"Victor, we'll meet again"

When I jumped off my horse and followed the silent butler to the backyard, Daddy Lucasino sat on the edge of the courtyard wall

The snow in the yard has been swept away, and in the afternoon a thin layer of snow has been melted by the sun, and the ground looks very dry and clean, stay in the yard, the shining white stones and a few trees that are still green make the yard look full of life, Lucasino sits on the edge of the courtyard wall full of sunlight, a lamb is licking his leather boots, he is smiling, holding a bowl of oatmeal, the porridge is steaming

"Lord Lucasino," I bowed slightly, "I have been commanded to come and receive your teachings"

"Here we go again," the old man staggered and took a sip of porridge, and handed the bowl to a young woman, who was a little swollen, her fingers were pink and thick, and she moved a little clumsily, and she was obviously pregnant, "Are you ** that Burke chick?" ”

"No," I remember the Earl's instructions, and Lucasino was full of eyeliner in the city, and he didn't need to hide it at all, and told them the truth, "I didn't touch that Burke woman"

"And what do you want her to do?" The old man's beard trembled, and then his hand patted the woman's belly, "Old man, I'm going to hold my son again, don't you fall behind me."

This woman is actually the wife of the old man Lucasino? But when I heard that the old man Lucasino's wife was not dead, I still couldn't hold my breath, and looked at the woman with a look of surprise on my face

Old man Lucasino smiled, "Your eyes are wide like sheep's eggs, what's wrong?" I didn't expect the old man to be able to create people when he was old? ”

"No," I shook my head, and then said my thoughts directly, "I didn't expect your wife to be so young"

Lucasino pursed his lips and shook his head, "This is not my wife, it's my wife's maid"

"Won't your wife be angry when she is pregnant with your child?"

"What's wrong with my wife having a well-behaved daughter or a troublesome son?" Lucasino picked his nose in front of me, as if it was itchy

What did I just tell me about this? Anyway, I don't understand anything, and I don't have anything to scruple about, "Daddy, what about this woman?" ”

"What should I do?" The old man said, "She is the most profitable: come to the city and sleep with the old man for a year, then give birth to a son, and finally go back to her hometown, do you think this is the end?" Far from her father, who would have been protected by the Lucasino family from then on; Her brother could serve in the barracks; Her family's estates were henceforth protected by four hundred soldiers; Her sisters have a wide network to marry, and every marriage makes her family strong."

I was dumbfounded, "But what about her?" Who wants her to have a baby with you? ”

"Are you a fool?" Daddy Lucasino stretched and stood up, "After she goes back, she will do farm work, picking up eggs, weaving baskets, raising geese, etc., and erasing the traces of pregnancy, the fat on the waist, the sagging ruin, and the loose skin, and then find a well-off, honest manor in the countryside to marry her, she is very sought-after, if others know that she once gave birth to a son for me, the dowry will be more than twenty cows and four serfs."

I had some doubts about whether Lucasino and I lived in the same world

"Kalinin's loach wrote me a letter and asked me to tell you something about the nature of the real world**, these crepe words make me have a good toothache, essence, this is the essence This is the first lesson, 'Men and women are nothing, they have to sleep, and it means a lot to have offspring' If I were you, I would have a good time with the Burke chick as soon as I went back, and then after the chick became pregnant, I went to inquire about who this chick's family was if it happened to be Lech. Pilsudski's words, that would be too profitable, maybe Lech will make you an archduke of the city between the rivers," the old man asked suddenly, "where did you settle that chick?" Don't worry, I have enough houses here, bring the chick, the old man will teach you a few tricks, and make sure she is obedient."

I was stunned for a long time, I kept myself steady, I couldn't let this old thing see that I was surprised, "I married her"

"Huh?" His eyelids jumped, "Which family is it from?" Mel's or Colwin's? Or those flea families of Valankov? Okay, I'm not going to interject, you talk about it yourself, if you marry this woman to those people in the family, what will you get, I'll see if you have any cultivation value in the end, and here we go: if you give this woman to some Corwin? ”

It took me half a day, and now that old man Lucasino was taking my questions, I suddenly felt nervous, as if I couldn't write the Zenda alphabet when the Gothic dictated to me

"If I marry this woman to someone from the Corwin family, will I be able to get their family's support?"

"Bullshit," Lucasino scolded, "The Corwin family is a bunch of counterfeit drug dealers and profiteers who mix sand into the wheat, and they are also a bunch of loaches, they won't want your Burke woman at all, there are more beautiful girls than that woman, as long as you have money, how many of those women want, how many of these people can't get too close to Romanoff for a woman, because it will incur the resentment of the Lucasino family and the jealousy of the Mel family, and still support you?" Hmph, if you gave this woman to some Mel guy? ”

I was speechless by the old man's words, and at this time, I could only say, "The people of the Meyer family will not want this hapless Burke woman," I said dejectedly, "because it will be related to the Romanovs, and thus incur the jealousy of the Corwyns and the resentment of the Lucasinos, so this situation will not happen."

The old man smiled, "Yes, yes" He pinched the woman's buttocks, and the woman snorted, handed him the bowl, and mixed some milk into it, "You are smarter than that Richard, he actually came to me to promote what three families sent three representatives, closely rallied around the Romanov or something, what the hell, the old man has to put on a suddenly cheerful expression to entertain this fool"

"Actually," I felt like I was sweating behind my back, "Actually, I also think that you should unite around the Count, so that there will be a lot less trouble and you will be able to unite with the outside world, and the chances of being outside are much better than that of little Valankov"

"Little Varankov?" The old man squinted at me, "As far as I know, in the last thirty years, except for the little Valankov army, which has penetrated deep into the heart of Berke, no one else has done it in the Riverlands, and we have captured sixty-four shields, and these shields have been nailed to the gates of Berkdu haha, it is very enjoyable, you know, at that time, the Pilsudski family took all the troops away, and when we appeared behind them, those cities with empty troops thought that the Berks in the Riverland had failed, Only a group of timid peasants stood on the tower, trembling, and we nailed our shields to their gates under their eyelids, do you know what my soldiers nailed on them? ”

I felt that the old man was off topic, and I couldn't keep up with his train of thought, so I could only shake my head, "I don't know"

"'Fuck'" the old man amused himself, "haha, these little bunnies, it's a pity that the old man didn't see it, and when I heard about it, he immediately rewarded the soldier who came up with the idea, forty cows, and a wit, and when I asked the hairy boy how he had such a clever idea, the guy said that he could write this word, and I found the priest, and it was the Corwin fool, You seem to know him and ask him why he doesn't teach soldiers more in church schools, and that Corwin talks to me about funding for churches and church schools, why are you looking at me like this? ”

"Daddy, I'm still waiting to answer your story about that Burke woman"

"Oh, oh, that's it," said the old man, who was happily talking about interesting things, but I suddenly interrupted him with some interest, "then you probably gave this woman to some of your servants in exchange for allegiance; Or give the woman to those flea families in the city in exchange for support? ”

The old man looked at me with deep eyes

I didn't wait for him to ask me a question, so I asked myself, "If I give this woman to a certain servant, then he will have a crush on me, but this woman still hates me, so this servant will hate me in the future, and in order to please this woman, the servant may also be bad behind my back"

"Go on," the old man nodded in approval

"If I give this woman to some flea family, they're "not enough for my head."

"This is the best way to deal with this Burke woman" The old man waited impatiently, and said the words "Of course, it is not as good as you to sleep with her yourself"

I had a curious expression, as if I couldn't understand when I watched someone else play chess and everyone around me admired me for taking a beautiful move

"These flea families are familiar with the city and are not afraid of the three major families, they are poor, and they don't care about being punished, and this woman was sent by the Romanovs, then these families can take the opportunity to promote the Romanovs to support them, so if you give this woman to a certain family, they will accept it," the old man nodded, "Then, the Romanovs will get good information from these families, and they can also find out the bottom of our three families as soon as possible, if one day they want to clean us up, These flea families are absolutely fools who jump out to hit the striker; There is turmoil in the city, and these local families are also a powerful force to help restore order, so the Romanovs will also get benefits, and finally, between the two families, you are the link, so both families will value you, and your status will increase"

The old man looked at me, "If that's the case, Kalinin's loach won't match you to me, and because of your excellent methods, that Kalinin guy might focus on cultivating you."

Every sentence that the old man Lucasino said sounded very reasonable, but it made me listen to it a little creepy, especially since he saw the conflict between the Romanovs and them in the future, and was definitely not confused by the count, and had already prepared for everything, which made me feel that this old man was really unfathomable, the key is, what did he tell me so much?

"Yes, I didn't think of that at all," I honestly admitted, "this woman has fallen in love with a mid-level squire in my family, and that squire is very good at rhetoric and pleasing women"

The old man's eyes blinked slyly, "Well, you are very honest" His words confirmed the Count's judgment, and the old man probably knew everything, "Is it possible that the squire you said will help you in the future?" ”

"No," I concluded, "that guy and I weren't all the way"

"Hehe," the old man sneered, "It's quite like that, 'not all the way', that squire may be of great use in the future, a guy who will please women, definitely not a mediocre person, the old man himself has a deep understanding that the woman I slept with can stand around the city wall, or put a big phalanx, so the old man can always turn evil into good fortune, hehe"

"If that's the case, I'd rather not" Let Tom help me open a jim? That's what he did, and then I changed the subject, "Daddy Lucasino?" ”

The old man pressed one nostril and snorted violently, causing the lamb to tremble, bleating a few times, and the woman giggled and followed with the milk can

"Say"

"Didn't Mr. Konstantin see it? Don't you see that? I thought about it again and again, but I couldn't help but say, "Don't you know what is going on in my Romanov house?" "Speaking of which, I suddenly have a feeling of betraying the Earl, betraying the family, but when I think that a few hours ago I was in the Earl's Palace, thinking of practicing my skills, and now that I have been beaten away, I have a feeling of annoyance, "Make a contract with the Earl, you can have good hostages"

"Hostages?" The old man said with great interest, "Don't say it so ugly, although it is indeed a hostage, but it is said that it is here to learn from us, it is much easier to listen to the hostage, how harsh it is, the old man's heart can't stand this slander."

"I think I should introduce the old man to Tom "I can't be a hostage, I won't tie the earl's hands and feet at all, I'm insignificant, even if it's lost," I bit my mouth, "no one cares if I lose"

The old man was suddenly silent, but he listened to my last words anyway, and there was no joke

He coughed and frowned, as if to lower the temperature

"Yes," said Lucasino's father, "Kalinin sent you here because you have no effect at all, you don't need to say this, we also know it, but since you say it yourself, things will be easy Kalinin, this loach, knows exactly what the old man has in his heart, and he has already instructed Konstantin, so when Kalinin offered to send you, my son did not object"

"Didn't you think someone was better suited than me?"

"Really?" Lucasino stood up, "If Kalinin had sent a qualified young man, would our family's situation be better?" When we are going to war, don't we have to shed blood? In the days to come, will we really not have to worry about betrayal? In fact, no matter what, the situation is the same: for a guy like Kalinin, a offspring is a piece of meat that can be clearly priced, and it is worth less than a wild woman who can give birth to a son, so when it comes time to do it, he will not hesitate because of anyone."

What "you" Lucasino did and said today was beyond my capacity

The old man ignored my astonishment and continued, "So it doesn't matter to him who Kalinin sends, he just sent you to minimize his own losses, then, in that case, from Lucasino's point of view, I'd rather ask you to come than Richard or Gregory."

"Why?"

"Because the Romanovs will never be able to treat you as their own, so sooner or later your loyalty will run out, unless you are a fool, so many things, for a loyal Romanov, we cannot negotiate, and for you, it is much easier to speak" said Lukasino Daddy, "You, it is possible to become our ally"

The old man drank the last bit of porridge, a "true ally"

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