"Follow me, there's something urgent." Antonio called Winters and added: "Let the coachman not unload the horse first, Winters, you go and change your dress."

"Gown? But I only have military school uniforms now."

Antonio looked at his wife: "Didn't you do several sets before?"

"The sizes of those clothes are not right, aren't they changing them yet? I'm going to measure the size today." Coza replied angrily.

Antonio was not confused: "Then, I'll change into military uniforms, and we're dressed in the same way."

Winters didn't have to wait too long this time. Antonio was a decisive soldier. He quickly changed into the general's uniform [different from military dress] and walked out of the house.

"We're all wearing this outfit, what else do you need to do with a carriage?" Seeing Winters waiting foolishly beside the carriage, Antonio's tone was helpless. He turned to the coachman and said, "There's no need for a car. Bartoon, thank you for your hard work today."

After saying that, he handed a small bag of reward to the coachman. The coachman took the purse and thanked him repeatedly.

Antonio waved to his nephew and led Winters to the stable on the side of the back street of the house.

There are now three horses in the stable. Antonio pointed at one of the black-maned and white-spotted gray horses and said reluctantly: "It will belong to you in the future. Although the sea blue city is not big, it is inconvenient for you to go anywhere without a horse."

Winters was immediately surprised. He suppressed his excitement and approached the proud and majestic animal bit by bit. The horse was not panicked by the stranger approaching, but just chewed the hay calmly. Its pectoral muscles were strong, its limbs were symmetrical and strong, and the lines of its neck, back and hips were smooth and graceful. The mane and ponytail were well-maintained, and the body was cleaned and there was no grass chip.

Winters looked at the horse's eyes, and the horse blinked its wet eyes, looking at Winters with a gentle and friendly look, and his ears flexed. Winters tentatively rubbed its neck, feeling not only smooth, but also warm, with a very good feel. The horse also comfortably made a series of hums from his nose.

“It’s so beautiful.”

Antonio, who was in pain, said angrily: "Can you not be beautiful? You people from infantry departments don't know anything, this is the best Lucian horse."

The more Antonio felt heartbroken, the more the horse was excellent. Winters rarely saw his uncle hurt so much. It seemed that he had a lot of blood. He chuckled and asked, "Is it a monk? [Monk, referring to the horse that has been rude]"

Antonio was furious: "How is it possible? Some of me, Mark, want to ask for a match!"

"But if you don't have that, can you ride it?"

"Of course I can ride it, and you don't even see who trained it? Lucia's temperament was originally very gentle."

"What is its name?"

"I call it 'good luck', do you want to give it a new name?"

Winters gently scratched the area between the horse's eyes, and the horse gently stuck out his tongue. He remembered the Good Luck pirate ship: "Who doesn't like luck? But it's better to call it 'strong luck'. The word Good Luck seems to be unworkable when it comes to me."

Seeing that his nephew didn't like strong luck, Antonio hesitated for a long time, but couldn't help but instruct: "Horse is a noble animal, good luck is my baby. You must take good care of it, don't make it too tired, and don't let it be too idle..."

Winters kept nodding and said yes. He pointed at the other two horses and asked his uncle: "If you feel sorry for your luck, why don't you let me ride those two?"

There are two horses in the stable, one white horse and one chestnut horse.

"I really regret sending you to the Infantry Department now." Antonio looked at Winters and said in a heavy tone: "Do you think those two are not good horses?"

Antonio took out a small bag from his arms and fed a piece of candy to each of the three horses. Then Antonio pulled out the chestnut horse, Winters took out the strong luck, and the two of them got on the horse and stepped on the horse and left the mansion.

The sky has darkened, and the afterglow of the sun is about to dissipate. The heat of the day is gradually replaced by the coolness of the night. The refreshing sea breeze has taken away the excess heat of the two riders. At this moment, riding a horse on the streets of Hailan City is refreshing.

Workers next to the road were adding oil to the lamps and lighting street lights. In the Bay of Senas, only the wealth of the Sea Blue City is so luxurious that it can provide lighting services to the public. The swaying fire shines through the yellowed glass, illuminating the hurried faces of passers-by, announcing that nightlife has begun.

On the streets of the city, Qiangyun could not stretch his legs at all, and Winters was desperate to take his horse to the outside of the city to have a happy run.

But he suddenly thought that he didn't know where his uncle was going, so he accelerated slightly and rode his horse side by side with his uncle: "What's the urgent matter? Lieutenant Colonel, where are you going?"

Antonio looked at Winters and smiled playfully and said, "Let's find you a wife."

"What? Stop joking!" Winters was shocked, and a center of gravity was unstable and almost fell off his saddle: "I originally wanted to see Benwei tonight. You said I would follow me because I had something urgent. If I had no business, I would go to Benwei's house."

"Benway? Which Benway?" Antonio tried hard to recall the name in his mind: "Benwayuto?"

Winters didn't expect his uncle to call out Benway's full name: "Do you still remember this person?"

"Isn't it your classmate Lu You? You like to go to his house for free during holidays."

"It's him."

Antonio was interested: "How is he now? It seems that the intern officers who have returned this year have not seen this name."

"Benwei did not continue to study in military academy. After Lu graduated from childhood, he went to work to support his family." Winters was a little sad: "If I had no business, I would leave."

Antonio led the way, and the two of them walked with their backs towards the dock. After walking for a while, passers-by gradually became scarce. Benway's family lived in the port area, and Winters was about to turn his head as he spoke.

"Wait." Antonio called out to his nephew: "Don't go today, are you going empty-handed? I remember that his younger brothers and sisters have a lot... In this way, tomorrow I will ask Mama Marita to buy some flour and meat and come back, and you will bring Benwei, how about it? And I'll call you here today, it's really a problem."

"What's up?"

"Take you to see the widow."

"I'm really leaving!" Winters angrily pulled the reins to the right.

Antonio quickly put away his smile and said seriously: "Okay, let's talk about serious business. There is a small party at Navare's house tonight. I'll call you here just to let you show your face."

"Navare? Isn't that a businessman in the wool spinning business? What does it have to do with me?" Of course Winters had heard of the surname Navare, which is a famous family of merchants in the city.

Antonio glanced at Winters with a deep sense: "Money is power, and Mrs. Navare may be the most powerful woman in the city - or a widow."

"Why are you talking about three words without a widow?" Winters was anxious. He couldn't have wanted to sell his lust, right?

Antonio deliberately looked stern: "What? Do you look down on widows? Let me tell you that widows have supported half of the sky in Hailan City. Without these widows, where can the government get the money to pay you my salary?"

Winters' forehead began to sweat: "When did I look down on the widow... Besides, where do you follow this?"

Seeing Winters' tender appearance, Antonio laughed: "Okay, I won't joke anymore. Actually, it's nothing. You have been to the United Provinces for six years and have not participated in any social activities in the city in the past six years. Except for the same period in your military academy, you don't know any of your peers, right? Since you have already returned home, I want you to show your face in the Navare family's social scene first."

Winters was about to speak, but was interrupted by Antonio. Antonio continued, "I know what you want to say, but even if you don't like socializing, you should let everyone know that you are. You will get married sooner or later, but do you know which lady of the right age do you know now? This is the consequence of lack of socializing. I am like your age, and I participate in one dance after another, and people are scrambling to invite me. In any case, you should know more girls and you can have a room for choice."

This passage made Winters speechless. He felt that his uncle was wrong, but he didn't know where to refute it.

Seeing his nephew's blushing face, Antonio teased: "And to be honest, with Mrs. Navare's property, it's not that easy even if you want to take it."

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

The two of them rode their horses and chatted and walked, and before they knew it, they had already arrived at the city wall.

The rammed earth city wall during the sovereign war has been destroyed after more than 20 years of wind and rain. The grass seeds scattered in the wind have taken root and sprouted on the earth wall. The wall is lush and green, like a green tapestry. There is also a sapling growing strongly on it, like an arm poking out of the wall.

There has been no military disaster for twenty-six years, and the moat has collapsed in large numbers due to disrepair. Citizens are not grateful for the city defense fortifications that have defended them, but they only feel that these old buildings make entering and leaving the city extremely inconvenient.

Guitucheng, the capital of the United Provinces, had already pushed down the city wall and filled it into the moat, and the citizens of Hailan were also ready to move. Since a new impregnable castle has been built outside the city, why should these old fortifications be preserved?

Crossing the wooden bridge built on the moat, Antonio and Winters left the city. There were no street lights outside the city, and the next journey would be illuminated by moonlight. The rammed earth pavement reflected more moonlight than vegetation, extending like a silver stream to the distance.

Through the shrubs and hedges along the way and the mottled trees, you can vaguely see the bright lights of the houses in the distance, and the guests have a banquet, and the sound of intense music comes from the houses from time to time.

With the growth of the population of sea blue, the urban area is becoming increasingly crowded. The wealthy merchants are unwilling to continue living in the walls of tight resources, and have built land in the suburbs and built magnificent manors.

If it were in the past, the merchant would not have the courage to move out of the city wall.

Citizens in the old era worshipped the city wall because only the city walls could protect them from external force. Citizens in the new era despise the city wall because they no longer need such passive protection.

Living in the suburbs, the biggest risk is bandits and thugs. The Alliance Army in the new era can attack bandits more effectively than the old era's citizens' armed forces. Because although the citizens' armed forces are tenacious when defending the city, their morale will drop sharply once they leave the city and they usually do not go out of the city to fight.

As for the aristocratic armed forces in the old era? If it were just a few greedy farmers who robbed the way, it would not be dangerous. The most harmful ones were those aristocrats who had weapons, armor and war horses and had received military training for their whole lives.

Bankruptcy knights often become the backbone of gangsters, and robbing caravans, extortion and even plundering cities have always been an important source of income for unscrupulous nobles.

That is why citizens of the old era worshipped the city walls enthusiastically, and they would donate a lot of property to their city without hesitation. Because they share weal and woe with the city, for them, the city is the only safe island in this dangerous world.

But today is different from the past. As Antonio said, the standing army is mainly used to deal with internal enemies, and they do a good job. Any large-scale bandit gang in the alliance will be quickly wiped out by the alliance army, and the remaining few evildoers can be solved by the remaining few guards.

The Navare family also moved out of the city with this trend, but Winters didn't know the address, so he just followed his uncle forward.

"What are you busy with when you were intern at the gendarmerie on the first day today?" Antonio asked casually.

Winters was about to talk about what happened today, but he remembered Lieutenant Colonel Field's admonition "Keep your mouth shut and obey orders." He chewed in his mouth for a long time, and finally he said: "I'm very busy anyway."

"What the hell are you busy with?" Antonio asked indomitable manner.

"Don't ask, I can't say it."

Antonio laughed and gently hit Winters on the shoulder with a horse whip: "Felder taught you well. Tight tone is the advantage. You should read more, listen more, and do more, but talk less. If you say less, others will not know what cards you have."

Winters nodded with a red face.

"But even if you don't tell me, I know what cards you have." Antonio smiled and looked like a pair of crescent moons: "When the Throne voted whether to snatch this basin to Field, I voted the only vote against you for your sake."

"What?" Winters was so surprised that he couldn't help but tighten the reins, and Qiangyun stopped with a loud sniff: "You were there when you decided to hand over this matter to the Gendarmerie Department?"

"Of course I'm here." Antonio waved: "Don't stand stupidly and say as he walked."

Winters gently clamped his horse's belly and patted his horse forward to catch up with his uncle: "Do you know the throne? Even if I add me, there are only two officers in the Gendarmerie Department now?"

"Of course I know." Antonio nodded.

"Then you hand over this case to the Gendarmerie Department? There are only two officers in total, and there are eighty guards left to stand guard. How can we investigate it?"

"It's simple. If Field wants to close the case, he will write a report today and the case will be over tomorrow." Major General Antonio easily gave an answer.

As long as you want to close the case, you can close the case at any time? Winters thought like lightning and read the deep meaning of this sentence in a flash. He asked his uncle word by word: "Do you mean that the throne has prepared the prisoner for this case?"

"No, a child is teachable." Antonio praised Winters with a smile. Winters could tell from his tone that he did not regard the case as a big deal: "Isn't it just as assassination? Haylan hasn't been there many times in this year? If he couldn't capture the assassin on the spot, how could he find someone? It would definitely become a unsolved case. The person who brought this case from the customs did not care about the truth at all, as long as the last slander was given to the person he wanted to give."

"You mean the Army took the initiative to come from customs?" Winters couldn't believe his ears.

"Otherwise? The army doesn't want it, can the customs be forced to come?"

Winters now realized that he was completely wrong. He originally thought that the customs and the army had reached a secret agreement. The customs found that the deceased might be a soldier and did not want to wade into the muddy waters of the army, so he secretly communicated with the army and handed over the case to the army for investigation.

But according to Antonio, the Army did not know the identity of the deceased at all. It was just that someone wanted to take advantage of the situation and took the initiative to ask for the case.

One dares to ask for it and the other dares to give it. Both sides think that it is enough to have a tacit understanding of each other, but in fact, what they think in their hearts are all two different things.

And at present, neither side has much information on both sides. In Winters' view, both customs and army underestimated the severity of the assassination.

"Who do the throne wants to put the blame on?" Winters asked another question.

Antonio gave a faint answer that Winters unexpectedly: "Pirates."

"How could an assassin be a pirate? I have fought with the pirates and fought with those assassins. There are no such figures as powerful as those assassins among the pirates."

"Can the pirate come out and prove that he is not an assassin?" Antonio asked with a smile.

"Still the pirates..." Winters' mind was thundering and thunder. He thought hard, trying to connect the fragmented information and grasp the key point from a fog.

Seeing him thinking hard, Antonio didn't say anything, and the two walked quietly for a while.
Chapter completed!