Chapter 338
Chapter 338.
In the royal capital Jingyao, a tense and joyful atmosphere filled the streets and alleys, in a few days it would be the Holy Day of Advent, families were preparing for the festival, and vendors, both large and small, took the opportunity to walk the streets and alleys, peddling their goods. For most, the rebellion far to the south seemed far away, except for those families with loved ones serving in the military, who prayed for the safety of their loved ones in their thoughts and welcomed the new year with longing.
The council chamber inside the royal palace, however, was very different from the celebratory atmosphere outside the palace, which was filled with seriousness and uneasiness, what happened in West Harbor caused a shock to the top level of the government after it reached Jingyao. King Rodney summoned a group of ministers including Earl Rupert and Earl Merlin to discuss the countermeasures.
However, what they were discussing now was only the assassination of the Navy’s top brass stationed in West Harbor, and they still knew nothing about what happened after that.
According to the available information, the servant who carried out the “assassination” that night – let’s just call that kind of self-explosion an assassination – was an old servant who had been serving in Admiral Pike’s mansion for many years, and was usually a loyal, honest, and hardworking servant. Loyal and honest, hard-working, how can not be able to do that kind of crazy behavior of people.
Of course, this is not the most important, after all, we know the face of the people do not know the heart, he may be irresistible factors coerced, may also be tempted by the huge interests, let a person fall is not too difficult thing.
The most important, but also the most bizarre point is, a good big living person how suddenly exploded, and also can blow up a large circle of people around, how to do this? It was really unheard of. The government office of West Harbor sent alchemists to investigate, but they didn’t find any suspicious substances.
As for the Navy’s loss of combat power is second to none, the Kingdom of Aldo’s Navy was established a long time ago in order to eliminate the pirates, after the pirates disappeared, there are only smuggling and other tasks left, the senior management has long wanted to find a reason to lay off the Navy to save money to increase the strength of the army.
His Majesty the King and a group of ministers still confused after half a day of discussion, Rodney looked to the Earl of Merlin who was in charge of intelligence: “Secretary Merlin, just now you have been silent, is there any speculation in your heart?”
Earl Merlin froze for a moment and quickly nodded his head slightly in greeting to the king and said, “To tell you the truth, Your Majesty, the matter in West Harbor reminds me of an incident from last year.”
“Last year?” Everyone looked at Earl Merlin.
The Earl looked around the crowd, “Do you all remember the incident of the fire in the granary of the king’s capital last year?”
“Naturally, I remember.”
The fire in the granary delayed the deployment of the counter-insurgency army for almost a year, and it took a lot of effort just to raise food and grass, which was still fresh in the minds of the people present.
Merlin continued, “The situation was such that the normally dedicated warehouse management officer actually set the granary on fire with his own hands, and the side murder in Westport was such that the normally loyal old servant formed ……”
The Earl deliberated, “became the instrument of the murder, and I can’t help but connect the two events.”
Rupert stroked his beard and mused, “You mean to say that the black hand behind it is the same hand?”
Earl Merlin nodded, “It is, and …… this black hand also possesses a mysterious power that we do not know.”
The people at the meeting whispered, after a year, the core circle of the government understood the investigation of last year’s grain silo fire case, the official in charge of managing the grain silo, Bart, was usually a prudent person, and had always been very responsible for his own work, but the investigation found out that in the period of time prior to the grain silo fire, his behavior in the house was sufficiently bizarre.
Suddenly a side door of the council chamber was opened, and a guard entered quietly and handed King Rodney a roll of paper.
The king shuddered inwardly, his instincts telling him that something bad seemed to be happening, and with some reluctance he slowly unrolled the letter paper. In a cacophony of discussion, only Rupert, who was closest to the king, noticed the change in the king, only to see that this majesty clutched the letter paper tightly in both hands, and his shoulders trembled slightly.
“Your Majesty? Your Majesty? What happened?”
Rupert called softly to the king.
“Rupert, see for yourself. The Navy …… Navy has ……”
The Palace Minister results in the letter paper, and the message in the first two lines of text sends a huge wave through his heart – “Pirates have invaded, and the Navy has been wiped out”
“This …… this ……” Lord Miyagi’s hand shook as he held the letter paper.
This letter from West Harbor was quickly circulated by the ministers present.
“This is conspiracy! Along with the assassination of the Navy’s top brass, this is definitely a serial conspiracy!”
“Aldo has been invaded! Retaliation, we must retaliate back!”
Earl Merlin said, “The west coast of the kingdom – at least the area around the royal jurisdiction – has not seen any sign of pirates for a long time. According to the information in this letter, the small number of pirates that invaded this time can be as many as a thousand, and it’s impossible for such a large pirate group to be formed on the spot quietly, it should have come from a very distant place.”
Rupert thought deeply, the palace phase twirling white beard said: “the black hand is not necessarily foreign, to the current situation seems to be the most suspected is Giles, his army in the Fu Geer region is declining, it is likely to be elsewhere to engage in small actions. Moreover, his territory is connected to Horn Bay, and it’s easy to contact and hire the pirate group there.”
This letter was written by the mayor of Westport, and according to his own words, after noticing the pirate invasion, because the other side was really powerful and the navy couldn’t be counted on, in order to not let the government officials who represented the king’s authority be captured and humiliated, he had to lead the personnel of the government office to move to a town on the east side of Westport. At present, the pirates are still entrenched in the West Harbor, and send out small groups of troops to plunder the surrounding area with the West Harbor as the center.
The people deliberated again and again, and felt that the most important thing now was to organize an army to recapture the West Harbor and annihilate the damn pirates, or at least drive them down to the sea. However, the kingdom’s main army is now under the command of Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine and Giles’s rebels in Fougeres, in order to organize the army can only be temporarily recruited!
The king asked, “Rupert, who do you think would be more appropriate to lead the army?”
The palace minister thought for a moment, came up with a candidate, and replied, “I think the eldest son of the Abbott family – Harrison Abbott – can take on this important task.”
“Abbott? The same Earl Abbott who married a whore? His son?”
A flash of reluctance crossed Rodney’s face.
“Your Majesty, these are extraordinary times, and Harrison’s mother is from a prestigious family, a nobleman of pure blood.”
“Alas-okay.” The king agreed.
(End of chapter)