Chapter 523

Ryan Kingdom, Xia Gong far from Roland City.

The gorgeously dressed guests are leaving the side hall in high spirits, excited about the cooperation just reached at the banquet.

Some people also moved to the lounge to continue the unfinished topic.

Although it is still far from midsummer, the magnificent hall has added a touch of quietness in the noise.

This is the summer resort of the Devalu family, and also the location of the Ryan Kingdom's Three Estates Meeting. As for the banquet that just ended, it is the banquet after the first day's agenda.

It must be said that although His Majesty's treasury is stretched, the decency that should be there is not missing at all.

However, not everyone is satisfied with this banquet.

Newcas loosened the tie that made him breathless, and slipped to the door of the back kitchen like a thief mouse.

As a Third Estate councilor, he was like a transparent glass bottle at the banquet that showed off his strength just now.

The nobles were talking loudly, the priests were pretending to be serious, no one paid attention to this merchant full of copper smell, and no one cared if his plate was empty.

Okay.

Newcas must admit that this can't actually blame His Majesty's servants, it's entirely because he hadn't attended such a banquet before, and hadn't come to disturb His Majesty's manor.

An accident happened without any accident. He got lost in that magnificent Xia Gong, and was only led to the banquet hall by a servant until the banquet was about to end.

Now the banquet is over, and his stomach began to protest uncompetitively, his eyes fell on a dining car parked at the door of the back kitchen.

There was a golden crispy roast squab on it, with solidified honey sauce on the skin, looking like it had only been politely cut by a table knife, and almost untouched.

Just when he was staring at the pigeon and swallowing, a chubby figure blocked the light.

That was an old man wearing a white apron, his temples were gray, his face had a kind smile, and his beard was trimmed decently.

As Xiodeng's head chef, his family has lived here for generations, and it has been more than three hundred years.

Seeing the old man looking at himself, Newcas couldn't help but feel embarrassed, coughed lightly and explained.

"I'm just looking around."

"You're welcome, sir."

The old man saw that he was not full, and picked up the silver table knife to skillfully shave the most delicious meat from the squab.

His movements were very dexterous, arranged in a clean white porcelain plate, and handed it to Newcas.

"Although the meat quality is not as fresh as when it was just out of the oven at this time, it also has a unique mellow fragrance... If you don't mind, please enjoy."

Nobles have the glory of nobles, and servants also have the glory of servants. He would never allow any guest to leave here on an empty stomach.

"Thank you!"

Newcas was stunned for a moment, then took the plate gratefully, not even caring about finding tableware, and directly grabbed the pigeon leg with his hands.

The old man looked at the wolfing Newcas with a smile, and didn't show any disgust because his eating was ugly.

Just as Baron Wickton said, His Majesty's imperial chef's craftsmanship is a must. Especially this roast squab, Newcas can swear to Saint Xisi that this is the most delicious squab he has ever eaten.

Newcas said while wolfing.

"... You are really a good person, Mr. Chef. I thought you would treat me as a little thief stealing food and drive me out."

"How could it be?" The head chef who arranged a plate again wiped his hands, and said with an elegant smile on his face. "You must be a knight who was just conferred not long ago?"

Newcas asked vaguely with the meat in his mouth.

"Why do you say that?"

"Experience, sir."

The head chef cast his gaze in the direction of the banquet hall, and continued to say in a chatty tone.

"Hereditary nobles are busy exchanging interests, and food is just decoration for them. Those priests who abide by the commandments are even more regard waste as an enemy. In order to show their piety, they will not move their forks in public. Only a knight like you who truly understands the taste of life will care about whether the pigeon tonight is delicious."

As expected of the royal chef, not only has craftsmanship, but also culture, and even improvised a rhyming doggerel on the spot.

Newcas laughed out loud after listening, almost choking.

The head chef handed over water, and then handed over a napkin.

"Please slow down, sir, no one is grabbing with you."

"Cough! Tha, thank you..."

Newcas, who swallowed the food, wiped his mouth and cleaned his greasy fingers at the same time, so as not to look too shameful.

Looking at the smiling head chef, he cleared his throat and revealed the answer.

"... You misread, Mr. Chef. Like you, I am a plain citizen who is fake-free, and I appear here entirely by His Majesty's grace."

Having said that, his self-deprecating tone couldn't help but add a bit of teasing pride.

"However, your vision is not all wrong. Maybe in a few days, I can really mix a knight to be a knight."

The head chef raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh? Then congratulations, this is an amazing honor."

"Thank you."

Newcas's mouth hooked a smile, took the head chef's praise, but didn't take this "amazing honor" too seriously.

Baron Wickton did mention this, but it was clear that it was the bait on the fish hook, used to tease him... He was not unable to see it.

Not to mention, the attraction of Ryan's knight to him is just like that.

Before in the Campbell Principality, he had no identification with the identity of Campbell people, only feeling that it was a name made up by nobles, fooling the textile workers in the textile factory, and the rank-and-file soldiers who lined up to die.

However, when he came to the Ryan Kingdom and saw the Ryan nobles who wrote arrogance on their faces, and the willful and frivolous Roland City citizens...

He had never been so proud of being a Campbell person, and had never missed his hometown so much.

Lei Ming City is still good.

The water there nourishes people.

On this night when no one knew, a manager of an unknown fire extinguisher company actually resonated with the legendary hero.

Although the things they missed were completely different.

"It seems that the important agenda is behind," the head chef poured him lemon water to rinse his mouth again, and said in a chatty tone. "I heard today is the first day?"

"Yes."

"I'm curious, what did you all talk about?"

"Ghost knows."

"Mm?" The head chef looked at him unexpectedly, with a surprised expression on his face, and then smiled knowingly and said. "It seems I was presumptuous."

"No, please don't misunderstand, that's not something private, it's just that I really don't remember."

Newcas shrugged indifferently.

"I only remember Baron Wickton looked at me twice, I raised my hand twice. As for what they specifically talked about... maybe Saint Xisi knows."

"Then... tomorrow?" The head chef looked at him blankly, surprised. "You are a Third Estate councilor, you have to say something for the citizens of Roland City, right?"

Newcas took the warm lemon water and drank it, then took out a handkerchief from his bosom and elegantly wiped the oil stains from the corners of his mouth, as if he were a real noble.

"Say something? Ah... let me think."

Looking at the strange head chef, he said in a teasing tone.

"What do you think about the twelve ways of roasting squab? Speaking of which, I have to ask you for advice, you are an expert in this area."

The Ryan head chef who served the royal family for generations was stunned for a long time, and it took half a minute to understand the humor of this Campbell person in front of him, and let out a hearty laugh.

"Haha..."

Then he turned around, took out another plate of exquisite and delicious snacks from the dining car, and placed it gently in front of Councilor Newcas.

"Anyway, your appreciation of my craftsmanship is my honor as a chef."

"Please enjoy, future Sir."

The next day, Newcas changed into a well-tailored tuxedo under the reminder of the servant, and moved to the circular theater of the Xia Gong.

In previous years, this circular theater was a place for royal entertainment, and the wide stage had staged countless joys and sorrows of knights and princesses.

And now it has been changed into a temporary meeting place by Baron Wickton. For the fate of the kingdom and the family, countless audiences sitting on the stage appeared one after another.

The only audience seemed to be one person, and that was Mr. Newcas sitting in the corner on the edge.

At this moment, he was supporting his chin boredly, like an audience who bought the wrong ticket, waiting for the noise of a new day to start.

Just on the left hand side in front of him, that was the seat belonging to the First Estate... Bishops and high-ranking priests in white robes occupied the box with the best view.

Although there were not many of them, they were the most solemn of all participants, and the clean white robes shone with holy light in the sun.

And on his right hand side, it was a colorful ocean.

¤cO

The citizens of the Second Estate sat there, among them were nobles themselves, famous knights, and butlers sent by nobles.

They talked and laughed loudly, the sound of sword scabbards colliding one after another, as if this was not a parliament hall, but a salon of high society.

In fact, they were not wrong. This is indeed not a parliament hall, but the Xia Gong of His Majesty Xiodeng, a theater providing entertainment for the King who came to escape the heat.

Newcas took back his gaze, lowered his head and counted the scraps sitting beside him.

One, two, three... six in total, including himself.

As councilors of the Third Estate citizens, their seats were like garbage swept to the wall, placed together with the props temporarily moved away in the theater.

Sitting on his left hand side is a beer merchant. I heard that the business is not small, and he occupies 30% of the business in the entire Roland City.

However, this big man in the eyes of ordinary people is not very amazing here, gentle like a golden retriever.

The most noble guy among these six chairs is probably the president of the Stonemason Guild in the corner on his right hand side. Speaking of which, the two had a competition in business before.

Newcas remembered that it was really dangerous at the time, but the Stonemason Guild didn't use the card of the city defense guard like his newcomer fellow, but directly sacrificed the card of the city defense guard.

Fortunately, the guys of the Royal Guard had a bigger card face, and one look made the head of the other side serve, which saved the peace of the citizens of Roland City at night.

Unlike the intrigue in Lei Ming City, the business war in Roland City is always so plain and unadorned.

However, this president is a decent person. Although he suffered a big loss in the fire extinguisher business, he didn't show any hostility when he saw him, but took his hand and smiled and said hello, as if the bloody storm before didn't exist.

He is not like a golden retriever, more like a smart border collie.

Newcas was pondering what breed he was, but saw a lonely "Ryan-style bulldog."

That guy is an alien, sitting in the corner on his left hand side.

Newcas remembered that the gentleman's name seemed to be Ferguson, a scholar at a church school, who is said to have a high reputation in the academic circles of the Ryan Kingdom.

At this moment, this short and strong "Ryan bulldog" was holding his arms tightly in his chest, staring gloomily at those noisy nobles, with a look of cold eyebrows.

The corners of Newcas's mouth couldn't help but hook a strange smile, thinking of the speech this scholar gentleman made at yesterday's "warm-up meeting"—

"In our kingdom, civilians occupy more than 90% of the quantity, but I only saw six chairs! Gentlemen! Six chairs, there is even a Campbell person among these six people! The seats of civilians only occupy 3%!"

"Baron Wickton, you don't have to pretend to care about us, and you don't have to pretend to invite me here to humiliate me!"

At that time, the whole audience was silent for a second, and then drowned by the laughter of the nobles, even the most serious priests couldn't help but hook the corners of their mouths.

What an interesting civilian.

Mr. Wickton was very embarrassed by this sentence, his face was iron-blue, thanks to the president of the Stonemason Guild coming out to save the scene, the meeting continued.

Although he was "pointed" by Professor Ferguson, Newcas didn't get angry, but appreciated this straightforward old gentleman very much.

He must take back the stereotypical evaluation of Ryan people. This ancient kingdom also has real gentlemen, and not everyone is like a goblin.

The wide theater was filled one after another, and the gorgeously dressed actors were in place, and the performance named Three Estates Meeting was about to start soon.

Newcas looked around, thinking about the task Baron Wickton gave him, and couldn't help but pray silently to Saint Xisi in his heart.

Saint Xisi is above, the eagle raised by the King on his shoulder, actually wants to rely on a few "pigeons" to peck out the eyes of a group of raptors?

This is not naive—

It's just like dreaming.

Unless, the King has a back hand.

The bell at noon had just struck, and the heavy wooden mallet hit the speaker's seat heavily, declaring the official start of this meeting that determined the fate of the Ryan Kingdom.

Economic Minister Baron Wickton walked onto the podium with heavy steps.

Facing the eyes focused on him, he had no speech draft, and opened his mouth with an impassioned voice.

"Noble gentlemen, holy priests, I don't want to wake up your dreams, but please look at the land under our feet. The treasury of the kingdom has bottomed out, and the King's subjects are crying under the heavy burden!"

"They have to pay land rent, tithe, salt tax, head tax... and work hard to survive. And our citizens are not well-off either. Every piece of hard bread they eat, they have to dedicate one-fifth to our kingdom! Not only that, they also paid blood and sweat, and even paid their lives!"

Whispering sounds spread in the seats of the circular theater.

The priests fell into deep thought, while the expressions on the nobles' faces were gloomy and uncertain, and gradually lost the comfort when the meeting just started.

They heard that the King convened the Three Estates Meeting, thinking that His Majesty wanted money from the citizens, so they all gathered here to see if they could get a share.

But how...

Does the Economic Minister's speech sound a bit wrong?

However, they didn't break out. After all, any dinner needs to be paved before it starts. They intended to give this Baron Wickton a chance to finish his words before making a decision.

However, their silence seemed to be understood as weakness.

Baron Wickton not only didn't stop that impassioned voice, but also forcibly linked the survival of the kingdom with the fate of those many families.

Even used sharp moral weapons!

"Look at the citizens of Roland City, they picked up a life from the Winter Moon fire, and now they have nothing! And now, our kingdom is in danger, only if you noble gentlemen stand up together, can we overcome the difficulties!"

"For the sake of Saint Xisi, I implore you to shoulder the ancient obligations, and also implore you to stand with our kingdom!"

These words can be described as tears and tears.

Although Baron Wickton didn't sympathize with the civilians of Roland City for a second, and even the Winter Moon fire was his own poisonous plan, this didn't prevent him from using those mud-legged people he didn't look at in his eyes to force the nobles to make concessions in order to achieve his goal.

He believed that Ryan's nobles still wanted a little face. After all, even the King's imperial chef wanted face, how could these noble big men not cherish their feathers?

If it doesn't work, he also has plan number two—disaster to the east.

As long as Ryan's nobles are convinced that their kingdom is standing at the crossroads of fate, and the skinny sheep have no hair to cut.

He can at least pull these nobles for his Majesty to rob those fat and soft-to-bully priests, so as to share the obligations they need to bear.

However—

Baron Wickton still thought about things too well. Even the plans of the gods often have unexpected arrangements, let alone a mortal?

It is probably that he has been high above for too long, overestimating the moral bottom line of Ryan's nobles, and underestimating the rascality of this group of feudal lords.

Surrender and lose half?

Ridiculous!

The weak will retreat, and the real strong will of course eat all the meat on the side of the mouth!

"Obligation?"

A cold laugh full of sarcasm suddenly interrupted Wickton's speech, and the powerful Count sitting on the right seat of the meeting table patted the table and stood up.

That burly figure blocked the light spilled by the kerosene lamp, and the gloomy shadow crossed the edge of the long table, eyes staring dead at the stage.

He is the vassal most relied on by Duke Eiffel, usually not even buying the King's account, let alone a Baron who relies on flattery?

"When our ancestors shed blood on this land, you didn't know which tree's monkey you were, and you are worthy of talking to me about obligations?"

Baron Wickton's eyes widened, staring dead at that Count, just about to open his mouth to refute, but was rudely interrupted by the latter.

"We used blood to open up the land under your feet, and used swords to guard the kingdom! Our obligations have never been relaxed for a moment! A dog wagging its tail is also worthy of talking to me about obligations!"

He pulled out the sword at his waist, "clatter" heavily patted on the table.

That sonorous and powerful sound didn't scare Wickton who had seen the wind and waves, but scared the few "allies" he invited.

"This is the tax we have paid!" The vassal of Duke Eiffel narrowed his eyes, his face full of murderous spirit. "I put it here, do you dare to come and take it!"

The noisy theater turned from joy to sorrow in an instant, the style switched too fast, so that the priests sitting on the left seat were caught off guard.

They actually prepared for the King to perform themselves, and in the end, they paid some money, but this Count...

Doesn't seem to be acting?

Newcas's face was stiff, his hands grabbed the armrests involuntarily, his body leaned forward slightly, his eyes subconsciously drifted to the door.

Saint Xisi is above...

He thought Baron Wickton had a back hand...

How...

Doesn't look like he has one?

The Count's sonorous response ignited the powder keg, and the booing of agreement rose one after another behind him, instantly drowning Wickton's argument.

"Well said!"

"The Philip family disdains you! Weighing the decayed money with the glory passed down from generation to generation is an insult to glory!"

"Get out! The King's running dog!"

"Your family will be ashamed of your betrayal today!"

The originally solemn and solemn parliament hall instantly turned into a noisy vegetable market. These gorgeously dressed nobles didn't have a little bit of the appearance that nobles should have.

They shouted loudly, accusing the royal family of betrayal, actually wanting to destroy the holy contract of "exempting noble taxes" that has been passed down for hundreds of years, making them pay money to the King like those merchants begging for food in the market.

What did he treat nobles as!

Newcas looked dumbfounded at the noisy nobles, even forgot to run away for a while, and... he felt that he didn't seem to need to run anymore.

These nobles are sensible people, they didn't pay attention to the six citizens sitting in the corner at all, all firepower was concentrated on the "culprit."

The sound wave behind gave the Count infinite courage, he looked contemptuously at Wickton on the stage, and gave the final blow.

"Mr. Wickton, Ryan's nobles will not fill the hole in the kingdom for you. Instead of blackmailing your Majesty's loyal ministers here, you might as well consider persuading your Majesty to sell the title of Twilight Province to a capable gentleman. I believe many people will be willing to pay a high price for the title of a Duke."

After speaking, the Count didn't give the latter any chance to argue, snorted coldly, and left with his sleeves.

This move triggered a chain reaction, and a large number of nobles followed behind the Count, also leaving the seat angrily with dissatisfied emotions.

On the other side, the priests remained indifferent, with playful expressions on their faces, watching this farce that ended unhappily.

Honestly, they didn't expect the nobles and the King to quarrel first. They thought they were the fat sheep at this meeting.

If they take increasing church power as an exchange, they are not unable to lend a sum of money to the King. Anyway, they have plenty of secular gold coins.

However, looking at it now, they may have overestimated that Majesty. That seemingly strong old man is actually one foot already stepping into the coffin.

Perhaps this is Saint Xisi's punishment for the Devalu family. Pushing that clown-like guy to the position of Bishop is ultimately offending the gods.

They have endured Xiodeng for a long time.

In less than five minutes, the originally bustling meeting hall was more than half empty.

The lights in the circular theater remained, but only illuminated Baron Wickton's embarrassed and iron-blue face, standing on the stage not knowing how to end the scene.

He is also helpless.

Reasonably speaking, those nobles should be afraid of the Lionheart Knights, but today they showed unusual toughness.

Perhaps it was because the "Radiant Knight" had been stationed at the front line for too long, these treacherous people actually felt that His Majesty couldn't lift the knife, and dared to provoke by patting the sword on the table!

In fact, besides helplessness, there was also a hint of confusion in Baron Wickton's heart.

Reasonably speaking, for the sake of gold coins, His Majesty would definitely not let himself fight alone, which is also the biggest confidence of him as a Baron.

However, what he didn't understand was why he had already stood at the front line and was about to fight to the death, but His Majesty's reinforcements didn't even see a shadow.

This is very inappropriate...

In the corner, the silent Professor Ferguson sneered, seemingly the only audience in the entire circular theater who guessed the ending.

He even guessed the ending that was not staged. From ancient times to the present, stage plays are all paid for by the audience. Where is the reason for the actors on stage to pay?

He doesn't feel sorry for the money, that's nothing more than external things.

He only regrets the fate of Roland City.

Those undead who died in the Winter Moon fire didn't really close their eyes. Every blood debt will be calculated with interest when the day of liquidation comes.

The sneer of hating its lack of struggle finally turned into a long sigh, he looked silently at the only Campbell person present, and then left here without saying a word.

Toss, you guys just toss!

Newcas looked at the back of Mr. Ferguson leaving, and then looked at the four "trolls" beside him who were scared, and couldn't help but cry and laugh.

"Saint Xisi is above..."

Newcas drew a cross on his chest.

He actually sold fire extinguishers to a group of flame demons who were pouring oil on themselves.

No joke, he really admires himself a bit.

(End of chapter)