Nango.

Archimam Hartford slowly walked into the holiest place of the temple. The priest wore a coarse cloth robe with a simple rope around his waist, and his shaved scalp was covered with ash. On his palm, the symbol of the Holy Spirit was worn away, and his blood was still flowing from the wound on his palm. Hartford was flanked on either side by a knight in armor with steel scales etched into gold, and their white tunic was emblazoned with the skull of the Grand Knight under the original Holy Throne and the Holy Sword crest.

In the legend of the Holy Religion, this great knight once preached with the Holy Spirit, his duty was to rid the gods of all infidels, his eyes can see through anyone's heart, can see whether you are a good person or an evil degenerate, no one can escape the judgment of the paladin.

Archbishop Grad sat in a chair between the roaring bonfires, and in front of him, the current Templar Paladin stared at Hartford with a wry face. "Have you ever thought about your heresy?" He asked, his voice sounding even older than the sound his withered body could make.

Hartford looked up. "I ask your forgiveness, Your Excellency, but this is not heresy, and I will not give it up."

Grad leaned forward in his chair. "If you die deliberately sinning and defiling your soul, you will not receive the grace of the gods. Your soul will be banished and forced to wander around until the Patronus of Chaos takes it for you. ”

"My heart is pure, Your Excellency." Hartford insisted. "If I have to go through that kind of pain when I die, so be it. The Holy Spirit will judge my deeds. ”

A hint of pride flashed in Grad's eyes. "A person may risk his life for something he thinks is right. It requires a saint to risk his life for what he thinks is right. ”

Hartford stood up from the floor with a confused look on his face. Grad looked at the confusion on Hartford's face and laughed inexplicably, but it was a dull, tired laugh.

"You said the Holy Spirit would judge you, maybe he already did." He pointed to the roaring bonfire and the decorations that had been moved to the sanctuary. "I'm a freaked person. I'm afraid to die. I am afraid of the plague. I dare not face the great gods, and I dare not take responsibility for my crimes. ”

Grad reached for the collar of the robe and pulled it open, revealing her ugly black breasts. "Despite all the precautions I took, the plague found me. I'm going to die. I know now. Like you, I must face the Holy Spirit and atone for my heresy. ”

"Your heresy?"

"Yes." Grad nodded. "You know, I was a priest of Yangning. I worked under the High Priest Urthor. I saw him slowly degenerate, blasphemy, and blind idolatry. I watched him turn away from the light of the Holy Spirit and embrace the darkness of the old night. ”

Grad slumped in his chair, his eyes filled with tears and his voice trembling. "I was there when Ursol started visiting the abyss. When he desecrated the temple with the most unspeakable atrocities, I chose to stand idly by. Because I'm afraid. ”

Grad stared into Hartleford's eyes and said in a tone that bordered on madness. "Do you understand? I dare not speak out against what I know to be obscene, because Ursol is the high priest, and I am afraid of his power! I hid behind the vows I had made, telling myself that it was not my duty to question the actions of the high priest. I sat on the sidelines and watched as Usor grew angrier. I did nothing, Hartford, nothing to stop this vile depravity. ”

"I eventually took action. When it was imposed on me. When I understood that if I didn't oppose Usor, I would be labeled as his accomplice. The Inquisition is investigating rumors about old night revelries and human sacrifices in the cathedral. I knew that sooner or later they would find out about everything, and I also knew that it was Ursol's plan - to leave such a stain on the temple and to bring the faith of the Holy Church to shame forever. This was the greatest sacrifice he wanted to offer to the gods of the old night. ”

Grad's hands gripped the armrests of his chair. "I stopped him," he said. "Before his shame turned into rumors and suspicions, I stopped Usor." Grad's eyes sparkled with ferventness as he said this. "I waited until he and his filthy female cultists practiced their fornication in the sanctuary. I locked them inside and locked the door with cold iron to prevent him from summoning his Patronus to free him. Then I set fire to the temple. The flames consumed the defiled sanctuary and the filth within!"

Grad's strength was exhausted, and he leaned back in his chair again. "Is it wrong to murder evil? This is something that only the gods can judge. Like you, I'm willing to let him decide. ”

Hartford shook his head in disbelief, trying to digest the revelation he had heard. Of course, he had heard some stories about the High Priest Ursol being tainted by heresy, but he had never imagined such a terrible anomaly, nor had he ever imagined that Grad actually played a role in ending the desecration of the fallen High Priest.

"I admire your courage, Hartford. I wish I had the courage to do that when I needed to, but it's too late now, my fate has already been decided......" Grad closed his eyes weakly as he said this, like a criminal awaiting execution.

"What do you mean by that?" Hartford asked, confused.

"Hartford Vicch must die," Grad said. He raised his hand and pointed to a corridor that emerged from the sanctuary. "He is now lying in his cell, pondering the crimes he committed against the Emperor. And tomorrow morning he will be sent to the fire. ”

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"Strangely enough, Hartford Vicch looked very much like one of my retinues, the unfortunate priest Ackt, who contracted the Black Death. After the fire, I don't think even Han Sung will see any difference. Archbishop Grad smiled and pointed to a door on the other side of the room.

"Go through that door and you'll find clothes and food, my kid. These Templars will escort you out of the city and accompany you wherever you want to go. I'm sorry I can't do anything about what happened to you and what you're about to do, but I'm sure you will. ”

Hartleford fell to his knees in front of the dying archbishop, weeping. "I will make it my life's work, Your Excellency, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and I will inherit the unfinished business of Hartford Vic."

"My child, go, go, go......"

.......

Zhongdu.

Wang Zhongping looked at Xiao Jing, who was still reviewing the recital late at night, and couldn't bear it, and hesitated again and again to exhort, "Your Majesty, it's cold, rest early." ”

"What time is it?"

"Back to Your Majesty, it's already time."

"Is it almost dawn...... Xiao Jing put down the piece in his hand and said with a wry smile, "It's really old, I can only watch such a piece of music in three hours." ”

"Your Majesty's body is still strong, how can you say that you are old?"

"Hahahaha, I didn't expect you, a cold-faced minister, to say such flattering words."

"The young master knows me, and I'm like this."

"Zhongping ....." Wang Zhongping understood that the relationship between the two at this moment was no longer the usual monarch and minister, but the relationship between master and servant or friend, "Did you say that I did the right thing this time?" ”

Wang Zhongping naturally knew what Xiao Jing was talking about, and now the situation in the south has reached a point where it is difficult to end, as the ruler of this empire, Xiao Jing knew as early as the beginning of the outbreak of the plague, and there are two reasons why Xiao Jing allowed the situation in the south to deteriorate.

First, Xiao Jing knows the complexity of the political situation in the south, and he himself needs to sit in the north and it is difficult to leave, the reason why he chose Xiao Guang to govern the south is that Xiao Guang's meticulous mind and ruthless means, among Xiao Jing's sons, the eldest son Xiao Jian is too upright and not good at scheming, the third son Xiao Qi is cruel and unkind and difficult to govern the people, and the fourth son Xiao Xianqi has courage and no strategy, and only the second son Xiao Guang can take on this great responsibility.

Moreover, Xiao Jing knew that the rule of the southern kingdom in a short period of time was indispensable to the support of those former lords, and if the power in their hands was forcibly withdrawn, it would inevitably cause a huge riot, so Xiao Jing chose three important military places in the south, and arranged three people from the Xiao royal family to lead the military in these three places.

When foreign enemies invade, the three kings can guard the border for Daliang, and when there is civil strife, the three kings can form an encirclement of internal enemies. However, although military actions can eradicate these remnants of the previous dynasty, the residual poison left behind will also plague Liang for a long time. Weakening the power in the hands of these great lords requires extreme skill.

Xiao Jing naturally knew that the southern nobles were brewing a conspiracy in private, as long as they took the lead in rebelling, the imperial court would have a reason to exterminate them, there were three kings in the south and the southern imperial army, and there was also a million army in the north, it was precisely because Xiao Jing had absolute confidence in the hole cards in his hand that he would so condone the arrogant behavior of the southern anti-party.

Although the war will bring a catastrophe to the people of the south, once the old nobles of the south are successfully eliminated, the people of the south will usher in an unprecedented prosperous era. Moreover, the people of the south are accustomed to living a stable life, and when the time comes, as long as the blame is entirely on these old nobles, saying that they provoked this war, then the people's dissatisfaction and anger against the war can be well transferred. Without the support of the people, the old aristocracy would have become vulnerable.

What Xiao Jing is most worried about is not these rebellions against the party, but some mysterious existences that are difficult to peep into. He had a faint feeling that this time the chaos was not as simple as he imagined, everything came too coincidentally, and the coincidence was too strange. The rat clan, the chaotic party, and the evil gods, as if they had made an appointment in advance, all attacked the beam.

And this is also the second reason why Xiao Jing let the situation in the south deteriorate, he wants to lure out these forces that covet the world, the bright knife is not terrible, but the stinger hidden in the sleeve is terrible. As the emperor of the human race, Xiao Jing does not allow any immortal gods to want to enslave the human race anymore, people are the pillars of heaven and earth, and those who stand up to the heavens and the earth are also, and the heaven and earth are all owned by the human race. It is difficult for the immortal gods to descend into the world in their true bodies after the Jedi Heavenly Pass, and Xiao Jing only dared to lure those guys out by grasping this point.

These guys must have their own interests even in this world, if you do a little more, I can do less, and no one will be stupid enough to be the wronged boss, so there will inevitably be a conflict of interests between them, and when they fight for their interests, it is the best time to catch them all.

"Nope. Your Majesty has done nothing wrong. ”

"Is it......" Suddenly, the decadent color on Xiao Jing's face dissipated, "I can't be wrong, and I can't be wrong." Xiao Jing put his hands behind him and looked up at the sky and said proudly, "I accept your challenge. ”