Kingdom's Bloodline

"I?"

The king put down his knife, but he seemed to be interested but said coldly:

"Let me guess, Falkenhauser thinks so too?"

Thales shook his head.

"Branches and leaves are rotten, you must ask their roots."

"If something goes wrong with your rule, Your Majesty, the first person in the kingdom to pay for it, and the first person to reflect on accountability, absolutely, and it can only be you."

The king\'s disdainful sneer sounded in the room, and he lowered his head again and continued to eat.

Thales also smiled, not thinking:

"Yes, you probably think that if the kingdom\'s rule is not satisfactory and the development of the stars has problems, it must be a deviation in the execution of the officials, and the lower-level governance is not effective. You can fine-tune and correct it. Wisdom, the wise king on the seat?"

"Just like the\'Sand King\', in your eyes, how can it go wrong?"

"It must be that the person doing the work has no courage, there must be an error in the execution, the enemy must be too cunning, the accident must be unexpectedly frequent, it must be... the problem of the unlucky prince."

"However," Thales\'s smile cooled down:

"Only the simplest and most kind-hearted citizens can hold such innocent and beautiful fantasy."

"Only the most insidious and vicious villain can speak such a deliberate slander."

Thales pointed to the king and said seriously:

"No, the reason why the\'Sand King\' failed is nothing else, it is because of you, Your Majesty."

His response was the collision of the knife and the plate.

"Yes," King Kessel didn\'t lift his head and said perfunctorily.

"I, the king of the stars, is the weakest link in the kingdom?"

But Thales shook his head decisively.

"On the contrary, Your Majesty Kessel."

Thales hits the plate with a spoon:

"Actually, you are in the central part of the Kingdom-Xeon."

King Kessel cut off the food with one knife, cutting off the food in front of him.

He gently raised his head, and the tip of the knife in his field of vision was facing Thales\' face.

"But that\'s why it failed."

The prince said calmly, as if this were the most common sense:

"Your Majesty, it is because you are too strong, too good, too wise, too terrible, and too decisive."

King Kessel looked at Thales at the end of the knife and was silent for a while:

"Sloppy can\'t forgive you."

Thales shook his head, took a spoon of soup that he didn\'t know what it was made of, and put it into his mouth:

"Recall, your Majesty, before the\'Sand King\', from the desert war to the present, from the blade camp to the town of Grace, from the Emergency Control Order to the Border County Development Tax Exemption Order, from the Wings of Legend to the Standing Army, You have a superb wrist, how many things have been done to Xihuang, how many knives have been stabbed, and they have no choice but to gnash their teeth?

Thales raised his head, his voice getting sharper:

"And since when did you replace the sinister desert and become the number one enemy threatening their survival?"

Opposite the long table, King Kessel\'s eyes focused on the tip of the knife.

"So today, before you start thinking about it, the Xihuang people, who are like a frightened bird, have already prepared hundreds and thousands of pre-plans-nothing else, it is all about how to resist the threat of the Fuxing Palace, they dreamed overnight. , Are scenes of the standing army of the royal family spreading over the mountains and invading the Western Wilderness."

"Under such a premise, your Majesty, whether the army, taxes, land, or rule, no matter what you want to move on that piece of land, Xihuang people are destined to not let you get what you deserve. willing."

Thales said coldly:

"So, how can\'Sand King\' succeed? How can it succeed?"

This time, King Kessel was silent for an exceptionally long time.

Finally, the king looked up slightly:

"You overestimate them."

Thales chuckled and nodded.

"Is it."

"So you thought that when you ordered the army to march westward, everyone believed they were going to rescue me?"

"Do you think that the princes of the Western Wilderness really ate your bait and didn\'t know anything about the conspiracy?"

"Do you think that the main force of the three major families was not hit by the procrastination of Wings of Legend?"

"Do you think that the Kingdom\'s Secret Division and the Standing Army are really incapable of having messed up the plan?"

"Do you think, you and Falkenhauser, who on earth found me in the desert first and took the lead in the\'Sand King\'?"

At that moment, King Kessel sharpened his eyes.

Thales sat upright and said solemnly:

"You underestimated them."

"Your Majesty."

King Kessel was noncommittal, only his eyes flickered.

"I know, I made the same mistake."

Thales was a little surprised, remembering the past:

"Years ago, when I escaped from Longxiao City, I thought it was perfect and no one could see through."

"With the help of Secret Science, such a complicated political situation, such a strange situation, such a coincidence, anyone should first suspect that Prince Thales was kidnapped by the forces in Longxiao City, rather than secretly. Slipped away."

Thales sighed deeply.

"But I was still caught--just the first day I escaped from Longxiao City."

King Kessel\'s eyes moved.

Thales stretched out his left hand, rubbed an abnormal bone, frowned tightly, as if feeling the pain of its cracking again:

"I was caught in the city of Longxiao, a brash man who wields swords and swords and ranks in the forefront of the West, but whose political IQ is the last in the world."

Thales sneered slightly:

"Although it was later proved that the reasoning logic that the meteorite relied on to track me was simply a fake, **** doesn\'t make sense-damn Lilan cardboard."

Thales raised his head, his eyes solemn, and he looked straight at the king:

"So, like you, I have lamented my bad luck countless times, scolded the guy who caused me to show my feet, and cursed the crooked idiot logic, but I have never doubted my plan and reflected on my responsibilities. "

King Kessel was silent.

"I was wrong," Thales sighed, calmly and helplessly:

"Because no matter how powerful I am and how clever my strategy, he is doomed to catch me at that moment and place."

"Because of the good time in Longxiao City for six full years," Thales clasped his left arm tightly, unhappy:

"Meteor Seri Nicolai, he regards me as his biggest and most dangerous enemy: he will doubt me when he encounters an accident, he will be wary of me when he encounters an attack, he will look at me when he does something wrong, and he will suddenly disappear. Still think of me."

"Even if a certain sewer in the Palace of Heroes is blocked," the prince sneered, rather uncomfortable. "In his eyes, I must be behind the scenes. It\'s my six-year-old conspiracy."

"So I was caught and almost caught back to Longxiao City."

Thales looked into the invisible distance:

"And I later realized that the reason why I was stared at by him was also because I was bound to myself: I ran into the dragon blood that night, and turned myself into the eyes of others, the most terrifying, weird, and most dangerous in Longxiao City. Variables, reverse the national fortune of Exter."

The king listened silently, not thinking.

"The Western Wilderness is the same," Thales sighed, returning to the reality before him:

"Especially when they treat you as the strongest enemy, Your Majesty."

King Kessel pursed his lips.

"they?"

The king said coldly:

"On the basis of those rotten nobles who are selfish, fat-headed and short-sighted?"

"They fought endlessly, and they couldn\'t even unite under one banner."

Thales said sharply:

"Then they will not be able to bow their heads to you and follow their orders!"

King Kessel lifted his chin.

"They will do it."

King Kessel\'s eyes sharpened, and he also raised the volume, categorically, without doubt:

"They must do it."

"They have to."

Thales smiled.

"Yes, just like King Nunn once thought that as long as a **** killing and a little political skill, the bitter people of the Freedom League can bow their heads and obey from now on. Listen carefully to Exeter\'s words. The rebellion that made his granddaughter a year later shook the entire North Land political situation." He sarcastically said.

In the next second, the boy\'s expression became cold, his tone changed:

"But you really think that as long as you are strong enough and clever, everyone will bow their heads and everything will go well?"

"Then why don\'t you simply declare that the Western Wilderness is a traitor and thieves from top to bottom, and order the standing army to strike out to annihilate the country?"

"Why do everything possible to bypass the imperial meeting and keep a low profile to promote the\'Sand King\'?"

"Why use me as a famous chess piece and bait as a teacher?"

Thales paused, looked at the king, calling his name:

"Because you know the truth too, Kessel."

The king frowned.

Looking at King Kessel\'s deep expression, Thales understood something.

Unlike previous opponents, this time, he could not hold a sharp sword to face the iron-fisted king.

"In the face of domination, a person may cooperate, may be loyal, or may obey," Thales recalled the conversation in his memory:

"But a large group of people? That is a behemoth with a bottomless appetite, a shark that never satisfies, and will always respond to the ruler that he did not expect and will catch you off guard."

The young man pointed behind him:

"If you order Officer Marico Vanguard to whip me, I can guarantee that he won\'t even blink his eyelids."

"But if your order is given to a group of people, such as the entire royal guard? I can also guarantee that there will be some hesitation, some doubts, some uneasiness, some embarrassment, some shrinking, some secretly uneasy, some coping with things, some Yang Feng Yin violates."

At that moment, Thales\' thoughts returned to the prison of bones in the Western Wilderness.

Think of the old guards.

King Kessel did not speak, he just stared at Thales firmly.

The boy swallowed his throat, walked out of the past, and continued:

"When your army is raging in the Western Wilderness, Your Majesty, would you think that a few months later, the son of one of the Western Wilderness nobles would actually hide a sword and go to a banquet and commit murder, making the entire kingdom center into a panic.

"And when the\'Sand King\' failed and you were too sleepy in the court to do anything, you would have thought that the master of Xihuang would bet on me frantically and risky, offering a bargaining chip against him and giving you another one. Way out?"

King Kessel remained silent, but his expression became tighter.

Thales leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling, feeling a little.

"As a ruler, Your Majesty, your subjects are countless, ranging from the three high-ranking families to the criminals and prisoners in the Yaya camp, but they will never, never, and never follow your order step by step."

The king squinted his eyes:

"It\'s not your own words."

Thales lowered his head and met the king\'s eyes without flinching:

"But this is something you have to admit, and you can never control it-the\'Sand King\' is just one example, and this situation is not limited to the Western Wilderness."

Thales left the back of the chair, pushed the plate away, and leaned back on the table.

It\'s like returning to the battlefield, back to where he fell.

"Yes, Emory\'s orphan, she may be able to help you out of the momentary distress and embarrassment. The three major families may cooperate with you humiliatingly to avoid the fate of ruin, but then? What then?"

Thales looked solemn and repeated:

"and then?"

"Outside the Western Wilderness?"

"When you get to the cliff, the East China Sea, the Blade, and the North? After the reform of the military system, when you become stronger and stronger, you want to do more and more excessive things, and you have to provoke more and more troubles. How many enemies?"

Thales is full of excitement:

"Do you still expect that there will be a second Falkenhaus, the second old bone that is both daring and adventurous and not slippery? ?"

The Ironfist King still stared at Thales, without saying a word, but the mood in his eyes was different.

"As for this letter..."

Thales stretched out his hand, grabbed the long-forgotten "Emerald City Alternative Service Petition," and chuckled.

"Why, do you really think that the lord of the iris, the guardian duke of the south bank, the young Jen Kevin Deere, is so elegant and easy-going and knowledgeable? And this inferior temporary contractor horse will successfully pull the battle. Che, starting from Nan\'an, benefiting the whole country and bringing the ending you want?"

The next second, the king\'s eyes changed:

I saw Thales exerting both hands and tearing the letter in half without hesitation!

King Kessel finally spoke, unable to hide his anger: "You—"

But Thales smiled and interrupted him:

"Believe me, Your Majesty, even if you drive the standing army into the Kongming Palace in the Emerald City, the treacherous Jen-do you know what method he used to get vampires to catch up with me-you can find it for you? A lot of trouble is by no means half easier than Xihuang."

"And this is only the Western Famine, only the South Bank, but the powerful princes here oppose you, hinder you, and defeat you."

"And next time, there will be other people in other places, countless people, for the same reasons and concerns, they will use more and more miscellaneous tricks and you will rack your brains and unexpected ways to oppose you and hinder you. , Frustrate you."

Thales was unsteady and tore the letter to pieces without stopping:

"It\'s not just the\'Sand King\', it\'s not just the military, it\'s not limited to lords and vassals, and it\'s not just the royal council."

"It\'s farther away. The country was the conference six years ago, and there were\'Rising Stars\' and Val Allende who were defeated by you."

"A little closer, there was the accident of the royal family banquet, and there was this false petition from Janen that didn\'t know how many pits were buried."

Thales Young opened his hand, letting pieces of the letter paper scattered all over the place.

But King Kessel looked at these fragments from a distance, clasped the arm of the chair, his eyes were very angry.

"Once the interests are damaged, the rule will encounter difficulties, and the living space will be squeezed," Thales\' voice continued, sounding cold and ruthless:

"Their first reaction can always be resistance and counterattack, and the first target they are fighting against will always and only be Fuxing Palace."

"It\'s you."

At that moment, Thales looked like a sword and struck back:

"Because for them, the iron-fisted king is too powerful and terrible."

"It\'s so powerful that you can\'t do anything. As long as you are still sitting on the throne, you are already everyone\'s enemy, and you are bound to encounter their instinctive vigilance and resistance, whether on the surface or in the dark."

"Because to them, the iron-fisted king is too obvious and too special."

"Up to now, the excuses and conveniences that Bloody Years gave you to\'rejuvenate the kingdom\' have been exhausted. What you have done can no longer be concealed, and Fuxing Palace has unknowingly surpassed all threats and became their first priority. The enemy."

King Kessel took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and closed his eyes.

But Thales was not affected at all, as if all this was expected:

"So you look around, but you are enemies everywhere, and you move forward, but you are struggling."

"Therefore, everything goes wrong from the inside to the outside. From top to bottom, everything is impossible."

Thales shook his head slightly: "No, Your Majesty."

"You can\'t do anything."

"Nothing can be done."

His voice was painful and deep:

"Nothing can be done."

In the next second, King Kessel opened his eyes suddenly!

"Alarmism."

He said coldly: "The mouth is full of words."

Thales hummed, spreading his hands:

"But there is nothing you can do."

The young brows gradually gathered:

"You can defeat them, but you can\'t destroy them: in the face of a mess of loose sand and a mess, you are in a dilemma, and you don\'t even know where they will jump out to hinder you, and which link will go wrong.\'Sand King\' Throughout the whole process, you seem to take the initiative to attack from all directions, and no one dares to stun them. In fact, most of the time you just wield your sword in vain and suffer a full loss.

At that moment, King Kessel\'s expression became a bit hideous.

But Thales\' words continue, disturbingly:

"And they, they are covering the whole kingdom, all classes, all over the world, southeast, northwest."

"They hide in every gap of interest, ambition, desire, position, and will. Unexpected and unpredictable. They may change from cowardice to fearless death, from low eyebrows to generous fanaticism anytime and anywhere. From indifference and selfishness to anger and despair, from being conservative to being bold and enterprising."

"You will never see them: when you slash and slash, your opponents disappear without a trace, but when you look back, you are shocked to see enemies everywhere."

Thales thought of something and couldn\'t help humming softly:

"Like a police officer on the streets of the capital, it is not worth it to kill only the most vicious and vicious criminals, because he is facing the entire Xiacheng district, and his enemies are hidden in inaccessible corners and the most inconspicuous mediocrity. Here, the roots and sprouting are endless, which makes him burnt and powerless."

Thales raised his eyes and shot the king\'s eyes directly:

"And you, Your Majesty, what you are facing..."

"The whole star."

At the end of the long table, the king sank his face into the darkness beyond the light.

"The enemy is weak, we are strong, the enemy is new, and the enemy is scattered."

Thales said solemnly:

"This is your biggest and only advantage."

"But the enemy separates me and gathers, the enemy hides and we appear, the enemy is dark and we are clear, the enemy is clear, the enemy is all but we are widow, and the enemy is strange and we are straight."

Thales said coldly:

"These are your most painful and uncomfortable predicaments."

King Kessel looked at Thales with a strange look.

"If you do as you do, do as usual, my lord," Thales said:

"Then it is not difficult to foresee that not only the\'Sand King\', but everything you want in the future will be half the result with half the effort, and there will be many obstacles."

The next moment, Thales stared sharply:

"You will not succeed, I will tell you that."

"Whether it is military reforms, land inspections, tax increases and reforms, centralization of power, or other bullshit."

"You will never succeed."

Thales stared at King Kessel, as if he was about to split the opponent\'s skull with his eyes, and see the thoughts inside:

"Until the day when you die full of lofty ambitions and resentment, your majesty."

He repeated every word:

"You won\'t succeed."

The voice fell.

The Ballard room was silent.

For quite a long time, Thales and the king faced each other silently, and no one spoke a word.

Finally, King Kessel moved.

He reached out and grabbed the knife.

In the rustling noise, the king lowered his head and resumed cutting and eating.

"Just at the beginning, you changed your title," King Kessel said lightly:

"Don\'t call me\'father\' anymore."

Thales\' eyes moved slightly.

Yes.

"Because I am no longer sitting here as your son, Your Majesty."

The prince remained calm, but his voice was steady and firm:

"I, in the name of the Duke of Xinghu, attended the Imperial Conference, and offered my voice to the noble and wise King Kessel."

The king\'s meat cutting stopped for a second.

"interesting."

King Kessel\'s expression was unrecognizable, but he started eating again:

"Then what is your suggestion?"

Thales took a deep breath and spoke cautiously:

"You know I\'m right, you always know."

"It\'s just that you are accustomed to holding power, and when you say something, you are no longer willing to condescend and bend down," the prince frowned:

"To listen to different sounds."

King Kessel took a glass of wine, took a sip, and snorted coldly.

Thales lowered his head and adjusted his breathing.

"The old method is no longer working, Your Majesty," the boy said seriously:

"You need—we need..."

Telston took a moment and changed back to the original statement:

"No, it\'s still you, only you-in the face of such a dilemma, you need to change your mind."

King Kessel\'s eyes moved imperceptibly.

"Change your mind?"

Thales nodded slightly with a serious expression.

"Let me come forward with regard to the Western Wilderness, Your Majesty, I will take over and achieve what you want."

The king was silent for a while and smiled coldly.

"So in the final analysis, this is still the previous condition."

He looked at Thales coldly, disdainfully said:

"The so-called\'change your mind\' is to accept the deal Falkenhauser gave me, push you out, change his bargaining chip, and eventually cause the royal family to fight and destroy the foundation of the Fuxing Palace."

He was rejected again, but this time, Thales didn\'t react extraneously. He just exhaled and shook his head with a smile.

"No, **** Falkenhauser."

Thales said with a smile.

King Kessel narrowed his eyes.

I saw the prince chuckle while rudely:

"Go to his deal, go to his sword, go to his bargaining chip."

He said sincerely:

"Go to that yin and yang wicked old bone."

"From now on, this has nothing to do with him, Your Majesty."

Thales solemnly said:

"It\'s only about you and me."

King Kessel pulled away a piece of meat and responded with a sneer.

"That\'s you, Duke Thales."

"It\'s your own kindness or greed." The king raised his knife, and the tip of the knife met Thales\'s cheek again in his vision:

"Do you want to persuade me to face those local princes, slow down the pace by easing measures, and gradually advance gentle governance?"

Thales smiled slightly and did not answer.

King Kessel\'s smile disappeared.

"Then I have seen it too, and the original words will be returned," the Supreme King said coldly:

"You are not destined to succeed."

Thales raised his eyebrows.

Just listen to King Kessel\'s preaching tone that he rarely heard, faintly said:

"Mildness means compromise, compromise means concession, concession means shaking, shaking means giving up, and giving up..."

Kessel V had a meal and hummed softly:

"It means you went the wrong way from the beginning."

"You will soon be trapped in their seemingly righteous, but insidious and cunning position, and you can\'t help it."

At that moment, a cold light appeared in the king\'s eyes:

"And one day, when you no longer conform to their interests, when you no longer respond to their voices, and when you no longer cater to their wishes, you will be opposed, despised, expelled, abandoned, and betrayed by them."

King Kessel whispered:

"Just like the\'Sand King\' back then."

The king spoke quickly and continued quietly:

"And my father."

(End of this chapter)