"Smack!"

The crisp sound echoed in the throne hall, and the iron-faced Horace stood in front of the throne with a cane, and slapped Anson in the face fiercely, and the little prince, who was getting stronger and stronger, almost fell down the stairs, his stubborn cheek immediately swollen, and a baby tooth was also knocked out, and his mouth was full of blood.

The piercing sound of the palm pierced the ears of all the people in the Imperial Council, and a pair of eyes with different emotions stared at this rare scene—even Herodotus, the oldest and most prestigious Lord of the Seals in the Council, could not remember the last time His Majesty Horace was so angry.

The spacious hall was filled with no less than fifty people, but it was as cold and piercing as some eerie tomb, and not even a single one dared to gasp for breath.

"Your arrogance almost killed everyone - all loyal to you!" Horace glared angrily at his son, who still refused to bow his head, and trembled with anger: "Now let me go back to my seat and sit down, and I will not say a word without my consent!"

The little prince stood up unconvinced, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, and then walked straight to the seat and sat down, and the little princess Adele, who was hiding behind the curtain in the throne hall, kept glancing at him - to admit his mistake to his father, and the angry Anson only glanced at her, and did not pay attention anymore.

Although the fireplace had already risen in the hall, Horace was still wrapped in a thick coat, and sat on the throne extremely weakly, his expression seemed to relax a little, and he beckoned to the ministers standing on both sides of the hall: "I know there is still a lot of things going on today, let's start quickly!"

It was only then that the relieved people went up to the steps and stood according to their titles and status—Grand Master Mercer Kane, the Lord of the Interior, the Marquis Holard, and others could sit on the chairs on the second floor of the steps, while the rest could only stand down the steps below, or by the pillars at the bottom.

As for Edward, as the military attache of the royal family, he could only stand at the left rear of the throne - even so, such a position was enough to be the envy of many who could not even enter the door of the throne hall.

Although His Majesty Horace seemed to be deflated, the atmosphere in the throne hall was still bitterly cold - if the massacre in Pipetown was only outside Turin and could be pretended to be invisible, then the riot in front of the Radiant Cross was a slap in the face of everyone.

The citizens of Turin had died in countless numbers, corpses of various shapes mixed with blood that almost covered the stairs of the hills, and the smell of fishy could still be smelled from two streets - thugs scuffling together, citizens trampled to death, pious people stabbed with knives...... On that day, the bells of the Radiant Cross never stopped.

And because Anson never accepted the suggestion to retreat to the Templar, the royal guards who had to desperately defend themselves in the crowd suffered heavy casualties, the captain of the imperial guard was beheaded by the mob, more than half of the members were killed, and most of the survivors were disabled or injured, and not even a single one was intact.

What really silenced the entire Imperial Council was the nobles who died in this rebellion - no matter how terrible the commotion was before, there had never been such a terrible blow to the entire Turin aristocracy, and what was even more serious was that the people who went to the templar with Anson to pray that day were all relatively young, and many of them were already designated heirs.

There was a dead silence in the throne hall, but outside the hall was already full of heads of families who had come to cry and petition, begging His Majesty Horace to catch the "culprits" of such "atrocities" and punish them severely—although no one said it directly, everyone had already pointed the finger at the Dominicans.

"While I am well aware of the grief of all of you now, it is true that the culprits of this riot are not Dominicans. After nearly a quarter of an hour in the cold, Holard Minest finally stood up slowly: "They are just ordinary workers and unfortunate bankrupt merchants living in the city of Turin. ”

"You're lying!" Nafario jumped up from his chair, his pale face flushed with a sickly magenta, "My honorable Minister of the Interior, Marquis de Minest, is there such a terrible tragedy, and you still have to defend those strangers?

Seeing the other party jumping up and down, Holard looked at him with deep meaning, and said unhurriedly, "I originally thought that Lord Nafario knew very well who they were. ”

"I—How could I know?!" Nafario was shocked, but his face was still extremely calm, as if he was very angry: "I stayed in the mansion all day yesterday, and if it wasn't for the clerk to inform me, I would still know nothing!"

"Ah...... That's a shame. ”

"Horad Minest, you're accusing a ......"

"Quiet!" the grim-faced Horace shouted loudly, and the composed-looking Holard sat down after a slight salute, and Nafario, who had been forcibly interrupted, twitched twice before returning to normal and sat back in his chair.

"Lord Marquis Holard is right. Mercer Kane took the initiative to stand up - although he did not wish to support Mineste in his heart, but as a knight, Mercer could not deceive himself, especially in such a momentous event, he could only tell the "truth": "We caught several killers who were present, and after interrogation, it was proved that they were indeed only workers and bankrupt merchants. ”

"Then maybe they were bought, given to the damn Dominicans......"

"They're all poor people who were bankrupt from the previous riots against the Dominicians!" said an indignant Mercer at Nafario, and the relentless murderous aura made the Chancellor slump in his chair.

"The nobles of Turin City have instigated the people at the bottom to fight each other again and again, and acted recklessly under the banner of nobility - now is the time for them to pay the price, it's just that you didn't expect the price to be so heavy!"

The silence and retreat of the Grand Master of the Knights of the Sacred Tree had caused many people to inadvertently ignore this man, and it was only when he was truly angry that no one remembered that the Grand Master was also a fierce warrior who had come out of a pool of blood from the East's battle with the infidels, and that he carried far more than a single hall.

"I'm sorry to disrespect Your Majesty. Mercer, who had glanced coldly at Nafario, turned to bow and apologize to Horace, and then returned to his seat, as if nothing had ever happened.

"It's all right, Mercer Kane, you'll always be the most vocal member of the Royal Council, and I'm sure none of you here will believe you'll intercede for others. Horace's expression softened slightly, but it was still morbidly bloody: "My lords, this is a terrible tragedy, and it is no one else, not an enemy, not an infidel, not some terrible monster, but ourselves. ”

"I have asked myself with great pride, what king has reigned longer than the peace I have maintained, and I have worked hard with you for decades to maintain this rare peace, because all of us know the horrors of war, and have seen the scenes of corpses and terracotta!"

"But obviously I was very wrong, our Turin needs more than peace, we need a balance - our people are not cattle, let them rest easy when they are fed, we need to think more. Horace whispered, "We need to listen to them, not for the future, not for the future, but for the present." ”

"Forgive me, Your Majesty Horace!" Holard Minest stood up from his chair, "Indeed, the voice of the people should be taken seriously, and the House of Parliament and the Imperial Council need to be reformed more, but before we can see the reality before us, the city of Turin is now in chaos, and if it does not return to normal as soon as possible, it will turn into a terrible disaster." ”

"Not only that, but this winter is also difficult for the kingdom, and we are on the brink of war and civil strife, and we need a powerful man with strong enough skills to maintain peace in the kingdom. ”

"Are you accusing Lord Herodotus of being unfit to be the Lord of the Seals?" Horace asked softly, "I wish you could explain in more detail, otherwise it would be regarded as a very serious accusation." ”

"Lord Herodotus is very old, and his experience is invaluable to the kingdom - I am willing to give up the title of Minister of the Interior if I can. Holard replied calmly, "But as the leader of the Imperial Council, the position of Minister of the Seals is no longer suitable for him. ”

"Are you going to recommend yourself, Lord Holard Minest?" said Nafario with a somewhat sarcastic smile, "The Minister of the Interior for the Lord of the Seals - this is true 'generosity and generosity'!"

"On the contrary, Lord Nafario, Chancellor of the Exchequer, I am not here to nominate myself, but to present another noble lord who has not been able to display his talents in the throne hall of Turin. ”

Holard took a deep breath, as if he had made some important decision, and his increasingly old body bent down: "I beg all due respect, Your Majesty Horace, but I must recommend the honorable Duke of Hantu City, your own brother, the Duke of Berrion, to return to Turin City and take up the post of Minister of the Seal!"