Qiqiu Empire Imperial Council Hall. Due to the absence of Ella Cornelius Scipio, this place has become a little gloomy now. Several ministers are gathering here to hold a secret meeting. Su. Cornelius Scipio sat on Ella's throne with a slightly tired face - her niece, Ella Cornelius, was "accidentally killed" due to an attack by thieves. Scipio has been missing for more than a month.
"Lord Scipio, we have wiped out the group of thieves, including their stronghold. But there is still no trace of Baselisa."
"So, we still can't find that golden little bird?" Su asked weakly. Seeing that several cabinet ministers were silent, he suddenly shook his hand and dropped the tea cup on the ground, "What do those thieves do for a living! How can you let a little bird that hasn't even learned to fly run away?" "
Several ministers present were involved in the plan to murder Ella. Originally, it was confirmed that after Ella's death, Su. Cornelius Scipio would naturally inherit Ella's position and become the new ruler of the Seven Hills Empire. With the term of Basileus, these ministers will also gain higher status and more power.
Berengar was also among these ministers. In the whole room, he was the only one who discovered Ella's movements a month ago, but he didn't reveal a word during this month.
Hartmann stood up and said in a deep voice: "Sir, according to the confessions of the thieves, Baselisa should have been captured by the pirates. This is not bad news."
"Captured? By the troops of the 'King of Beasts'? Hartmann, how does the Pirate Kingdom generally deal with prisoners? Sell them as slaves?"
"The pirate kingdom has a tradition of blood sacrifice. They will kill captives as sacrifices to their gods. But if they find that the captive is a noble, they will come to ask for ransom before the blood sacrifice."
After listening to Hartmann's explanation, Su grabbed his hair tightly:
"This is not good news. If they come and ask us for ransom, we can't just pretend that nothing happened and take the little chick back, right? But if we refuse to pay, the governors and generals everywhere will They will accuse me of deliberately framed Baselisa!"
Just when he was distressed, a soldier quietly walked into the hall and reported in a low voice: "The envoy of Tianfang Empire is outside asking to see Baselisa."
"Drive him back! Just say that Baselisa has not been feeling well these days!" Hartmann waved the soldiers away, and then said, "Sir, I don't think anyone will stand with the dead Baselisa. .”
"But they won't stand on my side either! You know, those governors and generals, everyone has many private soldiers! Their eyes are full of desire. Once they are given a chance, they will seize the West. The throne of the Pia family! If word spreads about my murder of Baselisa, wouldn’t it give them all a just and fair excuse to raise troops!”
Su slapped the throne and roared. But his voice was soon silenced by the sound of hurried footsteps. The soldiers who had just been driven out ran in again and said in a panic: "My lords, what's wrong, the envoys of the Tianfang Empire overthrew the guards at the palace gate and forced their way in!"
"Forced break-in? How many of them are there?"
"Only...only the messenger."
Su even more exposed and yelled: "Then send more people to stop him! How did you manage that the palace guards couldn't even stop a messenger?"
"Palace Guards." Berengar repeated the word deliberately. These palace guards were all "carefully" selected by Su for Ella, and their combat effectiveness was not even as good as that of bandits. Su heard the sarcasm in his tone, patted his head, shook his head and sighed: "Yes, these are the guards specially prepared for that little chick. It's time to replace them again."
Before the soldier could retreat, another soldier rushed in. He ran too fast and fell directly to the ground. In full view of everyone, he got up in a panic and said: "Sir, sir, that messenger, that messenger..."
Hartmann frowned: "Why are you panicking! What are you talking about! Tell me clearly, what happened to the messenger?"
The soldier calmed down and said, "Sir, my lord, a dozen or so people and I wanted to surround him, but in the blink of an eye, I only blinked once, and everyone was cut into two!"
"Killed more than ten people at the same time? What weapon did the envoy use?"
"No, there is no weapon, he is empty-handed... I didn't even see him raising his hands! He is already outside the door now... Let me report."
Su stood up from the throne with a dark face. Berengar waved his hand, and the two Praetorian Guards soldiers behind him handed the Spear of Longinus into his hands. When Su saw the Longinus Spear, his expression relaxed a little. He sat back on the throne and gave all the ministers present a look, asking them to pay attention to their manners. After all the ministers stood in line, he pretended to be calm and said: "Let the envoy from the Tianfang Empire come in to see me."
The messenger walked into the hall. He seemed to be a priest undergoing ascetic practices, wearing a tattered linen garment that had been mended many times. For an envoy from a big country, this is extremely disgraceful. The messenger walked all the way to the throne, bowed humbly, then raised his head and said loudly:
"Gregory, the envoy of the Tianfang Empire, has come here to conclude a permanent alliance treaty with Ella Cornelius Scipio, Baselisa of the Seven Hills Empire, by order of the King of Kings."
Su wanted to give this audacious messenger a blow, and deliberately did not reply. Silence enveloped the spacious meeting hall. Gregory waited for a long time and did not hear Su's reply, so he had to repeat:
"The messenger Gregory, by order of the King of Kings, has come to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance with the noble Baselisa."
Only then did Su speak, and the first time he opened his mouth was a stern question:
"Treaty of Friendship and Alliance? As an envoy, you actually forced your way into our palace and injured our guards. This is obviously the Tianfang Empire declaring war on our country, right?"
Unexpectedly, Gregory replied tit for tat: "Before coming here, the King of Kings told me that if the Seven Hills Empire intends to go to war, our country will be happy to cooperate."
As soon as these words came out, all the ministers present looked at each other in confusion. How could this domineering look look like they were here to conclude a treaty of friendship and alliance? Su's face suddenly turned dark. The Tianfang Empire was stronger than the Qiqiu Empire, and he didn't want to start a war with the Tianfang Empire at all. It was only because he heard that the other party was here to conclude an alliance treaty that he dared to scare Gregory. He never expected that Gregory would not even let him go down a step.
