Chapter 229：

During these days, Maltz Kent's mood became more and more irritable.

It stands to reason that the development of the situation did not deviate from the planned track, and the only episode was the running away of Henry Ferdinand.

But this should be irrelevant. As a prisoner personally ordered by Duke Ferdinand, after he fled privately, he can only spend his future life in exile. Henry's family has been arrested, and his territory and property have been confiscated.

Just one thing, how did he run?

This matter that has not been investigated clearly seems to indicate an unknown future, and has become a nail in Maltz Kent's heart.

He really came here for whatever he was afraid of. Two weeks after Henry fled, the Earl of Kent gradually heard some rumors—it seemed that someone was secretly linking up with lords from all over the world to oppose him.

The suspicious Earl of Kent immediately sent spies to inquire around, and the situation gradually became clear: a despicable and shameful conspiracy was brewing, and the initiator of the conspiracy was Earl Price Parker, who secretly had a relationship with him.

"This old thing is really reckless!"

After reading the secret report, the Earl of Kent roared and kicked over the table in front of him, frightening the servants beside him, who were at a loss and knelt on the ground.

The count walked around the room a few times worriedly. He originally wanted to summon the army immediately to wipe out these sneaky villains, but after careful consideration, he gave up.

The first step is to determine who is the enemy and who is the ally.

Now Maltz Kent has stayed in Center as the heir of the Duke to handle various affairs for Duke Ferdinand. He immediately wrote a letter and asked his subordinates to copy many copies and send them to the lords everywhere, inviting them to come to Center. Discuss important matters - whether to continue to send troops to assist the royal family in countering the rebellion.

As a result, only half of the lords who came to the meeting in person were in their early years, and the others either shied away from something they couldn't come to or just sent representatives to deal with it.

Among the lords who will not come, of course, is Earl Plath Parker, who has been identified as the initiator of the conspiracy.

Even that little **** from the Greymans, who shouldn't have been let off last year.

These lords who did not come must have ghosts in their hearts.

The lords who came to Center City wrangled for a day but failed to reach a conclusion, and the meeting broke up unhappy. Maltz Kent didn't care in the slightest, the meeting itself was not his purpose, the real thing was to estimate the range of the enemy.

When the crowd left, he said in a warning tone: "Those who dare to challenge the authority of the Duke will definitely not end well."

The lords thought sourly: "Sooner or later, this is not yours?"

After roughly locking the scope of the enemy and ourselves, Maltz began to gather his confidants, contact potential allies, and build his own alliance. He was originally the biggest vassal of the Ferdinand family, and now he controlled the duke and became the heir to the duke, and a large number of people soon gathered around him.

With the strength of the Kent family, it is no problem to face any family in the upper northwest alone, but it has to be carefully weighed when facing an alliance formed by many lords, so he also needs to organize his own faction.

As a result, the lords of the Northwest Gulf stood in line one after another, and gradually formed two camps, both sides were preparing vigorously, waiting for the time to deal a fatal blow to the enemy, and a small-scale civil war was about to break out.

What shocked Maltz Kent was that his enemies actually revealed his secret affairs, such as using witchcraft to hold the Duke hostage, plotting to teach Giles to betray the kingdom, and so on.

How do they know? The Earl of Kent was puzzled. He had always been very secretive, and out of his admiration and confidence in mysterious magic, the Earl did not suspect the dying Duke Ferdinand.

However, these things were all spread through gossip. The enemy has not yet made a big fuss about this, but it has already made the Earl of Kent restless.

On the surface, the earl pretended to be dismissive of the "rumors" and was too lazy to defend himself, but in private he became suspicious, suspecting that a spy had been planted around him.

Many servants and guards who had served the earl suffered bad luck. Those who were imprisoned were imprisoned, and those who were executed were executed. The ducal mansion where Maltz lived was in a state of panic all day long.

…

After returning to Lake Town from Earl Parker's castle, Paul devoted himself to preparations for the upcoming war. The southern border of his territory is adjacent to Maltz Kent's old den - Emden, and he will bear the brunt of the war, so he has to make preparations in advance.

But in the days that followed, he could be regarded as seeing how the lords of this era fought wars.

Nearly a month had passed since the meetings organized by Price Parker had ended, and the battle still hadn't been fought.

During the period, gossip was flying all over the sky. I don’t know which guy with a tight mouth leaked several major crimes of Maltz Kent, and the news that the lords conspired to overthrow the Parker family was also spread Naturally, this This news was sure to reach Maltz Kent's ears, so he also began to organize his own forces.

Now the whole world knows that there are two powerful factions in the Northwest Gulf trying to kill each other.

"The awareness of secrecy in this era is really bad! I was thinking about waiting for our side to prepare a wave of sneak attacks."

Paul was so emotional in a meeting of the General Staff, and once again emphasized the importance of secrecy.

Both sides were dilly-dally building up their forces. Paul considered whether to take advantage of his standing army and take Emden in the south by surprise immediately, but abandoned the idea after the opposition of the officers.

In case the strength assembled by the opponent is stronger than oneself, and the allies on one's side still cannot come up with enough strength to support Arda, then it will be over. It's better not to be this early bird.

So Huxin Town made full use of the tranquility before the storm to strengthen its own strength. Both the regular army and the militia have stepped up their training. Soldiers in the army have been drilled to such an extent that they don't even have the energy to go shopping in brothels, and they fall asleep on the bed as soon as they return to the dormitory.

Under the organization of the Government Council, the population of the southernmost villages began to move to the north to prevent the Kent family from looting.

The shipyard in Port Fulan began to work overtime to build merchant ships suitable for transportation. In case the war is unfavorable and the trade route on land is cut off, shipping will become the life link between Arda and Bairdin. It is too dependent on foreign trade.

The iron factory in the valley was also expanded again. After the war broke out, the demand for iron by the surrounding lords would increase greatly. Paul planned to use low-priced iron to sell his personal favors, and by the way strengthen his right to speak in the alliance.

The sharp sword is out of its sheath, just waiting to stab the enemy.