CHAPTER 566: CHAPTER 544: SUSPICION AND TRUTH

"...According to your perfect strategy, the Gray Horse Knight voluntarily decided to surrender, because no matter what, he could not unravel the battle situation laid out by you...

Rather than defying the Saint Master’s will, why not submit to fate? That is the reason for his surrender.

Besides the title of Count, gold, and beauties, the Gray Horse Knight also hopes you can release his soldiers in batches; the soldiers are innocent.

For this, he proposed an exchange, as he possesses some information and evidence that could eliminate a great hidden danger around you.

This danger is not only a threat in the future but even now is dangerous, and he can help you eliminate this danger, attaching this letter as an appetizer."

With extraordinary memory, the second messenger after Gelinon almost recited Vine’s words in full.

"Letter? Appetizer?"

Prince Kongdai furrowed his brow and glanced at Gelinon standing tremblingly nearby.

Gelinon stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "No, there wasn’t a final item. He only mentioned the Count, gold, and beauties..."

The messenger for the second negotiation sneered, "What did you think His Highness sent me for another round of talks? And I already know why you mentioned the letter."

"Why?" Goosebumps rose on Gelinon’s arms, feeling ominous forebodings.

"Stop beating around the bush, just say it." The surrounding company commanders urged impatiently.

All the important figures within the Church’s army were present, after all, Vine the Gray Horse Knight was renowned, nearly considered the second in command under Moliat.

If he could surrender, the impact would be more effective than winning ten battles.

Even the second-in-command surrendered; imagine how demoralizing it would be for Moliat!

"Ahem, this letter is long; it mentions André, the leader of the Short-Hair Rebel Army, writing to Demon Horn, saying...

Ahem, a certain Count requested him to switch flags, offering supplies for winter if willing, asking Demon Horn if they may do so...

And Demon Horn sent André’s letter to Moliat’s rebel forces, attaching a letter of his own.

In the letter, he first informed Moliat he agreed with the Saint Sun’s Army’s conduct, then queried if she was aware of this..."

The previously noisy tent fell silent in an instant.

Many who came for entertainment wished they had no ears; could such things be read aloud publicly?

Prior to the expedition, the nobles of Hotam County had a spat with Prince Kongdai, almost tearing face with each other.

It’s known this attack was entirely confidential; Prince Kongdai ensured it.

Unless Horn could foresee, he couldn’t have written such a letter as a wedge tactic in advance.

Of course, there is another possibility, that Vine forged this letter.

It depends on how Prince Kongdai himself perceives it; if he believes it’s fake, naturally there’s peace.

If he believes it’s true, then two questions arise.

The first is how to deal with that Count Sanboli of Hotam County, and secondly the most deadly, what’s further in Vine’s possession?

Indeed, the Gray Horse Knight mentioned this was merely an "appetizer!"

Coupled with the so-called "not only dangerous in the future, but even now there’s danger" remarks, it’s hard not to cause chills.

After the messenger finished his report, the tent was left with only the sound of wind and the crackling of the stove.

Everyone bowed their heads low, occasionally peeking at Prince Kongdai.

Seated on the bear-skin throne, His Highness visibly froze for several seconds.

Then he stood, slowly approached the messenger, picked up the letter, read it from start to end, yet showed no change of expression.

The atmosphere inside the tent plummeted to freezing point.

Lakunio tightened up completely, ready to halt any impulsive actions of Prince Kongdai.

"Hahaha." Prince Kongdai suddenly laughed, "This is a wedge tactic, definitely forged, it’s trash, and this is how I handle trash!"

With that, Prince Kongdai swiftly crumpled the letter into a ball, walked briskly to the stove, and threw the letters directly into it.

Once the letters crackled and turned into ashes, Lakunio finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He smiled with relief, even having the comforting sense of a foolish son finally growing up.

"Tell Vine, he loves his soldiers and so do I; I agree to his surrender terms not for so-called evidence but to save the lives of some of my soldiers."

He swung his cloak and returned to sit on the bear-skin throne, glanced at Gelinon who was drenched in sweat almost fainting.

"As for Gelinon, though he realized the wedge was unreported, his duty was as a messenger, it’s not in his purview.

No matter the cause, report truthfully. Guard, send him to the cell, pray for three days in repentance."

The company commanders in relief looked at Gelinon both with sympathy and ridicule.

Who doesn’t know the Prince is narrow-minded, provoke him, and you’re done for.

"No, he’s slandering me, Vine didn’t say anything..." Gelinon was genuinely aggrieved this time, he couldn’t understand why Vine wanted to frame him.

He and Seching were still considered friends!

"Alright, even though the Gray Horse Knight has surrendered, don’t halt tomorrow’s attack, send more communications during this time.

If he opens the gate to let the soldiers leave, verify their identities and let them go, don’t stop them. Anyway, as long as we capture this castle the day after tomorrow, that’s all that matters to us."

After assigning the attack tasks for tomorrow, Lakunio nagged a bit more about the importance of securing the rear before leaving contentedly.

Everyone had left except Prince Kongdai, only the servants stood by his side.

The tent flaps were swaying back and forth in the chilly spring breeze. He sat on the throne for a few minutes and suddenly spoke: "Everyone out, call Shadowless Man Eighty."

Several servants holding lamps and teapots obediently left the tent, making the entire tent a lot dimmer.

Seeing no one around, Prince Kongdai suddenly reached into his sleeve and pulled out that letter from Vine.

With the speed of his movements, hiding a few more sheets of paper wouldn’t be too difficult.

By the bright candlelight, Prince Kongdai seemed bewitched, reading it over and over, even carefully identifying the handwriting.

Until the exclusive spy of the church system, the Shadowless Man arrived.

After the departure of the Archbishop of Constans, this power was assigned by the Pope to Mizam, not Banifus.

However, during Mizam’s time, they reverted to Prince Kongdai’s control, which is also an important reason why Banifus is always a head shorter in front of Prince Kongdai.

"Your Highness, you called for me?"

"How’s the handwriting comparison going?" Prince Kongdai asked casually, but the blue veins on the back of his hand betrayed his inner tension.

"The Demon Horn’s letter’s handwriting is correct, but as for that André, I currently don’t have his letters to compare..."

Indeed, the Shadowless Man had verified it as soon as the messenger received the letter.

Prince Kongdai understood that this still couldn’t prove that the evidence of Count Sanboli colluding with some Hotam County nobles was real.

Because there are many remaining writings of the Saint’s Grandson, as an ally, Vine certainly has many, and it’s entirely possible to find someone to imitate the handwriting.

But the rebel leader André is extremely mysterious, with an unpredictable whereabouts.

His letters and handwriting are unavailable even to the Shadowless Man, and this surprise attack by Prince Kongdai was unanticipated, making it surely difficult to forge.

"Try to find André’s letters, and compare the handwriting as quickly as possible!"

"Yes, Your Highness." The Shadowless Man promptly bowed in agreement.

"What about Gelinon, has the test been conducted?" Prince Kongdai continued to ask.

"We had someone impersonate a coachman, claiming to be a spy planted by Sanboli, and asked him what exactly was in the Gray Horse Knight’s possession?" The Shadowless Man’s thin and soft hair clung to his scalp, as if just fished out of water.

"How did he respond?"

"He kept saying he didn’t know, genuinely didn’t know. We asked repeatedly in different ways multiple times, but he still said he didn’t know."

Prince Kongdai sneered: "He’s quite vigilant, didn’t he have any other anomalies? None at all?"

The Shadowless Man scratched his scalp: "None, if I had to say, every time he answered, he would pause for a moment, and later he became very irritable."

"That’s just it, he’s afraid of being exposed, otherwise, why would he be irritable." Firmly holding the letter, Prince Kongdai asserted.

From the first impression alone, Shadowless Man Eighty felt that Gelinon might just be annoyed by the questioning, but ultimately he didn’t express his own opinion.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be good if Prince Kongdai suspected him of shielding Gelinon.

At this point, Prince Kongdai noticed the letter about to be crushed in his hand, and quickly placed it on the table, but still felt uneasy.

He then took out a sturdy iron box from the chest behind him, retrieved a lavishly decorated "Gospel" from it, slipped the letter into it, and returned it to its original place with peace of mind.

"I want to ask you about something." Prince Kongdai’s voice carried a chill, "Recently, have there been any Saint’s Grandson’s Army changing flags to become the Duke’s Army?"

The Shadowless Man froze: "Yes, yes, three days ago we found out that two Saint’s Grandson’s Army units changed, and recently several more have been changing flags gradually.

I’ve heard they seem to have signs of division internally, many factions within the Saint’s Grandson’s Army have split into the Joan of Arc Castle faction and the Cold Spring Castle faction..."

"I don’t care about that, do you know when exactly they started changing?" Prince Kongdai rudely interrupted the Shadowless Man’s speech.

"Uh, this may require investigation from our companions in Hotam County, I can get you the information within three days."

"As soon as possible, and then look into this person." Relying on memory, Prince Kongdai narrated the description of the "Noble Messenger" cited in the letter, "Find out if he’s a real person? Whose man is he? Once found, don’t alert him, report back to me, understand?"

"Understood, Your Highness."

The Shadowless Man was about to leave but was called back by Prince Kongdai, he hesitated for a long time before speaking in a low voice: "Lakunio has too much on his hands with military affairs, don’t trouble him with this matter, do you understand what I mean?"

The Shadowless Man nodded knowingly: "Understood, these messages won’t reach Lord Lakunio."