Chapter 1230: Exorcism and Hatred

"Church exorcism? For what? Did you have an accident here? Wait a minute, I don't remember there being any news here during that time."

Mr. Antonio asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged stonemason nodded:

"When the earthquake happened last autumn, the old stonemason Humphrey was hit in the head by a crooked stone statue and died on the spot. There was nothing tricky about this matter, and the police had been here. There were many people present at the time, and it was indeed an accident. The matter was not published in the newspaper, only an obituary was published. After all, if merchants from other places knew that the stone statues were stained with blood, all the stone statues would be devalued."

Mr. Antonio and Xia De looked at each other, and both felt that this matter was worth investigating. Although Mr. Antonio was an ordinary person, he also understood that there must be a reason for the church to send people to exorcise demons.

"Besides that, there is one more thing."

The middle-aged stonemason said again:

"Uncle Hack is a living collection of stories in the Stonemason Society. He knows the most stories and history of the society. He once told me that if you see something terrifying in the society one day, cover your face, squat down, and turn your back to the light source. If you want to know stories, you can..."

He showed an apologetic expression:

"You can't find him anymore, no, he didn't pass away, he was caught now... the banquet assassination matter."

"The Uncle Hack you mentioned is the one who..."

Xia De made a gesture of shooting a gun, and the middle-aged stonemason nodded cryptically:

"The higher-ups don't let us talk about this."

Xia De took out his wallet, gave the stonemason in front of him a silver coin, and then said to Mr. Antonio:

"I know Earl Granger, I'll go try to see if I can meet that Uncle Hack this afternoon. You stay in the society and look for news about old Humphrey who was smashed to death last year."

"No problem, I'm very familiar with the people of the local Sun Church, and I can also go there to ask about the exorcism situation."

Mr. Antonio said, so the two agreed to meet again at the tavern at the end of the Stonemason Street at 5:00 in the afternoon. And the middle-aged stonemason Peter Tolford hadn't left yet, he hesitated and asked Xia De:

"Sir, can you see Uncle Hack?"

"I know a very powerful person, but I can only try."

So the middle-aged stonemason hesitated:

"If you have enough connections, can you... make Uncle Hack's crime judged lighter? I mean, he didn't actually hurt anyone. Assassinating the Prince is of course wrong... assassinating anyone is wrong, but he is also a poor man."

Although Xia De said he wanted to contact the arrested "Uncle Hack" through Earl Granger's channel, in fact, Xia De couldn't go to the Earl, and he wasn't familiar with the Earl. So after temporarily separating from Mr. Antonio, Xia De went directly to find Margaret.

The Princess, who was having afternoon tea, heard that Xia De wanted to see the criminal who committed the assassination, and just thought about it and agreed to help:

"You change your clothes and mix into my entourage. It just so happens that I intended to see him these days anyway. Since you also want to go, let's go now."

Although such important criminals were guarded very strictly, for Margaret, it was still something she could see if she wanted to.

"Is it still for Miss Bernice's assessment task?"

Xia De asked, and the Princess nodded quite troubled:

"The grudge between the Stonemason Society and our family is even more complicated than I thought. If I could have been born more than ten years earlier, it would have been easy to solve this matter in that era. But the hatred fermented by time is stronger than any hatred. Time allows the seeds of hatred to sprout and take root in the land under our feet, and this hatred has been deeply engraved in Randall Valley to this day. I have no intention of pointing out which side was at fault back then, but for me now, this is really not a small trouble."

"You can't be born more than ten years earlier, otherwise..."

Xia De pointed to himself, and the Princess stood on tiptoe and kissed him:

"Otherwise I would only be younger than Miss Bernice... Don't tell her this, otherwise even if I pass the

test, I'm afraid I won't be able to become the witch's apprentice. However, I see that your relationship with Miss Bernice is not bad."

This sentence should have no other meaning.

That Uncle Hack was currently detained in the Marsh Prison in Randall City, but the Princess would not enter such a place, so this meeting was arranged at the Randall City Police Station.

The meeting place was the reception room on the top floor of the police station. The police station sometimes had to face such relatively dangerous meetings, so the reception room itself had a retractable fence that could divide the room into two parts.

After Margaret sat down on the sofa, Xia De, wearing a red royal attendant suit, a black top hat, a long sword hanging from his waist, and a long gun slung behind his back, stood behind her.

Margaret's personal maids actually all knew Xia De. At this time, seeing him in this attire, they all tried their best to hold back their laughter. Margaret was also very interested in Xia De's disguise, fortunately, she still remembered her purpose.

After a while, the criminal who attacked with a gun at the banquet last Wednesday was brought over. Xia De saw him last time and thought he was a haggard guy. Seeing him this time, he felt as if he had aged another ten years.

"Uncle Hack's" hands and feet were in shackles, and he was brought into the room sandwiched between two armed police officers. After sitting on a separate iron chair, his hands and feet were fixed to the ground and the chair by locks. However, although he was haggard, he had no external injuries. The interrogation by the Randall Valley police and the Gray Gloves was actually more civilized than Xia De thought.

After doing all this, the police bowed to the Princess and exited the room, and most of the people behind Margaret also withdrew, finally leaving only Xia De and a personal maid responsible for recording documents.

Margaret put down the teacup in her hand and started the following conversation directly:

"You probably know me, Margaret Anjou. Don't worry, I'm not here to persuade you to bite out anyone else in your confession."

Margaret handed the key ring on the table to Xia De. Xia De walked over and opened the fence door that partitioned the room, then opened the lock on Uncle Hack's right hand and the shackles on his hands, and placed a cup of tea by his hand.

Uncle Hack was in his forties, but at this time he looked almost as old as Father August. He drank the tea in the cup without hesitation, and Xia De said on the side:

"No need to be so anxious, there is no shortage of tea here."

"I came here just to ask you a few questions."

Margaret continued:

"If I want to buy out your hatred with a sum of money, how much gold do I have to spend?"

"Unless your money can turn back time, your money is useless."

Uncle Hack's voice was very hoarse, his facial expression was abnormally exhausted, but his eyes were still quite energetic.

"If I want to buy out the hatred of the entire society with a sum of money, how much gold do I have to spend?"

Margaret asked again. Although Miss Bernice did not allow her to pay out of her own pocket, she had to determine how deep this hatred was.

"Money, ha, although I don't want to admit it, 60,000 crowns should be no problem."

That is, about 800,000 gold pounds, which is several times the initial project payment—100,000 pounds.

Margaret nodded, this number did not exceed her expectations. And the reason why Uncle Hack was willing to answer her questions was of course not just because of the cup of tea Xia De served, but because the stonemasons in the society really needed this money. Some people care about dignity, but some people still need to live. His own family had collapsed, but there were still people struggling to support it.

Next, Margaret asked many questions about the local Stonemason Society, and Uncle Hack answered most of them. His attitude towards Margaret was not bad.

And in the end, the Princess expressed her thoughts:

"I am just a princess, I cannot represent the entire royal family. But this time visiting Randall Valley City, I witnessed the pain caused by past grudges to the people of the present. I want to resolve the hatred between the Stonemason Society and my family. There is no need to extend the hatred to the next decade."

She clasped her hands wearing white lace gloves together:

"Hack, I know your hatred,

and I can understand your thoughts. But no matter for whom, dragging this matter on without solving it will not bring any benefits. I have no intention of telling you that the past cannot be changed and the future must be created by yourself. But if you are willing to help me, I promise to do my best to help you strive for a sentence reduction after resolving this matter. You will only need to stay in prison for at most two years before you can come out."

This was already the limit of what Margaret could promise.

"Princess, I understand the meaning you want to express. But you must understand that whether this matter can be solved does not depend on us, but on you, or rather, on His Majesty the King."

The old man looked at the princess in front of him, and the last sentence was very solemn:

"What we lack is not just that delayed project payment, but also an apology. Perhaps I am the first person to dare to do this, but I can guarantee that I am definitely not the last."

This is the key to the whole event. Margaret can think of ways to get money from other channels to serve as compensation, but the royal family's apology is definitely not so easy to achieve. For some people, face is far more important than gold coins. Miss Bernice's condition is "both sides are satisfied," which is a task with dual meanings.

"I can think of a way for the apology. What I lack now is someone who understands the inside story and can act as an informant for me. Although you are a criminal now, you are also a hero in the eyes of the craftsmen of the Stonemason Society. If you are willing to help me, you are also helping yourself. In a few days, I can allow your friends to visit you, and you can express some things I want to convey then."

Margaret said vaguely, but clearly after more than a week of preparation, she already had a general plan.

--Continue to view ===== CHAPTER 1231 =====