In the summer afternoon, Imperial Port is extremely hot, and the chirping of cicadas everywhere makes people feel irritable.
There were no pedestrians on the street, and the sun in the southern harbor was extremely fierce. Except for the hard-working fishermen, no one would expose themselves directly to the sun.
The sea is calm, which is indeed a good time to go fishing, but this also means that there is no breeze here today, and even if you stay in the shade, you will feel hot, humid and boring.
Imperial Port in September may be the hottest place in the entire continent except the Dexia Desert.
In Kairos's house, everyone was too hot to wear clothes - such as the maids...
Well, they all had some cloth on their bodies, although this cloth didn't do anything.
There are many people in the courtyard today, probably because Wendy is not here.
But Alina is here, talking to Li Ang, but her face is not very good.
Li Ang was being wiped by several maids with his eyes full of fascination, while he was absent-mindedly talking to Alina.
The wounded could not take a bath, but they had to wipe away their sweat.
I just don't know why it takes so many people to wipe the sweat...
There was also a row of beautiful girls standing next to them, some holding basins, some holding towels, and many dancing - and it was probably a erotic dance, after all, normal dancing would not involve showing off one's breasts and ogling others...
There are a few guards standing outside the yard. They are actually old guys Kloze and Sammer.
In fact, all of these Meitengheim old guys are now officers - at least they are all Silver Hand squadron leaders.
As Li Ang's pro-military officers, these guys would be the target of everyone's fawning outside. Logically speaking, there is no need to stand guard in person under the scorching sun.
But they must 'set an example and not be afraid of the scorching heat' and 'go out in person to closely protect His Majesty Li Ang'...
This is of course not because they suddenly have noble moral character. In fact, they forcibly took this job from their brothers - they "felt grateful for the hardships of the brothers" and "very kindly" changed the order of the shift and gave a holiday to the guards who were originally responsible for standing guard.
The main reason why these guys suddenly became so kind is very simple. You can tell from the way they peeked in through the cracks in the door and the hollow wall...
"Oh... it's so big and white... ahem! The sun is so dazzling! I have to go on patrol..."
Kloze wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and stared at the maids in the courtyard through the hollow flower wall, preparing to go on 'patrol'.
When working as a guard, it is really important to find a good sight angle...
"Boss, don't you feel hot?"
Sammer, who had been sticking to the crack of the door to observe the movement carefully, fanned the wind with his helmet, his shiny bald head covered with glistening beads of sweat - at least there was shade under the porch of the courtyard, but Kloze's 'patrol'...
Kloze The bright helmet on his head reflected the venomous sunlight. Patrolling under the sun was basically the same as putting a frying pan on his head and waiting to be heated. Sammer felt that his captain's brain would be fried in a short time.
But... I guess you'll get used to it faster if you don't wear a helmet - these old Meitengheim guys collectively shaved their heads a few days ago because the weather was too hot, and now they are all bald men.
"Cough... hiss..."
Kloze turned a deaf ear and walked back and forth outside the flower wall step by step, chatting back from time to time, patrolling extremely seriously.
It's just that his eyes are always staring in the same direction... or in other words, the whole head seems to be fixed. No matter how he walks, his head always faces the same direction.
Sammer swallowed and decided that he could not let his leader suffer alone, so he put the helmet on his head and followed Kloze's footsteps.
"Your Majesty Li Ang! I have found all the most beautiful girls in Imperial Port... Don't be so dissatisfied!"
In the courtyard, Alina's voice gradually became louder and seemed a little angry.
"Then what are you doing loudly... I already said, I want to choose a concubine! To choose a concubine, understand? Then you must choose the best one from many beauties..."
Li Ang's volume also increased, and his tone became a little lewd. "Actually, you don't have to find so many girls, and you clearly know who I want... You are the most beautiful girl Bax..."
"Li Ang! Don't bully others too much!"
Alina seemed angry. "I didn't expect you to be such a person! Aren't you satisfied with wives like Amy and Wendy?!"
"Look at what you said... This kind of thing is about your own will and my willingness to do so. There is nothing to be content with... Alina, you made the request for an armistice yourself. I have to make a counter-offer after making an offer, right? You want me to withdraw my troops, and you want me to return Sava Fortress and Amera Fortress, but they don't want to give me any benefits. Who is dissatisfied? Although you and Wendy have a good relationship, you can't let me give you the land I have occupied just because of your relationship, right?!"
Li Ang also spoke louder and louder.
"Aren't you afraid that Wendy will break up with you once he finds out about your shameless request?!"
Alina angrily threw the cup in his hand.
"Wendy is Queen of Duchy of Noldo. She needs Amera Fortress, and she also needs me... Haha, otherwise, why do you think she would let me enjoy singing and dancing here?"
An evil smile appeared on Li Ang's face, "Alina, I can agree to your conditions, cease the war and return Sava Fortress and Amera Fortress. I can even return Wolwen and Calundru Castle to Bax, but you must also agree to my conditions..."
"Dream! I would rather fight you to the end!!"
Alina was completely angry, kicked over the table in front of Li Ang, turned around and left.
"Then you have to think clearly...Imperial Port's troops are all gone now. Your guards are probably no match for Silver Hand. And my large army is 'cooperating' with General Ivaylo is chasing the Snake Worship Cult army. You also know that once you enter the Noldo Forest, who can come out alive has to be decided by the Noldo Elvess..."
Li Ang didn't even look back and kept saying threatening words.
Alina stopped angrily, trembling all over, but probably couldn't suppress the anger in his heart, and stomped out of the courtyard.
Opening the door to the courtyard, I happened to see a few Meitengheim people peeping furtively outside. Alina kicked down the flowerpot in front of the door and left angrily.
"Hey... we actually had a quarrel?"
Sammer showed an incredulous expression and rubbed his elbow against Kloze: "Miss Alina would actually lose her temper with His Majesty?"
"Ahem, it's normal to quarrel... We didn't see or hear anything, do you understand?"
Kloze reluctantly looked away from the courtyard and glanced at Sammer.
Sammer was stunned when he saw Kloze's eyes, and then followed Kloze's eyes and looked over.
In the corner of the courtyard where Li Ang is, there are two maids who are not very eye-catching. They have been standing there without looking away, forming a sharp contrast with the other maids who are looking around and muttering to each other.
Sammer nodded towards Kloze and once again turned his attention to Li Ang... the girls beside him.
At night, in Alina's study, Alina was pacing back and forth anxiously.
Her study was always brightly lit all night long.
But this time, she didn't read a book or be alone. Instead, she discussed important matters with a few confidants.
"General Sura is arresting those people on Agason's list. It will take at least a month for Shadow Wolf Pack to come back..."
Brutus is reporting the situation with his head lowered, "Including Immortal Legion, almost all the elites of the empire and the combat-ready troops around Imperial Port have been taken away by General Ivaylo. There is currently no one else available. I only have two hundred guards in my hands now, and it is impossible to fight against Silver Hand of Li Ang."
"Li Ang and his Silver Hand have helped the empire, Radiant Cross Knights's people and most citizens will not be enemies of them... and we cannot harm Li Ang, if he dies in Imperial Port, I'm afraid none of the troops brought out by General Ivaylo will come back, and the empire will face the revenge of New Kingdom of Pendor when it is short of troops..."
Elina, who looks similar to Alina, also added the situation worriedly.
"Do I have to be coerced by him like this?! Cassian, is there anything you can do about your poisonous snake?"
Alina turned his attention to the other expressionless person.
This is Cassian, the leader of the secret espionage organization "Viper", the former subordinate of Justus, and now the subordinate of Alina.
"Li Ang knows us very well... It is difficult for us to sneak in. Even if we sneak in, there is nothing we can do. His Silver Hand protects him very closely. Those guys are not afraid of Snake Heart Stone. We have already tried it."
Cassian shook his head.
"Is there no one who can deal with him? I just need to make his injury worse! As long as we can wait until General Ivaylo brings the empire's army back, or wait until General Clerion brings the troops, he will stop trying to coerce us... We can coerce him instead!"
Alina gritted his teeth and looked at the henchmen in front of him.
"Maybe... there's someone who can do something..."
Cassian said hesitantly.
"Who?"
Alina stopped his feet and turned his head.
"... Sir Ares, your brother, he is at Imperial Port now."
Cassian looked at Alina and said slowly, "He came to see me this afternoon."
"Why is he at Imperial Port? Shouldn't he be at Ahuen?"
Alina frowned.
Ares is the biological brother of Alina, five years older than her.
Although Justus prefers his daughter Alina, the relationship between the brother and sister has always been good because they both have a common trouble - their father Justus.
However, Alina is worried about being forced to get married by his father, while Ares is just the opposite - Justus is not allowed to get married...
Previously in Dexia, Alina had participated in the bidding for Aishikeman in the name of Ares, but at that time Ares had no intention of bidding for Ruha.
Because Ares has a girl he likes.
But the problem is that the girl he likes is a slave.
That was an ordinary female slave that Ares bought home from Xingar when she was eighteen years old - the kind that was treated the same as animals and was publicly selected by everyone next door to the livestock market.
Justus is actually an enlightened person, but no matter how enlightened he is, he can't let his son marry a bought slave - he can stay with him, he can treat him as a foreign wife, he can do anything as long as he has no status, but no father can agree to their marriage!
But Ares is a sentimental person, and young people always have a bit of a rebellious mentality. The more Justus disagrees, the stronger his backlash becomes.
In the end, Ares simply used his identity as Imperial Knights as a guarantee to give the female slave the status of a free citizen, then gave up her position in the military and eloped with the female slave...
This was several years ago, when Justus had just perfected the intelligence organization "Viper".
Ares has been living in seclusion in Ahuen town near Erudition City, and only told Alina where he lives.
In fact, Justus also knew that his son was at Ahuen - he couldn't hide this from his spies.
But since they were forced to elope, and knowing that there was too much estrangement between them and their son, Justus did not step in to ask questions.
Later, people spread rumors that Justus prefers his daughter and doesn't care much about his useless son.
But in fact, Justus is just hiding Ares on purpose.
Ares is a graduate of Siyuan City Royal Academy. With the identity of Imperial Knights, he can be regarded as both civilized and military, but he has never had a clear ambition, that is, he has no ambitions and no goals in his heart.
It is normal for the eldest son of aristocratic families to not have a goal to strive for - because this is usually set by their parents when they are born.
Just like a young master like Ares, if Bacchus Empire hadn't had those big changes, then his life would have been doomed from the day he became Imperial Knights.
When he was in his twenties, he would serve in the military, accumulate merit through some non-dangerous tasks, and then transfer to a local place to accumulate experience in governance under the care of Justus;
At the age of thirty, he will become Erudition City consul or military chief;
When Justus retires at the age of forty, he will naturally become the governor of the empire and inherit Justus's reform philosophy - yes, even the governance philosophy will be determined, after all, he is the son of the initiator of the reform.
When everything in the future is laid out in front of you and the course of your life has been determined, it is normal to have no goals.
Just like Forster, he had no goals before he met Li Ang. On the contrary, it was after his father Duke Alma was assassinated by Milgan that Forster truly found his own path.
Ares eloped with the slave girl to live in seclusion, which was actually expressing his resistance in this way.
Justus is a smart man, and he can naturally understand Ares's rebellious mentality, so he pretends to prefer his daughter, seemingly ignoring his son, but in fact he has been letting his son be responsible for distributing intelligence and passing on news.
This job is just right for people like Ares who have no goals in life.
Moreover, the father and son have a working relationship, but they don't have to meet and quarrel. This kind of getting along is just right, which really eases the relationship between father and son.
Alina was able to obtain so much information because her brother Ares has been silently supporting her.
The brother and sister rarely meet each other, but their relationship has always been harmonious.
"Why did Ares come to you?"
Alina is a little confused now, she knows her brother too well.
In terms of martial arts, Ares can at most support three moves under Kloze; in terms of strategy... Come on, if Ares had a great strategy, then he wouldn't have eloped in the first place; plus he really has no ambitions and just wants to live a small life with that slave sister-in-law - what is he doing in Imperial Port?
"Master Ares came to see me this afternoon because he wanted to know what happened between you and His Majesty Li Ang..."
Cassian said a little awkwardly, "But I didn't know what happened at the time, so I didn't say anything... But now that I think about it, Mr. Ares seems to know what happened at Li Ang. In other words, he probably quietly placed people around Li Ang..."
"So, among the maids I sent to Li Ang, are there people from Ares?"
Alina frowned even deeper.
"It should be, and those are not our people... They are probably Lord Ares's own people."
Cassian nodded - this was the reason for his embarrassment. As a professional spy leader, his team had no way to deal with Li Ang, but Ares, an intelligence distribution officer who became a monk by the way, was able to place spies next to Li Ang...
"But those girls were originally going to be my maids..."
Alina sneered, "Ares, my brother... He came quietly Imperial Port, and quietly planted a spy beside me, but he didn't tell me anything..."