Chapter 73 Saruman's Strategy

Isengard is one of the important towns in Middle-earth, with a very strategic location, and it is also the secondary capital of Rohan. In the country, it is similar to Tianjin and Shanghai in China, which are municipalities directly under the central government.

As early as twenty years ago, King Théoden of Rohan entrusted it to his close friend, Saruman the White, to manage. The latter had always disguised himself well, until he imprisoned Gandalf, whom he had always envied, and revealed his true colors—this should happen more than half a year later.

Saruman obtained Isengard

Found the Palantír in Orthanc

Because of his addiction to it, long-term use allowed Sauron's will to gradually corrupt and change him.

At the same time, due to his fanatical research and love for the knowledge of the Rings

While studying the dark forces, he also fell into the quagmire of power expansion. The reason why he allied with Sauron was not because he was enslaved like the Ringwraiths, but because of his ambition!

Saruman's real purpose, without a doubt, was to get the Ring and replace Sauron to rule the entire world.

Fang Senyan, who lost the chance to complete the main quest, came to Isengard for a very simple purpose: to find Saruman!

At this time, Saruman had not yet revealed his identity, so in the eyes of others, he was still the noble chairman of the White Council, the holy White Wizard. At the same time, it must be admitted that Isengard was still very prosperous under Saruman's rule, and the people under his rule lived a wealthy and happy life.

This meant that it was not too difficult for Fang Senyan to see him. Secondly, Saruman should not tear up his face and reveal his identity at this time—or rather, Fang Senyan was not worth him tearing up his face—then it meant that Fang Senyan's danger was not great.

As for the risks brought about by previous conflicts, Fang Senyan had also considered them, but the only one who had met him was the Uruk-hai Lurtz. Fang Senyan did not believe that Saruman would be so bold as to bring a guy like Lurtz, who did not look like a human being, with him. In that case, he would have long been discredited.

It cost a lot of precious gems to travel from Eriador to Isengard. It is estimated that at least tens of thousands of platinum coins worth of gems were burned. After the four people appeared from the teleportation array and walked outside the hall, a tax officer politely registered their names and origins. After learning that they were merchants who bought and sold gems in the dwarf territory, they collected a sum that was neither too much nor too little, and were approved to go down the mountain and enter Isengard.

If you look down on Isengard from above, you feel it is mysterious, huge, and滄桑 (cāngsāng: full of vicissitudes of life), but after approaching this city, although there are still a large number of ancient迹 (jì:迹，traces, ruins) and strange ancient characters reminding tourists of its ancient and distant past, the prosperous streets and lively citizens add an indescribable vitality to this place.

The knights patrolling the streets all had solemn faces, riding their horses slowly. Needless to say, the knights were tall and strong. More importantly, the horses under them looked quite strong and sturdy. The white air exhaled from their nostrils when walking was about a meter long. When their hooves moved, the solid block muscles wriggled elegantly under the skin, showing a strong explosive force.

It could be seen that these patrolling knights had a good relationship with the merchants on the street, greeting each other from time to time. Many merchants would even take out food to feed the horses, and it was eye-opening that the giant horses under the knights ate almost everything: eggs, bread, oatmeal, hay, smoked meat...

Sister Wuge had been staying in Rivendell and had never come out. She had just experienced the gentle, beautiful, and enthusiastic Shire, and then witnessed the brutal and harsh Eriador. Now, when she came to the prosperous but orderly Isengard, she couldn't help but be very surprised.

Feeling the orderly operation of the city and watching the vitality and order of Isengard, Fang Senyan thought about it, nodded, did nothing else, but directly asked someone and went straight to the largest jewelry store here.

"Well, there are about four thousand strangers who came to Isengard today. There are sixty-seven strangers who arrived through the teleportation array. Among these sixty-seven people, there are three people who need to be closely monitored. Six groups of people will be sent out tomorrow to monitor them."

"Wait, why only three people? I remember a group of people who are also quite suspicious. There are four of them. Two of them look like battle-hardened warriors, and one of them should be a mage. The last girl seems ordinary, but there is a powerful natural force in the longbow on her back, which is likely to be an elven treasure."

"This group of people has been investigated and confirmed. The reason they wrote for entering Isengard is to sell gems. In fact, this is indeed the case. After entering the city, they visited six jewelry stores and magic item stores, and the gems they took out were indeed rare精品 (jīngpǐn: fine products)."

"This cannot wash away the suspicion on them. I suspect that the source of their gems was robbed from Eriador. The騷亂 (sāoluàn: disturbance, riot) that occurred there has not subsided yet."

"I know, but a gem taken out by this group of people has already attracted the attention of Lord Gangshedor. It is said that it is a stone containing a strange soul. Since the chief wizard of Lord Saruman is paying attention to them, we don't need to浪費 (làngfèi: waste) our limited manpower on them."

"You are right, sir."

Lord Gangshedor, mentioned in the mouths of these spies, was now in Orthanc, bowing respectfully outside the magic laboratory. The faint, miserable screams could not move him at all.

Because he knew that if he wanted to stay in front of Lord Saruman for a longer period of time, then he had to learn to forget the things that should not be seen or heard.

Gangshedor was not the most powerful of Saruman's subordinates, but he was the most cautious and had the strictest mouth, which was why he was able to sit in this position for so long.

Gangshedor waited for a full half an hour, but his respectful expression did not change at all, and even the degree of his bowed waist remained consistent. After a while, the laboratory door opened, and a silent messenger stood in front of him:

"Lord Saruman will have afternoon tea in ten minutes. You have one minute to交流 (jiāoliú: communicate) with the great Saruman."

Gangshedor nodded, straightened his waist, and walked into a room next to him.

After he pushed open the room door, what appeared in front of him was a corridor. Clean marble pillars on both sides of the corridor guarded the sides like soldiers. Purple vines spread everywhere, cleverly forming a garden. There was even a sun in the sky, and the shadows of the leaves cast on the ground were dyed a crimson blood color by the sunlight.

Servants shuttled through the corridor from time to time, and many of them were actually orcs, each with a tall body and dark brown skin. They no longer had that unpleasant smell, but tied up their hair with animal skin buckles, which were dotted with some pale bone ornaments. Their expressions were numb and dull.

At the end of the corridor was another door engraved with praises to the gods and angels. After pushing open this door, you came to Saruman's reception room. This was a comfortable space. The ground was covered with shiny black-brown bear skin, and stepping on it was like being in a warm meadow.

The air was filled with the fragrant气息 (qìxī: scent, aroma) of pepper, cinnamon, licorice, and dosi fruit--these could effectively help the wizards' minds and strength recover. The stained glass inlaid around the living room depicted the rise of Rohan, and the angel wall lamps on all four walls emitted a gentle light.

This was the magical tower that Saruman had arranged by himself, where he could enjoy the enjoyment of an emperor.

Gangshedor knelt on the bear skin on the ground, not daring to look around with his eyes, always maintaining humility. After a few minutes, a wizard with an unusually tall figure, white beard, and flying white hair strode over. He was wearing an immaculate white robe, and his eyes were as deep and compelling as an eagle. He sat on the luxurious sofa in the center, picked up the mahogany pipe next to him, lit a full斗 (dǒu: unit of measure) of tobacco for himself, and then deeply inhaled the sweet气息 (qìxī: scent, aroma). After a while, he said:

"Tell me your purpose."

Gangshedor simply took out a精美 (jīngměi: exquisite, beautiful) money bag, which contained the tinkling sound of metal colliding, and then趴伏 (pāfú: prostrate) on the ground and said:

"There are three thousand platinum coins in this money bag, sir. This is the reward paid to me by a guy who claims to be a gem merchant, just to ask me to do two things."

Saruman喷 (pēn: spit, puff) out a wisp of curling smoke, closed his eyes and said: "I admire your loyalty and frankness, but I am tired of this topic, so I will shorten the meeting time to one minute."

Gangshedor took out another bag:

"This is the first thing that person asked me to bring to you, he said, the gems in this盛 (shèng: contain) bag are from another world---------yes, it is a world, not a country, I am very sure of this."

Saruman waved his hand, the bag fell off,露 (lù: reveal, expose) out a transparent crystal the size of a chicken egg, so black that it was palpitating, slowly rotating in front of his eyes.

"Interesting. I heard fragile souls crying in this crystal. This is indeed not a product of Middle-earth, but the souls in this soul crystal are too weak. I have no interest at all----------you have fifteen seconds."

Gangshedor nodded and said:

"That person said that if you are not interested in the first box, then please let me 交 (jiāo: hand over, submit) this box to you, and no matter what your reaction is, the platinum coins in that口袋 (kǒudai: pocket) are mine."

"Where is the box?"

Saruman said impatiently:

!@#