Kingdom’s Bloodline

"Blood of the Kingdom ()" Find the latest chapter!

Fort Star Lake, night.

The guard's dining room was covered with dust and cobwebs, only two candles glowed red, illuminating ghostly shadows.

But at this moment, many people are sitting here to eat, noisy and lively.

"That old man, what Vitano," D.D leaned against the wall, put his legs on the bench, and gnawed a piece of bread, "I have never heard him say a word since I came here, maybe he crawled from the dirt Zombies that came out?"

zombie.

Everyone eating at the same table, you look at me, I look at you, and subconsciously look at another table behind you.

D.D realized something, he smiled awkwardly, turned his head and waved to the real "zombie" - Glover:

"Sorry."

Glover was drinking soup, when he heard that he dropped the spoon, his eyes turned cold:

"Why are you sorry?"

Doyle was taken aback by the zombie's fierce eyes.

"I……"

D.D realized something was wrong, laughed at himself twice, and lowered his head:

"Hug, sorry."

"But that old man, the watchman, maybe he is indeed a zombie." Wyatt suddenly spoke at the other end of the long table, attracting everyone's attention.

The dining room was silent.

Glover frowned.

"Be careful," Mallos's herald, Toledo, reminded solemnly, "Chief Mallos respects that old gentleman."

Huai Ya shook his head, lowered his head and took a sip of the strange-smelling "drink" that the logistics wing got from somewhere, with a painful expression:

"No, I mean, he's not simple."

D.D leaned forward: "What do you mean, Zhenhuai?"

"Xinghu Castle has been without an owner for many years, and it is almost becoming a nest of animals," Huai Ya said solemnly, "And animals are very sensitive to their territories. We can breathe out and startle a group of crows from the corner, but..."

He raised his head and looked at everyone:

"The old caretaker lives here, and hasn't disturbed a single mouse."

Everyone who dined was suddenly awe-inspiring.

In a dark corner, Hugo Fubi, the special flag officer who was out of tune with the crowd, picked up a notebook expressionlessly, and rustled records:

Wyah Castle.

Be observant.

Lost in smoothness.

"Because he lived here for too long, the animals are no longer afraid of him?" D.D first flicked a spider that fell on the bread, then tore off the dusty skin on the bread, and bit it off.

Wyatt shook his head: "It's just a best guess."

Logistics officer Piloga turned his head from the window:

"What about the worst?"

Opposite Glover, Rolf looked at his soup bowl unhappily, and there was a spider flying from nowhere in it, struggling hard.

D.D sighed:

"Zombie."

Having said that, D.D thought of something again, and waved to Glover embarrassingly:

"That, sorry!"

Glover snorted angrily and swallowed the food in his mouth.

"Morgan, Kusta, it's time for your shift." Two tired figures walked into the dining room, and the two people in the same room alternated shifts.

Doyle's eyes brightened:

"Hey, Bastia, Nehsi! How about it, is there anything good in the Jackal Tower?"

"You mean nothing but cobwebs, ashes, cat droppings, bird droppings, ghosts, rotting wood, and rusted iron. D.D?"

The young vanguard officer Nexi lifted the kettle, poured himself a drink, and sarcastically said:

"Let me see, oh yeah, there's a rotten rag, smells like shit—poof, damn, what's that smell like?"

"Yerba mate tea," Piloga by the window was drinking tea comfortably, "don't ask too much, it's the friendly support of the logistics wing."

"There is a monastery in the southeast corner, and there are quite a few cemeteries in it." Seeing this, Bastia decisively poured out his glass of drink and tore off a spider web on the top of his head. "It is surprisingly clean, apparently someone cleaned it regularly—— Maybe it's the old man."

"Maybe he lives in the cemetery, you know—zombies!"

D.D laughed,

Habitually look back and beckon:

"hug--"

"Just say sorry again, and I'll throw you out of the window." Glover stared at him firmly.

As if to cooperate with him, Rolf next to him poured out the spider soup in his hand, snorted coldly, and a slight chilly wind blew.

The room was silent.

Doyle had no choice but to look back.

In the corner, there are a few more lines in Fubi's notebook:

Karen Glover.

Atmosphere destroyer.

But there is a final prestige.

"Don't worry," Paul Bozdov, who joined in halfway and remained silent, said suddenly, "Lord Mallos trusts that old man for a reason."

Huai Ya's eyes moved:

"You know him?"

Paul shook his head:

"No, but I know that last name."

"Cato."

Paul looked calm, and said lightly:

"This is the maiden name of the queen of the current dynasty, and it is also the family of the kingdom's giant merchants."

All eyes turned to Bozdorf's heir.

"Queen Keya?" Wyatt was startled.

"His Highness's stepmother?" D.D was puzzled.

"We still have a queen?" Willow in the north was puzzled for a while.

Paul ignored everyone's reactions and continued:

"The Cato family started from reselling spoils of war and making war fortune. They acted in a low-key manner, but they had a close relationship with the Fuxing Palace. They were the best among the royal chartered merchants, and they developed a lot of financial resources for the bright stars of the past generations. Although their titles are low, they are The position is key, and the energy is not small."

Paul looked up:

"That's why His Majesty Kessel, who was the youngest son of the former king, married the daughter of the Cato family."

The flag officer, Fubi, remained motionless and kept writing:

Paul Bozdorf.

Gloomy and introverted, the key points in the language, the background is not shallow.

"Oh, this explains why the old man is here," D.D suddenly realized, "because his task is to guard the property of the royal family."

Wyatt narrowed her eyes:

"But those animals...why do I feel more than that?"

"Instead of worrying about that, let's think about what we're going to do next."

Nexi scooped up a spoonful of barley porridge, gritted his teeth and said:

"I said, how long do you have to eat these things? Old Pi, you are the logistics officer, what do you say?"

Nate Nech.

Young and energetic, I don't know how to restrain myself.

Fubby continued.

"Believe me, His Highness and the officer have already started to deal with this matter."

Piloga sighed and raised his glass:

"Look at it, yerba mate is also tea."

Nexi gave him a special gesture for the Star Lake Guard - a middle finger.

Middle finger, as a provocative gesture.

Forby's flag officer frowned and recorded:

You Xi, the Duke of Thales, used the rare and unique customs of the Northland to cultivate the guard culture and enhance the cohesion and sense of belonging of his subordinates.

"you know."

Bastia suddenly said:

"I went home a few days ago, and everyone pointed and hesitated to speak. Even my five-year-old nephew was avoiding me, as if I had suddenly become a leper."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone fell silent.

"Why," Bastia sighed, "Why does His Highness have to fight against His Majesty? You still followed him into the palace..."

The Forbes flag officer in the corner curled his lips:

Ad Bastia.

As always, timid and worried.

Boom.

Herald Toledo put down the bowl coldly.

"Officer Mallos has held a meeting and admonished this issue."

Toledo replied lightly, but there was a chill in his tone:

"We have vows."

Everyone looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the dining room became a little awkward.

Wyah, Glover, D.D and others were especially silent.

"Of course I know this, but, to be honest," Nexi said sullenly, "my father wants to find a relationship so that I can be transferred to Fuxing Palace."

"My uncle has a different opinion." Pezzarossi of Punishment Wing drank the yerba mate tea in his cup in one gulp, his face twisted by the smell, "He thinks the king has only one son, and no matter how much he doesn't like him, sooner or later he will... ..."

"Be careful!" Toledo snapped.

"Come on, Toledo!"

Nexi spread his hands and complained: "We have been exiled out of the wilderness where no one cares about, and we have to save food, so be careful? Why, the flag wing can hide in the spider's web and watch us? What do you think? What, Uncle Hugo? You've been taking notes for months!"

"Get out." Hugo Fubi didn't even lift his head, only kept writing:

Nexi likes to ask for trouble.

"Then why don't you leave?"

D.D spoke suddenly, his tone was not as relaxed as usual:

"Why don't you go back, go back to the place you are used to?"

Nehi and Pezarosi, including Bastia, look at me and I look at you, at a loss.

Glover stirred the spoon without raising his head, and took up the conversation with a soft snort:

"Yeah, go back and lick Big Brother?"

This nickname made everyone stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

"I know why."

Doyle stared at the half of the bread in his hand, and flicked away a moth on it again:

"Because in the Fuxing Palace, there is no adult who is willing to bind his hands and feet and get into trouble at the royal banquet, just to save a careless guard."

He sighed:

"nobody."

The dining room fell silent again.

Fubi threw away the dead moths on the notebook, observed the surrounding atmosphere silently, and wrote a few more words:

Danny Doyle.

Talking seems to be heartless, do whatever you want.

But being funny, painful, emotional, and grateful can always fit the atmosphere and hit other people's emotions.

"Then, thank you for introducing yourself, Officer Doyle." Nexi snorted lightly.

"I know that His Highness is still young and treats others with sincerity," the guard Kong Mutuo who was sitting in the corner sighed softly, "but we have to remind him that sincerity cannot be exchanged for everything."

"Yes, His Highness came back from the north and got used to the Yankees," Piroga shook his head. "He hasn't had the pain of the stars yet—hope he gets through this safely."

Gianluca Commuto.

Leo Piroga.

Be negative in dealing with things, be wise and protect yourself, but

Fu Bi frowned, and his pen stopped on the turning word, and did not write any further.

He felt something was wrong.

"It's because you worry too much."

In the end, it was Wyah who spoke.

"I think what we see is different from what His Highness sees after all."

"Your Highness told me," the prince's attendant said firmly, "If you see the sun, you won't be able to go back to the cave."

Nexi snorted softly:

"Thank you, Mr. Attendant, it's something I don't understand again."

Kawaii shook her head.

"You only really got to know him at that banquet," Huai Ya said in a daze, "but I have been with His Highness since six...seven years ago, and no one is earlier than me."

A low guttural voice came from behind him:

"snort."

"Sorry," Wyatt rolled his eyes, and waved to the masked man behind him, "Rolf was a little bit earlier than me."

Rolf turned his head away.

"I followed him, saw him break into the army of the Northlanders, saw him walk back into the trap of the Palace of Heroes, saw him break the plot of the Kinslayer King, and saw him work hand in hand with Charmain Rumba, Dances with wolves."

Everyone in the room quieted down unconsciously after listening to Huai Ya's words.

"Yes, the Duke of Thales usually looks tolerant and easy-going, even a little weak to be bullied," the attendant's eyes flickered, "but only at critical moments, such as royal banquets, you will understand what kind of person he is."

D.D shrugged.

No one spoke.

Only Fubi's notebook kept turning the pages:

Wyah Castle.

The oldest, the closest, and the person who knows the Duke of Thales best.

"In short, I don't really want to go back, but anyway, the gate of the castle hasn't been repaired yet, if anyone wants to leave, please do so."

Glover said coldly:

"It's the same after it's fixed."

These words made everyone shiver.

"Yeah," Doyle lay down on the pile of debris behind him, staring at the cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling in a daze, "as if we have the money to repair the gate."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Fubi narrowed his eyes:

Danny Doyle.

The coordinator and controller of the team atmosphere.

Everyone in the dining room gradually finished their dinner and left in twos and threes complaining.

Hugo Forby raised his sullen eyes and turned to the next page.

Thales Canxing.

hesitate.

weak.

compromise.

mild.

childish.

capricious.

impulse.

Small philistine.

Emotional.

Ya Zi must be reported.

Lazy and slippery.

Strange interest.

Like to be alone.

What a fuss.

He never sheltered his servants.

Not stooping.

Not good at establishing dignity.

Regardless of etiquette.

Do not like human contact.

No bribes to win over.

Don't care about inheriting glory.

Do not use collective slogans to brainwash.

It is almost impossible to use any means of aristocratic rule to win people's hearts.

When Fubi wrote here, he changed his style of writing:

but.

His subordinates not only remained loyal, but also became stronger and stronger, and rumors were hard to shake.

Surprisingly.

Fubi's eyes sharpened, and he wrote the last sentence:

What are the hidden dangers?

In the next second, his finger slid on the spine of the book, and all the words on it disappeared, as if seeping into the paper.

Just leave a blank.

It took Mallos three full days to clean up part of the dilapidated Star Lake Fort, which was barely inhabitable.

Unexpectedly, Star Lake Castle occupies a large area and has complete functions. There are several different partitions, such as the main hall, the Jackal Tower, the Xunying Building, the Hard Thinking Room, the Ascending Hall, the Zhiyao District, and the Dining Room. Come to receive guests, live, read, meditate, relax, hold banquets, as well as the lakeside monastery that no one has practiced for a long time but is still preserved, the Xinghui Garden (commonly known as the lumberyard) used for military training and training, etc., all rooms I'm afraid there are no less than three or four hundred rooms in total, not to mention the hidden passages and secret rooms that may be hidden.

Thales has not remembered how many ways to go from the main hall to the study and the bedroom. Mallos can only order the logistics wing and the guard wing to seal up the passage leading to the unknown or dilapidated, and then face the different versions. The old castle map worked overtime, corrected the labels, and kept recording and unlocking the newly arranged rooms and locations.

But the good news is that Baron Quentin, the head of the court, is very talkative. He greeted the surrounding Grange towns in advance and asked them to make up for the nominal lord, the Duke of Xinghu, so that Thales would not be in trouble. He died of starvation in the castle, and the logistics wing, with the help of the court manager, went to the farm to continue to recruit servant cooks and gardeners, on the condition that part of the tax be exempted.

"Your fief is about half the size of a baronial land—of course it's not the barons of the northern border or the clifflands. They are all uninhabited wastelands, and their area is almost as large as that of an earl from the southern coast..."

This morning, Thales was walking on the field ridge, accompanied by Baron Quentin who came from the capital, and the latter was talking endlessly to the field in front of him.

"The six farms, except one belonging to the Sunset Monastery and serving the gods, the other five have to report to you. There are self-operated land, leased land, and public land with a long history-but now they are all intricate and intertwined. together..."

Baron Quentin was followed by five respectful butlers, each holding a thick stack of books and records, and more attendants, guards, and servants followed behind, trembling.

"The production of each field and farm is different. The farmers alone are not enough. We hired a lot of workers for this, and produced grapes, wool and other primitive crops according to the season and time. Of course, after another month, the fields The wheat is about to be harvested, and it will be very busy at that time, with many more hands..."

Thales frowned.

The place they are in is a farm belonging to Star Lake Castle. Along the way, you can see farmers carrying farm tools and leading oxen and horses to the fields, or peasant women carrying fur baskets to work in the workshop. They may not know Tai. Ernes, but they all changed slightly when they saw Baron Quentin and a few housekeepers behind them. They all retreated and whispered while bowing their heads.

"There are also three villages or small towns with a long history, which cannot be erased even by wars. They regularly pay taxes to the royal family. It's just that the economy has not been very good recently. Everyone prefers to go to Yongxing City or other big towns to find jobs and make a living..."

The head of the palace walked happily and said that he knew everything about the situation of the Xinghu Castle fief:

"In addition, your fief is next to the hunting forest of the royal family. If the villagers want to go there to buy some game, chop some firewood, etc., as long as we pay enough people and don't do it too blatantly, we will just turn a blind eye. , can be regarded as an output, after all, it will not be easy for everyone after the Bloody Year..."

"Also remember that every farm and small town has its own artisans, and their craft products, such as fabrics, furniture, honey, candles, soaps, including certain rare things, these are the most likely to be missed... ..."

Thales' brows became tighter and tighter.

"These rosters record the general situation of your farm, including the name of each farmer, the land and farm tools, various hired workers and craftsmen, as well as the annual reference output output, tax payable, and it will be up to you in the future..."

"Wow, my lord baron," Thales, who was overheard, had to interrupt him, "I need all these things, uh, remember them all?"

Baron Quentin only glanced at him, and immediately understood the Duke's mood at the moment, he sighed softly.

"Every decent family will have a housekeeper they trust, who manages the accounts and collects rent for the master, hires manpower, supervises the labor, and takes care of the master's food, clothing, housing and transportation. In fact, the bigger the family, the more it needs a good housekeeper—damn it , Cordero, don't tell me to see your subordinates lazy again!"

It took only a second for the steward of the court to seamlessly switch from bitterness to anger—he reprimanded the steward of the local farm, who was sweating coldly, and turned back to yell at a few hiding in the shade of the tree, pointing at Thales and his party Point of hire.

Manager Quentin turned around angrily:

"Believe me, in these farms, from farmers to workers, from stewards to overseers, they are lazy, cunning, rough, and fraught with work, but they are greedy, philistine, and arrogant. Take more money..."

"You have to have the shrewdness of a fox and the strength and majesty of a lion to control these white-eyed wolves."

"It seems that you are the truly indispensable person in this land." Thales said with a lot of emotion, sincerely.

Baron Quentin coughed, speaking in a humble manner with fear and fear, but there was a trace of joy that could not be concealed on his face.

"Oh, Your Highness, don't dare to say that, King Mengxian is trustworthy."

"So, steward?" Thales looked at the steward full of hope.

Quentin came back to his senses:

"Oh yes, and we, you can say, are one of the stewards of the Canxing royal family... For this, I need to know all the land and farms of the royal family, every inch and every minute of output, population and labor..."

Thales immediately went downhill:

"Since that's the case, I think that I shouldn't make a fuss when I'm new here. These things..."

Baron Quentin reacted very quickly:

"I understand very well, after all, you are very busy..."

"Then everything will continue as usual, and I will set aside your tax separately, and let the stewards of each farm and the mayors of the villages and towns regularly send Star Lake Fort, including monthly food, firewood, fabrics... Of course, food and clothing The type and delicacy of the cost cannot be compared with that in Eternal Star City..."

Thales waved his hands generously, expressing that the Duke of Xinghu should share the joys and sorrows with his subjects.

Seeing the prince's indifferent look, Quentin couldn't help but sigh:

"In the future, there may be a mistress who will take care of these for you, but unfortunately, you are the heir to the throne, and the future mistress is destined to be the queen. The Fuxing Palace, the royal capital, and even the noble families of the whole country are enough for her to be busy. , probably don't have time to take care of these details...you still have to find the right person..."

That is to say, but in fact there are not many things for Thales to worry about at all, because Baron Quentin has already arranged everything before he came, the public and private taxes of the territory near Star Lake Castle - field tax, poll tax, hunting tax, Including transaction tax, travel tax, etc., which were collected by the tax collectors of the Finance and Taxation Department in the past, and will be transferred to Xinghu Castle starting this year.

It's just that the fief is limited, so it's unnecessary to think about getting rich overnight.

"I don't have such extravagant hopes, I just have enough food and clothing."

Thales closed the thinnest account book with a headache:

"Just don't make any big troubles."

Facing such an unmotivated heir to the royal family, Director Quentin couldn't help but sigh:

"I think, as long as you don't order to restore the right to the first night, it shouldn't happen."

"Thank you, my lord."

Thales looked at the court chief who had served his grandfather:

"I know that it was your intention to help and speed up the handover that allowed me to take over this land so smoothly."

Baron Quentin paused.

He closed the account book and handed it to the other stewards, telling them to stay away.

"Do you really think that I am the indispensable person for these lands and can decide their ownership?"

Baron Quentin looked at Thales with complicated eyes:

"I think he still cares about you."

Thales' smile froze.

"Maybe."

Thales reached into his pocket and touched the "Guertaxa".

It's cold to the touch and prickly.

"Maybe."

He chuckled softly, and withdrew his hand decisively.