Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 407

  Chapter 407 The Last Chance for Peace (Part 2)

The    Alliance Congress has not yet officially opened. Tonight, this reception held in the St. Andrew Hall of the Imperial Consulate is just one of a series of preliminary foreign affairs activities.

For the representatives of the Union and foreign envoys who were invited to the reception, it was not new news that Henry the Breacher had appointed Prince Richard to replace Count Narzia on a trip to the South, but tonight was Richard's first attendance since his arrival in Plains City. Public social events.

  The eyes of all the guests were firmly attracted by the young prince and his attendants, and people silently observed the sons of the most powerful men in this continent.

   And Richard of the Lieyang Family calmly welcomed the gazes from all directions, as if he was born to prepare for this moment.

   Count Vareth - the imperial ambassador to Vine and the host of the reception - rushed out of the crowd and strode to the prince.

The Prince    was not on the guest list of Count Vares, because the former arrived at Plains City only this morning. According to the original schedule, Prince Richard should officially appear as the host at a reception specially held for him the day after tomorrow.

   But this did not prevent Count Valles from welcoming the Prince with respect: "[Old language] Your Highness."

   "[Old language] Earl." Richard nodded.

  Count Varez bowed his waist diligently: "[Old saying] Your arrival order is full of brilliance. Please forgive me, this party is too shabby, and it really doesn't deserve your esteemed status..."

   "[Old language] Alright, alright, don't be so polite." Richard smiled and touched the arm of the earl who was twenty years older than him: "[Old language] I just stopped by to take a look."

   Facing the prince's body movements with a hint of intimacy, Count Varez's face returned an expression of infinite glory and emotion. He vigorously wiped his eyes that were not sure whether there were tears or not. He still bowed slightly, and asked with a slight trembling: "[Old language] Your Highness, do you still remember my wife?"

   After saying that, Count Varese waved his hand. A graceful lady walked out of the crowd and came to the prince, curtseyed and greeted softly: "[Old language] Your Highness."

"[Old language] Of course, how could I forget?" Richard kept an elegant smile, picked up the countess's hand, bent down and kissed the back of the latter's hand: "[Old language] Madam, I haven't seen you for two years, You are more charming."

   Right now, on the eve of the opening of the Alliance General Assembly, the reception at the Imperial Consulate included not only representatives of the republics, but also envoys from the mainland and even overseas.

   With the appearance of Countess Varez as an opportunity, other guests from the empire also took the initiative to come forward and greet the prince in order.

  For example, the resident consuls and consul wives in Plain City appointed by the great emperors and princes, the envoys sent by the local dukes and marquis to observe the alliance conference, the liaisons of the major guilds and chambers of commerce in the empire...

  As for the Alliance's representatives of public opinion and the envoys from farther realms such as Saracen, Muro, and the Broken Lands, most of them remained in place and watched with restraint.

   They are not in a hurry. Obviously, it will not be the turn of Count Valez to introduce other guests to Prince Richard until the imperial people have completed the process.

   It was during this process that the originally silent banquet hall gradually returned to its previous atmosphere—but the topic had inevitably turned to the prince.

   Instead of laughing and laughing, people whispered about everything about Prince Richard: the relationship between the prince and the emperor, the origin of the prince's attendants, and even the style of the prince's tunic lace.

  Therefore, the east and west sides of the banquet hall showed two completely different temperatures.

On the east side of the    hall, the subjects of the empire approached the prince eagerly and eagerly, waiting for their turn to meet.

On the west side of the hall, where the representatives of the alliance gathered, a spirited old man in Huapao made no secret of his sarcastic and contemptuous attitude, commenting: "Look, when the son of the oath-breaker comes, everyone's hearts are filled with disdain. Grab it. The crown really works, even if you don't wear it on your head, it can crush a person's knees."

After   , the old man in the Chinese robe turned his head and asked the thin man in plain black beside him, "Do you think so? Mr. Lionel."

   The Interprovincial Chief Secretary of State [John Lionel] replied calmly: "It is not the crown that is holding down the knee, but the power, Your Honor."

  The first consul [Giano de Bella] of the Veneta administration gave a loud laugh, raised his glass a little, and greeted the secretary of state.

  The reception hosted by Count Varez was of a high standard, but it was not high enough to invite the heads of state of the provinces and Veneta at the same time.

But Debella and Lionel, the two most powerful men in the alliance, two enemies who should have been like water and fire, are now in the St. Andrew's Hall - the territory of the Empire, and it is a strange thing. scene.

   But only on such occasions can the national leaders of the Federal Provinces and Veneta be able to talk face to face without scruples, without thinking about words.

  The surrounding guards and assistants formed a vague barrier that separated Debella and Lionel from the other representatives. The other guests could only see the faces of the two, but could not hear what the two were saying.

   "So how are you thinking?" Lionel asked.

  The Secretary of State of the United Provinces was almost skinny, his cheeks were deeply sunken, and his eyes were full of bloodshots that could not be hidden. But his eyes are still sharp and firm... even with a hint of madness, making people dare not look directly.

  De Bella did not directly contact the Secretary of State's line of sight. He looked at the sitcom on the other side of the hall and made a pun: "I don't know if you can abide by the agreement."

   "Simple." Lionel did not change his face, and replied coldly: "We will see the results in a few days."

   Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Siegfried - the prince's blond valet - was tired of the "show" in front of him.

   Absolute power brings absolute status, and every look, smile, and body language of the prince will be amplified and interpreted by bystanders. So there is a complex set of protocols for public communication between royalty and nobility in order to avoid misinformation.

   This set of red tape may have its existence, but Siegfried has seen it too many times in the court, and he never thought that the rebels' territory in the south would come again, which is a bit annoying.

  Richard quickly sensed Siegfried's mood swings—after all, Siegfried and the other orphans were Richard's playmates until they were sent to military school.

   He knew very well that Siegfried, who was very self-respecting, hated the polite manners since he was a child, and the emperor's respect and tolerance for Siegfried strengthened this nature.

   After sending away another small nobleman, Richard turned around and asked Siegfried with a smile: "[Old language] Still sulking because His Majesty dismissed you?"

   "[Old language] I have never had any dissatisfaction with Your Majesty, nor will I in the future." Siegfried replied solemnly: "[Old language] Your Highness."

"[Old language] You lacked a sense of humor in the past, and it seems that you will be the same in the future." Richard said briskly: "[Old language] The Castilians bite you and won't let go, and they won't let you lead troops for the time being. To protect you, but also to not give the Castilian barbarians an excuse to cause trouble. Don't be stern, how about go have some fun for yourself?

   Siegfried frowned: "[Old saying] I don't think there will be any fun here, Your Highness."

   "[Old language] Isn't chasing ladies enough fun? I can see that there are several ladies who keep their eyes on you."

   "[old phrase] I'm not interested in them."

   "[Old language] So what's fun?" Richard asked with a smile.

Siegfried replied earnestly: "[Old language] It's rare to come to the south, I want to see the rebel army, understand their organization and tactics, it is best to watch the battle at close range... This is probably the only interesting thing in this land. matter."

   "[Old language] I'm afraid there is no chance in Vine." Richard laughed dumbly: "[Old language] You should go after the lady. Go, sow the seeds to nourish the fertile soil, don't worry about my safety."

   Siegfried wanted to say something more, but when he looked at the prince's other attendants, his icy expression loosened a little.

  He bowed his head to the prince, and after receiving the prince's response, Siegfried walked to the edge of the hall.

   On the edge of the hall, there are long tables for drinks and food.

   From the moment he saw Prince Richard walk into the banquet hall with his attendants, Aaron's behavior suddenly became abnormal.

   While everyone else stood on tiptoe and scrambled to see the prince's true face, Aaron almost hid under the table, like a rabbit hiding from a hunter.

   But Aaron soon found desperately that he had tried his best not to attract attention, but the tall blond man walked straight towards him.

  There was no way to hide, Aaron got directly under the dining table, and under the cover of the tablecloth, he used his hands and feet to climb to the other end of the long table.

   As a result, she just stuck out her head cautiously, when a huge force came from behind, grabbed the back collar of her jacket and lifted her up.

   is Siegfried.

  Although Siegfried tried his best to remain expressionless, the corners of his eyes were still twitching uncontrollably: "[Old language] Why are you here?"

Now that she was caught, Aaron - or Princess Elizabeth - simply gave up on herself, she no longer deliberately suppressed her voice, but put on her brightest smile and waved hello: "Good evening, Earl of Harlan, you mention it like this. Am I being rude?"

   "What's the matter with your voice?" Siegfried asked coldly.

   "Oh!" Elizabeth answered proudly. "It took me a long time to make my voice hoarse. Don't worry, it will be fine in a while."

   Siegfried was still cold: "Your Majesty knows you are here?"

"I...I really didn't tell Dad..." Elizabeth shuddered subconsciously, and argued again in the next second: "But! Everything in the Eternal City can't be hidden from Dad! Since... Since I haven't been captured, then It means that Dad acquiesced..."

   Over there, Mavy walked over with the bottle in his hand, and happily asked Siegfried, "Do you know each other?"

   Elizabeth widened her eyes, looked at Mavy and then at Siegfried, and asked in disbelief, "You know each other?"

   Siegfried ignored Elizabeth, but looked at Mavy: "I guess you are here too."

   "Where there is free alcohol." Ma Wei raised his hands and said proudly: "Wherever there is me."

   Elizabeth was very dissatisfied with being ignored. She tried hard to break free from Siegfried, but the latter's hand holding Elizabeth's collar did not move.

   She had to give up her resistance temporarily and asked angrily, "You guys have known each other for a long time?"

"Of course." Mawi nodded as he should, pointed his thumb to Siegfried, and said with a smile: "I am Vine who came in his carriage. If it weren't for Siegfried, I might have long ago. Killed by some clumsy swordsman in the alleys of the imperial capital."

   Siegfried still ignored Elizabeth, and just asked Marvey: "You've arrived at Vine, what are you going to do next?"

  Ma Wei stretched his waist, took off his hat, and scratched his sparse hair in distress: "Anyway, I can't go back to the Eternal City right now, so I have to continue 'going out to collect materials'."

   "From material?"

  Mawi replied dashingly: "I have already traveled almost all over the territory of the Empire. Next, I plan to visit the territory of the rebels. I found that... the story here is much more interesting than the story of the Empire."

   "Are you rich?" Siegfried asked bluntly.

   "No." Ma Wei smiled: "But don't worry about me, I won't starve to death anywhere - I can still play the lute."

  The two talked to themselves, but Elizabeth was ignored, which made her feel inexplicably wronged.

After the beast fighting show in Castile, Siegfried's attitude towards Elizabeth suddenly became cold - although it never seemed enthusiastic on the surface, Elizabeth could feel the flames under Siegfried's iceberg go out. .

   As always, Elizabeth proudly refused to admit defeat, but her heart was also empty.

   At this moment, Siegfried's intentionally ignoring her attitude caused Elizabeth to be very angry at the same time, and tears flowed out of desperation. She started struggling again: "Let me go! Let me go!"

   Seeing the suspicious glances from others, Siegfried let go of his hand. Elizabeth did not run away, but began to sob softly.

   "Why are you crying?" Ma Wei asked curiously, he couldn't help but tease: "Like a girl!"

   Siegfried frowned upon hearing this, stared at Mavy for a while, then took a deep breath and sighed. At this moment, His Excellency the Earl had a splitting headache.

   Just as Siegfried struggled to say "please stop crying" to the princess, there was a sudden commotion outside the banquet hall.

   Horse hooves, screeching and even the faint sound of muskets.

  The door of St. Andrew's Hall was slammed open, and a team of murderous and heavily armed Union officers stepped into the hall.

On the west side of the hall, Secretary-General Lionel, who witnessed this scene, exhaled.

   His tense shoulders and back relaxed for the first time, and the madness and sharpness in his eyes disappeared, as if he was ten years old in an instant, but he showed an unprecedented sense of relief.

  Lionel picked up the first glass of wine from the table, looked directly into the eyes of Consul Debella, and said a toast with a smile: "Goodbye, Your Excellency Consul - to our demise."

   After saying that, the Secretary of State drank it and walked towards the uninvited guest with his head held high.

   The sudden change caught everyone by surprise. On the other side of the hall, as the natural leader of the imperial subjects present, Prince Richard was the first to face the intruder.

   "This is the imperial consulate!" Count Varez shouted, "Report your intentions!"

The officer headed by    held his sword and hid his face under the iron helmet: "Don't get in the way, we just need to take one person away."

   "[Old language] Everyone here is our guest." Prince Richard said unhurriedly: "[Old language] If you want to take people away, you need my consent.

   A cold voice came from behind: "Don't be nervous, gentlemen, they are here to find me."

  The men and women in Chinese clothes gave way one after another, and John Lionel in plain black walked out of the crowd alone.

  The officer who came to arrest the person was about to step forward, but was stopped by the prince's attendants. The atmosphere suddenly tense, and the banquet hall was so silent that a needle could be dropped.

"Your Excellency Lionel." Prince Richard stood between the soldier and the secretary of state, and extended an invitation to the latter: "You are my guest, and I am willing to provide you with all necessary shelter. Here, you are safe. ."

   "No need, His Royal Highness." Lionel sneered and replied mercilessly: "I'd rather let them take me away."

   Having said that, Lionel went straight to the intruding soldier and asked, "Will you tie me up?"

The officer headed by    was startled and saluted: "No, please leave with me... I promise that you will be treated fairly."

   "I don't need any justice." Lionel stared at the officer in charge of arresting him: "I just need you to answer one question - who betrayed me?"

The officer headed by    couldn't answer, he could only raise his hand to salute again: "Your Excellency, please leave with me."

  Lionel repeated his question word for word: "Who betrayed me?"

   "Your Excellency." The officer couldn't bear to use force, but he couldn't answer directly: "Please leave with me."

   "Who is it?" With blood in Lionel's eyes, the crazy look returned to him, and he gritted his teeth: "Betrayed me?"

   "No one betrayed you, Mr. Lionel." A calm and magnetic voice came from outside the door: "You betrayed all of us."

  Richard Milehouse—Assistant to the Interprovincial Principal Secretary of State and John Lionel's most trusted lieutenant—into St Andrew's Hall.

  Under the dome, everyone who recognized Milehouse was in an unprecedented shock, and everyone who didn't know Milehouse was desperately trying to find out who the stranger was.

In the chaos and disorder, only Marvey's eyes were bright and his breathing was short. He held Elizabeth and Siegfried's arms tightly and asked excitedly over and over again: "Look! Look! What happened here? Isn't it much more interesting than the intrigue of the nobles in the Eternal City?!"

   [226 is less than 226, crying]

   [I shouldn't be able to update the next chapter tomorrow, because the next chapter will be a big chapter, and it's the last chapter of this volume]

   [About the escaped princess, although it is outrageous, similar outrageous things have really happened in history (covering your face)]

   [On the night of March 17, 1623, a man calling himself Tom Smith knocked on the door of the British embassy in Madrid, insisting on seeing the ambassador]

   [Ambassador Digby was shocked to discover that the man who claimed to be Tom Smith turned out to be the Duke of Buckingham (first generation), the king's favorite]

   [This is not over, the big one is still behind - when the Duke of Buckingham knocked on the door, there was a man calling himself John Smith hiding across the street,

   [John Smith is Charles, Prince of Wales, first in line to the throne of England]

   [This incident can be called the biggest diplomatic farce of the 17th century. The Prince of England and the Duke of Buckingham wore fake beards, disguised themselves, and sneaked out of England into Spain. The whole process was like smuggling]

   [At the time of the Thirty Years' War, although the United Kingdom did not end up directly, it indirectly supported the Protestant Alliance many times. Britain and the West hope to change the British position through marriage, but the negotiations have not been resolved. Charles moved the Spanish princess with a romantic surprise attack, but after almost seven months of house arrest by Philip IV, there was still no result, and the princess was not married in the end]

   [This historical event is subtly used in the movie "The Legend of Mercenaries". The two men who were hired to assassinate the male protagonist at the beginning were "Prince Charles" and "The Duke of Buckingham"]

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end