Free Web Novel“Keep the music playing, keep the dancing going.”
As Louis spoke, the music started.
The entire banquet hall became a bizarre theater, where everyone forced smiles, and each sip of wine felt like drinking seven parts poison.
No one mentioned Joseph again.
It was as if he had never appeared at the banquet, as if his shrill cry of “How dare you!” was just an illusion.
Edward was also feigning joy, but his eyes were already unfocused, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead. freёwebnoѵel.com
While mechanically engaging in small talk with those around him, he secretly thought, “Thank goodness—thank goodness I didn’t agree to Joseph that day.”
He remembered that meeting clearly; Joseph had talked to him about land rights and fiefdoms, even assertively proposing to “jointly control the council’s leadership to sideline that idiot Louis.”
He was tempted for a moment, but due to his cautious nature, he ultimately did not agree. freewēbnoveℓ.com
At this moment, he suddenly felt as if he had dodged a guillotine hanging over his head.
But that feeling of relief had barely emerged before it was swallowed by another wave of panic.
“But what if Louis thinks I’m also involved? If I had said two more words just now, would I have been the one taken away?”
Relief and terror intertwined, tearing at his heart.
Even he couldn’t tell what he wanted to escape more at that moment: this bizarre banquet, or the young County Governor who sat at the head table, always looking gentle.
Yoen, sitting not far from him, was a completely different picture.
He had long been annoyed by that pretentious Joseph, who only spoke of benefits.
Now, watching the man being forcibly dragged away by the knights, he was overjoyed, his mouth practically stretched to his ears.
He laughed like a mischief-maker watching a show, gulping down wine and muttering, “Tsk, tsk, he really fell hard this time.”
He even deliberately nudged Willis beside him with his elbow, his eyebrows flying about: “See? I told you he was too pretentious and fake. Did he really think the boss was easy to fool? Well, now he’s gone, all his pretense landed him in jail.”
Willis, however, was not so relaxed.
He didn’t retort, his gaze sweeping over the cups and landing on his brother, who sat at the head table, still gently smiling as if nothing had happened.
“Did he lay out a trap early on, waiting for Joseph to jump in? Or did he make a sudden decision and attack on the spot?”
Willis considered himself to have met many “ruthless people.”
But someone like Louis, who seamlessly blended calmness, Pressure, and performance, he had never seen before.
He even had some doubts: how many more hidden cards did this unfamiliar brother have yet to reveal?
Thus, amidst the barely maintained music and the awkward atmosphere of forced smiles, this banquet, originally meant for celebration, finally drew to a close.
When the last piece ended, the musicians almost sighed in relief as they put down their instruments, all of them sweating.
But no one dared to leave first.
They all looked towards Louis at the head table, waiting for his move.
It wasn’t until he slowly rose, waved his hand gently, and said softly, “Alright, everyone has worked hard. That will be all for today.”
This “dismissal” was like a warhorse with loosened reins.
Everyone could finally move, but they didn’t dare to move too quickly, fearing to show any hint of panic or disrespect.
They left the banquet hall in an orderly tide, their steps constrained, their expressions complex, as if one wrong step would lead to them being seized by Louis.
It wasn’t until they returned to their temporary lodgings that they finally shed their “harmonious” masks.
In the night, small groups quietly formed, in twos and threes, discussing amongst themselves.
Some whispered with furrowed brows, some murmured secrets, and some were simply bewildered.
“What do you say—what exactly happened?”
“How could he—just take Joseph away? On what charge?”
“Is he mad?”
“But if he’s mad, why does everything seem so meticulous?”
They were like ants searching for an exit in the dark, but they could never find the answer to that question: “Why did Louis do this?”
But no one knew the truth, and no one dared to ask openly.
They only realized a terrible reality:
That seemingly gentle and rarely smiling young County Governor, whether he was mad or not, was far more terrifying than any of them had imagined.
Louis, at the center of the vortex, was as calm as an ancient well.
Shortly after the banquet ended, he summoned Willis and Yoen.
The two pushed open the door one after another. Yoen, upon entering, excitedly said, “Louis, that move of yours just now was too cool! I almost couldn’t help but laugh out loud. That arrogant guy was actually taken away just like that!”
Willis, however, was not so relaxed.
He glanced at the closed door with a complex expression and asked in a low voice, “Louis, aren’t you afraid of trouble? After all, you directly took Joseph away. Will this have any repercussions?”
Louis merely smiled faintly at his words: “His arrest has nothing to do with me.”
“What?” The two were stunned.
Louis gently tapped the table, his tone unperturbed: “It was Duke Edmund’s order. He’s probably already on his way to the Governor’s Mansion. I merely used this matter to establish my authority.”
Surprise appeared in Yoen and Willis’s eyes.
“I didn’t tell you beforehand,” Louis continued, “because the intelligence wasn’t certain at first. But now the evidence is there; he committed treason.
This afternoon, knights from the Governor’s Mansion came to Red Tide Territory and explained this matter to me.
I temporarily thought about whether I could use this matter to establish my authority, and it was also thanks to the cooperation of these knights that I was able to finish this act.” Then, under the shocked and puzzled gazes of the two, Louis concisely explained the whole story:
Joseph Kaladi had secretly established contact with the Silver Plate Guild of the Emerald Federation more than half a year ago.
He provided them with confidential information about the Kaladi Family in the empire’s Southwest defense zone, including watchtower shift changes, garrison food consumption calculations, and even the deployment rhythm of the Southeast line knight troops.
In exchange, he received a large amount of gold coins, medicinal materials, food, and “technical slaves” from the Federation.
And it was precisely the informant from the Silver Plate Guild, whom he had intercepted on his way to Joseph’s territory and then sent to the Governor’s Mansion, that helped him understand the whole story.
“More seriously, the evidence includes not only detailed records of his transactions with the Silver Plate Guild but also his handwritten signature.”
Willis’s eyes widened, and Yoen’s mouth hung open for a long time.
A silence fell.
Yoen then quietly clicked his tongue: “I wondered why he dared to be so arrogant; turns out he wanted to go big.”
“But now,” Louis said with a casual smile, “everything about him is over, and it might even implicate his family.”
Willis’s face turned pale, and he murmured, “He’s crazy—”
After discussing Joseph’s matter, the atmosphere became silent for a moment.
Louis didn’t waste any more words and went straight to the point: “Alright, for tomorrow’s meeting, I plan to do some things, and I need both of you to cooperate.”
Yoen straightened up: “Of course, you say the word.”
Willis nodded: “No problem, we’ll follow your arrangements.”
Louis briefly explained their respective divisions of labor.
Yoen was responsible for stabilizing the situation on the floor, expressing his stance at the appropriate time, and suppressing any potential unrest;
Willis, on the other hand, was to rationalize the new policies for him from the perspectives of system, efficiency, and security, laying the public opinion foundation for him as “for the people and for the public.”
Both of them said they had no problem upon hearing this, immediately agreeing.
Subsequently, the three continued to discuss the handling of several key points in a small circle and quickly reached a consensus.
