Female Novel
Chapter 678 Set Off For The Marriage Alliance (Part One)
The procession for the political marriage alliance was to set off very early the next morning. Thedecision to leave was made in such a hurry that Matthew and Lucas did not even have enough time toprepare. The old emperor had just been buried, so bystanders were quite suspicious why it seemedlike the bridal procession couldn't wait to set off for its destination.
The night before, someone came to Lucas' mansion. He was in the middle of packing his belongingswhen he heard a noise from the window. Someone had broken in. As soon as he touched the sword onhis waist, he saw Matthew and Harper. Surprised, he looked out of the window to check whether therewere other people but he immediately closed it again.
"Uncle Matthew, it's the middle of the night. What are you doing here?" Lucas was startled, to say theleast. He just visited Matthew's mansion earlier that day, so he did not understand why they came to hismansion at midnight.
Matthew sat down, arm in arm with Harper. "Do you really believe that we're going to the Great JadeKingdom just for the marriage alliance?"
"Am I wrong to think that?" Lucas was a little confused. He thought, 'Earlier in the day, your wife askedme to do my best in escorting Lilian. But now, you came to me at night and told me not to take it forwhat it is. If we're not going for the marriage alliance, what are we going there for? Are we going toinvade the Great Jade Kingdom and take Emperor Rolando's crown?'
Matthew sneered before he responded. "Don't be so naive. Do you really believe that Francis has noother purpose for making us escort Lilian for the marriage alliance? I think you might have been in theromantic place for too long. Being in the company of women might have confused your mind."
"Uncle Matthew, are you saying that Francis wants to use this chance to kill me?" Although Lucas knewFrancis wouldn't let him go so easily, he didn't expect him to make a move in such a short time. He had
never even shown any intention of competing for power. He couldn't understand why Francis was insuch a hurry to kill him.
Although he was relieved that Lucas was finally on the same page, Matthew snorted. "I'm afraid, it's notjust you. I have reasons to believe that he wants to kill me as well."
When he heard that, Lucas calmed down. He was now certain that Francis wanted to kill him. If onewere to look into the imperial edicts, he would find that one of them was missing. The missing imperialedict was probably the testamentary edict of the former emperor. No matter what was written on it andwho had hidden it, Francis had been concerned with it in secret. Francis would kill him for security,whether he had the imperial edict or not.
"Uncle Matthew, have you thought of a way to deal with it?" Matthew was someone who would not actif he wasn't a hundred percent sure about it. Now that he came to him, he must have already had aplan. Francis wanted to kill Matthew, but it would never be that easy.
Matthew nodded his head and replied, "Yes, and I need your cooperation."
"Whatever you want me to do, I'll certainly do it." Lucas was extremely obedient. Now that he hadbecome Francis' target, it would be hard to survive. But if he cooperated with Matthew, he might have agreat chance of living. If he were left to fend off by himself and his subordinates, he would probably notbe a match for Francis.
"Tomorrow, you and I will still escort Lilian to the foreign country as planned. But before we leave, Imust ensure Harp's safety in the imperial capital. She can't go with us." Matthew looked at Harpertenderly while she just shrugged in surrender. She had told Matthew that she was capable enough toprotect herself. But no matter what she said, Matthew was not convinced. She then let him do anythinghe wanted to do.
"I'm going to ask my men left in the imperial capital to protect Aunt Harper." Lucas immediately thoughtthat he understood what Matthew meant.
But Matthew shook his head and said, "My men will protect her. What you need to do is find a way totrouble Francis after we leave. It would be better if he got injured and stayed in bed for some time."
Lucas was rather surprised. Did Matthew just say that he wanted him to send people to injure Francis?But Francis was skilled in martial arts so his men might not be able to hurt him. With honesty, hestated, "Our men may not be capable enough to hurt him."
"It doesn't matter if he gets hurt or not. I just want you to make trouble for him. Anything that woulddistract him is enough."novelbin
"Okay, I'll do everything in my power to make that happen."
"In that case, see you tomorrow. I hope we can be safe on our journey." It was a simple pleasantry butLucas knew that there was some underlying meaning behind Matthew's words.
With reluctance, Lucas smiled. Safe? Now that he was made aware of the situation, they both knew itwould be hard to accomplish. How could Francis allow him to be safe and sound? Judging from thecruelty he had when he killed Felix, Lucas knew that Francis who seemed to be gentle was actually themost vicious one.
On the morning of the next day, the procession for the marriage alliance finally set off. Francispersonally bid his goodbyes at the border of the imperial capital. Standing on the wall, Harper quietlywatched the procession leave. After this departure, she felt a little sad because she didn't know whenthey would come back. However, she knew that everything would be okay with Matthew since he couldprotect himself and had very capable men with him. Even so, she couldn't help but worry about himsince she loved the man very much.
After Francis saw the procession off, he noticed that Harper was still standing on the city wall. Heasked his subordinates to leave, then made his way on the city wall. "This time, they're going to theGreat Jade Kingdom for the marriage alliance. I really hope that they can form a lasting union withthem."
Without saying a word, Harper only watched as the procession went farther and farther. It was not untilthe procession finally disappeared from her sight that she said, "I hope so too."
"Are you going back to your mansion, Aunt Harper?" Francis was as gentle as ever. He had a veryhandsome face, full of purity and kindness. It was for this exact reason that it became hard for peopleto take precautions against him.