In the afternoon, the Royal Palace of the Blue Lion City.

The sound of horses' hooves sounded, and Richard led the captain of the guard and his party back to his own residence.

The first thing that comes into view is a huge square, nearly 100 meters in circumference, paved with large smooth strips of stone, clean and spotless. On one side of the square, there are dozens of steps that rise one after another, and above the steps is a huge palace.

Richard dismounted in the square, and the captain of the guard clearly instructed the soldiers to remove the dead python and send it towards the palace, with Richard following behind. Before he could take a few steps, a voice sounded behind him, followed by hurried footsteps, and a man caught up.

"His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness the Prince......"

Richard turned his head and saw a young man in his twenties caught up behind him, dressed in extremely gorgeous clothes, embroidered with gold trim on the cuffs of the sleeves and cumbersome patterns on the collar. His yellow hair was as shiny as gold, and his face was full of kindness as if he could dispel all malice.

The other party is the captain of Richard's personal guard, responsible for leading the entire personal guard to protect Richard's safety. His name is Edward Angle, his identity is not ordinary, he is the son of an earl, which means that the other party is a nobleman. The reason why he was willing to give Richard as the captain of the personal guard was not that the other party's family was down, but that the other party's family showed loyalty to the royal family in order to have a good relationship with the royal family.

This was a very common behavior of the nobility in the Middle Ages, in the sense that it was a kind of hostage behavior, but if it was done properly, it could not be of great profit. For example, if Richard becomes the next king, then Edward, as the captain of the guard, and his family will naturally receive special preferential treatment, and then it may not be an earl, but a marquis.

Edward himself obviously understood this, and served Richard with all his heart. But it may also be that the other party's mind is put on this, and his own strength is very poor, and he can only use a few tricks of court swordsmanship, and if he performs it, he is okay, but if he uses it to fight, he is not as good as a soldier.

So this time Richard went to the dungeon and caught the python, and he didn't notify the other party at all, but he didn't know where the other party heard the news......

Richard was thinking that Edward, the captain of the guard, had already caught up, stopped at a distance of one step from Richard, and said with a slight breath: "Your Royal Highness Prince, I heard that you went to the dungeon this morning?

"Hmm. Richard answered, and walked forward.

As soon as he heard Richard's confirmation, Edward immediately became anxious, and said: "Your Royal Highness, I am the captain of your personal guard, and the personal guard is your most loyal subordinate, you leave us alone to find the dungeon and catch some python, what if someone is against you? ”

Richard glanced at Edward, and didn't think that the other party was telling the truth, but he didn't bother to delve into it, and said lightly: "Edward, if your swordsmanship can be more powerful, then I will consider bringing you next time." Besides, who in the whole kingdom would dare to oppose me?"

Edward's eyes flashed, he approached Richard, and reminded in a low voice: "Your Royal Highness, you have to be really careful, the eldest prince has always been unfriendly to you, and now His Majesty is sick again, in case ...... In case ......"

"No in case. Richard shook his head and sneered, "The king is not dead yet, so my dear brother, William Austen, does not dare to do anything to me." ”

"But ......"

Edward wanted to say something, but Richard waved his hand and ignored it, walking to the end of the square and climbing the stairs. Passing through the twelve marble pillars that were the thickness of one person hugging each other, and entering the hall of the palace, Edward had to hurry to follow.

The entire hall has an area of more than 200 square meters, which is extremely spacious. But in reality, it's very crowded at this time. There are dozens of tables on the floor of the hall, on which are placed all kinds of instruments and equipment, and in front of each table there is a maid busy, fat or thin, tall or short, black or white, nervously operating the instruments.

On a table near the doorway was a rudimentary set of distilling utensils, the core of which was a jar heated in boiling water, the mouth of which was sealed, and only a leather pipe leading to the outside, and finally connected to an iron pipe of strange shape.

The iron pipe is soaked in water in the middle, one end is high and the other end is low, the high end is connected to the leather tube, and the low end is connected to a glass funnel that looks like a cow's horn, and a colorless liquid is dripping into a porcelain bottle.

Because there are some problems in the connection of the equipment, there is a white mist constantly spraying out, the surrounding air exudes a slightly pungent smell of wine, and the speed of dripping liquid into the porcelain bottle at the end is getting slower and slower.

"Tick tock, tick, tick-tock-answer-"

A maid with a ponytail looked at the device in front of her with some confusion, her eyes wide open, not knowing what to do.

Richard frowned, and when he approached, the ponytail maid immediately seemed to be electrocuted, and her body stiffened: "Wang...... His Royal Highness the Prince......"

"I asked you to distill high-strength alcohol, how did you do?"

"I ...... I ......" The pony-tailed maid's voice trembled a little, but in order to avoid being scolded, she replied stubbornly: "Do it...... It's okay...... ......."

"Is it okay?" Richard was expressionless, pointing to the pungent white mist that was constantly touching the place where the device was connected, and asked, "Is this what you said is okay? What about the airtightness I asked you to make? The alcohol vapor is missing, so how do you collect the high-concentration alcohol solution?"

"I ......"

Richard reached into the basin of water soaked in the iron pipe, felt the temperature, and said, "How long has it been since the water has been changed? The water is hot, and you think it can condense it? Do you think it will make the high-temperature alcohol vapor turn into droplets when it is cold, and then be collected into the bottle by the horn tube? I remember yesterday I just told you and the rest about the key points of distillation, why did you make it the way it is?"

"Your Royal Highness, I ...... I ......" the maid with the ponytail trembled, and there was a cry in her voice, "Your Royal Highness, I was wrong...... My brain is too stupid for me to remember. King...... Your Royal Highness, please give me another chance, I ...... I'll be ......."

"Forget it, no need. Richard said lightly, "I said before that the maids in my palace can make any mistake, even if it is murder. But one thing that has to be done is to understand what I say after I explain it, and then implement it.

If you don't understand or forget, it's not that you're stupid, it's that your learning ability is too poor, and the last thing I need is someone with poor learning ability. Because I don't have so much time and energy to popularize science, I don't have so much time and energy, and I must train everyone to become a junior high school student with scientific accomplishment that transcends the limitations of the times.

So, from now on, you are no longer a person in the palace, in the afternoon you pack your things yourself, and then leave, don't let me say it a second time. ”

As Richard spoke, the beautiful maid with a ponytail trembled and turned pale. Once she was kicked out of the palace, it would mean that she would no longer have a place to earn five silver coins a month, and her poor family would simply not be able to sustain itself, which would undoubtedly be a disaster for her.

The maid with the ponytail couldn't help but cry out: "Your Royal Highness, Your Highness, Please, give me another chance, I'...... My father owes a lot of money to other people, and if I leave here and don't have money to pay his debts, he will be beaten to death, please. ”

As if he hadn't heard, Richard walked towards the depths of the palace, and the ponytailed maid's face became a little desperate.

Edward, the captain of the guard who followed Richard, saw it, and glanced at the handsome cheeks of the ponytail maid, and then at the rest of the crooked and cracked maids who were busy in the hall, and his eyes flashed.

Walking a few steps quickly, he caught up with Richard and said, "Your Royal Highness, I think the maid named Eve just now is actually quite good, but it may be too short to come and some are not very familiar, so I didn't do it well." It's so difficult in her house, or I'll leave her for a few days, in case she's willing to work harder......"

Richard stopped and looked at Edward, his gaze calm.

Edward's body was shocked, revealing a somewhat fearful expression, "Your Royal Highness, I ...... I ......"

"I know what you're thinking. "But I must tell you Edward: I can put up with a man's ugly countenance, bad qualities, and corrupt behavior, as long as she can complete the task assigned to her." On the contrary, if a person has insufficient IQ, low ability, and poor learning ability, then no matter how beautiful she is, I will definitely not be able to tolerate it. Because in the field of science, there are only numerical values, not appearances.

In a word, I'm busy, I've been busy for more than a decade since I came into this world, busy trying to learn about some supernatural things and then answer a question. So, all that affects me is obstacles, and I'm definitely not going to put up with them. If you pity that girl, okay, yes, she can stay, but only if you help her get everything done, that's all. ”

"I ......" Edward lowered his head, his expression changed rapidly, and after a moment he bowed his head and said "I know, Your Highness the Prince", and turned around and walked to the maid with a ponytail.

The ponytail maid watched Edward approach, her eyes flickering, and she whispered tentatively: "My lord, look at me......"

Edward didn't speak, and continued to approach, the girl showed a puzzled expression, subconsciously retreated, and Edward suddenly stretched out his hand.

"Ah!" cried the maid, her ponytail grabbed by Edward.

Edward pulled so hard that the girl was so hurt that tears flowed out. Edward didn't care about it, dragged the maid's hair and strode out of the palace, and then dragged the maid to the ground with a force, and said coldly: "I warn you, you have made His Royal Highness the Prince angry, get out of the palace immediately, don't appear in front of His Royal Highness the Prince again, otherwise be careful of your life!"

"I'm ......" the maid stood up in horror, and Edward flicked his sleeves and turned to re-enter the palace, chasing Richard with a smile on his face.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, I have already dealt with that pig-brained maid for you, and I will definitely ask someone to find a smarter and more obedient one to replace her in the afternoon, do you think it will work?"

"Uh. Richard spoke up, noncommittal.

"Actually...... Your Royal Highness, I think you can order some of your things, and there will be many people who will help you do it well, and you don't have to do everything yourself. After all, you're the Prince, and you should do something more important. Edward said in a seductive tone.

"For example?"

"For example...... Ahem, Your Royal Highness the Prince, you see, His Majesty the King has been in poor health, and this time he is bedridden, and he doesn't know if he can be safe. In case something unexpected happens, the eldest prince succeeds to the throne, it is inevitable that there will be some things that are not good for you, so it is better to prepare early. You might as well get in touch with some nobles and enlist their support, so that at least you can ensure that your own interests are not violated, and when the time comes, you can get a satisfactory territory and a satisfactory title of Grand Duke. ”

Swallowing his saliva and seeing that Richard didn't have a big reaction, Edward continued: "In comparison, I don't think it's really necessary for Your Royal Highness to look for all kinds of weird things and conduct all kinds of research related to wizards now. It's okay as a hobby, but it's really irrational to put all your energy into it......"

"Huh. Richard chuckled, "Do you mean to get me involved in crown prince politics?"

"Uh, this ......"

"Edward, let me ask you, do you think it's the politics of the crown prince that is important to me, or the wizards and sorcery that are important to me?"

"I think that the politics of the crown prince is more important to you, Your Highness. Edward said with a serious face.

Richard shook his head slightly, stepped forward, pushed open a red wooden door, and walked in.

Edward's expression stiffened slightly, and he stopped in front of the door, he knew that inside the door was Richard's independent laboratory, which was usually used when Richard personally did some special research, and at this time Richard hated being disturbed by others.

Sighing lightly, he stopped outside the door, looking at the wooden door in front of him, Edward couldn't help but muttered to himself: "Your Royal Highness, you must listen to what I say, otherwise...... It's going to be hard for me to do. My family has put all the hope of rising on you, and now that the king is seriously ill, if you don't do anything......"

......