Shadow Empire

Chapter 994 Night Talk and Suggestions

On the second day of Saint Farm, Governor Terry left early in the morning. He had a lot of things to do and couldn't stay there for long.

However, he and the three elderly people had already reached an agreement on one thing—

He will adopt a beautiful mare and keep her here.

The reason it is called a beautiful "little mare" is because if it were a young male horse, he could not raise it from a young age, and if he intervened halfway through and wanted to ride it, it might cause some danger.

Horses are very intelligent animals; scientists say they have the intelligence of a child.

Of course, their intelligence doesn't allow them to understand society or even learn how to read and write like children. Their intelligence simply gives them a playful way of thinking, similar to that of children.

You might be riding along perfectly fine, and suddenly it thinks you look a bit annoying, so it just bounces you off.

If the rider is just an ordinary person, falling off the horse is no big deal; he might not even be as valuable as the stallion he's riding.

But Terry is the governor. If the governor falls off his horse and is seriously injured, that's a political incident!
A mare doesn't have so many worries. Gentleness is always a characteristic of a mare. Lance's horse was also a mare. He couldn't ride a colt, so he couldn't be a true knight.

In short, the festival celebrations at Lawrence Farm left a deep impression on Governor Terry, and the simple and honest folk customs made him quite fond of the place.

Perhaps the more complex a person is, the more they prefer simple things. He said that if he has time, he will come here again to visit, ride horses, hunt, and pass the time.

Mayor Williams and James left a day later, and during that time Mayor Williams actually took James to do farm work!

This is simply unbelievable, and it exhausted Mayor Williams!
However, he was in good spirits. Doing farm work seemed to have filled his stomach with energy, and he was so full that he was burping.

His face was full of smiles, and they weren't fake; they came from the heart.

While working on the farm, he told James about his childhood on one of the few remaining farms in his family, such as fighting with calves for milk—God was still kind to him, as many people who drank raw milk got sick and went to see God.

James didn't smile much. By the time he was born, the Williams family had become completely urbanized. He was born in a wealthy area, on a manor, and he had never done farm work in the countryside.

So it was indeed a bit much to ask him to wear denim overalls and rubber boots and work in a ranch full of cow dung.

What made him feel even more desperate was that he fell down, and he didn't know whether the clumps on his body and hair were broken hay or cow dung. In any case, he had had enough of this.

Fortunately, Mayor Williams wasn't really going to stay and do farm work; he was just taking this opportunity to reminisce about his childhood and reminisce about his time on the farm.

That energetic and vibrant younger version of myself.

As people get older, they tend to reminisce about the past, not because there's anything in the past that they'd remember for a lifetime, but because what they miss is their past self—the younger self, the one who wasn't hurt or was still energetic and wonderful!
William left soon after. Although Lake City was small and there wasn’t much for him to deal with every day, he was still, after all, a mayor.

If he doesn't appear in public often, citizens and voters will begin to doubt what their votes actually represent.

This is perhaps a thorny situation that even the most grassroots politicians have to face. They are always the ones who directly face the voters, and when their or the government's actions fail to satisfy the voters, they are often the only ones who will be the ones the voters point fingers at and curse.

The celebrations for Saint Farm will continue until the 31st, and Lance will leave on November 1st.

That night, he lay in bed with Patricia in his arms, the two having just satisfied their most primal desires through the exchange of bodily fluids.

He didn't know if Patricia had entered a state of enlightenment, but Lance had already entered a state of leisure.

His mind is now filled with all sorts of things and problems, and he can't care about physical desires at all.

At this point, Patricia was no longer his wife, but his good brother!
"Have you noticed Barbara?" she suddenly asked, and Lance didn't react at first.

After about five or six seconds, he finally realized what was wrong. "What happened?"

He didn't pay attention to Barbara's situation; there were too many people on the farm.

With the rise of the Lawrence family, some branch family members also returned to the family, such as Herbert's father, the son of William's grandfather's brother's daughter, and their descendants.

If we use "how much Lawrence family blood" to calculate, which is more common and easier to understand, then these people may only have one-eighth, one-sixteenth, or even one-thirty-second of the Lawrence family blood.

In the past, these people would never have come here. The main reason is that although this place is not poor, it is not rich either, and they would not get anything by coming here.

But now, almost everyone has come, and they are also looking for opportunities here, perhaps to find projects that they can collaborate on.

There were too many people, and Lance's attention was focused on Governor Terry and Mayor Williams, as well as the topics they were discussing, so he didn't notice Barbara.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked again.

He was aware of some of Barbara's thoughts, but he hadn't yet noticed them.

Patricia looked up at Lance. "She talked to me."

Lance frowned slightly. "What did you talk about?"

"We talked a lot."

Patricia then added, "She's drunk."

Lance didn't speak, he just kept looking at her. She smiled and said, "Okay."

"She said some things that I never expected. She said she liked you very much and didn't intend to ruin our marriage. Although we often fought over things when we were young, this time she didn't intend to fight me and knew she was no match for me."

Barbara was a little older than Patricia, so Patricia became the little princess of the farm.

Humans and animals have many similarities. For example, animals are often very cute when they are young, and humans are no exception.

Patricia, who is a little younger than Barbara, is very beautiful. Of course, Barbara is also very pretty, but being younger gives her a special advantage, making her more popular.

This made Barbara feel that Patricia had stolen her limelight and people's affection. Although it wasn't exactly hatred or hostility, they did often fight over various things when they were young, and this relationship only ended when they grew up and didn't see each other as often.

Lance didn't think much of Patricia's words and stated bluntly, "I've only slept with you."

Patricia paused for a moment, then laughed, "Me too!"

However, she quickly added, "Actually, that's not what I wanted to say. I just felt sorry for her."

Lance was a little confused, but he didn't mind simplifying things. "So you want me to sleep with her?"

Patricia hadn't expected Lance to be so direct, and she didn't know how to answer for a moment. "I just feel sorry for her."

Lance shook his head slightly. "As a man, your husband, I don't have any resistance to sleeping with women who aren't yours, as long as you're willing."

"So what you're trying to say right now isn't to convince me, but to convince yourself, or to confirm your own inner feelings."

As he spoke, he changed his position and put his arm around Patricia. She had been resting her head on his arm for a while, which made Lance feel like his arm wasn't even his own anymore.

"Okay, go to sleep."

He closed his eyes after saying that, just as he himself said, sleeping with other women didn't increase his guilt. In another world, he had tried all sorts of crazy things. After tasting the strongest liquor, even a liquor with a strength of ten or so was like plain water to him.

Therefore, his desire for carnal pleasure is not strong; sometimes he even prefers to apply hair gel himself to save time.

Lance quickly drifted off to sleep. He was a very good sleeper; as soon as his head hit the pillow and he counted to ten, he would be fast asleep.

But Patricia didn't sleep; she had trouble falling asleep.

After drinking too much, Barbara kept crying. First, she cried about the money she had been cheated out of, and then she cried about how, although she often appeared to "win" when they were young, she knew that the grandfathers and uncles on the farm liked Patricia the most, not the competitive her.

Whether it's her career, love life, or anything else, she feels like a failure, which makes her very sad.

Patricia is a kind girl, and she and Barbara actually have a good relationship, which leads her to have some messy thoughts.

While the federal government does have a bigamy law, it carries less weight than religious freedom.

According to federal judicial interpretation, when there is a conflict between the law and the Constitution, the Constitution prevails, not federal law.

Religious freedom and respect for faith are enshrined in the Constitution. There are many religions in the Union that support polygamy or polyandry. As long as you pay some money to get the title of "fellow believer," the law allows you to have multiple wives or husbands. This is a right granted to the people by the Constitution!
Moreover, in rural areas, things become simpler, but also more chaotic.

Things like uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews often happen in the countryside. Once you leave the city, you belong to God. That's the federation!
She didn't sleep well all night. She thought about many things, but in the end, she still couldn't make a decision. She still finds it difficult to share Lance with others.

On the morning of the 1st, Lance had breakfast with everyone. The three old men expressed a slight reluctance at his impending departure, but only a slight one.

They knew Lance had many important things to do, so they didn't ask him to stay.

The carriage that took Governor Terry back had returned here. Lance took this very short train directly onto the federal railway line, and instead of going straight back to Goldenport City, he went to Redstone City (the capital) in Indenor State.

He wanted to meet with Governor Wade and, incidentally, discuss future development plans with Irwin.

Redstone City was in a state of chaos. From time to time, you could see some panicked gangsters driving away from the city. Of course, some gangsters stayed behind or actively contacted the Lance family.

The entire landscape of Indenau has been dramatically altered by the outcome of this gubernatorial election!
After Governor Wade took office, people immediately realized that the gangs that had previously fought against the Lance family had lost their foothold here.

Politicians and police officers who previously sided with them have now all sided with Mayor Wade and the Lance family.

The conflict wasn't that far off or that intense yet, but the retaliation that followed would certainly be just as fierce. So, before the storm arrived, these people packed their things and left as soon as possible.

Although the city experienced a brief period of chaos, everyone could see that a stable security situation was on the horizon, much like in Licale.

Although gang warfare still exists in some cities, in larger cities, gang fights and serious crimes are relatively rare.

Everything is managed perfectly by the Lance family, which is perhaps one of the funniest things people find.

Or, to put it another way, this result confirms that the federal government's previous idea of ​​"gangs assisting the federal government in managing public order" is valid.

Lance did not stop in New Birmingham to meet with Irwin, partly because time was tight, and partly because he would pass through here again when he left.

He can talk to Erwin again when he leaves.

As we drove towards the state government building, there were still many gubernatorial campaign posters left along the way that had not been cleaned up.

They used a strong adhesive, making it difficult to peel off completely, and you could still see Mayor Wade's somewhat eerie smile, even with half of his face missing.

There were no marches or demonstrations on the streets, which showed that the voters of Indenau were quite satisfied and happy that their elected mayor, Wade, had won the election and become governor.

Hopefully, Governor Wade will keep his promise and improve Indenau's economy, reduce unemployment, and create more jobs!
The car quickly stopped outside the state government building. Mayor Wade's staff were already waiting for Lance at the bottom of the steps. He even opened the car door for Lance. "The governor is a bit busy and can't leave for the time being. He asked me to receive you, Mr. White."

"Please come with me..." he said, behaving politely, courteously, and cautiously.

They had met before at Mayor Wade's villa, but the impression wasn't very strong; at that time, he didn't talk much and rarely attracted attention.

This is the busiest time for the state government, with people constantly going up and down, and their curious gazes all falling on Lance.

This isn't Likale, so not many people know him. People are simply curious about who could have the governor's staff greet him like this.

The group quickly entered the state government building and met Governor Wade in his office.

His hair was heavily coated with hair wax and styled to fall backward, giving him a powerful look.

When he saw Lance, he stood up, walked around his large desk, came to the entrance, and hugged Lance.

He also put in a lot of effort to win the election in Lance. Putting aside the campaign funds, Lance's help in dealing with some so-called "representatives" was a great help to him.

Those old fogies were firmly opposed to him becoming governor, so there was no other way but to shut them up for now.

Erwin handled the situation very skillfully. Instead of simply sending people to run up to these people and draw their weapons to shoot, he carefully created three unexpected incidents.

A car accident, a drowning, and an electrocution—it all looked like some real accidents had occurred.

Even if his competitors had doubts about these three cases, they had no way to directly accuse him of having ordered them to be done.

If a federal election campaign resorts to slander and defamation without any evidence and has no bottom line, it would be doomed long ago.

Unable to provide evidence, he could only vaguely suggest to the public that these deaths were not normal.

However, Governor Wade's proactive approach to these issues actually made him more appealing to voters—who preferred those who had the courage to face life's challenges!
And indeed there was no evidence to prove that these three accidents were definitely caused by human intervention, so the matter was ultimately left unresolved.

The lieutenant governor lost the election, which means he lost everything. Now it all depends on whether Governor Wade has the will to deal with him.

In short, this phase was perfect!

Governor Wade pulled Lance by the arm and led him to the sofa, where he asked his staff to bring some drinks and pastries. He then asked, "You've come in such a hurry this time, there must be something you need to do."

Now is not a good time to "meet," because Governor Wade has a lot of work to do, and it is also the busiest time for state governments.

Given the timing of his visit, Governor Wade couldn't spare much time to receive him, so he could tell that Lance's visit was purposeful.

Lance didn't mince words and stated the reason directly: "We want to achieve greater development, so we need to focus on managing the resources and influence of Likale State."

After listening, Governor Wade gave Lance a meaningful look and asked, "Do you want to consolidate the forces at your disposal?"

Lance nodded. "This isn't just my opinion."

Governor Wade took a deep breath. “Actually, I personally don’t support what you’re doing. Congress has been trying to ‘de-localize’ things, and if you try to consolidate resources and unify internally at this time, you’re very likely to be targeted by Congress.”

"They don't have many good ways to deal with those old-established powerful states, but Likalai is still very young and not completely unified ideologically, so there might be some follow-up problems!"

(End of this chapter)