"What's the matter?" Zhan Li had almost finished eating, so he took a napkin to wipe his mouth, with a bit of resentment on his face: "Although I drink, I never talk about those important things..."
"No, you shouldn't tell your friends what you saw at the palace gate."
"That counts?" Zhan Li was stunned. "He was standing guard - you see, isn't that visible to everyone?"
"His mask happened to be broken... and he had put on a certain level of makeup. Only you could recognize him at a glance. Do you think other people can do the same as you?"
"No." Zhan Li shook his head, "Okay, I know where the problem lies..."
He was a little worried about Fatty. Would Ryan be investigated for this?
"It's not really an investigation, it's just a routine crackdown." Zafira briefly explained how she treated Ryan, and then began to complain: "Merchants don't have any hard connections, so what if they know those ministers? We have evidence in our hands, and if we really want to hang them, those ministers won't dare to move."
“…” Zhan Li’s mouth twitched, “Are you hitting me?”
"Not really. Your friend is quite honest. The real trouble is the sons of the ministers... Ha! Those bastards are hard to deal with."
They chatted for a while, and Zhan Li couldn't help but turn the topic back: "Why is Kaiser standing guard in the palace?"
"This is not your concern." Zafira said everything he had to say. He took out his pocket watch and looked at it. "I have to go. Here's a piece of advice for you - drink less."
Zafira left.
There was nothing much to say, and even today's visit seemed a little strange.
But Zhan Li didn't think so. He was more familiar with Shadow Lion's style than Ryan, so he knew very well that if he dared to disclose the information related to this matter again, his job as minister would be over.
"Curiosity... Curiosity is the most annoying thing..."
Muttering to himself, Zafira got into his beloved car, inserted the key into the ignition, turned the steering wheel and turned out.
"Sha...how's the situation...Sha...Agent?"
There was a sudden noise from inside the operating table, and it sounded like someone hiding inside was asking him a question.
"It's okay. We took care of two." Zafira replied.
"Sha...I...Sha..." But the console was unable to output any further useful information and just kept making noise.
"Your thing doesn't work?" Zafira simply found a spacious place to park the car and banged the console twice. "I told you not to contact me with this thing. Can't I find the post office myself?"
It seemed that because the receiving signal became stable, the voice also stabilized: "Sha... I told you many times not to smash it!"
"But I just hit it every time."
"That's an illusion - you must have found an open area first, right? The real reason is that the signal is stable, and it won't get better just by smashing it!"
"Yeah, huh? Could you please stop talking so much and tell me where my next target lives."
"I'm warning you, Zafira. This is the organization's precious experimental machine. It's going to be installed on all agents' cars in the future. You'd better be respectful of it!"
"You want me to respect a machine?" Zafira sneered, "Unless you put yourself in a toolbox."
"You're trying to make me angry, right? Just because I don't play songs for you?"
“Bang!” Zafira hit the table again. “List, hurry up.”
"Go directly to the Larence mansion." The voice was silent for a moment before answering him, "James Larence has been investigating this matter recently. I suspect Baron Larence also saw it at the time."
Zafira whistled.
"You became like this after leaving Team 17?" the voice was angry. "The director left, so you thought no one could control you, right?"
Zafira said nothing and started the car.
As the road conditions became bumpy and complicated, the already weak signal began to fluctuate again, and all subsequent curses from the other party were drowned out by the rustling noise.
Zafira had just had dinner with someone, so she wasn't hungry. She drove directly to the Lawrence residence, stood outside the gate and rang the doorbell.
Soon a servant came over and he showed his ID to the other party. He was politely invited into the house and waited in the living room to be received by his master.
"Are you the Shadow Lion Agent they were talking about?"
Following the sound, Zafira saw a half-grown... boy? Standing in the door frame of the corridor, staring at her.
He thought he knew him, because it was this brat who disrupted Hitzfeld's first open class in Dream City.
"Will Lawrence." He pointed out the boy's name. "Have you finished your homework? Are you here to hang out?"
"What do you know?" Will was a teenager after all. He forgot why he came here and started to show off arrogantly: "I have the best grades in this grade! I don't even need to write - because I am just grading homework!"
"That's it." Zafira nodded calmly and silently decided to go back and complain to the professors.
"Will! What are you doing!" A woman ran over in a panic and grabbed the boy's ear.
"Mom! It hurts—"
"How dare you be rude to a distinguished guest... Come back with me!"
"But I was allowed to move freely today! You promised me that! You lied!"
The woman quickly pulled Will away, and Zafira was left alone, and he began to look around the decoration of the hall.
It's not luxurious, which is a bit unexpected.
Isn’t Lawrence the King of Steel?
Although they sold a lot of company shares to the royal family in order to avoid being the pig to be slaughtered after the new king ascended the throne, overall, their position as the richest businessman is still very stable.
"Sorry for the long wait, Agent." A young man in his 20s appeared at the door. He was wearing a suit and a scarf. He walked up to him and greeted him enthusiastically.
"My name is James Lawrence... I was working outside before, and was recently called back by my father to ask questions... Is there anything I can help with?"
Larence was an old noble, perhaps even the oldest noble. They knew too well that the man in black would not come to their house for no reason, so they started the conversation right away, not wasting each other's time.
Are you very cooperative?
Zafira nodded silently in his heart and took out a notebook and pen: "It's like this, I just came from the Population Mobility Department. In the list they recently reported, there are some people on it who are close to you, so I came here to investigate."
In other words, it basically means just going through the motions.
The other party is very well-behaved, so he can't be impolite.
Larence is different from other nobles. Not every generation of their heads of family has a title, but because they can always choose the final winner in disputes involving the royal family, they naturally enjoy some special status.
James nodded in agreement, and the two went upstairs to the study, where they talked while eating the snacks that were brought to them.
"Where were you the day before yesterday?"
"I'm meeting a friend outside."
"Is it Miss Fisner?"
"Yes... because she actually treated me... we were good friends when we were very young, but then I was sent out to do something, and we haven't seen each other for many years."
"Is that what has kept you busy since you returned to Wayne?"
"Yes... After all, I am Lawrence." James smiled bitterly at the right time, "There is no escape from this kind of situation."
Humble on the outside, but actually very proud inside...
Zafira quietly raised his opinion of this man.
He recalled the information he had read in the police station: James Larence, 24 years old, was not Baron Larence's biological son, but was related by blood. This man's family changed dramatically in his childhood, and he was robbed by a group of gangsters. He was almost sold to the slums to be eaten as a pig. After being rescued, the baron chose to adopt him, so from a legal perspective, James was his eldest son.
He was very talented. He was sent to the western mining area when he was only a teenager. Everyone thought that the baron was sending him to gild his reputation, but he cracked down on the local corruption gang just one year later. The mining area controlled by Lawrence was run by him like an iron plate, and the annual revenue increased threefold.
He came back because of the news that His Majesty was choosing a marriage partner.
I have the impression that he was summoned when he just came back, and His Majesty seemed to have given him an official position of neither big nor small, which was related to mining... So he was indeed qualified to attend the court, but he was not qualified to speak.
"What about yesterday?" Zafira changed the subject. "What did you do yesterday?"
"Yesterday, I slept as soon as I came back from the palace." James nodded to confirm, "I slept from morning until three in the afternoon. The servants in the house can testify to this."
"Are you always like this?"
"Not always... I get up very early in the mining area, but Wayne's climate is different from that over there. The temperature here is obviously much lower, and the summer is not too hot. It's just... this kind of weather is very suitable for sleeping."
"You went out after you woke up."
"Yes."
"Who did you meet?"
"Some of the ministers' children, the Mauds, the Bergens."
"You asked them about Kaiser Loveland, right?"
"Right... so that's the problem?"
James was obviously a little confused.
He didn't understand why this matter had called in the Shadow Lion agents.
Yesterday he was mixed in the crowd as he left the palace, and he saw a knight on duty without a mask. He lowered his head as if to avoid being seen by others. Others ignored him and walked past him, but he, out of curiosity, walked up to him and looked at him carefully, and felt that he looked very similar to someone next to Prince Trilred.
"That's not your concern, Mr. Larence... How do you know Mr. Loveland?"
"I don't know him." James shook his head, "Or to be more precise, I know him, but he doesn't know me."
"Have you seen the prince?"
"When he was still in charge of the army and had not yet been sent to Trierred," James recalled, "I was still a child... I had not yet gone out... My father often told me about the relationships between those big men, and he mentioned this man in particular, saying that he was the right-hand man of His Highness."
"So it's because of this?" He suddenly widened his eyes, a look of horror appearing on his face.
Larence is indeed different from other nobles.
If a noble had as many years of inheritance as they did, they would also know some secrets passed down from ancient times.
James heard from Baron Larence that the royal bloodline would not flow out unless it came to the most extreme and necessary circumstances.
Therefore, he knew very early that His Majesty's choice of a husband had nothing to do with him. He had never imagined that he could rise to the top in this way. The reason he came back and was called back was because other people who were unaware were doing the same thing, and Larence didn't want to be targeted because of his unique behavior.
Then the truth can actually be deduced - it is known that His Majesty's husband will probably be chosen from relatives, so the most likely ones are Prince Trierred, formerly Prince Naris... and Prince Wayne, formerly Prince Tenize.
In addition to them, there are some collateral relatives, but there are no famous people among them, and James doesn't even bother to remember them.
Then suddenly, without any warning or information, Prince Trieled's confidant ran to the palace to guard the door.
What does this mean?
Could it be that Prince Trielred had already secretly returned to Wayne?
Even if he was hiding in the palace at that time, he and His Majesty already had that kind of relationship?
It would be too reckless for me to ask about it rashly.
James reflected.
Although, he was very cautious and only mentioned it a few times during the banquet, but those kids from those families are all smart... Maybe they themselves are confused and don't realize it, but as long as they go home and mention those things to their old men, those old guys can guess something.
No wonder.
No wonder the Shadow Lion was attracted.
"It seems that you realize your mistake." Zafira nodded without pointing out what he guessed.
He closed the pen cap, put away the notebook, and changed his tone: "We plan to spread some news that His Royal Highness is still active in the north in the near future. We need the cooperation of the Larence family in this regard."
The Larence family has two main mining areas, one in the northwest and the other in the outermost part of the north, Trierred.
So we really need their help - some news will be more credible coming from their mouths.
"I will report these matters to my father." James stood up with him, knowing that the meeting was almost over.
At the same time, he was more aware that the other party came here mainly to look for someone other than him.
"You are very smart James." Zafira picked up the hat from the side.
"Keep it up."
After seeing Zafira off, James tore off his scarf.
In fact, he has never been used to wearing this thing. The temperature in the northwest is high, and it is even hotter in the mining area. He has never had the habit of wearing it.
He trotted up to the third floor, walked through the U-shaped corridor and came to the main building at the back. In another study, he found this generation's Baron Larence, who was also his adoptive father Le Fay.
"That's probably the situation..."
He read the conversation with Zafira to the Baron word for word, carefully observing his reaction.
"You mean they don't want the news to get out?"
The Baron took off his gold-rimmed glasses, put down the cut copy of the Wien Evening News, and stared at his son with a half-frown.
This kind of small meeting in the study room cannot be considered as treasonous. After all, they don't have that kind of intention. They do this to better understand the meaning of the superiors so that they can better protect themselves.
