Chapter 501 Commoner Mother and Son
When Chief Court Mage Needham led three colleagues back to the capital, the Rhine royal family was busy preparing for the coronation of little Prince Andre.
At this moment in the capital, no one seemed to care about the recently "fallen" Territory of Tachia, nor did anyone care that half of the kingdom's territory had fallen into the hands of an evil black magician... From high-ranking officials to peddlers, everyone was eagerly discussing the "secrets" related to the throne, which were either incredible or bizarre.
Of course, this is not surprising... How the crown prince who was just waiting to be crowned fought back and staged a "Prince's Revenge" and jumped from an unappreciated son of the second wife to the new king is obviously more worthy of conversation than the complicated and turbulent domestic situation - although both are equally far away from ordinary people, at least the former is simpler to understand than the latter, and it is easier for people to get involved in it, and to apply their shallow experience to it in a carnival-like, clown-like manner that shows off their ignorance without knowing it.
It was this group of ignorant fools that Needham was forced to face... As the chief, he had just returned to his residence in the royal capital when members of the royal family, who thought they had some face with him, came to his house and either expressed their dissatisfaction with little Prince Andrei bluntly and rudely, or pretended to be smart and hinted that the "commoner mother and son" had done some shady tricks in private.
"I can fully understand the considerations of His Royal Highness the First Prince and His Royal Highness the Prince. Rather than letting everyone know that the royal family was forced to let the Fourth Prince, who followed that black magician, 'temporarily' sit on the throne due to the threat of that black magician, it would be better to let people believe that it was Prince Andrew and Princess Harriet who played tricks and deceived the world. This would at least save the royal family's face a little more——"
Needham drank half a cup of black tea in one gulp, and put the cup back on the table with a somewhat rude movement. He wiped his hands with a hot towel and said expressionlessly, "But personally, I really don't like this kind of self-deception. It's no more decent than frankly admitting failure."
The seven court mages present had different reactions. Gloria, the wind mage who was born a commoner, shrugged her shoulders, Sadier did not react at all. It was obvious that these two did not care much about this matter. Lamantha, Weber, and the other three who were born aristocrats had different expressions. Some smiled bitterly and shook their heads, while others pursed their lips and frowned.
The eight court mages serving the Rhine royal family rarely gather together like they do now.
The court wizards gathered together ostensibly for the coronation of the new king, but in reality... all nine people present knew very well that they would not be able to serve the Rhine royal family for long.
The fall of dynasties and the change of royal power are not something that can be said to be commonplace based on the lifespan of the spellcaster, but it is not worth being overly obsessed with either. Every hundred years, there will always be some new countries emerging and some old countries disappearing on the continent of Nabarron, just as the birth, aging, illness and death of human beings are inevitable.
"Whether it's decent or not is not important." The white-haired wizard sitting in the third chair on Needham's right said, "What's important is... Needham, is the promise of the Nightmare Butcher credible?"
The white-haired wizard who questioned the chief in person had a dark complexion and dark-black eyes. He wore a gorgeous forehead ornament on his head, with a thumb-sized ruby hanging between his eyebrows. Looking at his overall demeanor and upright manners, it was obvious that he must be a noble spellcaster from the Sokri Empire.
"No, Lambert, it doesn't matter whether the Nightmare Butcher's promise is credible or not." Needham put down the towel he was using to wipe his hands and said unceremoniously, "What matters is... who can refuse him."
After these words came out, not only the white-haired wizard Lambert looked unhappy, but the other seven were also quite embarrassed...
"Everyone, I think we don't need to do some meaningless pretense like those idiots outside." Needham rested his elbows on the table, interlaced his fingers, leaned forward slightly, and said in a deep voice, "If someone can assassinate Yang, then the problems of the Rhine Kingdom will naturally be solved, but we all know that this is unrealistic. In this case, then we should accept Yang's conditions and try our best to make the Rhine Kingdom complete the power transition peacefully. What do you think?"
The seven court mages were silent for a while, and Sadir, who was usually not good at speaking, spoke first: "I have no opinion."
"I don't care either." Gloria followed suit and shrugged again.
"I have no objection," Weber said.
Seeing this, the other three also expressed their attitudes... To put it bluntly, everyone just wanted to do something that was consistent with the duties of a court wizard, and no one was really willing to sacrifice their lives for the throne of the Rhine family to last for generations.
"Very good, then... Next, I have to tell everyone about Yang and his undead's working style, so as to avoid conflicts when we come into contact in the future."
Needham nodded, then took out a thick stack of paper documents from his space props and distributed them to the seven people present.
This stack of documents...are all case law.
That's right, it was the case law - the original verdict of the trials of the local feudal nobles in Innadri and Adler based on the Rhine Constitution.
It was provided personally by Zhao Zhenzhen, the highest undead governor of Adler Territory. The trial process was clear and definite, the chain of evidence was complete and closed, and the verdict was rigorous and meticulous. It could be used as a basis for case law in the Royal Capital Court... if this world also emphasized case law.
Yang Qiu specifically asked Chief Needham to bring back such a stack of cases, of course not as a demonstration, but as a gesture of goodwill.
The court mages lived in the capital for decades at the longest and more than ten years at the shortest. It was inevitable that some of them had relatives or friends in high positions or had close contacts with some royal nobles.
In order to avoid conflicts in the future, Yang Qiu simply gave clear instructions in advance, asking these wizards to quickly check if there are people in their social circles who are going to be put on the wall; if there are, that would be good, but if there are, they must be dealt with quickly... They can be sent to "study abroad" or immigrate, but at the very least, they should not stay in the royal capital and embarrass everyone.
As for the loss of kingdom's property caused by the flight of personnel... Yang Qiu accepted this small problem with a pinch of nose. After all, he now had billions of assets (materials) in his hands, so there was no need to argue with a human server... ahem, and fall out with the court mage for a few trivial matters.
The reactions of the court mages who received this stack of precedents were very interesting...all kinds of expressions were shown.
It was no secret that the Undead regime tried nobles with unconstitutional fiefdoms, but it was the first time for the court mages to actually see the details of the trial.
Instructing the White Glove Organization to participate in human trafficking, instructing the butler to convert free people into serfs and embezzle farmers' land in the name of helping farmers evade taxes, condoning servants to beat and maim civilians, raping maids, organizing and participating in illegal operations... and other crimes that are prohibited by the Rhine Constitution but no one cares about in reality are listed on the paper one by one.
In addition to these "small mistakes" that all "decent families" will make, there are also many more shocking but not uncommon cases.
For example, a viscount of Innader failed to catch any prey during his autumn hunting trip. He was unhappy on his way back to the city and killed a passing hunter with his shotgun to show off his "hunting skills". Afterwards, he ordered his servants to bury the victim on the spot and did not compensate (pay money) the hunter's family.
It took more than a year for the Undead regime to take over Innadri before they had time to deal with the old case. The hunter's family heard the news and rushed from the mountains to report the case, and the matter was exposed... So the viscount who was originally going to be sent to build roads was directly dragged away and hung on the city wall.
The first illusionist to see the judgment, Weber, was silent for a moment, then silently passed it to the next person.
Lambert's face was already looking a little grim, and when he read the case, the corners of his mouth twitched visibly...
An hour later, the court wizards passed the thick stack of cases around and said goodbye to each other.
The white-haired wizard Lambert looked even worse at this moment, but he still politely and formally thanked Chief Needham for his thoughtfulness, then walked out of the palace wizard headquarters and got into his own pneumatic car.
Gloria hesitated for a while, and when most of the people had left, she whispered to the chief, "Lambert's great-nephew is a noble of the Sokri Empire. Could Yang be a foreign noble too...?"
"According to the 'news' two years ago, when Count Odysseus's nephew was arrested in Innadri, Yang demanded a valuable...bail before releasing him." Needham said calmly.
Gloria: “…”
This kind of thing... Yang is really capable of doing it.
"Well, at a time like this I can be thankful that I don't have so many relatives who need me to clean up the mess." Gloria stood up with a strange look on her face. When she was about to leave, she suddenly thought of something, "Um... Needham, if I remember correctly, you seem to have a grandson who is a viscount?"
"Yes, he was conferred the title of Lord of Codburg." Needham remained calm and poured himself some tea. "That brat's character is far inferior to his father's, so I didn't let him stay in the capital, to avoid causing trouble for me."
"You are worthy of me." Gloria gave a thumbs up sincerely.
"Thank you for your concern." Needham nodded slightly gentlemanly.
After Gloria, who was both a civilian and a foreigner, left, Needham turned to Weber, who was on duty at the headquarters with him, and asked, "You seem a little unconvinced?"
"This is predictable." Weber sighed and spread his hands. "People are always like this. The closer they are to someone, the more unfamiliar they are to them. They may not even know them as well as strangers. Just like Lambert may not be able to decisively send his two nephews back to their country, and you, Needham, are quite blindly confident in your grandson who keeps saying he's 'unworthy'. You actually think that he will not ."
Needham: “…”
Weber spoke slowly and slowly: "A week ago, in order to mediate the conflict between Phoenix of the Odysseus family and His Royal Highness the Third Prince Kolov, I went to Castle Cod—"
Outsiders had no idea what the illusionist Weber said to Chief Needham that day.
The only thing we know is that... that night, the chief court mage rushed to Coldburg as if he was in a hurry, and forced his grandson to pass the title to his great-grandson at a dizzying speed, and then quickly packed up his grandson, who was already in his sixties, and sent him to the neighboring Sokri Empire in the south to "study abroad"...
Fortunately, although the court wizards were overwhelmed with trying to deal with their own problems , they did not miss out on their important work.
Thanks to the activities of this group of old guys who have a certain say in the capital, little Prince Andre, who had been placed under house arrest in the palace after returning to the capital, has at least regained a certain degree of freedom. At least he can recall his mother, who was ordered by the deceased old king to reflect on herself, and can also participate in the kingdom's political affairs.
Then... the fourth prince, who was previously not allowed to even approach the main hall, let alone listen to government affairs, had his worldview refreshed...
"It took more than four months to repair a road in the West District of King's Harbor that is less than 900 meters long! Mother, do you know how outrageous this is? If this kind of stone slab road that does not require road hardening could not be repaired in one month, no, twenty days in Innadeli, the person in charge would have to reflect on himself!"
In the side hall where Princess Harriet lived, little Prince Andrew, who had participated in the kingdom's government affairs all morning, could not help but complain to his mother crazily: "It took such a long time to accomplish such a small thing, and the Minister of the Interior actually had the nerve to show off this as the political achievement of his good subordinate. I am really amazed!"
Princess Harriet looked at her son lovingly and comforted little Andre with a smile: "Don't be so excited. Maybe it's just because the road is not very important, so it's delayed a little. It doesn't matter if it costs a little more, as long as it can be repaired."
"Not important? That's not the case, mother. Most of the goods entering the city from King's Port have to go through the West District. The East District is where the rich and powerful live. Whose trucks can go through there? If not for this, how could that road have to be repaired every few years!" The more Andre complained, the angrier he got. "What's even more outrageous is that most of the stone slabs used for road construction are old, and the road surface that needs to be replaced is less than 50 meters. They dared to quote such a large amount of material costs! Who do those guys think they are fools? That money is enough to pave a new road!"
As he was talking, little Andre couldn't help but mention to the princess the road project he had participated in when he was in Innadelli, trying to make his mother understand how tragic the contrast between the two was...
He is a prince after all, so Rex and Ji Tang would definitely not really send him to the construction site. Little Andre's understanding of the Innadri road project is limited to the logistics, and he happens to have a certain understanding of material expenditures, manpower arrangements, and working hours.
Princess Harriet, who was a little absent-minded at first, opened her mouth more and more the more she listened to her son's account.
"——You mean, Innadri built a road from the dock of Newin Town to the city in just half a year and cost less than 40,000 gold coins?!"
"To be exact, it's more than 36,000 gold coins, mother. It's a hardened road five meters wide and twenty-six kilometers long. It can't be crushed by horse-drawn trucks or carts pulled by six-legged lizards. Each section of the road must be twenty centimeters thick and must be paved with mixed gravel and the kind of mud mortar that can solidify."
Little Andre, who was already furious from calculating his own accounts, could not help but describe it to the princess with gestures: "After that section of road is repaired, the goods unloaded in Newen Town can be delivered to the urban area in just one hour. When people in the town take a horse-drawn carriage to the city, they don't have to walk for more than two hours like before. It will only take half an hour..."
Perhaps because he was worried that his mother would think he was bragging, little Andre explained in detail the expenditure details of the road construction fee. Since he was often borrowed by various departments, he was very familiar with these fragmentary information. He even knew the daily wages of the workers in the quarry, the charges of the Transport Department for transporting a batch of gravel, the daily wages of the contract workers and temporary workers (farmers working during the slack season) on the construction site, the price per ton of tarantan mud mortar (lime) pulled from the warehouse, the cost of renting road construction machinery (concrete mixers & bulldozers), and the monthly meal expenses settled by the Logistics Department... He knew them all clearly.
At first, Princess Harriet did think that her son was either pretending to know everything or was being fooled, but after hearing little Andre give her the detailed accounts in such an organized and detailed manner, she couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Not to mention how her son, who was not sensible at all before, was trained to be so shrewd in less than a year...the distribution of financial revenue between the two places was really shocking to Princess Harriet.
Thirty-six thousand gold coins is not a small amount, but it is definitely not enough to use this money to build a 26-kilometer-long high-quality road in the royal capital that can accommodate pneumatic vehicles.
There are many dignitaries and nobles in the royal capital, and the spirit of comparison is prevalent. All respectable families have gas-powered cars.
In order to make the pneumatic vehicles of these nobles useful, and to preserve the dignity of the royal capital, the royal family repaired the roads intermittently for more than a hundred years, and only managed to make more than 40% of the roads in the royal capital suitable for pneumatic vehicles.
After entrusting her son to the black magician, the princess, who was eager to have her son, continued to pay attention to the situation on Yang's side. She read every issue of Innadri Weekly and Adler Weekly, and had also asked the maid and housekeeper to subscribe to the recently launched national Tachia Weekly. She would also listen to the news pushed by Innadri Radio Station in the morning and evening.
Princess Harriet had thought that her understanding of the undead regime would not be much worse than her son's, but now... she realized that she seemed to be a little too self-righteous.
When little Andre stopped to drink water due to thirst, the princess couldn't hide her curiosity and asked, "What kind of undead archons have you seen... Undead? Better than the ministers?"
Little Andre sneered and said sarcastically, "I have never dealt with the 'Ms. Zhao' who is said to be very wise, but if compared with the 'Mayor Jitang' who I know well... our experienced and respected Minister of the Interior is probably barely qualified to be a doorman."
Princess Harriet was so angry that she couldn't help laughing: "Little Andre——"
"I'm not saying this out of anger, mother." Little Prince Andrei calmed down and said seriously, "Mother, I've always known that I'm not a smart person. I'm not good enough, nor am I steady. I'm always full of resentment, but I don't dare to challenge those who are stronger than me. If it weren't for your protection, I might be nothing at all."
"Little Andre! Why do you say such things!" Princess Harriet shouted angrily.
"Please listen to me patiently, mother." Little Prince Andrei rarely panicked or apologized hastily because of his mother's anger. Instead, he said more persistently, "Although I have all kinds of shortcomings, I think I can still find some advantages. For example... it is precisely because I am a cowardly guy that I know what kind of people I can't afford to offend."
Princess Harriet was stunned.
"If..." Little Prince Andre hesitated for a moment before making up his mind and said forcefully, "If we want to stand with the group of people in the capital, then Mr. Yang, Ji Tang, and Ms. Zhao, who I have never met...they are the ones we cannot provoke and we will never be able to defeat."
If little Andre still had a glimmer of fantasy before returning to the capital... after coming back and feeling the attitude of other royal members towards them and their son, and looking at the lame character of the ministers of the kingdom who were still demanding money when the country was on the verge of destruction, no matter how stupid or indecisive little Andre was, he knew who he could rely on and who he couldn't.
Princess Harriet thought her son was so serious that he was going to tell her something unacceptable, but she couldn't help laughing when she heard this.
"Don't be silly. Do you think your mother is the kind of person who would be deceived by false honor? Do you think your mother would want you to gamble your life to become a king like your father?"
"Huh?" This time it was little Prince Andre who was stunned.
"What did Yang tell you when you came back?" asked Princess Harriet.
Little Prince Andre scratched his head and honestly repeated to his mother what Yang Qiu had said at that time.
Princess Harriet knew very well that Yang would never really hand over the power of the kingdom to her son, and she also guessed that Yang must have ulterior motives in allowing the royal family to speak their own words and put little Andrew on the throne; but when she heard from her son that Yang's real purpose was to expect the royal family to send "reinforcements" as soon as possible, she was still shocked.
After a long silence, the princess, who had been at the political center of the kingdom for many years and had no real power but had seen and heard a lot, said quietly, "Sure enough, a small place like the Rhine is not the final destination of that black magician..."
After calming down, the princess said to her son solemnly, "Little Andre, you must remember that if you are dissatisfied, you can just come to me and tell me. Don't easily show your attitude to others."
"Don't worry, mother. I understand." Little Prince Andre said confidently.
Princess Harriet nodded with satisfaction and reached out to touch her grown-up son. "If Prince Hood or your eldest brother asks you for anything, just agree to it. Of course, you don't have to agree too readily. Bargaining appropriately will help gain people's trust."
"You are not smart enough to begin with. Pretending to be stupid will only backfire. It is better to pretend to be smart. This will make it easier for people to look down on you, which is better for your safety."
Little Prince Andre: "..."
Well, my dear mother, your words are much harsher than Yang’s.
