From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 197 Everyone is actually relatives
Queen Mi Wei had already removed her armor at this time.

But instead of a skirt, she changed into a blue gown embroidered with gold trim and a huge ruby ​​necklace.

Such a large ruby ​​is a rarity even in the royal family, but when it appears on the body of the queen who is famous for her wisdom and beauty in the north, it will only make people feel that it should be taken for granted, and even feel that it is an honor for the gem.

Lann noticed that Queen Mivi also had long golden hair like sunshine, which was much brighter than her light golden hair that had been bleached by a witcher mutation.

But at the same time, he also noticed that the blond hair was mixed with a lot of silver-gray color. It was obvious that the queen was also devoting herself to state affairs.Reminiscent of her admirable experience, this inevitably leads to another burst of embarrassment.

"I always thought that the rumors about you in the northern border were exaggerated, but now that I see the real people, I know that they are still reserved."

"Sit down, Lane—may I call you that?"

After seeing Lann enter the room, Queen Miwei showed a faint smile: "I don't know if Calanthe has told you that we are actually distant cousins."

Lan En saluted humbly: "I have studied aristocratic genealogy, so naturally I will not forget this honor."

Lan En's wording made Mi Wei laugh: "You are too polite. But our relationship is very weak. I also have a relationship with Fuerte Sitai and Demavi, but I don't know according to How should they be called by seniority—the bloodlines among the nobles are always intricate, especially the royal family."

It was true, but Lan didn't know how to take it.

But fortunately, Mi Wei seemed to just sigh, or simply wanted to express her kindness to the young talent in front of her who had helped her a lot, and did not continue the conversation along this topic.

Then she saw the picture frame Lann had brought over.

"Gift?"

Lan nodded and picked up Alice's painting.

Queen Mi Wei suddenly showed a look of surprise, and then became amazed.

“This kind of color palette and composition, and this kind of strong personal style, I have never felt in the pen of another artist today... This is a new master.”

It was rumored that Queen Miwei hated tutoring classes when she was a child, but she was definitely not lacking in basic artistic qualities under her influence.After becoming a queen, the collections she saw were even more numerous, and she could easily judge the level of paintings in Lane's hands.

She stepped forward in amazement, and immediately discovered the problem: "But the content and angle of view in this painting... Could it be that this master is hiding in your knight order? And the time is wrong, so you can paint this painting so soon Come out, and the paint is already dry?"

Lan En smiled mysteriously, and was noncommittal to Queen Miwei's question, but said: "My artist knew that I was coming to visit His Majesty, so he drew this painting specially, and used some special techniques, I hope you like it. "

Queen Mi Wei is not keen on paintings, at most she can see something fresh.But the main thing to look at in a gift is the intention inside, and the information revealed by Lan En's words is quite interesting to her.

She didn't let the butler or bartender who was on standby in the house take action, but stepped forward to take the painting in person.

"I want to thank you, Lan." Queen Mi Wei sighed suddenly, "It's not because of this painting, but because of your timely support."

"Because of the long distance and the harassment from Nilfgaard, I couldn't bring too many knights with me. I thought it would be smooth sailing in the hinterland of the North, but these monsters suddenly appeared."

"These fighters should get their own glory and destiny on the battlefield. It is really worthless for them to die because of these monsters."

She stroked the wine glass in her hand, and the queen of Xiwu felt very sorry for the death of the soldier.

"No one would have thought that such a situation would happen." This topic aroused Lan's interest, "I started from Sintra and passed through Temeria and Redania, and I didn't encounter any monsters along the way. .On the contrary, after leaving Novigrad in Redania, I found that they gradually increased."

"Maybe you should ask the warlocks about this kind of thing, or..."

Queen Mi Wei suddenly looked at Lan En's unique lion pupils with great interest and without hesitation.

Any other young knight might feel ashamed by this kind of gaze.

"I've heard rumors that you are blonde and blue-eyed, but looking at your pupils now... so you really became a witcher?"

Lane nodded.This kind of thing can't be hidden at all, and he doesn't even want to hide it, so it seems a bit deliberately publicized.

In Lane's view, the identity of a demon hunter that others avoid can play an unexpected role at certain times.

"May I know why you did this? Is it really the same as those rumors?"

for what?In order to save his life, if Jielong didn't mutate himself, he would rush to the street on the spot.

Lan En thought for a while, and replied with a resolute expression and firm tone: "For my deceased aunt, for my living princess, and for my country in war."

That head of pale golden half-length hair seems to be coming alive at the moment, but it's a pity that it's dinner time and there is no sunlight coming in from the window, otherwise the atmosphere would be even better.

Mi Wei looked at Lan En with admiration, and smiled like an elder: "If Calanther knows what you have achieved now, she will definitely feel relieved."

"Believer, pour wine for Earl Lannister!"

The Queen clinked glasses with the Earl Lion and drank it all in one gulp.

"We seem to have talked a lot, but so far you haven't said why you're here, Lane."

After drinking a glass of wine, Queen Mi Wei's face remained unchanged, and she became even more sober: "Unless you just want to give me a painting as a gift, and by the way, visit my relative who doesn't know which generation you can trace back to?"

Now that the chat is over, it's time to get down to business.

Lan En put down his wine glass and sat upright: "I take the liberty to visit, I want to ask you some questions."

"The situation of the United Kingdom of Leiria and Livia is too similar to ours in Sintra. Others in the northern border may still look down on Nilfgaard, but we who have directly fought against him should not be like this. "

"I haven't visited most of the kings present at the meeting, and my words are mild. I want to ask you to speak up for me and help reshape the northern border."

As Lan said, Mivi's United Kingdom is too similar to Sintra's situation.

Especially in terms of geographical location, the United Kingdom of Leiria and Livia is also located in the southernmost part of the northern border. It can even be said that the national border of the United Kingdom is the border of the northern border.

The only difference from Sintra is that the United Kingdom is separated from the south by the Yaruga River.This great stream across the northern border is almost never frozen, and when the rainy season swells, the river can even reach a mile wide, known as the "impassable north-south barrier."

It is also for this reason that Sintra will become the first stop of Nilfgaard's invasion of the North.

After the fall of the capital of Sintra and the reduction of the remaining troops to Brokilon, Nilfgaard was able to capture Soden by way of attack, and then marched into the United Kingdom of Leiria and Livia.

While the two of them were talking, the front line might be guarding against enemy attacks day and night, and small conflicts would break out from time to time.

If it hadn't been for the combined army and warlocks in the northern region to defeat Nilfgaard's main force at Soden Mountain, Mi Wei might have followed in Calanthe's footsteps and become the second embarrassing queen of the northern region.

So Lan never thought about wooing Queen Meewe, because Queen Meewe was Cintra's most natural ally.Apart from Rann in the entire northern border, perhaps only the people of the United Kingdom most hope that Sintra will recover as soon as possible.

And he came here this time more to express an attitude of asking for help, and——to send that painting.

After listening to Lan En's words, Queen Mi Wei narrowed her eyes slightly and asked the bartender to pour herself another glass of wine.

Then she asked: "I heard that you left Sintra two months earlier, and even took a detour. You wanted to visit the kings before the meeting, didn't you?"

This is not something that can be concealed or worth concealing, Lane nodded simply.

Mi Wei suddenly let out a long sigh: "It would be great if my two sons had half the ability of yours."

Lan's face twitched, and he suddenly didn't know how to answer this sentence.I'm not sure if Mi Wei is praising herself.

"Then I suppose you must have seen Folterstadt and Wizmir."

"Yes."

"What did you say to them?"

Lane organized the language and said: "His Majesty Vizmir II and I reached an agreement to jointly resist Nilfgaard. He promised to send troops to resist Nilfgaard and help us persuade other participants at the meeting .”

Mi Wei nodded knowingly: "Wizmir is called the 'Fair One', and his vision is definitely not shallow. What about Folterstadt?"

Lane thought: I have a very firm alliance with his daughter.

But it's better not to talk about this kind of thing in the open, as Fultesty himself probably doesn't know about it yet.

Lane thought for a while and said, "His Majesty Fultstad doesn't like Nilfgaard either, but he is unwilling to spend extra effort to help Sintra. He has great confidence in Temeria and believes that he The nation is strong enough to fight the black sun alone."

Mi Wei sat up straight this time: "Why? Fortestey is also a wise king, so he shouldn't be so unclear about the situation. Helping Cintra is far easier than fighting against Nilfgaard himself."

Lann lowered his head and let out a long sigh: "He proposed a condition that I cannot accept."

"What is it?"

"He wants Princess Cyrella to marry his illegitimate son."

When he said this, Lan En's eyes showed a ray of anger at the right time.

Queen Mi Wei keenly grasped this point, and sighed in her heart: No matter how sharp she is in politics and how brave she is in terms of force, she is still only a young man after all.

However, when she thought of the poems and rumors on the subject of "Knight and Princess", "Lion and Princess", "Lion and Lion Cub" that were widely circulated in the northern border, she felt that she could understand it.

After all, Queen Mi Wei is also a person who believes in love.

Whether it was because of Rann's previous rescue of Miwei's team or for the United Kingdom to have another portal to resist Nilfgaard, Queen Miwei had to analyze the situation for Lann and make a promise.

"Helping Sintra is helping myself, so I will try my best to persuade other kings to help Sintra at the meeting."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Queen Miwei shook her head lightly, and asked, "Have you not seen Demavi and Henselt?"

"Yes."

The Queen touched the gemstone on her chest, and analyzed it to Lann: "Dermawi's Kingdom of Aedirn is right behind my United Kingdom. Although he is a cruel tyrant, he has a lot of military insights. The essence of Fogard. I have a good relationship with him, and it is not difficult to win him for you."

"Thank you."

The queen continued: "Folter Stey is not a very stubborn guy. Although his hobbies are very... special, he is very clear about the situation. If the majority of the meeting agrees to fight against Nilfgaard, Nor is he alone in rejecting a proposal that does him no harm."

"That's enough." Lan said, "Sintra has Temeria as our back, and you on the front line fighting alongside us, and with His Majesty Vizmir's support, I am confident that Nilfgaard will people were driven out of the north."

Queen Mi Wei sighed: "No, things are not that simple, Lane."

"I just said so many people, but I didn't tell you about Henselt. And Henselt is just the most asshole. He may not be able to help you, but he has the ability to make others not to help you."

Lan En was taken aback: "I've heard some rumors about him..."

"Then I can tell you responsibly that no matter what rumors you hear about him, most of them are true."

"Since he took the throne, he has been perseveringly harassing Demawi's Aedirn Kingdom. Believe it or not, if Demawi sends troops south to fight against the Black Sun, Henselt can send troops to raid Upper Aedirn in turn."

"Ah this..."

Queen Mi Wei shook her head. Henselt's reckless behavior has always been the biggest headache for other powerful countries in the north.Although other people who can become the monarchs of the four major countries have more or less eccentricities, they are still qualified politicians in their bones.

Only Henselt, she sometimes really doubts why this person is still able to maintain his own country.

"And." Queen Mi Wei added seriously, "Lan, you have to be mentally prepared."

"It's true that these kings can see the situation clearly, but if you really want them to lend a helping hand to Sintra, you will have to pay a certain price."

"Cirilla's marriage may really need to be considered..."

Mi Wei said a heavy word.

Before Lan could react to this sentence, there was a loud and long sound of horns outside the window.

"Ugh-"

The horn sounded from far to near, and the direction of Haji Fortress also responded quickly.

"Ugh-"

Rann of Cintra, Meve of the United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia, Demavi of Aedirn, Henselt of Kaedwen, Foltest of Temeria.The representatives and monarchs from the northern border have already arrived, so there is only one signal in response to the sound of the horn.

"Vizmir is finally here, and everyone is here." Queen Mi Wei sighed, "The meeting is about to begin."

…………

the world is huge.

Just as the main forces in the northern border gathered at Haji Fortress, on the other side of the world, a man in black sun armor was lowering his head.

His armor is even more advanced than the Nilfgaardian officer's armor seen on the Lane battlefield. Although most of the lines on it are covered by sword marks and dust, you can still vaguely see how old the blacksmith who forged it was. Care has been taken to make this armor stand out from the crowd.

In addition to the black sun armor, this man is also wearing a layer of fine chain mail, which can be said to increase the defense performance to the extreme.

The person inside the armor should be a rebellious military officer, but at this moment he is more humble and gentle than any royal butler, and he is reporting to the person in front of him smoothly:

"Wizmir, Foltest, Demavi, Henselt, Mivi, and Lane of Cintra. They have all arrived at Haji Fortress in Pontar at this moment. They are talking privately."

Standing in front of him was a slender black-haired man with a tall and straight figure, and the moose fur coat had armor marks and rust marks on it.

"They are not talking in private. The whole north and even the south know about their meeting. They want everyone in the north to know, and they want us to know."

"Four kings, a queen, and a young earl." The slender black-haired man chuckled, "Can you guess what they are talking about? Cuhorn, my marshal?"

"I can guess." The marshal replied briefly, without saying a word.He knew that the person who turned his back hated anyone who made unnecessary comments in front of him.

"There are only four major kingdoms, plus two sects. We didn't invite Verden, Soden, or even Kevier." The black-haired man shook his head, "This shows that they are either extremely confident or lacking in confidence. They didn't invite wizards either. Anyone who would, it's not only fun, but meaningful."

"Yes." The marshal was still concise.

The black-haired man didn't look back at him: "Is there no news about Reins and the witchers?"

"There is no news about the warlocks, but the witchers..." The marshal looked up at the man, "They seem to have come together with Lann of Cintra."

"You mean our intelligence system isn't doing its job well?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then I guess I can't wait for Rins' report any longer?"

"I'm afraid so."

The black-haired man took a few steps and stopped by the window, standing there for a long time, looking at the hills bathed in the rain.

Marshal Cuhorn waited, clenched the pommel of his sword uneasily and then released it, fearing that he would be forced to listen to a long monologue again.The marshal knew that the man at the window saw the monologue as a dialogue, and the dialogue as a proof of privilege and trust.

"Kuhorn, I should have called you the governor at this time, you know? And the land in front of you is your province, the province of Sintra. It's a pity that everything has been destroyed by a Seventeen...or the guy?"

He chuckled lightly: "The lion of Cintra...I have met his father once, and the people of Cintra seem to have become famous very early."

"The Sintra of the past was not what we see now."

He stretched out his hand, and the southern corner of Sintra was silent and deserted under the rain.

The marshal lowered his head: "Sorry, we got involved."

"Yes, you do need to apologize, so I hope you can make up for it."

"I want you to go to Dor Angra. When the rebellion subsides, you will leave. My troops in Dor Angra need a reliable commander who will not accept provocation. The Merry Widow of Leiria , and Demawi of Aedirn...will provoke us at any time. You have to control those young officers and calm their impulsive heads. Only when I give you orders, you can take the challenge. Until then, Stand still."

"As ordered."

Dor Angra is a very wide gorge that connects the important trade routes of Lyria, Livia, Aedirn, Vale of Flowers, Kadwin and the southern regions.After passing through the shallowest point of the middle Yaruga, the line continued north through the Pontar Valley to the Pontar and the Kingdom of Temeria.

Simply put, this is an important traffic route, a land of military strategists.

"Also, find some bounty hunters and mercenaries to go to Skellige, in the name of 'revenge for Jinta City'. Harass them, hold them back, don't let them rob the southern coast again, now is not the time to deal with them .”

"As ordered."

Suddenly there was the sound of weapons and spurs and loud voices in the antechamber.

Someone knocked on the door.

The man in the moose fur coat turned and nodded in agreement.The Marshal bowed slightly and left the room.

The dark-haired man went back to the table and sat down, looking down at the map.He looked carefully for a long time, and finally rested his forehead on his clasped hands.

In his ring was a great diamond that shone like a thousand flames in the candlelight.

"Your Majesty?" The door creaked, and Cuhorn came back again.

"Any news, Cuhorn? News from Reins?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The message from the warlock communication device you gave us—Riens is dead."

The marshal noticed that the dark-haired man's hands were twitching.He found it by the reflection of the diamond.

"Lan of Cintra, Lann Lannister Rhianlun." The dark-haired man tapped the diamond with his fingertips, a gesture that would make all the nobles, collectors, and gem dealers scream, but he didn't care .

After thinking for a while, the man suddenly raised his head: "Tell the wizards to start working, and prepare to use magic to contact our contacts in the elves. Pass on my verbal order. The order is as follows: don't be careful anymore, let the Scoia'tael make trouble, Let the northern kingdom pay more attention to them. Find more demon hunters to join their team, I heard that those guys with cat head necklaces are keen to help elves."

"I remember, Your Majesty."

"Then ask the guys in the forest to look for the white-haired witcher and the sorceress. Stand by after finding the trace of the other party and wait for my order."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"This order must be encrypted to prevent any magical interpretation. Remind those wizards, if they mess up, if outsiders know my order, I will only ask them."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The marshal cleared his throat and straightened his back.

Marshal Menno Quhorn—the future Commander-in-Chief of Dole Angela's forces—raised his head and stood at attention, sword pommel in hand.

Before him was Emhyr var Enreth, Emperor of Nilfgaard, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd - "White Flame Dancing on the Enemy's Tomb".

(End of this chapter)