landbeastnovel #552 - I have been deceived, let alone you?
#552 - I have been deceived, let alone you?
The sky was shrouded in a thin morning mist, and the earth beneath the gray-blue sky was filled with chaotic scenes.
Broken shields and arrows scattered across the muddy ground indicated that this place had been a battlefield just a few days ago.
On this old battlefield, military tents were scattered in an orderly manner, the gray coarse cloth tents covered in mud and dust, with several bonfires burning in the center of the camp.
Firewood crackled in the fire, and faint smoke swirled in the air.
The defensive fortifications were surrounded by earthen walls, and occasionally, a few fully armed soldiers could be seen standing guard.
Warhorses were tied to wooden stakes, occasionally emitting low snorts, kicking at the muddy ground, restless and uneasy.
In the morning, mercenaries gathered in twos and threes, yawning around the bonfire, holding rough wooden bowls of soup, their faces tired and pale, with a hint of numbness in their eyes.
It wasn't until a series of rapid hoofbeats sounded that they alertly raised their heads and looked in another direction.
Dozens of knights, bearing the banner of Lacunio, appeared at the edge of the camp. Knowing that these were sentries of Prince Condé's teacher, they immediately opened the gate to welcome them.
"Lord Lacunio, let me help you," a knight's page saw the arrow wound on Lacunio's thigh and asked obsequiously.
"Get out of here," Lacunio lashed the page's face with a whip.
Dismounting himself, he limped towards Prince Condé's tent.
Two days ago, on the day of the assassination attempt on Vane outside the city, he had already led two Edict Companies and the vanguard of Moliaty into battle.
If Prince Condé had arrived immediately after the city fell, then as the subsequent troops from both sides arrived, this small skirmish could have turned into a major battle.
Given the current balance of power between the two sides, coupled with the news of Vane's surrender, with luck, it could even determine the outcome of the war in one battle.
But Prince Condé was late in arriving. Even after Moliaty's subsequent troops had arrived, there was still no sign of His Highness the Prince.
After holding out for a day, as news of Vane's assassination after his surrender spread, Moliaty decisively led his troops to retreat towards Highfort.
Lacunio tried every means to stop him, but Moliaty still managed to escape the battlefield.
Now, although Prince Condé has arrived, can time be reversed? Can the beans be stewed tender? It's all too late.
But the changes in the battle situation and the passage of time are not what Lacunio is most worried about at the moment.
What he is most worried about is the alienation scheme that Vane exchanged with his life.
The main reason why Prince Condé was delayed for so long was actually because he was digging three feet into the ground near the Garrison Fort to find those so-called "evidence."
But in Lacunio's view, this alienation scheme is too clumsy.
As Moliaty's uncle, the least likely person to surrender actually surrendered, which is inherently unbelievable.
Secondly, how did the nobles' letters get into your hands? Why is there still not even a single piece of direct evidence?
Finally, the person who shot him was a nearby farmer.
Who says that fleeing soldiers can't buy their lives with money and cooperate? Why can it only be the nobles of Hotham County buying their lives?
The only redeeming quality is exchanging one's life for trust, which can indeed be deceptive.
However, Lacunio has fought with the Flesh and Blood Court for so many years. If he can't see through this, then he shouldn't be the commander of the Border Knights.
The frustrating thing is that Lacunio knows this, but he knows Prince Condé's character even better.
With his character, he will definitely explode. If Moliaty wasn't the enemy at hand, he probably would have run back already.
His only hope at the moment is that Prince Condé can remain calm and not do anything impulsive.
Lifting the curtain of the tent, Lacunio glared and asked, "Charles, why are you two days late?"
"Looking for evidence," Prince Condé, sitting behind the table with a lamb leg in his mouth, was still blankly looking at Lacunio who had barged in. "Don't worry, their retreat is cut off, they can't escape."
Seeing Prince Condé's clear and lifeless face, Lacunio felt something was wrong. "What do you think about the matter of those Hotham County nobles?"
Prince Condé still trusted Lacunio quite a bit, and comforted him softly, "Don't blame yourself too much, I know you were also deceived by these damned nobles. I was deceived too, let alone you?"
His cheeks twitching, Lacunio opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.
However, he was used to being Prince Condé's nanny on the battlefield, and he just smiled slightly at such a high-blood-pressure scene, and let it pass.
"Are you planning to let them go?"
"Of course not, I'm just planning to deal with them after the war. This is a critical time, a slight punishment is enough. I haven't even killed Garynon, he's still locked up."
Prince Condé put down the greasy lamb leg, picked up a cup, and poured Lacunio a glass of wine.
This undoubtedly relieved Lacunio greatly. After so many years, this kid has finally made some progress.
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Taking the wine glass, Lacunio took two sips, and belatedly looked at Prince Condé. "You haven't done anything impulsive, have you?"
"Don't worry, I'm not that unreasonable, but I'm not someone to be bullied either. We'll settle this debt slowly in the future, we're just collecting some interest now."
Prince Condé replied vaguely while chewing on roast chicken.
Collect some interest?
A ominous premonition rose in Lacunio's heart. He grabbed Prince Condé's sleeve and sternly questioned, "What did you do?"
"I have ordered the evidence of Samboli and Garynon's joint communication with the enemy and collusion with heretics to be submitted to the ecclesiastical court, and ordered the Edict Company stationed at Feiliu Fort to immediately arrest Samboli and send him for trial!"
Before Prince Condé could finish speaking, a clanging sound was heard.
Taking half a step back, the wine glass in Lacunio's dizzy hand could no longer be held steady and fell heavily to the ground.
At the same time, hundreds of miles away in Hotham County.
"Open the door, Edict Company!"
"Samboli, we know what you've done!"
In a series of crashes and shouts, the gate was forcibly pried open by dozens of foot knights, followed by thirty or so Edict Company knights riding fine warhorses pouring out.
In this lavish Earl's court, it was now filled with soldiers clad in chainmail, who recklessly used battleaxes to split open doors, rushing into rooms like Noorn pirates.
"Where is the person? Has he been caught?" the Edict Company captain asked the soldiers and knights who were carrying valuables back and forth.
A clergyman in a woolen robe squeezed through the soldiers' arms. "He hasn't been found. Only servants and stewards are here. The valuables are also here, but Samboli and his wife and children are gone."
"Damn it, issue a search warrant and send guards along the main roads to pursue him!"