It seems that the villain is targeting me.

For a moment, the air was filled with the howling of ghosts and wolves from those who were unfortunately caught under the horses' hooves.

The sudden appearance of this group of galloping horses dispersed the knights' team and created a precious opportunity for Xiao Niao and Gwyneth to escape.

Xiao Niao blew another quick whistle, calling his mount to come to him.

The well-trained Huahua lived up to its warhorse bloodline and quickly found its owner's location in the chaotic and noisy environment. It raised its head, neighed, and ran towards the bird.

But there were still knights on the field who were lucky enough to avoid being trampled by the horses and still retained their combat capabilities.

These knights are almost going crazy!

The order they received wasn't to capture Butcher! They were just peripheral figures responsible for controlling the situation around the castle!

Originally, these people were very excited when they saw Xiao Niao - Wow, the Prime Minister of the Empire! What a great achievement that came right to their doorstep!

It seems that he was injured. Isn't this a merit gained for free?

Before anyone could react, the brothers around him were lying down, proving with their own actions that it is best not to pick up things that fall from the sky.

But no matter how nervous the knights were, they knew very well that they must not let Xiao Niao go here, otherwise they would be blamed by their superiors and everyone would be in trouble.

Let's do it. Don't think about capturing Butcher alive. If you hesitate any longer, these two men will run away.

The surviving knights looked at each other, with bright red bloodshot in everyone's eyes. They picked up their swords and wanted to rush forward and hack Xiao Niao to death with their swords.

One of these knights was charging forward when he suddenly stumbled violently.

He lowered his head in disbelief, looking at the tip of the knife that pierced through his breastplate - he even reached out to grab it, and then the flesh on his palm was cut by the sharp blade.

The blood on his hands told him that this was definitely not an illusion.

The knight's eyes rolled back and he fell down with a thud.

His sudden death immediately made the nerves of the surrounding knights explode. Someone pointed in a certain direction and shouted in fear:

"It's Red Moon! The Red Moon Knight is coming!"

The Red Moon Knight withdrew the hand that had just thrown the dagger with an expressionless face.

She had changed her weapons several times. There were knights wandering around with weapons everywhere. Hongyue only needed to chop them down and snatch the weapons from their hands.

The dagger that was just thrown out was taken by Hongyue from some unlucky guy.

The Red Moon Knight chased and killed people all the way, and finally found the bird in the chaotic crowd.

Seeing that the other party was still alive, Hongyue's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally relaxed a little.

Then she looked at the group of knights holding swords who seemed to be planning to harm the bird, and her face became as terrifying as a demon.

Just at this moment, a panicked horse ran past Hongyue - the horse had no saddle, but the bridle and rope were still there.

The Red Moon Knight reached out and grabbed the horse's reins, causing the running horse to stagger and pull it over.

The kitten, who had been held under Hongyue's arm, almost bumped into the horse's face when it was suddenly pulled over.

His expression was as terrified as that of the poor horse.

Hongyue then bent down and picked up a spear that someone had thrown there, then carried the kitten on her back and told it to hold her neck tightly.

Then, the Red Moon Knight held the horse's back and jumped onto the horse without stirrups, controlling the frightened horse.

She even rode bareback—that is, without stirrups or saddle, a move only the most skilled riders dared to make.

The Red Moon Knight pointed the tip of his lance at the knights.

She tapped her heel hard, and the horse neighed softly, almost in reflex, and lunged forward.

The instincts acquired through long-term training enabled the horse, under the control of Red Moon, to launch a lightning charge towards the rebellious knights!

The identities of hunter and hunted were reversed in an instant.

The round spears easily smashed the breastplates of the rebellious knights, and pierced their chests under the action of kinetic potential energy. Even the decorative flags on the lances were wrapped into a bundle and penetrated the bodies along with the spear body.

What's even more infuriating is that the Red Moon Knight did this while her horse was galloping - she didn't even pull the reins to stop and rest, but killed people all the way as smoothly as poking a green egg.

She even had a child on her back!

Each knight was like an innocent rabbit, dying as fast as if being snatched by an eagle. Their feet were lifted off the ground by their lances and then they were quickly thrown away with a large amount of blood, leaving them no time to react.

The remaining knights opened their mouths wide and stared in horror at their companions who were alive and kicking just a second ago and now dead in the next - their eyes were wide open and their arms were even twitching nervously.

All their fighting spirit and bravery were completely extinguished, and the knights who survived by chance ran away without thinking, fearing that if they hesitated for a second, they would be caught up by the plague god behind them.

On the other side, the Red Moon Knight took a breath and rode slowly to Xiao Niao's side.

The Red Moon Knight jumped off his horse and rushed forward anxiously: "Sir! Sir, are you okay?"

Xiaoniao subconsciously hid its wings behind its back, but Hongyue still glanced at the wing that was twisted in an unnatural posture.

The Red Moon Knight's pupils trembled, and he cried out incoherently: "Your wings—"

"I'm fine," Xiao Niao interrupted Hongyue firmly, "This hand is useless anyway. I can ride a horse with one hand."

Fortunately, Xiao Niao's mount had a saddle and was very smart, so it was not difficult to ride it even with one hand.

Gwyneth had regained some consciousness by this time, at least able to understand simple instructions and execute them - now only two people could ride on one horse. Fortunately, Gwen was able to barely control her body and not fall off halfway through the ride.

The situation is urgent now and we have to make do with everything.

Xiao Niao turned her gaze towards Hongyue—she saw no obvious external injuries, and there was very little blood on the Hongyue Knight, even from the enemies who had splattered on him.

But the bird still asked Hongyue: "Are you hurt? Are you feeling okay?"

After Xiao Niao mentioned this, Hongyue actually felt a little uncomfortable on her neck: Oh, by the way, the kitten hasn't let go yet, and the whole person is hanging on her like a tailless monkey.

Hongyue then silently untied the arms that were tightly hugging her neck, took Qiya off her body, and gently placed her on the ground.

Hongyue said, "Sir, I'm not hurt, don't worry."

And Qiya said: "Ugh..."

Xiao Niao: “…”

Red Moon Knight: "..."

The Red Moon Knight silently carried the kitten a little further away.

She thought for five seconds, then reached out and smoothed the poor child's back.

Xiao Niao shook his head vigorously, trying to get his attention back.

"Let's take another path back to the Prime Minister's Residence," Xiao Niao said to Hong Yue, "The situation is not good. We must leave here immediately."

Chapter 79: Cursing is fine, but business cannot be forgotten (asking for a blade)

"You mean to say that not only did Butcher jump out of the window and escape, but he also took the Tudor girl with him?"

The Earl of York, who was wearing a military uniform, had veins bulging on his forehead and looked angrily at the several timid knights in front of him.

The Earl of York roared in anger, "A bunch of useless rubbish! So many knights trying to capture a powerless half-man, and yet they let him escape!"

These working knights dared not confront their bosses, and could only bury their heads and curse in their hearts: You go ahead, if you have the ability, you go ahead!

The Earl of York knew that no matter how much he taught them a lesson, he would not be able to bring Butcher back.

The nobles did ambushed some people in the streets of the capital, but Xiao Niao had far greater control over the streets than the nobles did - and they were now unable to divert their main forces to capture the Prime Minister of the Empire.

Now that the shrike has escaped, it will probably take a lot of effort to catch it again.

The Earl was furious for a while, venting his anger in front of the knights before leaving.

When the Earl turned around, he bumped head-on into Lord Fontaine who was coming out of the castle.

The Fontaine family and the Yorkshire family are both upper-class nobles in the capital.

Their classes and social status are similar, but there are slight differences in their historical backgrounds, with one being passed down for a hundred years and the other rising for two generations.

It can be said that the two sides look down on each other but have to interact with each other, and their friendship can be described as fragile.

Now, when the Earl of York saw his old friend coming out of the castle, he politely and reluctantly forced a bright smile.

He strode forward and gave the slightly younger Lord Fontaine a big hug. Both of them had the same business-like, friendly smile on their faces, and the atmosphere was as harmonious as if two brothers had been separated for many years and had just met again.

The two brothers first exchanged courtesies in a very polite and aristocratic manner, and then began to talk casually as if they were chatting.

The Earl of York said, "Alas, my knights are incompetent. Despite the siege, the Shrike escaped, and we couldn't even recapture the Tudor girl... What's going on in the castle? Didn't they say Butcher would be in the banquet hall?"

Lord Fontaine thought that all the soldiers outside were brought by me, and you, Old Deng, are indirectly scolding me for being useless.

Lord Fontaine laughed. "Hahaha, I almost caught him. I didn't expect Butcher to jump out of the window. But after all the hard work, I got something. At least I caught the Tudor family's youngest son."

Lord Fontaine rubbed his chin and hissed in pain. "It took some effort. We tricked Lucas Tudor down to the second floor before we attacked him... Even though he was young, he still had some strength in his struggle."

Only then did the Earl notice that there was a very obvious blood mark on Lord Fontaine's chin, as if someone had kicked him hard.

It was no wonder that Gwyneth had been unable to find her brother in the crowd, because shortly after she left, Lucas was half-tricked and half-forced to go to the second floor.

Lord Fontaine had been hiding on the second floor with his men from the beginning—after all, Xiao Niao had been there before and had no intention of going down to dance.

The Earl of York, upon hearing what the other party said, could not help but ponder: "Capture... Is it necessary to keep the Duke of Tudor's youngest son? Isn't it that girl who is wanted?"

"Keep it for now, it will always be useful." Lord Fontaine waved his hand casually.

As he spoke, the lord couldn't help but sigh: "That man named Wumuda is indeed quite capable. It's a pity that his status is still too low... Otherwise, it's not impossible for him to join us."

For aristocratic families, illegitimate children are something that is quite shameful. Most of them not only cannot get any benefits from their fathers, but are also very likely to bring disaster upon themselves.

The Earl of York, on the other hand, sneered inwardly upon hearing this: Lowly? The Shrike is a half-human creature of refugee origin, yet he is in a high position and has made great officials like you and me look down on us.

But the Earl did not say such words. Instead, he put on the face of a kind elder and explained to Lord Fontaine:

"Identity isn't the most critical issue right now. What we need now is a mad dog ferocious enough to bite to death any enemy standing in our way. It doesn't matter if his mother is a prostitute or a saintly nun. The key is that he has to be vicious enough."

But Lord Fontaine did not seem to agree with the Earl's point of view.

Although he was young, his thinking was very feudal: "Everything else is easy to explain - but a bastard actually stole the title of Duke of Brandon?"

Lord Fontaine said indignantly: "I heard that this madman killed all his brothers and forced the priest to recognize the legitimacy of his succession by force."

This time the Earl of York really sneered.

The Earl looked at the Lord with a gloomy expression. "It's Brandon's family affair, so why would you bother with it? Besides, the Brandon family has been declining in recent years, and old Brandon has become a coward. All the officials with some connections have switched sides, so it's no wonder that the illegitimate child was able to take advantage of the situation."

"But you're right about one thing. That Wumuda is quite capable," the Earl's face darkened. "We have to be careful that this mad dog might turn around and bite us."

The Earl thought of the sensational incident that took place in the capital ten years ago - it was that incident that dealt a heavy blow to the power of the nobles.

In contrast, Shrike Butcher completely won the support of the middle class in that incident, laying the foundation for his later appointment as prime minister.

Strictly speaking, the mastermind behind that incident was actually Umuda himself.

Several other accomplices were hanged, and even a relatively unrelated member of the royal family could not escape the death penalty - but the mastermind behind the incident survived.

At that time, Lawrence I had just been trying out the "paying for life" policy proposed by Xiao Niao, and it happened to be the most tense moment in the political situation. Countless people were watching every detail of the process of this public trial, making it difficult to interfere or manipulate it behind the scenes.

The handling of the rest of the people went smoothly, but when it came to Wumuda's turn, Xiaoniao offered a price that the Duke's family could not afford even if they went bankrupt - even if they wanted to redeem an heir, they couldn't come up with so much money, let alone an illegitimate child.

But in the end, someone raised the sky-high ransom and redeemed Umuda from the black prison.

This money is from many unknown people.

People got together.

They pooled the money not because they had a deep affection for Umuda - but because this damn illegitimate child had been doing dirty work for the Brandon family since he came of age, and also taking care of shameful things for the noble lords. He had no idea how many people's handles and secrets he had in his hands.

If this guy madly explodes himself before he dies, they will all be caught by the overjoyed Lao Yezhu and played the Nine Clans Candy Crush game.

Logically speaking, the noble lords should send an assassin to the prison to resolve the matter once and for all.

But the incident happened to be so serious that even the emperor personally inquired about the details of the trial. Umuda was safer in the dark cell than in a safe, and he could not be assassinated at all.

These unnamed people had no choice but to redeem Umuda.

Xiao Niao looked through all the previous legal provisions and finally sentenced Umuda, who was spared from hanging, to forty years of hard labor - according to the average age in this world, it is basically the same as the death penalty.

But after more than ten years of twists and turns, this person finally found a way to return to the capital.

The Earl of York could see that the man had returned for revenge.

——But judging from the fact that Umuda was the first to attack his own father, it is really hard to say who he came back to take revenge on.

The nobles were willing to turn a blind eye to Umudah's attempt to seize the title, largely because the situation had become extremely serious.

Now, some aristocratic families with shallow roots have basically lost access to power and can only live in their ancestral homes. In order to make a living, even adult girls in the family have to be driven out to work.

The old families were also not having an easy time. Some of the policies proposed by Xiao Niao dealt an almost devastating blow to the manor economy, sending a large amount of blood into the urban class, and even used examinations to select the first batch of talents to govern the country.

Nowadays, some old families are even living a worse life than some wealthy middle-class people.