When the group arrived at the Khuilwu Graveyard, François and 200 knights were already waiting there.
This was a large low-lying basin filled with many stone buildings. Judging from the patterns and markings on these stone buildings, there was no doubt that this was once the ruins of the High Elves' abandoned buildings. Even after thousands of years, the High Elves' buildings still bloomed with moving art. It was just that most of the buildings and towers had collapsed, and the walls were covered with vines.
Mixed in the middle of the High Elves' buildings were tombs, a large group of tombs. These tombs were surrounded by all kinds of skulls. Many of the stone chambers had their doors open, and the insides were full of cobwebs and dust. The wealth inside had long been looted by the Green Dwarfs and humans.
There were hundreds of such stone chambers in the entire basin. Under the blowing of the cold winter wind, the glory of humans seemed to have become a thing of the past. The future of the world was only countless bones and endless desolation.
The entire knight army passed by this area of ancient tombs. François, who was wearing a full set of mithril blue plate armor with a Holy Grail cape on his back and a unicorn sword on his waist, squinted his eyes and looked at this area of ancient tombs with a heavy expression. He did not speak for a long time.
"The things left behind by the High Elves are obviously not as sturdy as the ones made by the dwarves." Belega looked at the tombs and the decaying scenery, and he felt very uncomfortable. The King of Eight Peak Mountain thought of the fallen Eight Peak Mountain, where the shrines and ancestral temples of the ancestors were placed.
Belega was never willing to show weakness, so he could only be stubborn.
"This place, it looks like a place of settlement? It was the town left behind by the High Elves when they retreated from the old world. But why did it become a group of tombs? " Laing felt the desolation and bleakness of the entire area, as well as the animals that were still extremely hostile to the outside world. Unexpectedly, François signaled the knights to not attack. He only sighed and let the army pass quickly.
"These animals are not enemies. They are all witnesses and guardians of the Khuilwu Principality. Laing, Suria, Yuri, Jerrold, you must have heard that there were dozens of Breton tribes that crossed the Grey Mountains and settled down in Brittany. But when Arthur established the Knight King's Kingdom, there were only 14 principalities left, right?" François looked at the gloomy sky and said to everyone.
"I'd like to hear the details." Suria whispered. She and Julius both knew the whole story. François wanted to tell the story to Laing, so the female knight kindly helped him.
"The Brittany crossed the Grey Mountains about a thousand years ago. In the next two hundred years, the small tribes were destroyed or merged. The 16 Breton tribes were divided into 16 principalities in Brittany. Except for the Principality of Attawa and the Principality of Aquitaine, which you all know, were destroyed because of the vampire incident, there were actually two principalities before the first Knight King, King Arthur. The history of these two principalities has been buried in the dust, and very few people know about them now."
"Those are the Principality of Khuilwu and the Principality of Grandbole."
François raised his hand and pointed at all the buildings and tombs in the low-lying area. "This is the original site of the Principality of Khuilwu."
"…" Everyone was speechless.
"A few hundred years after coming to Brittany, these tribes that produced the best Horsemen of the Old World, the Green Skins, Orcs, and Estalians of the South fought for a long time. Then, a huge Green Skin invasion came about a thousand years ago, and Brittany fell into a huge crisis. The Green Skins ran amok in Brittany, destroying everything, burning villages, and destroying everything in sight." Francois continued, "It was at that time that the Duchy of Cuylewu and the Duchy of Grandboyle were attacked by the green waves. The two duchies gathered all their knights to resist, and in the end … you have seen it now."
"At that time, the entire Brittany was in a war between the Humans, the Green Skins, and the Orcs. But all the Principalities were fighting for themselves. The Empire on the other side of the mountain was in decline and refused to provide support to the Bretons on the other side of the mountain. At that time, my ancestors, the Duke of Winford and the Duke of Bereon, led the army to support them, but they saw the destruction of the Principality of Khuilwu. Hence, the two ancestors decided to use a duel to determine the ownership of the Principality." François had a refined smile on his face.
"Obviously, Duke Winford won." The outcome wasn't difficult to guess. Now, the land belonged to the Winford Principality. Laing followed his father-in-law's words and said, "And then?"
"Twenty years after the destruction of the Principality of Khuilwu, the Brittany faced a serious crisis. The Green Skins wreaked havoc, the Northern Barbarians plundered, and the Orcs attacked. Chaos spread throughout the Brittany land. Many Principalities were left with only a few isolated cities, and their populations were greatly reduced. Facing the enemy's attack, many Dukes could only defend their isolated cities and watch the Green Skins and Orcs destroy the villages and people."
"At that time, the Duke of Bastogne became famous in Brittany. He killed a huge Red Fire Dragon alone and became the Dragon Slayer Champion of the Kingdom. His name was …"
"Arthur." Jerrold said, "The great first Knight King, the King of the Brittany, a true Breton, Arthur Le Breton."
"That's right." François looked at the cloudy sky and the white forest and snowy plains and said, "Arthur's rise gave people hope. But at that time, Brittany was still divided. After twenty-five years, Brittany welcomed the largest invasion in history. The Principality of Granbolle was razed to the ground by the Green Skins. Under Arthur's call, the Brittany united for the first time. Schirruff from Lyonnesse and Landuin from Musillon joined Arthur's anti-Green Alliance. The slogan" Fight for Brittany "was heard for the first time in this land … You know what happened next."
Everyone nodded. After that, it was Arthur's fierce battle with the Green Skin Tribe, but he fell into despair. He met the Fairy of the Lake by chance at the Fairy Lake. After that, it was the twelve most, most, most epic battles, the establishment of the "Holy Grail Brotherhood" and the birth of the Kingdom of Britannia.
The twelve Knights of the Holy Grail were the Dukes of the twelve Principalities. Their great deeds would be remembered and praised until the end of the world.
The young people were fascinated.
Laing felt that François meant something else. He tried to ask, "So, we have to unite and resist the invasion together. Otherwise, we will end up like the Principality of Cuylew, turning into ruins and tombs for everyone to admire?"
"No, how can you not understand such a simple principle?" François smiled. He reached out and patted Laing's shoulder. "Think again! Laing. "
"Erm …" Leon could only continue to ponder. "It's fame and power. Arthur's great fame and power through the dragon-slaying and the great power he displayed gave the people of Brittania the reason and faith to unite.
"It's still not accurate enough, Laing. You can think of this." François was still smiling. The elegant Duke just smiled at his son-in-law and signaled Suria, who was a little anxious, to be quiet. "Think about it. Why were Schirruff and Landuin the first to join? Why not Agilgur of Palladium? Why not Balduin of Berleon? Why not Rum Bard of Carcassonne? Why not Ledmond, the Duke of Winford and Arthur's distant relative? "
"Because Schirruff, the Duke of Lyonnesse, is the husband of Arthur's sister, Rosalind, and Arthur's brother-in-law. Landuin is the one who fought side by side with Arthur countless times. These two are the most familiar with Arthur …" Laing immediately grasped something.
He began to understand.
The champion of the Lady of the Lake smiled. François taught him another lesson. "No matter how great your strength is, it is useless if no one knows. Even if there is a common enemy, the relationship between childhood playmates and marriage still played a decisive factor in the early days of Arthur's alliance."
"Very good." François smiled and stroked his beard. He liked his son-in-law more and more. "It's good that you can understand."
There were two things that his father-in-law conveyed to Laing.
First, since the founding of Arthur's kingdom, the unwritten promotion standard among the nobles was to pick capable people out of acquaintances or acquaintances out of capable people. Even though it was unfair, this standard was still the most effective since the founding of the kingdom a thousand years ago. In Laing's opinion, it was also the same in his previous life.
Second, if two people who were not related to each other had to trust each other, then the simplest and most convenient way was to fight side by side many times in war to establish a comrade-in-arms, or through marriage.
Ever since François arranged the marriage between Suria and Laing, not only did the Duke treat Laing as his own family, Laing also saw François as a reliable elder and a staunch ally. Ever since the marriage between Laing and Suria, Count Glamorgan and Duke Winford's family would rise or fall together.
This was the power of marriage. This was the method that the nobles used to form an alliance through bloodline.
More importantly, the mutual trust brought about by this marriage was what both sides needed.
Laing was powerful and had the support of the Lady of the Lake behind him. He was shrouded in a veil of mystery. Duke Winford's family was a great noble family with a thousand years of history. The Duke's family needed to absorb new blood like Laing to develop and expand. At the same time, François, who had realized the drawbacks of serfdom, also needed to use Laing's practice to observe how to make changes.
Laing's foundation in the kingdom was still shallow. As the champion of the Lady of the Lake, he knew how to fight and how to fight, but he did not know the rules of the court and nobles. He also needed the help of Duke Winford's family.
Therefore, the shrewd, wise and farsighted François chose the talented Laing to be his son-in-law early on. He also closely combined the interests of both sides. Laing also responded positively. When Laing was promoted to count, François had already set his mind on Laing even though there were also some excellent young knights in the kingdom. The marriage between Laing and Suria was beneficial to both Laing and the Duke's family. Besides, Suria also liked Laing very much.
Therefore, from the expressions of his son-in-law Laing and his daughter Suria, it could be seen that this marriage was very happy.
At the same time, François also told Laing that not all marriages were boring. His marriage with Suria was not. He did not need to carry such a heavy burden in his heart. He just needed to enjoy his life as a married couple.
Laing's mind spun. It took him a long time to realize that François had conveyed so much information from this story.
That was a lot of information. The count and his wife looked at each other and nodded, indicating that they understood.
Laing still wanted to say something, but François signaled Laing to continue, "My story is not over yet."
"Okay." Laing lowered his head and really listened to his father-in-law's teachings as a son-in-law.
"After the 30th year of the Knight King's founding, which was the second year after the second Knight King, 'Reckless' Lewis, took over the throne, and the sixth year after Arthur's death, Schiluff and Landauin had a championship duel. It was said that the reason was related to the affair between Schiluff's wife, Arthur's sister Rosalind, and Landauin. It was also related to the long-standing territorial dispute between the Duchy of Lyonasser and the Duchy of Musillon."
"In this duel, Landuin defeated Schiluff and left a terrible scar on Schiluff's face. The deep friendship of decades of fighting side by side was gone. After the duel, the sorrowful Landuin returned to Muxilon and shut himself away. He never left his castle again. Forty-three years after the duel, Landuin was found dead in his sleep. This Holy Grail Grand Knight of the Sanctum, Duke Muxilon, who was stronger than Arthur, was not even 150 years old when he died," Francois continued.
The Holy Grail Grand Knights had extremely long lives. Another Holy Grail Grand Knight, Schiluff, lived for nearly 350 years before he died on the banks of the Sennes River.
Speaking of this story, several people sighed. In the past, human compatriots, close comrade-in-arms of knights, and Holy Grail companions, Schiluff and Landauin fought side by side and participated in the twelve great wars that established the kingdom. But in the end, for some reason, they turned against each other and became enemies. It was a pity for the knights.
"… The passion brought by dreams will always cool down, but the desire is endless, even for the Holy Grail Grand Knights. I think Landauin's heart must have been in pain when he defeated Schiluff." Laing whispered, "So he never left his castle again. He knew that his duel with Schiluff was not what he wanted, but he was not only a Holy Grail Grand Knight, he was also the Duke of Musillon! When the interests of Musillon were violated, when his reputation was violated, he had to stand up and use all his strength to defeat Schiluff and end the dispute. Otherwise, it would be the greatest blasphemy to the way of knights! "
"This is the second lesson I want to teach you, Laing." François's sea blue eyes stared at Laing, and he said softly, "A group that is formed purely by dreams and personal prestige cannot be maintained in harmony for a long time. Only mature rules and regulations can ensure the operation of the kingdom's court. Since that duel, the second-generation Knight King, Louis, who was deeply aware of this, began to formally draft the first draft of the Knight's Code. He established the embryonic form of the Knight's Code and perfected it. At the same time, he also established a complete aristocratic enfeoffment system and the kingdom's laws. Since then, no Holy Grail Grand Knights have ever dueled because of differences."
"Thank you for your teaching!" Laing bowed deeply again. He had learned a lot.
"Yes." François accepted Laing's bow calmly. The Duke hesitated for a moment and finally said.
"Richard the 'Tiger' is ready to abdicate. He wants to appoint Duke Lauen the 'Lion Heart' as his successor. The matter of the king's abdication has been put on the agenda of the kingdom's court. Laing … What are you going to do?"
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