Kingdom’s Bloodline Chapter 166: Active back

Oops, did he guess it?

"I don't understand, what does this mean?"

The second prince lowered his right hand calmly and touched the JC dagger at his waist.

Jane stared at him, his eyes fixed.

"Don't you understand, Thales?"

The Duke of Southbank squinted:

"Think again: do you really not understand?"

Tales's expression remained unchanged, only to hear his heart pounding.

Calm down.

If Jenn saw through me and knew that I was just pretending to be in harmony with the king...

What would he do?

Turn your face directly? Do it? Tell the world? Kick me out of the Emerald City?

Or...

But the next second, Jenn smiled slightly.

He turned around and picked up the water bottle to refill Thales' empty cup.

"Listen: The Kingdom Secret Service killed Moss, but that's just the beginning. The purpose is to attract your attention, provoke us to confront each other, and let you follow this clue all the way."

Jaen put down the kettle and gave Thales a meaningful look:

"Just like now."

Tales held up the cup steadily: "You said that before."

Jane didn't look at him again, just poured himself a glass of clear spring drink:

"And they killed the wool merchant named Diop for the same purpose: to provoke you and your men."

Tales frowned.

"Really?"

The prince tried his best to resist the urge to hum:

"Secret killed Diop to take the bait for me?"

Jann nodded: "They know your character, they know you'll come forward and charge ahead."

There must be something there.

The voice in my heart told Thales: Moss, Diop, behind the deaths of these people, there must be something that Jenn can't wait to hide, so that he uses the secret department as a shield.

"Unfortunately, my people couldn't keep the white-clothed killer from the secret department," Thales sighed naturally, "otherwise, we can ask something."

"I don't have anyone either," said the Duke of Southbank indifferently, "but that's the kingdom's secret department, and that's normal."

The killer in white.

Tales carefully observed Jen's expression, but unfortunately found nothing.

No, I can't say I got nothing.

After all--the inner voice muttered--you knew from the start that Jenn couldn't be trusted.

After all, the true meaning of alliance is betrayal.

Jane paused for a moment: "But there is no doubt that the Secret Service treats you as a **** and wants you to come forward against me: from Morse to Diop, maybe to the next person, and so on, until you Dig out the secret weapon prepared by the secret department, and oust me and Kevin Deere from power in one fell swoop."

"Secret weapon?"

Tales nodded:

"So, there is something wrong with that Diop?"

Jann fell silent.

After a few seconds, he seemed to have made up his mind and nodded:

"Yes, in addition to the wool business, Diop has another identity: the secret accountant of the Kongming Palace."

"Dark account?"

"Agents like Dagory Moss will bring some inconvenient and inconvenient gray income to the Emerald City," Jenn replied calmly, "and Diop is to manage these One of the secret accounts."

"You mean, illegal income, accounting and money laundering?"

The Duke of Iris snorted:

"If the Secret Service digs up his identity, his accounts, and you - as righteously indignant as you did - issue a public and just accusation, then indeed, it will bring a lot of trouble to the Emerald City , keeping me and my officers in a hurry for a while."

Tales frowned.

If what Jenn says is true, then Diop is the one in charge of the Emerald City secret accounts, which is why Moss is going to see him.

However, did Jenn confess so bluntly?

That means he was ready.

He is confident that the things behind Diop have been cleaned up, and no clues will be left to the enemy, especially the secret department of the kingdom.

Tales' mood became more and more solemn.

"Of course you won't let this happen," the prince said with an expressionless face, "that's why you cut off the clues in a hurry, and even found the scapegoat, close the case, and make sure it's dead. Can't make a big wave?"

Jann nodded:

"During the Emerald Celebration, this incident cannot become the focus of the whole city, otherwise it will fall into the hands of the Secret Division."

"Like Morse?"

Jann affirms: "Just like Morse."

Tales was silent for a few seconds.

"Then you should tell me about Diop first."

"I should," Jenn admitted without burden, "but please understand that it involves the internal operations and finances of the Emerald City, and perhaps some inconvenient illegal income, I don't want more people know, at least until I clear the threat and make sure I'm safe."

Remove threats and stay safe...

I don't want more people to know...

For some reason, looking at the owner of the Emerald City in front of him, Thales remembered the secret department of the kingdom.

"Of course, I can understand it, it makes sense, it makes sense." Thales raised the corner of his mouth.

"Trust me, Thales, the current approach is the most ideal," Jenn raised his cup, "You and I, under the fight on the bright side, have skillfully maintained the balance of the situation in Emerald City. "

Tales' expression moved: "Balance?"

Zhan En took a sip:

"In the first place, the kingdom's secret department failed, and the Diop case entered a normal process, silently, without causing an earthquake or causing chaos."

"Yeah, debt disputes, Bedren's drunkenness and murder, it's totally normal." Thales whispered.

"Secondly, you didn't fall into the trap of the Secret Division and became their pawn, which led to the breakdown of our relationship and the imbalance of the situation."

"Thanks to you cutting off the clues in advance, I didn't let me get the "secret weapon" of the Secret Division to deal with you."

“Three, if I really want to trouble you, Thales,” Jen put down his glass and suddenly raised his voice, “How could your men who went to track down Diop escaped the Emerald Legion so easily? the blockade roundup?"

Tales frowned deeply.

Seconds later, the prince took a deep breath.

"So, Diop's line is broken, no matter what conspiracy is behind him..." Thales said slowly, "What do you think the Kingdom Secret Service will do next, and how should we deal with it?"

Jann cocked the corners of his mouth.

“Whether it’s Moss or Diop, their death means that the secret department of the kingdom wants to change things, wants to change, wants to mess things up,” he scrutinized his wine glass carefully, looking at the glass passing through the glass. Twist the picture, "and we give them the opposite."

The opposite.

"You mean, there is a backwater, just like the case between Moss and Diop, one is an old grudge and the other is a debt dispute?" Thales said quietly.

Jann didn't answer, just smiled.

"Other than that, Jenn, you shouldn't do anything to hide from me, right?"

Tales stared at him steadily:

"If there is, now is the time to confess, so that the accident of yesterday will not happen again and the trust between us will be damaged."

The voice fell, and Jen was silent for a long time.

"I can't make any guarantees, because even collaborators with the same interests have reservations," the Duke said, "but I can say that if anything like yesterday happened, you'd be informed in advance."

Tales looked at his expression and nodded slowly.

The two dukes had their own concerns and did not speak.

In an instant, the dining room fell into a suffocating silence.

Until Jenn coughed: "Now, if we have nothing else to do..."

"But you know, Jenn."

Tales spoke suddenly.

"If your Emerald Legion, if they really caught my bodyguard at the murder scene," the prince looked at the duke, "then I'm notorious for murder, and I can't argue with Xue Xue, so I'll probably just be ashamed. I left the Emerald City yo-yo and quit this game."

Jane said, "Maybe."

"Then why not? Why don't you just kick me out of the Emerald City?"

Tales looked straight at Jenn, as if to see through his heart:

"In this way, no matter what the Secret Service prepares for me, no matter what role they expect me to play in it, it will be discounted or even invalid, once and for all, once and for all."

Jann was silent for a long time.

The atmosphere in the dining room becomes strange.

"Because we have an agreement and cooperation," Jenn said slowly after a long while, his voice slightly tired and hoarse, "We are still on the same chariot, fighting against the most powerful person in this kingdom, not Is it?"

The Duke of Southbank raised his head and resumed his smile:

"If you leave, am I missing an ally who can fight the king together? I think we should be on the same page on this point, Thales."

On the same chariot, against the most powerful people...

Looking at the other party's appearance, Thales reached out his hand unconsciously and touched the hideous bone ring in his pocket.

"No."

Jane's color changed slightly from Thales' answer.

"The reason you didn't kick me out of the Emerald City once and for all wasn't because we had an agreement."

The prince said earnestly: "It's because of my father."

"Because you are afraid of him, afraid of him."

Jane's smile froze for a moment.

Tales put down the cup and sighed:

"I came to the Emerald City this time, whether or not to meet my fiancée, I was sent by His Majesty the King."

"No matter how disgusting I am or how much you hate me, as long as I'm still in the Emerald City for a day, you can use me to spy on the plans of the Fuxing Palace, spy on the king's actions, and always be on guard against the kingdom's secret department. Through my conspiracy: whether it's my marriage, or my character, or the deaths of Morse and Diop."

He looked up:

"But if my clear chess was forced away, defeated by your methods, and left the game completely, who knows how the Kingdom Secret Service would react, who knows how my father would react? Who knows how they would react? What other means will be used that you don't know about? Maybe it's impossible to prevent, maybe it's worse, maybe the price is terrible?"

"And that's why I haven't been driven away by you, or in other words, the reason why you dare not drive me away," Thales said lightly, "Look, facing him, you, including me, we even I don't have the right to flip the chessboard, turn around and say 'I'm not playing anymore'."

Jane's eyes slowly focused, nailed to the wine glass.

"His Royal Highness, come and mobilize now," the Duke said maliciously, "Isn't it too early?"

Tilston took a few seconds.

"You didn't understand me," the prince whispered, "or you don't want to understand?"

Tales clenched his bone ring.

"When I was in the Western Wilderness, I asked Falkenhauser: If you knew in advance that the king had bad intentions and the other party's conspiracy, why didn't you stop him in advance?"

The Duke of Southbank did not speak.

"The Duke of Xihuang answered tactfully and cautiously. He said that the conflict was necessary. He said that sometimes doing nothing is the best choice," the prince said, "but I was cunning and wise. Behind him, I saw the fear—the deep fear that belonged to the Duke of the Western Wilderness, the Lord of the Ruins, and Duke Cyril Falkenhouse. That kind of fear may not be exaggerated and obvious, but it was very deep, so deep that he even secretly I lack the courage to glance at it."

Jane was expressionless and didn't answer, but he held the napkin tightly in his hand.

"That's right, the meaning of my stay here, as you said, is to maintain balance," Thales said here, a little disillusioned, "maintain the tacit understanding between the two sides, and maintain this unseen battle. , still in the category that you can understand, accept, and deal with.”

"Because the butcher's knife on the top of the head is intimidating you and me, and intimidating everyone: even if you resist, you must be obedient and courteous, and you must be rational and peaceful, and you will not dare to make trouble and cross the border, and dare not break the balance of this horror. "

Jann still doesn't answer.

But it's worth a thousand words.

The dining room was completely quiet until Thales sighed:

"So, what's the point?"

Jane raised his eyes: "What?"

Tales's tone was a little emotional:

"I mean, what's the point of all this -- ours, yours and Fuxing Palace's, and mine and my father's -- fighting, cooperating, resisting, infighting, intrigue, coming and going? After all, it's just discord under the butcher's knife, war in a cage."

He stares at Jenn, depressed:

"Why, Jenn, why do we have to do this?"

Jane was silent for a while, but suddenly smiled, with a desolate and tragic smile:

"Because that's who we are."

Tales came back to his senses and looked at him.

"I'm sorry, but I was the one who lost my temper." The prince said solemnly.

But unexpectedly, Jan shook his head.

"We all have times like this."

The duke was slightly lost: "And you're right, discord under the knife."

At that moment, Thales felt for the first time: the man in front of him was in the same room as him, sitting at the same dining table.

Tales calmed his mind, removed his excess emotion, and took a deep breath.

"By the way, you know, things didn't get that bad, and we didn't have to."

"Which step?"

Tilston paused: "My father, maybe, maybe he didn't mean to kill."

Jann narrowed his eyes.

"If I could..." Thales took a deep breath, trying to sound confident, "As long as you and the Emerald City take a step back..."

But he is interrupted by Jenn.

"A step back?"

The Duke of South Shore looked at him half-smiling.

Facing each other's eyes, Thales clenched the bone ring in his hand, as if it would give him strength.

"I mean..."

"I know what you mean," Zhan said coldly, "I figured it out. You probably solved the Xihuang thing a while ago: take a step back, hehe."

Tales frowned slightly.

"Take a step back, yes, the power belongs to the throne, the finances go to the central government, the rule is subordinate to the Fuxing Palace, and resources flow into Yongxing City."

Jane leaned back in the chair in a rare relaxed posture and said:

“The Emerald City faded away from the halo of territorial autonomy, the queen in the city put down her freedom and pride, and Kevin Dill threw down the authority of the ruling party, willing to become the slave, servant, tool, weapon, chip and stepping stone of the Supreme King, go to Help to influence and control other backward territories, distant frontiers, and rebellious vassals, to create more of the same kind, and so on, until every inch of the country is like this, in order to realize his grand vision: the stars will be integrated from top to bottom, like arms. The finger, just like the empire of the past."

Tales was in a heavy mood and was about to speak, but Jenn never stopped:

“But why?”

The owner of the iris turned his head, his eyes sharp as a knife:

"The system of the Emerald City has been established by us for many years. The wealth of the people of the South Bank is accumulated by us bit by bit. The prestige and status of the Kevin Deere family in this place is earned through hard work."

"Why should we pay, let us sacrifice, let us cooperate, let us sacrifice, let us destroy our homes, let us be loyal to the country, let us hand over everything we get More taxes, more servitude, more debts, raising soldiers of the royal family, helping officials in the capital, writing the history of the bright star, strengthening the authority of the Fuxing Palace, and achieving the nine-star crown To realize the ambition of the supreme king, to share with the dignitaries from the central government and bear the disasters they brought, such as the Scarlet Year?"

Tales wanted to say something, but still gritted his teeth.

The Duke sneered and continued: "Why, why should the people of the South Bank, who live the best, the best and the most prosperous in the stars, take the initiative to retreat, and unreasonably go to support the idlers of the whole star, so that the mountains in the cliffs can be Savages, rude barbarians in the north, profiteers in the East China Sea, lazy people in the deserts of the West, bandits and robbers in the Blade's Edge leadership, and those in the Central Leader who have eyes above the top, despise everything, and look at everyone like a remote country. The gentlemen of the Royal Capital, let them come and **** everything from us, share our dividends, and drag down our lives?"

"Just because a certain person in your ancestors who do not know how many generations, one day, he drank too much, and when he was urinating, he fainted and shouted 'If the stars are there'?"

Facing Jenn who looked like this, Thales took a deep breath.

"You just said, 'Everyone seems to come from the countryside', right?"

The prince looked at the duke with a feeble smile.

"But you, you speak as if the leader of the South Shore is a person, a fisherman living on a deserted island with no family, no support, self-reliance, as if Kevin Deere has always been isolated from the world, as if in the past Seven hundred years do not exist, and it is as if you single-handedly built the Emerald City today."

Jann frowned.

"But there are no islands in this world, Jenn, you are no more than stars, no kingdoms, no loneliness in the world."

"If there is no communication line behind the developed territorial water system on the south bank, the population, territory, history, culture, market of the entire Star Kingdom... Do you think, how would the trans-ocean trade that you are proud of be realized? Where are the resources and goods going? Every Queen's Day, how come there are so many foreign visitors to the Emerald Celebration, looking for business opportunities and profits?"

Tales raised his head, decisively:

"Commercial, market, raw material, supply, land, system, history, politics, immigration, culture, there are too many... The South Bank collar is not only drawn in the kingdom's territory, but also deeply embedded in the huge giant called the stars. In the system, back and forth interaction, seamless, indistinguishable from each other.”

Jann was silent for a while, then sneered disdainfully.

"How long have you been living in Fuxing Palace, Your Royal Highness?"

Tales was startled.

"Long enough to think that the kingdom is you and that you are the kingdom?"

Jane's words were cold:

"According to what you just said, Xingchen and Ekster have been fighting for many years, on and off, with the same history and common experience. Shacheng, offering the nine-star crown and the staff of the stars, kneeling on his knees and calling Chaman Rumba a daddy? Or cross the sea of ​​​​end to Xiwangcheng to swear allegiance to the 'Kadil of the Mountains and the Earth', maybe he will Be merciful and make the Jinxing family the eighth clan to serve him?"

Tales swallowed his throat.

"I don't do such sophistry, but you know what I mean," the prince shook his head, exhausted. "Sometimes, for peace, for stability, for balance, maybe we have to pay a price."

"Who?"

The Duke of Iris asked fiercely:

"Who are 'we' when you say that, when you're constantly 'we have to pay'?"

"Is it you? Is it the king? Is it the kingdom of stars? Someone who goes out and talks to others?"

Tales did not answer.

Because he doesn't have an answer either.

He just clutched the "Gor Taksa" tightly in his pocket.

He knew that his answer, no matter what, looked pale.

"And what's the 'cost'?"

Jane said disdainfully:

"Is it me? Is it the South Bank leader? Is it the Emerald City? Is it the Kevin Deere family? >

Tales snorted:

"A grasshopper?"

He shook his head feebly:

"These words should be said by the common people who work hard, not by a high-ranking fiefdom duke with a magnificent palace."

"When you face the royal family of the shining star, which has a long history and eternal authority, and the descendants of the emperor's veins who have climbed to the top and overlook the stars," Zhan En snorted coldly, "who can say that he is not a grass-roots citizen and is allowed to be slaughtered. ?"

Tales was silent.

He finally sighed:

"To be honest, what I've seen and heard in the past few days, I quite like Emerald City..."

"Does your father like it?" Jenn interrupted unceremoniously.

Tales frowned: "So, there's really no room left?"

Jane looked at him seriously and smiled.

"As a child, at a family dinner, my father once said: 'As long as someone is willing to step back, there will always be room.'"

Tales squeezed the bone ring "Covenant" again, feeling a glimmer of hope.

"Your father, the old duke is a wise man."

But there was a mocking look on Jenn's face:

"Until my uncle added coldly: 'This is only useful for the strong.'"

The voice fell, and Thales understood.

The two were silent for a long time.

"Your uncle, he is also very interesting." Thales said bitterly.

"Not interesting enough."

"Then do you think my father will take the initiative to back off?"

Jane sneered: "What do you think?"

Tales looked at him, his eyes twinkling: "What if he was forced?"

The Duke of Southbank paused, then raised his glass, only to find it was empty.

"In this kingdom, who can force him, the supreme king?" he said quietly.

Tales turned his head.

"Believe it or not, Jenn," the prince said earnestly, "he has the kind of fear we face."

Jane snorted:

"I don't take part in rebellion - especially one that is doomed."

The two faced each other in silence, not saying a word.

A few seconds later, Thales took a deep breath and stood up.

"I see. Well, good luck to us then."

But just as Thales was about to leave the dining room, Jen suddenly stopped him.

"Tales, if, I mean if, if things really got to that point, can I trust you?"

Tales stopped and thought for a while.

"No, you can't."

Jann frowned deeply.

Tales turned around:

"You know this yourself."

But the next second, Thales smiled slightly.

"But ~IndoMTL.com~ at least you can trust the interests," he nodded, "and now, we have the same interests."

Jann looked at him and nodded as well.

Tales turned around, opened the door and left.

But the second he stepped out of the dining room, Thales' expression turned cold.

"Did you get your interest back?"

The watchman Majoros, who was following up at some point, asked him.

Tales paused for a while.

When he spoke again, he cleared all the flukes and weaknesses out of his brain, and threw them into the river of prison together with the nonsense that Jen had just made.

Because you know, Thales - the voice in his heart said coldly:

The same goes for Jenn behind you.

Even more decisive than you.

"Moss, and Diop," the Duke of Star Lake said coldly, "one is Jenn's agent, and the other is an accountant who manages secret accounts for him. They must be hiding something."

Mallows raised his eyebrows.

"Dig three feet in the ground, Thor, even if you dig through the mines under the collar on the south bank, you must find their secrets."

Marios was silent for a while, with his usual tone: "But Your Highness, do you know that they are dead, and the clues are broken? And according to official records, they all died in a normal way..."

"I don't care!"

Tales raised the volume in a rare way, causing Wyah, who was waiting for them in the distance, to look sideways.

"Find a way, Thor, find a way, no matter what it is, even if it's the killer in black," the prince's eyes glowed, "I have a hunch..."

Tales loosened the bone ring in his pocket.

"As long as we dig deep enough and get something..."

He looked at the garden outside the Kongming Palace and squeezed the empty palm into a fist.

"The Emerald City is ours."

Marios said nothing more.