"Alexey! Alissa!"
Late at night, Duke Ivanovich rode his horse back to the manor on the outskirts of the city as quickly as possible. He hurried into the villa and opened the door of his wife and son's room. There was no one in the room.
Not only were the rooms of his wife and children empty, but the entire villa was empty. The housekeeper and maid... seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, completely missing.
"Master..." A guard came over, lowered his head and said, "Just now, a group of monks from the Wisdom Cult took the madam and the young master away... We can't stop them..."
How can ordinary guards without the blessing of any extraordinary power block the monks of the Wisdom Cult?
Duke Yinvanovich knew that this was impossible, and he was not in the mood to blame the guards. After confirming that his wife and children had been taken away by the Wisdom Cult, he got on his horse and quickly ran towards the red house of the farm.
He wanted to find out from Finn Drost.
But when Duke Ivanovich arrived at the red house of the farm, there was already a fire all over the place, thick smoke billowing into the sky, and the flames dyed the sky red.
The servants working in the Red Room stood awkwardly outside the line of fire, with minor or serious injuries on their bodies. Duke Ivanovich stepped forward and asked sternly: "What happened here?! Mr. Droste Woolen cloth?!"
The servants seemed to be frightened and stared blankly at the flames. One of them boldly responded: "It's magic! Master! Just now, many men with silver cross badges on their chests suddenly came here and followed Dros. There was a fight with Mr. Droste! Mr. Droste escaped!"
"Where did he escape?!"
"No...don't know..."
It was too dark, so how could the servants care about the direction in which Drost escaped?
They can't even take care of themselves.
"It's over...it's all over..."
Duke Yinvanovich fell to the ground, as if his soul had been taken away, and he was completely lost.
Drost escaped, and his wife and children were captured by the Wisdom Cult, leaving him alone...
Want to command the army to chase the train?
Maybe we can catch up now by sending troops, but...
What if I catch up?
Only then did Duke Ivanovich discover that he had always been the clown in the circus, the lamb that was hung on the fire for roasting.
The Aristocrats think they are very powerful, but in fact they have no choice at all. The Wisdom Religion and the Church of Truth... do not take the Aristocrats seriously. Only they think they are a nobody.
And Paul I.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... I'm sorry for you..."
Prince Ivanovich burst into tears and felt extremely remorseful. The servant had never seen him look so sad, let alone which king he was referring to by his majesty.
Maybe it was Paul I, or maybe... it was the late Peter the Great.
Suddenly, a thick black fog filled the woods behind and enveloped all the servants. The servants fell to the ground and passed out.
The painful Duke Ivanovich did not notice the black mist approaching behind him. Just as he was beating his chest, a ball of silver-white mud slowly rose from the ground and condensed into a human shape.
"Why are you crying?"
The calm questioning interrupted Duke Yinvanovich's cry. He suddenly turned around and finally saw the silver-white figure appearing quietly. His body was trembling and he stammered: "You...who are you?" ?”
"Master of Finn Drost."
"Are you a member of the Free Association?!" Duke Ivanovich screamed: "My wife and son have been taken away! What are you doing?! Finn Drost promised to protect my family!"
The silver-white figure looked at him and said softly: "I am not a member of the Free Association, but an existence higher than the Free Association. There are many things that Finn Drost does not know at all."
"I don't care about this!" Duke Yinvanovich shouted. He didn't know where he got the courage to shout with the inhuman existence in front of him: "You broke your promise! You didn't fulfill the contract!
! "
"This is also part of the plan." The silver-white figure said calmly: "There is a mole in the Free Association. We have known about it for a long time, but it was your aristocratic faction who really leaked the secret."
"What do you mean? You said there are traitors among the nobles?"
"Yes."
"Since you knew there was a traitor, why didn't you tell me in time?!"
"If we tell you, how can we let Archbishop Henry command the aristocratic faction with confidence?" The corners of the silver-white figure's mouth, which were like wax, elongated, revealing a half-moon-shaped, weird and scary smile: "All churches only know freedom. Yes, they don’t know our existence, just like fishing, freedom will be the bait, we are the ones holding the pole, when the fish bite the bait, we can fish them out.”
"Back then we lost to the Wisdom Cult once, and now... they have to pay the price for their arrogance!"
Duke Ivanovich asked with red eyes: "No matter who you are, you must return Alexey and Alyssa to me!"
"Oh...I thought you only loved money and power." The silver figure sneered.
"I already have money and power! Now I'm thinking about how to pass these things on!" Duke Yinvanovich shouted: "Without my family, what use do I have for them!
! "
"When you have no money, you have to give up everything to make money. When you have money, you want to have family ties. Is the essence of it for the continuation of wealth and power... Well, it's a very interesting answer. It's the same as many people think. .”
Under Duke Yinvanovich's strange and confused gaze, the silver-white figure actually took out a notebook and wrote down what he just said.
"You...are studying me? No...you are studying humans?"
"Study, observation is actually a very interesting thing, isn't it?" The silver-white figure put away the notebook and continued: "We can help you get your family back. This is part of the contract, but similarly, you also We must continue to fulfill the contract.”
"What else can I do now? The army cannot pose a threat to the Wisdom Religion at all!"
"Don't be too depressed. Belief in God requires believers. An army that can maintain law and order is an indispensable tool in the hands of God." The silver-white figure said: "I want you to continue to follow Archbishop Henry's command, no matter what he says. Be supportive and when the time comes, I will come to you.”
The silver-white figure began to melt and escape to the ground, and the black mist surrounding it quickly dissipated. Duke Yinvanovich asked nervously: "How is Finn Drost? Is he dead?"
"He will have a new mission."
Soon, the silver-white figure completely disappeared, and the black fog completely dissipated. Except for the fainted servants, everything was no different from before. The burning red room, the disappeared Finn Drost...
Duke Ivanovich stood there for a while, then suddenly mounted his horse and rushed towards the manor where Duke Tbilisi settled.
..................................................
June 12, Mosk, St. Basil's Cathedral.
"Has the kingdom started distributing money to the people?"
In the study, Ma Wei, who was dealing with matters, took the intelligence document handed over by Marusha and couldn't help but frowned.
"Your Highness just received the news." Marusha replied: "Every citizen of the Romanov Kingdom can receive a 5-ruble subsidy from the government. Petersburg has already started, and other cities will soon follow. Got the order."
A subsidy of 5 rubles per citizen....The Romanov Kingdom has a population of 150 million....
Nearly 800 million rubles?
Equivalent to 80 million gold pounds from the Kingdom of Windsor?
Does the Romanov Kingdom have so much money?
Ma Wei was skeptical about this, but if the aristocracy paid... maybe they could really come up with so much money.
But what is the difference between this kind of behavior and cutting off the flesh of an aristocrat?
Just when Ma Wei was puzzled, Fat Orange sent key information: "The night before yesterday, the monks of the Wisdom Cult invaded the suburban manor where the noble sect lived and took away their families. Looking from the direction where the train left, , should be sent to the Popang Kingdom."
"That makes sense..."
Ma Wei took a deep breath, "Using family members to threaten the aristocratic faction is a dangerous move. If Archbishop Henry does this, isn't he afraid of arousing rebellion?"
"Relying only on the army to launch a rebellion is no different from seeking death." Fat Orange said: "I don't think the aristocracy is so stupid."
"But the Aristocrats will be helped by the Freedom Society, so it stands to reason that they will not be slaughtered by the Wisdom Religion..." Ma Wei's eyes flashed, thinking quickly: "Does the Freedom Society agree with the Nobles' support for the Wisdom Religion?"
"The Red Room where Finn Drost stayed was on fire the night before."
"....Why didn't you tell me such important information earlier?"
"It's not too late to say it now, you already know it anyway." Fat Orange said disapprovingly.
"If the existence of Finn Drost is discovered by the Wisdom Cult, it wouldn't be surprising if Archbishop Henry ordered the arrest of the noble family members." Mavey laughed: "This is good news."
"Good news? Do you have a fever?" Fat Orange stretched out his paw to test the temperature of Ma Wei's forehead.
"Don't make trouble, I don't have a fever."
Ma Wei patted Fat Orange's claws away and said calmly: "Distributing subsidies directly to the people is actually a sign of desperation. If there are other ways, which person in power will directly distribute money?"
"Archbishop Henry's decision just revealed his state of mind. He is now very scared, and fear has begun to erode his reason."
"When a person cannot control his emotions, failure is not far away."
"Is Archbishop Henry afraid of the Church of Truth?" Fat Orange was a little confused.
Ma Wei said with a smile: "He is not only scared now, but also panicked. What he is afraid of should be the too rapid development of the Church of Truth, which also proves that he can no longer suppress us..."
"But will the people who have received the money still think about launching a riot?" Fat Orange pursed his lips and said worriedly: "Although 5 rubles is not much, it can solve their imminent food problem. After eating, naturally they will not want to Resisted."
"Money can only solve the temporary crisis of the people. 5 rubles can support it for 10 days at most. What should we do after 10 days? Continue to distribute money? Even if we drain the aristocracy, we will not be able to spend so much money!"
Mawei’s smile became even brighter: “If Archbishop Henry’s previous proposal on the General Statute was a major mistake, then his decision to distribute money to the people was a rope, a rope... around his neck. Rope! And the mechanism to open the partition under his feet is in our hands!"
"what you up to?"
"Do nothing." Ma Wei picked up the quill and continued to deal with the church's trivial matters. He said in a neutral tone: "Just sending money will not solve the problem. When the kingdom cannot pay, resentment will break out again, and even More intense than before...wait, wait..."
"Wait until 10 days later, when the kingdom is completely destitute..."
"People will erupt in more violent protests!"
