Chapter 41: The Sword and the Sheath

When Mistress Leo and Kaja were invited in, many soldiers followed

The soldiers, like the first three, were swearing, shouting that they were going to hang us from the trees, and the Romanov soldiers stood quietly aside, and the soldiers were startled, drew their swords, and asked the garrison what to do with us

Nikolai's eye sockets were sunken, the years had smeared a layer of gray-black oil on his skin, and a thick layer of smoke had been smeared around his eyes, and at this time, Nikolai's eyes kept squinting, as if he was confronting his other self

Nikolai had to choose between the honor of the kingdom and the blood of his family

The Count stood aside, and it was up to Nikolai to take the first big gamble I had ever seen him: killing the messenger of the Pilsudski family and waiting for God to roll the dice that would decide the fate of the family would affect us

The soldiers waited for Nikolai's orders, breathing deeply, their thick armor making a subtle noise as they shook

"All out, I'm going to talk to Lord Kalinin"

Nikolai made his own decision

The soldiers looked at each other and said suspiciously, "My lord, shall we stay?" ”

"Get out, all go out," said Nikolai, "everyone except Lord Kalinin and the father and daughter."

The soldiers didn't disperse, they stared at us, watched us carry the bucket and left, and then came out, they had their backs to the stone castle hall, where we couldn't help but worry about the Count's safety, now there were only Nikolai and the Count, and of course, Leo and his daughter, but I felt that the two of them were just a trophy at the negotiating table

I walked out, the dry and cool autumn wind blew on my forehead, I felt very cold, and I wiped it with my hand, only to realize that I was already sweating all over my head

The lords were now silent, and even the dullest could guess what was going on between the Count and the governor of the Stone Castle, and the soldiers of the Stone Castle looked at us coldly, and they stood their spears at their sides, and wound their crossbows in front of us, and the peasants no longer dared to approach them, their armor shining with the sun, as dark as washed grapes

Looking back from here, the mountains stretched behind us, the green trees stretched up, like blankets covering the mountain beams, and the birds whistled overhead against the wind, stirring up the peace of the afternoon, and the smell inside the stone fort was not very good, the moldy straw and wooden planks were everywhere, the stains left by the cattle were simply cleaned up, the soldiers' niao barrels were placed in the corners, and the last mosquitoes that survived the summer were still buzzing and singing

Time passed so slowly, more and more people sat down on the ground, the peasants buried their heads in their broad chests, took off their straw hats and fanned the wind, bringing themselves a touch of coolness and solace, and the women gathered together to discuss in a whisper what had happened

The gate of the stone fort opened, and a stone fort soldier was called in, and the soldier soon came out with a puzzled face, and he called out a few men and walked to the side of the stone fort

The soldier had not been gone long before the commotion was heard, and the people stood up and watched: it was Taivi and they had returned

The knight of Tyvi was gone, and there was no horse behind him, and dozens of empty-handed men came up with gloomy faces, and walked between us, and the two soldiers of the stone fort took out bundles of swords and threw them aside, and when one of the squires went to ask for them, they told us that we could only take these things after we left the stone fort

When Tevi returned to the crowd, people asked him what had happened, but Tevi didn't say anything, his eyes flashed with anger and shame, he asked for a jug of wine, and poured it down, and so did the men who came back with him, they didn't say anything about what had happened for a long time, and people could only imagine what had happened just now from the scratches on their faces and the bruises on their bodies

But now that Tevi was released, people didn't say anything more, at least it wasn't a bad sign

Tevi saw me and beckoned me over

"What's going on? Why did you still bring people up," his tone was reproachful, but more self-reproachful

"Mr. Knight," I said to him, "it was the Count who insisted on it."

I told Tyvi about the Earl's reaction to hearing the news and the negotiation he had just made, and these things didn't comfort him much, he shook his head, "It's useless, it's useless" and then staggered to the side, the liquor made him frustrated

People have been saying that Lord Kalinin has long wanted to drive away the useless Tevi, he is a knight brought back by Kalinin's brother, he has passed the youngest and most vigorous age, but he has not earned enough money to go back to his hometown to buy a piece of land for the elderly This blow is too big for Tevi Usually, the young knight is not willing to stay with him, he always talks about the battle more than ten years ago, living in memories, and Tevi is too serious about women, she is unwilling to betray the daughter of a country lord of Rhodok, and has been living a life of Qingxiu, All this makes Tai Wei a synonym for the old old-fashioned This time, Tai Wei smashed this matter and almost pulled the family into the abyss, even if someone wanted to comfort him, they couldn't think of what to say

At the front of the hall, the soldiers of the stone fort were always on alert, they carefully stared at Christopher's group, the spears and short knives in their hands were tightly held in two layers, the soldiers on the inside held their spears at their sides, and the soldiers in front of them tilted their spears forward, giving people a sense of intimidation

The sound of a creaking doorway was heard

The soldiers' helmets twisted behind them, and a wave of armor came from inside and out, and Kaja stepped out

Dressed in a traveling trench coat and looking handsome at the beginning of the drawing, Kaja stepped out in her leather boots and stood among the soldiers

The soldiers moved out of the way, allowing Kaja to walk up the stone steps

"Lord Garrison summons Viktor," Kaja's voice paused slightly, "Viktor Alekseevich Romanov"

This title made people exclaim, and I was stunned for a long time before I stood up

I heard the people around me whispering, "It's really an illegitimate child", "It won't be exposed until the end", "I'll just say how to take care of him so much"

I looked at Kaja blankly, Kaja's face was a little white, a little far away, I couldn't see clearly, why did she suddenly think of me as a Romanov?

I made my way through the crowd and walked over to Kaja

Kaja glanced at me, "Follow me"

Following her, I returned to the hall

Leo sat in his chair, and the Count and the garrison were arguing in a whispered voice, and when Kaja and I walked in, their conversation came to an abrupt end

The garrison looked at me and looked closely, "Kalinin, are you an idiot for me?" ”

"Of course not"

"This can't be your child"

"Indeed He Is"

I was fooled by their words, and the count unexpectedly insisted that I was Alexei's child?

"Hmph," the garrison's lips quivered, "if this guy is a Romanov, how could you possibly let him go up the hill with the horses?" What if something goes wrong? This can't be a Romanov."

"He has the blood of the Romanovs in his veins," said the count, "his father is my nephew, of course, you are right, I would not be the orthodox descendant of the lowly family, this child is a dishonorable descendant, do you understand?" He brought a stain on the family, so he was not treated as a member."

"He" the garrison officer pondered, "you mean"

"He is an illegitimate child," declared the Count

Kaja was behind me, and I knew she was looking at me while Leo and the Count and the Garrison were looking at me at the same time

The garrison officer frowned, "No, I can't accept it"

"Of course you ought to accept," said the Count, "that Pilsudski's marriage was mostly based on illegitimate children, otherwise how do you think the sick Burke noblewomen could have children?"

"Burke's law allows for mistresses, and the children of mistresses have the same rights as orthodox children," said the garrison, "for the Berkes, illegitimate children are as important as children at home, but for the Romanovs, it is not enough for you to depreciate an illegitimate child by half."

"What are you going to do?"

"This kid can't go to the valley alone, he has to have people from the Romanov family by his side, and if he dies, let everyone know that it is a Romanov who died, and if he lives, let everyone know that he represents the Romanovs, and you have to baptize him," the garrison paused, "You have to sign a blood pact with him."

"Blood Pact?" The earl's eyes widened exaggeratedly, "That kind of ancient contract has not been used for more than a hundred years, and our family has climbed over the snowy mountain."

"I don't care," said the garrison, "whether you have crossed the snowy mountains or not, you are a Wikian, and for Wikians, there is nothing more reliable than the Blood Alliance"

The Count's nose snorted sarcastically, "Who cares about the ridiculous Blood Pact now?" I can make a blood pact with a thousand people, then turn around and forget about it."

"And did you really do that?" The garrison stared at the earl, "You don't have a blood alliance is something that melts into your bones, if you don't want to be hated by the Wikibians in Shandong, it's best not to make jokes about it, the blood alliance doesn't mean anything, but if everyone knows that you are involved in the blood alliance with this son, the meaning will be different At that time, whether he is a Romanov or not, people will associate him with you"

"Everybody knows?" The Count looked skeptical

"I'll let everyone know"

"Can you?"

"Of course, just as I can convince everyone that 'the messengers of the Pilsudski family have been struck by steppe bandits'"

The Count looked at the warden and drew his sword, and the guard followed; The Count stepped forward and put his sword on the guard officer's scabbard, "Deal"

The garrison then put his sword on the earl's scabbard, and he looked at me, and then at the earl, "Then the deal"

I couldn't hold it anymore and I yelled, "What the hell are you talking about?" ”