Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation The messenger sent by Duke Handa was still an old acquaintance, Count Churjwick. But this time, his face was pale and he looked depressed. After entering the tent, he respectfully saluted the second prince. "Count Nottingham Churjwick of Handa Duchy pays his respects to Your Majesty."
The second prince's face was livid. He was angry that Laurist refused to carry out his attack order. It was as if he had never heard of Count Churjwick's salute. It was not until Duke Fisabulon coughed that he came back to his senses.
Casually waving his hand, the second prince said impatiently, "You there, if you have something to say, just say it. What does that traitor Handa want to say by asking you to come here?"
Count Churjwick's pale face immediately turned red. The second prince's careless attitude and rude words made him feel very resentful. He straightened his body and glared at the second prince. "Your Majesty, please respect the honor of a noble. I'm Count Nottingham Churjwick, not you there! Besides, our Duke is not a traitor. He has never rebelled against the empire! "
"Hehe, traitors never admit to their crimes. As for you, an Earl appointed by a traitor, I'm already being very polite by calling you that … "The second prince laughed instead of getting angry.
"Is that so? So Your Majesty also regards your ancestors as traitors. In that case, I have nothing to say. But I am very doubtful that a person who regards his ancestors as traitors has the right to claim to inherit the great Crisen Empire! "Count Churjwick did not show any weakness.
"What did you say?" The second prince was furious. What he cared about the most was the legitimacy of the Crisen Royal Family. Now that he was accused by Count Churjwick for no reason, he immediately flew into a rage. He wanted to draw his sword and kill the messenger standing in front of him.
Churjwick sneered without batting an eyelid.
Duke Fisabulon had to step forward to smooth things over. "Your Majesty, please calm down. This envoy is the current head of the Nottingham Family, the descendant of the Blood Knight Nottingham Jedweiss. His title was bestowed by Christensen VI, not appointed by Duke Handa … "
The second prince was stunned, and it took him a long time to recover. He asked in surprise, "Blood Knight Nottingham Jedweiss? Then why is he with Duke Handa? "
The second prince realized that he had said the wrong thing. He could claim that Grand Duke Handa was a traitor, but he could not accuse the Nottingham Family of being traitors as well. It would be a joke if word got out. In the history of the Christen Empire, Christen VI was a mediocre emperor. He only reigned for 17 years. In the short span of seventeen years, he continued Chrison V's policy and continued to invade the Ford Commercial Union. During his reign, he had only personally sent troops to attack the Ford Commercial Union once.
It was also this time that the Nottingham Family's reputation was established by the Emperor's personal expedition. Christensen VI's expedition was one of the few major defeats in the history of the Christen Empire against the Ford Commercial Union. Not only was the army defeated, but Christensen VI was also heavily surrounded. Fortunately, the various armed forces of the Commercial Union did not realize this at that time. They were prepared to deal with the fleeing enemies first, and then deal with the enemies that were already surrounded. Eat the meat first, then gnaw the bones.
It was also at this time that Baron Nottingham Jedweiss, who was a step late, arrived at the battlefield with his family's armed forces of more than one thousand three hundred men. However, the outcome of the war had already been decided, and he could not do anything about it. He could only gather the fleeing soldiers and defend the defensive line. When it was almost dusk, some of the fleeing nobles and ministers finally gathered together. Only then did they realize that they had lost Christensen VI.
However, these nobles and ministers had long been frightened by the Ford Commercial Union's armed forces. It was not easy for them to escape, and they only knew how to pass the buck to each other. No one dared to lead the troops to search for and rescue Christensen VI. Baron Nottingham Jedweiss was furious when he saw this. He brought his family's armed forces back to the battlefield to search for Christensen VI.
It was unknown how many bloody battles Baron Nottingham Jedweiss had experienced, but in the end, he was lucky enough to rescue Christensen VI and avoid the tragedy of the Emperor falling into the enemy's hands. However, when he returned with Christensen VI, out of the more than one thousand three hundred men of his family's armed forces, only thirteen of them were still with him. The baron was covered in blood and fainted on the ground. During the rescue, they found that there were a total of forty-six wounds on his body.
Looking at Baron Nottingham Jedweiss, who was covered in blood, and remembering how he took the lead to charge into battle, opened a path for him, and protected him from the encirclement. Christensen VI was very touched and called him his Blood Knight. He promoted the Nottingham family's title from baron to earl on the spot. It was this failed battle that made the Nottingham family's reputation of unparalleled loyalty, and became the role model of the noble knights.
The second prince did not hear Earl Churjwick's family name clearly, and called him a rebellious earl. This was indeed a slap in the face. Christensen VI should be his great-grandfather. The Nottingham family was promoted to earl by Christensen VI himself. This was a fact that all the aristocratic families of the Empire knew.
"Your Majesty, the Nottingham family's territory is in the Westwood province. During the Empire's civil war, the Westwood province was entrusted to Duke Handa by the late king, and became the Handa family's territory. Later, the armistice agreement was signed, and it belonged to Handa Principality. So, the Nottingham family became a subordinate aristocrat of Duke Handa's territory. "Duke Fisablun explained.
After listening to Duke Fisabulon's explanation, the second prince made an unexpected move. He walked up to Earl Chugwick and bowed solemnly. "I'm sorry, Earl Nottingham Chugwick. I sincerely apologize to you for my indiscretions and rudeness. Please forgive my ignorance and offense."
Earl Churjwick was moved and quickly reached out to help him up. "Your Majesty, you don't have to be so polite. I took the liberty to ask for an audience and didn't make it clear. That's why you made a mistake. I don't deserve your courtesy."
The second prince smiled and said, "Correct your mistakes as long as the Earl of Nottingham doesn't mind."
Earl Churjwick waved his hand. "Your Majesty, just call me by my name. Please don't call me the Earl of Nottingham …"
"Oh, why is that?"
"Your Majesty, before my father died, he asked me to inherit the title and territory. His last words were that the Nottingham family now belonged to Handa Principality. Before the empire was revived, we shouldn't use the name Nottingham anymore. We can only use the name before the title. He said that Nottingham will always be the Nottingham of the Crimson Empire …"
After listening to Earl Churjwick's statement, the second prince was very moved. "The Nottingham family is indeed the role model of the empire's aristocracy and the symbol of loyalty!"
After sighing, he glanced at Laurist. Laurist curled his lips …
"Come, please sit down, Earl Churjwick. Someone, serve tea and ask the kitchen steward to prepare a banquet. I want to invite the earl to a banquet. "The second prince ordered the guard beside him.
After the host and guests were seated, the second prince asked with a smile, "Earl Churjwick, I wonder what brings you here today?"
Earl Churjwick said, "Your Majesty, I'm actually here on the orders of Duke Handa. I mainly want to ask how Your Majesty can agree to the peace and armistice of the four central dukes."
The second prince shook his head. "Earl, I can't forgive the rebellious behavior of the four central dukes. I have great respect for the Nottingham family's loyalty. If you want to return to the kingdom, I'd welcome you very much. But I hope that you won't get involved with those rebels, Earl. "
"Your Majesty, you're wrong. The four central dukes are not rebels. They have never betrayed you." Earl Churjwick argued.
"Never betrayed me? Haha, when I conquered the Redelis Kingdom, if the four central dukes had responded, the empire would have been unified long ago. But those four rebels refused to remove the duchy title. They were greedy for power and refused to return to the revived empire. Instead, they colluded with the Trade Alliance and the rebels of the Redelis Kingdom to fight against me. In the end, my efforts to unify the empire failed, and I lost the capital. I vowed to punish these rebels for their crimes. In any case, they can't stop my determination to unify and revive the empire. " The second prince stood up and angrily expressed that he would never forgive the rebellious behavior of the four central dukes.
Earl Churjwick applauded. "Your Majesty, I appreciate your efforts to revive and unify the empire. All the nobles who are loyal to the empire understand your determination. But you're still wrong. The four central dukes have never betrayed you. They are not rebels of the empire.
As everyone knew, the families of the four central grand dukes had always been loyal to the empire since the era of the empire. Whether it was fighting against the rebels or sending troops to the trade union, they had always contributed troops and never disappointed the empire. In the battle against the empire's enemies, the families of the four central grand dukes had sacrificed many of their family members for the empire.
Until the outbreak of the empire's civil war, when the three kings fought for the throne, the four central dukes had always supported the late king, believing that he was the legitimate heir of the Crimson Royal Family. They firmly refused the temptation and solicitation of the eldest prince and the second prince, and sent their families' armed forces to help the late king quell the rebellion. As a result, the eldest prince and the second prince took revenge and their territories were greatly damaged. Because of this, the late king entrusted the remaining four central provinces to the four grand dukes as a reward. Your Majesty, you won't deny these facts, will you?
With the full support of the four central dukes, the late king's troops defeated the eldest prince and the second prince. When the rebellion was about to be quelled, the Madras Grand Duke unexpectedly raised the flag of rebellion and cut off the communication channel between the four central dukes and the imperial capital. As a result, the empire's civil war continued. At that time, the four central dukes had been fighting for years and were tired, so they had no choice but to band together to protect themselves. They were unable to send troops to quell the rebellion.
It was not until the Trade Alliance sent someone to mediate that a truce was signed and the empire's civil war was quelled. The four central dukes were established with the approval of the late king. The four grand dukes told the late king that once the Andenac Kingdom had the hope of reviving the empire, they would raise their troops and return to the empire's embrace. Because of this, they were hated by the eldest prince. Not long after the four central dukes were established, they were attacked by the eldest prince. The war lasted for three years.
At that time, the Andenac Kingdom was assassinated and was in chaos. It was only when His Majesty came to power that the situation in the kingdom was stabilized. At that time, His Majesty trained the army and the four central dukes did not care about the people's poverty and wealth. When they received His Majesty's letter asking for help, they squeezed out money from the gaps between their teeth to support His Majesty. Your Majesty, is this the truth?
When His Majesty sent out a surprise attack on the capital of Felix and defeated the Redelis Kingdom, the four central dukes and the nobles of the dukedoms were overjoyed. They thought that there was hope of reviving the empire. However, when His Majesty's troops arrived at the four central dukes, he suddenly made a harsh request. He wanted the four central dukes to remove their titles and transfer them to other places. Moreover, the places that they were transferred to belonged to the Madras Duchy. On what basis? Your Majesty, how could you give such an order? What did the four central dukes do to you and the kingdom? What mistake did they make to make you treat them like this? Could a mere excuse of not sending troops to help convince them?
When the news came, almost all the nobles of the dukedoms were indignant. You did not even show up yourself and let a knight under you announce such an order to us. That was why the four central dukes raised their troops to resist, and all the nobles of the dukedoms joined them. Your Majesty, we are not rebels. We are only resisting an unfair order. This is what all nobles with a conscience would do! The four central dukes are not rebels, and we are not rebels either! "
Count Churjwick became more and more agitated as he spoke. Laurist laughed at the side. He had heard this version of the story once, but it was rare to see the second prince being questioned like this. He believed that with the second prince's temperament, he would make such a decision. Back then, he had led 300,000 troops to attack the capital of Felicia. He was proud of himself and thought that unifying the empire would be a piece of cake. Therefore, it was not surprising that the second prince gave such conditions to the four central dukedoms. It could only be said that he had been blinded by victory at that time.
The second prince glared at Lollister with a dark expression, then said to Count Churjwick awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Count. When I was raiding Fedeliga's capital, I caught a cold and was injured while crossing the Great Snowy Mountain. I've been bedridden all this time. I've never issued such an unfair order. It's possible that my knights misunderstood my order and had such a misunderstanding … "
The second prince blamed the knights who died in the battle for his misdeeds, but he was indeed seriously ill at that time and rarely appeared in front of people.
Count Churjwick did not expect the second prince to answer like this. After a moment of shock, he immediately responded, "Your Majesty, since it is a misunderstanding, can we stop the war now? The war between the kingdom and the four central dukedoms has hurt the vitality of the empire. The four central dukes have never opposed to returning to the embrace of the empire. They also hope to revive the great Crimson Empire. "
The second prince pondered for a moment and sat down again. "Count, I think Grand Duke Handa should have mentioned their request when you came. Tell me about it."
"Your Majesty, the four central dukes are willing to remove their dukedom titles and return to your command. At the same time, they are willing to offer you three million gold fords as a tribute. Their only request is to stay in their traditional family territory." Count Churjwick stated the minimum request of the four central dukes in a concise manner.
Laurist winked at Grand Duke Fisablun, meaning to say, look, the one million gold fords they promised to give to our two families is gone, and now they are offering it to the second prince.
"How about this, Count. Rest here for a few days. I will consider this request," the second prince said politely to Count Churjwick.
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