Palatina had just sat down at the table when there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps downstairs, and the butler was sweating profusely as he rushed up the stairs.
"Miss, an officer from the Far East, is downstairs and asks to see you in person at once."
"Oh really" Palatina stood up suddenly, her heart beating faster inexplicably, "what kind of officer is that?"
"He hasn't introduced himself yet," the silver-haired old butler shrugged, as he showed his frustration at the barbarism of the Far Easterners, "but he looks young and has a more polite attitude, probably because he wants to ask you for help." ” The old butler said very implicitly.
For the law-abiding rural population, the crossing of the army often meant a catastrophe comparable to the looting of bandits, and although the regular army generally did not blatantly rob civilians, this did not prevent them from resorting to some of the more "civilized" methods of looting money and food.
For example, cut a large pile of white slips of paper, write a string of numbers representing the denomination, and stamp it with the seal of the commander or quartermaster, which is called a "military ticket".
When a soldier breaks into the bazaar, or even into someone else's house, he takes what he likes, and if the master asks for payment, he throws away a few military tickets as banknotes, in fact, the credit of this thing is no different from waste paper, and it is basically not expected to be cashed into real money.
The housekeeper of Hansenberg's manor had only heard others talk about this kind of blackmail before, but he had never seen it with his own eyes, after all, no one in the empire was really blind and dared to break into the marshal's manor to "fight the autumn wind", but now that the world has changed, and it is the turn of the Far East regent to be the ruler of the Yashan Holy City, the barbaric hillbillies may not give face to the imperial marshal, I am afraid that they will treat the Hansenberg family, which has 8,000 acres of fertile land and a large number of nearby mountains, lakes and rivers, as a piece of fat, and take a bite of it.
"Miss, that young man may be the quartermaster of the Far Eastern Regency Guards, would you like to see him?"
the old butler hinted cautiously.
Palatina nodded and replied quietly, "You tell him to wait a little while I change my clothes and go down." ” Five minutes later, Palatina went downstairs in a dress and walked into the living room under the guidance of the old butler, where she saw a young man in a black military uniform pacing in the living room, sometimes absentmindedly glancing at the decorative oil paintings on the walls of the living room.
Palatina couldn't help but be secretly disappointed at the first sight of the other party.
It was a tall and handsome young man, with well-defined facial features with slight dragonborn features, but unfortunately it was not the person she was expecting, of course, judging from the collar flowers and epaulettes worn on the opponent's military uniform, it was not the "quartermaster" as the old butler guessed.
"Good evening, Mr.
Major General, what do you call me?"
said Palatina, who greeted generously.
The young man with the dragon vein on the opposite side turned his head and looked at her, obviously stunned for a moment, not only amazed by the young beauty and elegant temperament of the female manor master, but also deeply surprised that the other party could see his military rank at a glance.
"Good evening, Miss Hansenberg, my name is Viglaf."
"Viglaf's name is a little familiar," Palatine sat down on the sofa opposite the coffee table in the living room, her fingertips touched her chin, and after a little thought, her eyes lit up, and she raised her head and looked at the dragon vein youth with a smile: "Major General Viglaf of the 1st Division of the Far Eastern Shooting Corps didn't expect that I would meet you at my own home instead of on the battlefield, it's really a blessing." ” Vigraf was puzzled, and he couldn't understand why the landlady would say such a thing, but after careful examination, he vaguely felt that the other party was somewhat familiar, and for a moment he couldn't remember where he had seen this beautiful and proud face.
"Is there anything we need help with General Vigrav's visit?"
asked Palatina, straight to the point.
"Indeed, as you say, Miss Hansenberg."
Vigraf froze his mind, dispelled his thoughts, and said with a solemn face: "You have also seen that it is not early, and our troops are passing by here, and are planning to spend the night in this vicinity, and I have heard that the manors and farms in this vicinity are all the property in your name, and the local farmers are your tenants, and they will not dare to lend us the vacant fields and barns for our lodging without your permission, and besides, we would like to borrow you a large house with better accommodation conditions as a temporary residence for an important person." ” "It is a great honor for His Royal Highness the Regent of the Far East to spend the night in my manor."
Palatine unfolded a white peacock feather fan, slightly masking the sneering smile on her lips, and then asked Vigraf, "Listen to what you mean, that big house is not my own, and if I guess correctly, the dignitary you are talking about must be Roland Koras, the regent of the Far East."
Vigraf rubbed his hands together, not knowing what to answer.
The smile on the corner of Palatina's lips became stronger, she put away the folding fan, and said lightly: "If you want to stay in my house, it's not impossible, but you have to ask your Royal Highness Regent to come and see me in person, and I want to talk to him face to face."
Mr.
Orwell, see me off. ” The old butler walked briskly into the drawing-room, bowed slightly to Vigraf, and politely and coldly asked him to leave.
"Miss Hansenberg is so big, I will tell the dignitary your request truthfully, and it is difficult to say whether he is interested in meeting you."
Vigraf grabbed his military hat and strode out of the living room with an unconcealed look of anger.
"Bet me," Palatine smiled defiantly at his back, "Roland will come to see me, and if he doesn't, I'll not only allow you to camp on my estate, but also serve a sumptuous dinner free of charge, with barbecue and beer." ” There were tens of thousands of young and strong young men in the Guards Division, all of whom had an appetite as big as a cow, and there was enough beer and barbecue to eat this arrogant landlady "Then we'll see, Miss Hansenberg, you'd better talk."
Viglaf made up his mind to prevent Roland from coming to see this hateful woman in order to win a good meal for his brothers and at the same time to vent his evil spirits.
Palatina failed to find Roland in the troops passing by the front of her house, because Roland was not in the military vehicle at all.
For the sake of safety, Roland accepted Marshal Pavel's suggestion, and instead of following the large army into the city, he changed into civilian clothes, put on a broad-brimmed traveler's hat with a colored feather, which the bard liked, and took only four plainclothes guards, and rode the Far Eastern steed that had accompanied him for many years through the fields in early autumn
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