Chapter 338

In the capital of Jingyao, there is a tense and joyful atmosphere everywhere in the streets and alleys. In a few days it will be Holy Advent. Every household is preparing for the festival, and merchants, big and small, also take the opportunity to walk through the streets and sell their goods. . For most people, the rebellion in the far south seems far away, except for those families whose relatives are serving in the military. They pray in their thoughts that their loved ones are safe and welcome the new year with longing.

The meeting hall in the palace was completely different from the festive atmosphere outside the palace. It was full of seriousness and uneasiness. What happened in Sihanoukville spread to Jingyao, causing shock to the top government officials. King Rodney summoned a group of ministers, including Earl Rupert and Earl Merlin, to discuss countermeasures.

However, what they are discussing now is only the assassination of the senior naval officer stationed in Westport. They still know nothing about what happened after that.

According to the available investigation information, the servant who carried out the "assassination" that night - let's call that kind of self-destruction an assassination - was an old servant who had served in General Pike's mansion for many years. He was usually loyal, honest, hard-working, and uncomplaining. Not like someone who could do something crazy like that.

Of course, this is not the most important thing. After all, he knows people well but does not know his heart. He may be coerced by irresistible factors or tempted by huge interests. It is not too difficult for a person to fall.

The most important and weirdest thing is, how could a perfectly good living person suddenly explode and kill a large circle of people around him? How did he do this? This was truly unheard of. The Government Affairs Office of Westport sent alchemists to investigate, but no suspicious substances were found.

As for the loss of the navy's combat power, it is secondary. The Aldo Kingdom's navy was established a long time ago to eliminate pirates. After the pirates disappeared, only tasks such as anti-smuggling were left. The senior officials had long wanted to find a reason to destroy the navy. It was laid off to save money to increase the strength of the Army.

After discussing with the ministers for a long time, His Majesty the King was still confused. Rodney looked at Earl Merlin, who was in charge of intelligence: "Mr. Merlin, you have been silent just now. Do you have any guesses in your mind?"

Earl Merlin was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded slightly to the king and said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, the incident in Westport reminded me of an incident last year."

"Last year?" Everyone looked at Count Merlin.

The Earl looked around at everyone: "Do you still remember the fire in the granary of the capital last year?"

"Of course I remember."

The fire in the granary delayed the dispatch of the counter-rebellion army for nearly a year. Just raising food and grass took a lot of effort, which is still fresh in the memory of everyone present.

Merlin continued: "The situation at that time was like this. The usually diligent warehouse management officials actually set the granary on fire with their own hands. And the side murder case in Westport was also the case. The usually loyal old servants formed..."

The count considered it for a moment and said, "It became a tool for murder. I can't help but connect the two things."

Rupert touched his beard and said thoughtfully: "You mean, the black hand behind it is the same hand?"

Earl Merlin nodded: "That's right, and... this black hand also has mysterious power that we don't know about."

After whispering with everyone in the meeting, after a year, the inner circle of the government all knew about the investigation of last year's granary fire case. Bart, the official responsible for managing the granary, is usually a cautious person and has always been very responsible for his work, but the investigation found that, Some time before the fire in the granary, his behavior at home was strange enough.

Suddenly, a side door of the chamber was opened, and a guard walked in quietly and handed King Rodney a roll of paper.

The king's heart trembled, and his intuition told him that something bad had happened. He reluctantly unfolded the letter slowly.

In the din of discussion, only Rupert, who was closest to the king, noticed the change in the king. His Majesty was seen holding the letter tightly in his hands and his shoulders were shaking slightly.

"Your Majesty? Your Majesty? What happened?"

Rupert called softly to the king.

"Rupert, see for yourself. The Navy...the Navy has..."

When the palace minister received the letter, the information in the first two lines of text set off huge waves in his heart - "Pirates have invaded and the navy has been destroyed."

"This... this..." Mr. Gong Xiang's hand holding the letter started to shake.

This letter from Sihanoukville was quickly circulated by all the ministers present.

"This is a conspiracy! Together with the assassination of senior navy officials, this is definitely a serial conspiracy!"

"Aldo has been invaded! Take revenge, we must take revenge!"

Earl Merlin said: "The west coast of the kingdom - at least the area directly under the royal family - has been without traces of pirates for a long time. According to the information in this letter, the number of pirates who invaded this time can reach as many as a thousand. Such a large number The pirate group cannot be formed quietly on the spot, it must have come from far away. "

Rupert was convinced. The Prime Minister twirled his gray beard and said: "The mastermind behind the scenes is not necessarily foreign. Judging from the current situation, Giles is the most suspected. His army is currently in Fougères." The region is declining day by day, and it is very likely that he will have to start small operations elsewhere. Moreover, his territory is connected to the Horn Bay, and it will be easy to contact and hire the pirate group there. "

There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!

This letter was written by the mayor of Westport. According to his own statement, after he noticed the pirate invasion, because the other party was really powerful and the navy could not count on it, in order to prevent the political officers who represented the king's authority from being captured and humiliated, he He had to lead the staff of the Government Affairs Department to move to a town east of Westport. At present, pirates are still entrenched in Westport, and have sent small groups of troops to plunder the surrounding areas with Westport as the center.

After much discussion, everyone felt that the most important thing now was to organize an army to recapture Westport, annihilate these damn pirates, or at least drive them into the sea. However, the kingdom's current main army is facing off against Giles's rebels in Fougères under the command of Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine. To organize an army, they can only recruit them temporarily.

The king asked: "Rupert, who do you think would be more suitable to lead the army?"

The palace minister thought for a moment, came up with a candidate, and replied: "I think Harrison Abbott, the eldest son of the Abbott family, can take on this important task."

"Abbott? Is that Earl Abbott who married a prostitute? His son?"

A trace of reluctance flashed across Rodney's face.

"Your Majesty, these are extraordinary times, and Harrison's mother also comes from a famous family and is a pure-blooded aristocrat."

"Oh - okay." The king agreed.