Chapter 539: The Choice

When Yiben was studying at the Royal Knight Academy in his early years, he displayed excellent talent for cultivation, which was how he caught Bruno's eye.

After more than ten years of hard work, he rose to prominence, not only becoming the Regiment Commander of the Griffin Knights but also falling in love with the eldest Princess Xuelun, and finally, he was fortunate enough to marry Blanche with the status of a Border Count.

To some extent, Bruno's methods of dealing with Yiben and Luoning were somewhat similar; both involved using his daughters to marry powerful, reliable nobles in exchange for the stability of the Kingdom.

Although Yiben was heartbroken over Bruno's death, he faced new complications and a difficult choice when confronted with this letter.

In his view, if Luoning were truly the murderer, Jialete should have facilitated a coalition between him and Gushan and the others to encircle and suppress Miwu City.

Instead of the current situation, where he was asked to coordinate from within with the forces of the enemy Moore City, and even promised to be enfeoffed as a Border Duke once the deed was done.

Yiben did have a bit of ambition, but he was not as reckless as Jialete, especially when facing a formidable enemy.

If Luoning were truly a traitor to the Kingdom, then one would need to be extremely cautious when dealing with such an enemy of immense personal strength.

"Yiben!"

At this moment, a beautiful noblewoman walked in with quick steps; judging by her appearance, she was thirty percent similar to Blanche, though more mature.

Yiben stood up in a hurry, "Didn't you go to Black Jade Bay for a vacation? Why have you returned so suddenly?"

However, when he saw Xuelun's red, swollen eyes, he knew that she had likely learned of the matter through the Black Jade Family.

"Father, he was assassinated?"

Yiben gave a hum and handed Jialete's letter to her, "Jialete says Luoning did it and wants me to take Miwu City."

"Wuu..."

Xuelun burst into tears after reading the letter, and Yiben had no choice but to comfort her.

"How could this happen?"

She said with both grief and disbelief: "Jialete told William that my father was only severely wounded and dying; I thought, I thought he still had hope of surviving..."

Although Jialete explicitly stated in the letter that he had hidden the truth from other nobles to keep the credit for conquering Miwu City solely for Shuangfeng Ridge, thereby allowing the Tolansi Family to become Border Dukes.

Yet, no matter how Yiben looked at it, he felt it was inappropriate; such an arrangement was too strange.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't they unite with Gushan, William, and the others to attack the traitor's territory together?

Xuelun cried for Along while, wiped the tears from her face, and then asked: "Yiben, what do you intend to do?"

Yiben pondered for a moment and finally said: "I am just as saddened by His Majesty's misfortune as you are, but we must remain calm. Miwu City is guarded by Ruidar; for me to coordinate from within with people from an enemy country I know nothing about is too difficult and will inevitably bring greater losses to Shuangfeng Ridge."

"Moreover, there are many suspicious points in your brother's plan, and I cannot blindly believe his one-sided story."

Although Jialete stated firmly in the letter that Luoning would certainly be killed in Jinyu Palace, telling Yiben to feel free to attack Miwu City boldly.

Yet in Yiben's view, the risk of this matter remained very high.

Back then, Aruba led so many people to surround and kill Luoning, only to be killed by the latter instead; where did Jialete get such one-hundred-percent confidence?

If he attacked Miwu City and Luoning happened to escape successfully, would the other party's rage be directed at him?

Although Yiben was confident he could defeat an ordinary Blazing Sun Knight, he had no confidence at all when facing Luoning.

Besides that, Yiben had clashed with Jialete back when he was in Wangdu in his early years.

Although their relationship had improved later due to Xuelun's mediation and his own active compromise.

Yiben still had a deep understanding of Jialete's jealous, vengeful, and arrogant personality, and he always felt an inexplicable wariness toward him.

Xuelun nodded; she knew her husband had always been cautious.

"In that case, then accompany me to Wangdu first!"

She said: "I don't want to miss even the last look at my father!"

Yiben nodded; he also wanted to go to Wangdu to see for himself what was going on.

After waiting for Xuelun to go down to pack, he summoned the Garrison Officer Brammer:

"Go and arrange for someone to find Ruidar in Miwu City and tell him that there might be unusual movements in Moore City, and have him be on guard."

If Luoning were killed, this action of his would be inconsequential.

If Luoning escaped alive, his warning to Ruidar would be equivalent to improving their relationship.

At the very least, it would prevent Luoning from venting his rage on Shuangfeng Ridge.

When Ruidar received this information, he knew that no one would likely unite with Sangboen and the others to besiege Miwu City.

He had analyzed that, looking across the entire border, there were not many people with close ties to Jialete, and the first among them was the Shuangfeng Ridge Count, Yiben.

Now that Yiben had revealed this information, it was clearly the other party making a gesture.

Furthermore, according to the person who delivered the intelligence, Yiben was already on the road to Jinyu City with Xuelun.

"Maiken, the moment for us has arrived!"

Ruidar came outside the city and found Maiken, who was responsible for guarding the captives like Sangboen.

"What do you mean?"

Ruidar said: "Miwu City is temporarily safe, and it is time for us to act and conquer more territory for the Lord!"

Maiken suddenly understood, and then immediately became eager to try.

Ever since the battle in Zilei Territory, he had rested for a year without experiencing any combat.

He longed to prove his strength once again, and this opportunity had finally come.

"Sangboen confessed that Moore City currently does not have many troops guarding it. Commander, leave this battle to me; with just one Knight Order, I can take Moore City!"

Ruidar nodded; he trusted Maiken's ability.

"Good, I will give you one Knight Order, and additionally, have Sangboen lead a captured Knight Order to launch the first wave of the attack. At the same time, I will also accompany you to prevent the Holy Storm from playing any tricks over there."

Just like that, under the arrangements of the two, Suofeiya and Aini Lu were responsible for the defense of Miwu City and the guarding of the remaining two captured Knight Orders.

Ruidar and Maiken led the troops to attack Moore City.

If this large city, which was poorly defended but densely populated, could be brought under their control, it would undoubtedly bring a significant boost to Luoning.

At the same time, after Luoning finished dealing with the matters at Jinyu Palace, he had Kaierluosi take Jialete and Feilunsi to the manor to be held in custody.

"Luoning, you're back!"

As soon as she entered the room, Blanche threw herself at him; judging by her state, she had clearly been crying hard.

The death of a father and the betrayal of a brother—anyone would be devastated after experiencing such things.

Luoning stroked her back: "Although this is a very sad and unfortunate matter, you must be strong and take care of your health. I believe that if His Majesty were still alive, he would certainly hope that the little life in your belly can be nurtured in peace and safety."

"I understand, Luoning."

Blanche took a deep breath, "It's just that whenever I think of how well Father treated Jialete, only for him to end up dying such a miserable death, I feel grief for him."

He raised his head: "Did you kill Jialete?"

Luoning saw hesitation and conflict in her eyes; he feared that Blanche wanted Jialete dead, yet she was feeling hesitant due to the influence of blood ties and kinship.

"No."

Luoning replied: "I am preparing to summon the nobles of the Kingdom to Jinyu Palace to put Jialete on trial; there is a high probability he will be sentenced to death."

When the time comes, with all parties pushing for it, even if he isn't sentenced to death, it won't be much better.

Luoning looked at his wife: "Regardless of everything, Jialete can no longer inherit the throne of Auduin. Blanche, do you want to become Queen?"

Queen?

Blanche was stunned; she had been immersed in grief and had not thought about this question.

Now that it was brought up by Luoning, she realized that the surname Auduin no longer had any male heirs.

"I..."

Blanche buried her head in Luoning's chest: "If you need me to, I am willing."

She paused, "If I could choose for myself, I would only want to help you handle small matters when there is something to do, and live quietly when there isn't." (End of chapter)