Volume 3 Chapter 149 - Poor cities and rich cities (1/2)

Dulaketon City was more south than Sowell City, but the wind and snow from the north still reached Dulaketone City and completely covered the city in white.

Count Michelle put down the book in his hand and looked out the window.

The snow covered everything and there were icicles hanging from the branches. It looked very beautiful and could have also meant that Dulaketon City would have a prosperous harvest next year.

But Count Michelle’s heart wasn’t happy at all, rather he was a bit worried.

His highness Eric was clearly very dissatisfied with Count Longley meeting Xu Yi privately and even inviting the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to invest in Basaru City. He had even angrily rebuked in his return letter to Count Michelle that Count Longley was a traitor, not only to his highness Eric, but also to his dead father.

Perhaps it was because he was angry at Count Longley, his highness Eric even asked Count Michelle if he should be dissatisfied with working with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. His words were filled with questioning towards Count Michelle, asking Count Michelle if he also wanted to be a traitor.

Count Michelle wasn’t surprised by his highness Eric’s response, but he was very disappointed with his highness Eric being angry with this situation.

Before he truly understood why Count Longley contacted Xu Yi, deciding that Count Longley was a traitor, Count Michelle thought that this was a very petty way of handling things.

Count Longley might have made contact with Xu Yi and have invited the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to invest in Basaru City, but this was completely different from betraying his highness Eric. It didn’t mean that the Longley Family and Basaru City would switch her highness’ side.

In this situation, the right thing was for his highness Eric to investigate everything and understand Count Longley’s ideas before making a decision. He shouldn’t just push Count Longley away right away.

He had called Count Longley a traitor, so even if Count Longley didn’t plan on betraying his highness Eric, he would be forced away in this situation.

His highness Eric didn’t have many supporters in the northeast province, there was only him, Count Longley, and Lamarte City’s Count Will.

Now that he called Count Longley a traitor and doubted him, could it be that he was planning on giving up on the support of the northeast province?

Although Count Will’s Lamarte City was the biggest city, Lamarte City wasn’t enough to represent the northeast province.

Not to mention that compared to Sowell City’s Count Sean who firmly supported her highness Seveni, Count Will wasn’t much better.

Moreover, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was currently investing in Sowell City. If Count Sean and Sowell City had several years, developing Sowell City like Banta City, then the northeast province would probably depend on Count Sean.

Thinking of this, Count Will suddenly felt very tired.

His highness Eric’s attitude made him a bit unhappy and his highness Eric’s method of handling things made him disappointed.

He even felt that his decision back them was a bit of a mistake.

“Perhaps……It’s better to support her highness Seveni?”

This thought grew in Count Michelle’s mind before he quickly threw it out.

As an old noble who was almost sixty and experienced many political changes, he knew some truth.

That was that during times of struggle, there were winners and losers, but the ones most unwelcome were those who wavered.

Count Michelle gave a sigh and rubbed his forehead. He relaxed his expression and rang the bell on the table, calling his housekeeper over.

“Go investigate what Count Longley and Xu Yi did in the two days they were together. Also investigate what they said as much as possible.” Count Michelle said first, “Then send a gift to Count Longley in my name and tell him a few things.”

The housekeeper paid rapt attention to Count Michelle.

Count Michelle paused and thought for a bit before continuing, “Tell him that I hope that he can inherit the best part of old Longley and properly be the City Lord of Basaru City.”

The housekeeper’s expression was a bit strange, this was his first time hearing such an ambiguous order from Count Michelle.

But the housekeeper didn’t question at all, he just honestly wrote down those two orders.

“Right, has the goods for his highness Eric been prepared?” Count Michelle asked.

“It’s already been prepared and can be loaded at any time.” The housekeeper replied.

“Horse carriages?” Count Michelle revealed a smile that had a bit of ridicule, “Alright, load it up and set off. Our prince doesn’t like waiting any longer.”

The housekeeper agreed before hesitating to speak.

“Speak.” Count Michelle said in a deep voice.

The housekeeper quickly said, “Lord Count, when collecting those goods, there were a few people who tried to resist. The guards were a bit negligent and their hand was a bit too heavy, so in the end……”

Seeing the difficult expression the housekeeper had, Count Michelle’s face sunk, “How many died?”

The housekeeper had a bitter smile, “Currently there’s thirteen dead and fifty six heavily injured. There are over twenty people among them who can’t support themselves anymore.”

“Isn’t that close to forty people who’re dead?” Count Michelle’s face sunk even more, “I had them collect the goods, not have them kill people!”

The housekeeper could see the anger in Count Michelle’s eyes and was afraid, but he had to explain, “Lord Count, it’s already the end of the year, so these citizens don’t have much in their houses. If it is forcefully taken, of course they would go all out. The guards had no choice but to retaliate and then……”