The closed garden was full of the sweet fragrance of flowers and fruits, the south wind blew, the shadows of the sun flew away, the calamus and the laurel trees filled the herb mountains by the stream, the fragrance of Nada and impatiens outweighed all the incense, the pomegranates bloomed, the grapes sprouted, the fawns jumped into the lily furrows to the sunset, and the flock of pigeons in the bushes was startled.

The girl with her braided hair was pacing back and forth by the flock, looking around, and the slightest movement made her look up hopefully, and then lowered her eyes in disappointment. Suddenly, her name was called, and a young man in a coarse linen dress in the blue of the lake was leaning against the wall and beckoning to her, and then he jumped down and galloped towards her like a brisk antelope.

The girl pounced excitedly, and the two hugged each other tightly, and the sheep cried contentedly around them. The boy took out a small white wreath from his bosom and she brought it, and the girl kissed his face shyly, and their cheeks were as red as the sunset on the horizon.

"Will you ever come back?" came the girl's voice, full of sorrow.

"I'll be back," the boy immediately affirmed, "don't you cry, okay?"

"If you don't come back, I'll go look for you. ”

"I promise you, I'll be back for sure. ”

"You have to talk about it, I'll wait for you. ”

"When I come back," the young man blushed and held her hand tightly, "I will propose to your family, will you marry me?"

"I do," the girl dodged his gaze, her face as red as an apple, "I'm willing to marry you." ”

The boy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to himself as if he wanted to kiss her lips, she felt his fragrant breath close at hand, the feeling of happiness was dizzying, she closed her eyes and waited eagerly for the drunken touch—

The wind suddenly rose on the ground, and she opened her eyes in horror, and her boy was gone! The beautiful garden was a wilderness, and she ran like mad, calling the boy's name over and over again, and answering her only to the shrill whistle of the wind and the hoarse cry of the birds.

In the thick iron-gray mist of the mountain, footsteps came from ahead, and she heard the familiar voice answering her call, and she rushed eagerly into the almost palpable darkness, and she finally saw it, and she burst into a scream—

"No—"

Sether opened his eyes and sat up, his whole figure being dragged out of the depths of the sea, his chest suffocating, he gasped like the most exhausted traveler, his forehead, chest, and back were covered with cold sweat.

Someone knocked at the door, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, do I need to bring you hot soup?"

Sether breathed a long sigh of relief, his mouth dry as if he had chewed a mouthful of sand, and could only reply in a hoarse throat, "No, you can stand down—" but he paused, as if suddenly thinking of something, "Wait, give the order to Charond, and tell him to leave for Fort Liyin at once." ”

The Valley of Liyin is located in the southwest of the city of Sesser, about 500 miles from the capital, adjacent to the largest port of Wissing, the Bay of Freise, and is also home to a small but well-equipped local legion, the Third Garrison of Wissingkai, or the Liyin Regiment. The 3rd Army was the closest to the capital of all the local garrisons of Wilphkai, and served as a reserve to support the Central Army, the pigeon cage, and was stationed at the largest POW camp in Wilchenkai while tasked with connecting the naval fleet in the port of Phosa with the land forces in the various districts of the territory.

After Emperor Sesher ascended the throne, he divided the slaves captured by Seres to build the Phoenix Garden into three parts, some of which had been disposed of (most of them were loaded back to the Yu Bang colony of Wessingkai by ship), some of the higher physical fitness were transferred to the supplementary barracks, most of them were cannon fodder pioneers such as death squads, and some of them were still in the prisoner of war camp in Liyin Valley, because the number of these slaves was too large to be dealt with yet. Someone suggested to Seser that it was the easiest and most convenient way to kill him, and he didn't completely disagree, but he always believed that killing could only be used as a last step, especially since it was not a time of war. Previously, Sether hoped to be able to make the most of these slaves in the event of an uprising or rebellion, but many thought that he was just trying in vain.

One of the few veterans of Serres, Charonde is still in good spirits in his seventies, and now serves as the governor of the fortress of Liyin, traveling between the Philip Bay and the Valley of Liyin.

In the hall on the top floor of the bunker, Charond was calculating the time while absentmindedly wiping his sword, when the sound of rapid marching and orders was heard outside, and he immediately rushed to the outpost outside the bunker. The Emperor arrived half an hour early with a troop of cavalry, and Charond tried to salute but was stopped by Sether, who smiled and patted the old general's arm to tell him to be careful of the old bones, and then almost dragged him into the pillbox.

"Your Majesty, after receiving your will, I have compiled this statistical table according to the records of the disposition of all prisoner of war camps in the country over the past few years. Charond handed Sether a paper. The latter opened it and glanced at it a few times, "During the relocation of the capital, there were only so many male prisoners between the ages of fifteen and forty-five?"

"Yes, they are currently concentrated in the Liyin prisoner of war camp, what does Your Majesty plan to do with it?"

"Sworn allegiance?"

"No, your will is awaiting. ”

"All those who refuse to swear allegiance and those who are branded will be put to death, and the rest will be dealt with as usual. Sether thought for a moment and added, "In addition, there are several prisoners of war in Yubang City who will be executed regardless of whether they are willing to swear allegiance or not. I'll have the list of cities for you later. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. So are female prisoners of war also dealt with according to the routine?"

"Those under twenty years old and over forty years old should be sent back by boat. "The rest is handled as usual." ”

"Your Majesty······"

"What's the matter?"

"We have no precedent for sending female slaves under the age of twenty abroad," said Charond, somewhat puzzled, fearing that the Emperor had overlooked some important principle, "and this is the most valuable ······"

Sether looked at the old general without saying a word, and he suddenly realized, and immediately understood that he was angry, "Your Majesty, I'll do it!"

That night, after inspecting the Third Legion, Sether took a few skilled cavalrymen, according to his old habit, to hunt and recreation in the woods near the barracks, but the results were not good, and he caught nothing but a few rabbits.

It was nearly midnight when he returned to the barracks, and before he could return to the bunker, he heard a lot of commotion.

"What's going on over there?" asked Sether, gesturing to a soldier.

"Your Majesty, the sentry found a fleeing female prisoner of war outside the barracks and was to be sent back to the camp," replied the soldier, "but she did not want to go back, she said she must come to see Your Majesty." There was a stalemate, so there was so much commotion. ”

"You men can't even handle a single bitch," Sether cried out, "what kind of soldier are you going to be?" he turned to the cavalry beside him and ordered, "Bring that bunch of waste here, and all of them will be whipped!"

"Your Majesty!" the cavalry was about to make a move, and the soldier knelt down and begged for mercy, "Listen to me, this woman is so flexible that we can barely touch her, we have never encountered such a situation." ”

"Shut up, idiot. Then Sether then ordered the cavalry, "Go and arrest that woman and hang her, tie up these rice buckets that have eaten so many years for nothing, and throw them into the pit, and whip them in public tomorrow morning, I think this place needs to be put in order." ”

Sether returned to his lodgings in a bad mood, and was about to pour himself a glass of wine, but was interrupted by the cavalry.

"You didn't catch that prisoner of war either?" Sether glared at him.

"We got her. She said we'd regret it if we didn't let her come to see you. So, just in case," said the horseman, "I think I'd better ask your majesty first." ”

"Just in case?"

"She said she could help His Majesty find the little scroll. ”

"Little scroll?" Sether's face changed.

That's what she said. ”

"Bring her in. ”

A few minutes later, the soldiers took the captives to the bunkers, where they closed the doors and set up sentry outside.

It was a very young woman, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with thick and plump curls, dark and smooth skin, and a beautiful appearance, with plump lips and a rather attractive figure. If he was sent to the butcher's shop, he probably wouldn't survive the next day, Sether thought to himself.

"Can you find the little scroll?" he got straight to the point.

"Or maybe it's a semitic scroll. ”

"You know the Shem Scroll?" Sether raised his eyelids.

"I know a lot of reels. She laughs.

"Where are you from?"

"I am a native of Jalal, and my mother is the widow of one of the Golden City nobles who was fed sharks by your father twenty-seven years ago, and my father is her second husband, and he is also a prisoner of war captured by your father among the civilians of Golden City. ”

Sether's eyes flashed with a cold light of steel, "Do you want revenge?"

"No, I just don't want to be sent on a ship to Yu Bangguo, knowing that I'm only eighteen," she said in a naïve tone, "I don't care what my parents are like, and I don't care how Jalal is, because they don't love me." It doesn't make a difference whether I'm in Jalal, I'm at VIAPH, so I don't want revenge at all. ”

"And what do you want?" Sether was a little surprised.

"I want," she said, stepping forward as Sesher watched, kneeling at his feet, holding his boots and kissing the dirt and dust on them.

Sether's beautiful black diamond-like eyes flashed with fire, and he was attracted to her. He has the penetrating eye of a man and a king. The fortunate slave girl was so intoxicated by the Emperor's incomparable beauty and excitement that she trembled slightly, her big watery brown eyes swirling like drunkenness, and she bit Sesher's ears with a silky smooth soft voice.

"I want to be your exclusive slave, my majesty. ”