Human dimension reduction

For the next half month, the relationship between Gloucester and Edward was in a strange calm. They seemed to have completely forgotten the malice in each other's hearts, and they maintained a peaceful peace with each other. It was much more polite before, at least he didn't rush into the Palace of Westminster at night to wake the king out of bed-of course, at the same time, the king didn't get any information about Northern Lancai. Steer's movements.

Most of the kingdom's army is in the hands of the Duke of Gloucester. Before the little king took power, he was the No. 1 choice for "protecting the people and controlling the army for His Majesty the King". He was also given to Edward IV on the sickbed. After all, they all knew that the king was far from the age to make reasonable military decisions. For long-term victory, choosing a young, vigorous and shrewd agent is Necessary.

Edward IV had thought about everything, but what he didn't expect was that his loyal brother was not as loyal to everyone as he was to him-even if it was his son, his heir.

The little king was sitting in the garden, with a simple crown pressing down his light golden fluffy curly hair. The diamonds on the crown shone brightly in the sun, making the black-haired man opposite him narrow his eyes slightly.

"Is Your Majesty worried about the war in the north?" William fiddled with the basket of flowers of different colors on the table with his fingers. Every section of the body reflects a sharp and noble dark light, "If you need it, the Stuart family can select spies to go to the north for you."

The Stuart family has always adhered to the principle of being wise and safe before, almost standing a perfect neutrality between York and Lancaster, helping York's rout troops pass the Thames for a while, and providing supplies for Lancaster's army for a while, This kind of behavior made the two families hate them, but the strength of the Stuart family itself also made it impossible for them to attack it on the premise of deciding the outcome, so they could only open their eyes to its behavior. Close one eye.

However, rashly intervening in the battlefield between the two is obviously something that Stuart is unwilling to do, and it will inevitably cause misunderstandings. They made it clear that the horses and horses were far away from the north, saying that they would not side with either side, and therefore made Stuart The power of the army is extremely weak in the north, and it is impossible to provide the king with first-hand information in time.

However... If he can get more benefits in exchange for this, he doesn't mind intervening in it, provided that it is a "request" made by the king himself.

William smiled and put down a bait in front of the king. He knew that the current king was in an extremely difficult situation. The only people who could use the throne were the Stuart family. When will it be.

——Giving favor to a king is a lucrative business that even God would be tempted to do. Of course, he will be very careful, very careful, to prevent this young lion with full fangs from turning back and biting him.

But... William thought casually, it would be a long, long time before that time came.

What's more, he has another bargaining chip——

"When does Your Majesty plan to send the Duke of York out of the palace?" William did not blatantly force Edward to make a request, but turned a corner and began to hint at him, "Except for the Duke of Gloucester, the most trustworthy member of the royal family should be the Countess of Hanover. ? If the Duke of York is to be raised, will she be given the title of Duchess?"

As mentioned earlier, members of the royal family are sent out of the palace to be raised by their ministers when they are young for various reasons. Sometimes it is to protect the young royal family members, sometimes it is to avoid brothers fighting against each other, and sometimes it is to express their trust in the ministers. .

The difference between the king and his brother in this generation is only two years old, and they are all young children. Once the king dies, the Duke of York will be the meaningless new king. This status is not only the honor of the Duke of York, but also a faint threat to the king. According to the custom, Richard should be sent out of the palace to be raised by others at birth, so as not to pose a threat to Edward's rule.

However, at that time, the war between York and Lancaster was in full swing, and the child mortality rate during the war remained high. In order to serve as a substitute for the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York has stayed with Edward IV until now.

William raised this question because he wanted to tell Edward that if the Duke of York stayed in the palace, his rule would be shaken, and maybe he had heard that someone had other thoughts in private.

"I will not send Richard out, he is my younger brother, of course he should grow up by my side," the little king calmly rejected William's proposal, and said instead, "You don't have to worry about the war in the north , I have asked Lorenzo to send his men to investigate, and they are all quick-moving and experienced smart people."

The smile on William's face froze for a moment, and his body subconsciously leaned forward slightly, as if a wolf was imposing pressure on his prey: "You mean, Lorenzo?"

"Yes," the handsome king raised his eyelids and looked at the Northern Gaul consul without hesitation. "Lorenzo, our Lord Earl of Essex."

He obviously saw the king ennoble Lorenzo with his own eyes, but William subconsciously ignored this man, perhaps because he despised these lowly assassins from Sardinia in his bones, even if they had threatened his life.

"Sardinian Assassin..." The consul swept his teeth across his teeth, took a deep breath, chewed these words between his teeth, and then showed the king a smile without any abnormality, "That's really Very good."

Edward stared at him for a few seconds, took out a quill pen from the ink bottle in front of him, dipped it in the ink and quickly wrote a few lines on the vellum, and finally made a gesture to Aiden who was standing not far away, and the other party When he came again, he had a box of wax in his hand.

Adhering to the etiquette, of course, Stuart could not stretch his neck rashly to read what the king had written, and the basket of bright and fresh flowers between the two of them also separated his sight from falling on the paper.

Aiden lit the candle, picked up a brass spoonful of wax, melted it on the candle, and poured it on the vellum. The king took off the ring on his thumb, turned around, and straightened the side with the king's coat of arms Right on the scarlet liquid.

The loyal steward of the king took away the wax and candles. The king put on the ring again, picked up a quill pen and signed his name at the end, then turned the paper around, pressed it with three fingers and slid it in front of William. .

Vellum is made from the skin peeled off from a calf. Compared with the inferior papyrus, vellum is smooth and delicate, easy to carry, and can be preserved for hundreds of years. The most important documents of the Holy See and the court are made of calf. Written on vellum, which naturally includes the enfeoffment of titles and lands.

William just glanced at this document, his pupils shrank. The words "Prince of Gaul" on it were clear and clear. The king's slender and curly font put this crown of glory on William Stuart's head in advance. .

But beyond that, William realized something more.

He didn't rush to be happy, but pressed the silky paper on the table, pondered for a while, and asked softly, "You know?"

Edward put the quill back into the inkwell, without denying it: "I asked Lorenzo to send someone to guard the gate of Gloucester, and tell me all the people who visit him."

William folded his hands on the vellum, and was about to say something when the little king raised his right hand to stop him, and said gently: "No...no need to explain, my lord duke, I didn't blame you, it's understandable Compared with me, my Uncle Wang is indeed a better choice, but I think you should understand that no matter what he promises you now, in fact, an ambitious king in the prime of life will never be willing to give Gao This vast land of Lu was handed over to others."

As he said that, his eyes paused for two seconds on the vellum: "I am different, I am in exchange for the capital of my life."

The peace in the past half month was obviously not because Gloucester was considering his next move, but because he was in private contact with Stuart. This is not surprising, after all, Edward only gave a verbal promise at the market.

Today, however, the little king noticed that Stuart had a faint intention to change course, and immediately realized that perhaps the other party had gotten a better increase, and he was not allowed to delay any longer at this time.

A letter of appointment with the king's signature and personal coat of arms. In a legal sense, William is already the actual ruler of the Gaul region. This is more effective than any promise made by Gloucester, but it also means that Stuart must Give full support to Edward, otherwise the letter of appointment signed with Edward's name and seal will be invalid.

An aboveboard conspiracy depends on whether Stuart is willing to believe in Gloucester's personal reputation, or choose the appointment letter placed in front of him by the king.

"You are definitely a born king," William said softly with an indecipherable smile after being silent for a while, "There is a reason for Gloucester to be so wary of you."

He reached out to pick up the vellum and put it in his arms, but the king on the opposite side suddenly raised his fingers and pressed it on the table again.

"Your Majesty?" William blinked his deep blue eyes. This time, his gaze on the king was no longer looking at prey or interesting things, but really looking at this person.

"Don't you have anything to tell me? About my Uncle Wang?" the little king reminded.

William pondered for a while, frowned slightly, and quickly glanced at the little king, this time there was a little more fear in his eyes.

"... Gloucester is contacting the Lord Chancellor and the Archbishop of Canterbury. He wants to see the papers of engagement between Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth."

Stuart originally wanted to suppress this matter, not because he wanted to do something wrong with it, but because he wanted to get more benefits from the king after solving this problem, but... how did the little king know about this matter?Although Gloucester's actions are not very strict, it is absolutely impossible for the little king who lives deep in the palace to hear the news.

... It seems that Gloucester is just a strong-minded idiot who doesn't even know the reason for keeping bad things secret.

Stuart scolded Gloucester inwardly.

"The Sardinian Assassin?" William thought about it, and quickly came up with the most likely choice.

If it was really them, then these assassins were too good. He never believed that Gloucester would be stupid to discuss these matters in the open-air courtyard. Wouldn't the Sardinian assassins who could find out such secrets be even more powerful?

When Stuart thought of this, a chill ran up his spine.

Maybe he should be more wary of this immature young king.

Edward let go of his fingers, he was noncommittal about his guess, and after thinking for a while, he said: "I will leave this matter to you, I don't think you will disappoint me?"

The black-haired duke bent down to the king, a deeper and more ruthless light flashed in his eyes, and he said softly: "I am willing to serve you, my lord."

But in fact, it is completely different from what he thought, no matter how well the king behaved, the reality is that the only people around him who can be used are really scarce, so William Stuart is the only one, so the king chose to intimidate him and make him feel terrified , and then leave the matter to him to solve.

——For a wild and violent wolfhound, soft words or nice voices are useless. Only by being stronger than it, making it suspicious, fearful and hesitant, can such dangerous creatures be controlled.

Of course, this will make Stuart more wary of him than ever before, and it will also make the cooperation between the two more precarious, but the little king has no choice.

The consul finally bowed to the king and bid farewell. After his figure disappeared into the cascading bushes, a person emerged from the corner, sat carelessly on the seat where the duke had been sitting, and folded his hand when he raised his hand. A fragrant and gorgeous pink rose, brought it to the tip of her nose and sniffed it.

The visitor has black curly hair, three-dimensional sculpture-like facial features and a sharp jaw line, a pair of passionate amber eyes that neutralize the sharpness of the facial contours, giving the dark red lips the sweetness of a pillow lover Gentle: "Your Majesty, you seem to distrust him very much."

From the leader of the assassins in the dark world to the captain of the guards of the Palace of Westminster, and also wearing the title of Earl, this upgrade speed is unprecedented. Lorenzo still maintains his free expression. Ding's assassin's habits were a bit too indulgent in front of the king.

Aiden now frowns when he sees him, trying to get him to take more etiquette lessons, but unfortunately, the king's steward, who pays attention to his personal image, has not managed to catch the Sardinian assassin who comes and goes without a trace.

Another reason is that the little king didn't seem to care about his freedom and laxity, and allowed him to do those unruly words and deeds in front of him very tolerantly.

"How do you know that I don't trust His Excellency the Duke?" The little king leaned back in his chair with a calm expression.

Lorenzo blinked at him, picked up the pink rose with a smile in his mouth, and muttered vaguely: "I don't understand politics, and I don't understand your gossip, but I'm most sensitive to eyes."

He squeezed a petal between his lips and rolled it into his mouth, squinting his eyes like a huge shepherd dog under the warm sun: "No matter how well you disguise your emotions, you can't escape the assassin's eyes...Your eyes say He wants to tear him apart, and that well-dressed Duke is even more powerful, he not only wants to tear you apart, but also wants to eat you."

Lorenzo's words are very brutal and rude, and now that the vocabulary is not very developed, several of the words he used, in addition to their bloody superficial meaning, are often used between the beds by distraught lovers, This makes his words full of inappropriate meaning for children.

Edward, who was pinching the ring, frowned: "...you should follow Aiden's suggestion and go to study court etiquette."

Lorenzo sneered at this: "Come on, ladies like this kind of barbaric and vulgar tone. Although they would faint with their hands covering their faces when they heard such words, they are also the ones who pounce on it like bees to honey."

The little king's expression became even more embarrassed, and a slight blush appeared on his fair cheeks: "Oh... I heard that you are very popular with the ladies in London recently..."

Lorenzo stared at Edward with wide-eyed eyes for a while as if he had discovered the New World, and then exclaimed: "My God! You are blushing! Speaking of which... Your Majesty, are you 13 years old this year? Do you have a girl you like? Child? Ah... you are still a young child?!"

The flirtatious Sardinian Assassin had a smile on his face, as if teasing his shy and frail little brother, he kept tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk with his tongue, which made the little king stiff, and his face turned red to the base of his ears: " Lord Earl of Essex!"

Seeing that he was about to lose his temper, Lorenzo raised his hands in a gesture of surrender: "Okay, okay. I won't say anymore. Oh, but there is one thing I forgot to say, remember when your enemies hired me That down payment? I think I said some of it was replaced by jewels."

Edward motioned him to continue with his eyes.

Lorenzo said: "On that batch of jewelry, in addition to the red rose of the Lancaster family, I also found a cross and a cross of pine flowers."

The little king lazily twirling the ring suddenly raised his eyelids, and a stern light appeared in his pale green gentle pupils: "Is the church meddling?"

"No, if it's the church, it's impossible for them not to have enough gold pounds. There are so many coins in the church's sacristy that they are going to rot..." Edward murmured denying his guess, and soon had another A thought, perhaps the church did not intervene in the matter of buying murder, but secretly funded Lancaster's attempt to seize the throne...

Anyway, no matter what the situation is, there must be a private connection between Lancaster and the church. You must know that the Lancaster family did not bring enough money when they escaped from London, and they did not even have time to take away the most important coronation crown. Now suddenly there is a batch of church-related jewelry in my hand, and I don’t believe it if it has nothing to do with the church.

And the church...

The York family has always believed in the Lila sect in the old sect. This sect believes that the church should be attributed to the purity of faith, "Caesar's to Caesar, God's to God", the secular government should be in the hands of the king, and the church cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the country.

However, the Lancaster family has a vague intention to support the Joao sect, that is, to support the authority of the pope and the authority of the king. The advantage of this is that they can cooperate with the church to make the pope issue an excommunication order against the king of York , thus invalidating York's rule in the religious sense, causing it to be overthrown by believers.

Shameless, but that's how nasty and shameless royal struggles are.

Edward nodded, indicating that he knew about it, and circled the name of the Archbishop of Canterbury in his heart.

Not a big deal, he'll take them all out one by one.