Volume 5: If you are poor, you should be alone Chapter 155 The Wisdom of Clinging to Someone
If Xiao Yun could step out of the perspective of the grassland residents and look at it from an objective standpoint, he could understand the Tiger King's choice.
Being a weak race, they refuse to keep their tails between their legs and behave themselves. They "would rather starve to death than to fight like a mantis", and have to fight hard and make themselves miserable, and are willing to pinch their noses and be used as knives in the hands of others. This is really very uncool. But if the status quo is not changed, the tiger tribe will not even be able to make knives, and can only be trapped in this "barren land" of the grassland, and gradually decay into scrap metal like an old weapon thrown in a corner... In comparison, it is better to sacrifice themselves and fight against the unknown. At least if the Beast King wants to use them as knives to chop people, he must give them some breathing space to sharpen themselves.
Of course, understanding does not mean agreement. In any case, Xiao Yun would definitely not touch the pit that the tiger tribe had jumped into on their own initiative - it is indeed miserable if a weakling has no value at all, but what good ending can there be when he is a knife in someone else's hand?
There are too many similar examples on the earth. During World War II, no matter whether it was the vassal states of the Axis powers or the small countries on the Allied side that at least got the title of Allied Forces, nothing good happened... The National Army troops who were killed by the British in Burma did not even get a chance to survive, and people died in mountains of blood. But you are still a small transparent figure in the history of World War II written by others.
What's even more fucked up is that if the knife is no longer sharp or useful, the person holding the knife can let go of it very quickly and efficiently... In order to please the "friendly countries", Chiang Kai-shek almost took off his pants and offered his chrysanthemums. When he "turned over" to WW, did anyone even give him a look?
In short, in Xiao Yun's opinion, it is not wrong to offer yourself to be used. As a weak person, you should have some sense of a weak person and don't pretend to be strong. But no matter how much you flatter and please others, the handle of the knife must not be held in the hands of others, and you must not let others decide who the blade is facing on your behalf!
Because if it comes to this, the knife is basically on the verge of being scrapped!
There is a lot of knowledge in this, and the difference is obvious. Xiao Yun also clings to the big boss to earn a ticket to the power game. He has been diligently donating blood to the forest elves for several years and working hard for the economic development of Ananas. While obtaining the ticket, he did not delay the development of his own tribe. On the other hand, the tiger tribe, whether the tiger king broke with the cat tribe in order to gain the trust of the beast king or abandoned this once loyal younger brother to show his determination, is actually hurting his own foundation...
The news brought by Primo allowed Xiao Yun to have a clear idea of this Frank Feast. The next step was to complete the preparations before attending the feast - first, to climb onto the bed of the Elf General Crest... no, the boat.
The person Ananas extended the olive branch to was the elder of the airborne faction. Xiao Yun, who was stuck in the southwest corner of the grassland and could not move away, could not place all his bets on the airborne faction who were trying hard to get promoted. He also had to build good relationships with Ananas's local faction - as long as Xiao Yun had his mind right, he would definitely continue to hold on to the big thick leg of the forest elves, and hold it more steadily and properly.
In the previous MSG business, Xiao Yun did not deliberately "give" this good business that would make everyone rich to General Crest to earn a favor, but continued to entrust Evelyn to curry favor with her teacher. This was because this method, which was as conspicuous as the mud spots on the snow wolf's head, was too stupid, and Xiao Yun had used such a clumsy trick many times before.
So how do I get into General Kleist's bed...er, boat?
Xiao Yun laughed and said, of course - spend money!
That’s right, just spend money!
No matter how beautiful the words are, they cannot move people without practical benefits!
As for what to use the money for, of course it is the profits from the batch of wrist-type magic amplifiers sold to Saint Bridge in the first half of the year~! !
A few days later, in Ananas City, at General Kleist's mansion.
The elf general whose face changed from a melon seed to an oval face finally stopped getting fatter. As an elf with high aesthetic taste, he still had to save face, so he controlled his mouth and moved his legs, and at least he managed to maintain his handsome face. But now, General Crest, who has always been graceful, elegant, and extraordinary, showed a dull expression that damaged his image...
The general's wife, a mature elven woman whose beauty could beat Evelyn, slowly raised her hand to cover her red lips: "Gretel, dear, what's going on?"
The branches of the Bards Association all over the continent earn part of their income by mailing items and letters for customers. Of course, the price is very expensive, and no one usually comes to them for anything other than valuable items or important letters. But now, the bard who personally delivers the goods to the door is undoubtedly bringing very valuable items... a box full of gold and silver utensils, jewelry.
"General, this is a gift that Prince Carlisle of Saint Bridget asked us to bring to you." The human bard looked envious and respectfully handed over the envelope with Ferdinand's family crest. "Please inspect it so that we can reply to Prince Carlisle."
"Carlisle?" Crest was puzzled. "Why would His Royal Highness give me these things?"
The wife's face changed slightly, and she looked at her husband with wide eyes: "Crest, you——"
Hearing that his wife didn't even call him by her nickname, Crest felt his scalp tingle, and he quickly said, "Don't get me wrong, dear. I have only met Prince Carlisle two or three times, and it was only for business purposes."
"Really? Come to think of it, Kleist, you are now a famous person known by all races. There are more people who like you than the total population of Ananas. Those people have never even seen you in person. If there are such people who have seen you——"
"That's not true! Don't you read all the letters from admirers before giving them to me?"
"Okay, admirer! Kleist! Look into my eyes, you must give me an explanation today!"
"Dear? Didn't you tell me to respect the people who wrote to you?"
When the human bard saw this, he immediately stood up and ran away...
In the two most popular travel stories in "Travels of the Continent", General Crest is the one with the most open prototype, and even the illustrations were drawn by him; readers from all over the continent could not find the gourmet hunters and did not know how to contact the Snow Wolf Tribe, so they sent letters expressing their excitement to General Crest; the bards of the Ananas City branch became familiar with him just by delivering letters to his house, and naturally they knew how exaggerated the number of letters from enthusiastic readers of different races, identities, and even genders expressing their love for Crest was.
It is only natural that the general's wife feels a growing sense of crisis...
After repeatedly expressing that he had no personal feelings for Prince Carlisle to his wife, General Chryst had no choice but to give the letter from His Royal Highness the Prince to his wife to express his frankness.
Prince Carlisle's letter was not long. After a brief greeting, he explained the gift. After reading the letter, his wife's expression turned from angry to livid. She took down the long sword hanging on the wall and stabbed General Crest without saying a word...
"Calm down, Cosina!" Kleist jumped up in fear and hid behind the sofa. "I have no idea what's written in the letter. If that Carlisle goes crazy, it's not my fault!"
"Shut up! Damn it, when did you hook up with Carlisle's teacher!" Former elf warrior Cosina said angrily.
"Carlisle's teacher? Wait! His teachers are the priest Harvey of the Church, the sage Xavier, and the snow wolf Ayun. How could these three people have an affair with me?!" Crest was completely at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "The first two are old men from the human race, and the latter is just a cub of the snow wolf tribe! Even if you insist that I would seduce men from other races, at least find a suspect of the right age!"
Cosina stopped chasing her husband and asked in confusion: "Really?"
"Really!" Kleist nodded vigorously.
Cosina knew Crest quite well. After thinking carefully, she realized that her picky husband was unlikely to be interested in the old human man and the orc cub, so she put the sword back.
General Kleist wiped his sweat, this hurdle was finally passed...
Finally getting the letter addressed to him, the Elf General's expression turned serious as he read it.
Cosina took out the jewelry and played with it. Seeing her husband's expression change drastically, she stood up and looked at the yard, then casually closed the door of the living room. Then she walked back quickly and lowered her voice and said, "Gretel, do you have any agreement with Carlisle?"
"Not really..." Crest shook his head and read the words in the letter again, with some hesitation on his face. "Carlisle was just delivering the message. The one who wrote this letter was the Snow Wolf Man Ayun."
"The author of the travelogue, Ayun?" Kosina was a little surprised. "He is not an ordinary orc."
"Of course he is not ordinary...How many wise men like him can there be in the entire orc tribe?" Crest folded the thin piece of letter paper, thought for a while, and released a ball of wind from his palm, rolling the letter paper into powder.
Seeing her husband so cautious, Cosina also became serious: "Grete, I support any decision you make, but you must remember that we are Ananas people, and we cannot betray this city."
"Don't get me wrong, dear." Craster quickly explained, "The cooperation that Ayun hinted at in the letter does not harm Ananas..." After hesitating, Craster himself was not very sure, "Maybe it's because Evelyn has become his disciple, or maybe it's because we have indeed cooperated for a long time... Ayun saw the hidden crisis of Ananas, I think he wanted to show his goodwill to us and Ananas in this way."
"......?" Cosina didn't understand.
"Gwendoline." Kleist uttered the name briefly.
Cosina's expression changed slightly, and she tightened her grip on the sofa cover with her hands. "—Wait, wasn't it Gwendolyn who had been leading the trade with the Snow Wolf Tribe? What does the Snow Wolf Tribe mean by this?"
General Crest thought for a while before saying, "Regarding the cooperation between Ananas and the Snow Wolf Tribe, Ayun never mentioned the trade between the two sides to me again after he first approached me. Gwendolyn gave the Snow Wolf Tribe the opportunity to participate in the 'Frank Feast', but Ayun showed his goodwill to me in this sincere way... I think this wise man of the Snow Wolf Tribe saw that Gwendolyn's heart was not in Ananas, and what she wanted was the Queen's favor, so he invited me to cooperate again. It is impossible for the Snow Wolf Tribe to move away with Gwendolyn when she returns to Stephens."
Cosina suddenly realized something and couldn't help but praise, "This orc is really a smart one. No wonder he could write those two travelogues." The female elf smiled and said teasingly, "In this case... dear, you can only have a 'private affair' with His Royal Highness Prince Carlisle~"
General Crest's mouth twitched slightly... His wife was very smart and instantly realized that his cooperation with the Snow Wolf Tribe could not be exposed to the public, at least not to let Gwendolyn know - it would be too inappropriate to try to trick others when they expressed their position so sincerely; then the sudden fortune that the general had made could only come from Prince Carlisle's "generosity".
"Cosina, you..." The elf general, who had no way to deal with his wife, sighed helplessly.
In any case, Kleist had to appreciate Ayun's kindness. Gwendolyn was increasingly eager to please Her Majesty the Queen and didn't even care about her eating manners, which resulted in the city finances of Ananas, which had been growing year by year, being stretched to the limit. Without this box of unexpected wealth, General Kleist would have to worry about how to ensure that the soldiers' equipment would be replaced next year.
"My dear, please don't get fatter and fatter like last year. I don't mind showing my annoyance towards my popular and beloved husband, but a fat elf general may not be persuasive enough to attract a prince of a country to spend huge sums of money to please him." Cosina smiled with her hands covering her mouth.
Crest didn't want to pay attention to her...
Seeing her husband angry, Cosina stopped teasing and said seriously, "Since Prince Carlisle has given us such a generous gift, we must show our appreciation. What do you think, dear?"
"That's right." Kleist nodded. "Next year, let's allocate some manpower to expand the dock, so that St. Bridge's fleet won't have so much trouble when it comes to port."
Cosina agreed: "That's great, then I'll arrange the vassal race. By the way, there is a group of young warriors in Garcia Village who have just passed the adult trial. I think it would be a good thing to let these ignorant young people go to the port to gain some experience. Gretel, what do you think?"
"Of course, thank you, dear." Kleist's eyes were gentle . Apart from being jealous and liking to tease him whenever she had the chance, Cosina was really a very good wife.
On the southeast coast of the Southern Continent, while snow was falling in the Northern Continent, the temperature in the Kingdom of Saint Bridge had not yet begun to drop.
Prince Carlisle went out of the city early every morning to visit his father who was recuperating in a palace outside the city, and then returned to the palace before nine o'clock to meet with ministers and parliamentarians to handle the day's government affairs.
The meeting hall in the main hall of the royal palace has undergone some changes compared with previous years: there are two exquisite and small high-backed chairs and two long tables piled with paper documents next to His Royal Highness's seat, which are the seats of the two princesses; when His Royal Highness discusses with ministers and parliamentarians, the two Princesses sit on the side and listen, and Prince Carlisle will occasionally listen to their opinions.
The ministers had previously been very dissatisfied with the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess, as a woman, appeared in the sacred council hall of the main hall of the royal palace. However, after His Majesty fell ill again and His Royal Highness the Prince became increasingly silent and cautious, no one openly discussed whether the princess's participation in politics was "corrupting morals."
Especially after four of the other five southern countries sent envoys of princes, princesses, and princes, who were all respectful to Prince Carlisle, some shameless noble parliamentarians even openly declared that it was very reasonable for the princess to participate in politics and that the daughter of the royal family naturally had the qualifications to exercise royal power... This made some old-school nobles very angry, and even transferred a lot of their hatred for the princess herself to those villains.
However, during the royal palace meeting on this day, the ministers were probably grateful for the princess' participation in politics - His Royal Highness was furious about the collapse of a house on a street in the city and the civil servants knew nothing about it. He dealt with several noble officials who were at least viscounts in one breath, and even took his anger out on the Minister of the Interior, seeming to want to kick out the old-fashioned Earl on the spot; fortunately, the two princesses intervened and said many good things to the frightened Earl, so that His Royal Highness, whose reputation was growing day by day, suppressed his anger and did not pursue the matter further.
"Brother, you were really vicious just now." In the side hall of His Royal Highness, the little princess gestured exaggeratedly, "Earl Harris almost couldn't stand. If I hadn't signaled the guards to come forward to support him, he might have made a fool of himself on the spot."
"Will it? The words I used to criticize him were not even half as harsh as when I taught Yumi a lesson. It's because Lord Harris has been too pampered." Carlisle smiled gently, without any trace of his previous fierce look. "Little Betty, don't you think that Harris is just a figurehead as the Home Secretary and there is no point in him standing in the Council Chamber at all?"
The little princess tilted her head to think about it, then nodded awkwardly: "Although Prince Hillbottom has mentioned many times before how Count Harris is proficient in government affairs, diligent and reliable, in my and my sister's opinion, he doesn't really manage things...right, sister?"
The shy eldest princess just covered her mouth and laughed, refusing to criticize an earl in front of her brother.
Perhaps it was because he had seen how naughty the Snow Wolf cubs were... Carlisle was becoming more and more tolerant of young people who didn't care about what they said. He teased the little princess and said, "So, little Betty, who do you think is more suitable to be the Home Secretary of St. Bridget?"
"Brother." The eldest princess was frightened and quickly spoke out to stop him.
"It's just a casual chat between our families. Don't be too serious." Carlisle waved his hand casually. "Little Betty, tell me what good ideas you have."
"If you ask me... Earl Hockley, right?" The young princess was not as cautious as her elder sister. She smiled and said, "The work of the Minister of the Interior is done by the clerks anyway, so what difference does it make who takes the position? If Earl Hockley is the Minister of the Interior, Yumi won't dare to bully me, because I can complain to her father!"
The eldest princess couldn't help laughing out loud, and Carlisle was also laughing, but his eyes were a little cold.
Even little Betty could see that there was no difference between having a Home Secretary and not having one, and the loser who had risen to a high position by virtue of his status had no awareness of it… This was not a happy thing for the future king.
"Brother, didn't you say that your teachers would come to St. Bridget's to see us? Why haven't they come yet?" the little princess said, tilting her head.
"Of course Teacher Ayun will come, but they haven't finished their work yet, so we have to wait for a while." Carlisle smiled and touched the little princess's head. "Teacher Ayun is very strict, Betty. If Teacher Ayun knew that our little Betty often fails to complete her homework, then Teacher Ayun will not play with you. Maybe she will punish you to do more homework."
"Well... I'll go back to my homework then." The little princess jumped down from her chair nervously, picked up her skirt and ran out, "Brother, please don't tell your teacher that I'm delaying my studies. I want to play with the big white dog."
"It's a wolf!"
"Yeah, big white dog wolf!"
Carlisle laughed. He had to change the way she called Little Betty before Teacher Ayun came, otherwise this lovely sister might not have the chance to play with the Snow Wolf Tribe.
After finishing his time with his two sisters, Prince Carlisle's next thing to deal with is...his own career.
Before his coronation, Carlisle did not consider merging his own industry into the royal assets. It was not because he was selfish, but because the current domestic bureaucracy of the kingdom was not trustworthy enough... With the war imminent, Carlisle could not make too big adjustments to the upper structure of St. Bridget. No matter how uncomfortable he was, he had to tolerate the parasites of those countries to have fun for a while.
Tim Humphrey, as a court wizard, was responsible for the financial accounting of all of Carlisle's personal properties; Darren, who was a greatsword warrior, was forced to manage Carlisle's team personnel; Dan Claudy, who was originally a dandy nobleman and a funny knight, had to act as Carlisle's "foreign minister"; not to mention Yumi Hockley, a famous nympho in the royal city. In order to ensure that Carlisle's complicated low-end product sales chain could truly benefit the lower classes, this beauty-loving noblewoman was so busy that she didn't even have time to take care of her hair...
Seeing his friends being driven around in circles, Prince Carlisle had a serious look on his face, but he felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart.
"Tim and Darren are fine, but bringing Dan and Yumi, two guys who always play and get into trouble, back to the right path will give me the same sense of accomplishment as bringing my sisters who only spend their time playing with dolls and drinking afternoon tea to the government hall."
Prince Carlisle was secretly delighted and continued to increase the workload for his friends without any hesitation.
"...Carlisle is really becoming more and more like Ayun!" Dan Claudy, who was assigned a bunch of tasks, complained to Yumi in private.
Yumi nodded wildly, saying bitterly, "That's right. Ayun just can't stand seeing anyone in their tribe idle. They even forced us to farm when we were visiting them! It's really weird. Even a delicate, beautiful and weak woman like me was ordered to prospect for minerals!"
"Yes! I was tricked into farming for several days, but I didn't even touch Ashan's little hand!" Dan Claudy's face twisted when he thought of that unbearable experience.
Yumi looked at him in shock.
Dan realized that he had said something stupid, and quickly explained, "As a knight, I think it's not too much to be close to a snow wolf, right?"
Yumi ran away, shouting, "Tim, Darren! For the sake of your chastity, neither of you should spend the night at Claude's house again!"
Dan quickly chased after him: "Hey, wait Yumi, let me explain--"
Carlisle, who was sitting indoors signing documents, turned his head to look at his energetic friends in the courtyard outside the window: "Well, they are very energetic. It seems that it won't be a problem to give them more tasks."
The guard who was sorting the documents for Carlisle paused and looked blankly at the respected prince.
