Three days passed quickly. Early in the morning on the 17th of August, Laurist saw the messenger sent by the Second Prince, urging him to hurry to the main tent as soon as possible to receive the envoys from the Trade Alliance.
Laurist had no choice but to wash up and change into a noble's attire. He ordered Bofinger to take care of the defense of the camp, and then brought Redi, Genolio, and a thousand guards to the central district of the White Lion Legion where His Royal Highness was.
His Royal Highness probably wanted to show off the might of the Andinac Kingdom's million-strong army in front of the emissary from the Commerce Alliance. When they were ten miles away from the White Lion Legion's camp, they saw a thousand White Lion Legion soldiers lined up neatly along both sides of the road. Their armor and weapons were brand new, but they all looked a little tired. It seemed like His Royal Highness had been tormenting them for the past two days to show off his military might in front of the emissary. This was etiquette, and it also represented the Kingdom's strength and reputation. Laurist could not say anything about it.
The mudstone road that was originally full of potholes was also filled and compacted overnight, and a layer of fine white river sand was laid on top of it. This was really a big deal. I really don't know where the second prince got so much sand to pave the road for ten miles. Perhaps he had already prepared for it.
The ten-mile road was covered with white sand. From a high vantage point, it looked like a white belt winding across the verdant plains. According to Laurist's knowledge of noble etiquette, he knew that this was the highest etiquette to express the desire for peace. Such a road was called the Path of Peace. In the history of the Galinthea Continent, there were a total of seven records of such a Path of Peace. The shortest peace agreement reached was at least twenty years old.
Haha, it seems like His Royal Highness' desire to reach a peace agreement with the Commerce Alliance is very strong. He used a million-strong army to force the Commerce Alliance, and used the Path of Peace to express his sincerity. If it was between two kingdoms, perhaps the other party would be moved and give in. Unfortunately, His Royal Highness stood on the traditional standpoint of the nobles to deal with the merchants who valued profit above all else. It was unknown if he would be able to get what he wanted.
Soldiers stood guard at the entrance of the Path of Peace. They used wooden barricades to block the road. Loriste pulled the reins and stopped his horse. A centurion of the White Lion Legion ran over and explained to Lollister the reason why the road was closed to traffic.
Loriste nodded kindly. He pulled on the reins and turned his horse into the wilderness, leading his guards to the White Lion Legion's camp. There was nothing to complain about. The road to peace would only open after the envoy passed by. This was common sense, and Loriste would not fuss over such a small matter. He also knew that if he brought a thousand men and horses and insisted on taking this path, not only would the path be paved with white sand, it would also leave a feeling of arrogance and despotism.
Twenty minutes later, the White Lion Legion's camp appeared in front of them. Laurist knew that it wouldn't be easy to walk through the gate today, so he turned to the side. Sure enough, there was a small door over there, and people were coming and going. It was very lively.
As he approached, Laurist discovered that even the wooden fences of the camp had been tidied up. Not only had the damaged areas been repaired, even the top of the uneven wooden fences had been leveled to the same level. It seemed that His Royal Highness had spent a lot of effort on these projects, hoping to present the perfect state of the camp to the envoy from the Commerce Alliance.
The inside of the camp was even more so. Cleanliness and tidiness were the most basic requirements. Lollister even saw a group of soldiers with fiery red feathers on their helmets patrolling the camp with a large wooden club under their arms. An unlucky fellow spat on the ground and was caught by them. He was then held down and hit on the buttocks ten times.
The only thing that didn't match the solemn atmosphere of the camp was the colorful flags everywhere. There were countless of them, big and small. It made Laurist feel like he was participating in a garden activity. When they arrived at the central district, Laurist realized that compared to the central district, the barracks outside only had a single flag fluttering in the wind. It was already considered very simple.
The second prince had obviously spent a lot of effort on the decoration of the central district. Not to mention the other things, just the wooden fence alone was wrapped in a large amount of colorful silk, turning it into a colorful wall, like a vertical flower garden decorated with flowers. As for the central district, the original big and small tents had all been torn down, and in their place was a majestic and magnificent palace.
Palace? Laurist was stunned, and then he opened his eyes to take a closer look. A light breeze blew past, and Laurist's sharp eyes immediately discovered that the entire roof of the palace that was facing him was swaying gently. Oh, it was still a tent, but this tent was bigger and had walls and roofs painted on the outside. If one didn't look carefully, they wouldn't be able to tell that it was just for show.
A royal guard came forward, and Laurist dismounted from his horse, and a servant came to lead the horse away. Laurist brought Redi and Genolio to the palace-like tent, while the guards behind him received them and led them to a special resting area. At the same time, they kept explaining the rules of the camp to them so that the guards wouldn't accidentally bump into the Trade Alliance's envoys.
After entering the tent, Laurist discovered that the inside was also separated into a main hall and side hall. Of course, Laurist understood that these were all just for show, but he was curious as to how the second prince had only spent three days to transform the tent into a palace.
The second prince and many nobles stayed in the main hall. The main hall was decorated like a real royal hall. There was a platform with stairs and a black gold-threaded carpet. There was also a shiny golden chair on the carpet. Yes, that was the throne.
The second prince did not sit on the throne, but stood below the platform and chatted with the nobles. Laurist saw him from afar, as the second prince was wearing a golden crown on his head today. It was very eye-catching among the nobles who did not wear hats.
All the nobles in the main hall wore formal noble attire with swords at their waists. This was a custom left behind from the Crisen Empire. Nobles would wear formal attire and carry swords at formal occasions to show their valiance, and to show that they did not forget their ancestors' contributions to the empire. Of course, there was a rumor that during a certain period of the empire, duels were very popular. Carrying a sword at all times made it convenient for them to draw their sword and fight on the spot.
Seeing that Laurist brought Redi and Genolio into the main tent, the second prince waved at them from afar. After the greeting ceremony, Laurist noticed that the second prince's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked a little tired. He could not help but ask, "Your Majesty, did you not rest last night? You don't look good. "
"Is that so?" The second prince touched his face and said with a smile, "I couldn't sleep at the thought of reaching a peace agreement with the envoys from the Trade Alliance and fulfilling my long-cherished wish of unifying the empire. I haven't slept for two days. But it doesn't matter. I can have a good rest after today. "
No matter what, the second prince was a level one swordsman. It was fine for him to not sleep for three days and two nights, but he did not look good.
Laurist advised, "Your Majesty, it is still early. The envoys from the Trade Alliance will only arrive in one or two hours. Why don't you take this time to close your eyes and rest for a while? When you fall asleep, the guards will wake you up. It doesn't matter if you can't sleep. An hour or two of rest will make you look better, and your eyes will not be bloodshot … "
The second prince was tempted, "Alright, I will listen to you. I will go rest for a while, lest the envoys see me with bloodshot eyes and leave a bad impression. Do as you wish. Just order the servants if you need anything. "
After the second prince left, the nobles in the main hall felt more at ease. They found their own seats and sat down. Some drank tea, some chatted, and some teased the maids beside them. However, everyone knew that they had important matters to attend to today, and the ridiculous scene that Laurist had seen the last time did not happen.
Duke Kempis appeared out of nowhere with Duke Şahin and brought the three of them to a small room at the side of the main tent. There was a small table filled with food and juice drinks.
"What are you doing here? Where's Felim? "Laurist asked.
"Felim hasn't arrived yet. I brought you here to eat something so that you won't be hungry later." Duke Kempis said.
"How did you know there was food here?" Redi asked. He had followed Laurist here without eating anything. When he saw so much food on the table, he immediately grabbed a roasted leg of lamb and started munching on it.
"How did I know there was food here?" Duke Kempis said proudly, "I decorated this entire place. It was a simple matter for me to ask the kitchen manager to make something for me."
"You said that you were the one who made this palace-like tent?" Laurist asked in surprise.
"Of course. His Majesty wanted to tear down the original tent and build a simple palace to receive the envoy, but he didn't have the time to carry out construction. I saw that he was in a difficult position, so I represented the Snow Salt Merchant Guild and built a compound tent. Then, I hired painters and designers to decorate the tent like a palace. It was a good business, and we earned twenty thousand gold coins in three days. "Duke Kempis replied in high spirits.
From Duke Kempis' expression, it could be seen that the second prince had been slaughtered like a fat sheep. However, who asked him to be greedy for fame? It was no wonder that Duke Kempis sharpened his blade so quickly.
They ate and drank in the small room. After a while, Duke Phelim also came, and after a while, Grand Duke Fisablun also came over shamelessly. While eating, he blamed Duke Kemus for not preparing good wine, and was not enjoying himself.
About an hour later, when it was almost noon, the sound of a horn could be heard from afar. Everyone's spirits rose. The envoy from the Trade Alliance had finally arrived. They hurriedly tidied up their clothes and walked out of the small room to the large tent.
The second prince had also woken up. After a short nap, he was in high spirits. His eyes were no longer bloodshot, and his complexion was much rosier. At this moment, he was standing in the large tent, listening to a scout report on the envoy's whereabouts.
The scout said that the envoy had brought a hundred guards and was already on the Peace Road covered in white sand in a luxurious carriage. They would arrive at the military camp gate in about twenty minutes.
The second prince said happily that everyone should follow him to the military camp gate to welcome the arrival of the envoy.
Duke Fisablun stood up and thought that the second prince's action was inappropriate. After all, as the king of the Andenac Kingdom, how could he lower himself to welcome the envoy? He should be sitting on the throne and waiting for the envoy to come before him. That was in line with the etiquette of nobles and royalty. He blabbered a lot.
The second prince humbly accepted Duke Fisablun's criticism. After thinking for a while, he said that he would welcome the envoy at the gate of the central district to show his sincerity in wanting to achieve peace.
Therefore, everyone waited at the gate of the central district for about half an hour before they saw the luxurious carriage carrying the envoy from the Trade Alliance stop in front of them. A tall and thin middle-aged man alighted from the carriage. Behind him was an old man with a white beard. He was holding a small wooden box in his hand.
The tall and thin middle-aged man called himself Krilos. He was a real Marquis of the Trade Alliance, and also the vice president of the Double-headed Dragon Chamber of Commerce, which was led by the Six Magnates. The old man beside him was his personal attendant, who had always been by his side.
As an envoy, Krilos's Combat Aura should be at the Gold rank. However, he claimed that the reason he trained in Combat Aura was to strengthen his body and prolong his life. He avoided the Combat Aura when it came to life and death battles. For example, the decorated sword he was wearing was purely for show. It was not even unsheathed. His personal attendant, the old man, was an ordinary person who did not practice combat energy. He was responsible for the trivial matters of his life. Krilos mocked himself. He was born into a wealthy family and had been pampered since he was young. He had to ask others to take care of some of the trivial matters of life …
On the other hand, the one hundred guards raised everyone's vigilance. Among the hundred guards, there were actually four Great Swordsmen and a dozen Gold-ranked swordsmen. The rest of the guards' Dou Qi were all Silver-ranked.
The second prince was very happy. The more elite the guards were, the nobler the status of this envoy, Krilos. As for worrying that these 100 guards would suddenly attack, that was impossible. Not to mention other things, there were more than 10 Great Swordsmen of the kingdom in this tent. The four Great Swordsmen of the 100 guards naturally knew how powerful Hou was, so they wouldn't dare to act blindly without thinking.
Standing at the entrance of the tent, the second prince and the envoy, Krilos, were chatting enthusiastically. They were still not satisfied after talking for a long time. The two of them held each other's hands, showing that they were on good terms with each other. In the end, Laurist, who was waiting at the side, could not stand it anymore. He coughed twice and reminded the second prince, "Your Majesty, should we enter the hall first?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The second prince came back to his senses and invited Krilos into the tent. He then asked if he should bring the Great Swordsmen of the guards in as well.
Krilos smiled and said, "There's no need. Let them stay with the rest of the guards. I'll only bring my old attendant into the tent. I'm here to sign a peace treaty, not to fight, so I'm very confident in my safety. "
The second prince was overjoyed. He quickly invited them into the tent and ordered his subordinates to hold a banquet to entertain Krilos.
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