The lord did not want to be a fool. When he heard Forster say that Godric and Amy were heretics, he was already mentally prepared to face the disaster.
Although I don't know how Amy offended Forster, this guy obviously has no scruples since he blocked Long River Town and surrounded him with troops to force him to give false testimony.
In this situation, we can only ensure our own safety before making plans later.
You must know that Forster is leading more than 200 cavalry, and there are only more than 20 people around him. If he insists on breaking through, I am afraid that he will be gone after a wave of charge...
Forster still squinted his eyes and stared at the Lord with a frown, but he actually performed the knight's salute.
Although the etiquette is perfunctory and the attitude is arrogant, in any case, this makes the lord quite uncomfortable - it is difficult to deal with enemies who can bend, stretch, and endure temporary anger.
"Lord Li Ang, I salute you... Let me ask you again, are you planning to protect the two heretics Godric and Amy, or are you planning to testify against them?"
It seems that this guy is quite smart, but why didn't he attack directly?
What is he worried about?
Li Ang glanced at Forster, then rode a few steps forward, still with a smile on his face.
"Forster Knight, you should be able to tell that I'm just passing by... what happened? Since you want me to choose, I have to know the situation, right?"
The distance between him and Forster is getting closer and closer.
Forster looked at the smiling Li Ang and seemed to hesitate for a moment, "Lord Li Ang, I know you are an excellent businessman. I think businessmen should know the pros and cons... I have also heard about your Wheat Fragrance Company, and you have made a lot of money..."
It seems like this guy is trying to blackmail you?
But what is he hesitating about?
In order to understand Forster's intention, Li Ang began to act stupid. "Of course the purpose of doing business is to make money, but what does this have to do with heresy?"
Forster smiled conspiratorially again, "I think your Wheat Fragrance Company should be very useful to me... But if you don't plan to testify against those two heretics, then I will think that you are also a heretic!"
It seems like this guy wants everything...
He probably discovered that he was outside Long River Town last night. Facing his camp with only more than 20 people, he had to launch a sneak attack in the early morning, probably to ensure that he could be trapped.
Is this Alma's instruction or his own behavior?
Moreover, is it appropriate to discuss these matters in front of so many cavalry?
Li Ang simply asked directly, "I am quite honored that the Duke is interested in my small business... I actually do not refuse to cooperate with a Grand Duke, but the question is, does your father Duke Alma know the situation here?"
The Lord Lord pointed at the cavalry around him.
These cavalrymen all have the Four Swords emblem on their bodies, and they are obviously Forster's own troops.
Forster frowned deeply. "Long River Town I have the final say now! I have no patience anymore, you'd better give the answer quickly!"
It seems that Alma does not know... This is just the personal behavior of Forster, so as long as the person who caused the problem is solved, the problem will be solved.
The lord identified the target, and then started to approach with an innocent face. "I have to know what benefits I can get from cooperating with you, right? Testify that Baron Godric is a heretic? Then what? What can I get?"
Forster sneered, "You can survive... isn't that enough?"
Li Ang stopped smiling and looked at Forster seriously, "Your Excellency Forster, I am just a small lord. I cannot afford Baron Godric's revenge - in fact, there is no difference to me if I offend Baron Godric or Duke Alma... can you understand?"
Li Ang looked at the surrounding cavalry again. "Besides... things like heresy are so involved, how do I know whether I will be silenced in the future? You can talk about it by paying for your life, but you have to make sure that you can buy your life before you can talk about it!"
This attitude is very sincere and the words are very direct.
Forster has frowned, probably thinking that Li Ang is right - an ordinary little lord will die if he offends anyone, and if he is not given a bargaining chip to ensure his safety, there is really no need to talk.
Forster thought about it with a sullen face, and actually gave a condition. "If Godric is burned at the stake and you give me your Wheat Fragrance Company, I can let you get White Deer Fortress. This condition is enough!"
Forster is actually still willing to talk, instead of directly attacking his small team?
Li Ang smiled.
The lord is not talking nonsense, he is just using this method to test the current specific situation - it looks like Forster has neither caught Amy nor controlled Godric!
He probably doesn't dare to do anything to the people in Godric's family...
Forster just brought a large number of troops to blackmail himself, a small lord with no background.
Otherwise, there is no need to negotiate a deal with yourself - if everything is under the control of Forster, then just kill your team and force yourself to do things at the cost of your own life. There is no need to give any conditions at all!
Being able to give such a condition as "let you get White Deer Fortress" means that White Deer Fortress is now safe and sound in the hands of Godric.
The lord understands that Forster probably framed Amy. In order to prevent Godric from leading troops to retaliate, he closed Long River Town and blocked the news. Then, he probably has been looking for suitable "witnesses".
After discovering his team last night, he planned to trap himself and scare himself into perjury.
In front of so many cavalry, even if he wanted to be vague and prevaricate and pretend to agree, it would give him enough "evidence".
Probably only after he, the witness, is frightened into compromising, can he use his 'witness' to mobilize the Long River Town garrison to arrest Amy and Godric - otherwise, baseless accusations that Godric is a heretic will lead to civil war in the kingdom!
Indeed, he is the most suitable witness - his fiefdom is closest to White Deer Fortress, and all the lords of the entire kingdom know about his business partnership with Godric.
I am a partner of Godric, and I have had issues with Duke Alma. If I instead came forward to accuse and testify that Godric is a heretic, everyone would probably believe it.
Moreover, he has no background, he is just a Pioneer Lord, so there is no need to worry about any intricate family forces causing trouble for him.
But before he came forward to testify, Forster did not dare to do anything to Godric's family. It is estimated that he has done nothing now - in case his rumors and slanders are not successful, he can still say that it is a misunderstanding.
He could only bully himself, a little lord, and get forged evidence.
I have to say that this approach is appropriate... Probably in Forster's eyes, he, the little lord, is easy to handle.
But, am I, Li Ang, so easy to bully?
What the hell do you want to control Wheat Fragrance Company by the way?
Think about it, if Forster can get the financial resources of Wheat Fragrance Company, then he will probably have nothing to worry about - Duke Alma will let him be in charge of Long River Town. With the territory, population and money, he will probably be able to raise a large army in Long River Town.
In other words, for Forster, the key to the matter is probably whether he can control his little lord...
If he gets a handle on it, he can do whatever he wants.
Let alone testify that Godric is a heretic, even if their family rebels directly, there is still a lot of hope.
But until he controls himself, or before he says something wrong, Forster probably won't be able to truly command the Long River Town garrison.
Perhaps the only troops he can really command are his two hundred trusted cavalry?
Therefore, he did not attack himself directly. It seemed that he wanted to avoid making himself a mortal enemy, lest he would rather die than cooperate with him...
But this guy seems to have a standard aristocratic mentality, and he definitely doesn't have much experience in handling this kind of mess--if he were replaced by a gangster brother like Foucher, he would have probably swarmed him and defeated him...
No wonder Alma prefers the illegitimate son Foucher...
Li Ang took a long breath with a smile and looked at the cavalry beside Forster: "You just talk to me about this kind of deal in front of so many people, and you don't worry about someone betraying you?"
Forster's expression was already very bad. "Lord Li Ang, I gave you a choice, don't force me to kill you!"
After speaking, he waved his hand and asked the surrounding cavalry to form a circle, surrounding the small force Li Ang in the middle.
The Lord Lord nodded, sighed, bent down, and spoke softly, "In this case, then I can only..."
It seems like Li Ang is going to compromise?
But then, Li Ang just leaned down and gently took the reins, and Alice suddenly burst out with amazing speed! This smart little mare is quite considerate, and has always been the only one. Li Ang is riding it alone, and it has become accustomed to Li Ang's driving method - as long as the lord leans down on the horse and lowers his center of gravity and lightly pulls the reins, Alice will charge with all his strength!
This is a solo raid!
No one expected that Li Ang would launch an attack when surrounded by two hundred cavalry!
The distance between Li Ang and Forster is only twenty meters - just enough for Alice to accelerate.
Alice was just a sudden acceleration and was already in front of Forster.
"... Then I can only catch you!"
The second half of what Li Ang said was almost said in front of Forster.
He has pulled out Griffin Sword.
Forster reacted very quickly. He stopped him with the spear in his hand, but before the spear could reach the direction facing Li Ang, it was cut off by Li Ang with his sword.
But the shot still had an effect. Li Ang tightened the reins with one hand, and Alice's body leaned to the side. Then he braked suddenly, and the horse's hoofs scratched four deep marks on the ground.
The elite cavalry beside Forster also reacted very quickly. Several long spears were thrust diagonally in front of Li Ang in order to stop them. Their horses had no time to react.
However, at the moment Alice braked, Li Ang had already flown out, and using the inertia of the sudden stop after sprinting, he jumped towards Forster from the horseback.
He jumped over the spears that were blocking him.
Forster had just thrown down the chopped lance, and before he had time to draw out his sword, he saw Li Ang rushing towards him, and subconsciously turned the shield in his left hand sideways to block it.
But then he regretted it. A shield can block a sword or a gun, but it can block people...
As a result, Forster was grabbed by Li Ang and thrown off his horse.
"Boom..."
"Ah!"
Forster, who was wearing heavy Lion Knight armor, was thrown to the ground, making a dull sound and a shrill scream - he was beaten by Li Ang and used as a backing underneath.
"Don't move!"
The Lord Lord rode on Forster and shouted, the sword in his hand was already gesticulating on Forster's face.
Several elite cavalry who had just put away their guns and prepared to attack Li Ang also raised their guns and gestured at the lord's back.
But Li Ang got up without any scruples, dragged Forster up, and placed the long sword across the neck of the freshly minted hostage.
The spear tips of the cavalry kept moving with Li Ang's movements, but were then separated by the charging Wheat Fragrance Territory cavalry.
"Back off! Back off! Don't point your gun at me. My hands will shake when I'm afraid..."
The lord bared his teeth and shouted at the cavalrymen beside him. The sword on Forster's neck was indeed trembling slightly.
That's because of the pain - when I threw Forster to the ground, my elbow was scratched.
Forster fell to the ground wearing heavy armor and was shaken badly. He stumbled a little while walking, but he was still in good spirits.
"Li Ang! You will regret it!"
"Forster Your Excellency, if I were you, I wouldn't talk casually... Look, the sword is so close to your neck, didn't you realize that your neck guard has been cut off?"
The camp was only one mile away from Long River Town's city. Li Ang put away his sword, replaced it with a small knife in his hand and stabbed Forster's neck covertly.
Then he put his arms around Forster's shoulders, and walked toward Long River Town's city gate arm in arm like two good friends.
"Put away your weapons! Your Excellency Forster, ask your people to put away their weapons... If I guess correctly, the Long River Town garrison doesn't know what happened, right? I don't want the Long River Town garrison to have any misunderstandings!"
"Li Ang, I don't believe you dare to do anything to me, you will regret it!"
Forster said through gritted teeth, completely ignoring the lord's request, and was very sure that Li Ang did not dare to kill him.
Li Ang really doesn't dare to kill him now, but if he wants people to cooperate, he doesn't need to kill him.
The Lord just stamped him viciously and solved the problem.
Wearing steel boots and stamping on your feet is quite comfortable...
Forster is also wearing plate armor boots, but in this case the plate armor boots cannot protect him and will cause continuous damage - the steel plates of his plate armor boots were deformed by being stamped on!
Forster's handsome face was almost twisted into a twist shape, and he was so painful that he couldn't scream for a while. Li Ang happened to stomp on his toe!
"Forster, since I dare to arrest you, I will definitely torture you - you will take revenge on me anyway, right? If you don't want to lose arms and legs, then you'd better cooperate with me and see if we can solve the problem... Of course I don't want to kill you, but if you leave me with no choice, then you must die in front of me!"
After stamping his foot, Li Ang whispered into his ear, with a calm tone and a gentle attitude, as if he was chatting with a friend.
But Forster's hair stood on end. He could tell that the lord was not trying to scare him - he was a desperado, he could do it!
"Put away your weapons!"
After his whole body trembled for a while, Forster finally regained his composure and gave in.
Those who understand current affairs are heroes. Forster had few opportunities to be a hero before and had little experience, but now he has obviously learned how to be a hero without any teacher.
"That's right... where is Amy?"
"In the inner castle, Madam Bella."
"What order did you give Long River Town?"
Forster hesitated for a while and sighed, "I just asked the garrison to guard against heretics in the inner castle. I didn't mention anything else."
That's right, Forster still has a brain, and used the topic to plot to seize Wheat Fragrance Territory's property. Only his trusted cavalry knew about this, and it was to intimidate him.
But if the matter is made known to everyone, then once it fails, he himself will not be able to end it.
Li Ang nodded and took Forster towards Long River Town. More than twenty cavalrymen nervously surrounded them, while more than two hundred cavalrymen under Forster surrounded the outside.
It looked like Li Ang was supporting the injured Forster and replied to Long River Town.
Long River Town's garrison still surrounded the inner fort, with only a hundred soldiers on the watchtower and arrow tower near the city gate.
The garrison did not seem to know exactly what happened. The city gate defenders looked at Forster who returned, just bowed and stepped aside.
Li Ang looked around and instead of going to the inner castle, he took Forster directly to the administrative office.
There seemed to be quite a lot of garrison surrounding the inner fort, and Li Ang didn't want them to find out that he was holding Forster hostage, so as not to cause trouble.
After catching the person, temporary safety should be guaranteed, but how will it end?
No matter what the reason is for such a high-end declaration of war, such as kidnapping the heir of a duke, Alma will definitely not let it go - he has given him such a good handle, Li Ang does not believe that Alma will let him go.
"Your Excellency Forster, ordered all the garrison of Long River Town to return to the camp. He said that the heresy has been found out. It was a misunderstanding. Bring Amy here first!"
The lord stood next to the consul's chair in the administrative hall and ordered Forster to do things as if he were giving orders to his subordinates, "Let your two hundred cavalry camp alone outside the city, don't let them stay with the garrison!"
Forster sat in the consul's chair, gritted his teeth and obeyed, and orders were passed out one after another.
Forster is still very calm. The hostage's mood has been relatively stable, but he seems a little unwilling.
The garrison did not know the inside story. They only knew that a heretic had been discovered. Anything could happen when tracking down a heretic. There would be no problem in letting them withdraw their troops now.
The real trouble is Forster's two hundred cavalry. They know that Li Ang has hijacked Forster, and they also know that Forster intends to kill Godric in the name of heresy.
"Forster, why do you want to negotiate a deal with me in front of so many cavalry? Can you ensure that your cavalry will not talk nonsense?"
Thinking of this, Li Ang asked Forster.
"Their wives and children are all in my hands... No one will talk too much."
So that's it... using hostages to coerce the troops. No wonder Forster wasn't angry about being taken hostage. It turns out that he himself is good at kidnapping.
However, judging from his style, he probably mostly relies on coercion and inducement, otherwise he should have put the knife to Li Ang's neck from the beginning.
Since he likes to use coercion and inducement, it seems that the way to solve the problem is to treat the other person with the same kind of treatment?