Chapter 109 He who knows the times is a hero
The lord was not one to waste time, and when he heard Fawcett say that Godric and Amy were heretics, he was mentally prepared to face a catastrophe.
Although he didn't know how Amy had offended Fothergill, since this guy had blocked Changhe Town and surrounded him with his troops to force him to give false testimony, it was obvious that he had no scruples at all.
In this situation, we can only ensure our own safety and make plans later.
You have to know that Fossett led more than 200 cavalrymen, and there were only more than 20 people around him. If he insisted on breaking through, he would probably be wiped out after a wave of charge...
Fothert still squinted his eyes and frowned as he stared at the lord, but he really performed a knight's salute.
Although the courtesy was perfunctory and the attitude was arrogant, it made the lord quite uncomfortable anyway - enemies who can bend and stretch and endure anger for a while are difficult to deal with.
"Sir Leon, I salute you... Let me ask you again, are you going to protect these two heretics, Godric and Amy, or are you going to testify against them?"
This guy seems to be quite smart, but why didn't he just attack directly?
What is he worried about?
Leon glanced at Fotherg, then rode a few steps forward, still with a smile on his face.
"Knight Fothert, you should be able to see that I'm just passing by... What happened? Since you want me to choose, I have to know the situation, right?"
The distance between him and Fothergill was getting closer and closer.
Fother looked at the smiling Leon and seemed to hesitate for a moment: "Mr. Leon, I know you are an excellent businessman. I think businessmen should understand the pros and cons... I have also heard of your Maixiang Company, which has made a lot of money..."
It looks like this guy wants to take this opportunity to blackmail me?
But what is he hesitating about?
In order to understand Fothert's intention, Leon began to play dumb: "Of course, doing business is to make money, but what does this have to do with heresy?"
Fothert smiled sinisterly again: "I think your Maixiang Company should be very useful to me... But if you don't intend to testify against those two heretics, then I will think that you are a heretic too!"
It seems this guy wants everything...
He probably found himself outside Changhe Town last night. Faced with a camp of only more than 20 people, he launched a sneak attack in the early morning, probably to ensure that he could trap himself.
Was this Alma's instruction or his own action?
Moreover, is it appropriate to discuss these things in front of so many cavalrymen?
Leon simply asked directly: " I am honored that the Duke is interested in my small business... I don't refuse to cooperate with a Grand Duke, but the question is, does your father, Duke Alma, know the situation here?"
The lord pointed to the cavalry around him.
These cavalrymen all had the Four Swords emblem on their bodies, and were obviously Fothert's own men.
Fothert frowned deeply: "I have the final say in Changhe Town now! I am running out of patience, you'd better give me an answer quickly!"
It seems that Alma doesn't know... This is just Fawcett's personal behavior, so as long as the person who created the problem is solved, the problem will be solved.
The Lord determined his target, and then he continued to approach with an innocent look on his face: "I have to know what benefits I can get from cooperating with you, right? Accuse Baron Godric of being a heretic? Then what? What can I get?"
Fothert sneered: "You can survive...isn't that enough?"
Leon stopped smiling and looked at Fothert seriously: "Sir Fothert, I am just a small lord. I cannot afford Baron Godric's revenge. In fact, it makes no difference to me whether I offend Baron Godric or Duke Alma... Can you understand?"
Li Ang looked at the cavalry around him again: "Besides... things like heresy involve such a big issue. How do I know if I will be silenced in the future? I can talk about buying my life, but I have to make sure I can buy my life before I talk!"
This attitude is very sincere and the words are very direct.
Fothert had already frowned, probably because he felt that what Leon said was right - an ordinary small lord would die if he offended anyone, and if he didn't give a bargaining chip that could guarantee his safety, there would be no room for negotiation.
Fothert thought about it with a serious face, and indeed made a condition: "If you let Godric be burned at the stake and hand over your Wheat Fragrance Company to me, I can let you get White Hart Castle. This condition is enough!"
Fothergill was actually willing to talk instead of directly attacking his small team?
Li Ang smiled.
The lord was not chatting nonsense, he was just using this method to test the current situation - it seemed that Fawcett had neither caught Amy nor controlled Godric!
He probably didn't dare to attack anyone in Godric's family...
Fothert was just bringing a large number of troops to blackmail a small lord with no background.
Otherwise, there would be no need to negotiate any deal with me - if everything was under Fothert's control, then he could just kill my team and force me to do things with his life, without having to give any conditions!
The condition of "letting you get White Hart Castle" means that White Hart Castle is now safe and sound in Godric's hands.
The lord understood that Fawcett had probably framed Amy. In order to prevent Godric from leading his troops to retaliate, he closed Changhe Town and blocked the news. Then, he probably kept looking for a suitable "witness".
After discovering his team last night, he planned to trap himself and scare himself into giving false testimony.
In front of so many cavalrymen, even if he wanted to be vague and pretentious in agreeing, that would give him enough "evidence".
Perhaps only when he, the witness, was frightened and compromised, could he use this "human witness" to mobilize the Changhe Town garrison to arrest Amy and Godric - otherwise, accusing Godric of heresy without any evidence would lead to a civil war in the kingdom!
Indeed, he was the most suitable witness - his fiefdom was the closest to White Hart Castle, and all the lords in the kingdom knew about his business partnership with Godric.
He was Godric's partner and had a feud with the Duke of Alma. If he came forward to accuse and testify that Godric was a heretic, probably everyone would believe it.
Moreover, he had no background and was just a pioneer lord. He did not have to worry about any complicated family forces causing trouble for him.
But before he came forward to testify, Fawcett dared not do anything to Godric's family, and he probably did nothing - if his rumors and slander were unsuccessful, he could still say it was a misunderstanding.
He could only bully this small lord first and get the forged evidence.
I have to say that this approach is appropriate... Perhaps in Fothert's eyes, he, the little lord, is easy to control.
But, am I, Li Ang, so easy to bully?
Do you want to control Maixiang Company at the same time?
Come to think of it, if Fothert could get the financial source of the Maixiang Company, then he could probably really do whatever he wanted - the Duke of Alma put him in charge of Changhe Town. With territory, population and money, he could probably raise another large army in Changhe Town.
In other words, for Fothert, the key to the matter probably lies in whether he can control this little lord...
If he gets the hang of it, he can do whatever he wants.
Let alone accusing Godric of being a heretic, even if their family directly rebelled, I'm afraid there would be little hope.
But before he could control himself or said something wrong, Fothert probably wouldn't be able to truly command the garrison in Changhe Town.
Perhaps the only troops he could really command were his two hundred or so trusted cavalrymen?
So he didn't attack me directly. It seems that he wanted to avoid making me his mortal enemy, lest I would rather die than cooperate with him...
But this guy seems to have a typical aristocratic mentality, and he definitely doesn't have much experience in handling such a mess - if it were a gangster like Forcher, he would have rushed over and beaten him into submission...
No wonder Alma prefers the illegitimate son Foucher...
Li Ang let out a long sigh with a smile, and looked at the cavalry beside Fothert: "You are discussing this kind of deal with me in front of so many people, aren't you worried that someone will betray you?"
Fothert's face was already quite bad: "Sir Leon, I gave you a choice, don't force me to kill you!"
After saying that, he waved his hand and asked the surrounding cavalry to form a circle, surrounding Li Ang's small force in the middle.
The Lord nodded, sighed, bent down, and spoke in a gentle voice: "In this case, I can only..."
It looks like Leon is going to compromise?
But then, Leon simply leaned down and gently pulled the reins, and Alice suddenly burst out at an amazing speed! This clever mare was very considerate. Leon had been the only one riding her all along, and she was used to Leon's way of riding. As long as the lord leaned down on the horse, lowered his center of gravity, and gently pulled the reins, Alice would burst out with all her strength to charge!
This is a solitary raid!
No one expected that Li Ang would launch an attack when surrounded by two hundred cavalrymen!
There were only twenty meters between Leon and Fotherg—just enough for Alice to speed up.
Alice simply accelerated and rushed forward, and she was already in front of Fothergill.
"Then I can only catch you!"
The second half of Leon's words were spoken almost in front of Fothergill.
He had already drawn his Griffin sword.
Fothert reacted quite quickly. He used the spear in his hand to block it, but before the spear could reach Leon, Leon chopped it off with his sword.
But the shot still worked. Leon tightened the reins with one hand, Alice's body leaned to the side, and then she braked suddenly, and the horse's hooves left four deep marks on the ground.
The elite cavalry beside Fothert also reacted quickly. Several long spears were stabbed diagonally in front of Leon in order to block him. Their horses had no time to react.
However, at the moment Alice braked, Leon had already flown out, and using the inertia of the sudden stop after the sprint, he pounced on Fothergill from the horse's back.
He pounced over the spears that were blocking his way.
Fothert had just dropped his broken lance and had not yet had time to draw his sword when he saw Leon rushing towards him. He subconsciously raised the shield in his left hand to block.
But then he regretted it. A shield can block swords and guns, but it can block people...
As a result, Fothert was grabbed by Leon and fell off his horse.
"Bang..."
"ah!"
Fothert, who was wearing heavy lion knight armor, was thrown to the ground with a dull sound and a shrill scream - Leon had positioned him like a lotus and used him as a cushion.
"Don't move!"
The lord shouted while riding on Foust, and the sword in his hand was already pointed at Foust's face.
Several elite cavalrymen who had just put away their guns and were preparing to besiege Li Ang also pointed their guns at the lord's back.
But Leon got up without hesitation, dragged Fothergill up, and put his sword across the neck of the fresh hostage.
The cavalrymen's gun tips kept moving with Li Ang's movements, but were then separated by the rushing cavalry led by Mai Xiang.
"Everyone, stand back! Stand back! Don't point your gun at me. My hands will shake when I get scared..."
The lord bared his teeth and shouted at the cavalrymen beside him, and the sword on Fothert's neck was indeed trembling slightly.
It hurt—his elbow had been scraped open when he had tackled Fawcett to the ground.
Fothert, wearing heavy armor, fell off his horse and landed on the ground, shaking violently. He walked unsteadily, but he was still conscious.
"Leon! You're going to regret this!"
"Mr. Fothert, if I were you, I wouldn't speak so carelessly... Look, the sword is so close to your neck, don't you notice that your neck guard has been cut off?"
The camp was only one mile away from Changhe Town. Leon put away his sword and replaced it with a small knife, which he secretly poked at Fothert's neck.
Then he put his arm around Foselt's shoulder and walked towards the gate of Changhe Town, arm in arm like two close friends.
"Put away your weapons! Lord Fothert, have your men put away their weapons... If I'm not mistaken, the garrison in Changhe Town doesn't know what happened, right? I don't want the garrison in Changhe Town to have any misunderstandings!"
"Leon, I don't believe you dare to do anything to me. You will regret it!"
Fothert spoke with gritted teeth, completely ignoring the lord's request, and was very sure that Leon would not dare to kill him.
Li Ang really didn't dare to kill him now, but there was no need to kill people if he wanted people to cooperate.
The lord simply stomped on him fiercely to solve the problem.
It feels quite comfortable to stomp on your feet wearing steel boots...
Fothert was also wearing plate boots, but in this situation the plate boots could not protect him, and would also cause continuous damage - the steel plates of his plate boots were deformed by being stomped!
Fothert's handsome face was almost twisted into a knot, and he was in so much pain that he couldn't even scream for a moment. Leon just happened to step on his big toe!
"Fothert, since I dare to catch you, I will definitely torture you - you will take revenge on me anyway, right? If you don't want to lose your limbs, then you'd better cooperate with me and see if the problem can be solved... Of course I don't want to kill you, but if you leave me no choice, then you must die before me!"
After stomping his foot, Li Ang spoke softly into his ear with a calm tone and gentle attitude, just like he was chatting with a friend.
But Fothert's hair stood on end, he could tell that the lord was not trying to scare him - this was a desperado, he could do it!
"Put away all your weapons! "
After trembling all over for a while, Fothergill recovered and gave in.
He who knows the times is a hero. Fothert had few opportunities to be a hero in the past and had no experience, but at this moment he has obviously learned it by himself.
"That's right...where's Amy?"
"In the inner castle, with Lady Bella."
"What orders did you give in Changhe Town?"
Fother hesitated for a moment and sighed, "I just asked the garrison to guard against the heretics in the inner castle. I didn't mention anything else."
That's right, Fothergill still has some brains. He took advantage of the situation to seize the property of MacHermitage. Only his own trusted cavalry knew about this, and it was to intimidate himself.
But if he makes the matter known to everyone, then once it fails, he will not be able to clean up the mess himself.
Li Ang nodded and took Foussett's arm and headed towards Changhe Town. More than twenty cavalrymen surrounded them nervously, while more than two hundred cavalrymen under Foussett surrounded them outside.
It looked like Leon was supporting Fother, whose leg was injured, back to Changhe Town.
The garrison of Changhe Town still surrounded the inner fortress, with only a hundred or so soldiers on the guard towers and arrow towers near the city gate.
It seemed that the garrisons really didn't know what had happened. The guards at the city gate looked at Fotherg, who had returned, and simply saluted before stepping aside.
Leon looked around and did not go to the inner castle. Instead, he took Foust directly to the administrative office.
There seemed to be quite a lot of garrisons surrounding the inner castle, and Leon didn't want them to find out that he had held Fothert hostage, so as to avoid any further complications.
Now that the person has been caught, temporary safety should be guaranteed, but how will it end?
No matter what the reason is, Alma will definitely not let it go after kidnapping the Duke's heir, a high-end act of war. Leon doesn't believe that Alma will let him go after giving him such a good handle.
"Mr. Fothert, order all the garrisons in Changhe Town to return to the camp and say that the heresy has been investigated and it was all a misunderstanding. Bring Amy here first!"
The Lord stood beside the Consul's seat in the administrative hall and gave Fothert instructions as if he were giving instructions to his subordinates: "Tell your two hundred cavalrymen to camp outside the city alone. Don't let them stay with the garrison!"
Fothert sat in the archon's chair and gritted his teeth and did as he was told. Orders were passed out one after another.
Fothergill remained calm, and the hostage's emotions had stabilized, though he looked a little unwilling.
The garrison was unaware of the inside story, they only knew that a heretic had been discovered. Anything could happen when tracking down a heretic, so there would be no problem in asking them to withdraw their troops now.
The real trouble was Fawcett's two hundred cavalrymen. They knew that Leon had held Fawcett hostage, and they also knew that Fawcett was planning to kill Godric in the name of heresy.
"Fothert, why are you negotiating a deal with me in front of so many cavalrymen? Can you ensure that your cavalrymen won't talk nonsense?"
Thinking of this, Leon asked Fotherg.
"Their wives and children are in my hands... No one will say anything."
I see... using hostages to coerce the troops. No wonder Fawcett wasn't angry about being taken hostage. It turns out he's also good at kidnapping.
However, judging from his behavior, he probably used coercion and inducement more often, otherwise he should have put the knife to Li Ang's neck from the beginning.
Since he likes to use coercion and inducement, it seems that the way to solve the problem is to give him a taste of his own medicine?
