Strictly speaking, without Duke Stantine's approval, all the territories controlled by the lords in the Principality of Constantine were illegal.
So according to this standard, over 80% of Count Wein's territories were illegal.
At first, Count Wein was just a small lord, but now his territories were taken from other lords. This was a tacit rule in the Principality of Constantine. Whoever had the bigger fist would take it and no one would question it.
But now, Duke Stantine suddenly announced that he would give a portion of Wein's territory to Xu Yi.
In terms of law, this wasn't a problem because Duke Stantine wanted to give all the territories in the Principality of Constantine.
But in reality, this was no different from slapping Count Wein's face.
And giving this large territory to Xu Yi was clearly sowing discord between Xu Yi and Count Wein.
The key problem was that territory was very important to any noble in the Sines. It could even be said that the size of the territory represented everything to the noble.
Duke Stantine's actions were clearly a plot. He was clearly throwing out bait for Xu Yi and Count Wein to fight for it.
If Xu Yi and Count Wein really fell out because of this territory, it would naturally be what Duke Stantine wanted.
Count Wein became so powerful because of the support of the New Flyer. If he fell out with the New Flyer and lost the support of the New Flyer, it was equal to giving Count Wein a fatal blow.
Like this, Count Wein, who was a threat to Duke Stantine in the Principality of Constantine, wasn't a threat at all.
Even if Xu Yi and Count Wein wouldn't fall out because of this territory, the ownership of this territory would be a deep thorn between them that would affect their relationship.
It had to be said that Duke Stantine's move was very smart. He used his status as Duke Stantine to easily resolve most of the threat from Count Wein.
What was even more extreme was that he had announced Xu Yi's new territory to the Principality of Constantine, letting all the lords in the Principality know about this matter.
So all the lords in the Principality of Constantine stretched out their necks and waited.
The combination of New Flyer and Count Wein was too terrifying. If their relationship wasn't destroyed, the other lords in the Principality couldn't see any hope.
However, Xu Yi and Count Wein's reaction to this matter was out of everyone's expectations.
First, Xu Yi straightforwardly accepted Duke Stantine's offer, clearly indicating that he would accept this territory.
Then the most surprising thing was that Count Wein didn't express any opinions on this matter.
After Xu Yi expressed his willingness to accept this territory, Count Wein immediately withdrew all his subordinates from this territory.
It wasn't just the army, even the administrative staff he used to control this territory were withdrawn, clearly showing that he was giving up control of this territory.
After that, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce's guards entered the territory. Following this, the Amrit Chamber of Commerce's construction team also entered the territory. They began to build factories with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce's logo, as well as workers' residences, which meant that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had officially taken over this territory.
During this entire process, New Flyer and Count Wein didn't have any conflict. Rather, when the New Flyer's guards and Count Wein's army came into contact, both sides were very friendly and didn't seem to be nervous at all.
This made everyone's jaws drop.
Count Wein could be considered invincible in the northern part of the duchy. Everyone thought that with his momentum, he wouldn't allow his territory to be taken away.
But facing New Flyer, he didn't resist at all and didn't even raise any objections.
Could it be ….. he was that afraid of New Flyer?
No one knew what Count Wein was thinking, but everyone knew what Count Count Wein did.
Perhaps it was because he felt that his territory had decreased, but after this matter, Count Wein immediately launched an attack on two neighboring lords. In just a month's time, he completely defeated these two lords and took their territory.
The territory of these two lords added together was much larger than the territory Duke Stantine had given Xu Yi. Therefore, Count Wein's territory had increased by quite a bit.
Half a month later, Duke Stantine used the same trick and gave Count Wein's territory to Xu Yi. This time, this territory was far from Xu Yi's territory and there was a large piece of Wein's territory in between.
However, Count Wein didn't raise any objections this time. He withdrew all of his subordinates from that territory and even withdrew all of his subordinates from the territory in between. He took the initiative to give up the territory separating Xu Yi's two territories, allowing Xu Yi's territory to be connected.
Like this, Xu Yi's territory had already surpassed a shocking two thousand square kilometers.
Count Wein, whose territory had been reduced once again, once again targeted other overlords. This time, his attacks were even more ferocious. In less than a month, he defeated another three overlords and finally expanded his territory by quite a bit.
After these two times, Count Wein's territory was now close to twenty thousand square kilometers. It was even close to Duke Stantine's territory.
Moreover, Count Wein's army had increased because of his continuous battles with other lords. He had over fifty thousand troops and was only ten thousand less than the sixty thousand that Duke Stantine had announced.
In terms of actual battle strength, Count Wein's fifty thousand subordinates had experienced many fierce battles. More importantly, they were equipped with the military magic machines provided by New Flyer, so their battle strength was undoubtedly much higher than Duke Stantine's.
This had already been proven countless times in the battles between Count Wein and the other lords.
With this comparison, more and more people in the Principality of Constantine believed that Count Wein would replace Duke Stantine and become the new Duke.
In this duchy, the only one who could stop Count Wein was Viscount Anklo in the south, right?
However, when they thought about how Count Count Wein and Viscount Anklo were so strong, it was because they had received the support of New Flyer.
Once the other lords lost the military magic machines provided by New Flyer, they didn't have the ability to compete with these two lords.
Inferring from this, the one who decided the fate of the Principality of Constantine wasn't these two lords, but rather the New Flyer.
Or rather, it was Xu Yi.
###
At the end of summer, the seaside of the Principality of Constantine was still hot. Even though the sky was completely dark, the beach was still bustling with people coming and going.
Today was New Flyer's weekly rest day. After the employees of New Flyer got off work, they didn't even eat as they changed into swimwear and headed to the beach.
This public beach had been greatly developed by Xu Yi and now it had become a very suitable place to relax in the summer.
There was a row of houses built on the beach that became various shops. They would be brightly lit at night and there would be barbecue and wine.
When night fell, the giant Magic Lamps around the beach would shine with incomparably bright light, lighting up the entire beach. People would gather in groups of twos and threes, laughing loudly as they dyed the beach into a city that didn't sleep.
Xu Yi and Stiel were strolling on the private beach, looking at the bright lights and people in the distance. Stiel couldn't help saying in an emotional voice, "I remember when we came here a year ago, this beach was still desolate and there wasn't a single person at night. But now it's this lively, it can even compare to the nights in Anvilmar City."
Xu Yi revealed a smile, "What?
Do you miss Anvilmar City?
Isn't the New Moon Troupe going to Anvilmar City to perform in a few days?
If you want to go, you can go with them. "
Stiel shook her head, "No, I'm just feeling emotional.
Actually, from what I can see, Anvilmar City is already very backward. There are many places where it isn't convenient compared to Banta City.
Not mentioning anything else, up until now, Anvilmar City still hasn't built a complete public transport system. Whenever I go to Anvilmar City, it's very inconvenient. "
"This is something that can't be helped. A city's public transport system is a social welfare system, it can't be used to make money. To build a complete city's public transport system, one has to invest a large amount of money.
Although the Lampari Kingdom's finances have greatly improved, they don't have the spare funds to invest in this right now. "Xu Yi said with a sigh.
Stiel looked at Xu Yi, "You understand her majesty's difficulties quite well."
Xu Yi looked at Stiel and revealed a smile before tapping her nose, "What?
Are you jealous? "
Stiel gave a soft snort, "I wasn't jealous when you hugged her so tightly last time, why would I be jealous now?"
Xu Yi broke out in laughter. When he carried Seveni down the cliff last time, he had fallen into the eyes of Stiel and the others who were waiting at the bottom of the cliff. Stiel didn't say anything, but she clearly minded it very much.
"Alright, it's impossible for anything to happen between me and Seveni, you should be clear on this." Xu Yi held Stiel's waist as he spoke in a soft voice.
"Then why did she do this?"
Stiel rolled her eyes at Xu Yi, "Don't think that I can't see that her majesty is interested in you.
Although she hides it very well, I am also a woman and I can see what she's thinking. "
Xu Yi knit his brows, "You're thinking too much, right?
With her personality, if she was really interested in me, she wouldn't do that in front of you.
Last time, maybe she was just putting on an act for the sake of negotiating with me. "
"No, you don't understand." Stiel shook her head.
"If a woman doesn't approve of a man in her heart, she definitely wouldn't do something this intimate.
Could it be that you think her majesty is a frivolous person? "
"Of course she isn't a frivolous person, but in the end, it's impossible for the two of us to be together.
She is the queen of the Lampari Kingdom and I already have you as my wife, so it's impossible for us to be together no matter what, "Xu Yi shook his head," Stiel, just treat this as her being willful, alright? "
Stiel gave a shrug, "I don't care.
If my husband can even move the heart of a queen, doesn't that mean that my eyes are outstanding?
But Xu Yi, do you really not care about this?
Don't forget, recently, there have been many articles about the successor to the throne in the Lampari Kingdom's newspapers. "
"Successor to the throne?" Xu Yi's heart skipped a beat.