The first snow in the Thousand River Valley ca earlier than everyone expected.
In just a few days, the small snow turned into a heavy snow, quickly transforming the entire Thousand River Valley into a cold white world.
Horse hooves leaped in the fluffy snow sand, the heavy iron hooves pounding on the frozen ground, shaking the snow off the shrubs along the road.
Sitting atop a tall warhorse was a giant of a man, with two well-preserved fox furs hanging from his waist, followed by a dozen or so knights.
Their black breastplates were so conspicuous in this white world, but for Extraordinary Knights, the cold and heat hardly affected them.
In the mountains outside Feiliu Castle, Prince Kongdai ran towards his countryside villa, carrying two foxes.
Villagers from nearby villages were driven away, allowing six Imperial Knights to reside there.
As for the rcenaries, they were scattered in various towns around the area.
Riding through the villa's gate, he tossed his prey to a temporary steward standing by, instructing, "Fox at is not tasty, I only want the fur."
These exquisite fox furs can be made into warm collars, widely loved by the nobility in the Empire, symbolizing nobility itself.
If everyone wears fox and bear fur, and you're wearing wolf fur, you are simply not qualified to attend this banquet, oh.
A significant portion of the trade inco of the Great Monarch Norn of Bear Castle Territory cos from the rich fur resources in the vast forests of the northwest.
Dismounting from his horse and looking at his ordinary high-bred prairie horse, Prince Kongdai couldn't help but shake his head.
He still missed the Dragon Blood Horse that could unleash his full strength.
At this thought, the man who had never t but repeatedly caused him trouble flashed in his mind again.
"Alas, the Church. Alas, the short hair." Prince Kongdai stepped into the villa, the firelight from the flickering fireplace bringing waves of warmth to the whole room.
He threw his bear fur coat and black leather gloves to a maid nearby and headed to the mahogany small table by the fireplace.
Wearing a refined high-grade black silk priest robe, Mizam held a white bone porcelain teacup, elegantly blowing the steam from the cup.
A knight's page, carrying a teapot decorated with red leaf swirls, peeked at the letter in Mizam's hand from behind him.
"What are you looking at?" A slap landed on the page's head, as Prince Kongdai took the letter from Mizam's hand, "Go bring a bigger chair."
After skimming through the letter, Prince Kongdai shook his head and laughed: "Nedbach wants to co to Thousand River Valley? He's determined to make a move against King Ginijis, isn't he."
"What shall we respond with?"
"Let him co, I welco them to co."
Looking at Prince Kongdai with an inscrutable expression, Mizam skipped the topic: "King of Tund has allotted the Imperial Knights to his brother, causing too much trouble."
"Who says it isn't." Sitting on the big chair cushioned by the page, Prince Kongdai casually tossed the letter onto the table, and took a sip of black tea.
"His Majesty is getting old, in his youth, he would never make such a risky move." Mizam crossed his fingers on his knee, "Are we still doing nothing?"
"Of course."
Mizam looked at Prince Kongdai's face, silently sighing in his heart.
One must know, Johnny VIII had implicitly and explicitly requested Prince Kongdai to support King Ginijis in the letter.
But as Johnny VIII grew older, the Church's control over Prince Kongdai gradually weakened.
Although to so extent, Prince Kongdai still had to obey the Church, such as coming to the Thousand River Valley to quell the rebellion this ti.
But if sothing truly important ca up, Prince Kongdai would comply outwardly while opposing secretly, and the Church wouldn't be able to do much about it.
For instance, this ti, the coup in Changge City had obvious traces of the Pope, and King Ginijis is the Church's choice.
But Ginijis couldn't gain recognition from the royal family and the great nobles, and the only backer, the Pope, could ascend to heaven any day.
No matter which side Prince Kongdai joined, it would be a thankless task, and he might even lose his Imperial Knights.
Unlike the great nobles, his status depended entirely on the Imperial Knight Company.
After all these years, the Church faction within the Imperial Knight Company had been almost completely purged, so Prince Kongdai naturally didn't have to bow to the Pope's whims like before.
This led to Mizam, originally tasked with surveillance and communicating the Pope's wishes, losing so of his power.
"So how should we refuse?"
"How to refuse?" Prince Kongdai stretched, "Isn't it obvious? Don't tell you really think the rebellion in the Thousand River Valley is completely subdued?"
"Apart from so small-ti thieves, I doubt there's much left to resist us."
"Stop playing dumb, you can't see it." Prince Kongdai chuckled lightly, "Moliat counts as one, that Catherine counts as another, plus those nobles from the Prague Monastery in Kasha, even if they remain, they have things to do."
"Could that lowly Thousand River Valley trader really be considered a force?" The page, as Prince Kongdai's mistress's younger brother, was fairly close and asked directly.
Mizam explained with a smile, "Though she has half Thousand River Valley blood, she also has half El blood.
Her teacher Juanuo's teacher was an El scholar of the Salin Scholar Association, and her company has several El shareholders.
Legally, Rapids City is an Imperial Free City, governed only by the Imperial Emperor.
Now that the Imperial Emperor's seat is vacant, it's basically governed by the City Alliance.
Rapids City belongs to the Azik Alliance, whose leader is the esteed Chief Justice El, Hardius.
See? Without a rightful reason, we can't deal with her like we would with an ordinary rchant."
"Are we really so afraid of the El people?" The knight's page couldn't help but ask.
Prince Kongdai and the man in black exchanged glances, one turned away, and the other just smiled wryly.
This relates back to the historical case when the Empire was founded.
In Imperial Calendar 166, the Gothic Legion's ministerial power betrayed and overthrew the old El Empire, establishing their Gothic Empire.
Such an empire, of course, didn't get recognized by other nobles, and they began establishing themselves, plus the reclamation movent by the Norn people, plunging the whole Empire into a 309-year dark era.
Until 470, the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, with a pincer movent from the northern passage and southern Jade Sea and Land, attacked the warring warlords.
The nurous corps that battled for three hundred years had to regroup under the pressure of the court, reestablishing the Divine Ael Empire and calling for a holy war in its na.
The awkward part was, after three hundred years of slaughter and killing, many El people were displaced, and even changed nas and ethnicities.
So they couldn't really find a sizeable El group to endorse their regi.
At that ti, the twelve feudal lords couldn't find evidence to prove they were indeed the Divine Ael Empire and couldn't subdue the other disobedient nobles.
Finally, led by the War God Pope Hardius IV at that ti, they turned to the Salin Scholar Association, an extrely conservative group.
To gain their support, the lords had to grant them nurous privileges, getting these surviving orthodox El people to acknowledge the newly born Divine Ael Empire.
However, the "orthodox" here is cultural, in terms of blood, no one was more orthodox than the vampires.
With these privileges, El people accumulated wealth with the rise of cities, and many nobles had to rely on loans from them to survive, making them an unlanded fourth kingdom without a crown.
"It's complicated to explain." Prince Kongdai said, stretching lazily, "Go, go." Pulled from his thoughts, he switched topics.
He placed the teapot next to a vase, and once the page was out of view, Mizam quietly asked: "Are we staying in the Thousand River Valley indefinitely?"
Prince Kongdai rubbed his head: "Let's take it one step at a ti... who knows, maybe if we stay long enough, this will directly beco my fief, hahaha."
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