Chapter 343： audience with the king

An exquisitely decorated carriage was slowly driving on the road leading to the Jingyao Palace. Baron Hansel Abbott sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, but his head was spinning extremely fast.

He was going to meet His Majesty the King soon, so he had to be cautious.

"My child, don't be nervous. Your Majesty is a generous and benevolent king. I have already instructed you in terms of etiquette. For the rest...you can learn what you want."

Sitting next to him was a man in his 40s, who was Hansel's father, the old Earl Abbott.

"Yes, father."

Nevertheless, Hansel still looked complicated.

Old Abbott was very pleased. Just yesterday, his son Hansel suddenly returned to Jingyao's home. Before the family recovered from the joy, Hansel couldn't wait to see His Majesty the King.

The old Abbott asked the reason. It turned out that the news of the pirate invasion of Westport had spread to the Northwest Gulf. The Northwest lords headed by Earl Greyman planned to send troops to serve the King, and their fleet had already set off southward. And his son returned to Jingyao as the special envoy of the lords in the northwest, and contacted the kingdom government to join forces to suppress the pirates.

Ah, Hansel, you are finally able to serve the kingdom in an upright manner like your elder brother, fulfilling your long-cherished wish.

The old father was very relieved. Since it was the first time his son had an audience with the king, he decided to accompany him to the palace in person, lest Hansel's inexperienced act of disrespect would leave a bad impression on His Majesty.

The carriage slowly drove into the gate of the palace, Hansel took the initiative to get out of the carriage, and identified himself to the royal guards standing guard, "I am Hansel Abbott of the Abbott family, and I am the representative of the Northwest lords. Come to see His Majesty the King."

Hansel Abbott? The guard felt that this name seemed to have been heard somewhere.

ah? Isn't this the son of a whore? The son born to the prostitute who was led in by Earl Abbott at that time, according to his parents' generation, the incident was quite a big deal at the time, and it also ruined the Earl's future.

The contempt in the guard's eyes was fleeting. The guards of the royal family were all young talents selected from the noble children of pure and noble blood. Naturally, there was no good luck for Hansel, who [polluted] noble blood.

He carefully examined the token Hansel handed over.

"Go in!" the guard said angrily.

The fleeting moment of contempt and the contempt in his tone hurt Hansel deeply.

For a moment, he suddenly missed the Northwest Bay, at least the people there would not look down on him because of his blood.

Hansel held back the strong discomfort in his heart, turned around and entered the carriage with a calm expression on his face, the carriage started to move again, and slowly passed the gate of the palace.

This scene was seen by the people in another carriage not far from the gate.

"Hansel Abbott?"

Irene in the carriage looked at the gradually approaching palace and said the name.

"What is he doing back to Jingyao? Did Paul send him here?"

"Baron Abbott? That Baron Hansel Abbott who served as the royal commissioner in Arda? Her Royal Highness, right?"

The guard Liya lightly covered Sakura's mouth and asked a surprised question.

"Yes, I'm sure I'm not mistaken."

Erin replied confidently.

At the gate of the palace, the carriage was stopped by the guards.

"Who? Come out for inspection!"

Because this carriage is extremely simple and has no heraldry marks, it looks like a commoner riding it, so the tone of the guards is very rude, and a large group of people cheered and surrounded the carriage.

"It's me." Irene opened the curtain that blocked the car window, and turned towards the leading captain with a displeased face.

"His Royal Highness Irene!"

A group of guards of the royal family were shocked. The person sitting in the car turned out to be the princess who hadn't seen her face for a long time.

They didn't know about Irene's running away from home, and they thought that the princess slipped out through another door of the palace to pretend to be visiting and then came back through this door.

"I'm sorry!" The captain led his subordinates to bow in unison, and then quickly moved out of the way to let the carriage pass.

…

In a side hall of the palace, Hansel saluted the king respectfully, then handed a letter to the attendant next to him with both hands, and the attendant went to Rodney and handed it to him. If it was Rodney's close minister, he wouldn't have to be so troublesome, but unfortunately Hansel was not, not even his father who had been sitting next to him for many years, so he had to follow the rules honestly.

The white-haired king unfolded the letter and read it carefully.

The content of the letter is that the lords of the Northwest Gulf, headed by Paul Greyman, requested to send troops to cooperate with the royal army to wipe out the pirates in one fell swoop. Yes, Paul felt that his weight was not enough, so he also attracted the Parker, Heller, Ferdinand and other families who had befriended him to jointly write a letter to the king.

"Hmm... the ministers in the Northwest are really loyal and brave. They want to share the worries of the kingdom once again."

First, Paul Gleiman took the initiative to send food when the kingdom's army was short of food. Later, Gleiman recruited other lords to supply a large amount of high-quality and cheap ordnance when the king's army was confronting the rebels, allowing Rodney to Take a high look at the lords in this corner of the kingdom in the Northwest Gulf.

Especially Greiman, the king specially asked the officials in charge of the Heraldry Institute to investigate and understand the ins and outs of this family. He sometimes considered whether it was necessary to write off all the old accounts in history and restore the honor of this family.

The king sighed: "Well, if the lords in other places are rushing to serve the country like the lords in the northwest, why worry that Giles can't be pacified?"

"Ah... By the way, Hansel has also contributed a lot, thank you for your hard work. It seems that Catherine's decision to arrange you as royal commissioners to contact the lords of various places was right."

"Wherever it is, it is our duty to serve the kingdom." Hansel hastily expressed humility.

He continued: "Your Majesty Before cooperating with the Kingdom's army to launch an attack, the fleet in the Northwest Gulf needs a port as a place to stay for repairs and supplies. Please make your decision."

"Um... the port."

Rodney stroked his beard, the request was reasonable.

"Hansel, can the generals in the Northwest Gulf restrain their soldiers from messing around?"

The king is well aware of the urine nature of the army in this era, and he is afraid that this group of guest troops from other places will cause him any trouble.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Northwest Army has strict discipline... second only to the Kingdom's regular army. Please rest assured that they will not harass the place."

Hansel had stayed in Arda for so long, of course he knew the army under Paul's command. He wanted to be "unparalleled in the world", but he was afraid of insulting the king's face.

"Well, I trust your judgment. So, let's choose Keel Port as the base of the Northwest Fleet. This port is the closest to where your brother Harrison is stationed, and it is also convenient for communication."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Hansel bowed to the king. He had already learned from his father that his brother had been appointed as the commander of the crusade against pirates.

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