Post-Meeting Chaos

The nobles in the entire hall began to stir upon hearing this military news.

Grand Duke Mora's hysterical behavior also contributed to the chaotic atmosphere.

Speaker Lance kept banging his gavel until it broke, but he couldn't quiet the room down.

Count Lagos knew he had to get Grand Duke Mora to stop, otherwise the war enthusiasm he had painstakingly built up among the nobles would wane significantly.

He turned to Viscount Borey, signaling him to stop Grand Duke Mora immediately.

Viscount Borey quickly reacted, stepped forward and grabbed Grand Duke Mora's hand as he tried to draw his sword, then forcibly dragged the Grand Duke directly towards the corridor.

Once the Grand Duke was pulled away by Viscount Borey, the biggest source of noise in the hall also disappeared. Speaker Lance also got a new gavel, finally drawing the attention of the nobles in attendance back to the hall.

"The meeting has concluded. All participating nobles and representatives may now leave in an orderly manner."

The Count Lagos then stepped forward again.

"Please don't forget to send the special military funds to the Silver Maple City Finance Department before winter, and also send the annual pension for the Grand Duke this year."

Soon the nobles left the meeting hall. They had not yet had time to fully accept all the events that had occurred in the Noble Council, and many nobles formed small circles to exchange ideas.

Especially the Central nobles, most of them are banding together to complain. Many noble territories were already struggling to make ends meet and barely survived the last round of liquidation by selling off their assets.

Now the Grand Duke is levying special military expenses and demanding that they send troops, which will undoubtedly plunge them into a new financial crisis.

Taros Viscount Honeysuckle came to the Noble Council in person this time. As soon as he stepped out of the meeting room, he and several other nobles who also served in the Duchy's Direct Legion poured out their grievances to each other.

"I have brought all the outstanding young men from the direct line of the family to my command to join the army. All of us, including myself, have given most of our military pay to the family to pay off the debts of the territory."

Originally, after the autumn harvest this year, the high grain prices had just filled the hole, and we finally thought we could catch our breath.

Now the Grand Duke wants to levy special military expenses again, and I don't know what to do.

"Yes, my family is about the same!" A tall, thin nobleman nodded in agreement.

"You're making money by selling grain, but our territory only produces enough grain to eat. We can't possibly sell it for money. We can't let the serfs starve to death," a short, stout young man said with a resentful expression.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to sell the grain soon!" the tall, thin nobleman said with a wry smile to the short, stout young man.

"How so?" the short, stout young man asked curiously.

"You see, the Count Lagos will definitely send his merchant guild to buy from us again. What else can you sell if not serfs? If the serfs are gone, can't you sell grain?" the tall, thin man explained.

"You're absolutely right! This duchy has been ruined by these parasites. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have risked my life to save Jorah."

The tall, thin man quickly covered the fat man's mouth.

"Are you out of your mind? Even if you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about your family. What if the Imperial Guard hears that you still cherish the memory of traitors? What if the Grand Duke strips you of your title?"

"And they still expect me to work for the Silver Maple family? When we face the Northern Frontier Allied Army, I'll be doing them a favor by shooting those two arrows into the sky!"

"Forget about this, let's go for a drink!"

"Alright, let's go for a drink! Taros, you come too!"

Taros shook his head. "I won't go. I need to get back to Blackwater City as soon as possible. White Earth City has fallen, and our legion might have to take over. The military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed."

"You're such a spoilsport, go away!" the fat man snorted in dissatisfaction.

The tall, thin man grabbed him, stopping him from continuing.

Once Taros was out of sight, he whispered to his fat man, "He doesn't have the money to drink. You don't know, the Honeysuckle family has already sold off almost all the serfs, and even their private army has been brought into the Third Legion."

The fat man was very surprised after hearing this, "Then what should we do this time? Doesn't that mean the Honeysuckle family won't have any money to pay the special military expenses?!"

"What are you thinking! They're different from us. We're not related, but they have a wealthy relative."

"You mean Count Sibeth?"

"That's right. As long as Taros softens his stance and turns the Honeysuckle family into a branch of the Honeysuckle family, this amount of money is nothing to Count Sibeth!"

"Great, you can get money just by groveling. Why don't I have such good relatives? I'm so envious."

"At worst, we can borrow money from the moneylenders under the Count Lagos. Once we wipe out the Northern Frontier nobles, as the direct legion, we'll definitely be the first to claim the spoils, and then we'll have the money to pay back."

"Yes, that's exactly it. Let's go for a drink."

"Let's drink! Let's drink!"

The two walked away arm in arm.

Taros stood behind the wall with a bitter smile on his face. He muttered to himself, "Give in? If giving in was an option, the Honeysuckle family might have given in long ago!"

Taros remained silent for a long time, then suddenly looked up and continued walking out. His heavy expression and clenched fists gave the impression that he had made a difficult decision.

In another room of the House of Noble Council, Count Lloyd sat in the middle of the room, with Baron Bolton standing in front of him.

"Uncle, stop arguing. The Grand Duke has already agreed that as long as you change the heir to the Count's title to me, he will not pursue the Iron Vine Family any further."