It is really not easy to be a king. You will receive bad news every now and then, and you will encounter bad things anytime and anywhere.
Ulrich really needed to vent - but apart from slashing with his sword, he really had no way to calm down.
Perhaps, the blood shed by the innocent maid who was chopped down can temporarily extinguish the fire in Ulrich's heart.
But this time, the princess is not here, and no one can give him comfort.
So, this time Ulrich roared like a trapped beast in the Noble Council garden for a long time, and his roar could be heard throughout Noble Council.
No one dared to enter the garden anymore.
Except for Philina who came to Lion City after a long journey.
"Ulrich!"
Philina called the king's name directly and rushed into the Noble Council garden.
But after seeing the dead maid in the garden and Ulrich, whose eyes were as red as wild beasts, the question she originally prepared turned into a sad cry, "Are you... also crazy?"
"Sister... I understand my father now... Really, I understand him."
Ulrich was sitting on the ground at this time, wiping the blood on his hands with the hem of his exquisite brocade robe, and his tone was unexpectedly calm. "He is not crazy, he is just lonely... as lonely as me."
"Lonely? Then why did you declare Andrew and Amy to be heretics?! Why did you say Godric was rebellious?! They are all your relatives!"
Philina suddenly became furious. "Since you are lonely, you should cherish your relatives even more! You know clearly that they have been framed!!"
"Yeah... I know, I can even guess that this is something Brennus asked Lion Knight Order to do..."
Ulrich looked at Philina and showed a sad smile, "But, sister, what can I do? Can I ignore Lion Knight Order and all the nobles in the northern region? In that case, will Lion Knight Order still obey my command?"
"So what?! Even if Lion Knight Order is gone, Godric will still be loyal to the kingdom! Amy and Andrew will also be loyal to the kingdom! They can resist any strong enemy for you!"
Philina shouted angrily.
"Yes, they will be loyal to the kingdom... but they will not be loyal to me. Sister, your husband and children will only be loyal to you - they have killed too many Lion Knights and there is no turning back. Sister, they can only kill me now and then help you to Silver Throne..."
Ulrich looked at Philina intently and said softly, "Your father, my uncle, was the heir recognized by all the nobles back then... Sister, you could have become Queen! Andrew and Amy are also fully qualified to inherit the throne!"
Philina's face changed drastically. She took two steps back, as if she didn't recognize her brother at all, and looked at Ulrich carefully again.
"Ulrich... Your princess is pregnant, I know, and I can understand why you do this... But my family has no interest in the throne. I just hope that they all live well, that's all - you are also my family, and I hope you live well!"
Philina said it very seriously, it must come from the heart.
"I believe, of course I believe you, sister... You sent me to the throne back then, and of course you will not fight with me now. But, you also know, sister, this kind of thing is not something you can do without fighting - those nobles who follow Andrew, those who follow The knights of Godric, and those careerists hiding in the dark... they will all fight in your name! I didn't want to fight for that cold throne back then, but what happened? You know, you told me back then - I can only sit on Silver Throne, otherwise you and I will both die!"
Ulrich sat on the ground and spoke in a very light and calm tone, "Just like now... if I don't clear the way for my child to be born, then I'm sure he won't even be able to be born smoothly..."
"... I understand that you want the princess's child to be the sole heir. But why did you adopt Malbert as your adopted son before? You are asking for trouble!"
Philina looked at Ulrich with some hesitation.
"Sister, that was when I was undergoing treatment. I wasn't sure if I could cure it... I wanted Malbert to become my adopted son in the dark. I originally wanted to protect you and Andrew from being murdered..."
Ulrich shook his head. "But who knew that my illness was cured by the princess, and she became pregnant not long after!"
"In this case, you can now banish me, Amy and Andrew, and our whole family can leave this continent far away! You don't need to label Amy and Andrew as heretics!"
Philina was stunned for a while, and his tone became miserable.
"Sister... don't you understand yet? Only by making them heretics can we save their lives! Other crimes will not make them lose the legal right to inherit the throne..."
Ulrich sighed, "I have ordered Count Li Ang to attack them - I know Li Ang will definitely protect them. He looks so similar to Leonardo, and he was once with Godric and Amy have a close relationship. Of course I can guess whose child Li Ang is. You know, I admired Blood Lion Knight Leonardo back then..."
"...Ulrich, I can understand your thinking. But the problem is, you can't understand us, and you don't understand Count Li Ang..."
Philina also sighed deeply, "You have always admired Leonardo when you were a child, but you have forgotten what kind of person Blood Lion Knight is! How could his son sit back and watch his friends being framed as heretics? You will be in big trouble..."
"I have been facing all kinds of big troubles from beginning to end of my life..."
Ulrich stood up, hugged Philina, and rested his head on Philina's shoulder like he did when he was a child. "I'm sorry, sister. No matter what, I have to watch my child be born, and I have to keep Lion Knight Order to protect him when he grows up. I have to lock you in the Noble Council tower... but I promise, your husband and children will not die."
Philina reached out and pushed Ulrich away with a cold tone. "Maybe... But, Ulrich, my Crow's Perch Village, everyone was massacred! They have experienced Red Death, they have experienced war, experienced the ravages of heresy, and survived... But now, they did nothing, but they were massacred by your Lion Knight Order! Ulrich, you have children, and so do they!!"
Ulrich was stunned.
Philina turned back expressionlessly and walked towards the Noble Council tower. "Your loneliness is what you asked for! Your Lion Knight Order will also perish! I will watch all this from the Noble Council tower!"
After returning to the throne room, King Ulrich was no longer peaceful, and was full of rage.
His peace is only for relatives like Philina.
As Philina said, Ulrich is in big trouble.
The matter between Godric and Amy has not yet been resolved. Lion Knight Order was dragged to Vulpine Town and will not be able to come back for a while;
Malbert became rebellious again and defected to the Bacchus Empire, and even became the northern governor of the Bacchus Empire - Sava Fortress fell into the hands of the Bacchus Empire again, and the southern gate of the kingdom was opened.
Seven Forks Fortress hasn't had time to rebuild, and now there is only a large burnt wall left, unable to stop any enemies.
If Bacchus Empire launches an attack, Lion City will directly become a battlefield.
According to the military report that just came, a cavalry unit of Emperor Marius even walked around Seven Forks Fortress in a swaggering manner - this was definitely not to see Agason's achievements, but to show off their power and intimidate Lion City!
At this time, External Affairs Officer Sarah of Li Ang was formally meeting the king in the throne room.
This difficult woman asked a lot of difficult questions...
"Your Majesty, there is a change in Sava Fortress, and Bacchus Empire is watching with eager eyes. Lord Li Ang entrusts me to ask you for instructions - should the army in the eastern part of the kingdom immediately go to Vulpine Town to exterminate the heretics, or go to Sava Fortress to kill the traitors Malbert?"
"In addition, there is news from Brave Shield Fortress that something unusual has happened in the northeast of the kingdom, and Gatu people seems to be resurrected..."
"Dark Falcon Fortress has also received news that Raven Kingdom seems to be preparing to march to the northern part of the kingdom - they seem to have learned that Lord Godric's troops are not in Eagle Claw Fortress. The northern part of the kingdom is currently extremely empty..."
Sarah has been conveying the information very politely, but what he said made all the officials in the throne room break into cold sweats - these things sounded like the kingdom was in turmoil and was about to end.
"...Li Ang is the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Region, and all military affairs are decided by him himself!"
Ulrich really didn't know how to respond, so he had to grit his teeth and let Li Ang figure it out.
But he knew in his heart that the situation was not that serious.
Malbert rebelled, this may be true.
After all, Ulrich had just ordered Malbert to pay back the huge sum of money not long ago, and got back 700,000 dinars from Brennus and Malbert - the capital was returned with interest.
Malbert is indeed likely to resent this. In addition, after the princess became pregnant, he knew that he could not inherit the throne, so treason and surrender to the enemy was indeed possible.
But Bacchus Empire will not launch a large-scale attack in a short period of time, which Ulrich still knows.
"Your Majesty...Lord Li Ang hopes to get some clear instructions - is Duke Brennus currently trustworthy? Can Marshal Li Ang recruit Cliff Bay's troops to cooperate in combat?"
Sarah asked another question that was even harder to answer...
Say it's trustworthy?
Then Li Ang will definitely send a marshal's order to recruit Brennus's troops to attack Sava Fortress, or even directly ask Brennus to attack his son Malbert... It's reasonable to rebel.
Say you're not trustworthy?
That's it. If Grand Commander of the Lion Knight Order is not trustworthy, can other Lion Knight be trusted?
What do Lion Knight people think?
The whole Lion Knight Order might be gone...
"Ah... I have a headache... Let's discuss it another day! Let Li Ang leave quickly and deal with the heresy first before considering other issues!"
Ulrich simply claimed illness and ran away, but the historian in the throne room still faithfully recorded everything.
In fact, Li Ang's troops had already set off.
Moreover, the troops set out in multiple ways to different places.
At the same time that Sarah met Ulrich, Kloze had already rushed to the vicinity of Vulpine Town with Silver Hand.
Vulpine Town is actually worthy of its name, because there are indeed many foxes here.
But the reason why it got its name is not because of the fox, but because of the dense woods next to Vulpine Town and the roads in the woods.
This road connects Cliff Bay, Lion Lake City and Lion City. It is an important transportation thoroughfare and has a lot of business travelers passing by.
The three-way intersection leading to the three big cities is located in a dense forest. Even in the daytime, only human figures can be seen. There is no doubt that this is a good place to strike a sap and stage an ambush.
Therefore, there used to be a group of famous robbers here many years ago. They called themselves the "Sly Foxes" and their whereabouts were indeed mysterious. They had been committing crimes in this forest.
Since many business travelers have been robbed by them in the dense forests, a good habit has gradually formed in this area - before entering the woods, first form a group in a small village on the edge of the woods and wait until there are more people before setting off.
As a result, many taverns and hotels gradually appeared in the small village next to the woods, and it quickly developed into a large town.
The town was named Vulpine Town.
And when Vulpine Town developed, the robbers in the dense forest who called themselves "Sly Fox" disappeared...
Then some people realized that those former robbers might be the lords of that small village.
In order to make the village prosperous quickly, he led people to commit crimes in the woods, forcing passing business travelers to stay in the village...
This Vulpine Town has been full of intrigues since its birth.
And now, many strange figures appear again in the dense forest next to Vulpine Town.
Those are Fallen One, there are quite a few of them, they have been wandering in the woods.
Since Granlon said that his flag guard was ambushed by Fallen One in the woods, Kloze was very cautious and did not dare to enter the woods rashly.
In addition, we don't want to waste time, so Kloze plans to take a detour from the wild and go directly to Vulpine Town.
But what is unexpected is that even though Kloze took a detour from the south of the woods, it was still blocked...
Those Fallen One were like having their eyes opened, accurately judging the march route of Kloze, and appeared in the wilderness south of the woods, blocking the front of Silver Hand, and formed an array.
A dozen miles away behind the Fallen One array is Vulpine Town.
Detours from the wilderness are actually blocked, which makes Kloze a little confused - these Fallen One actually have the ability to execute tactics, and they are also very quiet!
Yes, this is a large group of silent monsters. They have no skin on their bodies, and their eyeballs and gums are exposed. The reddish-brown muscles are exposed, the blood on their bodies has probably coagulated, and occasionally white tendons can be seen.
They... or rather, they all held swords and shields in their hands, and the queue was even quite neat, and they did not attack randomly. They looked like a well-trained army.
Fortunately, the number was not too large, there were about three hundred Fallen One, and there was no one who looked like a leader - they were all skinless monsters with big red eyes, and they all looked the same.
The troops brought by Kloze totaled 1,300 people - including the 300-man "Silver Hand"; and the 1,000-man sergeant "Free Legion".
The number of enemies is only a fraction of his own, and they are blocked in front. They must be fought, and Kloze is not afraid of this kind of monster in the wilderness - he has seen it outside Long River Town. At that time, the Fallen One summoned by Three Prophets basically had no advantages except for their strength.
Although what we were facing now seemed a little different. The monsters lined up in an array and not moving seemed to be able to obey the command, but in any case, they were just a group of walking zombies that had lost their souls.
"Surround them!"
Kloze led the team and directly used the three-sided encirclement of the infantry that Meitengheim people is good at. This is a very effective attack method for the infantry in medium-scale operations, especially when the enemy has fewer people than itself.
But what is unexpected is that the well-equipped Silver Hand, led by a strong man like Kloze, suffered a big loss in the first wave of attacks!