Page 52
"In fact, I didn't lose to the young lion, but to you."
Wang: "That's not entirely true. My teammates also contributed a lot. They are very reliable teammates and good friends of mine."
The emperor laughed out loud as if he had heard something funny.
Wang looked at Elizabeth with a confused look on his face: "What's the joke?"
Elizabeth: "He doesn't understand you, that's why he laughs."
At this time, the emperor put away his smile and said, "I heard that you are solving the test set by the legendary wizard? Are you trying to find the culprit who caused the positive energy to have side effects now?"
Wang: “Yes.”
Elizabeth tried to pull him away, but was too late.
The emperor continued: "I have intelligence here, do you want to cooperate with me?"
Bruce frowned and opened his mouth to speak.
Wang said first: "You should not have any intelligence. The mastermind obviously has no intention of getting involved in politics, so he just gave Erwin a magic weapon and arranged for him to do something that would not attract other people's attention.
"I guess he doesn't want to expose himself right now. It's obviously not in his style to be in contact with someone as powerful as you."
Emperor: "Are you so sure?"
"Of course, Erwin should have signed a restraining contract with the mastermind. If you have any connection with that mastermind, you will also have such a contract."
The emperor smiled and said, "I am the emperor of the empire. I can find someone to remove this contract."
The king nodded: "Of course you can, even Duke Langdon may have the ability to lift it. So the mastermind will not look for you. No, it won't."
The wizard said firmly.
Finally, he added: "I might as well hope that Duke Langdon will give me the resurrection scroll so that I can resurrect that Erwin. Then we can try to cancel the contract in his head."
Bruce seemed to have finally taken a reassurance pill, and smiled: "You will get the scroll. I promise, as long as you fulfill the agreement between us."
The agreement, of course, refers to copying the seven-ring magic dragon form for Archmage Langdon.
But the emperor didn't know that and must have thought that there was some agreement of common interests between Bruce and the king.
Bruce clapped his hands: "No matter what, let's celebrate our victory today! Put this old man in jail! Send the most reliable people to guard him!"
Wayne said, "I will come and watch over him myself."
Bruce: "No, you have another job!"
Wayne said stubbornly, "No, I will watch over him myself. I know you will try to poison him, my brother. I will try all of His Majesty's food and stay by his side all the time."
Bruce smiled and said, "Well, my dear brother, I hope you will keep your promise."
After saying this, he gave a sly smile, as if he was planning something.
Wayne continued, "It's also good for me to watch over him. You can make sure he can't tip off anyone else and collude with others."
Bruce: "Yeah, I know, brother."
At last he added thoughtfully: "I know."
-
As for the description of the paladin in this article, the paladin is just like that, rigid and abiding by procedural justice. The more flexible paladin like Sheila in "Rage of the Righteous" is a minority.
Chapter 65 Bruce Langdon's Fiancée
After Wayne Langdon took the emperor to the dungeon, the emperor kept trying to chat with him.
Topics range from "How do you feel about killing your father?" to "How does a paladin atone his sins?" to "Will that new wizard marry your sister in the future?"
But Wayne Langdon only responded in a disjointed manner, never revealing his own thoughts and sticking to his duties.
Until the third day, a new guard came to the prison.
He was a burly warrior with a huge sword on his back, and the fat on his face looked like tumors.
Wayne Langdon immediately recognized that this was his brother's confidant, who did not participate in the operation against Irvin that day because it was difficult for him to use his skills underground, and thus saved his life.
Wayne: "Why did you get sent here?"
The soldier sat down across the table, crossed his legs, and placed a small glass bottle on the table. "For this. I told you, if I get the chance, I'm going to poison that old man who's looking out the door behind you."
Wayne said seriously, "You don't look like someone who would use poison."
"Open the cell door and pour the liquid into your mouth. Anyone can do it, right? But you, this old man wants to kill your whole family, and you actually protect him. Are all of you Paladins idiots?"
Wayne looked down at his hands: "I can't break my oath. Maybe the old man behind me deserves to die, but he can't die in front of me."
"You still came down to protect him? If you weren't here, he would have died countless times!"
Wayne: "My oath requires me to..."
"Swear, swear! Doesn't your God still advocate necessary evil?"
Wayne: "If after the trial, this old man deserves to die, I am willing to be the executioner myself! If he meets me on the battlefield, I am willing to kill him with my own hands! If I propose a duel now and he agrees, I will kill him without hesitation!"
The emperor's words came from the cell behind him: "I'm not stupid. Even if you throw your glove at my face, I won't duel. I would rather bear your humiliation."
Wayne spread his hands.
The sturdy warrior shook his head and said, "How could our boss have a brother like you? But speaking of which, when you come to protect him in the future, we, his confidants, can rest assured. But that is all in the future. I am telling you now that you can never let your guard down. Even if you are distracted for a moment or take a nap, the old bastard behind the door will be dead."
At this time, the old bastard laughed: "That little devil wants to tie you up here. He might do something against the will of heaven and earth and against public order and morality. Can you just sit back and watch this happen?"
Wayne gripped the hilt of the sword tightly until his knuckles turned white and his wrist trembled slightly.
The warrior looked at the paladin's hand with a look of pity.
Wayne said word by word: "I don't know what my brother is going to do."
The emperor snorted. "What else can we do? It's nothing more than some petty tricks, such as putting a poisonous snake in the bed of the Duke of Valley to intimidate the electors and make them vote in the parliament."
Wayne said, "That's a slur you're making against my brother. I'm not sure what he's going to do."
The emperor laughed loudly, leaning on the prison door, and stuffing his entire face into the small window, letting the grille sink into his flesh: "Paladin, you are deceiving yourself like this, won't your God feel fooled? You clearly know what kind of person your brother is! You sit back and watch cruel and despicable things happen!
"Paladin! You will lose your holy light! Your grace! Because of you, you indulged your own desires and condoned your brother's evil deeds! You will never, ever be able to atone for your sins!"
Wayne calmly replied: "Then let my God test me. He will have his own judgment."
As he spoke he stretched out his hand, and the holy light descended as usual.
**
On the third day after the capture of the emperor, the king stood in the audience hall and looked at the Duke of Valley who was saluting the Duke of Langdon.
His seat was behind Elizabeth's chair.
At this time, there were two empty chairs in the audience hall. One belonged to the Duke's brother, Wayne Langdon, the current commander of the Duke's army. The other was next to the Duke's seat and belonged to the Duke's spouse, the Duchess of Langdon—but Bruce Langdon was unmarried now.
This is actually very rare, as children from noble families are usually engaged from birth and get married when they reach adulthood, so that when the child inherits the throne, there should be a hostess sitting on that chair.
But this is certainly not the normal situation now.
Bruce said coldly: "How dare you come here, Your Excellency the Duke of River Valley."
The Duke of Hegu spread his hands and said, "Coming to pay tribute to the victor has nothing to do with having face, right? As a defeated general, I promise to stand together with the Duke of Langdon in the future Imperial Parliament and share the same fate!"
Bruce snorted but didn't respond.
The Duke of Riverdale continued, "If you think my assurance is unreliable, I have a proposal. Please allow me to introduce my daughter, Ruth, to you."
The Duke of Riverdale stepped aside, and a girl who looked to be the same age as Elizabeth stepped forward, pulling at the hem of her skirt and saluted Bruce.
The king raised his eyebrows, then looked down at Elizabeth, and no longer looked at the daughter of the Duke of Valley - there are differences between people, even if they are all daughters of the Duke.
Bruce raised his eyebrows and said, "Ms. Ruth, I have long heard of your name. But I wonder what your father's intention is in introducing you at this time?"
The Duke of Hegu took a step forward and said, "Of course I want to arrange a marriage. In fact, I have been exchanging letters with the old Duke for a long time, and I have mentioned this matter before."
Bruce laughed. "You shameless fellow, you colluded with the emperor to stab me in the back, and now you want to be my father-in-law? Aren't you making too much of a wishful thinking?"
The Duke of the Valley smiled apologetically and said, "I dare not. But you may have known that I have no son, and my daughter is my first heir. After a hundred years, she will be the Duchess of the Valley. At that time, the two dukedoms of ours can monopolize the trade on the Enlan River together and form a hundred-year alliance forever.
"You and her child can even become co-lords of two duchies!"
Bruce asked coldly, "What if you give birth to a son? I remember that the inheritance law in River Valley is that men are preferred."
The Duke of Riverdale laughed: "I'm already sixty years old!"
Bruce: "What's so strange about that? My dad also had an Elizabeth around the same age. She is much younger than our two brothers."
The Duke of River Valley rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Then I will change the inheritance law when I return! Change it to be the same as our allies!"
Bruce stared at him for a long moment, then burst into laughter.
The Duke of Valley also laughed.
Only Ruth, who was used as a tool for marriage, stood there awkwardly. She looked at Elizabeth who was sitting on the high platform, and both of them showed sympathy in their eyes.
But Elizabeth immediately turned her head and looked at the king.
Wang: “I’m not watching!”
Elizabeth frowned.
At this time, Bruce stood up, strode towards the Duke of River Valley, and held his hand: "Great, what is this called, a smile to forget all grudges! Come, bring some wine! We will hold the engagement ceremony today! Tonight, all the lords of the twelve electoral territories, let's get drunk together!"
The crowd cheered.
Bruce turned around, and the smile on his face disappeared the moment he turned around. After meeting Wang's eyes, he gently squinted his eyes, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
**
Coming out of the audience room, Elizabeth grabbed the king's sleeve and said, "See? Without you, Ruth's fate is my fate."
Wang: "But don't you think your brother agreed a little quickly?"
Elizabeth sighed, "He is a profit-driven animal. Of course he would do something profitable. I just feel sorry for that girl. My second brother doesn't love her at all. This is the fate of a girl born in an aristocratic family."
Elizabeth paused and looked at the king absentmindedly: "So, please take me away, take me away no matter what."
Wang nodded: "That's what I planned. You are a very important firepower projection point in a small-scale encounter. I need your scorching rays."
Elizabeth looked at the ceiling helplessly.
Wang: "By the way, don't wear a skirt that is difficult to move in tonight, and remember to wear that wrist guard. This is the captain's order."