As the sun rose to the top of the sky, at noon, the meeting was held as scheduled.
A white-haired and respectable old noble spoke first. He was a baron nearby. Although his title was not high, his age and seniority were so high that all the nobles in this area, including the late Viscount Geerteng, had to call him uncle. Moreover, he was a neighbor, so he was most familiar with the situation of the Geerteng Territory. It was indeed very appropriate for him to be the host.
The old man stood up tremblingly and slowly talked about the glorious history and prosperous current situation of the Geerteng Territory. His words were quite sonorous and forceful. It was really true that one should not judge a book by its cover.
However, he was completely bullsh * tting.
Most of the previous Viscounts of Geerteng were not good at managing, so there was no glorious history to speak of in this territory! Not to mention that it had been reduced to a situation where "there were hungry people in the wild". How could this be called prosperity?
"This old man is lying through his teeth! How can it be called prosperity when people are starving to death? " Sui Xiong said angrily, "He is so old, but he is still talking nonsense. Isn't he afraid of death and going to hell?"
"For the nobles, as long as the dignity of the nobles can be maintained, it is considered prosperity," Ray said with a sneer, "As for hell … I'm afraid he really doesn't need to go there. He is so old, but he is still trying to maintain the glory of the nobles. After his death, he will probably be taken to the Holy Kingdom of the noble maids. "
"This kind of person is accepted? The God of Aristocracy is really not picky! "
"Kind Gods accept kind people, and evil Gods accept evil people. Birds of a feather flock together," Ray said lightly, "Is the noble maids a kind person herself?"
Sui Xiong sighed and felt deeply speechless.
Until now, he still could not understand why people in this world would worship evil Gods. Was there any difference between evil Gods and demons? Anyway, in his opinion, they were almost the same …
On the high platform, the old baron slowly finished introducing the "story background", and then he changed the topic and finally got down to business.
The former Viscount of Geerteng died of an acute illness. The time from the onset of the illness to his death was very short, and he did not even have a chance to be clear-headed and make funeral arrangements. In addition, he had no children, and he did not appoint an heir when he was alive, so the inheritance was vacant. In theory, every descendant of the Geerteng Family was qualified to compete for the inheritance.
When the old Duke was alive, because Steele was the only close relative, everyone thought that Steele was the heir to the Duke's title. Who knew that as soon as he died, an illegitimate son would jump out of nowhere. Moreover, he had a set of solid evidence that was enough to prove his identity.
It wasn't until then that everyone suddenly realized why the old Viscount had been unwilling to give the inheritance to Steele. It turned out that he still had an illegitimate child!
Obviously, the old Viscount wanted to pass the title to his illegitimate son. It was just that he hadn't found a suitable opportunity to bring this child, who had been secretly born outside, into the light of day.
According to the rules, as long as an illegitimate child was recognized, he would also have the right to inherit. The secret document left by the old Viscount did recognize the child's identity, so he had the right to inherit. If he hadn't appeared too late and hadn't been recognized by the old Viscount, the title should have been directly passed on to him.
So now the situation of the Viscount of Geerteng was very awkward. On one side was the rightful heir for a long time, and on the other side was the legal heir who had never been recognized. Neither side would give way to the other. If it wasn't properly solved, there might even be a civil war.
Of course, if it hadn't been for the appearance of Ray, Steele would have died long ago. Even if she hadn't died, no one would support a stupid woman who was good at nothing except seducing men, even though she was not stupid at all and was quite scheming.
Or it could be looked at from another perspective — if Steele's style was not so bad and her reputation was not so bad, there would have been other nobles who would have come to marry her and support her. Once there was a noble whose status was no lower than that of the Viscount of Geerteng, her inheritance would be as stable as a mountain. An illegitimate child who had not been recognized publicly, even if there were more documents to support him, he was not qualified to compete with her at all!
All in all, it was such a coincidence!
Although the old baron spoke slowly, his articulation was very clear. He rambled on and explained the cause and effect of the matter clearly. He even asked the nobles and representatives who attended the meeting to make sure that everyone understood. Finally, he ended his presentation.
Next, it was time for the two people who were fighting for the inheritance to wrestle.
There were generally two ways of fighting for the inheritance, one was civil and the other was military.
Needless to say, the military way was a duel between the two parties. The winner would inherit the title, and the loser would immediately pack up and leave even if he didn't die. From then on, he would be deprived of his surname and lose his noble identity.
As far as Sui was concerned, he hoped that the two parties would have a duel, because the scene would be more interesting. But the fight for the inheritance had to be fought in person, and no one was allowed to replace him. Neither Romon nor Steele wanted to risk their lives to fight, so there was no chance of this.
From this point of view, Romon actually lacked courage. A swindler was also a kind of minstrel, a serious adventurer. Not only was he good at talking, but he was also good at fighting. If it was a one-on-one fight, not to mention an ordinary strong man, even a well-trained and fully armed soldier might not be able to defeat him. In contrast, even if Steele had learned some noble swordsmanship, how could she be a match for him?
But Romon didn't think so. In his opinion, as a person with a high IQ, he should use wisdom rather than force to win. Just like Liu Bang said, "I'd rather fight with my wits than with my strength." If he fought directly, he would lose his life, which would be a great loss!
As for Steele, of course, she was not willing to fight with him. She had also practiced martial arts, and her noble swordsmanship was quite gorgeous. It would be absolutely amazing if she performed a sword dance at a banquet, and it would be no problem for her to fight with Romon, who had the courage to fight for the title of nobility? Then forget it, it would be slightly suspicious of her …
Since both sides were not willing to fight with force, of course, they could only fight with words.
The Literary Battle was very similar to the debates on Earth. First, both sides would take turns to state their strengths and weaknesses clearly. Then, they would debate and attack each other. It would be best if they could scold their opponent until he suffered a heart attack. If they still could not decide who was better in the debate, it would be handed over to the nobles and representatives who attended the meeting to decide. The winner would be chosen to inherit the title, and the loser would still have to pack up and leave, stripped of their noble status.
Anyway, since they dared to fight for the right of inheritance, they should be mentally prepared to lose everything. It was the same no matter where they were.
Romon was the first to state his statement. He deserved to be a senior swindler, and he played the role of an illegitimate son who had never been able to see the light of day because of his poor family background. As for his action of fighting for the right of inheritance, his explanation was that he didn't want to let a cheap woman insult the reputation of the Geerteng Family — it was absolutely not out of selfishness.
This reason was really lofty, especially his righteous look, which greatly enhanced his persuasiveness. With his handsome appearance, his temperament, after putting on makeup, was 60 to 70 percent similar to the late Old Viscount, which moved many nobles who had a good relationship with the late Old Viscount.
In fact, the fact that the old Viscount had an illegitimate son was not very secret. Although few people in the territory knew about it, some of his best friends probably knew about it. Perhaps this was also the ambush plan of the old Viscount at the beginning, in case of any accidents, there were still some old friends who could support his son.
But he never dreamed that his son had been killed by Romon in a muddle-headed way, and his identity was impersonated by Romon, who wanted to take his place.
Those nobles had already been ready to support the son of their old friend. At this moment, seeing that the child was not only dignified but also had the temperament of their old friend, they could not help but feel inexplicably moved. An emotional old man couldn't help but shed tears as he muttered to himself, "It's too similar! So similar! "
Well, similar, that was for sure. Romon was a professional. Even if the biological son of the old Viscount was here, he probably couldn't act more realistically than him!
Of course, the more important reason was that this "respectable" old noble had already received benefits from Romon, and he guaranteed that he would push Romon to the position.
There were many similar situations. Anyway, Sui Xiong had discovered these days, and those who had been bribed by Romon in advance or had already negotiated with him privately, accounted for at least one-third of the people present.
The one who was wiping his tears with a handkerchief was an actor, the one who was as strong as a bear a few seats away was an actor, and the two marquises who came from the capital of the Commonwealth of Gold Coins were probably strong foreign aid, plus a few who had more business dealings with the territory of Geerteng …
After careful calculation, it was no wonder that Romon was so confident. The respected seniors supported him, the powerful masters supported him, the marquises with the highest status in the entire Commonwealth supported him, and the business partners who were closely related to the territory of Geerteng supported him … If it weren't for the necessary process of the aristocratic succession battle, and the sacred and inviolable battle on the high platform, Sui Xiong felt that he would not even need to hold a meeting, and he could directly announce the succession.
Master, he was indeed a master!
In contrast, Steele's performance was much worse. Although she spoke beautifully and emphasized that she was the only heir for a long time, and that her inheritance was not only in line with the aristocratic practice, but also far better to maintain the peace and stability of the territory than having a lord out of nowhere, it could be seen that she actually did not have much confidence. When she spoke, her eyes were flickering, and she even glanced at Ray from time to time. It seemed that she could only maintain her courage when she saw the steady figure of the black-armored knight.
Not to mention, there were only a few nobles and representatives who had really won over her support. Except for a few people who were born in the territory of Geerteng, or those who had an unclear relationship with her, almost no one had supported her in advance.
And even those who had supported her in advance, at this moment, looked at her and their attitudes were somewhat shaken.
There was no other way, comparison was odious. The gap between the two of them was really too big!
To be honest, if there was no other choice, Steele could be regarded as a barely acceptable heir. It was not a big deal for the nobles to have a corrupt style. When Her Majesty the Noble Maid was still a mortal, her style was not much better than Steele's. At most, she did not attack magical beasts. Thinking about it carefully, she even dared to attack magical beasts, which was really admirable …
However, since there was Romon, who was obviously a much better candidate, Steele, this weirdo, should not make a fool of herself in the viscount's position. She should quietly find a corner to quietly bloom, so as not to stimulate the fragile hearts of the nobles.
Therefore, even before the debate began, most of the nobles and representatives had secretly come to a conclusion in their hearts.
Sui Xiong felt like he was sitting in the audience of "If You Are the One", watching the two guests go on the stage. Romon went on the stage and only said a few words, but all the female guests had their eyes lit up and were dancing, staring at him like hungry wolves, as if they wanted to tear him into pieces and eat him. As for Steele … As soon as she went on the stage, the male guests put their hands on the button to turn off the lights, looked around, and waited for the first big brother to take action.
The gap was so obvious!
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