Chapter 233 Imperial Lord Chegren

On a snowy Christmas Eve, Lord Nicholas Ceglun, captain of the 4th Cavalry Guards Rifle Battalion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, looked at the messy glorious results, but doubts arose in his heart.

Chegren was a civilian hunter and was once a criminal. He got lost during the hunt and broke into the noble's private fiefdom. He also accidentally shot and killed the Marquis's hound. According to imperial law, Czegren was captured and sent to the quarry of Hajik to serve ten years of hard labor.

But everyone knows that prisoners who enter the quarry will either die of exhaustion or die of old age and will never come out again. Because you cannot complete the stipulated work service, your sentence will only be continuously increased, and the sentence will only get longer and longer.

But Chegren came out because he met the noble man.

Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria-Hungary came to the mountains to hunt, and some of the prisoners from the quarry were recruited to help corral the deer and roe deer, and perhaps the wolves. Archduke Ludwig discovered a moose with its antlers spread like an umbrella, and the beautiful antlers were snow-white. Such a moose is very rare and is also called a snow elk. Its horns are very dazzling decorations and can decorate the walls of palaces.

Archduke Ludwig fired three shotguns, but failed to hit the agile snow elk. He said to his entourage: Whoever hits it without damaging its head or horns, I will give him a lord.

The followers drew their guns one after another, but the snow elk was too cunning and kept escaping through the cracks in the rocks. They were also afraid of breaking its head and horns, so they were worried. After working for a long time, a group of people couldn't get rid of the beast.

Just as Archduke Ludwig was disappointed, the prisoner Cheggren seized the opportunity. He bravely knelt at the Archduke's feet and begged for a try.

Chegren said that if he missed the hit or damaged the snow elk's head and horns, he would rather be executed for defrauding the royal family. If he succeeded in shooting the snow elk, he did not dare to ask for a reward. He only hoped that the Grand Duke would pardon him and let him leave the hard labor in the quarry.

Archduke Ludwig, the younger brother of the great Emperor Franz Joseph I, could pardon a prisoner with a simple effort.

The Archduke agreed to Chegren's begging. The life and death of a prisoner was not even more important to him than a iris in the garden. Thus, Cheglen, a second-generation Orion hunter, shot the three most important bullets in his life.

The first shot, Chegren shot at the stone edge in front of the snow elk running, startling it to turn back the way it came. The second shot, shot down the loose rocks above the snow elk's hiding route, startled it to jump high into the air. A fat belly was exposed.

With the third shot, the snow elk crashed to the ground with a big bloody hole in its belly.

So, the entourage carried the snow elk, and Chegren followed Archduke Ludwig and left the mountains and forests here, and also left the quarry where he had served three years of hard labor. If he didn't leave, he was sure he would die there.

After returning to Vienna, Archduke Ludwig cleared Ceglun's identity, and he became a retinue of the Archduke's personal guard. A year later, Chegren became a knight of the Imperial Guard, following the emperor or other noble generals to fight rebellions.

Five years later, Cheglen, who had distinguished himself in battle, was awarded a knighthood and served as captain of the 4th Horse Guards. At this time, no one except Archduke Ludwig knew that Lord Cheglen had been a prisoner and a pariah.

Archduke Ludwig was old, and by his orders Lord Ceglen became the confidant of his son, Duke Ferdinand. Later, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide by swallowing a gun. Ferdinand was awarded the title of Grand Duke by the emperor and became the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

When Archduke Ferdinand came to Cheglen with a military order stamped with his royal family's personal emblem, he did not doubt its authenticity at all, because he was his benefactor, and because the order said to suppress the rebels. Secret gathering lair. Moreover, according to the military regulations of the Imperial Guard, Archduke Ferdinand, as the crown prince, has the power to mobilize a guard of no more than 60 people.

There are many rebel parties these days, including Italians, Prussians, Czechs, Serbians, and even Austrians and Hungarians. They are always dissatisfied with the empire and the emperor's rule.

There was chaos everywhere, and the Guardsmen had wiped out countless rebels, something Lord Cheglen was very familiar with.

The order read - Those who rebel against the party and their families will not be left alive! !

Such an order is also normal. Lord Cheglen has dealt with it many times. Those rebels should not be alive in the world. They betrayed the emperor and died without mercy, including of course their families.

But on this blood-red and pale Christmas Eve, Lord Cheglen, who led the guards to successfully complete the battle, discovered that things were different. This time the 'rebels' showed no resistance, no guns or even knives and spears, and no fear of death. As they were shot and burned, they still seemed unaware of what was happening.

Because he had experienced many battles, Lord Chegren could be sure on the spot that these were just a group of unarmed civilians, ants that posed no threat to the empire and the emperor.

A few days later, when the news came out that the family of the deceased Crown Prince Rudolf's posthumous son had been attacked and wiped out, Lord Ceglun understood. He is not a stupid warrior. A stupid person would not have made such a decision to risk his own life a few years ago.

In the midst of anxiety, when Archduke Ferdinand came to tell him: You missed it, the most important person is not dead, you are responsible for gathering people to chase and kill him, and we must eradicate him from all corners of the world.

However, Lord Cheglen refused. He was loyal to Archduke Ferdinand and his son, but even more loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress. He was a glorious Knight of the Imperial Guard, who, like all other knights, had sworn everlasting loyalty to His Majesty the Great Emperor Franz Joseph I and the Merciful Empress Elisabeth Amelia Eugenie.

Lord Chegren fled because Archduke Ferdinand wanted to kill him to silence him. He did not dare to tell the truth to the emperor and empress, because he had made a big mistake and the emperor would definitely kill him. Ceglun was afraid of death. When escaping, Chegren took with him the military order that proved that he was only ordered to fight. The order bore the royal personal seal of Archduke Ferdinand.

Nicholas Chigren's only chance is to find the emperor's grandson Hubert and escort him back to the emperor. He didn't know where the emperor's grandson and his mother had fled, but he knew that Archduke Ferdinand had arranged for others to pursue them. Therefore, the experienced Chegren discovered the traces of these pursuers through clues and quietly traced them. Got on them.

The pursuers were outnumbered and soon discovered the fleeing little grandson, mother and son, and Hubert and his poor mother, who were waiting for food. As a result, for more than a year, Lord Nicholas Chiglen, who was determined to atone for his sins, launched a brutal attack and counter-attack battle with his pursuers.