Sword of Dawn

Page 140

The little girl couldn't keep up with her breath as she was talking, so she stopped and began to pant. She seemed to be so excited that she forgot about her physical condition. Seeing this, Gao Wen hurriedly said: "Speak slowly, don't worry, I will going to stay here for a while.”

"My God..." Amber's voice came from behind Gawain at this moment. The half-elf had an unbearable expression on his face, and his tone was full of astonishment, "How could she be like this..."

The maid standing behind the chair lowered her head, looking terrified in front of Countess Luo Penny: "I'm sorry, Mistress, but Miss Patty..."

"I know," the Viscount looked at her daughter, but her tone was full of helplessness, "Take the lady back to her room to rest."

Patty immediately tried to raise her head: "But Mom, I want to..."

"Be obedient and go back to the room to rest." Viscount Luo Penny emphasized again, and then glanced at Gawain with some hesitation. Rest, I'll see you."

"You must come!" Patty looked at Gao Wen with her big bright eyes blinking. She had no idea that this was the "Uncle Selsey" she had seen many times in the spiritual network, and she was only interested in a story from the story. The "protagonist" who came out of the movie is full of interest.

Facing the little girl's expectations, Gao Wen just nodded with a smile.

The maid took Patty away, using the specially made chair that looked like some kind of simple wheelchair, Gawain watched their figures disappear into the deep corridor of the castle, and then turned to look at Countess Ropeny : "How did she become like this?"

The Viscountess obviously didn't want to bring up this topic, so she gave a very vague answer: "When she was young, she encountered a fire."

"Fire?" Gawain shook his head, "It was the accident that happened to Viscount Roman Grant..."

Roman Glenn was the husband of Ropeni Glenn, the previous lord of the Viscount Glenn, a young nobleman who was "crazy, arrogant, and cursed" among nobles and bards.

Luo Peini's expression was obviously a little stiff, and her eyes became indifferent and alienated. She turned to the door of the banquet hall and took a breath: "My lord, we shouldn't keep the guests waiting too long."

"A dance can last until dawn, and the butler will take care of everything when the host leaves," Gao Wen said calmly behind Luo Peini, "Maybe we can talk about the 'Land Act' and the 'Free Civil Law'."

Luo Peini stopped in her tracks and turned her head to stare into Gawain's eyes.

Gao Wen said flatly: "Let the people inside wait - their time is not precious."

"I'm not interested in the topics you raise," said the Viscountess. "Those are the product of failures and mistakes."

Gao Wen looked at the other party with a half-smile: "Don't you wonder why your husband failed back then?"

Luo Peini was silent for a moment, and waved to the housekeeper who had just come outside the hall to observe the situation. After giving some orders, she looked at Gao Wen: "We can go to the study on the second floor. But I still want to emphasize——I am very concerned about what you want to talk about. Those things are no longer of interest."

Gawain and Amber followed behind the Viscountess, and soon came to the study on the second floor of the castle. In this study, Gawain saw the portrait of Viscount Roman Glen again—the smiling young man Sitting in the picture frame, it seems that he is still working in this study.

But what makes Gao Wen more embarrassed is that there is another painting opposite the portrait of Viscount Roman Glenn, which shows him... standing on a high hill with the Sword of the Pioneer and the Shield of the Guardian In the picture above, Qi Yu looks forward imposingly, which is the most widely circulated image of Gawain Cecil.

Amber immediately poked Gao Wen's waist behind him: "Hey, look, you're hanging on the wall!"

Gawain avoided Amber's fingers calmly, and said with some embarrassment: "I thought that after I 'got up', everyone had already taken my portrait off the wall..."

"My husband regards you as an idol," Countess Luo Penny said lightly, "After he left, this study room has always maintained its original furnishings."

Gao Wen nodded silently, walked to the desk, and tapped lightly on the table: "Did he write the Free Civil Law here back then?"

"As I said, it was already a product of failure and mistakes-the facts later proved everything," Luo Peini said indifferently, "so this is the real purpose of your coming here? It's not to meet new neighbors , not here to discuss business, but to discuss the mistakes my husband made during his lifetime?"

"No, the original purpose of my coming here was really just to visit, and after learning something about Viscount Roman Glenn, I also became interested in his life, but I don't think it can be done in a simple way. The word 'wrong' can sum up everything about him."

Gawain spoke unhurriedly, and the deeds about Viscount Roman Glenn, which was investigated by Amber, slowly pieced together in his mind, after erasing those parts that were deliberately twisted and misinterpreted by ignorant people , The image of a reform pioneer gradually emerged in his mind.

"Prohibit all slave trade, liberate all serfs and slaves on the territory as free people; re-measure the land, confiscate all over-restricted, unjust, and unregistered land and distribute it to new free people; allow anyone to do business, work, Hunting, reclamation, and canceling the "Untouchable Restriction Law" in the territory, allowing freed slaves to learn crafts to become craftsmen; canceling the privilege of noble children becoming knights, so that commoners and noble children can accept the selection of knight apprentices..."

Gawain spoke one by one, watching Ropeni Grant's expression turn gloomy, and finally he shook his head: "It's all great ideas."

That's right, this is the information Gawain has about Viscount Roman Glenn after the investigation and sorting out by the Military Intelligence Bureau.

A pioneer who stood up before he unveiled his coffin and tried hard to change this era.

Ten years ago, a young aristocrat in the southern border awakened. He saw the darkness and filth hidden under the prosperity with different eyes, realized the backwardness of Ansu's current system, and realized the impact of the aristocratic system on this society. Restricted, aware of the unwarranted oppression of civilians by various traditional laws, and the wasted productivity in the process of oppression, he may even have realized the power of the people—or at least the "value" of the people.

Then he carried out reforms, and carried out reforms with the spirit of youth.

In the initial stage, the strong authority of the lord and the slowness and clumsiness of the old aristocratic system allowed his reforms to start smoothly. He implemented new laws and regulations in some territories and gained some results...

But this initial period was remarkably short-lived.

The power of the rebound was so fierce that almost no one understood what this young nobleman had done. He was dubbed "crazy", "rebel", and "bewitched by the devil". Almost in the blink of an eye, the young man The promising viscount became the evil spokesperson who disrupted the order of the kingdom and corrupted the aristocracy. Almost half of the southern borders criticized him.

The records after that became vague and messy, and there was no reliable text or unreliable bard to describe what happened after that. Amber only found Viscount Romain Glenn from a scattered folk poem. fate of:

"On that stormy night, the viscount sneaked into his testing ground, he wanted to continue to seek forbidden knowledge, so as to fill his ever-hungry stomach—but fortunately, the gods stopped in time and sent a holy messenger Come to end the Viscount's madness, a great fire fell from the sky, and the purifying flames are shining brightly!"

Most of the poems belonged to a certain daring bard, and such a daring bard... I am afraid that he has already been hanged in some square, and it is impossible to find its source.

But Ropeny Grant still remembers what happened then:

"The mob rushed into the castle. They were dressed in the clothes of mercenaries and civilians. There were knights and mages with extraordinary abilities mixed in. They rushed all the way up the mountain, broke the gate, and rushed into the inner hall. The knights and mages who were supposed to guard the castle were at the critical moment. Time was gone, and my husband could only face those thugs alone...until the magic center of the castle exploded," Luo Penny said with a cold face, "then, the thugs stopped suddenly, and the 'reinforcements' from several surrounding lords came Arrived 'just in time', ping-pong-pong scuffled, the mob retreated, my husband was dead, my daughter was dying..."

Gao Wen looked into Luo Peini's eyes: "Because the dignity of the nobles must be maintained, the 'mob' can attack the castle and kill the nobles, but they must never capture the castle or destroy a surname—so the people behind the scenes must be at the critical moment. Jump out, and after those mobs have finished their assault, appear as an envoy of justice and clear away all disgraceful evidence."

"Your eyes are really bright," Luo Peini sneered, "then do you know what happened afterwards?"

"A liquidation and transaction, you expressed your willingness to return to the right way, the nobles announced that Viscount Romain Glenn was only cursed by the devil, so his temperament changed drastically, the mob who stormed the castle was found guilty, and hundreds of people were hanged On the walls of Glenn Castle, dead bodies were dried and thrown off the cliff - justice was done, order was restored, or so it was thought.”

Countess Luo Penny gritted her teeth suddenly, and the muscles on her cheeks trembled uncontrollably: "Do you know who those who stormed the castle and were hanged?"

Gawain was expressionless: "The ones who can be caught and convicted can only be ordinary people without extraordinary power, those knights and mages mixed in the crowd, those who really 'brought great strength', ran away as early as the beginning , so those who were hanged were the serfs who acquired the land, the civilians who were allowed to do business, and the hunters and craftsmen who became rich after the implementation of the new law-on the gate of the castle, there were not only traces of swords and swords, And the dents from the pitchforks and hoes, that's the smoking gun."

"Those people are guilty!" Ropeni Glenn gritted her teeth. The indifference she had worked so hard to maintain was finally broken. After learning that Gao Wen had investigated everything and was the one who knew the truth back then, she finally stopped hiding anything, " Those who benefit, those who are free, they are mobs! They deserve to be hanged—if they don’t die only once, I would like to have them resurrected, and then I hang them again!”

Chapter 0337 Whose neck is the noose on?

"If hanging those ignorant people can correct all mistakes, then this world is too kind," Gao Wen couldn't help laughing and shaking his head when he heard Luo Peini's words, "They are just being encouraged, or It’s just an accomplice who took advantage of it.”

"But they are more hateful than the main culprits," Ropeni Glenn said coldly, "My husband fought against tradition and rules for them, so that those who could only roll in the mud all their lives have a decent life However, they were deceived by a little lie, or bought by a little money, and turned into a mob, who came to rob the castle and attack their lord!"

Amber heard this from the side, and finally couldn't help it at this time, she looked at Gawain and Luo Penny dumbfounded: "Wait a minute, what do you mean, most of the mob who stormed the castle back then were actually attacked by Viscount Roman? Helping people?!"

"Of course, this is the inference I made based on your investigation results," Gao Wen nodded, "and it is also similar to what I expected at the beginning. After knowing the specific actions of the Viscount Roman and the incident of the mob attacking the castle later, Afterwards, I knew it was going to go that way.”

Luo Peini looked at Gao Wen in amazement. She had calmed down a little from the excitement of recurring old wounds, and couldn't help but wonder what Gao Wen's real purpose was today: "Why do you say that?"

Gao Wen didn't directly answer the question of the Countess Luo Penny, but raised a new question: "Do you want to know why your husband failed?"

Luo Peini was stunned, and took a deep breath slowly. She wanted to regain the dominance of the topic: "Why should I discuss these past things with you?"

"If you can understand the laws that Cecil is currently implementing, you probably won't have this problem," Amber next to him said, "The Cecil... is currently gradually liberating serfs and slaves, and the land Allocation is also happening in sync..."

"My husband has already failed at this once, and I didn't expect someone else to do the same thing," Ropeni Glenn stared at Gao Wen, "Now you have learned what happened here a few years ago, so the last It’s better to stop in time, this deviant act..."

"There is nothing wrong with this deviant act. Your husband's failure lies in the fact that he did three other things wrong." Gao Wen shook his head and interrupted Luo Peini's words directly. "First, he took too big steps. Second, he The fist is not hard, and third, he keeps the people ignorant."

As he spoke, he turned to the wall behind the desk and looked at Viscount Romain Gülen, who was smiling faintly in the oil painting on the wall.

"He was a pioneer, a pioneer of reform, but like many pioneers, he made a very serious mistake. He tried to correct the mistakes in the current Ansu system and unleash the power of the people, but he failed to do so. He came up with a reasonable plan, and he directly put all the reforms together, but he didn't think about the mutual influence and interaction between these decrees, and he didn't think about the gradual nature of social transformation, so his reforms would make the order messy— - If I am not mistaken, those serfs and slaves who were suddenly freed caused confusion at the first stage, because they had neither land nor property, so your husband had to carry out land distribution without preparation, And that led to even greater confusion.

"Secondly, he didn't have enough power to resist those rebounding forces. He didn't first ensure an armed force of his own, and he didn't think carefully about how much the traditional nobles affected by him would resist after their interests were damaged. .

"Finally, and most fatally - he didn't tell those who got their freedom and their land, 'why.'"

Gao Wen stopped here, and turned his head to Ropeni Grant: "The arrogance of the nobles still restricted his vision, so he didn't take a close look at the lowest-level commoners at all, and he didn't understand those people's thinking, knowledge, Instead, he took it for granted that those people would understand this great cause as well as himself. His original intention of handing over the land and many rights to the people was to let the people live a better life, but in the eyes of the people at the bottom, this was nothing more than It's another 'charity' carried out by the high-ranking nobles—if the lord gives alms, others can give alms;

Luo Peini muttered to herself: "...how could they think like this..."

"Why can't they think like this? Isn't that how it happened in the past few hundred years? Thunder, rain and dew are the rewards of the nobles, and the untouchables don't need to think about it, as long as they bear it silently. For hundreds of years, this society ruled by the nobles is That’s what I taught them,” Gawain snorted softly, “so I’m sure that when they were bewitched and stormed the castle, they wouldn’t feel any guilt at all—but after the liquidation, you put them When sent to the gallows, they will not feel the slightest injustice!"

The study room fell silent. For a long time, Luo Peini, Gao Wen, and Amber did not speak.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the Viscountess broke the silence: "So, you came here this time to talk to me about this? To let me understand how a disaster that broke out a few years ago happened?"

Gao Wen smiled lightly, and shook his head slightly: "I just came to see a friend I have never met."

He was referring to Patty, but Luo Peini Grant would obviously understand it as Viscount Roman, but these were not important.

Gao Wen turned around again, and seriously looked at the smiling Viscount Roman Glenn in the portrait.

Just as he thought before, the world doesn't revolve around him as a traverser.

There will always be people who will wake up, and there will always be people who will do some deviant things, just like the wild mage who studied the essence of magic decades ago, and Viscount Roman Glenn who initiated reforms ten years ago.

That reform failed. Due to lack of experience, limited vision, and ideological constraints, Roman Gülen's New Deal failed in just a few years. A typical curse, if it weren't for the aristocratic system to maintain its own face, Viscount Roman's fate would have been even worse-and his short-term change has become a solo of a romantic utopian reformer. Understand, no one even wants to record.

But pioneers do exist after all, and before he, Gao Wen, unmasked his coffin, there was indeed such a pioneer.

That's why Gao Wen came here and talked so much with Ropeni Grant.

His original purpose was just to confirm the existence of Patty Glenn and to confirm whether this land was also polluted by the Sleepers, but after Amber investigated the events that happened in Glenland many years ago, he temporarily changed A little planning.

He retracted his gaze and nodded slightly to Countess Luo Penny: "Ma'am, if you really want to hang the murderers who killed your husband, then you should put the noose away and wait for the right time to put it around the neck of the right person." superior."

Viscount Luo Peini looked into Gawain's eyes quietly: "But I'm afraid I don't have such a noose."

Gao Wen and her looked at each other for a moment, the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "That's right, I have it."

Then he didn't wait for Luo Penny's answer, but continued: "Can I go and see Patty?"

"Of course," Ropeni Grant nodded, "she has always admired you."

"Then I can't keep my little admirer waiting too long," Gawain laughed, "Take me there."

Guided by the Viscount, Gawain and Amber came to the door of the little girl Patty's room.

"Her spirit has not been very good in the past few days, but she suddenly got better in the past few days," Luo Peini said as she went to open the door, "I'm probably very happy to hear the news that you are coming... My husband still While he was alive, he used to tell Patty stories about you."

The wooden door decorated with yellow and white tassels was pushed open, and Gawain walked into the room, and he saw Patty's chair in the middle of the room, and the little girl was looking out of the window ecstatically—through a large door Through the crystal window, she looked at the starry sky outside the castle.

This house has many large windows, and the castle wall has obviously undergone drastic renovations in this part—near the roof, Gawain even saw a skylight that is rarely seen in traditional castles. Skylights allow midday sunlight to flood the interior with ease.

"The doctor said she needs more sun exposure—the magic power contained in the sun can relieve her itchy skin." Luo Penny said softly.

Gawain remembered what Patty had said to himself in the City of Dreams: She needs to enter the dream world to sleep well, because her body is itchy and painful.

There is no sunlight at night.

At this time, Patty finally heard the movement at the door, the little girl shook her head, turned towards the door, and then a bright smile appeared on her face: "Uncle Gawain!"

Luo Peini stepped forward quickly, turned Patty's chair around, and corrected: "It's Duke Gawain."

"It's the same as being called uncle, so I feel like I'm over 700 years younger." Gao Wen smiled and waved his hands, indicating that he didn't care, and then he came to Patty, "Look, it's like an appointment Same, I'm coming to see you."

The little girl blinked happily: "Yeah!"

Immediately afterwards, she asked curiously: "Uncle, are you really resurrected? I heard from the maid that the great hero who founded the country was resurrected from the grave..."

Gawain turned his head, glanced at Amber with a half-smile, then nodded to Patty: "Of course."

"It's really possible to be resurrected!" Patty showed a look of surprise, "Then dad can do it too? Dad likes to tell your stories! He must also want to see you..."

At the edge of Gawain's line of sight, Ropeni Grant's fingers gripping the back of the chair suddenly turned white from exertion.

"I don't know if your father will come back like me, but all of us will meet somewhere someday," Gawain stroked Patty's hair lightly, "if he knew you were so early If you meet me, he will definitely envy you."

Chapter 0338 Allies

Patty looked very excited, and her questions followed one after another—about the story of Gawain Cecil leading mankind through the wasteland, about the Knights of Ansu fighting against the barbarians of the west, about the underground Great Wall in the South, There are also those absurd stories that in Gawain's eyes are purely fabricated by later generations - such as the secret agreement between Gawain Cecil and the dark wizard, such as the fairy tale of Charlie and the three golden crowns...

Gao Wen answered one by one, those things that really happened, he answered according to his own memory, and those legends fabricated by later generations, he tried his best to outline a fairy tale for Patty.

But even though the little girl was very excited, her energy was limited after all. After chatting for a while, Patty obviously lost energy, and the Viscount Luo Penny next to her immediately reminded her daughter: "Patty, you should go to bed. "

Patty persisted: "But I still want to chat with Uncle Gawain for a while...His stories are so interesting..."

"Listen to your mother, it's time for you to go to bed," Gao Wen touched the little girl's head, and at the same time sensed the flow of breath in her body - after confirming that the little girl's vital signs were stable, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I will come to see you tomorrow."

"...Okay." The little girl nodded obediently, then turned her head to look at a corner of the room.

Patty's personal maid was always there. After receiving the order from the little master, the maid immediately stepped forward and helped Luo Peini carefully bring Patty to the bed. They unfastened the belts that fixed Patty's body, and slowly Slowly transferred the little girl to the bed, and during this process, Gawain noticed that Patty frowned slightly from time to time.

She's in bad shape, really bad.

After finally settling the little girl, the maid took out something from a nearby cabinet.

Gawain keenly sensed the fluctuation of magic power contained in that thing, and he immediately stepped forward.

It was a magical prop with a strange shape. It looked like some kind of hair accessory, but it was larger and more complex. It was composed of several curved metal pieces. On the metal pieces, complex and dense magic runes could be seen. Between the metal pieces There's also magic thread and crystals for attachment, and it's lined with soft leather and cloth on the inside, and has straps to help secure it to the head.

It is like a metal "crown" full of mystery.

Before the maid put the thing on Patty's head, Gawain said, "What is this?"

"A magic item for calming the mind," said Viscount Luo Penny, "it can help Patty fall asleep."

"Stable spirit?" Gawain frowned, looking at Patty who was already lying on the bed.

The little girl didn't think about it at all, and even said with a little show off: "This is a gift from a passing magician! Wearing it, I can dream for a long time, and I won't feel sleepy when I sleep. It hurts!"

"Dream?" Gao Wen pretended to be ignorant, "What kind of dream?"

"Hmm...it's a very good dream!" Patty laughed, "I can run and jump in the dream, and I don't feel uncomfortable at all—and Uncle Gawain, let me tell you, I used to use this to dream I can only dream of very few people when I used it, but recently when I dream with it, I can see many people playing with me! Uncle, do you want to try it?"