Kingdom’s Bloodline

Thales followed Michael, twisting and turning in the grand and uniform Palace of Heroes.

Avoiding the eyes and ears of the five grand dukes, finally, in front of an open-air observation deck, Thales saw the two people who made his teeth itch with hatred.

"This calm look—it seems that you are getting used to it quite well, little prince."

The leader of the White Blade Guard who had already removed his cloak and face scarf, Nikolai turned his back to the scenery outside the watchtower, and looked at the Prince of Stars in front of him with a look of pleading guilty, with a calm expression.

"If you mean, you were almost forced to commit suicide by cutting your neck in front of six old men with a sword that I couldn't even lift..." Thales let out a long breath and said angrily: " Yes, I'm having a good time."

"Old man? I remember that Grand Duke Peifit of Fengzhao City is still very young, not too old." Nikolai chuckled mockingly, which made Thales even more dissatisfied.

"I'm starting to wonder, is what you conveyed really King Nun's wish?" Thales looked at the two with an angry expression, "Or is it that 'my life' is not in his consideration at all? !"

"That's a question," said Marquis Shiles of Comus with an embarrassing expression, "I warned you before that His Majesty Nunn's attitude may be a bit... tough and rough..."

Thales suddenly turned his head and stared at him.

"Well, it seems like it might be more than tough. Your Majesty has a little more, uh," under Thales' glaring gaze, Shiles rubbed his cane and smiled awkwardly. After a while of thinking, he finally Finding two more appropriate words, he blinked and said:

"Wild and unrestrained?"

"The next time you encounter something like this, for example, before you want to push me into a certain death trap, please use a standard human lingua franca that does not have a northern or western accent and conforms to rhetorical habits..." Thales' eyes were cold, and he watched the two bite out each word: "This is your attitude towards collaborators and allies? And..."

"For forcing a seven-year-old to kill himself...is there any honor?"

Nicolai and Shiles looked at each other, the former's expression remained unchanged, while the latter leaned on a cane and bowed slightly politely.

"Persecution? Honor? I think you misunderstood." Marquis Shiles sighed, and his face became serious: "Grand Dukes—what they are talking about from the beginning to the end is to kill you and bring you benefits and consequences. As for the method of killing you, and whether it violates honor, it is just the way the chef serves the dishes, which is harmless."

Thales frowned fiercely.

"As for things like seven-year-olds and children, first of all," Shiles said solemnly, "I think maybe you should realize it."

"You are a symbol in Exeter, a symbol. In the eyes of many people, it is called the 'heir to the stars'." The Marquis of Comus took a deep breath and looked at a piece of floor tiles in the Palace of Heroes: "It's far more important than your age, your quality, your reputation, or even yourself."

"Nobody cares if you're a child."

Thales, who was in a complicated mood, twitched his face, and then couldn't help laughing out loud.

damn it.

these politicians.

"Don't be a wronged girl, little prince," Nicolai hugged his arms tightly, and snorted coldly, "Courage and courage are the qualities most admired by people in the North, if you can't even pass the first test... "

"You know, not everyone is qualified to be His Majesty's ally."

Thales gritted his teeth.

"Hey," the second prince sneered, "this kind of alliance qualification review method is really rare."

"It's okay if you don't see it too often," Nikolai shrugged, and looked down at the prince of the stars, with a strange color in his eyes: "Welcome to the Northland."

The three were silent for a few seconds.

"So, has Nunn found his enemy? That Rumba's collaborator and framer?" Thales tried his best to calm down.

"It's also your enemy at the same time," Marquis Shiles said with a slight smile, "Since we have met the first time,

The first step of the trap has been completed, so our follow-up plan is..."

"There is no follow-up."

Thales said calmly.

Shiles and Nicole Qiqi were taken aback.

Thales raised his head, the anger in his eyes had turned into determination.

Never play by their rules.

otherwise……

Images of Serena Corleone and Charmain Rumba flashed before his eyes.

...I don't know when it was sold.

"Nunn's plan ends here," Thales heard himself say word by word, with suppressed emotions, "I'm not that old man's doll, let him manipulate me."

Shiles showed an ugly smile.

"What do you mean?" The temperature in Nicolai's eyes gradually cooled down.

"Listen, if Nunn wants my help, then he'd better respect my wishes and my life!" Thales resolutely confronted Nicolai's fierce eyes without flinching: "The next thing , you do as I tell you."

The leader of the White Blade Guard closed his mouth and let out a rough breath from his nose.

"Now is not the time for you to lose your temper, little prince." Nicolai stared at Thales with narrowed eyes, with a chill in his eyes, and his tone was horrified: "Don't forget that you are in Exeter, in Dragon Clouds City , away from your king father, and none of your entourage is around."

"And the Palace of Heroes is very dangerous, and many supernatural stories of life-threatening stories happened here." Nicolai's eyes were burning.

"I can't help it, I'm only seven years old after all," Thales ignored him, determined to take the initiative in his own hands: "You know, if I accidentally die here, then you..."

Nicolai interrupted him coldly: "We have countless ways to deal with disobedient children without endangering their lives."

"And don't forget," Nikolai tilted his head, revealing the uniquely shaped handle on his back, and threatened unabashedly, "I'm very good at dealing with people named Canxing, especially those with the 'Second Prince' on their crowns." title."

Thales gritted his teeth secretly.

"You killed the Light Tracing Sword eleven years ago on the battlefield, are you just so complacent?" In Shiles' eyes, the traverser replied bluntly: "I have seen the battlefield and know that battle... He fell down with eleven wounds, and you were just one of the hundreds of besiegers who just happened to make the last stab."

"Your record is no better than forcing seven-year-olds to commit suicide."

Nicolai looked at him silently, slowly lowered the arms he was holding, and the content on his face gradually changed from a threat to a killing intent.

"Okay, okay," Marquis Shiles hurriedly approached between the two, smoothing things off with a smile: "As an alliance, we shouldn't break the contract before the goal is achieved... This is not a good way to make a deal."

"Maybe King Nun should find another ally," Thales replied coldly, "The one that can kill him at any time."

"This is not a star where you can call the shots, Empire brat," Nicolai sarcastically said, "You'd better figure this out."

"You have to follow carefully what we say..."

"How about this!" the second prince interrupted Nicolai.

In front of Nicolai's frightening expression, Thales let out a laugh, and his expression turned cold instantly: "I'll go to the five Grand Dukes and have a good talk with them."

Shiles frowned.

"For example: King Nuen is looking for the murderer behind his son's death, and you are all on his suspicion list..."

Nikolai and Shiles' expressions slowly changed.

In front of Nicolai's murderous eyes and Shiles' frown, Thales threatened lightly:

"And in the end, no matter who he confirms, Nunn will cramp and skin the opponent."

"Then what will happen? By the way, the murderer is even more vigilant, and Nun's revenge will fail—unless he wants to kill the five archdukes at the same time."

"The next day, the murderer will go back to his territory and continue to be at ease, and his hatred will only deepen."

"Then, in ten or eight years, wait until Nun dies, wait until the king selection meeting, and wait for the new king to be crowned..."

Thales narrowed his eyes: "I wish the Walton family good luck—I am looking forward to representing the stars in the future, establishing a good diplomatic relationship with the new king, and supporting him and the grand dukes in handling Exeter's internal affairs."

"For example, grant Longxiao City, which has no heir, to another ruling family?"

The faces of Nicolai and Shiles became more and more ugly.

"So, it's best to respect the future supreme king of the stars, the Northlander." Thales snorted coldly: "Use your words... carefully, do what I say..."

"Also, don't call me an imperialist. Every time you remind me, it makes me feel like I'm not in Exeter," Thales said with a relaxed expression. He unceremoniously raised his right index finger, tapped it in the air, and left A sentence that made the leader of the White Blade Guard turn blue:

"But in the Great Empire's..."

"Northern Province."

Prince Xingchen ignored the two people with wonderful expressions, turned and left.

————

"What are you looking at?"

On the streets of Kai District, Miranda turned to ask Cohen.

"It's nothing," Cohen turned his gaze back from the alley and muttered, "I just saw a strange man in the alley with two swords pinned to his waist..."

"Sword?" Miranda's expression froze: "Could it be our target? What does it look like?"

"He looks... no, I didn't pay much attention just now," Cohen scratched his head desperately, frowning: "I can't remember his face..."

Miranda sighed: "Be alert, the big belt said, there are some new faces here recently."

Just like us.

The two turned a street corner and came to a cold butcher shop.

"Um... are you the boss here?" Cohen knocked on the big wooden window selling meat, and asked the busy Far Eastern man inside: "Mr. Gu?"

The Far Eastern man who was chopping meat slowly raised his head.

Medium build, flat brows, straight hair and black eyes, no different from the Far Easterners in the stars - Cohen thought.

The Far Easterner glanced at the two of them, then lowered his head again, cooking his meat.

Cohen was taken aback, and continued to speak: "Hey..."

But the Far Easterner spoke out directly, choking his words in his mouth.

"One silver coin in the city, two around the city, one silver coin for the upper three districts, and one more silver coin for the relevant nobles and officials," the butcher shop owner, Gu chopped a big bone on the chopping board, and said skillfully: "Add two coins for the earl and above." , Grand Duke and King and even the Temple, two gold coins take off."

"What?" Cohen looked puzzled.

Miranda looked at Gu's cutting board thoughtfully.

"The price of information," Gu said without raising his head, speaking in his special northern accent, "No bargaining."

"Huh?" Cohen frowned: "A silver coin?"

"If you cause trouble, you have to mediate in the middle." Gu ignored him, and hung a piece of cut meat on the hook without hesitation: "It depends on who is offended. The average person is nine silver coins. One gold coin for Rivo, two for Urad, five for merchants in Dragon Wing Square, two for soldiers, three for nobles or officials, and above earls, there is nothing you can do."

"If you offend the temple or the king..." Gu wiped his hands, raised his gloomy eyes and glanced at the two of them: "Hurry up, don't come here with bad luck."

Cohen asked suspiciously: "Why do merchants ask for five? It's higher than the nobles? You know..."

The next moment, Gu raised his right hand and stopped Cohen from speaking.

Then, the butcher shop owner silently stretched out his left hand and spread it upwards.

Cohen froze again.

But before Cohen could reply, Miranda stretched out her hand and took off the purse from Cohen's waist.

"We would like to ask about what happened in this area recently. Two groups of swordsmen once fought here..." Under Cohen's resentful gaze, Miranda took out a Northland gold coin with a head engraved on it. and dragon metal discs.

That's the money I got from Kaslan—Cohen rolled his eyes.

Miranda calmly released two fingers, and the gold coin fell into Gu's hand.

"It seems to be a generous foreign customer." Gu narrowed his eyes, raised the gold coin in his hand, flicked the edge of the coin, and whistled: "It's just information... I can't find change."

"Tips for more." Miranda's tone remained unchanged, but his eyes were sharp: "As long as it's worth the money."

tip?

Cohen stared at the gold coin, then at Miranda, with disbelief projected in his eyes:

Can you count, my lady!

Gu chuckled, but the next sentence made both of them startled: "No."

Miranda frowned: "What do you mean?"

"The information you want to ask is about swordsmen fighting, I've never heard of it." Gu shook his head:

"For the sake of gold coins, you can change the question."

Miranda turned her head in thought.

"Are there any new and strange swordsmen around here?" Cohen thought about what he saw just now, and pondered: "By the way, I seem to see a swordsman with two swords..."

Gu's eyes froze.

two swords.

Strange swordsman.

He sighed slightly in his heart.

Could it be you?

"No." Gu calmly put away the gold coins, lowered his head and continued to work on the work in hand: "Okay, the limit is used up, you can go."

Both of them stared blankly.

The police officer and the eldest lady looked at each other inexplicably.

Miranda's eyes were full of anger, and Cohen spread his hands.

Equivalent exchange... This principle does not work everywhere.

"You—" Miranda was about to speak, but was interrupted by Cohen.

The blond police officer let out a breath and laughed.

In the next second, Cohen punched out a punch and hit the window frame heavily.

"Boom!"

Gu raised his head and looked at him unkindly.

"I know that in many places where the situation is tense, such as the battlefield, there is a rule whether it is a bar or a shop." Cohen curled the corner of his mouth, looked at the indifferent Gu, and said with sincerity: "Call 'Lesson 1 ',Right?"

Gu didn't speak, just looked at him quietly.

"Newcomers and outsiders will be tricked at the first time, lose some money, and learn a lesson." Cohen tapped the window frame lightly.

"At the same time, let's try out the details of the newcomers. Those with strong strength and strong backing will come to find the place and shake hands to make peace; those who are weak," Cohen closed his eyes and nodded, "If they suffer, they will be more polite next time. .”

Cohen tilted his head, leaned against the window, and smiled.

He imitated Gu's appearance just now, and whistled:

"So, as a boss, you generally have to have good eyesight."

"Don't pick the wrong person."

Miranda smiled silently as she watched Cohen look like a veteran.

The idiot.

I also learned a lot on the Western Front.

"Oh," Gu squinted, and raised the corners of his mouth: "So, are you strong, or are you strong in the background?"

"Maybe it's both?" Cohen let out a sigh of relief, showing the sword on his waist: "Since you have already collected the money..."

Gu Qingchi shook his head: "I have already given you the answer."

"That's not a satisfactory answer for us, it's perfunctory." Miranda said coldly, "We don't want to be tough."

Gu raised his eyebrows.

It can be seen from the action that both of them are ruthless characters.

The man is probably a warrior, good at frontal assault and battlefield techniques, the woman...

Strange, can't see it.

The guys down the street aren't blind—thieves, beggars, liars, probably wouldn't touch them.

However……

"Again, we're looking for a group of strange swordsmen, super high and low," Cohen said with a smile: "It's related to the black market of arms, and they attack fiercely. Compared with ordinary swordsmen...maybe a little stronger."

Gu took a breath and sighed softly.

A group of strange swordsmen?

Really.

I almost thought they were looking for you.

black sword.

The next moment, in the eyes of Miranda and Cohen, the Far Easterner smiled helplessly.

"In terms of black market transactions, Urad is better than me, but the group of people you are looking for..."

"Okay," Gu smiled, and calmly pulled out the boning knife on the chopping board: "Here..."

"There are indeed a few strange people... Bad temper, don't get close to strangers..."

"The kind that holds a sword and uses the power of the end..."

Miranda and Cohen exchanged glances.