C152 Bad News

For the next few days, the empire sent a messenger to persuade Ronton to return to Bael City after a few rounds of shuttling. In the end, it was all because of Ronton's illness that he returned empty-handed.

In fact, Duke was indeed sick. However, it was far less serious than what the messenger saw in his eyes. The illness was not as serious as being unable to get out of bed.

The few times the empire's envoy came to Bael City to receive him, it was always Lee Xiang, Duke's grandson, who was in charge of receiving him. This made the envoys very dissatisfied, but there was nothing they could do about it. This was because they had witnessed Ronton's serious condition with their own eyes.

All of this was because Duke's only son, Smith, had been kidnapped by Ling Tian for more than ten days, and most importantly, there was still no news of him. Such a blow caused even the empire to feel helpless and guilty.

During this period of time, Lee Xiang had practically become Ronton's spokesperson. Almost the entire Duke's Mansion followed his lead. Of course. Lee Xiang himself kept a very low profile. There were even many things that he had to seek Ronton's opinion on in advance. Although Ronton had said that he would leave it to him to handle for the time being. However, he still had to do what he had to do on the surface. Otherwise, if he showed too much of his power, it would cause many of Ronton's old subordinates in Duke's Mansion to be dissatisfied.

Lee Xiang's attitude toward the empire's special envoy had always been firm in conveying Ronton's intention. Ronton family was only responsible for the government affairs in Silo Province. The empire would be fully responsible for everything else. If the Ronton family broke this precedent, Hence, regarding the two matters regarding the negotiations with the neighboring countries and the internal suppression of riots, He definitely did not dare to accept it.

However, when Lee Xiang personally sent away the envoy for the last time, he had expressed that he did not dare to accept it, but he could provide assistance. As a last resort, Ronton family was still the most loyal subject of the Empire.

Finally, the empire reluctantly withdrew the order to appoint Ronton. However, the person in charge of these two troublesome matters wasn't Barut and Shaun as Lee Xiang had expected. It was another official who had been appointed from the empire. These two princes were in charge of assisting this official in handling this matter. As for who this official was, it was still unknown. Lee Xiang had once inquired about this from Shaun, but he was also at a loss about it.

Such an appointment surprised Lee Xiang a little. He had prepared a series of plans to deal with this, but now it seemed that he needed to adjust it a little.

After settling everything on this day, Lee Xiang sat in his study. Recently, there were too many things that needed him to do personally. There were almost no major details. He had to personally ask and plan them. What was worse was that there weren't many people he could trust, except for Bill and Ao Guang. He also arranged a few trusted subordinates in the private army. These people were sent to the private army through Bill. However, he didn't dare to make any reckless arrangements. Because this would cause panic among many people, and it wouldn't be good for the current situation. Moreover, it would make Ronton unhappy.

Therefore, Lee Xiang had been really tired these past few days. He hadn't even practiced magic for a long time. Luckily, Shaun and Dewey's people secretly helped him. Although these things were not necessary, it still made him feel much more relaxed.

Just as he closed his eyes to rest, Looh Beier knocked on the door and came in. Shaun had come.

Shaun had some free time recently. Although he was still the highest commander in charge of Silo Province's riot before the official of the empire came, it seemed that he had completely given up his position. What he needed to do now was to throw this hot potato out and everything would be fine.

Of course, this was also what he and Lee Xiang had agreed on beforehand, and it wouldn't be a loss to him at all. He was not liked in Wales, so he was just a little more disgusted. But the other prince. . . Barut was afraid that he would feel very uncomfortable in his heart. After all, he was different from Shaun. He was one of the powerful competitors for the next ruler of the empire. The success or failure of any matter could directly affect his position in the eyes of His Majesty in Wales. Just like this Smith incident. It would probably be a big blow to him.

Although Lee Xiang was so tired that he didn't want to stand up and welcome them, he still stood up and went out to welcome them. In any case, Shaun was still a prince.

"I think you have been enjoying this feeling lately?" Shaun intimately held Lee Xiang's arm and laughed.

Lee Xiang smiled bitterly. "Doesn't His Highness also enjoy this feeling?"

Both of them laughed again. Shaun continued, "This is also good. No matter what, you should get used to this process. Perhaps you will be even more tired in the future, but. . . My friend, I think I need to remind you. . . A great leader is great not because he has outstanding wisdom and unparalleled strength. . . It's because he knows how to use and exploit the advantages and potential of every one of his subordinates, and he's good at using everyone. If you continue to be like this one day in the future, it will be very bad. After all, health is more important!"

It was obvious that Shaun regarded Lee Xiang as the next master of this place. Both of them had discussed this matter in private, but Lee Xiang had always thought that it was too early to talk about this issue now.

However, Shaun's words had aroused his vigilance. Although these words seemed to care about his body, they were also secretly reminding him that a person's ability was still limited. There were many times when it was crucial for everyone to work together.

Helplessly shaking his head and smiling bitterly, Lee Xiang said, "I know very well. If a person makes himself too tired, there are only two possibilities. Either he refuses to give power to others to fight for power, or he doesn't have the ability. My problem now is that I don't have a firm foothold in Duke's Mansion. Your Highness, you know this better than anyone. . . "

Shaun nodded his head in understanding. He knew Lee Xiang's situation better than anyone else because they had been meeting each other almost every day for the past few days.

"Is there any news about Smith?" Shaun changed the topic.

Lee Xiang had ordered Ao Guang to put down the matter in his hands and personally investigate the whereabouts of Ling Tian, because he had promised Ronton. He had to ensure Smith's safety. Since he had agreed, there was no more excuse for him to slip up. To be honest, regarding Smith, He suddenly felt that what he had done was too cruel, whether it was to Ronton or Smith. Even Lena, who had always disliked him, was a cruel thing to do.

"There's no news yet. I think it won't be long before good news comes from Ao Guang!" Lee Xiang frowned slightly. He had been worried about this for the past few days.

"Are you sure you can guarantee Smith's safety? Do you want to think about it again?" Shaun went straight to the point. He and Dewey had reminded him more than once that he wanted to make up his mind. He didn't want to leave any regrets when the time came.

Lee Xiang sighed slightly. He really couldn't bear it anymore. Perhaps there were many times when he wasn't ruthless enough. After a moment of astonishment, he changed the topic. "Your Highness, do you have any problems with the recent riots?"

"So far, it is still under our control, even though there are sporadic incidents happening occasionally. But, these are all within our permissions!" Shaun nodded. Since Lee Xiang did not want to dwell on this topic, he stopped.

Because they knew very well that since Ronton let him do such a big thing, Naturally, they were afraid that he had his own intentions. In other words, Ronton might have already seen through Lee Xiang's intention. This was also why he asked Lee Xiang to guarantee Smith's life. Of course, this could also be considered a disguised transaction. The bargaining chip was something that Ronton could give Lee Xiang, but the prerequisite was that he had to protect Smith's life.

"What good news do you have today?" Lee Xiang was very satisfied with the current situation. Everything was within their expectations. Although there were occasional emergencies, it was still within the scope of adjustment.

"There is no good news, but there is a piece of bad news. . . " Shaun looked at Lee Xiang with a strange expression.

"Your Highness, please stop keeping us in suspense. " Lee Xiang smiled bitterly.

"I just found out who is the official sent by the capital to take charge here. Do you want to know who this person is?" Shaun's expression became increasingly strange.

"Who is it?" Lee Xiang was very curious.

"Count Walker!" Shaun shook his head helplessly. "And according to what I know, countess will come with Duke Ronton because she knows Duke Ronton is ill. She should be here in two days. "

"What?" Lee Xiang suddenly stood up from the chair. "Why is it so fast? Didn't you just confirm it?"

"Actually, my Royal Father had already arranged for Walker to go on his way when Duke Ronton rejected this appointment for the first time. However, this appointment has been kept secret from us. Do you know that? It seemed like Royal Father had arranged countess to come here. Sigh. . . I, this Royal Father, have really put in a lot of effort! "

Lee Xiang frowned. This Wales really put in a lot of effort. The arrangement of Count Walker was a brilliant chess move, and with the addition of countess's arrival, the meaning behind it was even more worth considering.

It was very simple, since His Majesty Wales had already appointed Walker when Ronton rejected him for the first time. This proved that he had seen through Ronton's intention, or part of it. The purpose of sending Walker here was to build a relationship between the two of them, so that Walker would be able to get Ronton's full cooperation. As for countess's arrival, it was because he was worried that Ronton would still have a hard time calming down the grudge in his heart. Therefore, countess might be even more useful.

And this was only one of the wonderful moves. The key was that their arrival had caused Lee Xiang to fall into an extremely awkward situation.