Twilight War

04

The Garter Guards lined up solemnly on the square steps in front of the Red Hall. The red military uniforms were neatly ironed, with a silver rose emblem pinned to the chest, and the silk ribbon wrapped around the stem of the rose was embroidered with gold thread—shame on those with evil thoughts.

Huangxuan Jin stood at the gate of the king's palace, acting like the other members of the guard group as an extraordinary... guard in noble military uniforms and well-equipped equipment.

The Guardian Guards Group is commonly known as the Guardian Male Model Group, and most of the time it is just a display function.

This guard group was formed by Isabel a year and a half ago, and it belongs directly to the royal family, that is, Her Majesty the Queen.

When selecting members of the Guards, all people must be seen by the queen in person, and the decision is made by the queen alone, and no one else is allowed to interfere.

When forming the Guards, all officials smelled politics.

Some people say that the Queen is choosing the future confidants of this country, or her cronies, and being able to become a member of the Guards means being able to get the Queen's favor.On the other hand, some people say that this is taking the son of an important official as a hostage in their hands.

Among the first group of guards, there were sons of the queen's confidantes and sons of the queen's hostile families. All of them couldn't figure out the queen's true thoughts.

This 14-year-old girl who was enthroned as the queen is by no means an innocent girl. She succeeded in seizing the power and assistant minister just after succeeding to the throne. Every step on the throne is blood.

If it weren't for the cardinal keeping the queen in check, I'm afraid that this girl would become the most powerful and frightening existence in the empire.

Perhaps she will become a more bloodthirsty tyrant than her ancestors.

So some people cut their heads and wanted to send their sons to the guards, but some avoided it for fear of being chosen by the queen.

The roses of the royal family of the Vana Empire have always been stained red with blood. What this empire lacks most is power and conspiracy.In such an empire, one wrong step is death.

And Huangxuanjin knew that the only criteria for the Guards Corps were appearance and figure.

What kind of net worth and political inclinations are just a cover to cover up the real purpose, and those don't matter at all.

Isabelle just thought that the scene of a group of handsome, male model-shaped knights in red uniforms standing behind her and then drawing their swords and shouting "God Save the Queen" was quite cool.As long as he looks good, even the height can be relaxed, just like Yilier, who is only 1.7 meters [-], but he is cute, with a pair of deer eyes blinking, Isabel, who was the presiding judge, took the case and kept him.

The next day, rumors spread throughout Vana that the family of Alchemist Duke Flamel, who had always been neutral, had surrendered to Isabel.

In order to express his loyalty to the Queen, the other Marquess of Somerset must send his son to the Guards. The Queen readily agreed at first, but the next day, when he saw the Earl's son who was less than 1.6 meters tall, he wanted to let Somerset The Marquis surrenders to her enemy the Cardinal.

Then the next day, he instructed Huangxuanjin to find a fault and started sex with the earl's son, who beat him so hard that he couldn't get out of bed for three months. It is said that the other party had a huge psychological shadow on Huangxuanjin, and he vowed that he would never join him again in his lifetime. guard regiment.

Huang Xuanjin has always felt that Isabel should be very talented in being a bustard, and if there is a chance, she must let her meet the black widow.After all, every time he went to Paradise Lost and saw the row of handsome male waiters smiling cutely behind the black widow, he would think of the row of handsome boys and buddies of the guards behind Isabel.

Dozens of heavy-duty steam cars parked under the stairs of the Palace of the Holy Rosary. This time, it should be the Knights Templar directly under His Royal Highness Vichypel who was responsible for escorting Arthur's special envoy.

Unlike the Guards of the Garter, which has always been used as an ornamental, the Knights Templar are soldiers who are truly selected from the flames of war. In the selection, regardless of their wealth, whether they are the children of blue-blooded nobles with different political opinions or those who came up from the military A poor soldier, as long as he can pass the trial, he can join the Templars.

There are only a hundred Templars, but every Templar is a blade that can penetrate the heart of the enemy, fearing life and death, and regardless of reputation.

The Templar knight wearing the Mithril Sacred Tree badge on his chest opened the door of the heavy steam car. Huang Xuanjin glanced at it, and it was Weir and Tang De.The second of Arthur's ten generals, both of them were from aristocratic backgrounds, but they both gave up the convenience that the family could give, and chose to fight their own way from the military.

Tang De and Weier walked up the steps, and Huang Xuanjin followed the crowd to perform Vaner's court ceremony.Weier couldn't help snorting disdainfully as he passed by Huangxuan Jin, and Tang De just patted Weier's shoulder lightly.

A silver steam car drove over in the distance. The silver steam car had rare sharp lines, simple and almost without any decoration, and cut through like a blade.

Before the Templars passed by, the car door opened by itself.

It's Vichypel.

Huang Xuanjin suddenly felt his heart tighten as if in pain.

A man in a silver-white military uniform walked up the steps. Tang De smiled and asked him why he came so late, but Wischpel just nodded without answering.

After everyone in Arthur walked into the Holy Rose Palace, Huang Xuanjin felt as if he had been emptied.He suddenly felt that everything yesterday should be an illusion, and he should still not wake up now.

Huang Xuanjin unbuttoned his military uniform, turned his head and said to Mendun, "It should be fine, I want to go back."

As soon as he walked down the steps, he was immediately stopped by Yilier, "No, there are other things."

05

When being forced to be a guard, Huang Xuanjin endured it.When being forced to salute, Huang Xuanjin also endured it.

But when Yilier handed over a teapot, Huang Xuanjin was completely stunned, "As Vana's bodyguard? Do you even have to do things like serving tea and pouring water?!"

Yilier nodded, "As a nobleman, you have to take care of the royal family's food, clothing, housing and transportation. The queen's meal needs to be served by the nobleman, and even the queen's morning washing and changing clothes must be accompanied by the nobleman."

"I can take on the latter item." Huang Xuanjin nodded seriously.

Huangxuan Jin was finally pushed into the Red Hall with the teapot in hand. The entire Red Hall was divided into two parts along the central axis, with people from the Vana Empire on the left and people from the Arthur Empire on the right.

In the center is a beautifully carved rose emblem inlaid with blood and red stones in platinum, and all the seats are maned in red, which is also the source of the name "Red Hall".

Isabel, who was sitting at the head of Varner, had her beautiful and delicate face tight, and her long smoke-gray hair was like a cloud of mist.

Isabel is wearing a red aristocratic men's clothing today, with a rose brooch inlaid with rubies pinned to the neckline, knee-length shorts and leather boots, she looks quite handsome.

Cardinal Gregory was sitting next to Isabel, with a bishop's big jewel ring on his thumb.

After the previous auxiliary minister was seized |power, the cardinal still held the government in the name of the queen as a child.

Now the entire court in Vana is guessing whether the Queen or the Cardinal Church will be the final winner.

Huangxuanjin was holding the teapot in a daze, Yilier quickly came over with the teapot, and whispered to Huangxuanjin in an unobtrusive voice: "You are in charge of the Arthur Empire." Huangxuanjin lit nod.

Wischpel was still looking down at the document carefully, the platinum-tipped pen marked the places that needed attention on the document, and his silver eyelashes drooped.

Tang De stretched his waist and raised his eyebrows in a good mood as he watched the members of the guard regiment filing in from the entrance of the Red Hall.

"Look, let alone the combat effectiveness of the Guardian Guards, each one is better than the other. That Yilier is said to be the son of the Alchemy Duke Yilier's family. Although he is... not very tall, he has a pretty face." Tang De tilted his body and said to Wichpel, "Hey, I haven't seen you for a few years, but Huangxuan Jin looks pretty good. Look at this waist, these legs, tsk tsk."

Wisipel was still just drawing the key points on the document with his head down. Tang De leaned over to take a look, "Your Highness, your drawing is shaking, so you can read it if you want."

Seeing that Wichpel didn't respond, Tang De turned his head, put his arm on Wischpel's shoulder and said, "Really, don't you think that Huang Xuanjin just doesn't talk like that and doesn't show any expression? Such a cold and beautiful feeling, those eyes, absolutely."

Tang De was not discouraged when he saw that Wischpel didn't respond, and he continued to babble, "Hey, Huangxuan Jin is here, maybe he is responsible for pouring tea for us."

In addition to Tang De and Weir, Arthur also came with several people from the Senate of the Political Department. Arthur's national system is divided into the Political Department and the Military Department. The Political Department has always been controlled by hereditary blue blood nobles, while the Military Department is based on merit Rewards are the only feasible competition channel for children from poor families.

And Arthur's consuls have always been elected by the Ministry of Political Affairs, and the elected people are also blue-blooded nobles of the Senate of the Ministry of Political Affairs. Wisipel is the only consul who has been promoted from the Military Ministry, because there is no family member. Background, also known as a person without a surname by the blue-blooded nobles in the Ministry of Political Affairs.

Huangxuanjin didn't think much, and directly poured black tea for a political nobleman at the end of the table. After pouring, Huangxuanjin looked up and saw Mendun who was angry and wanted to strangle Huangxuanjin to death. Seeing that he was pouring tea for the cardinal, Yilier realized that he should start pouring tea from the chief.

However, I felt that it was not good to go directly to Vichypel so directly, so Huang Xuanjin had no choice but to continue to bow his head and start to fall from the end of the table.

Tang De looked at Huangxuanjin and sighed, then turned his head and said to Wisipel: "What did you do yesterday to scare Huangxuanjin into such a state. You see, I dare not even come over to pour tea. But it doesn't matter Wait a minute, I'm coming anyway. Seeing Huangxuan Jin dare not come over, he has to come over a little bit, doesn't it feel like a hunter watching a little white rabbit jumping over step by step?"

When Huangxuanjin was about to pour tea to a young man from the Political Council with a golden branch flower embroidered on his cuffs, the young man suddenly and slowly covered his cup, without looking at Huangxuanjin, he lowered his head and said, "I, Zebe People from the A family will not drink the tea served by the traitor." After speaking, he raised his eyes and glanced at Huangxuan Jin.His volume was neither too heavy nor too soft, just enough for everyone in the hall to hear. After hearing this, the cardinal raised his eyes to look at Huangxuan Jin and sneered.

Huangxuan Jin just nodded, lifted the teapot, walked to Weier's side, and began to pour tea for Weier.

Weier didn't say anything today, but his face was ashen, as if he had made up his mind that he would not even take a sip of the tea poured by Huangxuan Jin.

When he arrived at Tang De's place, Tang De leaned on the back chair in a good mood, watching Huang Xuan Jin slowly pour the red tea liquid into the bone china cup with rococo snow blue patterns.

Wischpel was still correcting the document without looking up.

Huang Xuanjin poured the tea, as if he was a little dazed, and poured it slowly.

Tang De smiled, "You can pour more slowly, some people wish you could stay here longer."

Huang Xuanjin just raised his eyes without answering, and put the poured tea in front of Tang De.

Visipel next to him quietly moved his empty teacup to the place for Huangxuan Jin to pour tea.

Tang De picked up the black tea and smelled it, "What tea is so fragrant?"

Huangxuan Jin really didn't know what kind of tea it was, so he raised his eyes and looked at Yilier, Yilier just finished pouring out the tea at Vaner's side, and hurried over, smiled and said: "General Tang De, this It is Earl Gray black tea, made with Dianhong from Donghuang as the base tea and smoked with bergamot."

Yilier saw that the tea in front of Vichypel hadn't been poured yet, so he poured it for him, and then put the black tea in front of Vichypel, "Your Highness, take it slowly."

Tang De looked at the black tea poured in front of Vichypel, chuckled lightly, shook his head, held the black tea in his hand, and said, "It really is good tea."

Huangxuan Jin saw that he had nothing to do here, put down the teapot and went out, and stood guard at the entrance of the Red Hall with the rest of the guards.

Tang De put down the tea in his hand, with a treacherous smile on the corner of his mouth, "What do you think of my cup of tea, Your Highness?"

"I always feel that this cup seems to be more fragrant, Your Highness, do you plan to change it?"

Yilier, who was about to put down the teapot, heard Tang De's words and quickly explained: "General Tang De, the two cups of tea are absolutely the same! Both are smoked with top-quality bergamot, and pine needles are also added."

Tang De: "..." Varna still has such a simple boy.

After Yilier left, Tang De continued his coaxing, "As for me, I don't have any conditions, that is, can you help me with today's documents. After all, I still want to spend some time with Will in Corinth of."

"Your files are handled by yourself," Wischpel said.

"Don't be so ruthless. After all, you are alone at night. If you deal with more files and go to bed later, you will save yourself from long nights and sleepless nights. I am thinking of you." Tang De raised his eyebrows.

Seeing that Vichypel really didn't respond, Tang De also sighed, picked up the black tea and shook it, and saw that the reddish and clear black tea looked like flowing amber in the bone china cup, "I suddenly felt that there was something in this cup of tea. The aroma of peach blossoms."

The pen that Wischpel was correcting the document suddenly froze on the paper.Tang De looked at the black tea in his hand with the corner of his mouth raised.

"make a deal."

Tang De quickly changed the position of the two cups of black tea, "I'll give you the file later!"

Wisper ignored Tang De and continued flipping through the documents. After a long time, he raised his head and glanced at the amber-like black tea in the snow-blue bone china cup.

It seems that I can still see the eyes reflected in the black tea just now.

Hanging down, like scattered peach blossoms.

05

The guards guarded the outside of the red hall, and Huang Xuanjin looked up at the intersecting cross arches in the corridor.

After looking at it for a while, Huangxuan Jin remembered that he hadn't had lunch yet, and it seemed that the meeting inside would go on for a long time, so he quietly said to Yilier next to him, "I'm going to the kitchen to find something to eat."

Just when he was about to slip away, he was stopped by Mendun, and the team leader looked at Huangxuan Jin with a gloomy expression.Yilier hurriedly said, "Bring me a copy too."

Huang Xuanjin looked at the leader, who gritted his teeth and said, "Go and come back quickly."

Inside the Red Room.

Varner and Arthur were deadlocked across the red-painted cypress table, and everyone looked cautious and suspicious of each other. After all, this was the first time in decades that the rulers of the two countries had talks openly.

Vanner's previous monarch "Mad Louis" once had a serious conflict with Arthur because of the high river area rich in silver from the abyss, and announced that Vanner would never engage in political cooperation with Arthur.

And two years after the queen ascended the throne, there was a month-long second twilight battle between Vana Arthur and Donghuang, with hundreds of thousands of casualties. Only senior generals had access to specific information about the battle.Most of Vanner and Arthur's fighters had to sign a non-disclosure agreement after the war.

It is said that Huangxuan Jin, who was originally from Donghuang, defected to Vana after this war, betrayed his clan, and betrayed his country.

"What does Her Majesty mean to take back the High River region?" Tang De looked at Vanner's revised agreement, then raised his eyes to look at Isabel, "Looking at it this way, it seems that Arthur is making concessions in the entire agreement. "

"The silver output of the Great Abyss in the High River region accounts for 20.00% of Arthur's three, supplying most of the machinery factories in the south every year. Arthur will not just give up the High River region. Also, no longer interfere with Vana and Donghuang If I remember correctly, Her Majesty the Queen has been interfering in the trade between Arthur and Donghuang."

"We can discuss the matter of Gao He in detail." Cardinal Gregory stroked the bishop's ring on his thumb with his index finger.

"It's not negotiable." Elizabeth said suddenly, her voice was soft and immature like a girl, but she had a feeling like a she-wolf.

02

The yellowish sunlight in the afternoon casts on the ground through the scattered and narrow windows on the promenade of the Palace of the Holy Rosary.

The floor of the Palace of the Holy Rose was very smooth. Huang Xuanjin ran a couple of steps and slipped in the deserted corridor, wearing only a white shirt and holding bread wrapped in a red military uniform in his arms.

There is no one in the entire corridor. It is said that during the reign of the last monarch, Louis XIII, there were as many as a thousand servants in the entire palace. In order to meet the various absurd and unreasonable needs of Louis XIII, the maids and waiters kept trotting back and forth. In the palace of the Holy Rosary King.

And since Isabel became the master here, most of the people have been dismissed, leaving only a few people to ensure the normal operation of various parts of the palace.

The central hall of the Palace of the Holy Rose King was empty and silent, and all the lights in the central hall were extinguished.

Due to the large area of ​​the central hall, it is difficult for sunlight to illuminate the entire central hall. During Alfonso’s period, all the lights in the central hall would be lit even in the daytime. According to a maid in Alfonso’s period, among them When all the lamps in the hall are lit, the whole hall is resplendent like the residence of the gods.

And the top of the middle hall hangs a sophisticated mechanical device. It is said that the melancholy monarch Capet I liked to eat alone in the atrium of the Rose Palace, and he didn't like to see the servants coming and going while dining. So a lifting device was installed on the top of the atrium.

The servants placed the tableware and food on the table upstairs, then slowly hung it down and placed it in front of Capet.

When Capet was eating, there was a huge transparent window in front of him.

When the transparent glass technology from the south was introduced to Vana, Capet ordered that all the walls in front of the central hall of King Sheng Rose be demolished and replaced with transparent glass to replace the narrow rectangular windows that had been used 700 years ago.

The entire window is five meters high and seven meters wide, and is only divided by black iron window frames.

However, due to technical limitations at the time, the entire glass still contained a little red impurity, so whenever sunlight penetrated, there was a faint light red color in the palace.

Huang Xuanjin leaned against the black iron railing in front of the huge window, took out a piece of bread from his red military uniform and took a bite.

In front of the central hall is the magnificent Guerveger Square. The whole square is covered with ivory white bricks. In the early morning, the shadow of the statue of Guerweger Goddess at the top of the Royal Palace will be projected on the square. They say it is a goddess. soul.

And Huangxuanjin's favorite is the Gourville Square at night, probably because of the white bricks on the square. When the moonlight is good, all the moonlight shines on the Gourville Square, as if floating.

Through the huge window in the atrium, you can even see the dust floating in the moonlight.

It is said that Capet I would walk around the silent palace in a large white pajamas at night, holding a white candle lamp in his hand.

This fragile and sensitive monarch often couldn't sleep at night because of his early experiences. When a servant found him again, he had already jumped over the black iron railing in front of the window, trying to open the window, and reciting verses from "The Ember Collection"— —

"I'm going back, back to the place I first came from. I don't remember the way back, but I know... my soul still remembers."

Since then, all the windows in the atrium have been sealed.

Huang Xuanjin thought while chewing the bread, Capet should at least say something when the window was sealed, for example——you imprisoned the moonlight!Such melancholy and nervous words.

And he remembered that when he stayed in the Donghuang Temple, there was a large open space in front of the temple, but it was paved with old gray bricks.

Every time in the early hours of the morning, I only heard the uncle ringing the bell and shouting——Hong Zhong knocked for the first time, and Baoyu chanted loudly.He had to get up immediately, and then started running around the open space in front of the temple with his brothers.

The gray bricks on the open space in front of the temple are either missing corners or are broken. He would fall if he was not careful while running, but the abbot would just smile and say: "This is the emperor's ancestor Cangwu Emperor 800 years ago." I personally ordered it to be built."

And his brothers would laugh and rub the top of his head that had been shaved over and over again.

Later, when he was 13 years old, he read a lot of the rivers and lakes in the scriptures. He took the script and asked his seniors if the rivers and lakes were big. One of the seniors told him that it was very big, bigger than the open space in front of the temple.

He suddenly felt that he missed the open space in front of the temple, Jiangnan, and Donghuang.

He still remembered the way back... just couldn't go back.

It was getting late, and everyone in the red hall was still at a stalemate. Half of Isabel's face was hidden in the gray darkness, and she couldn't see clearly.

Whether it is Gao He or any issue in the negotiation book is not a small matter, any detail may affect the pulse of the two empires.

And the darkness gradually engulfed the empty central hall, leaving only the light shining through the huge window.The setting sun burned in the mist in the distant streets of Corinth.

The boy leaning on the black iron railing was shrouded in endless dusk, and the approaching daylight behind him dragged out a huge shadow, which merged with the heavy darkness in the empty hall, like a lurking ferocious monster.

And in such an evening, the boy lowered his head and took a bite of the bread.