The Sensory Animals of Ston Hill

At three o'clock in the morning, Grace received an invitation to attend a meeting in an hour.

He hadn't slept yet, so he sorted the letters on the table, locked some in the drawer, stuffed some into the hidden mezzanine, and left some on the table.

He chooses to wear an old dress and asks Eva to brush his hair.His hair is already longer than his shoulders, and he can wear a slightly more complicated bun. He also asked Eva to insert a gem-studded hairband in his bun, and wear the emerald necklace that the king once gave him. and rings.Even those big gems were considered grand even in the palace banquets in the past, and Grace had already foreseen that there would be a big scene.

By the time you finish dressing, it's almost time.Grace put the letter on the table into her skirt pocket, and glanced at the sleeping little Chris.Eva panicked and wanted to go out with him, but she usually took care of the children at night.

Grace asked her to stay, and picked out two clever manservants. Before leaving, he said to Eva: "If this time can pass smoothly, we will bring the children back from England."

The horseshoes stomped on the spot twice, the wheels turned "wheels", and the newly formed guard cavalry immediately followed, and the crisp sound of horseshoes passed through the quiet night.

Unsurprisingly, it was a small meeting.Now everyone who can speak in the capital has arrived.

The officials of the new government saluted the king respectfully, and Grace took the first seat supported by the oldest governor.

Officials told him that Colonel Ston had arrived in the capital.

They stared into his eyes as they spoke to him.

Grace nodded and asked, "I don't know where Colonel Ston is resting?"

The officers told him that Colonel Stone had a house behind Crown Plaza.

They still stared at him like that, "You don't look surprised, did you hear the news in advance?"

The Earl of Arundel looked displeased and reminded the official to watch his tone.

Grace was still very calm, and replied to the official: "I did hear some news in advance, and it was the Earl of Arundel who told me. If you pay attention to every battle report from the front line as I do, you can calculate the The speed of Colonel Dun’s rapid march is probably around this time.”

The officials looked at each other, and someone asked again: "Your Majesty, after Colonel Ston arrived in the rebel province, he left the main force of the army without actually starting a war, and only led a small group of troops back. Is this your secret order?"

"No."

"Your Majesty, those rebels have now been completely bought by the royalist party. The leader of the royalist party, General Cromwell, had a close relationship with Colonel Ston. We know that you have been in correspondence with Colonel Ston. Do you know what Stan is?" Has Colonel Ton been in touch with General Cromwell?"

"I don't know. Colonel Ston did write me a few personal letters on the field, but he didn't report to me who he was dealing with."

"Your Majesty, do you think—"

Grace took out the stack of letters from her pocket and threw it on the table.The letter paper slid on the table and spread out, allowing everyone at the conference table to see who the sender was:

General Cromwell.

"General Cromwell once sent me a secret letter, asking me to go secretly to the rebel province. He gave very favorable conditions, saying that he did not trust a baby, and hoped that the crown would fall into stronger hands, even if it was a woman. Hand. The rebel province is rich and conservative, and the tax revenue ranks third among the provinces in the country. They also have more than 20 troops loyal to the king. It is better to be a queen there than to be a queen mother without real power here. But I replied and refused, because I have always adhered to our original agreement, 'keep the crown, devolve power'."

"Gentlemen, I have always kept my promise, but what about you? After the establishment of the new government, the efficiency is extremely low, corruption is rampant, abuse of power and public revenge are common. All the problems left over from the past have not been alleviated, and some have even become Worse! For various reasons, you asked me to delegate part of the fiscal responsibilities, but you refused to really take my advice. When I realized that our generals were conducting military expansion abroad, I tried to stop it, but you didn't listen. Now that our unruly general has finally made you feel threatened, you expect me to do something, but you suspect that I am in collusion with him. I am really disappointed that we have such a lack of trust. In this case, you still need me What are you doing here?"

Many officials were blushed by what he said, only the Earl of Arundel kept staring at him with deep eyes, while Father Barnall looked worried.

The oldest governor stood up and saluted Grace in the lead, begging the Queen Mother for forgiveness.They looked at each other, hesitated, and finally said, "Your Majesty, if we didn't trust you, we wouldn't have invited you here. Now you are the only one who can do something."

Grace laughed at herself, "The Constitution limits my power to foreign affairs. When Colonel Ston established one republic after another abroad, recruited one overseas army after another, and built one military factory after another, I was still reluctant. I can order him. But now that he has returned to the country, what else can I do? The army belongs to the king in name, but do you think those soldiers who have been born and died with Colonel Ston will listen to me?"

"Your Majesty, there is an article in the constitution that when the government enters a state of emergency, the king can appoint a supreme consul without a meeting vote."

"You suspect that Colonel Ston intends to reorganize the government?"

"The other party is Colonel Stone. We must make the most daring assumptions. If the worst happens, you must deny his legitimacy. You and the General Assembly are our last hope."

Grace also wants to make one last effort, "Maybe he doesn't have such an idea, why don't you have an open and honest talk with him? I believe Colonel Ston also loves this country."

The officials looked at each other and at him in unison.The meaning was obvious: they had deliberately made him err, in order to eradicate this threat.

The document declaring a state of emergency had been prepared in advance, and five governors took turns signing it.Earl Arundel looked deeply at Grace for a long time before signing his name, and after that, Father Banal also signed with hesitation.

Two hours later, a notice came from nowhere, saying that the Royalist Party lurking in the capital had launched a surprise attack, demanding an immediate national meeting.

Many were still scratching their heads, some were not even notified because they were still up, and only about five hundred of the seven hundred delegates arrived.

Grace still sat in the auditorium, but it was already a conspicuous seat, placed at the highest place in the audience.He sat upright and watched the 500 people below, both worried and panicked.As time passed, the representatives became more and more anxious like ants locked in a box.Some people wanted to go out, but the door was already tightly guarded by soldiers, because "the royalist party may sneak attack at any time."The air in the conference hall was already somewhat stale, and Grace felt very thirsty.

Finally, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and the sunlight pierced straight into the dirty conference hall, a bit like the light falling from the sky in the church murals, but covered in dust, a line of armed soldiers broke in neatly.

Alan Stone walked in the front, his eyes under the brim of his hat looked straight at Grace.