Chapter 1362: The Great Army Marches

Vienna, Liu Zheng's residence.

Count Austin finished recounting the events of this morning with a grim face, leaving Liu Zheng and Xie Chan looking astonished.

"What!"

"You mean to say, Grand Duke Theresa has been imprisoned?" Liu Zheng's expression immediately turned sour.

Count Austin nodded helplessly; he had only just learned of this himself, so he had rushed over to inform Liu Zheng at the first opportunity.

Liu Zheng's face darkened; if Theresa had been imprisoned...

He had not expected that the Duke of Lorraine would dare to do such a thing, actually daring to imprison a Grand Duke.

He was merely seeking revenge for Liu Zheng beating his grandson, wanting to make Liu Zheng see those around him suffer punishment as well.

He had chosen not to move against Xie Chan because he wanted to use Liu Zheng himself as a bargaining chip.

According to the latest intelligence he had received, the Longyan army was already marching toward Vienna, and the Austrian army was now falling back to provide support.

It would likely not be long before a great battle broke out.

If Austria lost when the time came, they would use him and Xie Chan to negotiate with Longyan; although he was a merchant,

a merchant who dared to sell wine to Count Austin during this period was certainly no simple man.

"Liu Sheng, you need not worry about Grand Duke Theresa's safety. Although she has been imprisoned, the one who imprisoned her is General Weikeduo of the military. He is the top leader in Austria, and he even has a bit of blood relation to Theresa."

"Strictly speaking, Theresa should call him grandfather."

"But he has a strange temper, and in the Upper House, he insisted that you and Franz must have a duel."

"However, you must leave quickly now; the Duke of Lorraine will absolutely not let you go," Count Austin said solemnly.

Liu Zheng shook his head and let out a laugh: "Count, I cannot leave now."

Liu Zheng pointed outside the house and said: "Do you think it is General Weikeduo or the Duke of Lorraine who would let me leave?"

At this moment, the sound of marching troops was clearly audible outside Liu Zheng's house; Count Austin's expression was grave, yet he was not the least bit afraid.

"You can rest assured; based on the friendship between us, if I guarantee you leave now, you will be absolutely safe and sound," Count Austin said domineeringly.

Count Austin had the capital to say these words, having spent the better part of his life in the military.

Liu Zheng believed he still possessed that level of prestige, yet no trace of joy appeared on Liu Zheng's face.

Looking at it now, it was indeed time for him to leave; the situation in Vienna had already descended into chaos.

He could completely retreat unscathed.

But the result after he left would be that Theresa would absolutely lose her status as Grand Duke because of this, and the Duke of Lorraine would not let her go.

Furthermore, he would be breaking his word.

"You can rest easy; if I want to take you away, no one can stop me."

But the moment those words fell, Liu Zheng's door was thrown wide open.

A person walked in, and a single indifferent sentence made cold sweat stream down Count Austin's back.

"Austin, are you no longer taking me seriously?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Count Austin was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his hair standing on end.

How could he not be familiar with this voice? This person had been his superior for half his life.

Count Austin turned his head abruptly and saw the old man wearing military uniform, his chest covered in medals of honor, though his frame was already somewhat hunched.

"Sir!" Count Austin raised his hand to salute almost subconsciously.

Weikeduo glanced at him, chuckled, signaled for him to lower his hand, and said indifferently: "You have already left the military, and I am in a semi-retired state; there is no need to be so formal."

Count Austin lowered his hand, but even though General Weikeduo said this, he remained as uneasy as that guard from years ago.

This scene fell into Weikeduo's eyes, and seemingly thinking of something, he suddenly smiled.

"We are both old now."

Weikeduo suddenly leaned in like a child to Count Austin's ear

and whispered.

"I heard you have Yinzhou Drunken there..."

Upon hearing this, Count Austin immediately said: "Sir, later you go to my place and we two shall drink to our heart's content."

There were few guards in Austria who did not love drinking Yinzhou Drunken; it was the strongest wine in Austria, mellow in fragrance, intoxicating the body but not the heart.

This wine was delicious, and Weikeduo loved to drink it too, but ever since business with Longyan had dwindled, this type of wine had become a case of having a price but no market.

"Hehe..."

The two elderly former Austrian guards were there discussing how many bottles of Yinzhou Drunken to drink later.

"Sir, I tell you, this Yinzhou Drunken is all that is left; now no one dares to sell it," Count Austin said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Weikeduo immediately slapped his thigh: "How can that be? We can still do business with Longyan."

"You know as well as I do, the Longyan merchants have either left or fled, and those who haven't fled don't dare to do business. Now there is only one person who dares to sell Yinzhou Drunken, but..."

"But what? Whoever dares to block people from doing normal business is setting themselves against me!" Weikeduo said in a rage.

Austin glanced at Liu Zheng with his eyes and said again: "But he is also nearing the end of his rope."

Upon hearing this, Weikeduo glared at Austin and pointed at his nose, saying: "I knew you had many devious ideas back in the military, and now you are using them on me."

Count Austin smiled awkwardly and said nothing.

Weikeduo let out a laugh, walked over to Liu Zheng, and although his body was hunched, he walked with the stride of a dragon and the step of a tiger.

"You are Liu Sheng?"

Liu Zheng smiled, bowed respectfully, and said indifferently.

"It is I, Mr. Weikeduo."

Weikeduo was quite surprised; he had been in the military for many years, and every gesture he made carried an aura of decisive killing.

This was passive; usually, some young people would have been scared away the moment they saw him.

He did not expect this person to be so steady and calm upon seeing him.

This Longyan is not simple; no wonder he could attract the favor of his distant granddaughter.

"You are quite good, kid. Do you know that you are currently facing a catastrophe?"

"To use your Longyan saying, one slight mistake and you will be beyond redemption!"

Liu Zheng nodded and said indifferently: "I know, but so what?"

Hearing this answer, Weikeduo became interested and let out a laugh, but then sighed inwardly; it was a pity he was not Austrian.

He was a Longyan, and it was also a pity that the other party was already married; if not for that...

"What a pity, you already have a wife; otherwise, I could help you kill Franz and marry Teresa to you."

Hearing this, Count Austin's expression changed.

"Sir, this..."

"Is there something wrong with that? Sigh, what a pity..."

Liu Zheng was also stunned; he did not expect this old man to be so overbearing the moment he opened his mouth, directly saying he would get rid of Franz—that would mean becoming an enemy of the Lorraine Family, the greatest family in Austria.

Weikeduo stared at Liu Zheng's face with his old eyes and said indifferently: "I ask you, you have two paths now. The first is that I let you go, you return to Longyan, and this matter will have nothing to do with you anymore."

"And..."

Liu Zheng directly interrupted Weikeduo and asked: "What is the second choice? You know that we Longyan would not choose the first one."