Chapter 31: The Flames

A servant picked up a basin of water and poured it on top of the embers

The flickering charcoal fires were all extinguished, the morning mist was thick, the soothing wind blew through the trees, and the pond took on a bright blue before the sun rose

It's out tomorrow

Time has changed somewhat, it is said that because the lords are anxious to take office, they are eager to take over their own domains, issue their own decrees, and collect their own taxes, at this time, people admire the Count's foresight, if it were not for his almost forced order to speed up the relocation work, then now the family would be in an embarrassment, the Count did it within his ability, so to speak, the Romanovs had drained the last gold coin of the land

Dozens of wagons, hundreds of mules, horses and donkeys, hundreds of cages of jī ducks and meat pigeons, and a hundred meters of ox carts, according to the Gothic version, the Romanov family was lifted three feet high, and the whole family would slowly go east on wheels or horses' hooves

On the last day there was a strange atmosphere, the people were no longer busy with the work at hand, everyone was quiet, and everyone looked around at the Romanov Castle as if they had just arrived, and the church, the chapel, the theater, the tavern, the carpenter's house, the hay store, the stable, the cloister, everywhere were men and women with tears in their eyes

The castle has been demolished, all the windows have been turned into black holes, as they were when they were first built, and the carpets and planks on the floor have been removed, revealing the straw or planks left over from the last repair, and it is said that on the main beams of the hall, there is a letter left by the builder of the castle a hundred years ago: "Fifty years, or maybe five hundred years have passed?" If anyone sees this letter, I hope he is a Romanov gods attached to us"

The gods remember us

This sentence can only be an extravagant thought for the current Romanovs, and the gods seem to have abandoned the Romanovs, although the Count's words are very encouraging, but banishment is exile, gray sky, gray thoughts

The garbage and food left behind by last night's celebration attracted a large number of crows, and the crows flew and the peasants gradually regained their senses, and the pride after drunkenness gradually dissipated

The peasants fell silent: "Are we crazy to abandon our homes?" ”

At noon that day, the first farmer came to the housekeeper, who took off his shirt and said, "Sorry, sir, I can't go to the East, I can't leave here, my father and my grandfather are buried here, I hope I can sleep next to them one day"

Then came the second and third farmers, craftsmen, weavers, and soldiers, who began to waver on the last day, and began to regret as they were leaving, so many wonderful thoughts were worn out before they could take the first step

What a beautiful hometown it is, with its blue lakes, its green wheat fields, and its lovers with or without clothes, and once they leave, they will never be found again

At dusk, there were already more than a hundred or so people in the future immigrants

The count's face was gloomy once, and the treacherous peasants bowed their heads, saying that they would rather accept punishment than leave

The Count rode up to the peasants, "You have signed a contract with me, what is the most important thing to the northerners?" ”

"Do what you say, always be loyal" The farmer said this sentence dejectedly, this sentence seemed relaxed and proud in the past, and he could casually take it out to flaunt his nobility, but now, this sentence has become a curse, a slap in the face of the farmers

"Aren't you ashamed?"

The answer to the earl was silence

The Earl nodded, "Good, good"

He rode among those who wanted to stay, "You, those who want to stay, won't you go?" Will the homeland not go away even if it becomes unrecognizable? Who of you, you cowards, will stand up to answer me? ”

The farmers flinched, looking at each other's faces in response

A farmer pursed his lips and walked out, "My lord, we are going to stay no matter what, we only want to stay at home, we only like it here"

"Okay, you want a home, I'll give it to you"

The Count patted his horse and walked away

The peasants were taken into custody, and after a dozen or so soldiers exchanged words, according to the Earl's orders, these people who had repented were gathered together, and they were very optimistic, they felt that it did not matter if they were beaten with a whip or fined for a few years' taxes, and the desire to settle for the land was so strong that it overrode all other thoughts

After the count was gone, it was as if nothing had been born

Only some of the servants began to get busy, and some of the bullock carts were unloaded with oil, sulfur, and other things, and then some mountains of timber were taken apart, which were supposed to be packed and taken away, but now they were of some use

Firewood was piled up everywhere in the castle, countless servants poured oil on it, and the wooden houses were poked open and the grass filled every crevice

When the people understood what the Count was going to do, Sunset swallowed the last of his eyes

Hundreds of bundles of firewood and dozens of piles of hay filled the castle, the empty houses were filled with fuel sprinkled with fire oil, and the roofs were lifted to reveal the sturdy wooden beams inside

The peasants shivered and huddled around the count

The Count stood at the top with his sword in his hand, and looked coldly at this castle manor, this land that was nominally no longer his

"Ignition fire" The Count gave the order coldly, but this sentence made everyone feel the scorching power

It won't be long before the most spectacular flames in hundreds of years will shake the kingdom on the land around Frost Castle

Dozens of places were lit at the same time

The manor was like a fine toy, devoured by dozens of flames, which at first were just scattered among the vast manor, like a starry bonfire, but before long the flames began to gather, and the dark castle began to glow, and the flames converged into several of the most powerful tongues of fire, licking the house and the verandah, and the smell of burnt quickly filled the whole yard, even if they were far apart

The Count and several knights still stood there, like gods who had summoned the Devil of Fire

The farmers watched their homes burned down and did not dare to say a word

The mills of the past, the water houses of the past, the bathrooms of the past, the kitchens of the past, all reduced to ashes, and people know that in a few days, this place will be a pile of ruins

"You," said the Count, pointing to the crowd of men clamoring to leave him, "are you not going to stay?" I'm giving you this chance."

The Count waved his hand, and the two soldiers walked among the peasants and dragged out the farmer who had taken the lead in the afternoon

"He loves his hometown and sends him home"

Kalinin waved his hand

The farmer howled and pleaded, and then one soldier grabbed him by the head, and the other struck him in the neck, knocking him limp and dragging him like a cloth bag into the flames

The castle has been lit up with a frenzied flame

The flames howled and danced, like flesh and blood were flying, and the castle was like its bones, and the whole manor became a screaming flame giant, and the scorching breath of the flaming giants came to the face, and the wind of flames blew strongly, and the leaves and branches on the ground were sucked into the flames, and from time to time there was the sound of explosions, and every time the roar came, the flames became even hotter, and the sparks went straight into the sky, condensing into a tower of fire in the sky

"Lord Mercy," the farmer's scream became the only voice, and as soon as he recovered his strength, he immediately howled for his life, "I will follow you to the East"

"Compassion?" The Earl's voice was as dry and cold as winter snow, "Aren't you going home?" I just lit a big candle to light up your home, why don't you go back, do you want to regret it twice in one day? ”

The "adult" farmer was paralyzed into a pulp, his short kù was wet, and the came out in unison

The two soldiers who had caught the farmer stopped and turned back to wait for the Count's fall

Step by step, the Count walked up to the three men, and all the people watched under the reflection of the flames

When the Count walked up to the farmer, the farmer had completely collapsed, like a snake, slowly broke free from the soldiers beside him, and knelt in front of the Count, "My lord, please"

They're so close to the flames

I watched them from afar, as if they were about to be engulfed in flames

The two soldiers were already a little fed up, the wind of fire and the dance of flames intertwined around them, and I suddenly remembered the roast sheep of the Kugit people on the first night

The Count almost ignored the farmer, and he turned his back to the flames, and the whole castle became his background

"Your home is what it is now, your shacks and stables, your mills and barns, have now been set on fire, do you think you still have a home? Do you think you can have a past life without it? I tell you, the old life was like a castle, swallowed up by flames."

"Do you think that if you stay, those lords will give you everything you want? If yes, then you continue to want to look behind me, this flame is my warning to you, don't have illusions, don't look back too often, the past life is gone, we have no way back"

The Count drew his sword and walked up to the farmer

The people exclaimed, thinking that the Count was going to put the farmer to death

But the Count did not, and the Count grabbed the farmer's head, slashed it off with his sword, and then turned and threw his head into the flames

The silk withered and scorched in the air, swirling and dancing, bursting with sparks, and then extinguished

"I have put my traitors to death, and henceforth this farmer has nothing to do with me," the Count declared, "and he will remain here to await the recruitment of his master, who will sweep the ruins, plant the crops, and save up a coffin for the money to die in peace at home."

"All the glory and wealth of the East has nothing to do with this man, everything about the Romanovs has nothing to do with this man, and the double-headed eagle has nothing to do with this man"

"Now, those who are willing to go to the East, stand up and go back to the carriage; and depart from me, and come here and sit with your brothers."

The Count strode away, leaving the weeping peasant on the ground

The Count walked past the squatting lords and didn't look at them too much, and I knew that it was a critical time for either the farmers to break up or everyone to return to the convoy and follow the Count to the end of the world

Maybe the count was nervous too, but at least I didn't see it in his face

The farmers hesitated

The flames flew, and the castle came to an end in a poignant elegy

I heard my own heartbeat

Then the peasants all stood up and walked to the wagon convoy

They chose the East