This is the first time Count Lange has come to Fordeburg after two years. It was no longer the poor village he remembered. On the contrary, it now looked more like a busy, vibrant town.
The last time he came to help Simon fight against Baron Quinnier, there was no such scene here. It seemed that this was all due to the newly built Rhine River crossing and Simon's encouragement of commercial development.
Thinking of this, he began to feel unbalanced again.
In the bottom of his heart, he still believed that this place belonged to him.
He always thought that old Cooser was too hasty at that time and entrusted this "feng shui treasure land" to Simon. He shouldn't do this. He should let Simon be the supervisor here. In this way, he is now the lord of this rich territory.
Simon, on the other hand, may have been a landless knight in his family for most of his life. He would either assist himself or go out to make a living. This is the most common way out for the second son of other noble families.
Of course, this is just wishful thinking of Lange.
Sometimes in his dreams, he could experience the pleasure of monopolizing power as he wished. However, when he woke up, reality would always ruthlessly crush his lust - his younger brother, Baron Simon, was the Duke's son. A direct vassal, in charge of a castle that he believed should originally belong to him.
Both Old Coother and Duke Amadeus had threatened him not to covet Simon's territory. At that time, for the sake of greater interests, he gave up the opportunity to fight for it twice, once to inherit the inheritance and once to be promoted to earl. .
But now, the passage of time has gradually made him no longer take the threat of the Duke to heart.
His in-law alliance with Count Wolfe frightened the Duke. Of course, they would not rebel without justifiable reasons, and once they did, they would undoubtedly become the enemies of all the nobles in the kingdom.
"What do you think of the development here, Count Lange?" Simon noticed that although Lange did not swing his head and look around significantly, the curiosity and covetousness revealed in his eyes could not be hidden.
"It's not as good as my territory, Tonysburg." Lange's arrogance made him say these words against his conscience.
"Really?" Simon found it a little funny. He had just returned from a wedding in Tonysburg not long ago. It was a pretty decent place, but it was definitely not as rich as Fuldeburg.
"No one will question this." Count Lange seemed to care more about face than before. He seemed not to allow a baron's castle in the duchy to be better than the castle of his count.
Simon didn't answer the question. He had no interest in quarreling with his unreasonable brother at the moment.
The lord's kitchen had prepared a sumptuous dinner, which was originally prepared for Simon and his warriors who had returned in triumph. Count Lange and his knights sat down unceremoniously. Simon shook his head speechlessly and sat down. On the main seat at the front.
Little Klein, Krieger, and Sergeant Hann were not nobles and could only sit at the table in the corner of the hall, but Simon at least did not treat them badly with food.
"In any case, you are welcome to come to my hall at this auspicious moment." Simon raised his wine glass and motioned to the servant holding the jug on the side to pour wine for everyone. "Let us drink this glass of wine and celebrate the pagans. Overturned!"
The wine-filling servant filled Count Lange and his knights with dark red wine, but they just held the wine glasses and looked at Simon with doubtful eyes.
Simon knew what they were suspecting. If he were drinking in Lange's castle, he would also doubt whether Lange had poisoned the wine.
So, Simon took the lead and drank all the red wine in his glass. Only then did Lange and his knights dispel their doubts and one after another raised their glasses and started to sip.
"My wife is pregnant. I estimate that it won't be long before she gives birth to a healthy heir for me." Langer picked up a piece of roasted venison with his hand, chewed it, and spoke vaguely. Said Simon.
Simon knew what Lange meant, and his subtext was to stop coveting his property, because soon his first heir would no longer be Simon.
"Ha, that's really something worth celebrating. I'm happy for you." Simon said this, but there was no smile on his face, or even an expressionless face, as if he was saying something ordinary. matter.
"From your tone, you don't seem as happy as you said?" Count Lange raised the corners of his mouth slightly, mocking Simon, and the three knights beside him also laughed.
Simon has almost had enough of this outspoken brother. He seems to want to see himself make a fool of himself and take pleasure in it. He seems to want to see himself deflated in order to improve his reputation.
"No, in fact I am very happy, but in order to let you feel my sincerity, I try to imitate your expression and tone when you hear something worthy of being happy. This will make me feel closer to you." Simon said He responded expressionlessly, his tone like a smooth rock, devoid of any emotion.
Count Lange's slightly proud smile froze. He opened his lips and wanted to refute Simon, but found that he couldn't fault him for a while. After all, he usually had such a world-weary expression and cold tone.
"I still prefer you to express your happiness in your own way." Count Lange was a little annoyed. His younger brother was more clever than him and could resolve his sarcasm and sarcasm every time, and in turn made him feel Uncomfortable.
There was an awkward silence on the table until the three knights of Count Lange began to discuss other topics, and the table returned to a normal dining atmosphere.
"Sir Hoffmann von Nedberth, the lawful lord of Burningham Manor, has arrived!"
Suddenly, the loud shouts of the soldiers standing guard came from the door of the tower. The heavy door was opened, and a fat man named Hoffman, wearing a pointed nose helmet and long chainmail, walked in quickly.
He was tall and tall, slightly larger than the tallest knight around Count Lange, and the wooden floor beneath his feet trembled as he walked. There was a pleasant smile on his face, and it seemed that he had also heard the news that Simon had defeated the Magyars.
"Good day, my lord, I'm glad you achieved victory over the infidels," the fat man said to Simon with a smile. When his eyes turned to Lange, the kindness and friendliness he exuded instantly turned cold. , "And you, Count Lange, nice to see you here."
Count Lange didn't speak, he just raised his head and said "hmm" as a greeting.
Lange had known Fatty for a long time, when he was Simon's attendant. In his opinion, he was just a follower of Simon.
Lange felt very unhappy when he thought that he was about to dine at the same table with him. In his opinion, the fat man should go and eat at the waiters and servants' table.
But after a while, Count Lange's attention was attracted by another thing - the serving servant brought a large plate of garlic-fried rabbit.
The rabbits were caught alive by the archers who were in charge of hunting and raised in the small courtyard of the lord's kitchen, so that Simon could eat the freshest rabbit meat when he needed it.
The garlic was dug out in a field that belonged to Simon. The field where garlic was grown was within the wooden fence of the village and was tended by Simon's serfs.
The chefs in the lord's kitchen had been taught by Simon. Of course, Simon did not teach directly, which was not consistent with his status as a noble. He more verbally guided the chefs to handle the ingredients, cut them into pieces, and then put them in the iron pot. Cook together with other ingredients.
The chefs are not stupid, they learn quickly and have learned to make a few simple stir-fries, such as scrambled eggs and fried meat with onions.
Tonight's dish is obviously an eye-opener for Count Lange. The food he has eaten since childhood was limited to boiled or grilled food. Facing such a dish of fried rabbit with a rich fragrance, this is obviously a bit confusing. It was beyond his understanding of normal food.
Normally Simon would ask the chef to put some onions into the pot to remove the fishy smell and improve the aroma. However, considering that a fastidious guy like Count Lange might say onions are food for the lower class, Simon just asked the kitchen to only let the onions be used. The chef added some garlic cloves to remove the smell.
"Is this a pagan cooking method?" a Lange knight couldn't help but said.
"This is a new cooking method I came up with." Baron Simon tapped the table with his hand and emphasized.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to offend." The knight apologized sincerely.
Just kidding, if even "Simon the Pious" was called a heretic, I'm afraid there would be few true believers in Christianity as a whole.
Lange had already heard about a new cooking method in Simon's territory. There was even a tavern in the holy city of Cologne. It was said that business was very prosperous, but this was the first time he saw it today.
He was a little hesitant at first, but when he saw that Simon and Fatty Hoffman had already picked up the rabbit meat and ate it with gusto, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva and started eating too.
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