Someone was beating a drum.

The drums had no rhythm and no lilting flute to accompany it, and several singer-songwriters sang "Shearing the Wolf's Hair" instead of the usual wedding wedding song. Instead of wearing the hats, linen jackets and cloth shoes of the citizens, the cheering crowd wore helmets, improvised coats and boots. The people celebrating at the wedding did not dance the Swadia dance, which required half men and half women, constantly exchanging partners with each other, stepping on complex and gorgeous steps, men need to be lean, women need to be small, and in the rotation again and again, the skirts flutter like a blooming flower. Baron Coston's Castle has witnessed several such marriages over the course of several decades, but this time is unlike any before. The only guests for this wedding were the Valans, who filled the courtyard of the castle, and in this small open-air wedding arena, the Valans danced in pairs, arm-folded, in a circle dance, followed by a whirling dance of the knees.

The seats of the Lord and the Baroness were empty.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the singing of "Shearing the Wolf's Hair" ended, the Varan army song rang out, and with the light sound of the military whistle, the Valan soldiers banged their weapons or wine glasses on the ground and on the table.

After the varan military song ended, several varan flutes finally played a lame and out-of-tune wedding song.

A door opened, and the Baron greeted us to his seat, and the Valans cheered him, and tied the gift they had given him with a rope and hung it on the Baron's body. I saw that the Baron soon had a pair of boots, a hookah, a sword, and books 2 and 3 of the Swadian version of The Immortal King, which were more illustrated than described, about the wandering King of East Wiki messing with the harem of King Nord and Khan Kujit. The baron walked through the midst of the applauding and cheering Valans. Like a sheep through a pack of wolves that roar at night.

After the baron was seated, Jefferson led a girl in a white gown. The wedding dress was specially made. The underwear is also as thin as Salander's clear water yarn, almost transparent. The girl's body is plump. The graceful curves of her body were faintly visible under the wedding dress, and her baby face had a little flesh, like a childish girl, but when she looked at her and smiled at the surrounding Valan soldiers, it made those Valans feel in a trance. Jefferson handed the girl over to the baron, and spoke to the baron dryly, like a woman's parent.

Two Valan soldiers carried the poor priest from last time and let him fly with his feet in the air into the wedding scene, and he ended the baron's marriage the last time in a hurry. This time, he stumbled and sent the baron into the palace of marriage. The hypocritical poet often said that 'marriage is the grave of love', so this is the second time that the baron has been buried, and it is actually reasonable for the Valan soldiers to give him the second or third volumes of "The Immortal King".

The baron took the baroness's iron crown and was silent for a while, finally putting it on the girl's head, then took her hands and kissed her on the cheek.

The Varan soldiers cheered and swarmed up. He held the baron and the new baroness above his head and cheered for the newlyweds. I saw quite a few Valan soldiers groping around the bride's body, and some even tried to rip off her skirt, of course. I was surprised that a few of the soldiers were actually doing something to the baron. After the soldiers had been making a fuss for a while, the baron and the baroness were poured a lot of wine. Then he threw them on the bed. A maid walked in and put her fingers down the throats of the baron and the baroness. Have them vomit their over-drinking liquor in case they suffocate to death in the middle of the night with their own vomit. When the door is closed. The Valans cheered en masse, and then poured out of the room to go to the wedding venue for a drink and merriment.

"Lord Jefferson."

I walked up to the old man and pointed to the empty chair beside him, and he blinked and agreed to sit next to him. He didn't like me very much, he felt that I was just a sword that carried out His Majesty's will, without a mind of his own, and at most a mercenary leader. However, he could talk to the Kujits, and the Kujits introduced him to the Oriental hookah he liked very much, and Jefferson also promised that as long as the hookah was opened, he would actively help introduce the nobles to taste it.

When I sat down, I said to him, "There's one thing I don't understand. ”

"Yes." He grunted, the cigarette almost covering his head.

"The issue of succession for the House of Barons Costholmes has not been resolved."

"Yes."

"The inheritance problem of Baron Coston's family lies with her daughter. If he and his heirs died, the title of baron would still pass to his daughter, making his daughter a baroness. At the same time, when his daughter died, he would pass the title to her own children, so that the title of Baron Coston would still flow out of his family. While the baroness may have a son, it may not. I think the problem is with his daughter. ”

"It's kind of interesting." He nodded, "It seems that even if it is a clay pot, it can make a sound when you knock it." What do you think you should do, kill his daughter? ”

"I'm afraid that this will put an end to the flow of titles into other families."

"If the problem is solved, will Your Majesty be satisfied?"

"How?"

"Hah! Think about it, does Your Majesty want the nobles to live in harmony with each other, or does he want them to be entangled with each other? ”

"You mean '''''

"When the problem between the nobles is solved, they will look for His Majesty's unhappiness, as if a man has too much strength and loves to find someone to fight. None of this is good, so what should be done? For a man with excess energy, finding him a woman he cannot satisfy can make him as docile as a castrated sheep; For the nobles who have the spare strength to toss His Majesty, let them fight each other. ”

"I'm afraid that when the Duke of Reboret learns of the assassination of his youngest son, he will immediately guess that His Majesty did it."

"Guess it, guess it. Now, though, the person he'll hate is Baron Coston. All of them will be concerned about the hatred between the two noble families, as for the legal dispute between Costsmo. It will be out of sight for the time being. ”

"The goals of the Valans are too big, their accents, their looks, their way of doing things. Those who have met them can easily remember them. This operation was quite inconvenient, and many places required the presence of the garrison officer in person. The Valans can only do things that clog the streets and set fires, like a bunch of thieves. ”

Jefferson laughed, "Your Majesty uses a sword to cut the king's neck or a pile of horse manure, is the sword still picky?" ”

"I'm not picky, I just think that the Valans are inferior and we can't serve Your Majesty better."

"Ha, I'm already moved to tears, really, just covered by smoke. You don't see it, the tears are streaming down my neck. ”

"Will you be able to serve the Varan Regiment? Long hours of service. ”

"I'm worth a lot, old man."

"The highest-paid of the governesses?"

"You Oriental barbarian is really open-mouthed."

"It's normal to talk about business and price reduction."

"Your Valan regiment is very good. Come to think of it, Your Majesty really needs a foreigner like you to come forward and help him do something that others don't want to come forward with. You don't need me to join, I can't change anything. ”

"It is impossible for the Valands to become Swadiaans. However, new soldiers can join the Valan Regiment and be assimilated by the Valan Regiment. Soldiers of all nationalities, as long as they enter the barracks, can establish a brotherly relationship in a few years. Naturally, you don't need to instruct a group of servicemen how to train soldiers. But you can mentor a group of young people from Swadia to join my legion. ”

"Legion, huh." He thought for a moment, "Talk about the pay." ”

"Same as the Varan soldiers."

"Are you actually treating me and the big-headed soldier with a single look?"

"You don't have to train with the Varan soldiers, and you don't have to eat and live with us. You enjoy complete freedom. But when we need you, if your interests are not violated, you should serve us. Last time I heard that one of your mistresses broke into your house with a child in her arms. Makes you lose face, right? You need this job. ”

"You dare to investigate me?"

"That's why I dare to hire you."

"Let's go back and talk about it." He took a gash, a little unhappily. Buried himself in a puff of white smoke.

Jefferson's trip to Costham made him very satisfied, and he could calmly instruct a group of soldiers to serve him. You can also use your knowledge of the aristocratic family to make waves here. This is the life he yearns for. But when he returned to Parabun, he had to retreat to the deep castle of the aristocratic family, exchanging philosophy and rhetoric with the dull children of the nobility, teaching them how to understand the mystery and eternity of the ancient customary law.

The weather is getting colder.

I wrote to tell Your Majesty that the problem had been solved and that it was all that was left to do with the Baroness and that she would be able to wait for the Baroness to give birth to offspring. At first, I was worried about what would happen if the Baroness gave birth to a girl, but I dismissed the idea myself, and according to Jefferson's method, even if the woman was born a girl, the next day, when the Baroness came to check on the child, he would inevitably see a baby boy. His Majesty Haraus will hold his direct vassals firmly in his own hands, and on this path, no matter what problems arise, His Majesty the Emperor will not hesitate to solve them. Many of Jefferson's ways of doing things were already quite unexpected to me, but when I knew that the children of nobles like Jefferson were everywhere in Parabun, I felt that Parabun was indeed a place to be feared, so many conspiracies, so many nobles, they were crowded together, and anyone could be in danger of death at any time, and sometimes, the end was even worse than death.

After the Baron's wedding, an envoy from Repolette arrived in Costholm to formally inform Lord Baron Costholm that his son-in-law had died.

The alliance established by the two families through marriage broke down. On behalf of his father, the eldest son of the Duke of Ribellet expressed his desire to continue the friendship between the two families, and hoped that the baron would not recall his brother and daughter-in-law. Baron Coston received the messenger in great pain, sighing at the assassination of the Reboret family, but at the end of the conversation, under the gaze of a row of Valan soldiers in Swadian armor behind the baron, the baron said that his daughter must also be in great pain, and did not take her home at this time to feel the warmth of the family. As a father, he can't help it. The baron said that no matter what. According to custom, his daughter had to be sent back to Costholm.

The messenger looked coldly at Baron Coston. When Baron Costham said his decision, the messenger nodded.

"I see, Lord Baron." He saluted the baron, "Your daughter, you are at your disposal. This is a universal law in the world. We will send your daughter back. ”

The baron nodded in satisfaction, his newlywed wife's belly was already slightly bulging, and Jefferson always showed a subtle banter when he looked at the baroness's expression.

When the messenger left, the old baroness, who had gone mad, was dressed in hemp. Wander through the grass around the castle. When the news of her son-in-law's death came, the old lady ran out of the monastery like crazy, shouting. We rode horses, the messenger ahead of me, I hid among the soldiers, and the garrison officer accompanied the messenger from Repoleet. The woman was not far from our left hand and laughed, "How beautiful is the Baroness!" "She has three sons and a daughter!" "Long live His Majesty Heinrich! (Frederick's grandfather)" "Haraus is the murderer, he is an accomplice of the Duke of Repole!" ”

After hearing the poor woman's wail, the messenger turned back to the garrison. "Isn't that the Baroness?"

"It used to be. She went mad, and the baron sent her to the convent. ”

"Didn't you say the opposite?"

"No, sir."

"Yes." The messenger said.

As the situation in the Barony of Coston Smaller stabilized, I gradually reduced the number of soldiers. Arrange for their return to Parabun. Finally, I prepared to leave only six Valan soldiers to the garrison, and told him to guard the Baroness. If Duke Ripperet wants to take revenge. Then it is likely that the object of revenge will be the new baroness. The Baron and the Baroness seemed to have a good relationship, and I often saw them walking together. Just like grandpa and granddaughter.

With everything arranged, I'm leaving for Paravon.

A few more months. The baron will have his own children, all problems will be solved at last, and when I return to Paraven, Haraus will be pleased with me.

A few weeks ago, the old baroness fell into the water and drowned, and her body came many days before it was found. As soon as I heard that a dead man had been found in the river, I could guess who it was.

Today, the baron's daughter returned from Ribolet with her retinue, and she must have learned of her mother's death, and of her father's remarriage. She was born into an aristocratic family, and of course she knew what was going on with the assassination of her brother and the death of her husband, and it is really hard to say whose side she is on now. However, today, although the issue of the heir to the Barony of Costholm has not been resolved, it is no longer possible to be annexed by marriage. In other words, even if the baron's daughter inherits the title and passes it on to the child after death, then as long as the child does not have the equivalent title in the region of Repalet, then the child will still be a vassal of Haraus, even though he is from the family of the Duke of Repalet. For Haraus, this was no different, and now the Barony of Costsmer was difficult to annex by marriage.

The garrison and I had a little wine together, and we heard the horn at the gate of the castle, which was the entry of a man into the castle.

"The Baron's daughter?" I asked the garrison officer.

"It should be. The baron's butler would welcome his daughter with his servants, saying that the battle between the families was over and that he did not want his daughter to see a man with a sword. ”

What would his daughter think? Her husband framed and assassinated her brother, and her father assassinated her husband. ”

"Don't talk about that," the garrison still couldn't accept the fact that he had assassinated the man in front of his family, "I'll have to pay a visit to the young lady later." She was a poor woman, just like her mother. His eyes were bloodshot, "I'm scared to see her." ”

"You're not even afraid of the Kugit robbers, but you're afraid of a woman?"

"You didn't pull the trigger."

Our conversation is at an impasse.

There were a few more trumpets from the castle, and there were people beating low drums.

What's going on over there?

Hearing the commotion, I glanced at the garrison and led the four Valan soldiers to the castle.

After walking out of the guards' lounge, I was stunned by what I saw. A Varan soldier fell to the ground on his back, his eyes staring at the sky with distracted eyes. The six of us immediately drew our swords. Run towards the castle hall. At the doorway to the castle's long hall, another Valan was hanged from a copper lamp. The urine on his legs was dripping down his trouser legs, his eyes were open in shock, and urine and blood pooled on the ground.

Who dared to kill my soldiers!

We pushed open the door, and at the far end of the long hall, the Baron and Baroness sat in the darkness, with only a candle burning flickeringly and something crawling on the ground. I lit the torch and walked in first.

There were two servant corpses on the ground. There was also a Varan trumpet, and it was the Varan soldiers who were desperately resisting just now who blew the horn, but unfortunately we arrived too late. One maid had her head cut off, and another maid next to her had her pierced in the chest. There were also many corpses of servants around, and the ground was covered with the smell of slippery and smelly blood and feces.

The closer I got to the end of the long hall, the more I felt that I was not indoors, but in the middle of a battlefield.

In the light of the fire, I finally saw the baron and the baroness. They were densely stabbed on high-backed chairs with more than a dozen crossbow arrows, their faces full of fear and pain. His eyes and mouth were bloodshot. The baroness's belly had been sliced open with a sword, and the child inside had become a mass of flesh. Crawling on the ground was the baron's heir, the second son, who had lost his fertility. His eyes had been gouged out. His teeth had also been knocked out, and now he heard us approaching, his mouth covered in blood. Reaching out to us, begging for help. I pulled out my dagger. He grabbed his head and plunged the dagger into his chest. He held my arm weakly. But he didn't struggle, and slowly died.

A voice came from behind.

The castle door was slammed open by a group of soldiers, and the soldiers of the House of Reboret entered the long hall full of dead men in a gloomy manner, and the sound of boots was resounding.

They seem to ignore us with torches.

The number of soldiers is growing, almost fifty, and we have absolutely no chance.

As soon as the soldiers entered the long hall, they split into two columns and bowed their heads in the middle of the aisle.

In the moonlight at the door, a woman in a black mourning dress carried a sleeping boy and walked into the long hall with her head held high, her long skirt dragged on the ground, wet with blood, and pressed heavily to the ground, leaving a long trail of blood behind her as she walked.

"Baroness!" "Baroness!" "Baroness!"

The soldiers of the House of Reboret shouted.

The woman walked up to me, "The man who drew his sword for my father will not live tonight." Whoever draws the sword for my brother will not live tomorrow. Drop your sword and beg for forgiveness. ”

I lost my sword, but the resentment and anger at the killing of the Valan soldiers made me almost mad and want to scream.

Then, four of my Varan soldiers and the garrison officer also lost their swords.

The garrison walked up to the baron, hugged his head and began to cry loudly, and then he went to the baron's second son, and cleaned his fleshy eye sockets with his hands.

Just as we were all looking at the garrison, he made a strange motion, he touched his wound.

I immediately tried to stop the garrison and shouted to him, "Garrison, don't! ”

The man had already grabbed the sword beside him and jumped towards the baronesse, aiming the blade at the child in the barone's arms. Just as the blade was about to arrive, one of the spearmen of the House of Reboret pierced the head of the spear through the chest of the garrison, and then a second spear pierced the garrison's shoulder, followed by a third and fourth spears. The garrison wept blood and tears, weakly spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm at the baronesse, and slowly covered the brother of the Baroness Costamore with his body, and died.

The baroness maintained a frosty expression throughout.

After doing all this, she wiped the blood from her face and said to me, "You're not my father's guard, are you?" She took a step closer to me, "Jefferson, is that name impressive?" Hardly threatened, he said everything. I will not stop you from leaving. Tell Your Majesty that the Barony of Costholm will still be his direct domain. Blood must never be washed away with blood. Let him stop, my family has shed enough blood! Let him stop while it's still too late! (To be continued.) )