Chapter 1: The Circle of Growth

Short and his party left Fort Rio and headed northeast without slowing down. On the way, Vincent asked Short about the destination of their trip. Short told him that the destination was the three northeastern counties of the Kingdom of Kant.

The three northeastern counties were the base camp where the Xiao family made their fortune in the past. Although they were not large in area, they were rich in various resources, densely populated, and economically prosperous. They were a land of plenty. After the founding of the Kingdom, the Xiao family had hereditary administrative governors and food towns.

The three counties have accumulated so much wealth in the past few decades, and they are also the real foundation for the Xiao family to become the first noble family in the kingdom. Vincent sighed in his heart, Wei En has offended the church and the Queen Mother, but is still so valued by the Xiao family, for

As for him, he doesn't know whether he is lucky or unlucky.

In order to avoid being noticed, Xiao Te avoided all the cities he visited except for the necessary supplementary supplies. He slept and ate in the open air along the way without stopping. Happily, although the journey was hard, it went smoothly and he did not encounter any unexpected problems.

However, the church did not seem to have issued a wanted order for Wei En because of Tangulas' death, which made both Short and Vincent feel a little puzzled.

From the royal capital, there is no drastic news, and everything is still stable. However, the condition of Prince Vander has not yet been determined. It seems that we will have to wait until we return home to get the exact information. Fortunately, Wei En's injury is gradually improving.

As he stood up, the listlessness he felt when he first left the royal capital gradually faded away, which made Xiao Te's worry about his father a little lessened.

In the afternoon, the convoy arrived at a small town. Seeing that the people and horses were exhausted, and that there was not much distance left to reach the three counties, Xiao Te decided to enter the town to rest. After dinner, everyone was free to move around. This day coincided with the town

There was a country dance held once a month last week. Everyone was curious. Except for the guards assigned by Cheney, they all went to join in the fun. Wei En was too lazy to go, so he stayed in the inn.

The sky quickly darkened, and Wei En lit an oil lamp, sat back in his chair, and stared blankly at the shadow cast by the lamp on the not-so-white wall, silently thinking about something.

The door rang and a man walked in. Wei En looked up and saw that it was Xiao Te.

When Wei En was about to get up, Xiao Te smiled and said, "No need to get up." He said that he sat on a chair. When Wei En saw Xiao Te sitting down, he did not continue to be polite and said, "You will be back from the mayor's house so soon.

Already?"

"I'm just going to pay a visit and get some information. It won't take long."

"What's the news?"

"No." Xiao Te shook his head and said disappointedly: "We are not well informed about him yet."

Wei'en thought for a while and sighed. Xiaote's eyes narrowed and he suddenly said: "Wei'en, your injury has basically healed, but I find that your spirit is still very depressed. Can you tell me the reason?"

Wei En shook his head: "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

Xiao Te shook his head: "No. Are you not the Wei En I knew before?"

Wei En wondered: "What was I like before?"

"Before you were injured, you looked at things optimistically and proactively. When you spoke, you looked relaxed and confident. When you encountered problems, you also looked confident and you would be better off than me. It's very endearing." At this point, Xiao Te's lips lightened up.

A smile appeared on the ground.

Wei En raised his eyebrows and wanted to say something. After thinking about it for a while, a wry smile appeared on his face and he said nothing.

"But Zhu Qing died because of me..."

"It is true that Zhu Qing's death is a sad thing for everyone, but it has already happened. Are you just wallowing in grief? For example, if an oak tree slowly grows and becomes luxuriant, it will inevitably

There will be grass and green vines growing around it, and there will be pedestrians taking shelter under the shade of the tree. This is a natural thing. But one day the tree became sick and the leaves withered. Then the grass and tree vines became

Withered and yellow, pedestrians can only continue their journey in the rain or in the scorching heat, but can this be said to be the fault of the trees?"

"Wei'en, now you are a sailor sailing on the sea. Facing the coming storm, no matter what attitude you use to face it, there are only two results: one is to be united with your partners.

Work together to survive the crisis, or the other is that everyone is buried at the bottom of the sea. Which one do you choose?" Xiaote continued.

Wei En looked at Xiao Te, and after a while, he sighed: "You seem to be right."

Xiaote smiled slightly, with a soft light shining in his eyes: "My father once said that although people sometimes have ups and downs in this life, in general, they are often like tree rings, gaining self-growth in constant circles.

With maturity, setbacks and failures are inevitable and are not terrible. What is truly terrible is losing one’s confidence and courage.”

Wei En stared at Xiao Te's gentle smile and nodded: "Anyway, thank you, Xiao Te."

Xiao Te shook his head gently: "You're welcome."

The two looked at each other silently. At this time, the sound of relaxed and cheerful dance music suddenly came from the window. It seemed that the country dance had begun. Wei En got up and went to the window. He looked into the distance through the window and saw the town under the bright stars in the sky.

The small square in the center was brightly lit, and many people gathered around it. In the center of the crowd, several pairs of dancers were dancing to the passionate and wild country cha-cha.

A burst of rapid drumbeats suddenly sounded, and the high-spirited townspeople sang in unison along with the beautiful and enthusiastic melody. The sound traveled through the night and resounded through the stars: "

Laura,

The oriole-like Laura,

You are the hottest girl in Havana tonight.

Laura,

Crazy Laura,

Twist your waist and keep all the beauty of tonight.

Oh, Laura!

Xiao Te came to Wei En's side with a faint smile on his face: "What a beautiful night."

Wei En nodded slightly.

"Come on, let's go downstairs and have a drink. Don't waste this wonderful time."

Wei En turned to look at Xiao Te, whose eyes were shining brightly with a hint of smile, as bright as the stars outside the window.

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"Crash!" A tall glass was thrown heavily to the ground. The glass instantly fell into pieces and turned into pieces on the ground. The two gray-clothed monks took two steps back in fear, lowered their heads, and put their hands on their waists.

At this moment, I didn't dare to raise my head to face the bishop in front of me.

McCarthy took two heavy breaths, and the flesh on his face trembled: "Trash, they are all a bunch of trash!"

"Sir, that Wei'en is really cunning. He ran away as soon as he saw something was wrong. With the protection of Krist, we really have no choice." A monk bravely explained carefully.

"Stupid!" McCarthy yelled unceremoniously: "Get Aquinta."

"Mr. Aquinta has already led people to chase him."

"Huh! Tell him, don't come back to see me without Wei En's head!"

"Yes!" The two monks bowed and retreated in panic.

McCarthy sat back heavily and squeezed into the chair behind him. He pinched his forehead with his right hand and said with a dejected look, "If this Wei En is not removed for a day, I will have trouble sleeping and eating."

In the case of Tangulas, McCarthy has the upper hand so far. First, the Queen Mother was furious and put her brother under house arrest in the Elysee Palace. Then Howard went on sick leave, and all the power of the church in the royal capital fell into McCarthy's hands.

Even those annoying old guys in the Anglican Church have now shut up their noisy mouths.

The only regret is that Wei En slipped through the net.

The Pope had received the report of Tangulas' death. However, he did not issue a wanted order to all the parishes in the kingdom to arrest Wei En, as McCarthy suggested. Instead, he remained calm and only sent two envoys to the royal capital to receive Tangulas.

The Pope's reaction not only puzzled McCarthy, but also made him faintly worried. It seemed that the Pope did not listen to his words.

McCarthy raised his head and stared blankly at the portrait of the Virgin on the wall: "We must get rid of Wei En as soon as possible. Only if Wei En is dead can the matter of Tangulas be unconfirmed. Even if the Pope has doubts, he can't do anything to him.

"

However, if this Wei En could be easily removed, why would he have such a headache? Thinking of this, McCarthy showed a bitter smile on his face: "Aquinta, I hope you won't disappoint me."

It was nearly midnight.

Pushing open the door of the inn, Carmen and others walked into the hall. Most of their faces were flushed with excitement. They were very happy with the dance tonight.

Wei En and Xiao Te were drinking together. Hearing the sound of footsteps, Xiao Te turned his head and said, "You're back? You look like you had a great time."

Ruola smiled and said, "Yes, it's such a cold day and I'm sweating all over."

Everyone joked for a while, and Cheney walked up to Short and whispered: "I want to have a few words with you in private."

Xiao Te was stunned when he saw his solemn expression, nodded, and followed him to the corner.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"At the dance just now, I met an old friend who is a businessman. He just came down from the north."

"North?" Xiaote frowned and said, "What did he say?"

"He told me that when he passed Duohua Ferry the day before yesterday, a large number of troops appeared at the ferry."

"Army? Are they our people?"

Cheney shook his head: "No. He is an old businessman from Minsk. He can't mistake the uniforms of our guard corps."

Xiaote thought for a moment and said, "Where is he now? I want to see him."

An hour later, Short, Cheney, Wei En and Vincent gathered together, everyone's face looked very serious.

Xiaote said: "From the news of this businessman, Duohua Ferry is heavily guarded. Although he doesn't know the origin of this army, he can be sure that it is not our Xiao family's army."

Wei En thought for a moment and said, "The ferry has been blocked. Can we take a detour and go north?"

"Duohua Ferry is an important way from Fort Rio to the three eastern counties. If we didn't go there, we would have to take a long detour." Cheney replied in a deep voice.

Vincent said: "I'm a little strange. If this army comes from the royal capital, since they have already caught up with us, they can attack on the road. Why do they have to block the ferry?"

"That's right." Xiao Te said: "Whether this army is a friend or an enemy, we must find out, otherwise." Xiao Te didn't finish his words, and everyone understood what he meant.

Cheney said: "How about I take someone to explore first, and you can follow me slowly."

"No." Xiao Te shook his head: "If the army at the ferry is not from the royal capital, then there should be pursuers behind us. If we delay here, we will be dead."

"We can neither go nor stop, so what should we do?"

"There is no other way." Short stood up suddenly: "Cheney, come and help me prepare."

The three of them stood up, and Cheney looked hesitant: "You want to use Song of Tomorrow?"

"Not bad." Xiaote turned and walked towards the door.

Wei En did not understand the meaning of Cheney's words, but looking at his face, he knew that the matter was not simple. He stepped forward and took one of Xiao Te's hands: "Xiao Te, you can't take risks easily."

Xiao Te's body froze, and he pulled back his right hand symbolically. Seeing that he could not break free from Wei En's grasp, he stopped moving. Slowly turning back, Xiao Te looked at Wei En, with a hint of tenderness in his calm eyes:

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. In two hours, we will know where to go."

);
Chapter completed!