Auctions are rarely held in the imperial capital.
The reason lies in an incident that happened at the beginning of Regent Lecco's tenure...
War, like other disasters, will inevitably cause a series of negative emotions in people when it occurs. When it spreads, ridiculous things inevitably happen.
It's okay for ordinary people, and the only way to vent their anger is to fight, curse, etc., but if people in high positions cannot control themselves, the negative impact will be much greater.
It was okay during the reign of the late king. He suppressed it. Even if there were desires in the heart that were difficult to put on the table, no one dared to vent them. But when the late king dies of illness and the swelling negative emotions get out of control, everything will bottom out.
Before the late king's coffin could be buried, a special auction took place among the aristocratic circles of the imperial capital. The commodities are luxury goods and special items collected from the collection, as well as people who are regarded as "commodities".
In a non-slavery country, this is of course illegal.
——But so what, the late king is dead and no one can care about us. Of course we can be happy as we want!
This crazy behavior even aroused disgust among fellow nobles.
Perhaps the person holding the auction also knows how rampant his auction items are, and all this is done in secret. But in the end, Lecco broke into the auction venue and stopped the auction.
Although Lecco was the successor designated by the late king at that time, after all, he had no deeds to support him, and no one knew much about him. The organizer of the auction even dared to scream at Lecco on the spot!
...Then he was beheaded by Leko.
Lecco's move caused an uproar.
Before this, the empire had never had a precedent of executing nobles, and the most they could do was to demote or demote them.
Lecco was the first person to behead a noble in public, and his actions naturally caused a stress reaction among the nobles.
However, Lecco gave a very good reason afterwards: the patriarch of the family who organized the auction, who was a powerful official with the same status as Alvin at the time, intended to use him as a puppet to usurp the royal power.
The late king's power was still there, no one dared to bear the charge of rebellion, and Lecco also proved that he was not incompetent by executing the nobles. Later, everyone even discovered that Alvin had stood beside Lecco at some point.
Once the reason was revealed, all the troubled nobles immediately stopped.
Lecco took the opportunity to knock down the powerful officials, search the family assets, and distribute the collected profits to other families.
Since then, all the nobles of the empire had to honestly regard Lecco as the leader of the country.
Although Lecco himself did not show much disgust towards the auction, because he was so cruel and frightening at the time, there were very few auctions in the Imperial Capital after that. Even if it is going to be held, it will be reported to various places in advance, for fear that someone will not know that the auction is legitimate goods.
The nature of the auction to be held today is even more different. Not only did he make his purpose clear from the beginning, which was to donate all auction proceeds to the Crusade Army, but he also made all steps open and transparent during the fundraising stage.
Therefore, many people came to help organize the auction. The famous nobles and wealthy businessmen were not stingy with their wealth. As soon as they learned the news, they sent people to ask for seats. Many officials from well-off families also joined.
This fundraising auction is in full swing.
Although Liliana wanted to attend the auction with An and the others, as the princess of the empire, she could not attend such an occasion. After all, the empire belonged to her.
She herself doesn't have much private property or money that she can use. If she planned to move things from the palace, the officials below would be the first to refuse, and eventually the auction would be unable to proceed.
Liliana could only give up. On the other hand, Leonhardt would not have so many obstacles.
When Ann approached him, he happened to be planning to participate.
As for setting yourself up, let alone that.
He never said that he was Lecco, and he only participated in the auction to donate money. Even from Lecco's perspective, there was no problem before his identity was publicly revealed.
Before attending the auction, An told her companions about her arrangements and asked everyone to prepare.
Arriving at the venue in a vehicle prepared by Leonhardt, everyone could see all kinds of cars parked outside the venue.
"There are so many people!" Yinliu exclaimed.
Hairen said: "The atmosphere in the imperial capital is really good. If the fund-raising auction were held in the royal capital, I'm afraid not so many people would come."
"Thank you for the compliment." Leonhardt, who was wearing a mask, said with a smile, "The Imperial City has such an atmosphere, and Brother Wang deserves the greatest credit."
An glanced at the generally gorgeously decorated carriages...
I am afraid that not many of them come with sincerity, and more of them are forced to come by the reputation of the auction.
But it doesn't matter, no matter what their real thoughts are, as long as they come, it at least means that they are sitting upright.
Under the respectful guidance of the waiter, everyone walked into the venue and saw that the spacious interior was packed with seats, and many people were still standing.
There are independent boxes high up around, and they are crowded, obviously full of people.
There is a loudspeaker on the wall of the high platform directly in front, and it is also scattered in various corners of the venue to ensure that the host's voice reaches everyone's ears.
Ann and Leonhardt's entrance attracted the attention of many people. The venue was crowded and it was difficult to move around, so they could only nod.
Soon, another more exquisitely dressed waiter came to An and his party and said, "Your seats are ready. Please come with me."
Without saying too much, everyone followed the waiter to a relatively small private room.
An looked around, but this was still not a suitable place for conversation.
After sitting down, Miku said in An's ear: "What are you going to do?"
"Wait a minute." An felt something, but couldn't grasp the inspiration.
At the auction venue, the crowds were talking to each other and it was somewhat noisy. Although it was better to sit in the box, it wasn't much better.
After waiting for about an hour, the host finally came on stage, and the venue gradually became quiet.
At this time, the waiter who had just come to the box came to An's side and whispered two words: "Please."
The companions in the troupe, including Leonhardt, were a little surprised, surprised by the straightforwardness of the waiter's words.
There are other people around!
Everyone looked around, only to find that others seemed to be deaf to what was happening here.
When An settled down, he realized that these were all arranged by Erlan.
"I'll go for a minute."
"Be careful..."
"Um."
Under the watchful eyes of her companions, An followed the waiter. Not walking too far, maybe less than fifty steps, the waiter led An around a corner and pressed against the wall.
This is actually a hidden room!
Opening the door, there was a table and two chairs in the room. A man with blond hair who looked to be in his thirties was sitting on one of the chairs, with his back to An.
Hearing the noise, the blond man turned back and smiled at An. He has a handsome face and tall stature, but he has a gentle and gentle feel.
The waiter saluted the blond man and exited the room.
The blond man stood up, pointed to another chair, and said to Ann: "Come, sit down."
An glanced at him, walked over, and found a black and white chess set on the table.
"Want a game?" The blond man sat down and said elegantly.
An looked at the chessboard, neither sitting down nor moving the chess pieces.
He will not.
Ann has never played Othello chess and doesn't know the rules at all...
"What's wrong?" the blond man asked.
As he spoke, he rubbed the white "king" with his fingers.
An felt a toothache for a moment and shook his head subconsciously.
He picked up the "king" of the black chess piece, threw it behind him, and then sat down, putting his arm on the chessboard without hesitation, making a mess of the chess pieces.
An took a deep breath, looked at the blond man, and said, "Let's talk."
"..."
The blond man was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed:
"Hehehe...hehe...hahaha!"
Erlan's temperament changed, from a gentle scholar to a bold and straightforward hero, and his voice became much rougher.
"I was a little skeptical before, but now it seems right! Although I don't know what incredible thing happened to you, there is no doubt that you are Leko!!" Erlan said firmly.
He directly lifted the chessboard off the table, looked at the falling chess pieces, as if falling into memories, and sighed:
"Prince Regent Lecco never plays chess!"
