Chapter 148: 148 Sowing Discord

Apart from himself, Luoning only brought Maiken and Tangmu along for this trip to Wushan Castle.

However, the caravan from Tieti Castle was not like this; there were ten carriages alone, each pulled by two horses, and in addition, there was a Knight Squad escorting them, with seven or eight male and female servants accompanying them—the display was quite grand.

In the words of Viscount Mawen, if a noble does not pay attention to display when traveling, how can one reflect the nobility of a noble?

Luoning could only smile and say nothing to this; he would like to be noble, but his economic strength did not allow it.

The speed of the caravan was not slow; according to the plan of Tieti Castle, they would arrive at Wushan Castle on the 26th, which was enough time.

Traveling was boring, especially when following someone else's team; Luoning felt constrained, and it was not very convenient to study Magic and Battle Technique.

As for Luogena, he kept wanting to spar with Maiken when he was bored; he thought both of them were Advanced Knights, but in reality, Maiken had long since reached Silver, and he still had to control his strength when sparring.

"My Lord, there is a caravan ahead," Maiken reported while they were moving.

Luoning raised his head to look past the team in front, and sure enough, he saw a team not far away; judging by the scale, although it could not compare to Tieti Castle, it should also be a noble.

"Haha, it is the caravan from Sain Territory."

Viscount Mawen laughed: "Let's go, Luoning, let's go over and greet him."

Logically speaking, a Viscount would generally not lower himself to take the initiative to go up and greet Leisen, but Mawen's personality was just like this; he felt uncomfortable all over if he did not mock someone a couple of times.

What's more, Luoning was still by his side, and he could not wait to see what kind of expression would be on Leisen's face.

Consequently, Mawen took Luoning and went forward, with Maiken, Luogena, and several other Professional Knights following behind.

Leisen over there naturally also noticed the caravan in the rear; originally, he thought about proceeding as usual, but he did not expect the people behind to catch up.

Upon seeing that it was Mawen and Luoning, his expression immediately sank.

"Oh my, isn't this Baron Leisen of Sain Territory?"

Before the horses had even stopped, Mawen's mocking voice had already reached Leisen's ears.

"I heard that you lost to an Advanced Knight in the Wubei Woodland; I want to ask a couple of questions on behalf of my son: is that Advanced Knight really that strong?"

Luoning looked sideways at this; such a straightforward provocation, really not giving any face at all?

Leisen's expression was very ugly; if it weren't for the fact that the other party was stronger, he would really want to go up and tear that mocking mouth apart!

"Hehe, your mouth is still as sharp as before, Mawen; I remember that someone also lost to a Bronze Knight when they were Silver Grade, right?"

"Now that others have become a Golden Knight, you are still just a Silver Knight; where do you get the qualifications to mock me?"

Luoning could not help but glance at Mawen; there was such a thing?

Sure enough, Mawen's expression also collapsed: "At least I lost within the same major rank, but you were a major rank ahead of the other person; who is the one who cannot afford to lose?"

When advancing a major rank, a Knight's body will be strengthened.

Generally speaking, a Bronze Knight will be far ahead of an Advanced Peak Knight, and while there is a gap between a Bronze Peak Knight and a Silver Initial Knight who are in the same major rank, it is not very large.

So Mawen's words also had some truth; by comparison, Leisen was more embarrassing.

Leisen sneered and stopped entangling with Mawen, turning instead to look at Luoning: "I thought this heavy snow would have trapped you in the deep mountains and you wouldn't be able to come out; now it seems Baron Luoning is safe and sound, and must not have been affected by the heavy snow."

What he was very concerned about was whether the Skull Society had actually gone to assassinate Luoning.

"Many thanks to Baron Leisen for your concern."

There was not a trace of hatred on Luoning's face, and he looked no different from usual: "As the grandson of the Marquis and also a vassal of Wushan Castle, even if the snow is heavy, I have no reason not to come out."

Leisen felt slightly relieved; regardless of whether the Skull Society went to assassinate Luoning, at least this matter had nothing to do with him.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Luoning to appear so calm before him.

Luoning's gaze passed over Leisen and landed on the burly Knight behind him: "Why, the Knight you brought on this trip is Qiaofuli? Where is Feilidun?"

Leisen looked back at Qiaofuli: "Baron Luoning seems very concerned about my subordinate?"

Luoning deliberately did not answer the other party's words, and did not even look at Leisen.

He raised his hand to greet the leader of the Heiling Tribe: "Knight Qiaofuli, the words Ruidar said to you are always valid; the gates of my Shanlin Castle are always open to you. As long as you are willing, you can join my command at any time!"

This statement left Qiaofuli completely bewildered; for a moment, he did not know whether it was better to greet Luoning or to explain to Leisen that he had no intention of betraying him.

"Hahahaha!"

Viscount Mawen looked up to the sky and laughed; he did not know Qiaofuli, but he could stir up trouble.

"That's right, Qiaofuli, what future is there in following a lord who was defeated by an Advanced Knight? It would be better to change your object of allegiance; Luoning is of the Wushan Family bloodline, countless times more noble than Leisen—following him will certainly be better than your current situation!"

Qiaofuli felt bitter inside; he was originally the leader of the Heiling Tribe, but after defecting to Sain Territory, he was gradually sidelined, and he could feel the wariness and exclusion from the Sain Territory forces led by Knight Feilidun.

The reason for this was that Qiaofuli's strength was greater than that of Feilidun and the others.

Originally, exclusion was just exclusion; at least in the Heiling Tribe, he could live freely, but he never expected that the words Ruidar said were reported to Feilidun by Knight Wunai, and then he was transferred away by Baron Leisen.

He truly never thought about defecting to Luoning.

After all, a Professional Knight cannot change his object of allegiance at will; doing so would only make him look very cheap, and if he changed too often, it is very likely that no noble would be willing to accept his allegiance anymore.

"My Lord, I..."

He had just wanted to explain, but was interrupted by Leisen's cold snort.

"Luoning, you and I are both vassals of Wushan Castle now; don't go too far in everything, don't think I dare not deal with you!"

Of course he dared, and he had even already found assassins.

Anyway, once the year-end celebration was over, Luoning would attack the Heiling Tribe, so he could not be bothered to maintain any friendly relationship with the other party.

As for sowing discord between Qiaofuli and Leisen, that was because Luoning saw that the other party was very paranoid.

Ruidar only said one sentence, and Leisen took measures; this was obviously unfair to Qiaofuli, as his allegiance had been questioned.

As mentioned before, Luoning was very interested in Knights like Qiaofuli whose background was not very complicated; it would be a good thing to pull him over to be used by him.

"Leisen, how dare you compare yourself to Luoning? No matter what, he has the blood of the Wushan Family flowing in his body."

Mawen's gaze was cold and deep, and his tone carried a faint threat: "Or is it that you want to replace the Wushan Family and become the new masters of Wushan Territory?"

"Bullshit!"

Leisen shouted angrily: "My Sain Territory is absolutely loyal to Wushan Castle! Mawen, watch your mouth!"

He did not want to stay here for even another moment: "Go!"

The caravan of the Sain Territory soon continued on its way.

Luoning followed for two steps and shouted, "Qiaofuli, keep my words in mind!"

Leisen, on horseback, gritted his teeth, his face flushed with anger, roaring inwardly, "Damn it, damn it! Why hasn't the Skull Society made a move yet? I want him dead!"

"My lord, I will not pledge my loyalty..."

"Shut up!"

Leisen roared angrily, "If you dare, don't blame me for killing your entire family!"

Qiaofuli lowered his head and retreated to the side, feeling very bitter inside.

"Do you really want to take in that Qiaofuli?" Viscount Mawen asked, gazing at the Sain Territory's caravan.

Luoning nodded seriously, "Qiaofuli should be an Advanced Peak Knight. If I can gain his following and loyalty, it would be equivalent to gaining another fierce general for my Shanlin Town."

"As a mere little Baron, can you afford to support so many Advanced Knights?"

An Advanced Knight requires an annual salary of over thirty gold coins; an average Baron Territory cannot afford to support too many of them.

But for Luoning, this is not a difficult matter; the Spell Scrolls produced by Aierlong are enough to pay these salaries when sold.

The only thing that puts pressure on him is Bronze and Silver Grade knights, especially the latter, which requires a payment of 336 gold coins per year.

Fortunately, Maiken does not have high demands for gold coins; currently, he and Ruidar both have a daily wage of five silver coins, maintaining them at the Bronze level.

"Supporting a few more shouldn't be a problem, right?" Luoning led the Tayunjv back into the caravan.

Mawen watched the other's back; today's chance encounter with Leisen had given him a deeper understanding of Luoning.

The fact that the other party wants to recruit Advanced Knights shows that he has intentions of expansion.

The key point that Mawen did not quite understand was where Luoning got the confidence to not fear offending Leisen in the slightest.

Is it because he is confident of success, or is he a newborn calf that is not afraid of the tiger?

(End of this chapter)