"Sir William!"
The Count's wife, Lady Amaris, spoke with a thick, sweet voice like cheese and honey, "No! Perhaps I should call you Baron William … We've met a few times at the Earl's banquet! "
"I'm sure the Madam has heard of the Earl's misfortune. My condolences!"
Wu Ming said apologetically, "Fortunately, the Madam managed to escape from the castle. It's truly gratifying!"
He had always had a question in his mind.
When the Viscount of Eagle Castle rebelled and the Highland Knights schemed and suddenly attacked, the Countess had actually managed to escape successfully. Not only that, she had even taken a few children with her and successfully evaded capture. This was truly inconceivable.
But if the Countess was a witch who possessed magic and was the ruler of the entire underground black market, then everything would make sense.
"Does the Earl know about the Madam?"
After a moment of silence, Wu Ming suddenly asked.
"What is it?"
Lady Amaris giggled, her eyes like the night moon staring at Wu Ming, "Is it about witches? Or the underground black market? "
"Did the Madam admit it?"
With his guess confirmed, Wu Ming's expression turned solemn.
A witch and the master of the underground black market basically controlled half of Howling City. This was enough to cause him some trouble.
Of course, the other party's appearance here tonight was a sign of submission and was looking for a possibility of cooperation.
However, the bottom line of both sides still needed to be tested.
"That's right, the underground black market's operations are indeed related to me!"
Lady Amaris admitted frankly, "The Earl doesn't know about these things, including my identity as a witch!"
'Poor Earl of Blue Mountain …'
Wu Ming silently mourned for his former lord, 'Madam, you didn't go to the Xiongshi family or the Viscount of Eagle Castle, but came to me instead. What request do you have?'
Alice hesitated for a moment.
Originally, even if Sir William was a very powerful warrior, she was confident that she could use her charm and some inherited spells to make him submit to her.
But now, the moment she saw him, she knew that it was impossible.
"I'm here on behalf of the merchants. Your curfew and other decrees have greatly damaged their interests!"
After a while, the Madam said in a low voice.
"I will protect all legal businesses as long as they pay taxes!"
Wu Ming replied with a smile.
"You want to touch the black market?"
Alice's pupils shrank slightly, but this was also reasonable. She quickly weighed the pros and cons and proposed a few more conditions. "Then … you must guarantee the rights of all the black market merchants, the right of passage for the dark mercenaries, and …"
"Wait!"
Wu Ming looked at the insatiable woman. "I said 'legal'!"
He deliberately emphasized the last two words. "All actions in the black market must comply with my orders. If you do not understand, you can go to Carlos' territory and have a look."
"Do you want to start a war?"
Alice's complexion immediately turned rather unsightly.
She had naturally heard about what Carlos had done. The number of free people there left her dumbfounded, not to mention the activities of freeing the serfs. After carefully understanding Wu Ming's policies, she almost thought that Wu Ming was a saint who was ready to abolish slavery completely.
Those who were half a step ahead of the times were geniuses, and those who were one step ahead were lunatics!
Of course, Wu Ming also knew his limits. He did not carry out drastic reforms from the beginning. Even if the serfs were freed, it was on the condition that they be redeemed. Those who could really immediately raise enough money to redeem their land and become free people were still in the minority.
Moreover, he did not completely abolish slavery. He only imposed a heavy tax on the merchants who kept a large number of slaves and guided them to a certain extent.
Even so, the territory of Carlos, in the Wind Fireflies Plain, already had the title of the 'Free City', attracting the yearning of many serfs and slaves.
"If you forcibly implement the laws of Carlos, the black market merchants will see it as a provocation!"
In order to protect the interests of the black market, the Countess said coldly.
"If you say so, then so be it!"
Wu Ming didn't budge even half a step. There seemed to be a flash of golden light in his eyes. The next moment, Alice quivered. She was surrounded by a powerful omen of death, as if she was surrounded by a group of giant dragons.
Her face turned pale, and she could not help but fall silent.
After a long time, Alice replied bitterly, "I am proficient in astrology and have a little power to see through the fog of the future … I can't see the possibility of failure with you!"
"It's good that you can understand this!"
Compromise did not mean that there was no bottom line. If the other party was stubborn, Wu Ming did not mind spending effort to uproot the entire black market!
With his perception, coupled with the power of the people, and the location of the black market, the other party did not have much power to resist.
Although the subsequent revenge might bring trouble, that was also the problem of the Night Watchmen.
In the beginning, the wealth they had plundered from the black market merchants was enough for them to use for a while.
However, this witch actually had a little power of prophecy, which made Wu Ming slightly surprised.
It's a pity that the real Great Prophecy can see fate. It's not something that a little witch like you can peep into …
A real prophecy should be able to see the general trend of the world and control the fate of the world, at least with the status of the world.
Other astrology, crystal prophecy, and the like were not only shrouded in fog, but if a powerful person like Wu Ming did not want her to see it, she would not be able to see it at all. She could even deliberately release a false future to confuse the prophecy master.
Therefore, most of these prophecies died miserably. Many of them had schizophrenia and became crazy from then on.
Alice bit her peach-like plump and bright red lips. She seemed to be hesitating and weighing the pros and cons. Finally, she glanced at the Dragon Heart Sword hanging on Wu Ming's waist and finally made a decision. "You can get what you want, but you have to follow one condition of mine. The only condition!"
"Please speak!"
Wu Ming said noncommittally.
"I have a daughter named Aida. She's already sixteen years old this year!"
Alice looked into Wu Ming's eyes. "I want you to marry her and make her your wife!"
"If you can do that! I promise you that all the black market merchants will spare no effort to support you in obtaining the final victory of the war, and there will be other benefits that you can't even imagine! "
Her voice was bewitching, like a venom that could paralyze the nerves. "I can tell you that the count's eldest son had died in battle with him. His other sons also died in the chaos. If you marry little Aida, you can inherit the count's title!"
Wu Ming narrowed his eyes. 'This woman …'
As the Count's third wife, Amaris did not have any sons. She only had a few daughters, but it was unknown whether it was because of her witch bloodline.
The death of the Count's eldest son in the battle could be considered an accident, but the other sons of the concubines and the youngest also died in the chaos of war. Only the Countess managed to escape with her own daughter. Wasn't this too much of a coincidence?
If he thought about the Count's previous wife's seemingly normal death …
Wu Ming felt that the beautiful witch in front of him had already changed, like a piece of honey wrapped in poison.
"I'm not the only son-in-law of our Magical Beast Count!"
However, Wu Ming would not reject this benefit that was delivered to his doorstep.
When he first used the Dragonheart longsword and pretended to be a blueblood, he had the intention of unifying the blueblood dukes of the Wind Firefly Plains.
In order to achieve this goal, he needed to marry a daughter of a noble with a powerful background and a pure-blooded bloodline.
Without a doubt, the Count of Blue Mountain's first wife's daughter fulfilled this requirement the best!
"Hehe …"
Seeing that Baron William had agreed, Alice's face lit up with excitement. "How can the Count's other sons-in-law be a match for you?"
Her eyes shone. It was obvious that she was a woman with a strong desire for power.
Wu Ming was secretly on his guard, but he immediately smiled. "I have no more questions … You can rest here for a night. Tomorrow, bring your ladies over. I will announce to the public that I found you in Howl City and am engaged to Miss Aida!"
"Rest for a night? Of course! "
Alice stared blankly for a moment, then immediately revealed a bewitching smile …
… …
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Several days later, a dozen or so wooden cannons on Howl City let out astonishing roars.
Enormous metal bullets smashed into the center of the army. Under the terrifying impact, even knights would be turned into meat patties if they were hit head-on.
And the wooden cannons were filled with metal shards and nails, which were great weapons against ordinary infantry.
The cloth and leather armor they wore couldn't stop this kind of scattered attack at all. Within the fan-shaped attack range of the exploding bullets, a large number of them collapsed.
"No, we have to retreat!"
Viscount Garcia said gloomily from atop his horse in the center of the square formation. He watched this scene and the blue tiger flag on Howl City.
After the allied army, he only had less than five thousand subordinates. Among them, Sir Smith was rather unruly and disobeyed orders.
On the other side, Baron William had four thousand soldiers! And they had the advantage of defending the city, as well as such terrifying weapons.
"Retreat? Why retreat? "
As expected, as soon as the order was given, the infantry retreated like a receding tide. Sir Smith came looking for him, flustered and exasperated. "Have you forgotten the family's mission?"
"Please watch your words, Sir Smith!"
Garcia's expression was grave and stern. "Baron William's strength isn't inferior to ours, and look … there are already militia on the city walls! What does this mean? It means that he has already obtained the support of all of Howl City! Even if only ten percent of the citizens are willing to fight for him, we will still have to face over ten thousand people! "
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