassiers of the Guards, please take a look." ”

Empress Sarantos Midknight sat at her desk, enamelled teacup in one hand, and struck the table with the cold iron hook of her severed limb with a rhythmic sound, glaring at each other with her fierce silver-gray one-eye.

"I'll leave it to you, Baldwin, you're best at dealing with horses.

But remember, the owners of the horse farms are asking us for a price, and those guys always like to quote high prices to the military, which are far higher than the average price of horses in the major trading markets, and we can't just review it in a vague way.

You have to make sure that the price is kept within a reasonable range, and threaten them with the termination of the purchase contract, you know, in recent years, we have been doing our best to reorganize the armament, and there is a way that when the cannon goes off, the gold is ten thousand taels, and our treasury is not rich. ”

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Forehead...... I found out that today's ...... Your face is a little gloomy, Your Majesty, is there something troublesome? ”

"What's not to worry about? Sooner or later I'll be exhausted to death! Angry! The Emperor raised his head and grumbled loudly.

"Dare to ask...... What is the reason for this time? ”

"It's not because of the guys I gave birth to?" The Emperor raised the hook of his left arm and slammed the table:

"Maxim is really getting more and more foolish!

A few months ago, he molested the personal maid of the old Lord Savindi, which caused the whole streets of the imperial capital to spread the topic of their fragrance, and I wasted a lot of effort to communicate with the press, and finally calmed down the public opinion on this matter.

But this guy seems to be trying to me off to death!

This time, he did an unprecedented rebellious act, and even brought a foreign dancer from a humble background who didn't even have an identity certificate to the suburban palace to be raised! I also took her hand and wandered around, and I lived together in a grand manner! Make it known to everyone in the aristocratic circle of the imperial capital!

That's not the worst, the news has spread to neighboring countries along the embassy, and now it has become a joke of the royal family, which really ruined the door style of my Midnight family! I'm mad at me! ”

"Na...... This...... This is indeed a bit overdone! Baron Baldwin couldn't help but stammer.

He was amazed at the extent to which Her Majesty the Empress tolerated her children, and that Prince Maxim had been exposed to such a big scandal, and that she had only reprimanded her for a few words, and that if someone in Baldwin's own family had committed such a taboo, she would have been expelled from the house and stripped of her inheritance.

"Baldwin, you see," the Emperor asked, "am I spoiling these fellows too much?" ”

"Dare to ask, which prince and princess are you referring to?"

"The twins, of course! They are the most likely to cause trouble! She paused slightly, then said:

"Lately, though, Edgar has been doing well, not taking his suitors to the hospital again, except for the occasional abuse of the poor lions and tigers at the Royal Zoo. She has been spending time with the Marquis's Young Master William lately, and of course she will improve when she stays with that kind of good boy, and she has improved her test results recently, and she already knows how to take the initiative to learn, which I am very pleased with. ”

"Just Maxim...... This kid ...... Ay! The Emperor sighed, "I really don't know how to control him, maybe my repeated tolerance and indulgence have caused him to get more and more inches."

It was excessive doting that hurt him, and I, as a mother, have an unshirkable responsibility!

Baldwin, you are an expert at taming wild horses, do you think, how do you tame those untamed wild horses into obedient horses? Will this work for children?

You...... Should I be ruthless and punish this indispensable son? ”

Baron Baldwin had a very high emotional intelligence, and knew that the Empress was a monarch who was rigid on the outside and soft on the inside, and knew that she was reluctant to punish her own flesh and blood at all, and only complained about it, so he persuaded:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Taming a wild horse is not an overnight task, it requires long-term patient guidance.

It is not necessary to blindly whip them, but also to feed them apples and carrots, to massage the horse's back frequently, and to comb their manes to connect with their feelings, so that the coexistence of rewards and punishments is the most reasonable plan for domestication.

As far as I personally think, the method of educating children is the same, His Majesty Prince Maxim is still old, he is just too stubborn, and he will slowly get better in the future, and he must not be severely punished for hurting feelings. ”

"He?"

The emperor shook his head with disdain: "When I was his age, I had already taken over some government affairs, and I had led troops to fight several major battles, and I was wounded all over. ”

Baron Baldwin leaned over and saluted: "It's unfair to compare this kid with you, after all, you are a hero who has never been seen in a thousand years, a great hero who turned the tide and saved the country from danger, if you use your youth as the standard to demand others, then this world is probably all waste." ”

The emperor's face was slightly gentle: "Hehe! Baldwin, you've become a lot more slick in recent years, and you're getting better at sycophancy!

She flipped through the notepad a few pages ago and said, "I remembered an important matter, you went out to say hello to the head of the cabinet, and asked him to invite our Minister of Intelligence, Lord Colin, to come over, and I have something to look for him." ”

An hour and a half later, Baron Colin Douglas arrived at the Imperial Court in the dust, apparently drunk and smelling of alcohol.

The Emperor asked, "Colin, how did you do this?" Disheveled, even wearing a wig crookedly, and full of alcohol, and panting, are you looking for a mistress again? ”

Baron Colin straightened the white gentleman's wig on his head and poured a large sip of cold water to sober up the wine, and his face flushed in embarrassment, and he hastened to defend himself:

"I was inspecting the training base of the Ministry of Intelligence just now, and I took off my coat because it was too hot in the house, and I was a little anxious when I heard your summons, so I came here without tidying up my clothes and makeup."

"Don't think I'm fooled, Colin, although I'm in the palace, I know everything about the affairs outside, and the training bases of the intelligence agents are far away in the countryside, and it will take you at least three or four hours to get there from there."

The emperor said unhurriedly, "Tell me the truth." ”

"Right...... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I lied, just now I did ...... I went to the fireworks alley in the imperial capital to have fun. Colin Douglas's face swelled like a pig's liver, and he was so ashamed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to get into.

The emperor's face was slightly gentle: "Colin, I know that you have contributed a lot to the empire, because of the special nature of the work of the Ministry of Intelligence, you are afraid of affecting your wife and children, and you have not started a family again after the divorce, I can understand all this hardship."

Everyone has seven emotions and six desires, and besides, you are still in the prime of life, so I allow you to go to that place to enjoy the pleasures, but remember that all your achievements today are given by me, and you must not delay your work because of pleasure.

There's a lot of people staring at the position of the Minister of Intelligence, and those young people want to compete to replace you, and you have to prove that you're better than them, you know? ”

"I'll try, Your Majesty." Seeing that the emperor was not seriously angry, Colin let out a sigh of relief.

"How did you do with the things I gave you last time?"

"That's all done, Your Majesty, one of my most elite agents has managed to infiltrate the territory of the Kingdom of Solan.

I bribed several of their border inspectors, issued legal identification documents to our people, and had local guides and cover the whole process, so this operation was absolutely foolproof. ”

"Excellent! It seems that you are still up to the position. The emperor praised.

"Before officially declaring war, we have to fight a shady war, spy agents are pawns, you and the intelligence minister of the Solan Kingdom are both chess players, if you can gain an advantage in intelligence warfare, you can offset some of the disadvantages in troops."

Colin Douglas felt much more sober, his wine was already half sober, and he said confidently: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this will send my number one trump card!" You'll be sure to get the documents you want! ”