Public trial?You deserve it too!

Bang!

Gutenberg violently overturned the table, then grabbed the chair he was sitting on, and slammed it down.

One, two, three...

The man didn't stop his movements until there was only a small stick left in his hand, and until his face was scratched by the splattered skin.

He was panting heavily, his eyes were red, he was not a knight, his childhood training had long been forgotten by years of business dealings, just a burst of strenuous exercise, and he was a little tired.

The wooden stick slipped from his hand, Gutenberg stumbled back a few steps, leaned his back on a support column, and slowly sat down on the ground,

He looked at the messy basement, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"It's over... it's over..."

He muttered to himself.

The matter couldn't be clearer. He has let the [Bar Chamber of Commerce is smuggling with the Chamber of Commerce] spread to almost every corner of the imperial capital. Even Gustav can rely on "heard rumors" to come to the door to confront him. The person he has been waiting for has never come to the door——

——The Imperial Intelligence Bureau has not made any response to this matter so far.

There are only two situations. One is that the eldest prince Augustus has already overshadowed the sky in the imperial capital, and even the Imperial Intelligence Bureau cannot get a single bit of news from his subordinates. If this is true, Gutenberg will put this basement Swallow everything in it raw.

As for another situation...

Gutenberg was too lazy to think about it.

"I didn't expect it... the rainy day plan left by my father was actually used, allowing Gustav to take refuge in His Royal Highness Ludwig before the matter became clear, at least he could keep the lintel of the Barr family from being destroyed. Let it be dusty..."

The man closed his eyes and raised his head slightly. He wanted to rest for a while, and even not waking up from sleep was a good choice, wasn't it?

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"Huo, he is actually a guy who doesn't put all his eggs in one basket. He uses the ostensible dispute between his sons to attract attention. In fact, the two share different parts and each grow stronger—no matter who wins in the future, find This opportunity allows two brothers who seem to have been separated to reunite into one, and instantly become a big family that has achieved success in both the military and business, especially if it does not involve politics, it is not a taboo."

Claude nodded approvingly.

[So, this guy is actually not bad? 】

"It looks okay now, but obviously the other party is a man who values ​​his family. If that's the case, then he's not worth much. After all, his loyalty is to his family, so it's hard for me to make good use of it."

【so? 】

"So I'm going to test it myself, at least to be able to ask clearly why the other party deliberately let Augustus fall into today's situation."

Claude took a deep breath, and pulled down his hood to completely cover his face.

"Now, how does it sound?"

The heavy bass sounded somewhat indistinctly.

[I can't hear the original sensuality at all, I didn't expect you to learn ventriloquism so well? 】

"There must always be a skill that can be used. After all, I can't be asked to show my talent. I'll just say 'you find a rival at work, and within three months I will make him disappear in your world. Li' this kind of life, right?"

Claude lightly picked up his crutches and walked towards the passage in the basement.

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Da da da.

The sound of footsteps awakened Gutenberg, and he struggled to open his eyes, trying to see who came down, because he had said that no one else was allowed to come in.

Gutenberg didn't want to reprimand, after all, he had already decided to show off, he just wanted to see which guy wanted to bear the anger caused by his depression.

"Mr. Gutenberg Barr, hello."

The man frowned. The man in front of him was completely covered in robes, and he couldn't even see his face. Only his voice could barely be heard as a man, but the words spoken in his thick voice were somewhat vague.

"...I remember that the Baal Chamber of Commerce strictly abides by the labor laws of the empire. Even I will not continue to work overtime after get off work. If you want to place an order or sell something, you might as well come back tomorrow."

"Really? But I think you should really want to see me—after all, you're making such a big show of 'secret smuggling', don't you just want us to question you, and by the way, look into the depths of Aogu Is His Highness Situ's relationship with the Merchant Alliance?"

Gutenberg got up from the ground in a blink of an eye, and looked at the other party in shock.

"You, you, you... are you...?!"

"Let me introduce myself, I am from the Imperial Intelligence Agency."

The man bowed slightly, but he didn't intend to take off his hat to reveal his face.

A trace of anxiety rose in Gutenberg's heart, because the timing of the other party's arrival was really too coincidental.

If the other party came earlier, he could just open it up and let the other party investigate and the matter would be over. Anyway, he would not die in the end, and at worst, he would put a quilt under the bridge hole. Anyway, relying on his brother, he would never starve to death.

If the other party comes later, then he will just open it up and wait for the result of the disposal. Anyway, his brother should be with His Royal Highness Ludwig at that time, and he can have a meal alive, and he can also die There is a whole corpse, anyway, that's all there is to it, and it's over.

But at this time, Gustav had just come to find him, and after he hinted that the other party could seek refuge with His Royal Highness Ludwig, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau just decided to meet him at this point... What is his intention?

"Don't worry, Mister Gutenberg, I'm just here to ask you a question—why, you do this kind of thing?"

"You, what are you talking about? What's the matter?"

The man wiped his face nervously, breathing heavily again.

"Don't be sloppy with me, sir, my time is precious, so I hope you can answer me very directly - why did you deliberately reveal that His Royal Highness Augustus is doing business with the Merchant Alliance?"

Gutenberg's fingers were convulsed. He wanted to make a fist to cheer him up, but he couldn't do it at all. The heavy aura of the other party showed that he was definitely a powerful knight. If he couldn't give an answer, what was waiting for him would be What, already self-evident.

"I... I am... for the empire!"

The person under the robe seemed a little surprised by the answer, but he didn't interrupt Gutenberg and let him continue.

"Last year, just after the rebellion in the province of Provence ended, His Royal Highness Augustus ordered me to meet with him. He gave me a mission - to go north to the trading city of Lübeck, and to do business with the Chamber of Commerce there. A deal, he said he's got it all sorted out and I just need to hand it over."

Gutenberg tried to keep his voice calm and smooth.

"But I know that's a lie. Almost all of His Highness's income will come from me. The expenditure and income of the entire force may not be as much as I know about His Excellency Leicht - Your Highness did not have such an expenditure before. Moreover, in order to open up trade with the Merchant Alliance, it is obvious that I, the merchant, should come forward to make it more logical, and it is impossible for His Highness the First Prince to ask for some shares in person."

"From then on, I knew that the trade between His Highness and the Merchant Alliance is absolutely shameful!"

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Learn from Me: Chapter 177 Chapter 160 [-] The Abandoned Piece

"This kind of behavior of His Highness Augustus may have extremely terrible consequences for the empire - I am not one of those big nobles, as long as I can make money, I can do anything, I can't bear to know these things but still do nothing Do it, it's an act of treason!"

The man under the robe nodded slightly, signaling Gutenberg to continue.

"It's impossible for me to tell others about this kind of thing, otherwise, before the news gets out, I must be dead without a burial place, and my father and family may even be involved--so I decided to make such a statement Things, from my series of abnormal actions, I hope to attract the attention of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau... But I didn't expect that you would come to me until now..."

Gutenberg smiled wryly and looked at the other party.

"From the beginning to the end, I never wanted to harm the motherland. I cannot question or resist His Highness's actions, so I can only take such actions."

"I see."

Claude nodded regretfully.

'Unfortunately, this person is no longer available. '

【why? 】

'He is very loyal to the empire, but his family and family have restricted his behavior. All his actions must first consider whether his brother and father will be involved, whether it will cause trouble to his family, and then treat him The loyalty of the empire, and the realization of one's own value. '

[...But shouldn't you be able to use it too? 】

'Disposables are not the same as sustainable use, he will never reach Gorman's level, and his loyalty to me will be even more different-just let me squeeze it once All his surplus value, as for the other profits... Didn't he just send his beloved brother to me? '

He looked at Gutenberg, who was full of struggle and apprehension, and started his performance.

"So, you did all this to show the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, let us do the hand that lifted the cover, while you stood proudly on the shore, watching us and His Royal Highness bite each other?"

"——No such thing!!!"

Gutenberg almost jumped up, his face full of panic and fear.

"But it sounds like this from what you said. You don't have the guts to tell the truth. Even if Augustus made a move that was almost equivalent to treason, you still chose to be his minion and executed him tremblingly. Every order from you." Claude sneered, "Your only resistance is to make your behavior less secret, so that we can find out, but never mention that you can do better, Isn't it?"

"I, I... I don't have such an idea!" Gutenberg explained in a panic, "It's just that this matter is too involved, it involves a crown prince, and I'm just a preliminary guess, more in-depth information I don’t have any evidence or evidence at all, I can’t solve the mystery, so I can only do this.”

"Really?"

"Yes, although I seem to be the head of a large chamber of commerce now, but in the eyes of those people, I am just an ordinary businessman. If I hadn't been able to get enough money for His Highness Augustus, there would be no I can't get into his eyes, and even now I can't participate in some middle-level decision-making, His Highness will only think of me when he is short of money."

Gutenberg tells of his current situation.

"So behind you, it's not a prince's instigation, let alone a spy from the Merchant Alliance or Theocracy, it's all because you want to do it yourself?"

"How could I be a spy! I really only wanted to ask you for help in this way because I am weak in speech and weak in strength."

Gutenberg was taken aback by the other party's words.

"I see...it seems that you really don't know anything."

The robed man gave another low laugh.

"Know, know what?"

The man was a little dazed.

"Your actions have actually sentenced His Royal Highness Augustus to death. He can no longer take a single step towards that chair."

"what!"

Gutenberg really jumped this time.

"We have been paying attention to this matter since last year. At that time, we thought you were a pawn sent by the Theocracy or some prince, because you obviously did a good job of covering up the internal forces of His Highness Augustus. Well, no one suspects that you are leaking this information on purpose, but you are casually exposing it to the outside world—so we continued to conduct detailed investigations before we dared to report it to His Majesty, "

Claude's ventriloquism was extremely dull, but to Gutenberg's ears, it sounded like a great voice.

And the shock he gave continued.

"And it wasn't until the beginning of this year that His Majesty finally made a decision—His Royal Highness Augustus, he is out."

Gutenberg stared blankly at him.

"Because what you did is really good—we also found out during the investigation that those great nobles joined in this smuggling feast one after another. The goods of the merchant alliance are popular in the empire, and the amount of smuggled goods is huge. , The terrible outflow of funds is very rare in the history of the empire."

The man listened to the other person's words, his hands and feet were cold.

Only then did he belatedly realize that over the past year, how much money he had helped Augustus earn through smuggling, not to mention playing a leading role, those nobles and smugglers would become How rampant - as long as you can borrow the name of the Barr Chamber of Commerce, you don't have to pay taxes or worry about being investigated.

And in order to find a way to attract the attention of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, I turned a blind eye to it and adopted an attitude of letting it go...

"... So, this matter actually looks like... I'm betraying the country?"

He blankly asked each other.

Claude nodded.

"I... I don't... I don't have such an idea, I really don't... I really don't..."

Gutenberg staggered back, and slid down the wall, staring blankly at the ground.

The corners of Claude's mouth twitched slightly.

’ That’s why I like chatting with narrow-minded [smart people] the most. '

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"When did His Highness Augustus order you to go to Lübeck and start trading with the Merchant Alliance?"

Claude stretched out his hand wrapped in cloth strips, picked up the paper and pen on the table, and began to prepare for recording.

"Last year, the year of the forget-me-nots and the intellectuals, the moon, on the night after His Royal Highness Ludwig's triumphant return, I went north overnight after receiving the mission."

Gutenberg answered mechanically.

"The first batch of goods was not large, but the trade agreement was signed very smoothly. They even sold it to me at a price slightly lower than the market price. This made me even more sure that there was a problem with this transaction."

"After that, you started to passively resist the First Prince's orders?"

Claude looked businesslike.

"Yes."

Gutenberg nodded.

"Then I'm a little curious. Since you don't have any background and just acted spontaneously, why didn't Your Excellency Leicht respond? If he knew that you or anyone in the First Prince was doing this kind of thing, he wouldn't be able to sit idly by .”

Cloud stared at Gutenberg.