Chapter 140

As the saying goes, too much words lead to mistakes. If Lucius exposes his illness again, although it will not threaten the rule of the Stranik family, the reputation that the nobles value most will definitely be gone.

"Yes." Lucius nodded, and then showed an apologetic expression towards Lianka.

He suddenly didn't know what to say, so he could only laugh it off.

Finally, night fell completely, and all kinds of luxuriously decorated lamps were lit in the Duke's mansion, and Lit accompanied Odysseus back to the mansion.

According to convention, the nobles should have been led by the ruler here to welcome Odysseus at the door.

Because Lucius was ill, in principle Mary should take care of him.

However, because the relationship between Mary and Li Te suddenly became tense, Li Te thought about it and decided to let the servants notify Odysseus' arrival in advance, so that the nobles would wait in advance without making arrangements for the leader.

This should have been the case, but when Lite saw Odysseus's father standing at the door of the mansion, leading a group of nobles to wait for Odysseus, she was stunned.

Didn’t you tell your father not to go out?

Odysseus was surprised when he saw Lucius, who had originally said he was ill, appearing at the door, and then felt moved.

She is worthy of being my beloved. Even if she is sick and her family refuses to let her out, she will still come out to see her.

With such loyal ministers in the empire, why worry about the empire not being prosperous?

Odysseus sighed in his heart and walked quickly to Lucius.

"Duke Lucius, thank you for your hard work." He said this and helped Lucius, who was kneeling on one knee, up.

Following this move, all the nobles behind him also stood up.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty, for coming to my duchy. I have been in the shadow of this veteran for decades, so why bother? Your Majesty, after all the hard work of traveling and traveling, has arrived at this humble residence. He is not well prepared, so please bear with Your Majesty."

Lucius said this, but it made the nobles behind him sigh with emotion.

As expected of His Majesty's confidant, he can sit from the position of military attaché to the Duke. This kind of speech is really comfortable to listen to.

"Okay, it's cold outside, let's go inside and catch up on old times." With that said, Odysseus walked into the Duke's mansion first.

It's not that he doesn't understand the rules, but he himself is the rule in this empire.

If you deliberately give in to the servants, it will make people feel uneasy and make you feel that you are resented by the emperor.

After the banquet was prepared, everyone took their seats. The emperor undoubtedly sat at the head of the table, and sitting next to him were the hosts of the banquet, Mr. and Mrs. Lucius, followed by the various dukes and their families.

Because there were so many people attending the celebration banquet this time, only the Dukes were seated at the long table where the emperor was.

Other nobles, such as earls and barons, can only sit at other tables.

A duke has a circle of dukes, and an earl has a circle of earls.

After Odysseus finished his speech, the banquet officially began, and everyone drank and exchanged glasses.

At this moment, a sinister and vicious gaze fell on Lucius and Li Te...

(PS: I have received a lot of criticism recently. These days, I have carefully reviewed the previous mistakes and made some changes to the subsequent plot. I am opening a new floor here. You can talk about the areas you feel are insufficient or the areas that need improvement. , I will work hard to improve the reading experience for every reader who can see this)

Chapter 27: Betrayal (3K)

The reception was in full swing, and Lucius took Mary to propose a toast to the emperor.

"Duke Lucius, Lady Mary, it's been really hard for you to manage the Duke of Antica these years."

"Your Majesty is joking. The pattern of the empire has not changed for thousands of years. Your Majesty split the earth to create a marquis for the old minister, and what you did for the Stranik family will be unforgettable for the rest of my life. How can you say it is hard work." Lucius smiled and said The glass of wine is drained.

"By the way, speaking of which, what did Mr. Orson do this time? Why haven't you come back yet?" Odysseus found a topic and asked.

"I don't know this." Lucius shook his head.

At this moment, Mary suddenly said: "By the way, Your Majesty, during this period of time, Orson and Li Te have really taken good care of my master. They are really filial."

Odysseus heard Mary say this and nodded with satisfaction.

.

"Yes, these two children of Duke Lucius are indeed very good."

But at this moment, Mary suddenly changed the subject.

"But, Your Majesty, you don't know what these two children are hiding from everyone, right?"

"Oh? What are they hiding from everyone?" Odysseus said, looking at Mary in confusion.

Lucius also looked at his wife beside him in surprise.

He was about to say something, but unexpectedly, Mary let go of him and stood directly next to Odysseus.

"Speaking of it, Your Majesty the Emperor, you may not believe it. My master is still coming to see you with symptoms."

"As for Orson and Leeteuk, in order to conspire to evade the master and usurp the power of the duchy, they announced that the master was seriously ill, without disclosing the specific illness that the master had, and they did not even allow me to take care of the master's daily life. , but leave all these matters to his own subordinates.”

"Don't you think it's strange? Why don't the two of them disclose the master's condition to the public, and they don't even want to inform their family members, but only let people they trust handle it?"

"So, Lady Mary, what do you mean?" Odysseus couldn't help but frowned after listening to Mary's words.

"I think that Orson and Little, for the sake of the dukedom's inheritance, are deliberately using some means to make the master's health deteriorate so that they can inherit the dukedom's title in advance." Mary said, pointing to the audience. Lite spoke up.

Complaints are a method that has existed since ancient times. By reporting some things to the top leader, you can obtain the opinion of the top leader to achieve your own goals.

Mary's move can be considered a typical complaint.

Lucius looked at Mary, silent.

"Besides, everyone might as well laugh at the disease that the master has, and I will make it public. Before, when I had an opportunity to contact the master by chance, I found that he mistakenly identified me as his ex-wife, and at the same time, he mistook me for his ex-wife. I mistakenly thought it was when the orcs invaded eighteen years ago.”

"Although there are few records of this disease, I still found records similar to this disease in some books. I only know that the cause of the disease is unknown, but it will cause intermittently mental disorders, memory confusion, and emotional agitation. ”

"Just now downstairs, when Duke Giovanni asked the master a question, the master couldn't answer. It was also because of a temporary attack of the disease."

"I don't know why the master has been able to remain unexplored by others today, but I think it is necessary to tell everyone that the current master is like a time bomb that may explode at any time."

As Mary finished speaking, Lucius raised his hand angrily and pointed at Mary.

"Mary...you...how dare you!"

"Master, I am protecting you. Orson and Li Te, they are coveting your power. I am the only one who does this to protect you. Please forgive me for making this matter public."

At this time, Li Te also came to Lucius.

At this time, it would be useless for Lucius to have an attack, because Mary had already taken the lead and gave everyone a psychological hint, making others think that Lucius's abnormal behavior was all because of the strange disease.

Moreover, Li Te also knew that, as Mary said, Lucius would suffer from intermittent amnesia.

"Mother, I don't know what you mean, but when Orson told me about this matter, he said that it was arranged by my father himself when he was conscious at the time."

"Furthermore, even if something goes wrong with my father, according to the inheritance law, the heir is just one of me and Orson. What reason do we have to harm our father?"

"Haha, now bring someone out who is not here. Of course you can say whatever you want. After all, no one will come out to accuse you of saying something wrong." Mary said this and sneered. "Besides, you certainly have reasons to harm your father."

Mary pointed to her belly.

"I still have the master's child in my belly. This child also has the right to inherit. You are afraid that your child will grow up to be better than you and take away your right to inherit, so you want to firmly hold the right to inherit in your hands now!"

At this time, everyone present also turned their attention to Mary.

After all, there is ready-made fun, who doesn’t like watching it?

Although what Mary said didn't make sense, she couldn't help but speak loudly.

"Litte, is what Lady Mary said true? Regarding Duke Lucius...the problem here." Odysseus said this, pointing to his head vaguely. “Also, there is the issue of Lady Mary’s pregnancy.

"

"It's true that part of it is the same as what mother said, but it's not the whole story." Lite said this and explained. From her perspective, she told everything she knew.

After that, the nobles in the audience started whispering.

It is said that it is difficult for an upright official to resolve family affairs. If no concrete evidence is produced, this incident can only be said to be an internal discord within the Stranik family, and cannot involve other things.

And coincidentally, at this moment, there was a sound of footsteps at the door.

"Mr. Orson?" Vivian was the first to notice the dusty Orson appearing at the door.

Then, everyone looked towards the door.

Orson appeared at the door of the house with a man in a cloak. Judging from his height, the man was two heads shorter than Orson.

"Oh? It seems that the protagonist of the banquet is coming." Giovanni had come to the corner of the hall at this moment, quietly enjoying the family farce.

In fact, in the administrative system of the empire, the duke has independent local power, but the royal family's direct jurisdiction is more prosperous. Whether it is the legal principles of the founding of the country or the existing strength, the royal family is undoubtedly the first.

But this does not mean that the emperor can interfere with everything in the duchy.

At least, if the Duke himself had not done anything harmful to nature and outrageous to both humans and gods, the Emperor would have no reason to take action against the Duke.

After all, once he takes action, it will be a violation of the agreement made back then. The other dukes will definitely be dissatisfied with the emperor. At that time, the price will not be a simple civil war, but may even lead to a change of dynasty in the royal family that has stood for thousands of years.

Therefore, over the past thousand years, the royal family has been very cautious in handling local relations.

But the Dukedom of Antica is different. Lucius, the Duke of Antica, was Odysseus's right-hand man when he ascended the throne. After becoming the Duke, due to previous habits, the superior-subordinate relationship between the two was still very obvious, which is why some dukes looked down on Lucius.

You have reached the position of Duke, and it is a bit embarrassing to be so polite to the emperor in your own territory.

But it is understandable. After all, in Lucius's view, he is the first generation of the Dukedom, and his territory is granted by the emperor. There is nothing wrong with the emperor.

As for other dukes, it has been passed down for many generations. They have long been deeply rooted in the belief that the land under their feet is theirs, even if the emperor comes.

Orson took Lena and brought her to the banquet.

In order to prevent Lena's half-orc identity from causing panic among the nobles, Orson put his cloak on Lena.

Fortunately, the difference between his and Lena's reminders was large enough, and the cloak could cover Lena's big ears and tail.

But it still made Lena look very strange, so Orson only let Lena find a seat and sat down, and then he came to Lucius.

"Father, I'm late." Orson said this with an apologetic look. "And Lit, you have been working hard to take care of the family these days."

Orson said this and touched Lit's head.

Lucius just shook his head and pointed at Mary.

"I understand." Orson understood what Lucius meant and turned to look at Mary.

"Mother, please allow me to call you this now."

"What do you mean?" Mary was a little confused when she heard Orson's words.

She and Lucius have not divorced yet, why did Orson say such a thing.

"Although I don't know what you are thinking of deliberately stirring up conflicts at home, mother, are you so clean?"

"Orson, you..." Mary was panicked when she heard the words. "What do you mean by this?"

"The Toulouse family." Orson said this, and Francois, Duke of Orleans, who was drinking soup silently, paused.

"The Toulouse family that rules the Duchy of Orleans is your mother's family. During the years when you were the Duchess and controlled the Duchy's finances, you used various means to embezzle almost two-thirds of the annual Duke's financial surplus into your personal property, and then transferred it to the Toulouse family. This is why the Duchy of Antica has been developing well over the years, but its finances are always very tight."

As he said this, Orson took out the bill in his hand and handed it to the emperor.

After reading it, Odysseus turned to look at Mary.

"Mrs. Mary, if this bill is true, then your behavior as the Duchess can be said to be quite bad." As he said this, he turned his eyes to

Francois.

"Duke Francois, you are such a fool. Your sister is married, and you still expect her to help your duchy?"

"Your Majesty is right." Francois nodded. "But these are all my sister's personal actions. Although I have advised her over the years, it is completely useless. I can only accept it."

When Mary heard her brother say this, she looked at him in surprise, her eyes full of anger after being betrayed.

Chapter 28: A mantis shakes a tree

"Your Majesty, strictly speaking, this matter should be considered a family affair between dukes." At this time, Duke Ivan of Lucia, who was sitting next to Francois, also spoke up.

The meaning of his words was very obscure.

No matter how your emperor usually shows off his presence, or even how the outliers in the duchy of Antica show their presence, the dukes will not say anything, and will even cooperate with you well, but if you extend your hand to other duchies, isn't that a bit too much?

Therefore, even if Mary was really a traitor to the Duchy of Antica and sold out the interests of the Duchy of Antica to the Duchy of Orleans, all Emperor Odysseus could do was to limit the punishment to where he could intervene, rather than involving other duchies.

"Of course I know." Odysseus nodded when he heard Ivan say this.

At this time, Giovanni, Lucius's old rival, was silent.