Chapter 665 Butterfly Transformation
"Ah, it turned out to be His Royal Highness Thales and Miss Hilley..."
In the well-known old-fashioned theater "Ocean Tide Theater" in the Iris District, a theater audience with luxurious clothes came to the box on the second floor in surprise, but was stopped by both Wyah and Caquere vigilantes. He could only try his best to raise the volume to attract the box. The attention of the two distinguished guests.
"It's just too far away, I can't see it with my eyes, but from a distance, ah, what a pair of beautiful people!"
It's strange if he didn't see it - Thales, who was interrupted, responded politely on the face, but sighed listlessly in secret - Can't he see the security staff on the three floors and the three floors in front of and behind the theater? ?
Soon, the daring guest was politely invited out of the box by Mallos. He returned to the ordinary seats on the first floor, watching the drama, and in the eyes of everyone with admiration and envy, he recounted that "the prince and I were chatting and laughing" just now. extraordinary experience.
In contrast, Xi Lai was undisturbed, watching a play with relish, applauding or laughing in response from time to time, giving the theater owner enough face.
On the third day of the ??Emerald Celebration, one of the traditional activities of Kongming Palace is the "Your Majesty's Parade":
It is reported that after the marriage of 'Southerner' Heyman and Miss Regina, the King of Eight Fingers and the Duke of Cork stayed in the palace to entertain guests from all over the world, but the bride and groom both went out on a parade, inspecting people's feelings, rewarding the good and punishing the evil wherever they went. , to help the poor and distressed.
Therefore, on this day, Duke Iris will recreate the glorious allusions of the two ancient noble lords as usual, patrol the entire Emerald City, have fun with the people, and be busy all day—this is also the opportunity for Thales to talk to Shi Lai. Reasons to go out to see a play.
"Of course, whether it's noble lords or officials and commoners, people will break their heads for a position close to the Duke of the South Bank in the parade." Xile said disdainfully.
"Wow, you know a lot." Thales was impressed.
Xile paid full attention to the performance on the stage and held up a piece of paper:
"Here, the cheat sheet that Ashford gave me."
"Cheat Sheet?" Thales was stunned.
"In order to be worthy of the 'intellect and knowledge of Lady Kevin Deere'."
Oh.
"It's inappropriate for Jenn to go on a cruise, isn't it?" Thales frowned, "Should we follow along?"
"Why?"
"You know, Prince Hyman and Miss Regina, Shinsing and Kevin Deere..."
"you and me?"
Thales' complexion changed: "Oh, sorry, me, I swear I'm not, I'm really not suggesting anything to you..."
Sheila glanced at him:
"Yes, not originally."
Thales had to shut up.
Soon, the heroine on the stage was hidden behind the scenes, the section ended and the drama changed.
"So that's what Jen really said? That wool merchant is in charge of secret accounts?"
Hiley applauded and returned to the topic before being interrupted by the guests.
"Yes," Thales nodded and said, "So Jen 'handled' him in advance to prevent the kingdom's secret department from finding out his abnormal accounts and damaging the foundation of his rule."
Sheila frowned.
"Not quite right, he admitted it too happily."
"It's not quite right," Thales breathed out, "but we will know the truth."
Miss Kevin Deere thought for a while, her face changed slightly:
"Wait, so instead of giving up, you sent more people to track down the details of that Diop?"
Thales, who was seen through, forced a smile:
"In a more low-key, hidden way."
Thinking of Mallos' report, Thales thought that he hoped that Zombie and Rolf would find something.
"In what way? Are you sure Jenn won't know?"
Thales frowned and looked at Shi Lai.
Xile raised his brows and raised his gloved hands:
"Okay, I don't ask."
Thales breathed a sigh of relief:
"Thank you for your understanding."
"But if you continue to investigate, aren't you afraid of being self-defeating like the last time, being caught by Jenn at the murder scene and being driven out of the Emerald City by him?"
Thales was silent for a moment.
"I know, but thanks to you, Jen and I haven't completely turned against each other, at least we still maintain some tacit understanding."
Xile's eyes moved: "Talent agreement?"
"Next time something like this happens, he will inform me in advance to prevent my men from being caught 'room entry and murder'."
"And you believe him?"
Thales sighed:
"At least a gesture."
Hilla thoughtfully.
The curtain on the stage was reopened, and the next section began. The male protagonist, dressed in ill-fitting funny clothes, swayed onto the stage. Say what? Is this your mistress's dress?").
Sheila reopened:
"When I was a child, I broke a vase left by Queen Bella and wanted to blame a cousin who looked down on me, but when my mother was angry, Jenn stood up and admitted that he did it, but secretly Play tricks to let everyone know that I broke the vase."
I saw the girl from the Kevin Deere family sneered:
"After this incident, I was blamed. Jenn was praised by his parents, praised as a 'good and responsible brother' in the family, and appreciated by a cousin."
Thales was attracted and looked back at Shi Lai.
"What do you want to say?"
Sheila shook his head:
"Jane has known how to pose since he was a child, and use a good-looking posture to seize the greatest interests."
She admired the performance on the stage, her eyes slowly focused:
"Even his sister, I've known since childhood that you can't trust Jenn, at least not fully."
"The sun is up," Thales frowned amid a burst of laughter, "It's so tiring to live in your house."
"People from the Jinxing family said the same?"
Thales' expression:
"Let's get back to the point."
The prince ?? sighed:
"I know very well that Jenn's assurance is just a good-looking gesture: just like Diop's murder, by the time he 'informed' me, he must have tidied up the stall and won't give me any clues or loopholes. Stay. But at least I can be sure of one thing: Jenn has already dealt with the kingdom's secret department. Now he has no leisure to deal with me, and even on some levels, keep me in the Emerald City and pay him back It's good."
"benefit?"
Thales nodded.
"From Moss to Diop, the Kingdom Secret Service tried every means to bring them into my field of vision, counting on the impulsive Prince Thales to dig out the secret and expose the inside story," Thales said solemnly, "Jane is based on my Take action to kill them before me and bury them deeply, and dissolve the conspiracy to nothing."
Sheila pursed her lips.
"It sounds like you are a **** in the game between them, and everyone can pinch and fiddle with it?"
Thales looked at her unhappily.
"Oh, sorry, I should have been more polite," Sheila turned her head blankly, "After all, the truth hurts the most."
is really euphemistic.
"No, I'm at most a chessboard, a battlefield," Thales was silent for a while, sighed in a divine way, "In the Emerald City, those who were involved in it and even died for it, they are the ones who really follow the crowd, A chess piece that can't help itself."
Sheila didn't speak, just stared at him silently.
"Now, only three lives have been lost, maybe there are more, and we are still in the dark about the situation of the battle," Thales said quietly, "I don't like this."
"But what if that's what the Secret Service wants?"
Sheila said softly:
"Keeping you in the dark and letting you throw punches indiscriminately and instinctively? If that's what they want?"
Thales frowned.
Then let them eat shit.
he said silently.
During the conversation, another person came to the second floor inexplicably, and surprised the guests who 'ran into' the prince and the young lady. In the courtesy of Mallos and others, please ask them to leave, but Thales and Xilai had to be silent again for a while, turning their attention. back on stage.
This year's very popular new play "The Changes of the Butterfly" is staged in the theater. It tells the story of Origi, an illiterate but warm-hearted boy during the tyranny of the Red King:
Origi rescued the Prime Minister's niece in a coincidence, but said the wrong thing when the Prime Minister rewarded him ("I want a good job without the sun/shade"), thus being mistakenly incorporated into the kingdom Secret Division. In the secret department, this simple and straightforward new cadre made all kinds of jokes, but also by chance, he solved countless problems through blind and reckless fighting, fighting in the dark room, playing the game of Kuntana, wisely capturing the chaos of the party, and fans. The Three Kingdoms of the Sea, saved the kingdom from fire and water, won the trust of the king, and by the way won the heart of the prime minister's niece.
On a mission, Origi accidentally discovered that what he had done in the name of the king was actually countless wrongful convictions, killing hundreds of innocent lives. However, under the bewitchment of the chief of the secret department, in order to be worthy of his sweetheart and stay with her, Origi escaped the torture of pain and guilt, and chose numbness and escape. Slowly, Origi grew up and matured, learned vanity, hypocrisy, and familiarity with human relationships. He pursued advantages and avoid disadvantages along the way, and rose to the top. He is no longer the fool he used to be, but just like the name of the play, from ugly but ugly. A simple caterpillar transforms into a numb and struggling chrysalis, and then into a beautiful but poisonous butterfly.
At the end of the story, on the eve of the coronation of the virtuous king and the end of the tyranny, the powerful Origi was involved in a political conspiracy to frame the prime minister. End in tears.
To be honest, both the script and the actors, in terms of quality, are indeed much better than those in the capital.
Thales scratched his head, um, if it was in the capital, this kind of play that smeared and satirized the kingdom's secrets and promoted "unrighteous values" would not be able to be staged - not right, it depends on the history of each generation of kings to the red king Evaluation and positioning, is it to vigorously criticize and reflect deeply, or to "objectively and rationally view it in multiple ways", is it "historical conclusions cannot be distorted", or is it "sensitive topics" to be avoided?
In short, he doesn't know if it can be staged.
"Can I give some advice?"
Thales came back to his senses in shock and found that it was Hille who spoke.
"Of course, all ears."
I saw Xilai's eyes glowing: "If you want to start from the street, such as tracing clues from the Blood Bottle Gang, be very careful."
Blood Bottle Gang?
Thales' complexion changed slightly:
"you-"
"How did I know you were going to start with the Blood Bottle Gang?"
Xile turned his head and smiled slightly: "Same as you."
Under Thales' suspicious gaze, Hillary picked up the tea indifferently:
"If Diop is really a shadowy accountant, then when Jann 'dealts' with him, he must not use the official resources on the surface, such as the Vigilance Hall and the Emerald Legion."
Thales remembered the killer that D.D and Glover mentioned.
"My brother has to use another set of people to go through channels that cannot appear in writing and on the surface. When Diop usually handles secret accounts, he must use similar people. It just so happens that in the Emerald City, such channels are used. , the person who does this job and eats this bowl of rice will be around, and more or less can be related to a big gang..."
"The Blood Bottle Gang." Thales sighed.
Sheila nodded happily.
"Your direction and idea are right. Most of the powerful and powerful families have gloves to do the dirty work for themselves," Miss Kevin Dill looked at the stage, the final confrontation between the hero Origi and her sweetheart, "And compared to the water-tight empty palace, these gloves are of course relatively easier to break through."
Thales sighed.
"Except for one point." Xilai's words changed, causing Thales' eyes to move slightly.
I saw Xilai raised the corners of his mouth:
"It is said that a long time ago, there were dozens of street gangs and gangs in the Emerald City, from shoe repairers to street sweepers, from dung diggers to masons, and they did not belong to each other - like most cities in the world, no matter how normal However."
Thales was a little puzzled: "Until?"
Xilai's expression gradually became serious:
"It wasn't until a few decades ago that a certain Duke of the Kevin Deere family, 'Shofar' Coker, had a whim, changed the old style of aristocrats, and stretched out his noble hands that did not touch the soil in the prosperous palace to explore Going to the bottom, sinking into the people, incorporating and even investing in non-traditional forces 'beyond the chessboard' brought a turning point on the streets of Emerald City."
Non-traditional forces outside the chessboard.
Shofar Cork.
Thales raised his eyebrows.
"The turning point, you mean..."
Sheila looked at Thales seriously:
"An out-of-town gang composed of veterans from the Western Wilderness who started smuggling and prohibiting alcohol, entered the Emerald City at that time. It received acquiescence and even support, quickly broke the balance, and swept the Emerald City in just a few decades. the streets and the underground world.”
What ?? Thales understood:
"The Kevin Deere family colluded with the Blood Bottle Gang at that time?"
"not only that."
Sheila said: "Arms, prostitution, drugs, population, street intelligence, rural power, market monopoly... Starting from the streets of Emerald City, with the support of the Kevin Deere family, the 'business' of the Blood Bottle Gang is no longer limited. In smuggling and prohibition, they changed course, transformed, grew, expanded, entered unfamiliar territory, stretched out their tentacles to towns and villages across the country, to corners beyond the reach of the army and the guards, and to many officials Even one of the lords got involved, reached cooperation, provided 'services' and helped 'governance'."
"Service," Thales frowned, "Governance?"
Sheila ignored him:
"In this way, the power and money of Iris, the violence and organization of the Blood Bottle Gang, official and unofficial forces, they complement each other and merge into one."
in one.
Thales thought of the Sabertooth Dune camp in the Western Wilderness, and the tacit understanding—perhaps a little threat—and cooperation between the Wings of Legends and the mercenary leaders.
"You mean, the Kevin Deere family is the backing of the Blood Bottle Gang and is affiliated to the top and bottom?"
Sheila shook his head:
"I wouldn't say that. After all, the Blood Bottle Gang is neither an army nor a loyal dog. The Duke of Iris can't use them as an arm, and the huge gap cannot be ignored. There is no disagreement between the two."
But her words changed:
"But it is true that the Kevin Deer family and the Blood Bottle Gang are more closely related than the ordinary lords and gangs. Mutual benefit has long been a tradition, and mutual compatibility has become a habit. The relationship is more complicated than you think. Duke Iris is also used to using such unconventional pieces to monitor and even control the streets and the underground world."
Thales exhaled:
"No wonder, no wonder in the Emerald City, Jenn can so easily follow his heart and spread rumors about me."
"So, if you put a breach in a place like this," Hilley concluded, "be careful."
Thales was silent for a while, watching Origi on the stage weeping in pain, and he spoke his heart out under the moon.
It was only then that he reacted. With the progress of the plot of "The Butterfly Transformation", the audience hadn't laughed for a long time.
"These things, street gangs, the underground world, etc.," Thales said solemnly, "As a noble lady, how did you know?"
"Ha, I knew you would say that," Hillary said with a sullen expression, "Excuse me for reminding you kindly, Duke Thales, the eldest lady in front of you is Kevin Deere."
Thales' expression changed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything else. You're right, you're Kevin Deere," he sighed. "It's better to be a friend than an enemy."
Sheila was silent for a while.
"When I was a child, there was a rumor that people were rumored, and there was a lot of talk in the streets."
Thales raised his eyes.
Xiley talked about the past and was gloomy: "My father didn't resort to the power of the duke to curb the rumors, he knew it would only be self-defeating. On the contrary, he used the blood bottle gang to fight the rumors with rumors, and finally saved my reputation."
Thales frowned: "Your reputation?"
"Yes, my reputation," Sheila said sarcastically, "it's about my reputation whether I can get married or not."
(end of this chapter)