stonecrandall Page 19
Page 19
"Of course, we should take them back to the lord. However, after taking back these lands, I plan to distribute them to ordinary citizens for cultivation. There are actually quite a few settlers in the border areas. These people can only cultivate relatively barren lands. It would be better to distribute the confiscated knightly territories to these people, making them tenants of the lord and assigning them military service and corvée labor. This would both increase the population and enhance the lord's power. Only in this way can we truly ensure the suppression of those knightly lords with ulterior motives within the territory. Otherwise, even if we defeat them this time, these knights will still plot the next rebellion."
Hearing Niu Zida's arrangement, Amelie was naturally delighted. To reclaim the knighthood and place it under the lord's name was something even her husband wouldn't dare do. If this could be achieved with Niu Zida's help, wouldn't it indirectly strengthen Baron Dorrey's control over the territory? This would also clear the way for her daughter's future succession as Baroness. She naturally supported it.
"Master's idea is good. The key is to eliminate the factors that allow the knights of the territory to turn the tables. Fighting and killing alone cannot truly solve the problem."
"Tomorrow, you will draft documents and send them to all the knightly territories. For the knightly territories that did not participate in the rebellion, just state the policy. For the knightly territories that participated in the rebellion, demand that they hand over hostages, especially the territories of those captured knights. Warn them that if they do not hand over the hostages, not only their territories but also the lives of the prisoners will not be guaranteed."
"Yes, Master. This humble servant will go and write it right away."
"Well, there's no need to rush this, Amelie, turn around."
Ignoring the other maids present, Niu Zida, with a wicked grin, ordered Amelie to turn around, hold onto the table, and stick her snow-white, pert buttocks high in the air. He then had Joel carry him from behind and mount him again, standing right in the stirrups. With Joel's support, he began to thrust hard into Amelie's snow-white, pert buttocks. For a moment, the inner room was filled with crisp, slapping sounds...
Chapter Fifty-Four: Territorial Ambition
Chapter 54.
After dinner, Niu Zida specially ordered Aponia to serve him in bed that night. He hadn't been with this beautiful nun for a long time, and besides, he had something more important to discuss with her. Misato Shizuku naturally looked at Niu Zida with resentful eyes. After all, he hadn't seen her for several nights in a row. However, the proud and beautiful girl would never say anything to Niu Zida. Getting her to admit that she cared about his favor was worse than killing Misato Shizuku.
"It's been a long time since I took a bath. Tell them to prepare some hot water. I want to take a bath with my wife Aponia."
The castle's defense and the city's defense are now entirely in the hands of the goblin army, while only the patrols within the city are handled by human garrison troops. These troops are composed of militia and bandits who survived and surrendered after the previous major battles, and their numbers are small. After all, if there is direct contact with humans, it is better to let human troops handle it. Letting goblins patrol the territory might not necessarily cause any trouble. At present, the foundation of rule is still very weak, and Niu Zida thinks it is best to focus on appeasing the people within the territory.
The original cooks and servants were retained in the castle, but only Amelie's maids were allowed to enter the rooms on the second floor. No men, even servants, were allowed to come up. This was the area where Niu Zida and his four maids lived. Niu Zida had signed a marriage contract with Amelie and was not worried about her ordering poisoning or anything like that, so he felt at ease using these servants.
Of course, the more fundamental reason why Niu Zida could continue to employ these servants was that he must have achieved a bond between himself and Amelie by supporting Amelie's daughter, Dona, who was less than a year old, to become a baroness and making Amelie the regent of the territory. Without his support, Amelie's daughter's title would likely be taken by knights from other knightly lords within the territory. Only he could protect her daughter's title. Only by binding her with this kind of interest could he truly achieve Amelie's submission to him. Niu Zida was not so naive as to rely solely on a contract.
"Master, do you really trust Amelie that much?"
“If it weren’t for me, Amelie and her daughter would either have been forced to commit suicide by these knights, or they would have had to marry a knight and rely on him. Even then, they might not be able to keep their territory. Now, I can not only help her keep her territory and title, but I also told her that she can take back the land directly under the baron’s name that the knights who participated in the rebellion have now become baronies. This is equivalent to expanding her power as the lord of the Dore territory. She will support me.”
The maid prepared hot water, and Aponia, naked and with her snow-white body embracing Niu Zida, soaked in the bathtub. Watching the beautiful woman's large breasts float on the hot water, Niu Zida couldn't resist reaching out and grabbing them, kneading them forcefully. This quickly brought a look of shame to Aponia's fair face.
"But master, wouldn't taking back the knight's territory like this arouse the vigilance and dissatisfaction of the other knights?"
"Well, the other knights will be safe for a while now that they've been defeated, but my decision to take back the knightly territory will definitely make many knights feel insecure."
"If that's the case, why did the master still do it?"
"It's impossible to avoid offending anyone. Rather than that, it's better to temporarily use Amelie's daughter's status as the rightful heir to suppress the knights in the territory. Of course, this is not a long-term solution. The key is to strengthen our power. In other words, you little devils need to give me more sons."
After saying this with a lewd grin, Niu Zida grabbed Aponia's large breasts and twisted them hard. The flesh was now covered with clear finger marks from the goblin's large hands, like the stripes on a watermelon.
Curled up and kneeling in the bathtub, with Niu Zida stepping on her, Aponia looked at him with her beautiful eyes and gently wiped his body with her snow-white hands. No matter how roughly he treated her big snowball, the beautiful woman still gently served Niu Zida and helped him clean his body.
"Ah... But Master, the inheritance of the title still needs to be reported to the Kingdom's House of Nobility, right? What if someone really interferes and tells the Kingdom about the situation within the territory? Without the true permission of the House of Nobility, Miss Dona still has no legal basis to inherit the title of Baroness."
"With the kingdom in such a state of chaos right now, there's no reason to pay special attention to matters in these remote western territories."
"But what if... Besides, once the war in Altaïr's kingdom ends, this place will inevitably attract attention sooner or later."
Aponia's words made sense. Niu Zida also felt that this situation could not be ignored. If someone from the Knights' Territory revealed to the Noble Council that the territory was controlled by goblins, it would definitely attract the kingdom's investigation. After all, this was not a matter of a cuckoo taking over someone else's nest. No matter what, the human kingdom would not allow a noble territory to be actually controlled by goblins.
"It seems we still need to build up our own strength. Let's not report the matter of the Noble House to them for now."
After much deliberation, Niu Zida decided to put the matter aside for now. He needed to be able to suppress the other knights in the territory in terms of military strength. He decided to take advantage of the strategic gap when the knights' expeditionary force had just suffered a defeat and the opposition forces were not yet willing to take action again, and breed more goblins.
Furthermore, Niu Zida also felt that simply breeding goblins wouldn't solve the problem. He needed to truly build a human army under his control and expand his ruling base to truly counter the knights and nobles within his territory. The entire territory was like a joint-stock company, and as the newly appointed chairman from outside, he couldn't control the board of directors for long by just suppressing them. For example, he needed to expand the shareholding and involve more shareholders. These shareholders all had needs from him and relied on him to maintain their interests and stay closely aligned with him. In the end, everyone would support him out of shared interests.
"Let's put that aside for now, Aponia. I want to establish a church for saints within my territory, and you will serve as the presiding nun."
"Huh? Master, you want me to open a church in the city?"
There used to be a church for a saint in the territory of Dore, but the nun had run away because of the war. Now, Niu Zida wants to rebuild the church and wants to make her the presiding nun. Aponia has a rough idea of what Niu Zida wants to do.
"Master, do you mean by appointing me as the presiding nun in order to use the power of the church to control the people in the territory?"
“Aponia, you are indeed very clever. There are many ways to divide secular power, and strengthening the church’s power, which is independent of the lord, is one of them.”
Chapter Fifty-Five: Sweet Aponia
Chapter 55.
Seeing how easily Aponia grasped his intentions, Niu Zida pinched the beautiful Daiyukiko's cheek and smugly introduced his next plan:
“Using the church to control the people can bypass the interference of nobles in the territory, and also use the church’s influence to influence the people, making it less easy for the knights to rebel in the future. The church can also provide political endorsement for Amelie’s current regency.”
“Master, but I am not a real nun of the church, nor do I believe in the Church of Saints.”
"That's not important. What's important is that outsiders think you are."
Aponia did not join the church when she came into this world. She built the church in the village only as a cover to give people hope. She herself did not have the authorization of the church.
"The master wants to use the church's power to weaken the control of the nobles in the territory, but will the central church of Altaïr recognize the identity of a nun who has no church membership?"
"That's right, and don't worry, if the Holy Maiden Church is really established here, expands its followers, and strengthens its influence, the church will recognize it."
Niu Zida kissed Aponia's snow-white breasts again, answering confidently. After all, expanding influence in secular society is something every religion dreams of. As long as it brings them real benefits, even if Aponia isn't a real nun, they'll accept it once the deed is done. Niu Zida was confident he saw through this, so he wasn't afraid that the main church of the Altaic Kingdom wouldn't recognize Aponia after her church in the territory became too powerful.
Aponia now understands that Niu Zida only wants to create a fait accompli to force the church leadership of the Altaïr Kingdom to acknowledge it. After all, it is not easy for a goblin to become a human noble and control territory, so using the church's methods is not a bad idea.
"Anyway, Aponia, you have to work hard from now on, don't let me down."
After Niu Zida finished speaking, he pinched Aponia's large breasts, signaling her to turn around. He continued to hold onto the bathtub, then stepped on her and thrust his penis into her from behind...
After the fierce battle, Aponia dried Niu Zida off and carried him out of the bathtub into the inner room. Lying on the bed, Aponia changed into white stockings with lace trim to please Niu Zida, which accentuated her slender thighs and made her look even more alluring.
"I'm entrusting Amelie and her daughter Donna to your care."
"Yes, Master."
Looking at Aponia's delicate and pretty face, Niu Zida couldn't help but step forward and kiss Aponia's sweet little mouth, which was covered in pink lipstick...
Aponia, her face flushed, squinted her beautiful eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering, and embraced Niu Zida, responding to his passionate kiss...
Their lips and tongues intertwined, exchanging saliva, and they kissed passionately for a long time before finally separating...
The long, passionate kiss made it difficult for both of them to breathe, especially Aponia, whose large breasts heaved violently, like rolling mountain peaks...
"Master, please...give it to me..."
"Aponia, you always appear so dignified and taciturn in front of others, so why do you get so excited when you're alone with your master?"
"Master... um... don't you know?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Our owners haven't noticed that we can get pregnant almost continuously?"
Hearing Aponia say this, Niu Zida did find it strange. He had overlooked this issue before. Women's ovulation periods are fixed, but he could get women pregnant without limit, every week. This was indeed very strange.
"This is because after signing a contract with the master, the female servants who become the master can enter the period every week, and ovulation occurs during the period. Therefore, the master can enable us to have unlimited conception. Moreover, the scent and bodily fluids of goblins have the effect of stimulating females of other species to ovulate."
No wonder his maid seemed to get excited easily when she was around him, blushing furiously at the slightest stimulation. Niu Zida finally understood the reason and realized that goblins had such a hidden ability. But thinking about it, it made sense. Goblins are a race with weak combat power that can only rely on their birth rate to continue their species. If they didn't have this ability, they would probably have been wiped out long ago.
"I see. That's good. Let's make sure you get pregnant tonight, my wife Aponia, so that we can contribute to our strength."
Hearing Niu Zida say that, Aponia smiled slightly and took the initiative to kiss him again. Then she parted her white stockings, letting Niu Zida press down on her from the front... The room was filled with the warmth of spring once more...
The next day, Niu Zida, in Amelie's name, began issuing documents to other territories, announcing his policies, especially to the knights who had participated in the rebellion. He specifically instructed them that if they handed over the hostages, no ransom would be demanded, the land would not be confiscated, and the prisoners would even be sent back if they were still alive.
The territories that participated in the rebellion were all uneasy and fearful after this crushing defeat. They were terrified that the brutal goblin army would take advantage of their weakened state to invade, burn, kill, and plunder. After all, the various knightly lords in the territories were already short of manpower after years of war. After this great defeat, many territories had very few able-bodied men left to recruit, and most of them were, strictly speaking, completely defenseless.
The fact that they are being treated this way is a great favor to them, even more lenient than when they were fighting against humans.
The other knights who had previously wavered were even less willing to step forward after witnessing the crushing defeat of the punitive expedition. Since Niu Zida had no intention of touching their interests, they all handed over the political reality of officially recognizing Spring, the former lord of Dona, as the successor to the title of Baroness of the territory, with Amelie as regent.
Niu Zida understood that the various swing knight lords' expressions of submission were merely a manifestation of the current political chaos within the Kingdom of Altaïr. Without the approval of the House of Nobles, these so-called neutral knight lords would inevitably harbor their own thoughts over time. He was only temporarily exerting pressure while taking advantage of the momentum of victory; the people's hearts were not yet won over, and the problem was far from being resolved.
Chapter 56 Seritina
Chapter 56.
In addition to the pledges of allegiance from the neutral knight territories, the defeated territories also quickly sent hostages in exchange for exemption from liability. Most of them were the youngest sons of the territorial lords. If they did not have youngest sons, they would temporarily sign a document to adopt a blood-related nephew and send him over.
Most of the knights who participated in the rebellion were quickly pardoned by Niu Zida, and the prisoners were released. Only the knights of Echeberia had not yet sent any hostages.
"Is this a blatant challenge? Do they think I'm not strong enough to attack them?"
Three days have passed. Amelie is now heavily pregnant and will give birth tonight. Joel and Aponia's bellies have also grown larger. Only Shizuku Misato has only conceived last night and is not yet showing any signs of pregnancy.
“Master, the situation may be a little different; it seems there are no offspring in the territory of Echeberia.”
"Huh? What does this mean?"
"The lord of Echeberia is the leader of this defeat, Laudt Echeberia. Echeberia is a small family, and his main line died out, so he was brought into the main line as a collateral branch. Now this knight is 55 years old and still has no son. He recently married a beautiful young wife, supposedly to solve the problem of having an heir."
"Not even a nephew?"
"Laudett is the last male heir in this family."
As Amelie explained their family history, Niu Zida finally understood why the Echeberia territory was unwilling to send even a male heir—they simply had no one left, and it was difficult to even make up a story.
"No wonder this Knight Laudert of Echeberia is the leader of this expeditionary force. He probably has no worries and wants to take a big gamble."
"The territory of Echeberia itself is a powerful territory within the territory of Dore, with at least tens of thousands of registered inhabitants."
"Registered?"
"Due to the war, the population of each territory has decreased significantly. We don't know the exact number of people, but the registered population was around 10,000, which was the largest knightly territory in the area."
"How many people are there in Lei now?"
"I only know that my husband's direct registered population should be 30,000, but we haven't been able to count how many are left."
Good heavens, is the internal affairs of the entire territory in such a mess? The lord doesn't even know the actual population of the territory. Niu Zida feels like the entire Dorei territory was just a makeshift operation before.
"If that's the case, then we'll have no choice but to confiscate the territory of Etcheberia."
"However, the situation seems to be more complicated than that."
"Ok?"
Seeing Amelie's wry smile, Niu Zida asked what was going on, and Amelie then explained the complex relationships within the territory:
"Lauder's wife, Seritina, comes from a noble family in the Duchy of Hetherink, which is also another neighboring country of Altaïr. The Duchy has always hoped to maintain a marital relationship with Echeberia. Once Lauder is certain that he has no children, he can use the marriage union to bring Echeberia into the Duchy of Hetherink. If the master arbitrarily confiscates this territory, it may provoke intervention from the Hetherink side."
Will Heatherlink send troops?
"I'm afraid not. There's a war going on over there right now, so there's not much time. The war between the Kingdom of Altaïr and the Kingdom of Fortini has already affected many surrounding countries, and the Duchy of Hetherink, as an ally of the Kingdom of Altaïr, is naturally no exception."
While Niu Zida was discussing the current situation with Amelie and the others, a servant came to report that Laudert's wife, Serita, requested to see Niu Zida.
Niu Zida let the heavily pregnant Amelie carry him to the outer hall of the castle to receive Seritina. Seritina was a stunning beauty with long, silver hair styled in a double helix updo, a tall figure, blue eyes, and fair skin. She wore a long, off-the-shoulder dress favored by nobles, through which her slender, white ankles could be seen. (From Knights & Magic)
Upon meeting Niu Zida, Seritina explained her purpose:
“The territory of Echeberia has no heirs. I hope Lady Amelie can forgive me. If you can forgive my husband, the territory of Echeberia promises never to rebel again.”
Since Amelie was nominally the supreme ruler of the Dore territory, Seritina naturally had to plead with Amelie, who was acting as regent. Of course, as soon as she entered, she saw the cow-headed bull that Amelie was holding and understood what was going on. It seemed that the rumor that the territory was controlled by goblins was true, and that her husband, a noble knight, had been utterly defeated by goblins was also true.
"But why should I believe you if you can't hand over the hostages?"
Amelie, of course, wouldn't believe such a promise just because the other party made it, and immediately questioned it. Serita looked at Niu Zida, whom she was holding, with her beautiful big eyes. She knew in her heart that this matter couldn't be decided without persuading Niu Zida, so she said:
"If I could, I would be willing to be a hostage in exchange for my husband."
"Oh, wow, you and your husband have such a good relationship?"
Upon hearing that this beautiful noblewoman was willing to exchange her husband for him, Niu Zida, who had been silent until now, suddenly looked at Seritina with a lewd grin and spoke up. Amelie, who was holding Niu Zida, felt somewhat dissatisfied. Aponia Misato Shizuku and Joel were not nobles, and there was no real conflict of interest between them and Niu Zida. However, Seritina was also a noblewoman. Amelie had a natural wariness towards such a woman approaching Niu Zida.
"So, may I ask if you can grant my request?"
"You and Laudert don't have any children, yet you still care so much about him. It seems really strange, doesn't it?"
Niu Zida wasn't so easily fooled. Something was definitely amiss. He was at ease with Amelie's willingness to submit to him for her own benefit, but he found Seritina's inexplicable loyalty to her husband very strange.
"I'm afraid the Duchy of Hetherink is currently unable to manage the affairs of this territory, which is why they gave you instructions to stabilize the situation in the Dore Territory, even at the cost of their own lives. In short, they cannot allow the Echeberia Territory to be taken back, right?"
Amelie, with a cold smile, hugged Niu Zida and directly exposed Seritina's intentions. No wonder Amelie's attitude towards Seritina was not very friendly from the beginning. The two of them had a direct conflict of interest in the ownership of the Echeberia territory.
"So that's it."
Niu Zida looked at Seritina meaningfully and smiled. Seritina knew there was no point in pretending at this point, so she said:
"My condition is that my husband be guaranteed a safe return to the territory, and I am willing to stay in the territory as a hostage."