Although there are many nobles like Dian who think that Graythorn Territory is here to pick up a bride, most nobles quickly realize that something is off; after all, Graythorn’s army looks prepared for battle at first glance.
White not only stands ready but also cautiously opens the way with cannons, treating Copper Mountain Territory almost like a formidable enemy.
Many in the Third Army Group were once knights of the Lars Family, having fought alongside White at Winterhold against Doug’s army, which is one of the reasons Dian believes Lena might rebel.
Upon hearing Colin explain how Copper Mountain Territory has slandered Lena, the leading knights can hardly contain their anger. Even those soldiers with little connection to the Lars Family feel defensive when they hear their female associate is being insulted. They know that Lena is not just a simple woman; she also holds a military position.
Graythorn Territory doesn’t emphasize the principle that a ruler’s humiliation warrants death for a subject, but these soldiers know who treats them well and who does not. Driven by a sense of straightforward revenge, they want to flatten Copper Mountain Territory.
There are quite a few soldiers and officers in the army who have been honored by Lena.
After losing a couple of towns, Copper Mountain Territory quickly realizes that the situation is dire, organizing a defense while shouting that they have already surrendered.
“Surrender? What surrender?”
White looks quizzically at the envoy sent over from Copper Mountain Territory.
“Did we not send someone to your governor to surrender? We were also planning to marry off a woman from the Ambros family to your governor, didn’t you know?”
Copper Mountain Territory seems to be panicking, and the envoy sent is a notable noble.
White does not respond, but Colin, standing beside him, answers:
“Are you sure that’s not a provocation?”
Colin digs in his ear and puts his feet up on the negotiation table.
“How could this be possible? It must be you folks from the Lars Family misleading the governor into misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
Colin pulls out a few magazines from his pocket.
“These were written by you, right?”
The noble who came to negotiate instantly breaks into a cold sweat, because Colin pulled out not just the magazines but also testimonies from the booksellers.
“I didn’t expect there would still be so many who were outwardly obedient but secretly resentful of the brother-in-law in the North Border. This time, you all have truly helped me achieve unexpected gains.”
This incident not only implicated Copper Mountain Territory but also pulled in many territories taken over recently, where nobles and wealthy merchants were privately hoping to bide their time, waiting for a major upheaval to reclaim their former status.
However, the decision made by Copper Mountain Territory this time is somewhat enticing, as marrying off a daughter was not something these people considered before, so they chose to join forces, helping with the printing quietly, undetected, leaving no trace.
Moreover, these nobles had printed songs that insulted the governor, and this magnanimous governor had not cared, which created a misconception among the nobles.
Lind, like the former Lars, feels powerless to control the nobles under his command.
But thanks to Graythorn Territory’s strong grassroots household registration and tax system, Colin quickly pinpointed these remnants through tax tickets, and then, with Lucanus’ help, rounded up all these nobles.
The negotiating nobles still wanted to argue but were kicked out by Colin.
“Get lost!”
After that noble envoy left, Colin summoned a follower and asked, “Is the investigation clear?”
“It’s been clarified, officer; this person’s family tree has been fully documented.”
Colin nodded and said, “General White, continue the attack; thank you for your hard work.”
“I dare not.”
White cupped his hands in salute, shook his cloak, and went to regroup the army.
This negotiation almost extinguished all of Copper Mountain Territory’s noble ambitions. These nobles never understood why reproaching Lind did not bring trouble, but the moment they insulted Lena, Lind became furious.
Even though the nobles claimed that Lind had been misleadingly concealing information, anyone with a little knowledge of Graywhite Territory understands that Lena mainly holds a nominal position in the army, and the real control lies with Lind himself.
This is also why, at the beginning, these nobles were not worried that Lisa would not be able to compete against Lena, who has the military and the Lars Family backing her.
However, the situation didn’t unfold as these nobles expected; the nobles of Copper Mountain Territory unexpectedly found Lind’s weak points, but this was not what they had anticipated.
Many weapons and equipment previously unseen during Graywhite Territory’s attacks on other lands began to rain down on Copper Mountain Territory. Within just two days, the outer towns of Copper Mountain were devastated.
However, surrendering was not the end; it was the beginning of a nightmare. It was not the army of Graywhite Territory dealing with these nobles but the personnel brought in by Colin.
Almost the entire family, except for the minor children, was captured by Colin without exception. Colin initially intended to execute them directly, but the bard presented Colin with these nobles’ charges right before the execution.
The principle of transparency in law is something Lind has always emphasized. Even when angry, these procedures must be followed.
Although Colin felt it unnecessary, considering the brother-in-law’s status, he could kill whoever he wanted.
But out of respect for his brother-in-law, Colin accepted the charges and proceeded with the trial according to procedures.
In this era, no noble’s past can be completely clean; it mainly differs in terms of being more humanized or totally grotesque.
To avoid any mistakes, Colin personally read out the charges against these nobles on stage. The primary offense was, of course, slandering and defaming his sister, but there were many other disgraceful things these nobles had committed.
The crowd below, although unable to understand which noble had been defamed, burst into applause when hearing about the other charges against these nobles, especially when these nobles were executed, as if long-suppressed emotions erupted, and some even began to kneel in front of Colin.
To be honest, when Colin received the charges against these nobles, he thought it was not a big deal. Although these nobles were indeed not very civilized, their crime of defaming his sister was still the most serious.
However, as he saw the crowd kneeling before him, a suddenly vulnerable Colin felt a chill and shame.
His past actions were no less humanized than those of these nobles.
At that moment, Colin realized that his ability to stand in judgment over these nobles was perhaps simply because his brother-in-law did not want his sister to be hurt.
Colin finally began to understand what Lind meant when he said he was the inspector of Graywhite Territory, not a hound for someone.
The brother-in-law wanted to help him discard his old thoughts and rotten legacy.
Due to the wide implications, this trial lasted a long time. Colin even felt numb about killing; the next step was handling the assets and lands of these nobles.
After all, White had already captured a town, so Colin had to take over these tasks, as Lind was already aware of this situation and arranged for some officials among Colin’s subordinates to assist him.
Although Colin did not personally handle the land affairs, he quickly figured out all the peasants’ assets in the area using his own clever means.
However, those ordinary people were unaware; they only knew that Colin not only killed the noble lords but also reclaimed the land for themselves, so they all showed Colin utmost respect. Some freed serfs even knelt before him, wanting to kiss Colin’s boot.
“Do not kneel!”
Seeing these individuals kneeling before him, Colin felt both shame and anger and realized he could not bear it; he was no longer the careless person he once was and could no longer accept these people’s kneeling with a clear conscience.
Upon hearing this command, the serfs looked at Colin with fear; standing up was not an option, and neither was continuing to kneel.
The peasants and commoners regarded this as some new etiquette, their eyes beginning to reflect fear towards Colin.
After finishing up a household’s land dealings, a little girl in the woman’s arms suddenly pulled out a beet leaf and said, “Brother, this is for you.”
The woman hurriedly grabbed the girl’s hand, wanting to kneel but seemed to remember Colin’s previous command not to kneel, awkwardly bowing in place.
Colin, however, accepted the leaf from the little girl and began to chew on it.
“Thank you.”
Colin realized for the first time that the wild greens by the roadside could also be sweet.
