At the beginning of the empire in 963, the Rollin Plain was covered with black flags, and all the Rollin flags in all towns were replaced with black sè to show condolences to the former patriarch Count Raymond who died of illness.

The funeral of the Count of Raymond was not solemn, according to the tradition of the Rollin family, there was a valley behind the castle of Lorraine, and behind the valley, there was a cemetery, where the patriarchs of the dead dynasties were buried.

The death of Count Raymond brought a hint of yīn haze to the celebratory atmosphere of the Rollin Plains, which had been immersed in the restoration of family glory.

On the day of the funeral, the Countess fainted from crying once, and little Gabrie wept bitterly from beginning to end. And only Du Wei, the eldest son of the Rollin family, was dressed in black, holding the sword left by his father, always silent, but not a single tear flowed.

When the others saw the Duke of Tulip, their attitudes were a little afraid.

Just two days before the funeral, the young duke ordered a red carpet to be spread from the castle to the cemetery on the back hill, and sent hundreds of people to collect tons of petals, sprinkled all the way, and he even mobilized the honor guard of the army, on the day of the funeral, on both sides of the procession, where the coffin went, the triumphant horn of the army was played.

Everything was not like a funeral at all, but like a triumphant appearance of the general.

Although some people think that it is a little inappropriate for this young master to hold a funeral like this. But Du Wei didn't care, he just used this behavior to make up for his inner sorrow for his father.

The old prime minister Robscair, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Munes, and even the Count of Villa, among others, sent emissaries to mourn. Du Wei acted as if he was a real head of the family, and expressed his gratitude to the envoys from all sides for receiving them one by one, and he was very mature and even a little indifferent.

Then, on the night of the funeral, Du Wei once again locked himself in the castle's study. He walked in with his father's sword in his arms.

In the study, on the wall, there was a place for oil paintings, and at the end there was already an oil painting of the old Count of Raymond. The Count of Raymond in the painting is dressed in military armor and is full of spirit. Du Wei sat quietly in his study for the night. No one knew what the young duke was doing in his study. Until after dawn. Du Wei walked out of the study and went to visit his mother first.

The death of the earl made the countess have some problems with her body, and this beautiful mother was in deep pain. Without thinking about tea and dinner, Du Wei did his best, and even served in front of his mother with his own hands. This kind woman seems to know that she can't add too much burden to her son at the moment, so no matter how sad she is in her heart, she tries to be calmer.

When Du Wei went to see his mother in the morning, he immediately called the old butler Hill. Then a decision was made:

A meeting of the Lorraine clan was convened.

The Rollin family is a family of martial artists, with the exception of the patriarch, Count Raymond. Naturally, there are many other clansmen who used to be in important positions. Hundreds of years of the land family, naturally has its roots. Except that the patriarch has the title of count. There were also some people in the family who also served as some imperial officials. A small political group of the Rollin family was formed. Some of them served in the military, some served in the local government, and there were five or six people with knighthoods, two barons for life, and some local officers in the army, local elders and so on.

After the coup d'état, the original political group had been completely eradicated and removed from the throne by Prince Chen, and no one remained. However, with the pardon, except for the Count of Raymond, who was the rebel leader of the coup d'état and was not exonerated from his crimes, all the others were reinstated, and their titles were restored.

However, externally, Raymond is no longer an earl's land. But in the family, he is still the patriarch. Now that Raymond is dead, it is natural to elect the patriarch of Xindi Luolin. This is an old tradition, so when the news of a meeting came out of Rollin Castle, no one was surprised, and even some people had already prepared, and some people simply did not leave after the funeral and waited in the castle.

The meeting place of the clan was located in a large hall of the castle, and a long long table large enough to seat dozens of people was already filled with the heads of the various branches and rooms of the contemporary Rollin family.

When Du Wei and his younger brother Gabbie stood outside the door of the conference hall, the crowd inside was already boiling, everyone was already arguing, and the sound was almost tearing down the ceiling.

Some of these people are loud and noisy, some are scolding, some are sneering, some are ill-intentioned, and some are ambitious.

In fact, before Raymond's death, there was already some restlessness within the Rollin family. Because of the pardon order, everyone was restored to their titles and official positions, but as the patriarch, Raymond's own titles and official positions were not restored. It can be said that in terms of nominal identity, Raymond, the patriarch, is the lowest, and can even be said to be a "white body", relying on the majesty of Xiang Rì to barely suppress the heads of these clans.

As soon as Raymond died, many people in the clan immediately became ambitious. After the recovery of the Rollin family, some people saw an opportunity!

After Raymond's death, according to tradition, the first heir was naturally Du Wei, the eldest son who had reached adulthood. However, Du Wei has openly broken away from the Rollin family, changed his surname to Rudolph, and made him Duke of Tulip. Therefore, it is impossible for him to inherit the title of earl.

And the second heir, naturally, is Gabry. In fact, the royal family has already determined that the heir to the earl is Gabri, but the problem is that Gabri is only eleven years old now, four years before he reaches adulthood, and he cannot hold any official positions and titles until he reaches adulthood. Everything will have to wait until he becomes an adult.

Well, there's a loophole. It is impossible for a child who is only eleven years old to be the patriarch. Although Count Raymond hoped that Du Wei could take on this responsibility before his death, after all, Du Wei was already an "outsider" in official name, and it can be said that he was "unjustifiable".

When Du Wei walked into the room, he heard a commotion inside, some people yelling and swearing, and some people slapping the table. The noisy people were divided into two factions, one was the side of the descendants who were originally loyal to Raymond and insisted that the little master Gabri should be the patriarch, and the other faction was some ambitious guys who advocated electing a new patriarch to take charge of the affairs of the clan first, and then after a few years, when the young master Gabri came of age, they would give way to him.

For this kind of pediatric noise, Du Wei had already been prepared, he just sneered twice, then patted his younger brother beside him, and said softly: "Gabry, look at it, these people are eager to swallow you in one bite, are you afraid?"

Gabrie shook his head and looked into Du Wei's eyes: "I'm not afraid." Because you're here. ”

Du Wei smiled, and then ......

Bang!

With a loud bang, the door of the conference hall was kicked open by Du Wei. The people arguing inside were startled by the sound, and suddenly fell silent, Du Wei kicked the door open, then took his brother's hand, and strode in.

Both brothers were dressed in very grand aristocratic dresses, long robes, golden belts, and fur collars, while Du Wei also wore a pair of snow-white gloves, and Gabri was dressed in a black robe, holding Du Wei's hand in one hand and a cane in the other—an eleven-year-old boy holding a cane was undoubtedly somewhat funny.

When the two walked past the table, everyone stared at them, but Du Wei didn't care, and walked to the top of the long table, and then pointed to the special place that belonged to the patriarch in the middle of the table, and said to Gabry, "Sit down." ”

Gabri just sat down. Immediately, someone around couldn't help but say, "This ...... Young Master Gabri, it seems that your position is not there, please you Gabri did not speak, Du Wei immediately looked at the guy who spoke, and glared fiercely. He glared, deliberately using his powerful jīng divine power as a magician, his powerful jīng divine power seemed to have substance, and stabbed the person fiercely, and the person who spoke felt a sharp chill in his body, his teeth fought, and he couldn't say any more.

Du Wei looked at the silent crowd, and then casually summoned a servant, moved a chair over, and sat down beside his younger brother, and then said lightly: "Now, elect the patriarch." ”

After he opened his mouth, no one dared to speak for a long time, and after a long while, someone spoke: "Your Excellency Grand Duke Tulip, now it is the clan meeting of the Rollin family, you ......"

"What am I. Du Wei asked indifferently.

"Grand Duke Tulip, according to tradition, outsiders are not allowed to attend meetings within the clan. The man groaned for a moment and stared at Du Weidao.