Chapter 347

"Ah?"

Eleanor frowned in confusion, then after careful thought finally figured out where his misunderstanding lay, and she shook her head firmly.

What are you thinking? My father isn't a king!

: ？？？ - none.

No way, dude, the crown on your king's head is actually green~~~?

Increasingly shocked. jpg

No matter how you put it, this old thief is still the ruler of a major power; how can you be so……

Ji Ming could hardly believe his ears this time, and he tapped his fingers twice.

Before rain comes, there must be dark clouds; actually, when the war entered its fourth year, they keenly sensed a shift in the court's stance, and it seems the Deep Forest folk might resort to an underhanded tactic.

The Changge Marquis's sword might defeat all strong foes, but it cannot sever the tangled malice and chains within the noble clique; ultimately he chose to slit his own throat before the king.

Upon hearing this, Mengquan spent a sleepless night; the next morning he went to the palace to see his father, only to die at the banquet after 'drinking heavily, overwhelmed with grief, and accidentally falling into the water.'

Over the following three years, whether conspiracies, overt schemes, or despicable tricks, the Deep Forest nobles despondently realized that, given the northern border defenses were largely immobile, they could do nothing against this enemy army, rich in martial virtue and extremely resolute.

"Eleanor, earlier in the restroom you asked what my worth is, right? Well, I'll tell you now."

——This face, do you still want it?

When he first saw this historical event, Ji Ming also sighed in frustration; this feeling is all too familiar—if the game had launched twenty years earlier, he'd still be scratching around in the Black Forest Territory.

On the Deep Forest side, seeing the Iron Clad Army destroyed, the couple opposing them also perished; thinking that only the little one remained, they decided to keep him for now—after all, leave a thread, we'll meet again later; pushing too hard can backfire, so they even sent a delegation to attend the meeting, meaning they'd let this matter pass as is.

By then, development speed might have to be like opening a star-accelerated drive; they'd have to give Changge a nuclear-powered ship, ten Type 055s, a hundred Type 99As, a thousand Yan Shuangying, ten thousand mechanized infantry, a hundred thousand boxes of instant noodles, and a million college students to achieve world peace and earn fame in life and after.

Moreover, whenever they discuss this matter, they are always evasive; a few words and they plunge into the realm of cryptic hints that only the initiated understand, never daring to speak plainly—this shows the impact of this scandal is potentially enormous, so great that even if the emperor is far away and the heavens high, they would still steer three leagues clear.

Furthermore, his appearance also strengthened the war faction's resolve; even the Holy Light Church sent many cultivators participating in their personal capacity, and although the Church itself issued no statement, the implication is self-evident.

"What's done is done; my parents died because of it. Even if I was too young to remember, I can only learn of it from books and others' accounts when I grow up—how could I ever forget it?"

Back then, at its peak, the Iron Clad Army numbered over thirty thousand, all clad in armor, with excellent weapons and superb individual quality, which frightened the Deep Forest nobles into repeatedly discussing what to do if they attacked the mountain.

Although during this period there were indeed brave nobles who tried to resist, what good did it do? When the great nobles of the eastern kingdom chose to look the other way, these isolated, helpless minor nobles could only meet various ends of 'falling from their horses to death'.

In fact, since the Deep Forest first dispatched troops as bandits a hundred years ago, coming down from the mountains to plunder the Hui Guang Kingdom extensively, and after the Hui Guang nobility's attempts to encircle and suppress them ended in crushing defeat, this plain in Hui Guang's western borders became the Deep Forest people's ATM and granary.

Thus everything returned to how it was before; the western part of Hui Guang remained the Deep Forest people's granary, their bank, an inexhaustible treasure trove.

Moreover, she is even unhappier now. Well, she admits she indeed harbors dissatisfaction and wants to take action, but she only spent a month active in Sunshine City, and upon returning to Hui Guang she actually encountered an assassination attempt.

Sorry, there might have been a… mistake; consider it for the child's sake—go back and rest for a few months.

If one says Changge's death was for Mengquan's well-being, then Mengquan's death was for the child's well-being; relying on her various connections, she used her own death to lay yet another open scheme against everyone.

Just toss the teleportation gate into the Iron Clad Great Camp; nothing else can be said, but at least Huaxia players, after reading the backstory, will definitely have their DNA stirred.

Ji Ming glanced at the map of Jueqiao Pass that had already been opened three minutes earlier, then suddenly brought up another matter.

"……"

This damn princess title is something they cooked up after doing something deplorable, using it to placate public anger and fool the world as a smokescreen! I… I have no relation to the royal family whatsoever! I am the daughter of the Changge family!

With these several points together, he has already basically scored the perfect ending ahead of time; if posted online, it would make a huge crowd of netizens envious to the point of cyber-suicide.

By the time the Deep Forest nobility reacted and tried to oppose them with a regular army, the Iron Clad Legion had already, in just a few short months, been forged into a genuine army and had outright defeated their plot.

This word was like some miraculous elixir; the originally pallid Eleanor's face instantly flushed with a hint of red, the nascent anger and the redness in her eyes both receding, and she sat obediently on the sofa.

This is also the fundamental reason she could break through to this point; for Eleanor, death is not frightening, but the grim reality that even the things she pursues cannot be obtained even in death is the most terrifying.

Mengquan knows this was Changge's doing, but it's an open scheme she cannot avoid; after the situation took a sudden turn as they had guessed, she relied on these few months of maternity leave to successfully escape disaster.

Until over twenty years ago, a young man who inherited the marquisate from his old father became the new Changge Marquis.

But even though they had locked the banquet's doors, shutting out other sounds, there was still someone unhappy at the feast—namely, Eleanor, who is now sitting beside Ji Ming.

Chang—

Fine, fine, fine, you're playing like that, huh?

Changge knows that Mengquan's good point is having her own opinions, making her a reliable partner, but her bad point is also having her own opinions, making many things hard to change; in order to let her stay out of affairs, he chose a method that isn't really a method.

Seeing this, the great nobles also felt that even if their faces were cheap, they couldn't truly lose them completely; moreover, to quell the ever-growing public resentment that was about to explode, they all contributed money, manpower, and effort, holding an unprecedentedly grand celebration for the little princess.

When a man reaches the age to start a family, what lies before him is nothing more than career and family.

Moreover, the Holy Light Church, which already had close ties with them, proactively suggested that this royal descendant had affinity with our Lord, willing to let her receive the Holy Light baptism, carve out a status within the Holy See, after which she would belong to them.

What? Please, can you repeat that again? You… you are whose daughter?

He stood up, walked to Eleanor's front, bent down, and spoke each word with a pause.

Thus, the Deep Forest nobility, overwhelmed by fear and anger, chose their last resort: having the Lionheart King write a letter to the Sun King, designating the Changge Marquis as an obstacle to the peace of the two nations, and demanding the disbandment of the Iron Clad Legion.

They don't want me to express any stance on this; they want me to muddle through life like an idiot, even if it's just to give my parents an explanation.

Moreover, the existence of the Iron Clad Legion also encouraged more nobles and commoners to rise up, so over those years the voices of resistance became incessant, and the Deep Forest people could no longer carry out plundering so simply.

It's not because she's crazy; AdaiEr is also crazy, but AdaiEr has a line that, once reached, will automatically turn from a scroll into a self-protection barrier; she doesn't have it! She is truly determined to go head-to-head with the south wall, even if it means dying there—she's a super reckless woman.

Therefore, regarding his granddaughter's matter, the Sun King completely changed his previous accommodating attitude, not only openly expressing his affection without reservation, but also using her loneliness and pitiable state as grounds to exceptionally confer upon her the title of princess, even verbally indicating that he would later grant her a fief, so she could become a powerful princess like Mengquan.

But in the year they got married, the Deep Forest's northern border campaign failed; eager to replenish their forces, they domestically imposed harsh levies and extortions while also launching the most brutal foreign plundering in history.

Ji Ming felt this term sounded especially familiar, as if it were the surname of one of the factions within the Hui Guang northeastern noble conglomerate.

The world-renowned Iron Clad Legion was also forced to disband on the spot; moreover, some of the soldiers who had achieved great merit in the war were even exiled for various charges, and even the Holy Light Church, pressured by the nobility, sent the cultivators who had participated there to remote areas to 'proselytize'.

Too bad it can't be; he came too late, and this sorrowful story hasn't ended yet—there's still one final entry to be filled in by Changge's wife, Princess Mengquan.

Eleanor, who had been repeatedly misunderstood, was now angry; even the tears swirling in her eye sockets were held back as if evaporated by fury, and she gritted her teeth.

And with an affluent family background, extraordinary strength, a bright future, plus a wife who is T0 in looks among peers, unmatched in talent, and highly complementary in many aspects—a perfect-score wife……

As the sole great noble among these lesser nobles, perhaps the heavens also favor the marquis; he possesses extraordinary talent in both combat and strategy, and despite having no experience whatsoever, in his confrontations with bandits he comes out ahead more often than not.

You!

As a descendant of an ancient family, his fief lies in the eastern part of the kingdom, considered the old Hui Guang's sun-and-moon flag lineage; his ancestors, when they entered the pass with the Royal Ama, had already completed his lifetime's work, and each day the pressure of a prosperous life leaves him breathless.

Could it really be that dark clouds block the sun, that I can never turn things over no matter what, and can only continue living a harmless life shaped like a vase, just as I have for the past eighteen years…?

The clay figure still had a bit of spirit, and the offended nobles quickly prepared to stop him—this also included Changge. Faced with the people's suffering, he and Mengquan resolutely chose to spend all their family wealth, forming the Iron Clad Regiment as a couple, and personally leading the troops onto the battlefield.

Even so, he, who had been ambitious since childhood, still chose to leave home and study hardship, and relying on his personal charm, he successfully won over the Princess Mengquan, who had just obtained a fief and held some royal authority.

As for why he, who has read countless books, could remember such an utterly unremarkable noble surname that had long been struck from the records and vanished from history, the reason is…

So the king protected his granddaughter, the church protected its followers, the great nobles drove away the bandits plundering the people, the Deep Forest people gained the wealth they wanted, everyone won, and everyone was happy.

Although the guests hadn't mentioned it directly just now, Ji Ming still caught some scattered information through reasoning and guesswork—it seemed Elinor's background was very special, with some sweet secret that, even after years, they would still excitedly bring out to savor like a big melon.

Since in order to maintain the war with the Han Kingdom, the Deep Forest Northern Border nobility could send trusted veterans ten thousand miles away to the uncivilized lands to act as mercenary bandits, profiting from foreign civilians, how could they possibly pass up the Hui Guang Kingdom right next door, which is mainly plains and possesses countless fertile fields?

Certainly, the Iron Clad Regiment had become a high wall in the west of Hui Guang, a wall that Deep Forest seemed unable to breach forever, but could it withstand a stab in the back from behind?

The answer is no.

…Ah, it's those two after all—no wonder, no wonder.

It's a shame that a knee that has bowed once finds it all too easy to bow a second time—even if they had estimated the nobles' bottom line in the worst possible way, they still overestimated it.

"All previous answers are void; now there is only one answer—because you are 'Changge'."

Now Ji Ming finally understood why Elinor's initiative was off the charts, her eagerness to learn so strong she wished she could tear out others' strengths and graft them onto herself.

In the autumn of the second year, the Deep Forest people came back with a vengeance; having suffered a setback once, they no longer pretended, instead organizing a force mostly made of Northern Border soldiers to march on Hui Guang, solely to crush this obstacle called the Iron Clad.

Speaking in fits and starts up to this point, Elinor weakly leaned back against the sofa.

But when they met the Iron Clad Regiment again, they found they had grown stronger—yet the other side hadn't been idle either, as Changge Marquis had absorbed a large crowd of people eager for revenge and righteous individuals from all over, among whom were many experts.

Changge?

"May I ask, is your father the Changge Marquis?"

Ji Ming gave a light cough, composed his demeanor, lowered his voice, and asked seriously.

"Yes, and my mother is Princess Mengquan."

Ji Ming had previously thought this was precisely the reason Elinor could appear before him and enjoy such treatment from Duke Jueqiao.

While Elinor murmured in a daze, he had already straightened himself up and adjusted the halo above his head.

"I like heroes, but I've come too late to help those two heroes named Changge; still, I can certainly help this little one fulfill their wishes."