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Hearing footsteps approaching, he jumped to the ground and took off his helmet.
Seeing his face, Zhang Mu paused for a moment, then continued forward to the door.
"The Lord of Gul City?"
"Yes." The messenger represented the king, but Zhang Mu straightened his back.
“Haha.” The man was not displeased by his rude behavior. He chuckled and said, “People with abilities will always receive extra tolerance.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Andre, the eldest prince of the Kingdom of Lake."
Zhang Mu still had that calm attitude: "Your Highness the First Prince revealed his identity, do you want me to show my submission?
Also, do I need you to come in person to deliver a letter?"
"The city lord has misunderstood." Andre held his helmet with one hand, "I just heard that there was a city lord on the border who not only noticed the enemy's intention to attack the kingdom, but also led his soldiers alone to repel the enemy.
I couldn't resist the urge to meet the hero, so I asked my father for the mission of delivering the letter."
Zhang Mu smiled inwardly with the corners of his mouth raised. So that's what was going on...
In this ordinary and remote border city, a wise and brave city lord suddenly appeared.
And his younger brother, who was a rival for the throne, came down as a reinforcement and got to know the city lord first.
Although the Second Prince's strength was very weak, it was unlikely that he would win even with Zhang Mu's support.
But Andre is extremely cautious by nature and will never underestimate any opponent, even if the opponent looks extremely weak.
Therefore, it is not surprising that he personally came to Gul City to eliminate Zhang Mu, a force that could threaten him.
If it were someone else, they might think that Andre was just as he said, and came simply to see the hero who saved the kingdom.
But Zhang Mu would never forget that this guy said he would not target him, but later he sent his personal guards to monitor him.
Huh...interesting.
As if thinking of something, Zhang Mu restrained his arrogant attitude and showed a kind smile: "Your Highness the First Prince has an open mind, and I admire you very much.
Come in, please. "
Andre smiled slightly and strode over the threshold and walked in.
"Has Your Highness had your meal?"
"Not yet. After I get the commendation order signed by my father, I will immediately ride the griffin here."
"I am not worthy of this."
Zhang Mu was "quite moved". While instructing the servants to prepare the meal, he led Andre into the dining room and sat him down at the cleaned table.
"Mr. City Lord." As soon as Andre sat down, he said seriously, "Is it your own idea to go to the king?"
"Hmm? What do you mean, Your Highness?"
“The city lord’s loyalty to the kingdom is unquestionable, and there is no need for me to hide it.
The current situation in the kingdom is not optimistic. I am confused that you would choose to go to the capital."
"Even if you don't accept the award, you still have to go to the annual performance review."
"Your Highness, do you want to ask us city lords if we encounter any misfortune when we go to the capital to report on our duties?"
“My father would never murder the city lords, but the two grand dukes are out of my father’s control.
Of course, few people know about this matter. If my brother proposed to go to the capital to confer honors, it was because he wanted to publicize the city lord's heroic deeds, not to have any intention of harming him. "
He is really scheming one thing after another.
Zhang Mu was in an illusion, so he didn't need to maintain any facial expression. He grinned and looked down on her in his heart, but responded with his mouth: "It does have something to do with His Royal Highness the Second Prince."
"Really?!" Andre looked "shocked".
“Hehe… Don’t worry, Your Highness the First Prince, I think it’s the same as what you said, Your Highness the Second Prince just has good intentions.
Well... at that time, His Royal Highness the Second Prince invited me to attend his banquet when I went to the royal capital.
I thought that the commendation order would be delivered in about a month, and the annual performance review would also start soon, so I would definitely go to the capital, so I agreed. "
Andre looked relieved and said with a smile, "I am glad that I didn't cause the city lord to misunderstand the royal family."
"How could that be? It is our duty as city lords to be loyal to the kingdom."
He was about to say something else but was interrupted by the servant who was serving the food. After all, he was the eldest prince of the kingdom and was well-educated. He didn't say anything more and ate with Zhang Mu.
After the conversation ended, Andre strangely did not continue the previous topic.
He took out a commendation order signed by the king himself from his pocket and handed it to him, then said, "My brother's mistake was unintentional, please forgive me." Finally, he invited Zhang Mu to attend the banquet he was hosting in the capital.
After getting a positive answer, he smiled and nodded. Accompanied by Zhang Mu, he went to the gate of the City Lord's Mansion, jumped onto the back of the griffin, pulled the reins and soared into the sky.
After squinting his eyes for a while, Zhang Mu turned around and found Domit: "Contact Mihe and lead the First Army to the outskirts of the city early tomorrow morning."
"Yes!"
Chapter 254: Departure, Kingdom Situation
to be frank.
Although in retrospect Andre had good reasons to come to Gol City in person, Zhang Mu was still surprised.
The second prince's self-mockery at the time did not seem to be humble, but he truly believed that his position in the kingdom was just that of a nobody.
Even though his brother had almost no possibility or means to resist, he still came to cut off the lord of Gul City, who was not sure whether he would become his wing.
I really don't know whether to laugh at his narrow-mindedness or admire his extraordinary prudence.
After Domit contacted Mih, Zhang Mu shook his head and went to the backyard with a dumb laugh.
Palina and Leah were both still awake, and seemed to be worried whether the messenger who suddenly came from the royal capital brought bad news.
Pushing open the door, Zhang Mu apologized to Leah and said that tomorrow's shopping trip had to be cancelled.
Because Andre traveled light and rode on a swift griffin, the estimated arrival date of the day after tomorrow was brought forward to today.
Leia has been pampered during this period, but she has not lost her well-behaved nature.
Diandian ran up to him, hugged his waist, and said that they could go shopping any day, while rubbing her head against Zhang Mu's belly in a soothing manner.
After the two of them finished their emotional exchange, Palina came over with small steps, as if she had not yet recovered from the panic during the meal, and asked in a low voice whether she needed to accompany her on the trip to the capital.
After a brief silence, Zhang Mu calmly refused, saying that this trip to the royal capital was just for a routine work report and to accept the award, and he would be back soon.
Palina nodded and said nothing.
Seeing this, he told the two to rest early, and turned around to find Soran who was reviewing official documents at his desk.
"What did you tell Palina about my habit of using chopsticks when eating?"
Rubbing his nose, he put down his quill pen and said, "Lord City Lord, since the Second Lady has noticed that you are awkward with your knife and fork, concealing it and teaching you will only lead to deeper suspicion.
Why not just make up an excuse? "
"What excuse did you come up with?"
“The city lord’s life was very hard when he was young. He often slept outdoors and fought monsters. The tableware he carried with him was often lost, so he used two wooden sticks to pick up food.
Although I became wealthy later, I still prefer wooden sticks because they allow me to recall and commemorate my past hard work.
It is also a spur to myself now, not to indulge in comfort and ease, and thus become lazy and idle. "
The corners of his mouth twitched: "You are quite good at choosing words, aren't you?"
"That's Soren's job."
"Since you are so good at writing, write me an essay... a statement of oath. I need it tomorrow morning."
"What oath?"
"To boost the morale of the First Army, we need to express the soldiers' ambition, perseverance, and invincibility.
The most important thing is at least one thousand words."
Soran was stunned: "Is there an oath with more than a thousand words?"
"I have mine." Zhang Mu shook his sleeves proudly and walked out of the house. He turned back after taking two steps and said, "By the way, we will leave for the capital at noon tomorrow.
Remember to arrange the subsequent phases of the project properly."
"As ordered."
Before leaving, Zhang Mu arranged the construction of the mountain gate and subsequent buildings, landforms, etc. of Hogwarts. This was a plan he had already made in his mind on the day he planned to go to the royal capital.
After all, the royal capital is not the remote and remote Gul City.
Before the enemy is defeated, there is no channel or authority to start the project, but the improvement of the mountain gate and Hogwarts cannot stop.
After some thought, it was decided to continue the construction in Gul City. When it was completed, Zhang Mu would come back alone.
After leaving Soran's room, he returned to his study and sat alone for the night, pondering how to open up the situation after arriving in the capital.
The night flies by.
The morning sunlight shone through the crack in the door and cast a golden vertical line on the carpet.
He stood up and walked out of the City Lord's Mansion with Domit who had arrived, ready to meet the soldiers of the First Army.
But just after passing through the city gate, I saw an unexpected person on the muddy road - Andre.
Didn’t he return to the capital last night?
Zhang Mu was puzzled, but he kept a calm face and walked over to him: "Your Highness Andre, what are you doing..."
"I was originally going to rush back to the capital last night, but I suddenly remembered that there were still some things I hadn't dealt with."
"Then why are you staying outside the city? Just come to the City Lord's Mansion to find me."
"It's late at night. It's rude to disturb other people's sweet dreams."
"how could be."
"Haha, you're welcome, Mr. City Lord." Andre explained with a smile, "Besides, I was also very busy last night."
"Oh?"
"The Griffin Legion is my father's personal guard and has never left his side for more than a day.