Chapter 394: Palace Lady
Richard and others searched the Mage Tower carefully for several times, and found a ruby ring and a special magic letter in Shao Gongyuan's lounge on the fourth floor.
This letter was preserved by special magic means and written in Chinese characters. It was left to the people from the Earth.
Richard carefully picked up the letter and read it. Through the content written by Shao Gongyuan, Richard also roughly understood what happened that year.
Three thousand four hundred years ago, the Star Alliance was exposed and suffered a blow from the O'Flan organization. In the end, Shao Gongyuan and others could not stand and prepared to build a magic spaceship to leave the Dawn Plane.
At that time, the magic organization of the Star Alliance had a total of 17 members, seven of whom were legendary mages. Shao Gongyuan was the strongest and had reached the fourth level of legend. He even mastered some of the power of rules, and his strength was not weaker than that of a demigod.
Although the Star Alliance was powerful, there were rule wizards in the Dawn Plane more than 3,000 years ago. Rule wizards mastered the power of rules, and their strength was equivalent to the gods who ignited the divine fire. In the Dawn Plane, there is the blessing of the power of rules, which is stronger than the gods.
An organization like the Star Alliance, which is composed of outside invaders, will of course be suppressed by the authorities.
After the incident was exposed, Shao Gongyuan naturally had to find a way to escape and leave the Dawn Plane.
When they left in a hurry, the Star Alliance only took away the legendary golem and tower spirit of the headquarters' magic tower.
The magic tower of the headquarters was moved to the bottom of the Snow Crystal Lake by Shao Gongyuan, and then sealed with a special magic circle.
With an uncertain future after leaving the Dawn Plane, Shao Gongyuan left a legacy to his fellow earthlings who stayed in the Dawn Plane. In order to ensure that the legacy would not be leaked, he refined three fourth-level magic props, the Star Necklace, the Star Bottle, and the Star Seal. These props can only be used by people who understand Chinese characters.
When Shao Gongyuan crossed over, it was when the two universe crystal walls collided violently, and there were tens of thousands of souls crossing over to the Dawn Plane.
It's just that most people in that era had a high illiteracy rate, and the wizard world was extremely cruel, so only a very few people could really embark on the path of magic. In addition, a civil war that lasted for hundreds of years broke out in the Dawn Plane.
This cruel war led to the death of the Rule Wizard, the fall of the Undead Lord, the Seven Gods falling into a deep sleep, and the survivors of the Dawn Plane suffered heavy losses, less than one in ten thousand.
According to the statistics of the Seven Gods' priests after the war, the surviving population was only hundreds of thousands.
After entering the Kingship Era, the magic civilization of the Dawn Plane declined seriously and was on the verge of extinction. After more than three thousand years of development, it has not yet recovered.
After this war, except for the three escaped Star Alliance legends, almost all the earthlings who crossed the universe crystal wall system during that collision died.
The three legendary fourth-level magic props left by Shao Gongyuan, the Star Bottle is used for storage, the Star Sword is used to maintain the stability of the plane channel, and the Star Necklace is left for the destined person to defend himself.
Richard didn't know that although Shao Gongyuan had made all the preparations, it was a pity that he had bad luck. He had just refined three legendary fourth-level magic props and left a legacy for future generations, and died in the hands of the O'Fran Rule Wizard.
The Star Alliance was also attacked by the O'Farland organization, and the interstellar spaceship crashed. Only three legends left the Dawn Plane.
After this battle, the Star Bottle fell into the hands of the O'Farland Rule Wizard.
Shortly thereafter, the Dawn Plane was invaded by the Undead Lord, and the population was lost by nine out of ten. Even the O'Farland Rule Wizard was killed by the Undead Lord. The Star Bottle was lost in the turmoil and fell into the hands of the Star Wizard Stannik more than three thousand years later.
This old wizard has studied Chinese characters for a lifetime, but unfortunately he has no reference and can't understand them at all. After all, Chinese characters have been separated from hieroglyphs. Without reference objects, it is impossible for anyone to understand them.
In the end, the old wizard returned to his hometown and died of illness. The great nobles of Stannik did not know the goods, and the Star Bottle fell into the hands of Richard, a fellow countryman on Earth, by chance.
After reading the letter left by Shao Gongyuan, Richard put the ruby ring into the Star Bottle. This ring is the key to open the plane channel, which is more precious than a legendary magic prop.
Everyone continued to search until they had nothing to gain before leaving the Mage Tower. Although everyone had signed a contract to prevent leaks, Richard still emphasized it again and again after leaving and issued a gag order.
The harvest of this exploration was almost shocking.
The Harland Lord had a Mage Tower inherited from ancient times, which was built on a large magic well. This Mage Tower alone was more than the thousand-year operation of the two families of Venus and Grant. Nolan's Mage Tower was also a small magic well.
The magic resources obtained from the Mage Tower were also extremely precious. Especially the Water of Life, which was priceless. Richard now had one bottle and five copies in his storage items. This kind of thing must be used as soon as possible.
Richard would of course give priority to his relatives for the Water of Life.
Now there was only one bottle of the Water of Life left, and Richard could only choose the closest person from his family.
Although Richard's relatives include Hayden, Powell, William and many others, he will only leave this bottle of water of life to Margaret and Philip.
For a normal person, the most beloved are usually children, and because Richard lost his mother when he was young, he is not very close to his father.
After discussing with Sofia, Richard decided to give a bottle of water of life to Margaret. After all, Margaret is very talented. After using the water of life, she can get enough life and it is easier to break through the bottleneck of legend.
After Margaret took the water of life, the secular title can only be inherited by Philip.
Although Richard likes Margaret more, Philip is also his child. As parents, they should try to treat him equally.
After returning to the territory, Richard and Sofia immediately called Margaret to the study.
Margaret was born on March 16th and will be 14 years old in three months. Although she is very young, Margaret is very precocious and smart. Now Richard and Sofia almost treat her as an adult.
"Margaret, we have something very serious to talk to you about today. Recently, we explored a wizard tower built in the ancient wizard era and got some water of life. You should have found that Dad and Mom have become younger.
The water of life is a very precious natural magic potion. One bottle can keep youth forever and increase life by 200 years. We can only choose one person to drink one bottle of our harvest this time.
Today, Dad will give you the right to choose. If you choose the water of life, the title will be inherited by your younger brother Philip. If you choose to inherit the title, the water of life will be given to Philip.
The right to choose is given to you. Once you choose, you can't regret it. You must make a decision as soon as possible."
Margaret chose the water of life decisively without any hesitation. Compared with the hard work of managing the territory and mastering the secular power, she wants to go on the extraordinary path, be promoted to a legend, and even gain eternal life.
Under the gaze of Richard and Sophia, Margaret drank the water of life on the spot and increased her life by 200 years.
Richard brought back a bottle of water of life with five portions. Margaret used one bottle, and there were five portions left.
Richard also arranged for people to take these five portions. His father William, his second uncle Powell, and his brother Hayden each took one. Richard prepared to give one of the remaining two portions to Philip and one to Sutton.
The water of life is a precious treasure. Even one portion may cause disputes, so after returning from the ruins, people should be arranged to use it as soon as possible.
Philip drank the water of life under the arrangement of his parents. Powell, Hayden, and Sutton also used the water of life quickly, increasing their lifespan by twenty years.
If the water of life is given to people with stronger talents, they will have the opportunity to open the door to legend if their lifespan is increased. However, no matter how strong the talents of outsiders are, they are not Richard's relatives after all. Although it was a bit wasteful, Richard still arranged for the closest people to use it.
Richard was going to leave the last portion of the water of life to William. In order to ensure that everything was foolproof, he quietly arranged for Hayden to send a letter to William in the south, asking William to return to Harland as soon as possible.
After taking the water of life and the potion made from the legendary Sky Crystal Flower, William almost opened half of the legendary door.
Although William was just a warrior without spells, his strength would be greatly improved after he was promoted to Legend.
In addition, Richard had a legendary fruit in his hand. If he gave this fruit to William to use and awakened a special ability, William's strength would be further improved.
William's strength has improved, which is also a good thing for the Harland family. Even if William is unwilling to serve under Richard, his promotion to Legend can greatly increase his influence in the Grant Kingdom.
In recent years, William has gone south, and the Harland family's influence in the south has greatly increased. With the opening of smuggling channels, it has also greatly promoted the economic development of the territory.
After returning from the Snow Crystal Lake Mage Tower, it was already mid-December. Seeing that the Goddess's Birthday was approaching, Richard was ready to let everyone rest and wait until the Goddess's Birthday was over, open the plane channel, and lead the expedition team into the azure plane.
If the undead can be hunted stably and soul crystals can be harvested, Harland Territory will have a stable supply of Styx potions. At that time, it will not only be able to cultivate territory magicians, but also sell a small amount in exchange for a large amount of funds.
Having one more fist extraordinary commodity is also a good thing for the development of Harland Territory.
After returning from Snow Crystal Lake, Richard arranged for people to drink the water of life, and immediately sent a marriage letter to Undine.
Although the court lady is not as legitimate as the legal wife, she is also protected by the law. The children born are not illegitimate children and have the right of inheritance.
In order to avoid irritating Sofia, Richard talked with Undine and decided not to hold a large-scale wedding.
The wedding day was very frugal, and only a few direct relatives were invited. Richard's second uncle Powell and uncle Soros came, and Undine's mother Sylph and brother Sutton came.
They walked into the Dawn Church Church, received the blessing of Cardinal Homera, and concluded a marriage contract. That night, Undine became Richard's woman.
Richard found a court lady. Although Sophia was very unhappy, she finally figured it out.
Most of the time, marriages between nobles are not autonomous and are determined by interests.
After enjoying the aristocratic life, one must bear the aristocratic responsibilities. Free love is not only a luxury but also a ridiculous thing for the nobles.
In fact, Richard and Sophia's marriage is also a political marriage. Although they have a good impression of each other and have a little meaning of free love, it is still a political marriage in essence.
When they started dating, Sophia was a baroness and Richard was only the third heir to William. Although he managed the territory on behalf of his father, his status was actually far inferior to Sophia.
If Richard had not made meritorious contributions in the war and promoted to the hereditary aristocracy, Sophia would not have chosen him to marry.
When the two got married, Richard's territory was still a wasteland. It took a lot of money to develop the territory. The Stob family suffered heavy losses in the war, so the marriage between the two sides was highly complementary.
The marriage between the two families made it easier to survive in the cruel northern border.
This time, Richard married Undine as his court lady, and the core was also a noble marriage. Richard married Undine and gave birth to a child, which would tie the Sutton family and the Morning Tribe elves together.
After Sylph was promoted to Legend, the Sutton family was far more important to the Harland Territory than the Stob family.
If Sophia was not outstanding in talent, amazing in strength, and had a deep relationship with Richard, they would most likely divorce in this situation in an ordinary noble family.
In order to expand the territory and consolidate the ruling order, the nobles have always used marriage as a trading commodity. The party whose marriage failed could not guarantee their own safety, and their offspring might even lose their lives.
The great nobles in the Dawn Plane basically have court ladies. This is not only because the strength of the couple is unequal, but more often it is for political marriage and for the stability of the territory. After all, there are more strong men than women in this world.
Richard carefully maintained the balance of the family, and time slowly came to the end of the year. At the annual financial meeting, various economic data of the territory were delivered to Richard.
First of all, the population. This year, Harland bought a large number of slaves twice, almost plundering all the slaves in the southern territory. Richard personally led his troops to the south to make hay. Through various operations, Harland obtained 600,000 indentured slaves and 30,000 free people from the Kingdom of Delong.
In addition, because Harland won a great victory in the Battle of Samba River, it gave great confidence to the residents of the northern border. This year, 20,000 free people migrated from Edward, Fox, and the three provinces of the northern border.
In addition to the newborns born this year, Harland's new population exceeded 750,000.
According to the population statistics of the household registration department, the total population of Harland has reached 2.556 million.
This year, due to the expiration of slave contracts and meritorious service in the territory, 240,000 freemen were pardoned a few months in advance in the spring. In addition to the freemen who migrated to Harland Territory and the freemen who were recruited as auxiliary soldiers and their families, the number of freemen in Harland Territory has exceeded 1.15 million.
With 1.15 million freemen, the domestic demand market in Harland Territory is close to that of the royal territory. In the Dawn Plane, where local protectionism is prevalent, the improvement of the domestic demand market will be a great boost to industry.