Chapter 348 Return
Changhe Town has been quite crowded recently.
There were tens of thousands of people who followed Amy to Changhe Town. They were all former residents of the area surrounding Sarlion City, and most of them were civilians.
As for the nobles, most of them had already gone to places they thought were safer by the end of last year, such as the Firdsvain or the Bacchus Empire...
Most of them fled early, and a few surrendered at the last minute.
The nobles of Sarleon are all highly adaptable creatures...
They once regarded the Firdsvain as dirty pirates, and sneered at the centralized system of the Bacchus Empire. They once regarded the Kingdom of Sarleon as the center of the world and talked about chivalry all day long.
But when the war came, they quickly abandoned the "center of the world" and quickly despised their chivalry...
Maybe people are fickle.
Amy has changed a lot, too.
He became somewhat gloomy, no longer greeting the merchants with a friendly smile, nor did he shout and yell about "doing justice" with the female soldiers of Griffin Claws.
She has been very busy this year, busier than anyone else.
She tried her best to keep the Pande Bank running during this difficult year, maintained the stability of the monetary structure, and allowed the vast majority of organized troops to retain their combat effectiveness to the greatest extent possible.
If you are not in her position, it is difficult to appreciate the hard work she has put in.
The rudimentary financial system created by Leon actually had many side effects. A year ago, when Leon had been missing for two months and the Kingdom of Sarleon was mired in the quagmire of war, Pend Bank experienced a bank run.
Amy tried every possible means to make ends meet and finally managed to get through it.
In order to maintain the bank's credit, Amy turned herself into the person with the most debt in the entire Pendor continent - she made private loans everywhere in her capacity as a king, issued a lot of national debts, and almost mortgaged herself.
In the whole country, she was the only one who understood the importance of Pendor Bank. She even mortgaged White Hart Castle to the Noldor elves. She transferred White Hart Castle to Wendelf, so that the bank would always remain under the control of the Noldor elves.
This earned the Noldor's continued trust in the Pendor Bank, preserved the Bank's vitality and reserves to the greatest extent, and prevented the Noldor from leaving White Hart Keep.
To be honest, for a woman to personally transfer her territory and huge wealth to a rival who she once regarded as a 'threat', this requires more than just intelligence and courage.
After struggling to support the banks through the bank runs, the even more difficult period of depression came.
The trade routes that once covered the continent and were opened up by Changhe Express were completely cut off due to the ongoing war.
Without the flow of materials brought by prosperous commerce, the only thing we can do is ensure self-sufficiency within the country, otherwise famine is likely to follow the depression.
In order to ensure the livelihood of the people, Amy distributed corn seeds to all farmers in the eastern region and personally taught people how to sow.
Many places were unwilling to accept this new crop, and Amy didn't have time to persuade them, so she made a mandatory policy - only 30% of the grain tax on corn, but 70% on wheat and soybeans! Tax evasion was considered treason!
As a result, Amy was called a tyrant by the nobles.
Some farmers who didn't know the truth also regarded Amy as an 'ignorant and cruel queen' - when collecting taxes, the king and the nobles were always the ones who took the blame.
But Amy didn't argue. She didn't have time.
Tyrant or ignorant, Amy doesn't care.
At least most people did not starve and the country did not collapse.
The entire country is indeed becoming poorer due to the war, but the basic lives of the people are guaranteed, and the east and north have remained relatively stable.
With stability in the rear, Godric and others in charge of the front line can focus on organizing the defense.
So, in this difficult year and more, the Kingdom of Sarleon seemed to be crumbling, but it just wouldn't fall.
Amy can now understand those kings in history who left a bad reputation.
It's not easy for every king.
If possible, Amy really didn't want to be the king.
Too tired.
Especially a young queen, who has to deal with much more troubles than Ulrich.
More than half a year ago, Gregory IV of the Kingdom of Ravenstern sent an envoy to try to form a marriage alliance with Amy. Gregory claimed that he could divorce for Amy... If Amy was willing, he could send troops to help his 'wife' fight; but if Amy was not happy, he would form an alliance with Firdsvain...
To be honest, Gregory's behavior is a normal diplomatic strategy in this era, but it seems a bit shameless...
But before Amy could say anything, the furious Godric hacked the messenger to death on the spot, declaring war on the Kingdom of Ravenstern with blood - killing the messenger and declaring war could not be reconciled, and most likely one of the kingdoms would have to be destroyed.
Godric told Amy that if she didn't show some toughness soon, more shameless things would happen.
Godric was right. Ravenstern had never dared to launch any attack on Sarleon, not even a single blow.
Moreover, King Vidis also rejected the alliance of the Kingdom of Ravenstern. Vidis did not want to provoke a queen who might go crazy at any time. If she gave up everything and went all out to defeat someone, it was really possible.
Therefore, Amy acted extremely tough, even crazy, in the days that followed - in the past six months, all the nobles who intended to cause trouble were quickly suppressed by her, and basically no one was given the opportunity to cause trouble.
Any noble who tried to engage her in verbal battle in the throne room would flee when she raised her musket - she became a dictator.
However, the name of this "tyrant" is becoming more and more famous.
Corresponding to the tyrant is the "butcher".
Fawcett probably really likes Amy, even though the person he really loves is his own sister...
He completely responded to everything Amy did in Lion Lake City, and did it even more cruelly - anyone who caused trouble in Lion Lake City, whether they were nobles, heretics, or thugs, would never survive if they fell into Fotherg's hands.
Even those noble estates that were unwilling to grow high-yield crops or resisted and evaded taxes would be directly arrested by Fotherg on the charge of "suspected of being involved in heresy", and his methods were even more brutal than those of the Duke of Alma back then.
Amy can now especially understand Ulrich and Duke Alma...
Therefore, Amy officially granted Lion Lake City to Fawcett, but did not let him inherit Alma's title of Duke - Fawcett himself did not want to do so. Ever since he joined Leon in Changhe Town, he has relied on his own abilities to step up to the position of Lord of Lion Lake City. He earned all of this with his own hands, and he no longer needed to inherit his father's estate.
Moreover, Fother believed that the demons in Lion Lake City were destroyed by Leon's thunder, not by himself; so he thought he could serve as the governor of Lion Lake City, but not qualified to be a duke.
This was actually the goal set by Amy when she ascended the throne - whoever recaptures Qiaoyan Bay will become the Duke of Qiaoyan Bay; whoever solves the heresy will become the Duke of Lion Lake City.
This "butcher" who always framed others seemed to respect the rules that they had agreed upon in the throne room more than anyone else...
Therefore, Amy granted Fothert the title of Earl, and he became the most active lord in fighting against the heretics and corrupted people, and had been providing logistical support for Sir Roland.
Although Roland felt that Fother was too vicious and had never liked him.
But there is no doubt that when it comes to fighting heresy, Fothert can perfectly make up for Sir Roland's shortcomings.
At this time, Fothert was in Changhe Town, helping Amy to resettle civilians. It was a huge project to transfer tens of thousands of people from Sarleon City to Changhe Town. In addition to the garrison troops on the front line, most of the lords came to assist.
"Your Majesty, the spy I left in Yalagal sent back a piece of information via a carrier pigeon...but this information is very strange..."
Fothert held a note in his hand: "He said... a man who looked exactly like Lord Leon bought two horses from him! But he was not sure if it was Lord Leon... that man had very long hair."
"What?!!"
Amy stood up suddenly, with a strange expression on her face. It was hard to tell whether she was excited or shocked: "Where... is he?!"
"If nothing unexpected happens, they should be on their way to Changhe Town... My people followed them for a while, but lost them at the foot of Goddess Mountain."
Fothert looked at Amy's expression and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with it? That could be a conspiracy of the enemy...especially the three prophets, they are good at..."
Amy seemed not to have heard it at all, she was in a daze.
"His Majesty?"
Fawcett held out his hand and waved it before Amy's eyes.
"Fother...you will be the Duke soon! That's Leon! That must be Leon! Come on! Prepare the horses!"
Amy slapped Fotherg's hand and ran out of the lord's hall at a very fast speed.
"What if it's the three prophets pretending to be one..."
Fawcett looked at Amy's back, frowned and sighed.
…
Outside the village of Kwin.
Leon and Bao Daisi arrived at the familiar territory smoothly.
By the time he got here, Leon was already relaxed—his body was recovering, and the entire Kwen village was his acquaintance.
But after entering Kwen Village, Leon gradually felt uneasy.
His perception at this time could extend to a range of three miles around him.
But in such a large range, he didn't sense any living creatures!
In other words, within a radius of three miles, not only is there no living person, there are not even any large animals!
Li Ang, who originally planned to return to Changhe Town in one breath, had to go into Kewen Village to find out what was going on.
The village of Kwen, which was once considered a Feng Shui treasure land, is now completely deserted, with not even livestock such as chickens and ducks!
But the Countess's winery is still there, and so are the houses in the village.
There just weren't any living things.
"What's going on...are they all running away? Logically, there shouldn't be a war here, right?"
Li Ang frowned and looked around.
"Sir Leon, there are many corpses here..."
Bao Daisy shouted in the Countess's winery.
A large number of corpses were piled up in the wine cellar.
Most of the corpses were people Li Ang knew.
It was the Countess and the kind old nobles of Kerwin Village.
Li Ang reached out and touched the bloodstain on the ground.
The blood had not yet dried and no livor mortis appeared on the skin of the corpse.
"They... died about a day ago."
Li Ang frowned.
A day ago…in a place like Kerwin?
The communication between Changhe Town and Kwen should have always been very frequent, and these few days were when Amy was moving everything from Sarleon City to Changhe Town, so there must be a lot of people coming and going.
Who is so powerful that he dares to commit a crime in Kwen Village at this time?
Moreover, this kind of massacre of the whole village...
"Bodaisi, look around to see if there are any bodies of young women or children."
Li Ang's eyes became gloomy, and he felt that he had made an unforgivable mistake.
After searching for a while, Bao Daisi came back, shaking her head: "No... young women and children... were all taken away?"
"No... they were murdered. The skin of the girls and children may have been used on the three immortal prophets..."
Li Ang said through gritted teeth.
Bao Daisi understood. She sighed silently, got on her horse, and prepared to leave.
But just as they reached the entrance of the village, Li Ang suddenly stopped his horse.
"Wait... Bao Daisi, there are troops outside... No, there are troops everywhere! A large army is coming!"
Li Ang opened his eyes suddenly: "Go west! Follow me!"
…
Soon after, two terrible armies poured in from the roads to the north and south and converged on the village of Kwen.
This is the army of the Three Prophets!
All are doom-bringers and prophet-followers...
The structure of the troops was similar to that of the Three Prophets that had appeared in Changhe Town, with many beautiful women and their followers.
But there is no Bloodsworn Miko, and the team is much larger than before.
However, there were only two leaders at this time.
It was a little girl coming from the north;
The woman who came from the south was over 1.80 meters tall and incredibly beautiful.
"Medya, are you sure that Queen Amy will come here?"
The little girl, riding a beautiful thoroughbred horse, asked the tall woman expressionlessly.
"She will definitely come... Hahaha, who told her to give up Sarleon? There will be no Forbidden Magic Tower to protect her if she moves to Changhe Town... I wonder if Anna has successfully destroyed the Forbidden Magic Tower in Sarleon..."
Medea now looked like a doom-bringer: "Cersei, I've said it before, I will definitely have a chance to get Amy's body! It's easy to become the king of Sarleon, there's no need to create so many Fallen!"
"I don't want to create so many Fallen. They are all for dealing with Roland... Roland is also likely to be in Changhe Town. You have to be careful. He is not easy to deal with..."
Circe, who looked like a little girl, looked around while riding on her horse: "Why do I feel like there are other people in this village?"
"It's impossible that there are still people here... I have already cleaned up this village. There is not even a dog left. Let our people pretend to be the 'villagers' here and go to Changhe Town to report the case. Queen Amy will definitely be lured here..."
Midya pointed to the Countess's manor and said, "Many nobles in this village are Amy's friends. After hearing the news of their death, Amy will definitely come..."
The two prophets entered the Countess's estate together.
Soon after, a large-scale funeral was held in the village of Kwen.
And Leon, in the mountains and forests in the west, looked at the village of Kwen from afar.
"The Three Prophets... They probably want to deal with Amy... I have to go to Changhe Town immediately."
Li Ang whispered.
"But we may not be able to get out now. There are too many of them..."
Bao Daisi felt that the situation was not good.
"Then find another way out..."
Leon turned around, looked at the goddess mountain behind him, and ran to a hidden valley with Bao Daisi.
