Chapter 555.
Chapter 555 – Foiled
The people in the hall of the lord’s mansion are still there, but the main seat where Paul used to sit has been occupied by Acting Lord Urio, who is holding a quill pen and rapidly writing letters on the paper, not stopping to discuss with the people about the specific content of the letters, he is not in a hurry to express his own opinion, and when other people are stating their opinions to him, he always responds with a very humble voice, “hmm, hmm! He was not in a hurry to express his opinion, and when others presented their views to him, he always responded with “hmmm, hmmm,” showing great modesty.
Old Ford, the chief administrator of the Council of State, was holding a letter that the acting lord had just written, and scrutinizing the suitability of the words one by one.
At this time, a person quietly walked into the hall, formally the Philip steward who had left despondently before.
The old butler drew near to the chief steward of the council, and Mr. Chief Steward, sensing the approach, twisted his body and turned his eyes upon Philip.
When the old butler left just now, Chief Steward Ford was also aware of it, and he very much wanted to also leave his seat to comfort this old friend who had been together for decades, but he still had more important matters at hand, so he had to put all kinds of emotions behind him.
Now seeing him go and return, he asked gently, “Oh, Philip, what is the matter with you?”
“Lord Chief Steward.” Philip said in a small but unobtrusive voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing the others, “I was just organizing the relics in Young Master Paul’s study, and there is a confidential cabinet there where only he and you know the combination, so I’m going to ask you to come over. I think it would be appropriate to make room for the new lordship as soon as possible.”
“Ohhh, it’s that combination cabinet.” Old Ford blinked, “There’s not much in there really, it’s all financial statements, so I just happened to go up there and take them down for Lord Urio to look over.”
“My fellow officers, Lord Urio, I’ll excuse myself for a moment.” After saying that, he stood up.
“Be my guest.” Yurio sat right next to the old Ford and listened to the two men’s conversation word for word, not suspecting anything.
Among those present, only Bernard, the Lord Secretary, was slightly stunned, but then his expression returned to calmness, unnoticed by the others.
Old Ford followed Philip up to the second floor, one after the other, and without speaking to anyone on the way, he just kept walking into Paul’s office.
Chief Steward Ford’s back foot followed just as he entered, and Philip closed the door of the room behind him.
“What’s happened?” Chief Steward Ford asked Philip impatiently.
He didn’t even know the combination to the secrecy cabinet in the lord’s office, and Steward Philip knew he didn’t know the combination. His mind was puzzled when he just heard Phillip’s words, but fortunately the Lord Chief Steward’s mind reacted faster than his facial muscles and didn’t show any expression that would make anyone notice.
“Bourgain is the traitor lurking in Lakewood!”
Steward Philip opened his mouth and spoke the news that shocked Chief Steward Ford beyond belief.
“For …… why do you say that?”
Chief Steward Ford twitched his beard, though he had suspected as much.
Steward Philip gave him a small slip of paper, “Lady Lardy’s pet parrot brought back a handwritten letter from Lord Gleeman stating that the Varren family of Burgum origin was involved in the attack on him.”
At Paul’s news, Chief Steward Ford’s eyes widened and he grabbed Phillip by the lapels of his coat, “And what about Lord Gladman?”
“Lord Greiman is still struggling under the guard of his guards, but the parrot has brought his plea for help to the nearest 8th Infantry Battalion.” Steward Philip was worried when he said this, but he was no longer as pale as before.
“So Lord Graiman may still be alive?” Old Ford’s heart, which had been silenced by despair, leapt back to life.
“Yes, it is entirely still possible!” Steward Philip changed to a firm tone.
“Wait, did you say parrot?”
“It’s right there!” Butler Phillip pointed toward the south side of the room. Chief Steward Ford turned to look, and sure enough, it was indeed the parrot that Supervisor Sertia had been working with, and he had seen Lardy teasing the bird in her spare time many times before.
Chief Steward Ford immediately read over the note that Philip had handed him.
“Yes! Yes!”
The Chief Steward of the Council of State’s wrinkled face twisted up in exasperation, and a complete conspiracy gradually took shape as it was pieced together in his mind.
First, he tried his best to lure the lord away from the center of his own rule, separating him from his own subjects, taking the opportunity to attack and kill him outside, then he used his position to take control of the militia that had come to gather and train, spreading the news that the lord had died in a mutiny, creating the illusion of an invasion by a foreign army (which could have been true), and also disguised himself as a Loyalist to make the already burnt-out governors of various ministries recognize the new lord he had elected, and then, at this very time The absence of the garrison at Lakewood was a godsend.
With a snap, Chief Steward Ford slapped the note on the table.
“Immediate action must be taken, this group of traitors must not be allowed to succeed. Philip, how many guards are left in the lord’s house?”
“There are more than thirty left in the castle.”
Philip slightly contemplated, stroked his beard and said, “Thirty people are enough, find a few good hands, come back to the hall with me later, first control this guy Bourgand, with Bourgand’s performance from last night, he’s the head of the rebel group lurking in Lakeheart Town.”
Philip asked, “What if his associates out there try to free him? Or another scenario arises …… His associates have gone so crazy that they don’t care if he lives or dies, and now they’re holding a militia of nearly two thousand men.”
“That …… calms old Ford down, too, when asked by him.
……
Inside the hall.
“What did you say?” Burgum almost yelled, though he eventually held his tongue, allowing others to notice his outburst.
Just now, one of his cronies ran into the lord’s mansion and whispered a few words beside him.
But these few words were undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Bulgan.
An army had unexpectedly appeared outside Lakeheart Town, and it was smaller than a battalion.
Even more frightening, this army had muskets and cannons – naturally, they were Alda’s regular army, as they were under the banner of Alda’s army and Schroeder.
But …… but …… the four infantry battalions in the center of the lake should have run far away by now, even if they got the news and immediately returned the same way to the center of the lake town to rush desperately, it is absolutely impossible to be so fast.
Where did Schroeder find this army? Bourgain couldn’t figure it out.
Schroeder! Bourgain didn’t realize that this chief of staff who ran out in the night had brought himself a big problem after all.
The organization of the defense must begin at once, so judged Bourgain.
And he had to go himself, otherwise the militiamen would have run to the side of the chief of staff Schroeder – many of them had seen the chief of staff.
(End of chapter)