Chapter 116 The Crown of Thorns (5)

The weather is getting warmer.

It just rained a little. It was no longer snow, but rain, water droplets jumping on the brick slabs of the road, and the soil was moistened.

When the rain stopped, a pair of modest boots trod down the lonely trail. A brown-haired, dark-eyed, plainly dressed boy looked up, then put away his umbrella.

Kevin is standing in front of a remote mansion. After a while, he let out a sigh of relief.

This house is one of the estates of Prime Minister Gerhard Lauren.

The prime minister's mansion is also strictly sealed off, and no one is allowed to approach it at will. This is a small yard. After the turmoil some time ago, it was thoroughly investigated by Jin Rilun, but nothing was found. Now it is completely deserted.

Prime Minister Lauren just disappeared.

Kevin didn't know in what mood he came here.

In the winter a few years ago, the family owed debts and could not pay, so he was forced to work odd jobs to support the family in the big winter, and he only dared to eat one meal a day.

His Excellency the Prime Minister, who was not the Prime Minister at the time, met him on a street corner who almost fainted from hunger, brought him here, and ordered the chef to cook him fragrant meat porridge and fried golden bread slices.

Lauren helped his family pay off the debt and encouraged him to study hard and get into the military academy. That day, his tears flowed down dirty and fell into the steaming porridge, secretly vowed to stand out and repay your Excellency.

Kevin knows that he is not the only one who has been funded. For many years, Prime Minister Lauren has been the hope of the common people, especially the poor.

He likes to see His Excellency the Prime Minister standing in the crowd raising his arms and shouting, or leaning down kindly to the poor people, that is a kind of longing. When Your Excellency speaks emotionally about the blueprint of the paradise that "everyone is equal and happy", those in distress will also raise their smiling faces, and their hearts will be full of hope for the future.

So, are those all fake?

Kevin clenched the umbrella handle, the boy's Adam's apple moved, and a long pain came from his chest.

He knew... In the past two days, the video of Senior Jiang has gone viral on Zhiwang, saying everything.

Some people feel distressed that Colonel Jiang is terminally ill, some admire his unyielding will, and some are surprised by his "true temperament"; the negative attacks focus on the collapse of the so-called "personality", and on a man who relies on aristocratic relationships to achieve rapid success. Questions about the ability of the disabled person to be promoted.

In short, the noise turned into a pot of porridge.

Looking at the polarized comments, Kevin suddenly realized that for some confused people, perhaps illusory hope is more necessary than cruel reality.

Just like my current self, I know... Lauren may be a traitor, an accomplice of the cruel Crystal Sect.

But he still misses the past, the time when he could simply follow someone and believe clearly in the future.

Kevin shook his head vigorously. He should have gone back, after all, he shouldn't have been here.

But just as the boy turned around and was about to leave, suddenly, his eyes were fixed on a path in the courtyard.

Perhaps because of the rain, there was mud there, but the mud was uneven.

Ordinary people may not realize anything, but Kevin's face changed suddenly as a military academy. He dropped his umbrella and rushed over, squatted there and watched it carefully for half a minute, and concluded.

It's a footprint, a footprint from a boot.

"...!"

Kevin's heart beat fast and he licked his dry lips.

Could it be that someone came to this house on the rainy night yesterday!

He checked around again, and roughly concluded that there were two people.

One is the owner of the boots, most likely a man. The other was supposed to be a woman, and he recognized the high heels of aristocrats.

It would be... who would it be?

Kevin lightly stepped and walked quietly into the depths of the house.

Before the ceremony, Jiang Jianming did not go to the Golden Sun Wheel Building or the military headquarters, but personally inspected the White Jade Palace.

The ceremony was His Majesty's birthday, and at the same time, the crown prince had to come out and be re-established. It not only involves royal personnel, but also has a strong political significance at the imperial level, so it is natural to be well prepared in terms of security.

The fresh and moist air fills the city of Aslan, and the sky after the rain is very blue, which is refreshing.

The majesty of the palace is still the same, the water droplets hang on the small golden-red flag, and the fragrant aroma of roses seems to be stronger than ever.

Along the way, the soldiers of the Golden Il Wheel saluted him, but there were also people who looked contemptuous from a distance. This is of course thanks to the commotion on the street corner the other day.

Jiang Jianming didn't care much, he confirmed that there were no omissions, and gave instructions to the palace.

Soon, the change took place at the top of the highest palace in the White Emerald Palace.

With a slight creaking sound, its outer wall slowly opened outward like a dismantled machine. The structures that were originally hidden in the palace were revealed at this moment—

Jiang Jianming raised his hand to cover the light, and squinted to look up. The first thing saw was the carved railings stacked with white bricks, and the space behind was temporarily covered by dark red thick curtains. The sun is slowly pouring on it, reflecting the solemn color even more brightly.

The stairs are as white as the railings and floor tiles. The wide long steps extend all the way to the bottom of the palace, and each step is illuminated by sunlight. This is the combination of classical luxury decoration and high technology, and the effect is almost holy.

After the ceremony begins, the red veil will be raised, and the emperor, crown prince, and ceremonial officials will stand there.

Gradually, someone gathered.

"Colonel Jiang worked hard."

"Morning, Your Excellency."

During the ceremony, the area outside the palace is open to the public. But Jiang Jianming looked down at the time on his wrist phone, it was still early.

So now the people who can get in are either big nobles or important military and political officials of the empire.

Soon, Jiang Jianming saw Lance's "brother and sister", Audley was still wearing men's clothes, and Diana was still sticking timidly behind Audley, grabbing at the corner of "Brother"'s clothes.

"Jiang, the ceremony is about to start." Audley said with concern, "Your position..."

Jiang Jianming: "At the back, I won't go forward with you. It's more comfortable to sit."

Diana's eyes lit up immediately: "Brother, I also want to sit in the back with Jiang."

Audley rubbed her head with a ruthless smile: "No, little princess."

... The imperial ceremony has always been like this. There are ninety-nine steps on the long, long staircase. In fact, the first eighty-one steps are used to stand people, symbolizing the level of status.

At the back are 500 seats, which are allocated to ordinary nobles, wealthy scholars and other figures, as well as officers like Jiang Jianming.

Further back is the area outside the palace, where people are allowed to stand and watch. When the time comes, it must be crowded and crowded.

Jiang Jianming was ready to sit.

If His Royal Highness wants to make it easier for him, it is not impossible for him to go forward. But there has been a lot of public opinion about him recently, and if he makes an exception at this time, he is afraid of affecting the reputation of the prince.

And Ryan didn't object, probably because he was worried that his body wouldn't be able to stand on the high-level for two or three hours.

There are more and more people, including Lieutenant General Luther, Tang Bei and other acquaintances.

Jiang Jianming and Sister Lance were chatting casually, and another glamorous lady passed them by. It was Major General Xie's "green hat" wife, Donna Sekter.

Jiang Jianming couldn't help but glanced at Madam Donna more and whispered, "Why is she looking so bad."

Audley thought for a while: "The ceremony will also use the technology of interstellar remote projection, and Major General Xie will also come."

Jiang Jianming understood it, and thought that Donna probably didn't know that Xie Yuduo was in the expedition fleet at the moment, so she couldn't help but smile bitterly for the couple who were in love and hate.

After a while, Sister Lance waved at him and went up. The projections of generals from all over the world appeared on the steps one after another, the difference being that there was no virtual sensory sharing this time.

The generals in Aslan Star City came to the palace in person and took their seats one by one.

"Colonel Jiang."

Celine passed by Jiang Jianming. The female admiral in charge of the Golden Sun Starship showed a look of contempt, "Why do people who can be favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sit in such a back place?"

Jiang Jianming directly ignored the hostility and said indifferently, "It's already good."

"Indeed." Celine shook her golden-brown curly hair, and said indifferently, "My soldiers, no matter how hard they train and fight bravely, will not be able to climb to your heights even if they lose their lives in the sea of ​​stars. Maybe it's because they don't have the ability to get involved, only loyalty to the empire."

She looked at Jiang Jianming and said, "Do you think I'm jealous of you? Yes, I do. I've seen too many real geniuses buried and died without a name, and a weak, sick, and low-level disabled human being has An unconventional appointment is called moral incompatibility."

"Now that the people know your true face, how do you feel?"

After saying this, Admiral Shilin did not wait for Jiang Jianming's answer. She raised her chest and headed towards the high snow-white staircase.

Behind her, Jiang Jianming was still sitting there. His expression was as calm as an ancient well, and the wind did not make waves.

Time ten o'clock in the morning.

The rebuilt splendid cathedral rang the bell, and a flock of white doves was released into the clear blue sky.

Sure enough, the crowd formed the sea, creating an extremely fiery atmosphere in the tail of this winter.

The outside is the busiest. Some girls sprinkled petals into the sky, some old people sang military songs in memory of the heroes, and more people wore necklaces with pictures of the emperor on their necks.

The dark red curtain was opened from both sides by the ceremonial officials. The first thing people saw was the famous image of the founding emperor hanging on the wall, which symbolized the blood and fire, hard work and glory of the founding of the country.

Afterwards, the female emperor Lin Ge appeared in front of the crowd, wrapped in a silk satin dress, and raised her right hand in greeting.

The crowd of people instantly reached that boiling point, and they all raised their hands and cheered—

"The glory of the empire will never fall!!"

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!!"

"People of the Empire, today is a good day."

The empress spoke casually, she smiled, "It's my birthday, I'm ninety."

The long black hair fell on the cloak of the black fox fur, the red prosthetic eyes, the tender red thin lips... This kind of demeanor is an eclectic beauty, like the rich color after overturning cinnabar and black ink.

"But I still feel that I am very young, far from old."

Lin Ge raised his chin, and his contemptuous aura naturally revealed, "I am not old, and my empire is not old either."

She raised her arm abruptly, and the black fox fur fluttered up a corner: "The empire is the empire of mankind; the empire is not old, and the human civilization born in this corner of the universe will also be immortal—never!"

"His Majesty the Emperor is not old, the empire is not old!!"

"Human civilization never gets old!!"

The jubilant people had tears in their eyes, roars and cheers.

And when the second figure appeared at the height of the palace, the voice rose again, and some people even started screaming frantically, crying and shouting.

"His Royal Highness Ryan—"

"Long live the Crown Prince!!!"

The Crown Prince Ryan Kaios came up and stood beside His Majesty the Emperor.

The crown prince's eyebrows are sharp and threatening, like a half-blade frosted knife. He had loose platinum curly hair, and a freshly cut golden rose in the chest pocket of his dress almost overlapped with the founding emperor behind him.

Amid the noise, Jiang Jianming looked up at his little highness.

To be honest, the moment Ryan walked out, he was really in a trance.

It is no different from three years ago, and even because of its more mature appearance, it may be even better in terms of momentum.

I've always known that this person can pretend, but this time... maybe because the crown prince was standing so high, he was too far away from him.

Jiang Jianming's open-minded temperament has the illusion that the two of them are really out of reach.

The three officials bowed deeply, each holding a golden tray in their hands.

Inside the tray, were placed a crown, a scepter, and a royal robe.

"Our little prince is back."

Lin Ge opened his mouth and said, "His Royal Highness Le'an, take back the glory that belongs to you again, take up the responsibility that belongs to you, and take up the future of this empire."

"Then...for these three years, officially give your citizens an explanation."

This is a given link.

Even Jiang Jianming knew that Ryan would be awarded these three items symbolizing imperial power next, and then he would roughly talk about the manuscript he had memorized, and he would be fine.

"..."

The crown prince turned his face slightly, he looked at the official, but his feet did not move.

One second, two seconds.

The ceremony officer was a little flustered and urged in a low voice, "Your Highness?"

Jiang Jianming squeezed his eyebrows.

Five seconds passed, eight seconds passed. The excitement of the crowd gradually subsided, and many people showed confusion in their eyes.

"What's going on here?"

"Why doesn't His Highness Lean move?"

There was already cold sweat on the forehead of the ceremonial official. Old Marshal Chen, who was standing below, twitched the corner of his mouth and said in a low voice, "His Royal Highness!"

The emperor's expression was a little gloomy. She looked at Ryan, but did not speak.

Jiang Jianming was also a little panicked, and there were whispering voices all around. This is in front of the entire empire, nine star cities live broadcast, what is this person doing! ?

Forgot the words...it shouldn't be. Jiang Jianming's heart sank, and he thought to himself: can't regret it on the spot.

Ryan was still standing there, the tiny diamonds on his dress shone with the sunlight, reflecting the golden roses on his chest.

Like an extremely delicate statue, he glanced condescendingly at the dark crowd below.

Suddenly remembered when first came to the empire.

The leader made him carry the name of Ryan, and he was furious and funny, and threatened to "reveal the truth in front of the people".

He did think so. If according to the original plan, I will be here and now—

Facing the people of the entire empire, they showed a sinister and ironic sneer, and said aloud, "Ryan Kaios has been dead for three years, his bones are rotten, and the ashes are so wet that they can grow mushrooms" and so on.

but now……

Now he understands that the leader and the emperor must have expected everything later, and expected that Jiang Jianming would ignite the fire in his heart.

I really don't want to be toyed with by such a bunch of people.

He hates the feeling of being controlled by outsiders. There is only one person in this world who can make him surrender willingly.

So the crown prince smiled slightly, and he finally spoke.

"Before the ceremony begins, there is one important thing."

Prince Ryan turned his head, and the sun fell on his young face, depicting the perfect facial features even more profoundly and brilliantly. Those emerald green eyes also seemed to be smudged with pale gold, and they were even more divinely aloof.

At this moment, the prince's eyes turned downward. There was no lingering, he locked a certain position at once.

Jiang Jianming was frowning indiscernibly, the corners of his lips tightened, and there was some sharpness in his eyes.

That is similar to urging, it is to tell the crown prince to stop making trouble, not to play a senseless temper in such public occasions.

When the new breeze brought the fragrance of golden roses again, the next thing happened so easily and naturally.

"about……"

Ryan Kaios announced calmly, "My love."

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