With just one sentence, Prince Heinz made the third prince unable to speak.
Although he was very unhappy, it was true as the prince said, giving gifts and then asking for half of them back was really cheap. Besides, Dick was a talent he wanted to win over, and he had already given him a few more women, so why would he ask for them back?
After understanding this, the Third Prince thought to himself that it was a close call. He almost lost the big picture because of his subconscious lust. He couldn't have either of these two women, even if Dick offered them to him. Especially in this situation where someone was instigating this, he should have refused them sternly, otherwise it would inevitably cause resentment among people.
So the Third Prince coughed lightly, signaling those guys who were making a fuss to be quiet, and then he expressed his opinion in public with pretended generosity.
"I said at the beginning that I am the one treating everyone today. Dick, you are lucky. These two beauties are indeed top-notch. You will be an earl after you are canonized tomorrow. You must have servants who are worthy of your noble status around you."
"Then I would like to thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."
After Dick finished speaking, he signaled Rita to take care of the two new companions, take them away from here first, and then slowly question them after the party was over and they returned to the hotel.
Many young masters present watched the two beauties leave the hall with envy and jealousy towards Dick. Even the third prince couldn't help but glance outside. These two beauties were indeed so beautiful that they made people itchy, but they could only hold back for the time being.
105. Father and Son
A banquet with the highest standards in terms of physical aspects, where both the host and the guests are very happy at the end... no wonder!
Dick didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he got into the carriage and left the rose garden. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his lapel and moved his neck, which had been constrained by the dress for almost six hours.
He raised his hand to release a soundproof barrier, then turned and spoke to Rita who was removing her disguise.
"Rita, how long do you think the empire can last in its current state?"
"I can't make a definite conclusion about this. After all, the size of the empire is there. Even if it is rotten from top to bottom, it can still last for a long time, unless..."
"Unless someone throws a firecracker into this shiny septic tank, right?"
"Your analogy is very appropriate, but don't use it like that next time."
Dick smiled without comment. To be honest, today's party made him see the true character of the Third Prince. This man was not the type to achieve great things.
He now seriously suspected that the Southern Group chose to support this guy simply because they thought he was stupid and easy to control. If he were really allowed to take power, he would probably be sidelined by the powerful officials below and become a puppet emperor within a few years.
In comparison, Prince Heinz seemed more shrewd.
At this time, Xiao Ai, who was sitting opposite Dick, timidly raised a hand, and it seemed that she had something to say. Dick looked at her and raised his hand to signal.
"Ask whatever you want to ask. You must be confused since you just came here. But you can rest assured that I will not do anything wrong to my own people."
"Travel through time? Is this a different world?"
It took a little while for Dick to briefly explain the situation, and then he asked about the two's experiences before the time travel.
Xiao Ai traveled through time on her way to school by subway. She was going down the stairs and fell because she lost her balance. She was about to hit a passerby below, but at the moment before their bodies made contact, she fell into a white light.
Dick recalled the plot of the comics briefly. This seemed to be the accident at the beginning of the story when Xiao Ai and the office worker brother first met. I think because of Dick's call, the office worker brother was lucky enough to escape the "tragic" fate of being hospitalized with a busty JK with his balls, and he no longer had to worry about not being able to work overtime.
In a sense, this is also something to be celebrated.
As for Honoka, the world she came from was unfortunately what Dick said, and it was really a bad fan work. As a high school idol, Honoka was tricked by her agency to shoot a promotional video for a fan appreciation meeting, and she traveled here on the way to the set.
Dick's call helped her escape the disaster.
Soon, the group returned to the hotel where they were staying and saw that Hongye and Lukoya, who had been sent out by Dick to perform other tasks, had returned earlier.
The two saw the new companion Dick brought back, and Momiji recognized Honoka immediately.
These two have little interaction in the original work, but they often perform on the same stage in fan works.
However, Hongye knew that she had more important things to do, so she didn't exchange too many pleasantries with Honoka and whispered in Dick's ear.
"My Lord, according to your instructions, Lukoya and I pretended to be members of the Dead Tree Party and sent out the assassination order. They are expected to start the operation in three days at the earliest."
"Well done, thank you for the hard work."
After hearing Hongye's report, Dick nodded with satisfaction.
This time when Dick returned to the imperial capital, he secretly observed and found that the death of the old prince had indeed led to political turmoil. The undercurrents were surging beneath the surface, but the surface was still calm. All forces were busy reshuffled, but generally maintained the necessary restraint.
It can only be said that although the old nobles are corrupt and decadent, the faction leaders who are in charge of the overall situation are guys who are used to being restrained and steady, and will not use force unless it is absolutely necessary.
But Dick knew that the old guys could keep their composure, but the young guys might not.
What Dick needs to do is to add fuel to this turbulent situation and speed up the process.
When Dick killed Hammuradi before, he got his space ring, which contained more than 200 of Hammuradi's diaries.
Because elves have a long lifespan, they generally have the habit of writing diaries to prevent forgetting.
Dick spent a long time reading these diaries in order to understand Hammuradi and the Dead Tree Party he founded. Combined with the intelligence obtained from interrogating other prisoners, Dick was able to grasp the contact information of the Dead Tree Party's undercover personnel in various places.
So Dick asked Hongye and Lukoa to pretend to be the elves of the Dead Tree Party, leave signals in their own way, and issue an assassination list in the name of the elder members of the organization. The list includes the main figures of various factions in the imperial capital.
And that’s not all. After issuing the assassination order to the Dead Tree Gang, Hongye sent letters of denunciation to the people on the list, asking them to be careful as there might be assassination attempts against them in the near future.
This set of operations can, firstly, stir up trouble and accelerate the political unrest in the imperial capital. Secondly, it can consume the power of the Dead Tree Party and make them the target of public criticism.
You have to know that Dick killed Hamuradi, who was known as the "King of Assassins", and wiped out the pirate fleet of the Sea Tiger Gang, severely damaging the slave trade of the Dead Tree Party and cutting off their most important financial source. I'm afraid those elders in the upper echelons of the Dead Tree Party want to skin him alive.
These guys' revenge will come sooner or later, so Dick might as well strike first!
The means are indeed not fair, but as long as it works, it's fine.
At the same time, on the other side, the playboy old Duke Rune did not go home at night, but came to the home of one of his mistresses in the imperial capital as if no one was around.
It was no secret that the old duke had a mistress outside. Everyone in the family knew about it, but none of the ladies said anything. As long as they didn't have an illegitimate child, they would just pretend not to see it.
However, when he arrived at his mistress's house, Rune did not make love with the "canary" he kept in the house, but went straight to the secret room in the inner house of the house and met Prince Heinz who had just come out of the Academy of Talents.
When the old duke saw the other party, a rare gentle smile appeared on his usually stern face, and he spoke in a gentle and relaxed tone.
"Will Yingcai be interesting?"
"Okay, I saw him."
Rune naturally knew who the "he" Heinz was talking about. He sat opposite Heinz, glanced at the pendant that the other was playing with, and then started talking to himself.
"Our layout is basically complete. All we have to do next is wait and see. At this stage, it depends on who loses patience first. The third prince is a good example of a leader. When the old prince was still alive, he didn't dare to have any improper thoughts about the throne. Now he has been hit in the face by a pie in the sky. This guy is so arrogant that he even forgot his last name."
"Indeed, he is now eager to prove his ability to the outside world, but he doesn't know that the more he does, the faster his true level will be exposed. However, his current situation can be regarded as the result of the old emperor's deliberate actions."
"Let him make a fuss. The bigger the noise, the better. Cannon fodder should act like cannon fodder. As for Dick, just get to know him this time. Don't get too close for now."
"Okay, Father."
106. Beautiful thoughts
The next morning, Dick dressed as an adult and went to attend his own canonization ceremony.
The ceremony was held in the Council Hall of the Imperial Palace. Not only Dick was present, but several new nobles were present as well, and the emperor himself personally conferred titles on the new nobles.
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the establishment of the empire, it was not only the royal family that had the power to confer titles on new nobles. The three levels of nobles, dukes, marquises and earls, could also confer titles on new nobles on their own. However, the highest title they could confer could only be three levels lower than their own.
That is, the earl can be canonized as a viscount, the marquis can be canonized as a baron, and the earl can be canonized as a knight. These nobles who were canonized by the upper nobles themselves became the so-called "lower nobles".
But this creates a classic problem for the royal family: my vassal's vassal is not my vassal.
Later, during the reign of Hesse III, the empire attempted to further centralize power and strengthen the court's ability to manage local areas. As a result, the right to confer titles was taken back from the upper nobility and only knights could be conferred, with a limit on the number of titles depending on the rank of the title.
The original intention of the royal family was to hope that all nobles in the empire would be loyal only to the emperor, the supreme commander. However, in reality, the royal family's reforms were purely taken for granted.
The whole ceremony seemed long and boring to Dick. The accompaniment of the Royal Band did sound grand and vigorous at first, but when it was played in a loop for the third time, the effect to Dick's ears was almost the same as his cat's funeral music.
In the hall, Dick met Hesse VII, who had stayed on for so long that he outlasted his eldest son.
Thanks to the dragon bloodline from the Longmian Valley family (which is very thin), Heisen VII looks slightly younger than his actual age. At first glance, he looks like a "young man in his early sixties", sitting upright on a high golden throne, looking down at the people below with a face that is neither sad nor happy.
In addition, the fifth youngest prince of the empire also came and stood next to Hesse VII. He was given a small silver chair. Hesse VII would turn his head and glance at his youngest son from time to time, showing that he doted on him very much.
However, for some reason, Dick always felt that there was something wrong with Hesse VII's eyes.
It was not the look a father gave his son, but it was not some bad habit either. It was a feeling that was hard to describe.
After the enthronement ceremony, Dick officially became the Earl of Laguge and set up his own business. He no longer had to report the work progress in the territory to his superiors on a regular basis.
However, after becoming a lord from a governor, while gaining independence, the increase in power also means an increase in obligations and burdens.
It is worth mentioning that after Dick accepted the title, he was stopped by an unfamiliar official before he even left the hall. The official handed him a document with a haughty look on his face.
"The cabinet has decided that starting from the second half of this year, the production of cold iron must increase by 50%."
“Fifty percent!?”
"No matter what method you use, this indicator must be achieved."
The official said, without giving Dick any chance to speak, and just turned and left.
Lagug has no shortage of cold iron ore, which is a derivative of the winter god Ajax dormant underground. As long as the winter god is still there, this ore produced by the overflow of divine power will be inexhaustible. However, the mining of cold iron ore is very difficult, and increasing production means investing more manpower.
Dick pondered in his mind that if this sudden and substantial increase in production was not due to someone in the upper echelons of the empire deliberately making things difficult for him, then there was another possibility.
The empire is planning to launch military action against foreign countries, and it is time to start preparing for war!
After leaving the palace, Dick went back to the Duke's Mansion and accepted "congratulations" from his relatives at a family dinner. After the dinner, he was called to the study by the old Duke, as if he had something to say to him in private.
Dick originally thought that his cheap father wanted to give him a warning, telling him not to forget the family's cultivation and kindness so that he could continue to remotely control Laguge in the future.
But the first words the old duke said were completely beyond Dick's expectations.
"Dick, from now on, you should try not to have any contact with your family."
"Father, I... don't understand what you mean."
"I want you to avoid suspicion and stay away from the vortex of the imperial capital. You are not fit to get involved in the fight here. I want you to develop well in Laguge. You have at least three years to accumulate strength. Don't worry about the population problem. Someone will help you solve it."
While the old duke was instructing Dick on how to run the territory, he walked to the bookshelf, opened a hidden compartment, took out a black box, and handed it to Dick.
"A small gift to congratulate you on becoming the Earl. Keep it for now and open it when you return to Lagug."
Taking the box with both hands, Dick suddenly felt a little strange about the old duke in front of him. The old duke wanted to reach out and seemed to touch Dick's head, but his hand was suspended in mid-air, and finally he took it back in disappointment.
"Child, I know you have resentment towards me in your heart. You have been walking on thin ice in this family for the past 18 years. I have never given you open love, but in my heart, I acknowledge you. You are my son, Rune Best, and you will become a great nobleman!"
"I have never resented my father."
Hearing Dick's words, the old duke smiled with a look of regret. He actually knew how bad his image would be in Dick's mind, but some things were not the right time to say them.
So after a brief silence, the old duke waved to Dick.
"It's getting late. You should go back first. It's best to set off early tomorrow morning and return to your territory as soon as possible."
"I will leave the imperial capital as soon as possible. Please take care of yourself, father."
"Go."
After putting the black box given by the Duke into the space bracelet, Dick left the study immediately. As soon as he turned the corner, he met the eldest lady who was coming towards him. Dick nodded slightly, but the other party snorted coldly, just like before, with no intention of giving him a good face.
Dick was used to this a long time ago, so he didn't care much.
But just when Dick was about to leave, his second sister Nora suddenly found him and asked with a smile on her face.
"Brother, I heard that you participated in the Elite Club yesterday and summoned two super beautiful girls from Earth. Is that true?"
Dick understood Nora's intention almost instantly, but he still pretended to be stupid and asked back.
"Second sister, why are you asking this?"
"We have a pretty good relationship, don't we? When my second brother and his friends bullied you, I helped you. So, since you got two beauties for free, why don't you give one to me, your sister?"
"Haha, you are so naive, second sister!"
107. Xiao Ai’s Growth Path
At the end of September, the temperature in the imperial capital was a little cool even though it was in the temperate zone.
Dick packed his luggage and prepared to return to Laguge with some souvenirs. However, he didn't know when he would come back next time.
"Brother, we're done here. Take care."
"Have a safe journey, fifth brother."
