Heart of the Castle

Chapter 590 Unexpected Breakthrough
In Li Wei's memory, the Moon Whisper Forest is the most vibrant forest he has ever seen. In comparison, the Dusk Forest in the middle of Northern Border County is like a dead abyss purgatory, and the heart of the castle The forest in it also seemed too silent.

Even the night here is not peaceful. Unknown little beasts whisper in the shade, birds of paradise, swifts, orioles or other birds with melodious voices sing happily on the branches, and a fresh night wind blows In the jungle, the leaves are rustling, as if they are also humming a refreshing natural melody.

This was originally a peaceful and serene night, and all foreigners who were lucky enough to come to the Moonwhispering Forest would have this thought involuntarily.Li Wei could even hear the heavy grunting from other tree houses. Except for those alchemy warriors who never sleepy and never let up, almost all members of the mission had already fallen asleep soundly.

But the young griffin lord felt sleepless.

He got up from the rough bed, then walked to the window of the tree house and looked out.Even though the night was dark, the Moon Whisper Forest was never surrounded by real darkness. The light of the red moon accompanied by the bright starlight sprinkled down from the sky; countless fireflies gathered in midair, like countless stars falling into the world.

However, although this rare beauty is refreshing, it cannot wash away even the slightest worry from Li Wei's eyes.

Before leaving Beijing County, Li Wei realized that the mission of the Kingdom Mission this time would not be easy to complete.Whether it is the Marquis of Osiris or Mr. Dish, they have conveyed to him the impression that the elves have gone through hundreds of years of seclusion, and have already pushed their stubborn personality to the extreme. Humans are important to them. It's too far away, as if elves are to humans, and it has already become a legend in the ditties played and sung by bards.

However, until this evening, Li Wei still had a considerable degree of confidence in the success of the negotiation. Although the elves may not be easy to deal with, they are the traditional allies of humans after all, and the key issue in the negotiation is the life and death of the emerald dragon. In his own hands, this is enough to make the result of the negotiation tilt towards the side that is beneficial to him.

What Li Wei didn't expect was that the contradictions within the elves royal court had intensified to such an extent. The opposition between the high elves, the elves, and the wild elves who once held a lot of power was so tit-for-tat, even as a foreigner. He also made no secret of it in front of the journalists' mission.

This is really a terrible situation for the mission of the Kingdom Mission.

Through the narration of the Marquis of Osiris, Li Wei already has a certain understanding of the power structure of the Elf King Court, although that is the power structure of 20 years ago.If it is placed in the human kingdom, 20 years is enough to change the dynasty, let the children grow up, make the youth grow old, and turn the original rulers into dust of history.But for elves, a long-lived race, 20 years is just an extremely short time, not even enough to leave marks on their faces.

The Elf King Court implements the ruling system of the council. The Elf King or Elf Queen is only a nominal supreme leader, and the actual power is no greater than the three chanters or the Elf Elder; the Sun Chanter of the High Elves, the Goddess of Life The Mercy Singer of the Temple and the Green Leaf Singer of the Natural Magic Guild are important figures who traditionally assist Her Majesty the Queen. Under the three Singers, there are thirty high-blooded high elves participating in the voting of the Council.However, after the Dragon War, about half of the [-] high elf families lost their blood, and the remaining families were also severely damaged. The Council had to recruit other groups that did not belong to the high elves to continue to maintain their own rule. status.

These ethnic groups include not only elf commoners, but also wild elves, centaurs, and dryads who originally belonged to the slave labor class, and other intelligent races in the Moonwhisper Forest.They occupy about half of the speaking power in the Council, which is a number that is enough to prevent most proposals from being passed, and makes the high elves, who have always been in an absolute dominant position, quite dissatisfied.

The negotiation strategy prepared by the Kingdom Mission is based on the special power structure of the Elven Court. As long as the support of those ethnic groups who have no prejudice against humans is won, coupled with the acquiescence of Her Majesty the Elf Queen, the result of the negotiation will be certain. can be quite satisfactory.

But now, the Kingdom Mission unexpectedly fell into the quagmire of elves' internal strife.The contradictions within the Elven King's Court have reached an extremely acute level. Using the analogy that Li Wei knows, the entire Moon Language Forest is like a dry smoking medicine barrel. It only needs a little spark that causes disaster, and the Everyone was blasted into the air.

As the leader of the wild elves and the master of the war dancers, Uniken Fitzgerald's proposal seemed to be a shortcut to solve the problem, but it actually made Levi feel a lot of concerns.The rift between the high elves, elf civilians, and wild elves has a long history, and it is a dispute within the Moonwhispering Forest, which is not something that the human missions as outsiders should participate in.

If he followed the method of maximizing his interests, perhaps he should really heed the advice of Marquis Osiris and immediately lead the mission away from this place of right and wrong, and then wait for everything to calm down before considering issues such as negotiations.However, Li Wei faintly felt that it was reasonable to do so, but deep in his heart, a sense of guilt gradually grew.

Judging from Master War Dancer's proposal, it is obvious that the high elves have the upper hand in the internal strife in the elf royal court, which is why he has this desperate idea.Regardless of whether it is successful or not, even Li Wei, who is not very familiar with the rules of the power game, can feel that the sequelae of this approach are very large.

The high elves lost two leaders at once, and they will definitely be at a loss for a while, but it will not cause their strength to be more traumatized. It is conceivable that when they react, the counterattack force will be How terrible.After all, the Temple of the Goddess of Life and the Guild of Natural Magic are long-standing allies of the high elves, and the use of assassination to eliminate political enemies will undoubtedly make them feel angry and shocked.

Even with the power of the Marquis of Osiris, Unikenfizerd and his allies could not resist the counterattack of the high elves. After all, there is a gap in power, and it will not be because of the death of one or two spiritual leaders However, if it weakens, it will become difficult to control as a dike flood.

This spring in Moonwhisper Forest will be extremely cold and sad, and every inch of the land will be soaked in the blood flowing from the walls of the elves.For the Kingdom of Arthur, this is not good news. Of course, Li Wei no longer has to worry about the aggressiveness of the elves, but he will forever lose the help of the sky knight, Marquis Osiris, and the potential of the elves to fight against demons together. ally.

As for the failure of Master War Dancer's plan, it was even worse.Because of the Marquis of Osiris, the Kingdom of Arthur will surely become the first target of revenge from the angry elves. Although the Griffon Knights are ready for a war with the elves, the outcome of the war will be no matter who wins. , can be called the greatest tragedy and disaster.

Thinking about it this way, Mr. Dish's words are right at all. Due to a coincidence of time, the Kingdom Mission has been involved in the storm of elves' internal strife. Even if they barely get out, the result is not very ideal.

Li Wei just meditated silently by the window. He considered various measures to solve the current predicament from multiple directions. The history of the mainland that the old red-robed scholar Master Su Jiade once told him flowed through his mind like a long river.How did those ancient heroes face similar predicaments?Li Wei thought hard, but didn't get any answer from it.

The eastern sky revealed a golden light, and the tree house was filled with soft morning light, and there were countless tiny light particles floating in the air, which seemed to have a particularly peaceful and peaceful feeling.The morning of the Moon Whispering Forest has arrived, the aftertaste of the night has faded away, and the forest has become colorful again.However, Li Wei was not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery outside the window. He put his hand on the uncarved poplar window sill, his expression was dignified like a stone carving, and his face was faintly pale due to the exhaustion from a sleepless night.

The servant knight, Glenn Warm, arrived almost no later than the first ray of sunlight in the morning. He knocked lightly on the door of the tree house where Li Wei lived, and then opened the wooden door with the fastest movement after getting permission.

"Your Excellency, your breakfast."

Grunwalm was holding a basket woven from branches of holly in his hand. The appearance was fine and delicate, and it could be seen that it was also made by elves.There were a few brightly colored fruits, a few slices of bread, and some vegetables in the basket. It seemed that this breakfast also had a strong elf style, and Li Wei couldn't help but sighed softly.

Grunwalm looked a little embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and asked, "Your Excellency, this breakfast is really not enough, but the elves only provide this, should I go and negotiate with them?" one time?"

Li Wei shook his head, picked up a piece of light-tasting bread and put it in his mouth, "No need, Grunwalm, just have a casual bite for breakfast, I don't have much appetite anyway. You go and get Butler Frederick and the others. "

"Of order, Your Excellency the Commander."

Not long after the knights had left, the door was knocked again. This time, Sir Rodriguez and Mr. Dish walked in first, followed by Marquis Osiris, and lastly came the silver medal on his shoulders. Sir Grace of Fir Longbow, except for Mr. Dish, looked very relaxed, especially Sky Knight's expression was the most gloomy, almost making Levi mistakenly think that he also stayed up all night.

"Master Levi, good morning." Mr. Dish seemed to have slept well last night, and saluted his chest with a refreshed look, "You look a little tired? Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Please sit down, everyone." Li Wei smiled wryly and pressed the thumbs of both hands to his forehead, which was aching from thinking all night. "Steward Frederick, I couldn't sleep at all last night. I thought about the current situation for a long time. You are right. The situation in the Elven King's Court is very bad. It is too late for us to leave now. But I can't think of any good way to change this predicament. After all, we are outsiders. Obviously, we should not participate in the internal disputes of the Elf King Court, otherwise we will definitely become the target of public criticism; What's the difference?"

"Master Li Wei, in fact, in my opinion, the method of the elf martial arts master is the most concise and effective." Sir Rodriguez suggested, "Whether those high elves are prepared or not, relying on me, Marquis Osiris and Master War Dancer, you should be able to deal with any trap."

"Does that also include the emerald dragon's ambush?" Mr. Dish shut up Sir Rodriguez with only one sentence.Then the old magician spread his hands with a relaxed expression, and said to everyone with a smile, "I came up with a good idea last night, Master Li Wei, do you want to hear it?"

"Tell me, Steward Frederick, what good solution did you think of?" Mr. Dish's words made Levi feel a burst of excitement, and even his forehead didn't seem to be so painful.

Mr. Dish nodded, took out a few fruits from the breakfast basket at hand, and placed them on the table. "Master Li Wei, and everyone, I use these fruits as a metaphor. The largest pear is the elf court, and this smaller pear represents our strength. The other smaller berries represent that we do not belong to the elves. Other intelligent species of the same family. Now there is a problem inside the biggest pear, but it is undeniable that if the strength of the wild elves and elf civilians can really suppress the high elves, then there is no need to resort to assassination or sneak attack After all, defeating the enemy in an upright manner is the most effective strategy no matter in war or power games."

Li Wei nodded in agreement, "Yes, I also have the same opinion. Marquis Osiris, what do you think?"

There was a wry smile on the corner of the Elf Sky Knight's mouth, "On this issue, I don't know much more than you, but Xia Lafei is not an impulsive person, so it should be the reason for him to make such a choice. There really is no other way.”

"So in fact, even if we work together with the elves and the wild elves, we don't want to easily bring down the behemoth of the high elves. It is more likely that the assassination operation will fail completely, and then let the high elves find an excuse to attack us. "Mr. Dish pointed out in a blunt tone.

"This is exactly the result I was worried about." Li Wei sighed, "Once a war breaks out between humans and elves, no matter who wins, it will be a terrible disaster."

"So we can't do this, and of course we can't stay out of it." Mr. Dish showed a weird smile, "And I have another guess, the news that the master war dancer got is too easy, if the high elves If you really want to suddenly launch an attack on the royal court, if you propose such a restoration proposal, you should keep it strictly confidential beforehand."

Sir Rodriguez frowned, "You mean, this matter is a trap from the beginning to the end - a trap set by the high elves for us?" The Scourge Knight shook his head suspiciously, "Isn't this Maybe, don’t forget, we only arrived at the Moon Whispering Forest yesterday evening, even if it includes the day of departure preparations, it was two days ago.”

"Because this trap is not intended to deal with us, but the war dancer master Unicon Fizeld, and his companions who oppose the restoration of the high elves, we just chose a too coincidental time to attack That's all." Mr. Dish stroked his silver-white beard and said.

"This... is really unfortunate." Marquis Osiris said, "Please allow me to apologize to you all once again. This was originally an internal matter of the Elven King's Court, but it has involved you all in danger."

"No, I think we came at the right time." Mr. Dish smiled strangely again, "Master Osiris, if we come a few days late, I'm afraid things will really get out of hand."

"Yes, Lord Marquis Osiris, if the power of the elves royal court is seized by the high elves again, based on their perception of foreigners, it will be a strange thing that this negotiation can be successful." Li Wei also Joined the work of comforting the elf sky knight.

"The question is, how should we deal with this trap?" Sir Grace blinked, "We can neither stay out of it nor take the initiative to attack, what should we do?"

"The way to break this predicament is actually very simple. Didn't the news say that the high elves will put forward a restoration proposal on the next double-moon night? Just let the elves royal court negotiate with us before then, and then reach an agreement with the gods. With the name of the covenant, this dilemma will be solved by itself." Mr. Dish said with a smile.

"As long as the high elf who planned this trap doesn't suddenly become stupid, he will try every means to delay time." Worry flashed across the handsome face of Marquis Osiris, "Sunsinger... If he really planned all this... , I’m afraid we have no way to advance the negotiations.”

"Of course we must use tactics to force the elves to negotiate with us in advance." Mr. Dish said as he took out a small and exquisitely carved crystal bottle from his arms. The dark green viscous liquid is exuding a gentle light. "We only need to sell this drug to the public, and we will definitely be able to advance the negotiation."

This idea made Marquis Osiris startled immediately, "Dragon Blood Potion!" He exclaimed in surprise, "Aylala! If we do this, the Emerald Dragon King will definitely be very dissatisfied!"

"Then let him be very dissatisfied!" The old magician looked very excited, with a smug smile on his face all the time, "Even if we don't do this, the Emerald Dragon King will definitely not have a good impression of us. But then The first encounter with angels and demons should have made him a little terrified, otherwise, why would he bother the elves to negotiate for him? He won't just watch us sell this potion, will he? So in addition to starting negotiations in advance , what else can His Majesty the Dragon King do?"

(End of this chapter)