"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Under Søren's leadership, the nine students who had received the noble warrior medal knelt down in unison.
Then, they saw two booted feet step in and stop in front of the nine of them.
After a long while, the king's expression changed as if he had come back to his senses and said, "Oh, get up."
Then, the nine people got up and looked down at the ground, not daring to look up at the king.
"Raise your heads and let me see." The king's voice was a little hoarse, but it seemed to contain a sharp metallic taste, leaving a deep impression on those who heard it.
This was the first time Søren had seen the king's face. He was a little thin, not handsome, with deep eye sockets and a high and steep nose.
Unlike the other kings, he had cropped his hair short, and his beard was so stiff that half of it had turned grey.
His face gave off a very resolute yet gloomy feeling, especially his pair of deep eyes, which made people feel intimidated at first glance.
However, his gaze was usually very scattered, as if he was thinking about something all the time, so it was difficult for him to focus on the matter in front of him, giving off a feeling of laziness.
Determination and laziness, these two contradictory temperaments appeared on the king's face at the same time.
The entire Raging Wave Kingdom's evaluation of the king was that he was unsmiling, even mean and ungrateful.
When he was still a child, the previous king had evaluated him, saying that he was temperamental and fickle.
At that time, when several princes were fighting for the position of crown prince, no one was optimistic about him because he was not very popular. All the nobles supported Prince Lan because he was kind, brave, wise, and a perfect example of a king.
However, he took the last throne and wore the crown amidst the bloodshed.
After he succeeded the throne, his relationship with the nobles was very cold, even tense. However, he immediately set out to support the civilian elite class to compete with the nobles. The nobles were afraid of losing their power, so they came to curry favor with him.
In the nearly 20 years since King Kui Bian succeeded the throne, he had completely carried out the Raging Wave Kingdom's southward expansion strategy to the peak, directly attacking the Hundred Thousand Mountains and completely driving the barbarians out of the Central Plains.
Politically, they vigorously supported the civilian elite class to replace the increasingly decaying aristocratic class. This caused the ruling class, which had already been somewhat corrupted, to take on a new look, allowing the entire Raging Wave Kingdom to continue to maintain a strong momentum of prosperity.
Therefore, even those who were hostile to King Feng Gui had to admit that he was one of the most outstanding kings of the Raging Wave Kingdom.
…
The king walked up to Søren. His indifferent gaze finally focused a little. He looked at Søren's face and said, "You are Søren."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Søren said.
The king looked at Søren again, but did not say anything. His eyes flashed with a hint of contemplation, and then he left Søren's face.
"Then let's begin." The king waved his hand and said to the eunuch beside him.
Then, nine eunuchs came in, each carrying a plate in their hands. On each plate, there was a noble warrior medal.
Originally, the awarding ceremony of the noble warrior medal was very grand. The king would personally come to the Royal City Academy. In the academy's main square, all the students, cabinet officials, and military commanders were all present.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the king awarded the noble warrior medal to the nine people.
However, the king did not like extravagance, nor did he like such a flashy and grand occasion. In fact, he was reluctant to appear in front of many people.
Therefore, the awarding ceremony of the noble warrior medal became very simple.
Next, the king awarded the medal to each student in turn.
"Loyalty to the king, loyalty to the royal family." Every student who was awarded the medal knelt on one knee.
And Søren was first, so he was the last to be awarded the medal.
"Loyalty to the king, loyalty to the royal family." After being awarded the medal by the king, Søren knelt on one knee.
After the awarding ceremony, the king looked at the nine noble warriors. His eyes were finally more focused. He pondered for a moment and said, "Some of you will inherit the title, and some will not. But no matter what, I hope that no matter what you do in the future, in addition to your own and family's interests, you will also consider the interests of the kingdom. "
The king never spoke empty words, nor did he say anything grand. He always spoke the truth.
But Søren was still a little surprised. As a king, he did not say anything formal. What a … character.
"Well, that's all. You may go." The king waved his hand.
The nine noble warriors knelt on one knee, then retreated and left.
"Søren, get ready to attend tomorrow's court meeting." The king said, "After the court meeting, you will be awarded a title."
Søren was stunned. I'm about to leave, and you're only telling me such an important thing?
"Yes, Your Majesty." Søren had to kneel on one knee again.
…
After returning to the Count's residence, Søren told his sister Suo Ningbing the news.
Suo Ningbing's beautiful face showed unprecedented joy. She said, "We can finally go home, we can finally go back to Tianshui City. I'm so happy."
Not only Suo Ningbing, but all the people in the Count's residence, whether it was the maids or the family warriors, were very excited.
Because, in Royal City, they were just nobles. Facing the suppression of the royal family, they had to be careful every day, as if treading on thin ice.
Once they returned to Tianshui City, they would become the masters of that land.
Suo Ningbing was right. No matter how big the Count's residence was, it was not their home. Tianshui City was their home.
Then, the excited Suo Ningbing could no longer bear it. She immediately ordered the maids and servants to pack up their luggage. She couldn't wait to return to Tianshui City and go back to her home.
And Søren's eyes flashed a trace of haze. He wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, he didn't say it.
While no one was paying attention, Ye Jingyu whispered to Søren, "Master, what are you worried about?"
"You, you should call me by my name." Søren said.
"Young Master, what are you worried about?" Ye Jingyu said, "The King has spoken. Tomorrow, you will be the Count of Tianshui, the Lord of Tianshui City."
"I'm not worried about the past." Søren said, "But … Suo Hanyi?"
"Lord Suo Hanyi?" Ye Jingyu said, "Hasn't he already defeated the rebels?"
Søren said, "Because of this, he may not welcome us. Tianshui City is already Suo Hanyi's Tianshui City, not ours. "
Ye Jingyu was stunned and then said firmly, "No, Lord Suo Hanyi is a little arrogant, but his loyalty to the Suo enterprise is beyond doubt. However, his loyalty to the Suo enterprise is unquestionable. Young Master, you are overthinking. "
"I hope so. I hope I think too much." Søren said.
Because he was an orphan, he was looked down upon by many people. Søren had always speculated about others with the darkest thoughts. He had always held a pessimistic attitude towards human nature.
…
Early the next morning, Søren dressed up and took a carriage to the palace again.
Today might be the most important moment for him.
After today, he would become the Lord of the Kingdom, the Count of Tianshui, and the Lord of Tianshui City.
His past struggles and struggles were for today.
Because he was not the Lord of Tianshui City at this time, he was not qualified to attend the court meeting. Therefore, he could only wait in the room of the side hall, waiting for the end of the court meeting.
The court meeting of the Raging Wave Kingdom was held once every three days. All the military and political officials in the city attended.
And the topic of today's court meeting was closely related to Søren. Because the discussion was about the kingdom's new strategy of southward expansion, that is, whether to use Tianshui City as a military stronghold for the kingdom to attack the Southern Barbarian Continent.
Because this was the strategy proposed by Zhi Li, both the military and the government agreed.
At this time, their disagreement was whether to let Søren stay in the city, and then let the Cabinet and the High Command temporarily take over Tianshui City.
As compensation, Søren's title would be promoted to the Marquis of the Kingdom, and he would be directly given a high position.
In the Cabinet and the High Command, they had prepared a position for Søren, a very high position.
One was a senior political advisor of the Cabinet, directly responsible to the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. The other position was the deputy commander of the Royal Dragon Guards.
Of course, these two positions had a common feature.
That was, the position was very high and very prominent, but there was no real power.
For example, the former position, to put it bluntly, was the secret assistant of the Prime Minister. It was the only way to become a senior member of the Cabinet. Every Prime Minister had been a senior political advisor of the Cabinet when he was young.
The latter position sounded like nothing, but the Commander of the Royal Dragon Guards was Prince Zhi Li.
Therefore, these two positions were coveted by the young nobles of the entire Raging Wave Kingdom.
However, the honey of the other was arsenic of mine.
Just as the senior officials of the kingdom's military and government were arguing over Søren's position, the King's expression changed. "You guys are fighting so fiercely. Why don't you let the person involved speak his opinion and let Søren come in."
A moment later, a eunuch brought Søren into the Council Hall.
For the first time, he saw the real ruling core of the Raging Wave Kingdom. Almost all the senior civil and military officials of the entire kingdom were here.
The King's expression changed. "Søren, you are about to be conferred a title. They are arguing fiercely about where you should go. You have three choices. The first is to enter the Cabinet and help the Prime Minister. The second is to enter the Royal Dragon Guards and be the deputy commander. The third is to return to your Tianshui City. "
Søren took a deep breath. He didn't expect that he would be given a difficult problem at the critical moment of being conferred a title. Of course, for Søren, this problem was not difficult at all.
His goal had always been clear, which was to recapture the century-old foundation of the Suo Enterprise. For those prominent positions, it was still the same saying, the honey of the other was arsenic of mine.
Søren bowed and said, "I will make the third choice. I will return to Tianshui City and manage the century-old foundation left by my ancestors."
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