The first volume of the mixed egg priest 013. The human heart can be used
The carriage gradually slowed down from its rapid pace and finally came to a stop in front of the main gate of the imperial palace.
At this time, colorful lanterns are all over the place. On the square in front of the palace gate, luxurious magic lanterns keep flashing, and lights of various colors cluster around the grand gate of the palace, looking extremely magnificent.
On both sides of the gate, all sorts of carriages were parked, a team of Imperial City Guards was guarding one side, and when they saw another carriage coming, someone immediately led the carriage to its proper position.
There are many rules for parking a horse-drawn carriage at the entrance of an imperial palace.
The princes or actual power holders and their children can generally be parked in a more priority position, while the carriages of ordinary small nobles will be placed in hidden corners, and the distinction between identities is obvious at this moment.
Dufan's father, Duke Green, was also a powerful figure in the Gavin Empire. As the second-in-command of the military, he had tens of thousands of elite troops under his command and was stationed near the Ice-Sealed Forest in the northern part of the empire for many years.
So, the Green family's status in the Gavin Empire has always been unshakeable, and with Du Fan's older brothers also gaining some fame over the past few years, this family that has flourished for generations in the empire is not someone to be underestimated.
Although Du Fan can be considered a waste in some sense, he has a good understanding of himself and never mixes with other noble scum. Moreover, after years of deceiving people in the Sacred Court, no one really thinks that the third young master of the Green family is a waste. On the contrary, there are rumors among the nobles that the Sacred Court intends to promote this devout priest as the youngest Cardinal in history.
Although the Holy See's ambiguous move still needs to be carefully considered by the nobles of the Wen Empire, it has not affected Du Fan's rising status. Even heard that Duke Old Green has had the intention of re-selecting his successor.
So, someone like Du Fan, a "big shot", although his carriage can be said to be the most dilapidated in the scene, does not affect the eyesight of those imperial city guards at all.
These old veterans who have been mixed in the imperial capital for a lifetime, each with extremely venomous eyes.
They have a legendary talent for stealing people's chastity from thousands of miles away, and they had the ability to flatter the current Minister of Military Affairs ten years ago.
Don't ask why, those who didn't have this kind of talent had already been sent to the front lines, whether it was the ice-encrusted forests in the north of the empire or the imperial defense line in the south, tens of thousands of soldiers' lives were needed every year.
The carriage was led to the most suitable position, and a footrest specifically for the nobles was moved over and placed on the outside of the carriage. Only then did several imperial guards kneel down in the direction of the carriage with serious faces.
Old Mark looked at these guys with a hint of disdain, but he was extremely satisfied with their behavior.
After all, although Du Fan is extremely respectful to him in daily life, Old Mark always remembers the etiquette that a servant should have.
He jumped down from the carriage, pulled out a clean handkerchief from his bosom and wiped the footrest repeatedly, then threw away the handkerchief and bowed to say: "Young master, we have arrived."
Du Fan grunted in the carriage, grabbed what Chenchen had stuffed into his left sleeve, adjusted his collar and slowly pushed open the carriage door to get off.
Seeing Old Mark's posture, he hastily helped Old Mark up and said: "Grandpa Mark, what are you doing? I've told you many times, haven't I? You don't have to do this! If Father and Mother hadn't refused to let me learn how to drive a carriage no matter what, why would I make you sit in the driver's seat? If you keep doing this, from now on I'd rather walk myself than ride in a carriage."
Old Mark nodded slightly and said, to be honest, as a servant, being able to receive such care from his master was something that anyone would be grateful for. Although Old Mark had lived for decades, under Du Fan's extremely natural attitude, he felt a hint of pride and self-respect: See? I may be just a servant, but I'm a dignified one!
After supporting Old Mark, Du Fan saw the kneeling Imperial City Guards and his expression changed. He couldn't help but shout: "Bastards! What do you mean by this?! You...you...and you...I may not have seen you before, but as members of the Imperial City Guard, you should know better! Besides the great God of Light and our respected Emperor, we don't need to kneel to anyone else. We are all followers of the God of Light, just like me. By kneeling like this, aren't you harming me?"
As he spoke, Du Fan personally helped those imperial guards to their feet, his expression softening somewhat: "I know where your duties lie, so I don't care what attitude you have towards other people, but in front of me, please stand up straight! Remember, you are the great soldiers who protect our home and country, not just a bunch of dogs that only know how to wag their tails and beg for mercy!"
In the end, Du Fan's voice sounded extremely serious.
Those old soldiers exchanged a glance, and their eyes showed a few rare, strange expressions, but they all nodded in agreement.
Seeing their attitude, Du Fan let out a satisfied sigh. He rummaged through his sleeve for a moment and pulled out over ten gold coins, stuffing them into one of the soldiers' hands. He said with a sigh: "The royal family is having a banquet, but you all have to work hard on duty. It's really hard on you all. This little bit of money is just my way of treating you to a drink as your brother. However, you also know that I'm a follower of the Light God, so I don't drink alcohol. I'm truly sorry about that. Also, please don't think it's too little - even I myself don't have much money to spend. If one day I become successful, I'll invite you all to feast on delicacies."
After finishing speaking, he cupped his hands and slowly left with Old Mark.
Behind him, those imperial guards exchanged glances with each other, their faces all having an inexplicable expression.
After a long time, one of them finally let out a sigh and said: "This Du Fan young master is indeed not overhyped. The people of the empire all say he's the most devout follower in a hundred years. It seems it wasn't an exaggeration at all. Humble, benevolent, just... someone like this is really too rare in this world."
The other soldiers also nodded one after another, and another soldier stuck out his tongue and said: "Ah, although every time a noble lord comes to attend the banquet, he will reward us brothers with dozens of gold coins, but we have always been dissatisfied. However, the dozen or so gold coins given by this Du Fan young master make me feel like I'm holding hot potatoes."
The soldier who spoke first looked at him with disdain and said, "You have this kind of thinking, it's rare, I'll tell you, although Mr. Du Fan only gave us these ten or so gold coins, but it's more valuable than what those noble lords get in thousands and hundreds, do you know? This carriage is the one that Mr. Du Fan has been using since he was born, if it were to be exchanged for another noble family, which one wouldn't change tens of carriages in a year? Moreover, apart from praying for believers at the Holy Temple, Mr. Du Fan often takes out his own meager allowance to help those in need. I have an old cousin whose family is extremely poor, last time he was ill and almost died, if it weren't for Mr. Du Fan bringing a priest who can cast healing magic to treat him for free, and also gave him several gold coins as living expenses, my old cousin would probably be rotting by now. It's said that all the pocket money given by Mr. Du Fan's family and the allowance issued by the church are used to help the people, this time giving us these ten or so gold coins, it might be the last bit of money on Mr. Du Fan's body, can you bear to take it?"
The one holding the gold coin let out a wry smile, glanced at the others and said: "Now that we've all taken some, what else can we do? Can't we just return them?"
Another soldier burst out laughing and said, "What's the point of sending it back? Young Master Du Fan gave us gold coins, which means he looks up to us. And if you compare his attitude with that of other nobles, you'll see that this Young Master Du really treats us like human beings. Since he invited us to drink, we should go and have a good time with these dozen or so gold coins. We can't let down Young Master Du's kind intentions. As for when Young Master Du needs our help in the future, we'll just put our lives on the line!"
The other soldiers heard him say this, and a smile appeared on their faces. After all, most of the people who came to be soldiers were ordinary civilians' children, and they had long been used to being looked down upon by the nobles. Now that there was a nobleman who not only looked up to them but also treated them as "brothers", how could these people not be excited?
The tone of these nobles' sighs naturally didn't fool a certain little white cat.
She was fidgeting in Dufan's sleeve to express her dissatisfaction, but in the imperial palace, she didn't dare to communicate with Dufan spiritually. After all, there were still several formidable figures guarding the palace. Judging from Dufan's current strength, if they were to communicate spiritually, it would be impossible to avoid those people's keen senses. For safety reasons, although she wanted to despise Dufan a few times, Chenchen had no choice but to reluctantly shut her mouth.
Old Mark, who was following behind Du Fan, twitched his ears slightly and finally revealed a few smiles on his face. He said in a low voice, "Young Master Du Fan, you've spent money recklessly again! You don't even care that this suit hasn't been changed for ages. If Madam sees it, she'll think the old servant has embezzled your pocket money!"
Du Fan turned his head and glanced at Old Mark, smiling: "Grandpa Mark, you're talking nonsense again. I'm just treating a few brothers to a drink, how is that considered reckless spending? Even if Mother found out, she wouldn't say anything... don't you understand?"
Old Mark let out a sigh, lowered his eyelids, and had a few inexplicable emotions in his heart. Although the third young master couldn't cultivate magic or martial arts, he was still kind-hearted, which made him suitable as a clergyman. However, it was unknown whether his pure and innocent personality could withstand the future struggles for power. It seemed that the old man's only option was to let go of this burden and protect the third young master from harm before he passed away.
Some old man who didn't know the true nature of the gods had already imagined how he would sacrifice himself, while a certain god glanced at the excited Imperial City Guards with the corner of his eye and sighed in his heart: The hearts of men can be used... The hearts of men can be used......