Chapter 251 Meliati Never Takes Off Her Mask
"It would be great if the lords and bishops in these places were willing to surrender." Steve, the leader of the mountain knights, still said happily.

"What do they want?" The voice of the witch Carrie (called Carrie for distinction) came from under the hood.

"The Bishop of Oakblossom Castle and the Lord of Longfort said that they would be happy to accept whatever you give them, but the Lord of Seven Elms Town hinted that he wanted the town of Warwick next door."

“The two from Oak Flower Castle and Long Front Castle, transfer all the lower-level vassals to them.” Meliati said lightly.

"What about Seven Elms?"

"Agree first. I remember that the eldest son of the Lord of Seven Elms doesn't have a good relationship with him? Give Warwick to his eldest son and Seven Elms to his youngest son, and let him live in Cold Spring Castle in his old age."

Fili silently mourned for the old lord. At his age, he obviously didn't understand Meliati's character.

This gentleman has always been the one who says, "I can give, but you can't take it."

After arranging these surrenderers, Meliati immediately started the main topic of today.

"According to intelligence, Bishop Resit of Whitewater Castle will secretly take a carriage to High Castle to request reinforcements soon.

Today, the head of the clergy in North Mound County is Bishop Resite. As soon as he dies, the church system in North Mound County will inevitably be in chaos.

We must immediately raise the banner and revolt in the name of implementing Juanita reforms and cleaning up corruption in the Church.

Our first priority is to capture the entire North Mound County and ensure that the rear is not lost."

Standing in front of the map spread out on the long table, Meliati placed her finger on a place name.

"Spirotchu, your mission is to go north to capture Whitewater Castle and cut off the route of the Church of the Stonewall Army heading south."

The tall and thin knight on the white horse nodded slightly with an arrogant look, but said nothing.

"Master Mo Ruo, your mission is to go south along the way, take over the Seven Elms Town, and blockade the group of old stubborn people in Mound County."

The red horse knight, who looked ordinary, laughed naively and said, "I know."

"Master Herman, you go take over the Long Fort and the Oak Flower Fort, and clear all obstacles along the way."

The short and fat black horse knight, who looked like a wine barrel, burped and replied with a smile: "Don't worry, little Meliati."

"As long as we occupy these three places, the entire North Mande will be in our hands." Meliati's fingers moved across the rough sheepskin map, and finally stopped at the High Castle.

As long as the plan goes well, once Changfeng Fort is captured, the gates of Gaobao City will be open to her.

"What about me?" asked the elegant and easy-going grey horse knight with a bitter face.

"Uncle Wayne, come with me out of Changfeng Fort and take the small road directly to Gaobao City." Her finger stopped on the place name of Gaobao and Meliati nodded heavily.

There are now two companies of imperial orders stationed in the city of High Castle, led by the Knight of the Fangs, Armand. They are the troops specially left by Prince Condé to stop Meliati.

Meliati acted very carefully, but the truth of an uprising could not be hidden, and Bishop Resite got wind of it.

For many years, Bishop Resite had been a coward in front of Meliati, watching her expand her army and refuse to pay tithes and imperial taxes.

But at this time, for some unknown reason, he made up his mind to risk his life and go to Gaobao City to report.

Meliati tapped the table with her knuckles and scanned everyone in the hall:

"The exact time for Bishop Resit to leave has not been determined. He is still preparing, but according to his personal maid, several guards, and low-level monks, it is likely to be mid-February, which is one to two weeks from now."

Fili, the spy chief of Cold Spring Castle, immediately stepped forward and said, "During this period, I will step up my surveillance of Bishop Resit and ensure that the error in the departure time is shortened to within two days."

"Yes." Meliati tapped the table with her slender fingers, looking at the senior officials of Cold Spring Castle, "If the plan goes well, we will officially start the uprising in mid-February. Now that everything is ready, you can hint to the knights in advance."

"Okay, let's break up the meeting."

…………

Walking around the spiral staircase of the tower, Wayne walked into the cold night with a sad face.

On the top of the tower, he indeed saw Meliati who was not in the study.

The cold wind blew her mask as she picked up the bottle of Sansungen wine brewed privately by the Boar Knights and drank it sip by sip.

Meliati never takes off her mask.

Wayne had never seen her face since she came of age, and had no idea what she looked like.

"It's too cold outside, Meliati, you should put on some clothes." Holding a bearskin coat, Wayne poked his head out of the tower with a frown.

Meliati glanced at Wayne and said, "Uncle Wayne, I don't need this." "Okay." Wayne put on his coat tremblingly, grabbed the eaves of the tower, climbed to the top of the tower, and walked around before sitting next to Meliati.

Wayne hugged his knees like a girl, silent.

"Will you let those priests go?"

"I will hang all the bishops who were not born in the Thousand River Valley, and all the low-level monks who are not from the Thousand River Valley will be forced to do hard labor and work in miners." Meliati announced the verdict in advance.

“Isn’t this a bit…”

"Cruel?" Meliati took another sip of the pale yellow potato wine. "Why didn't they feel cruel when they drank the blue blood wine? Why didn't they feel cruel when they forced the people of the Thousand River Valley to leave their homes?"

"Thousand River Valley is also my hometown." Wayne's voice was still calm but with sorrow, "But do you really want to kill so many people?"

"Are you really pleading for those priests?"

"Haha, if you do these things to vent your anger, I have no objection, but you know what I'm really afraid of? ... a civil war among the people of Qianhe Valley."

Meliati laughed, which was rare for her: "Uncle Wayne, you are smarter than them all."

Some people in Qianhe Valley just want to go back to a few hundred years ago when there was a lord who didn't care about anything and the landlords and nobles of Qianhe Valley lived freely.

While they were looking forward to Meliati, they were also afraid that Meliati would bring her cruel rule to the entire Thousand River Valley.

Before I was expelled from the church, I was bullied by the church. After I was expelled from the church, I was bullied by the Duke. Wasn’t my expulsion in vain?
"If you can be a little more gentle, they may not necessarily stand against you."

After hearing what Wayne said, Meliati suddenly laughed: "You always ask me why I am so tough, Uncle Wayne, it's not that I want to be tough, they force me to be tough.

They were so naive and weak that they thought that expelling the church would be the end of it.

But after we expelled the Thousand Valley Church, we faced an attack from the entire aristocratic world.

It's not that I haven't considered Catherine's idea of ​​forming a federation or a confederation, but that would only lead to destruction.

We need to concentrate all our resources. In this situation, forming a confederation, wrangling internally, and dispersing our strength is simply courting death!"

"If you want to establish a monarchy, you don't have to use such cruel means." Shrinking his body into his coat, the Gray Horse Knight looked into the red eyes in the iron mask. "You are from the Thousand River Valley, and you have the blood of the Three Kings. If you raise your banner, countless people from the Thousand River Valley will be willing to become your subjects."

"The opportunity is right in front of us, and we don't have time." Looking at the cold starry sky, Meliati exhaled a breath of water vapor with the smell of alcohol.

"I have heard the voices in countless people's hearts, and there are very few people who are firm enough not to compromise. Even among mountain knights, there are people who want to use war to promote peace.

The current situation of the three kingdoms would not allow Qianhe Valley to become independent. This is almost impossible.

The path I take is like walking across a cliff on thin wooden sticks. It does not allow for any mistakes, especially betrayal.

Joan has already shown us that people will betray love, but not hatred and fear."

The Gray Horse Knight quietly sipped a few sips of wine, and after sitting for almost a minute, he slowly spoke: "Meliati, do you really believe in the text that has been copied thousands of times?"

"...Why shouldn't I believe it?" After pouring the last drop of wine into her mouth, Meliati held the wine bag and stared blankly for a long time before standing up.

Facing the morning light rising from the mountain in the distance, Meliati turned sideways, and the morning breeze blew her hair, making it flutter wildly.

She pointed to the mountains in the west and gently asked Wayne, "Do you know what's on the other side of the mountain?"

Wayne did not answer.

"There are enemies on the other side of the mountain."

Turning around neatly, Meliati patted Wayne on the shoulder and said, "Let's go."

Meliati didn't look drunk at all, and she easily grabbed the edge of the tower and jumped into it.

From the sound of crisp footsteps, the Grey Knight knew that Meliati had gone far away, but he did not leave.

Wearing a bearskin coat, sitting on the top of the tower, he looked at the half-white starry sky for a long time without saying a word.

He still remembered little Meliati before she was eight years old, that clever and naughty girl.

He couldn't connect the iron-faced duchess with the cute little girl.

"Vicente." The Grey Knight raised his head, and his voice drifted in the night wind. "If only you were still alive, maybe you, as a father, could change her mind."

(End of this chapter)