Looking back at the black owl, Lily wooped a few times.
"Ga..." The black owl was obviously reluctant, but perhaps thinking of the consequences, it also flew down, walked over with a funny and arrogant pace, and pushed the broom back to its original place with a raised head.
When Hu Tao came out again, she saw this harmonious scene. She finally smiled: "That's right..."
"Ahhh!" The Sheldon dog came over quickly with the basket hanging on it, wagging its tail, and the word "fawning" was almost written on its face.
"Good boy." Hu Tao took the thing and touched it on its head, then his expression suddenly changed.
This...the basket for holding things is in my hand!
Even if Ashley brought enough money, how would she get her things back?
Ashley doesn't care about that.
The girl swept down the mountain like a gust of wind, ran all the way to Flo Street, ran to the bakery she was most familiar with, and asked for a dozen honey buns.
"It's Ashley!" The charming proprietress was already familiar with her. Seeing how anxious she was, she quickly got up from her chair, walked past several sweaty apprentices, and started to wrap bread for her herself.
This was against the rules - the bakery was doing a booming business, with the line stretching more than ten meters long. Logically, someone should have criticized Ashley for her overstepping behavior, but it looked like she knew the boss.
Oh, then let her do whatever she wants...
"Looking at you like this, is your stepmother coming back?"
"Heath is not my stepmother!" Ashley's face flushed red, and she couldn't tell if it was because she was tired from running too fast or because she was embarrassed.
When she first came to civilized society, she was ignorant and treated Hitzfeld as her "young mother" according to the customs of the tribe. Heath had never said anything, but later she learned enough knowledge to understand civilized customs, and she realized how much harm this title had brought to Heath.
Heath is also very young...she is not even married yet!
If everyone takes it seriously, wouldn't Heath be considered a loose woman if she had a child my age without being married?
Ashley actually didn't understand what being promiscuous meant... Women who could give birth to children had a very high status in the tribe, and it took time for her to change her mindset, but by then she had gradually realized that this was a bad thing.
So she changed her words a long time ago, but she couldn't avoid being teased by people she knew, which made her feel helpless.
"I've told you many times... don't mention this matter again!"
"Don't get excited, little Ashley." The proprietress glanced at the guests queuing outside, leaned over to her and whispered, "You didn't buy a newspaper to read today, did you?"
"…What newspaper?"
"Any newspaper... 'The Wayne Morning Herald', 'The Blackwood News', whatever you buy, it should be there."
"Is there any news I should know?"
"Of course." The proprietress happened to grab a stack of newspapers. She took out a copy and showed it to the girl: "Look at this - "From Undertaker to Royal Noble". I bet it won't be long before the opera company will make up a new story about this~"
"This is--"
Ashley snatched the newspaper and looked at it carefully. She made out the characters with some difficulty and roughly understood the meaning of the article.
Simply put, her "Heath's little mom" got promoted.
Heath had worked for the library and the Security Bureau before, but she had always been outside these systems and was still a civilian. This gave some people reasons and excuses to embarrass her.
And this time... she didn't know whether the royal family had finally come to their senses or something had happened, but they actually rewarded more than a dozen new nobles including her at once, and Heath was the one with the highest rank among them, and was directly awarded the title of "Earl Xieyang"!
"This title is not simple~" The lady boss was still sighing, "The first title he was given was an earl, which is already very powerful... Not to mention that it has 'Xie Yang' as the prefix, which has no precedent in the history of the kingdom."
She continued to say a lot of things, but Ashley was too lazy to listen. She was surprised at first, then confused. She looked up from the newspaper and realized belatedly that many of the people in the queue were actually discussing the same thing at the same time.
"How could it be the Count..."
"For a woman, isn't that a bit too exaggerated..."
"She solved the mystery of the Crystal Sea and defended the city from the incident in Nanxinze. It is said that she also went to Green Town to find the hidden fire dragon monster. Being able to do these things, it is not too much to give her the title of Earl, right?"
"But what about the prefix "Xie Yang"? Does this mean that your religion will be united with yours? Won't the cult object?"
"Keep your voice down... Is that how you talk about something like this?"
"What are you afraid of? Anyway, the Order never interferes with such remarks. We are not going to believe in paganism. There is nothing we can do if the knights come."
People were talking about the news in the newspapers, and this trend was not limited to bakeries, but was especially prevalent in the bars at the docks.
Some people say... Count Hitzfeld must have carried out a secret mission that was unknown to the public, and he chose the right person during the coup that broke out last year, so he was rewarded.
Some people also said... the reward for 'Count Xiyang' was just the beginning, and the church might very well intend to list her as a 'saint' within the church. Currently, this information was just released in advance as a "shot of vaccination".
There are also a very small number of people, combined with the recent hot trend of going overseas, speculating whether her special promotion this time is related to the return of Elsa Continent.
But in the end, no one had any evidence, so if they wanted to fool people, they had to make up stories. For a while, all kinds of speculations and possibilities were circulating in the streets and alleys, some of which were quite reasonable, even saying that "when did she board Elsa's ship, she was a sailor on the ship."
Small vendors had no channels, and workers and farmers didn't care about the truth. For them, it was just a fun thing to do during work hours and after meals. Who cared how she got to the top? They hoped that the rumors were as outrageous and bizarre as possible, and it would be best if there was a rumor that... Count Xieyang had some kind of improper relationship with His Majesty the King - they were always happy with gossip.
But truly "sensible" people can't be happy.
They knew how bad this example was: Sarah's bureaucracy was inherited from Guserland, which had a distinction between noble titles and specific official positions. Even official positions were like this, not to mention the more sensitive religious titles. Especially for Sarah, the word "Xianyang" was not only related to religion, but also "force". Thinking about the fact that His Majesty's selection of a husband some time ago ended in failure, many people suspected that the rumors might be true.
Count Xie Yang...it's impossible to canonize a saint, but it must be related to Xie Yang.
Does she have any talent that could involve Ji Yang?
Or is it true as the rumors say, that Aishazhou's return and the interruption of the marriage are related to her... Is she the Queen's secret lover?
The port business in Blackwood City is not very developed because it is too close to Wayne Port.
There is no need for ships to dock here. After all, it is just a short walk to Wayne. There is no need to pay port taxes twice and have the cargo inspected twice. The formalities are also very troublesome.
But because of the low tide - too many chambers of commerce have mobilized ships to come to Wayne Port, plus there are envoys from neighboring countries and foreign caravans, Wayne's port city has long been full, and those who can't get in line have to settle for the next best thing and set off to the port of Blackwood City for preparation and rest.
Everything is in preparation for going to Aisha Continent. This is also the reason why Blackwood City has been so prosperous recently and prices in all aspects have been soaring.
Perhaps no one knows better than Sheriff Rand how many more people there are in Blackwood City. Just looking at the crime rate, it is clear that he has suffered a lot in the past two months.
"The crime rate has skyrocketed by 300 percent... We don't have enough police force!"
While on duty in the evening, the police officer on shift change couldn't help but complain to the police chief.
"Hurry up and send a telegram to the head of the royal capital! Ask them to send more people. We really can't hold on any longer!"
"I'll let them know." That was all Ain Rand could do to comfort them. "Go get some rest. I'll take care of the second half of the night."
The telegram had been taken a week ago, and even once last weekend, but think about it - if even Blackwood City, which is an alternative port, is in this state, how much better can Port Wein be?
That was the capital, so the defense could not be sloppy. There was absolutely no reason to withdraw the scarce manpower from Wayne Harbor to help Blackwood. Anland knew it very well, and there was no way he could expect to receive reinforcements in the short term.
But the surge in crime rate is also a problem. A large number of new people are pouring into the city from various channels. There are more than a hundred thefts near the port every day. There are also armed conflicts and drunken disturbances between sailors of the Chamber of Commerce. Even if one of them can do the work of ten people, it is probably impossible to control them.
Got to find a way to relieve the pressure.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the patrol car and starting his usual night patrol, Sheriff Rand looked at the street scene while thinking of a solution.
The Order has promised to send the Flint Knights to help maintain order, but the Knights have fewer people, and petty thefts are not worth killing with hammers, so they can't be used as a deterrent, unless they send in a super-violent Knight Commander...
The best way is to work with the local defense, after all, Kuroki City still has 10,000 troops. These people have nothing to do all day long, training in the suburbs, and he doesn't know what they are busy with. He thinks it would be better to transfer them into the city. Having these 10,000 people will definitely relieve a lot of pressure.
Therein lay the problem—the chief of local defense and the Blackwood Administration both rejected his request, on the grounds that they were "rebuilding the order of battle" in accordance with the orders of the White Shadow Palace.
has no meaning?
The sheriff didn't understand what this meant. The concepts of organized forces and the army were different. Did the White Shadow Palace want to train them into a regular army?
Is Sarah preparing for war?
But the surrounding situation is peaceful, and no country dares to have any thoughts about Sarah, right?
Rebuilding the army, who should we fight?
He thought about a lot but may not have thought it through clearly, including targeting the evildoers.
But it's not worth it.
Evil spirits cannot be stopped by the army; they are invisible terrors that can penetrate any hole.
If regular armies were useful, King Charuni would not have retained only the three legendary legions during his reign. You know, maintaining an army is very expensive.
He had discussed this matter with his colleagues and subordinates, and they finally came up with the most likely example:... their Queen wanted to send troops against Elsa.
To compete for resources in the New World - this is the most likely reason. The fact that those small countries are willing to submit in Icarolina does not mean that they will do the same in the New World. Everyone also admits that Sarah needs an army.
We chatted all the way and the car stopped at the pier.
This is also one of the tasks of night patrols, because there are too many ships and chambers of commerce, the port is forced to open at night. Many ships entering and leaving the port require police presence to prevent smuggling.
"Mr. Sheriff!"
Seeing him get off the car, a short and fat man suddenly ran over from the fourth wooden stake from the second fence of the pier.
This was the head of the Boca Chamber of Commerce, whom Ayn Rand remembered others calling "Mr. Punkville."
"Good evening, Punkville." The sheriff nodded to him, "Is it the Boca Chamber of Commerce's ship tonight?"
"Yes!"
"In or out?"
"Yes, go inside!"
After looking at him, the sheriff took out a small notebook, wrote a few lines, tore it off and handed it to the accompanying police officer.
"Inspect the cabin and release it if there's no problem."
Punkwell left with many thanks, and before leaving he hinted that he had prepared a gift for the sheriff on the ship, but Ayn Rand did not pay much attention to him.
He looked out into the night and saw the shadows of a fleet entering the harbor.
For some reason, his heart skipped a beat.
Chapter 1: Tacit Understanding
It was dark and the cold wind carried away the yellow fallen leaves.
Xia Yibing was dressed in a solemn formal suit - black dress pants with a shawl, her high ponytail was changed to a low ponytail, she wore a top hat and was leaning on an ebony cane in her left hand.
This combination is very particular. It seems that the cane is her weapon for self-defense, but in fact, this task falls on her left armpit. The posture of leaning on the cane makes it convenient to draw a pistol from the armpit. This action is difficult to arouse suspicion at the beginning because it looks too much like taking out a pocket watch.
The so-called upper class always has a lot of cumbersome rules, including that pocket watches must be placed in the left pocket. She usually doesn't bother to follow them, but she can compromise temporarily for the sake of disguise.
I reached out to check my watch. It was now 4: in the morning and the streets were completely dark.
The invention of alternating current has greatly eased the country's energy crisis, but Wayne still does not have enough electricity to light up lights at night. The street lights go out after 4 o'clock, and the agents call the period from 4 o'clock to dawn the night before dawn.
There wouldn't be any danger, because all the roads from the White Shadow Palace to here were manned. Not only were there Shadow Lion agents hiding in the dark, but even the trees along the road had been secretly replaced a few nights ago.
Passersby during the day would not notice that those are not trees, but hidden tree warriors.
Thinking of this, Xia Yibing unconsciously looked up at the night sky, habitually chasing the hazy moon hiding behind the clouds.
If the sun's rays were too dazzling, it would remind her of the goddess of the sun. The cold moon... that hazy feeling, sense of distance, and dignity would only remind her of another person.
Is she okay?
Judging from the time, I should have already been to Colossae, but I don’t know when I can come back.
Just as she was thinking about it, a ray of light pierced the darkness and came from the corner of the street in the distance.
The light completely illuminated Xia Yibing's front. She did not dodge or avoid it, watching it become more and more dazzling and getting closer and closer to her.
After a slight brake sound, the lights dimmed twice as much as before. There were several obvious door slamming sounds from behind, followed by a burst of hurried footsteps, and three people could be seen walking out of the darkness quickly.
One of them, Xia Yibing, was very familiar, as if she was the current leader of the Tree People, Russ-Nianlun. She and another tall man in a cloak surrounded a thin figure in the middle. When he saw Xia Yibing, he was a little surprised: "Actually, you don't have to come."
"We were designated as a family of secret keepers a while ago, and we immediately became arrogant due to our favor..." Xia Yibing said calmly, "Do you think I am such a despicable person..."
"I did not mean that……"
"What do you mean?"
She doesn't seem to be in a good mood.
Nian Lun noticed this keenly, looked at the other two people covered in hoods nearby, and decided not to waste any more words with this guy.
"I have no intention of doubting you or slandering you, Imaar." She stared at the woman. "If you feel offended, then I apologize."
"I accept your apology." Xia Yibing didn't even look at her. She kept her eyes on the tall man in the cloak. Suddenly she said, "Pusiansi?"
"Now it's 'Grest'." A hoarse, slightly old voice came from under the cloak, "Don't forget, in the eyes of many people, I am not dead yet."
"You've come so blatantly to this point, what's the point of wearing a hood?"
"Some people don't believe what you show directly, but if they take the trouble to figure out which face is under the hood...some people are just that mean."
"Stop arguing~"
