Chapter 1052 Unexpected
The Grand Duke of Kawei's absence from the New Year's audience has not been a big news in recent years. Even his political opponents didn't bother to use such reasons to criticize him. As long as the emperor's honor and favor for him remained, the status of the Grand Duke would remain unshakable.
And to destroy the emperor's trust in the Grand Duke... it might be easier to find a magician to curse the Grand Duke and directly curse the Grand Duke to death.
There was no way, even though no one was present, in other respects the grand duke could be said to be impeccable, which made the royal family particularly proud. There is no arrogant attitude at all, which makes people feel disgusted.
On the political journey, when they reached their status, they no longer fought for gold and silver, but for face and breath. As long as the attitude of the monarch and his ministers is established, and the elderly stay at home because of their inconvenience, who can say whether it is good or bad.
Besides, that one is really older, not pretending to be older. It's so big that when everyone mentions him in private, they will curse: "Old thief, why aren't you dead yet?" Of course, more often than not, he was referring implicitly to the old guy who was the same generation as the Grand Duke but still occupied the supreme throne.
But just seven days before the new year, Marquis Farshid received a message from his father, the Grand Duke of Kavi:
I will attend the New Year's audience and be prepared.
If this message were delivered through the most popular forum at the moment, Farshed would definitely sneer at it.
The convenience of the forum means that as long as families and organizations exist on the Mysterious Land, they will inevitably use the function of the forum to allow them to deliver messages faster. Of course, this is also the case within the Duke Kawei family, but it is limited to unimportant information transmission and instructions.
Last time, his grandson played a minor joke on Marquis Farshid in his father's name. Although it didn't cause the family members who stayed in the capital to panic, it still caused quite a commotion.
Helpless, there was a great-grandfather who loved his great-grandson standing in front of him. Even if his son wanted to fly back to his own territory and teach that lawless brat a lesson, he couldn't. Therefore, Marquis Farshid could only teach his son to vent his anger. If the lovely grandson really came to him, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything.
But this time, the document was sent through the official channels of the family. This was equivalent to the order of the Grand Duke, and no one belonging to his vassals or subjects could disobey it. So, is this the old man who has finally reached the point where he uses the family treasure as a toy for the little guy?
Although this kind of thing is uncertain, it cannot be ruled out that the old man is serious. Suddenly Marquis Farshed thought of a possibility, the old man's new friend, and what that person was doing recently. The Marquis asked the family messenger, "Are you planning to take the latest airship to the imperial city?"
"No, my lord."
Hearing this, Marquis Farshid frowned and said, "How could it be in time? Or did they already set off before the summons?"
"It is said that the Grand Duke is preparing to drive a car to the capital. But before I received the family order, I had no news that the Grand Duke had set off."
"A car." This is another one of the old man's recent toys. Some people say that the older a person gets, the more like a child they can play with a toy. It's not enough not to let him play. Who is the master of the family? No one can stop him.
Since Marquis Farshid would think in this way, it means that he is not optimistic about the emerging thing called "car". In fact, the nobles staying in the capital of the Gwana Empire were not optimistic about the 'car'. They will mention it, usually with the prefix 'that grand duke's new toy', or something like that.
After all, in this era, although the transmission of messages has been accelerated, the transportation speed of other things has not been correspondingly improved. Since the actual object cannot be seen, most people's attitude will be to belittle others' evaluation of the object. To put it conservatively, it is because they have not had actual contact with them, so they cannot give a fair evaluation; to put it maliciously, it is just sour grapes.
Although he was not optimistic about his father's hasty decision, Marquis Farshed still followed the instructions and asked his subordinates to prepare. After all, this was a formal written order from the family. Along with that instruction came a staffing list, which was the number and composition of the entourage of Grand Duke Kawei.
Half of the Duke's Guards are the accompanying members of the Grand Duke's trip this time. Being able to have an Imperial Grand Duke at his side, there is no doubt about the strength of this army. To ensure the strength of the army, logistics is a top priority, and these require proper preparation in advance.
Even if the lost land today has been at peace for a long time, it only means that there are no longer large-scale wars between humans or homo sapiens. The battle for life and death between Homo sapiens and nature, Homo sapiens and monsters, never stops for a single second. In order to fight for life and death with these creatures that are unethical and don't care about the rules of the human world, complete preparations are essential. Therefore, there will be no nobles who are really unfamiliar with military affairs.
The only part that made Marquis Farshid complain was that half of the Duke's Guard was traveling with a Grand Duke, so the most basic configuration was correct. The other half usually stays in the territory to guard the home. But the Marquis knew very well that the other half of the guard was actually sent to guard the place where the car was manufactured. From this, we can see how much the Grand Duke attaches importance to it, but it also makes others even more puzzled.
As a grand duke, it was not a problem to inform his son that he was going to the capital to participate in the grand event that he was supposed to attend. But the movements of a grand duke are enough to attract the attention of others. As for the fact that Duke Kawei is coming to the capital, there is no need to deliberately send spies to find out. Everyone can make guesses just by looking at the movements in the Duke's residence.
And more detailed information was placed on the emperor's desk within a day.
The movements of the great nobles have always been a matter of concern at the highest level, so of course the old emperor read the relevant information immediately. After struggling to read the content, he smiled helplessly and said, "We just set off yesterday, so we couldn't make it in time for the New Year. Does he want to meet me privately after the New Year?"
Regarding the emperor's self-question, the leader of the accompanying guards knew very well that there was no need to answer. The old emperor liked to use self-questioning and answering to help him think.
"Do you know the purpose of his trip?"
This is a question that must be answered. The leader of the guard bowed and said: "Your Majesty, there is no other purpose reported from the Grand Duke. The formal application submitted by Duke Kawei's residence is also in the name of participating in the New Year's audience."
Since the movements of the great nobles are a matter of great concern, it is of course impossible to allow these nobles to move at will, especially into the capital of the empire. They are all qualified to lead a certain number of guards. If they join forces to plot something, the strength of the emperor's three guards may not be able to suppress them without injury.
Therefore, the actions of nobles need to be reported to the royal family; to enter the capital, they need to apply for permission. And Duke Kawei, who had not been seen for a long time, applied for an audience in the New Year. Even if everyone thought that he would definitely not be able to make it in time, it would be difficult to refuse his request. No matter what the Grand Duke's real intention is, this is an outright conspiracy.