The letter to Yuri was lost, and I didn't receive a reply for days.

I already have four boyar nominations, one from two bishops, one from the town hall and one boyar.

If I find one more supporter, maybe the Romanovs will consider giving me a nomination. I know that Romanov is very fond of such things, helping others at critical moments, in order to get the greatest gratitude from others for the same help. Of course, that was at a time when these help wasn't too important to the Romanovs, and when it came to the boyar's nomination, I don't know if they would still do the same.

"You said that the noblewoman of the Rurik family who met you last time, didn't she promise you that she would ask his stepfather to give you a nomination?" Copernicus asked me.

"I have inquired," I said to Copernicus, "that old man has not asked much about Ivan Grod since more than ten years ago. He seems to be a real parliamentary aristocrat, and many things are considered from the perspective of parliament. When the Duchy of Valan was founded, when the nobles were waiting to see Kalinin's scandal, the old man used his influence to facilitate the resolution of the parliament to approve the sending of troops. When the nobles opposed Kalinin becoming the prince of the Twin Cities, the old man again expressed his support. He seems to do only what is good for Parliament. Something like nominating boyar, a person as upright as him may be difficult to nominate someone casually for a stepdaughter. ”

"Did you ask him, or did you guess it yourself?"

"I didn't ask, but I heard from others..."

"Then visit him!" Copernicus decided.

In the afternoon, two Kugit men prepared the carriage for me. Copernicus, for his part, received an ordinary welcome gift from the pioneer stronghold in Ivangelrod: six copies of Rhodoc's newly published Tales of the Northern Sea War.

This book chronicles the story of the ancient Chanda emperors who brought the aborigines of the North Sea region under their rule. The Emperor of Svadia made page-by-page annotations to the first three books of the book, but the Emperor became ill as soon as his health deteriorated. He was no longer up to the task, so the annotations to the next three books were given to Sir Harlaus--- who later became His Majesty Harlaus to complete on his behalf. The content of the book itself is of little concern. Those are some familiar stories, the key is that the attitudes of these two emperors are relatively concerning, and knowing the true thoughts of an emperor is something that everyone is interested in.

We set out from the city of Ivangelrod and were confronted with strict checks on our way out of the city, as there have been frequent reports of many Valan rebel dens in the city lately. The evidence is varied, but the more concentrated is a group of Valans in a tavern called Mountain Fern Roots, who openly shouted slogans against the Parliament and called for people to rise up and join the Duchy of Valan.

We waited patiently for an hour. Only then did a soldier come to our carriage. No sooner had the soldier opened the door than he saw Iyu's hand, a calloused Kugit holding a money bag. A few minutes later, our carriage, led by the soldiers, rounded the waiting carriage and left the city gate to the town where Anastasia's stepfather lived in seclusion.

On the way we met a lot of squads, take a closer look. It was actually groups of pilgrims. These men were late to the news, and they arrived at Ivangelrod by this time when they set out from a place close to the mountains and were blocked by the nobles. These people have run out of food and money. They were ready to enter Ivan Grod to beg for money and then go to the Miracle Monastery on the royal domain of Little East Lake.

I had to marvel at Innocent's foresight, and in the midst of the plague he saw that the most valuable thing was man himself. So everything he did was not to store food. Nor is it for the purchase of weapons, or even to support their own knights. Everything he did was to attract more people to his side, and the larger the population, the greater Innocent's power. There are many people who have such an opinion as Innocent, but there are very few people who really try to find a way to do it.

I always felt that Innocent's becoming vicar this time was almost without any suspense, and my road to becoming boyar was quite bumpy.

After a muddy country road, we crossed a birch forest, skirted a village marked with a wooden sign that read 'Plague ahead, no one alive', and finally arrived at Anastasia's current home.

An old servant came slowly with a dog after I had knocked on the iron door for a long time.

I said to him that I was a distinguished guest of their lord, and had helped their lord's stepdaughter, and now I asked to visit him.

Copernicus stayed around the carriage with the two Kugits, and I spoke to the old man through the iron gate, who kept looking at me with cloudy eyes.

Finally, when I had finished speaking, the old man's lips twitched slightly, and then in an old voice he said, "Anastasia? No, there is no such person. You're in the wrong place, go home. ”

"How is that possible? I inquired clearly, your family has a ready-to-wear store in Ivangelrod, right, there is an old woman there, and she took Anastasia away. I remember the emblem on the carriage exactly like the one on your iron gate. ”

"Let's go, young man." The old man said, "There is no such person. ”

He took one last look at me and left with the dog. The dog had a bad temper, and he stood up with a low roar, put his front paws on the iron door, and whispered at me a few times, and the old man repeatedly scolded him before he led the dog away.

When the old man had gone, I went back to the carriage and told him what I had said to him.

"Hell," I said to Copernicus, "could it be that the girl's identity is fake?" Just to lie to me? ”

"Lie to you?" "I don't think so. If you want to hide your identity, why bother to say that you are a Rurik in the middle of a group of Romanovs and make trouble for yourself? I don't think that little girl is lying, but she really doesn't care much about who her family is, and she is even more lazy to change her identity. ”

Copernicus nodded. "Timmy, it's someone else's business. You might as well go to him again. It is said that the scholars of Svadia came to visit their master. If it weren't for Anastasia, it might be that we were mistaken. Let them forget about it. ”

"How can this be? What about the female Rurik? ”

"What else do you want?" Copernicus said, "You have come in the hope of a nomination, not to be concerned with the internal affairs of the aristocracy." ”

I had to go back and knock on the iron door again, and it was a long time before the old man came back with a young man swearing and swearing. As soon as they opened their mouths, they told me to get out of here, and I repeated Copernicus's words truthfully and said to them, "If you refuse to allow a scholar to visit your master." Of course, there is no problem, but you are responsible for the consequences. I'll remember both of you clearly. ”

The two men looked at each other, the old man turned his head and walked deeper into the manor, while the young man crossed his arms and looked at me coldly.

Half an hour later, someone came out of the manor and ushered us in.

Unexpectedly, I and the two kugits were stopped in the hall, and only Copernicus went to the garden of the Grand boyard house with gifts to visit the resting master.

While waiting for Copernicus, I noticed that the servants around me were busy preparing something, and a bird catcher had more than a dozen bird cages hanging from his body, which contained white pigeons, magpies, cuckoos, and other birds. A butler-like man was critically scrutinizing the birds; The two women, holding two small kegs, cautiously walked up the steps towards what looked like a kitchen; A group of children laughed and played with each other, pushing several large flour buckets after the two women; On top of a stone slab. A stuttering priest was stammering some ritual when I heard him say intermittently, "Death alone separates you", "The bride and groom are exchanged"; A group of farmers carrying grain and vegetables on their backs are haggling with a servant. The peasants thought that the servants had given too little money.

This place is going to have a wedding?

I grabbed a passing servant, "Is your family going to have a wedding?" ”

"You're here for the wedding?" The man looked up and down curiously. "Is it a relative of the old man's family or something. You're early, and it's the wedding next week? ”

"Whose wedding is this?"

The servant saw that I didn't know. So he said no more, smiled politely at me and left me. This guy doesn't want to get into unnecessary trouble, and it looks like I'm going to have to ask someone else.

Copernicus did not know how to lobby this big boyar. In fact, even when there was Anastasia, she was only an intermediary to introduce us, and it would take some quid pro quo to really get this big boyar to nominate me. During this time, I saw that Copernicus spent a lot of money, and I don't know how much he still has left, probably not a lot. Scholars can only be regarded as spending, but it is impossible to spend as much money as a prince. Most of his relationships with the pioneers have no effect, if this family's big boyar is really an upright council nobleman as the legend says, then unless the pioneers can immediately give the council tens of thousands of gold coins or many ships of flour or weapons and equipment, otherwise this big boyar probably won't blink an eyelid.

But for now, I'm trying to figure out whose wedding the family is planning.

I asked two Kugit people to wait for me, and I quietly headed in the direction of the kitchen. There, a fisherman carried a small net with a stick, and in the net were a few fish that were alive, but they were all thin and had no flesh. He's also here to sell food. I saw the fisherman find a bucket, throw the fish into it, take out a broken net from the package, and nimbly patch it with a thick thread.

I walked up to the fisherman and said, "You fish is too thin to sell for a price." ”

"Who are you?" He glanced at me, "Do you see this net, it's these fish that are broken, this fish is very strong, and the soup is the most fragrant." ”

"I like to grill it, and when your fish is grilled, only the bones are left."

"Do you want to buy it? Don't buy you ask a fart. ”

I don't know the price of Ivangelrod's fish, but I do know the price of the fishermen who came to the Valan barracks to sell fish when they were in the jungle.

"Seven copper coins, one, sell me your loaches."

The fisherman's eyes widened as big as a cow's testicles. "Do you think this is before the plague?"

"You're selling fish?"

"Why not a fish?! Is the loach that big? ”

"How much do you want?"

"Twenty copper coins, a small one, and thirty large copper coins."

"Deal." I answered him in one bite.

My attitude changed so quickly. The fisherman felt that he had lost money, so he muttered. This fish is all female, it tastes better, and it costs money. I gave him the money and told him to shut up. The fisherman said no more, but continued to mend his net, and looked up at me and said, "What do you want this fish for, I originally brought it to the steward." ”

"You go fishing again. I have this fish for the bride, and he said he loves it. ”

"Do you know that woman from Little East Lake City?"

"yes. I am her servant. ”

"It's a pity, the pretty little girls have to lick the soft worms for the old man."

"Old man?"

"That's right. I heard that the groom--- the friend of the Grand Boyar, was older than him, and that his wife had been dead for a dozen years, and now he was looking for a young girl. Tsk, this old scum really deserves to be castrated and sent to a brothel to sell his ass. ”

"Would you be upset to let you marry a little girl?"

"Hey, you little thief is really strange, I helped your young lady speak, but you talked about me." The fisherman smacked his mouth and said, "But after my wife dies." I'm really going to marry another young one. You don't even know what my wife's ** is hanging into, as soon as she takes off her clothes, I think she has four arms hanging from her shoulders every time! ”

"Well, Miss's mother doesn't know how to speak for her. Let her marry an old man. ”

"Your lady and her mother are married to an old man, and they have given birth to a lot of sons, how can they offend her man? Not really. If you want me to say, those young masters are not masters. You see: the eldest son looks like a housekeeper, and the second son looks like a groom. The third son still looks like a groom, but none of them look like the master. ”

"Is it that bad?"

"These old men only need the little cub crawling out of his wife's belly with his own surname, no matter whose wild seed he is. The more people in the family, the better, and these little cubs will marry in the future. ”

"Is it also for money to marry our young lady this time?"

"Hehe, don't tell anyone," the old man smiled smugly, "You guys from Little East Lake City don't know anything about my master. Through the Nords, he bought several mines and salt ponds in Creel and Varankov. As a result, I heard that a group of demons with black skin like charcoal had crawled out of the ground from Creel's side. This is a real demon, when they heard that the father of those guys died, they would a donkey while flicking their tongues and singing spiritual songs'''Uh, don't look at me like that, that's what the Creelians who fled told me. In short, these black devils have ruined the old man's business in Creel. Then, Giovanni's thief rebelled again, turning Valankov into a mess, and the old man was very anxious, so he supported Kalinin to crusade against Giovanni. As a result, Varankov was burned by Giovanni again, and the lord paid for it, and Kalinin did not promise to compensate, and my lord is now racking his brains to make Kalinin bad. ”

"What does this have to do with marrying our young lady?"

"The lord's business has lost tens of thousands of gold coins, many of which were borrowed from this friend. The master's friend seems to be a wife killer, none of his wives have lived for five years after marrying, and all of them died early. Your young lady, hum. It's not just right to send a stepdaughter to him. ”

"There's such a thing?!"

"I'm foolish." The fisherman collected the net, "I've said enough. ”

"Whose fisherman would say that about his master, are you talking nonsense?"

"My own lord? Soon it won't, I've saved enough money and I'm ready to go''''Eh, by the way, it seems that there is a monastery in your small Donghu City that has received a miracle, and it is said that hundreds of angels have killed tens of thousands of council troops. The council is finished, and there are already a dozen people in our village ready to go to the monastery, and an envoy from the Knights has come to our village, and I will be gone in a few days. He stood up, "But what I said is true, these old nobles are bastards, and they still use the pre-plague wages to work for us. I'm not the only one who hates them, and when your young lady gets married, you can come to the monastery too, their wages there are three or four times higher than elsewhere, don't say I didn't tell you. ”

The fisherman walked lazily, and the fishing net of ** dripped all the way.

I returned to the front of the hall, where two Kugit were boredly clutching a stone with both hands, and asking the other to guess which hand it was.

"What's wrong?" Crucedel asked me, "You smell like that." ”

"I still got close to my ass and smelled it." Iyu added.

"Almost, this old man's reputation doesn't seem to be very good."

"How bad?"

"It stinks like a fart."

At this time, Copernicus came out in a rage, and after meeting us, he said to me, "Go, this boyar actually asked me to bribe him to his face." ”

"What do you mean?"

"You say he has the council at heart? Hum! Copernicus said, "Let's go, it's a shame for us to stay here!" I spoke to him about the pioneers, and he said he knew that the pioneers were rich; When I told him about the Varans of Little East Lake, he immediately said that the Varans had no money; I asked him if I could nominate a Valan to be a boyar, and he immediately told me that he would be willing to do so as long as he had gold. ”

"This kind of person should be easy to deal with." Copernicus's words proved what the fisherman told me, "How much does he cost?" ”

"Six thousand gold coins for one nomination."

I was a little dumbfounded, "So much? How dare he speak. Can you take it out? ”

"One or two thousand is no problem. No more. Don't think about this person's nomination, even if you scrape together enough money, he won't give it to you, he will ask for more. ”

"We had a few thousand gold coins, but we returned them to him for nothing." I thought about it for a moment and said.

"What thousands of gold coins?"

"He used Anastasia to pay off the debt of a few thousand gold coins."

I told them what the fisherman had said.

Copernicus frowned disdainfully, and wrinkles were squeezed out of the tip of his nose.

"It's bad old man who can't see it." Iyu said.

"It's a pity for that little girl," said Crusedle, "and I can talk to her quite well." ”

"He wants six thousand gold coins?" I asked Copernicus.

"Yes."

"Then let him owe us six thousand gold coins."

Cruzedel and Iyu seemed to understand it as soon as they heard it, and Copernicus understood it after a little thought.

"You want to '''?"

"Kidnapping the bride." I replied to Copernicus. (To be continued.) )