The war has been raging for almost five months on the scorching summer Suke Plain, and the smoke of gunpowder has completely cut off the original vitality of the richest land in the Elan Continent.

Five months ago, in order to defend against the invasion of the elves, the young Emperor Sinda listened to the advice of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Count Stu Gara, and asked the nobles to form troops to resist the invasion of the elves.

However, before the emperor's order was transmitted, the main force of the elves had already arrived in Suke City, and the 160,000 troops and the main force of the elves returned by Dewen Pang Po had been fighting outside Suke City for more than three months, and they had not been able to repel the elves.

In other words, the only area that the Central Empire was able to control was the northern part of the Suk Plain, where the city of Suke and the town of Kwyn were located. Therefore, only the northern region of the Suk Plain was able to form an army, and the army that the nobles were ordered to form did not gradually take shape until the army of Dewen Pampo was defeated and retreated from Suk City.

Two months ago, this army of more than 50,000 people, together with more than 40,000 new troops in Kwyn, led by the Marquis of Barry Victor, who trained the new army in Kwyn, began to storm the elven troops stationed in Hatis Town, urging Emperor Sinda to give orders one after another.

However, due to the lack of armament and training of the Forces nouvelles, two months passed, and no further advance was made in front of the town of Hattis, which was garrisoned by 20,000 troops.

The defeat of the war inevitably caused political turmoil within the empire.

The chaotic relationship between the Emperor's Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the Cabinet, the War Executive Committee, and the Council of Nobles became even more chaotic because of this lost war.

As time passed, the shortage of supplies in the imperial capital caused the citizens of the lower classes to riot, and in mid-June, a riot directly affected the ninth block of the inner city, near Panio Street.

At the beginning of July, there was a blatant infighting among the nobles of the imperial capital on the streets, and the security office was busy with it. At this time, the upper echelons of the empire were wrestling over whether to send regular troops to suppress the riots in the city, as its bloated political apparatus was raging.

On July 8, an 'Emperor Assassination Case' occurred inside the Lion Castle, causing the enraged Emperor Sinda to directly execute nearly 100 nobles.

From then on, the emperor no longer trusted his courtiers, who were also on guard against the emperor's suspicions.

...

In the year 1217 of the continental calendar, on July 12, 332 years of the imperial calendar,

In the war room of the War Executive Committee of the Emperor's Office of the Lion Castle in Suker City.

The young Emperor Sinda was furious: "A bunch of moths who should have gone to hell, I will hang them all, I have given them the right, but they have made me conditions at this time!" he roared as he tore a letter in his hand, and the 'they' in his mouth were referring to the new army formed by the nobles outside Hatis Town.

When the confetti was splashing, the Imperial Prime Minister Woz Pedro spread his hands and whispered: "I said earlier, with the current situation of the Empire, it is very dangerous for the local nobles to have heavy troops in their hands, and the greed of those so-called new nobles is endless!" He behaved like it didn't matter.

Emperor Sinda was furious at the Prime Minister's ridicule, and when his anger reached its peak, he stared at the War Secretary, the Marquis Nepdo-Quint, "Give the Marquis of Barry an order to arrest those nobles... They won't let me get better, so I'll let them all go to hell. ”

"I agree to send all these people to hell. Nepdo-Quint frowned and said, "But Your Majesty, these people have tens of thousands of soldiers in their hands, and hastily arresting them may cause a mutiny. ”

"Then let's die together!" the young emperor replied coldly, the short beard on his face that had not been shaved for a long time was constantly distorted and deformed because of his hideous expression, "The whole empire is at war, and I still care if they rebel?"

"Your Majesty—" Woz-Pedro didn't stay on the sidelines any longer, he interrupted to say something.

"Do as I say!" the Emperor did not give them any chance to speak.

As the mastermind of this plan, the Imperial Finance Minister Stu Gara looked at Temple-Bob, who was hanging his head and not going to speak, frowned and took a step forward, "Your Majesty, behind those nobles is the entire northern territory of the Suke Plain, most of the refugees and nobles who fled from the Klan Territory are there, these people are already angry about the performance of the empire in the orc war two years ago, if..."

"Do you want to intercede for the rebels?" the Emperor began to call the people 'rebels'.

"Your Majesty, the rebels you are talking about have pinned down the most elite 20,000 main forces of the elves for the empire. Stu Gara frowned and retorted, "Besides, they didn't do anything to rebel against the Empire. ”

"They are fighting on their own, and they do not obey the orders of the Empire!" the emperor was so angry that he trembled all over, his face was red from the surging of qi and blood, his neck was bruised, and he roared in a voice like a sharp ghost: "This is rebellion!"

"Crewe's army has been almost standing still for nearly five months!" Stu Gara had a disappointed look on his face, "Do you want the military department to order Duke Pedy Reagan to be arrested as well?"

Words such as 'Duke Pedy Reagan', 'Duke Andy Barrett', 'failure' and so on are absolutely taboo words for the current Emperor Sinda, and no less than ten people have been executed by the emperor for these words in the past few months.

In the eyes of the young emperor, when courtiers mentioned Duke Pedy Reagan and others at such times, they were comparing their successes with his failures...

And the fragile dignity of the emperor simply can't withstand such a contrast,

And so the anger erupted like a volcano.

"You—" Emperor Sinda's eyes flushed, and he pointed at his Minister of Finance with a trembling right hand... He was so angry that he couldn't speak.

The Emperor kicked away the stool beside him and walked quickly to the weapon rack on the side wall of the room.

"Bang!" there was a crisp sound, and the bright sword was already out of its sheath.

Woz Pedro looked at the cold light on the sword's body, his eyelids jumped uncontrollably, and his holy hair quickly flashed to Count Stu Gara's side, "You go out first!" After that, he shouted to Demptop-Bob next to him: "Take Count Stu out first." ”

"Are you going to rebel against me?" Emperor Sinda was stimulated by Woz-Pedro in the Holy Force, and his skin was tempered in an instant, and a gust of wind whistled through, slashing directly at Woz-Pedro's head with a sharp sword that broke through the air.

"When" the Holy Force blocks the fatal blow,

And Woz-Pedro was not surprised, or indignant, by the emperor's murderous intent... An eerie smile appeared on his face, and his gaze immediately became cold.

"Bang" Woz-Pedro's fist carrying the Holy Power in his hand slammed directly into the emperor's shoulder.

Emperor Sinda's body fell backwards uncontrollably, and the emperor's tempered body "pounced" and knocked the nearby tables and chairs into chaos before falling to the ground.

"Hmph, coward!" Woz-Pedro said coldly as he walked out of the room.

...

Ten minutes later,

Penny, who was teasing her son in the back garden of the Lion Castle, learned what was happening in the Emperor's office.

"What are the cabinet ministers doing now?" said Penny, who was not surprised by her husband's actions, or that Sinda had been in a state of rage almost every month in the last month, and she was ready to accept the news every day.

"Woz Pedro rushed to the Prime Minister's residence with Stu Garra, Dempto Bob and Sim Erke. "The Prime Minister's Mansion is full of Marquis Pedro Marquis Pedro personal guards, and our people have no way of finding out what they are discussing. ”

"The Imperial Prime Minister, the Imperial Chancellor, and the two richest men in the Empire, you can guess what they are talking about. Penny smiled nonchalantly, "They have lost faith in the emperor of the empire and don't want to put their fate on someone else...", she looked at the sleeping child, "They want a more obedient puppet." ”

"Do you want to—" Botlem said in a cold, machine-like voice with a murderous look on his face, taking a deep breath, "do you want to kill them?"

"No," Penny looked up at the blue sky, "I agreed to the 'Brotherhood' terms. With that, she looked at Botelem, "Tell your leader, as long as you can get the elves to retreat..."

"It can't be. Botelem shook his head, "Although the Death Swamp is vast, the power in our hands is not strong, we will force the elves to withdraw some of the soldiers at most, and we don't have to think about retreating all!"

"Even if you kill the elven commander, you can't do it?"

"The inheritance laws within the elves are not as complicated as those of the Empire, and the ability of the 'Brotherhood' to take out up to three of their generals has nothing to do with the overall situation, and will anger them. "Believe me, as long as the 'Brotherhood' comes forward, the elves will definitely agree to peace talks, but only if you give up Suk City, or revoke the title of the Empire." ”

"The elves want Suke City?" Penny grasped the key to Botlem's words.

"I'm sure elves aren't that stupid. Botlem immediately denied, "Sukh City will usher in the 'Age of City-States'!" His smile was a little ugly, "Elves, werewolves, and Suluk principalities don't want each other to get their hands on Sukh City... So, if the peace talks are successful, you can continue to live in the Lion Castle, but you can't keep the army. ”

"If we can succeed, the 'Brotherhood' can have a legal place in the Suke Plains. Penny and Botlem told each other her promise, and then she added, "But only if you don't continue the assassination campaign." ”

Botlem said firmly: "Don't worry, no one wants to be a killer. ”

"Well, we have to get my husband out of office first. Penny's face suddenly became unusually cold.

However, her indifference did not last long, and when her eyes looked at the sleeping child bathed in the sun, a gentle and loving smile appeared, "Can you handle it at Devin-Pampo?"

"Don't worry!" Botlem nodded, then added, "However, Nepdo-Quint and the other three Guardian Families need you to convince them. ”

"Of course. Penny smiled, "But we have to wait for a guest." ”

...

In the enclosed study of the Prime Minister's residence on Patved Street, four people, Woz Pedro, Stu Garra, Dempto Bob, and Sim Erke (representative of the new aristocracy of the imperial capital, the first commoner merchant to be canonized as an aristocracy) sat around a coffee table.

When the aroma of tea began to overflow, Woz-Pedro spoke: "The empire has reached a crossroads, and there is no need to pursue the right and wrong in front of you...", he looked at the other three as he spoke, and when the three nodded, he continued: "Our Imperial Majesty... He... He is clearly incapable of leading the empire onwards. ”

"You have to admit it. ”

"Marquis of Wads. Count Stu Garra pushed away the steaming teacup and looked directly at Woz Pedro, "Now that we've come to this point, there's no need to continue this useless nonsense between us. ”

"That's good. Woz Pedro nodded, and stood up and walked over to his desk, where he pulled out a magically sealed file bag from his desk drawer, "Let His Majesty the Emperor be a plan decided by all the members of the Council of Nobles..."

"Then let's do it. Stu Garra didn't wait for Woz Pedro to finish his words before rushing to say: "This has to be done as soon as possible." ”

"I agree. Temple-Bob immediately took a stand as soon as Stu Gara looked at him.

"Who's going to succeed you?" asked Sim-Erke in a low voice, and as everyone looked at him, he added, "I don't mean anything else, I just want to ask... Because, I don't want our fate to be in the hands of a madman again. ”

"The successor will be the destined monarch of the country. Temple-Bob looked at the Prime Minister, "No one wants to be on the throne at this time... According to the laws of the Empire, the people who excluded the Danediv family seemed to be the most preferential Duke Pedy Reagan in Crewe and Duke Andy Barrett in Twak Territory. ”

"I want the two of them to succeed to the throne. Woz-Pedro smiled bitterly, "But these two adults are now eager to get rid of all ties with the Empire." ”

"His Royal Highness Makhir, the eldest son of Emperor Sinda and Empress Penny..."Stu-Gala watched with disdain as several people pushed each other forward, "He is the best choice at the moment. ”

"Then he!" Woz Pedro was the quickest to respond, answering the moment Stu Garra's voice landed, "Then follow the advice of Count Stu Gara, and let His Royal Highness Marchir inherit the throne of the Emperor." ”

"I agree. ”

"I have no opinion. ”

The other two expressed their stance one after another.

"Whoever is going to persuade Dewen Pompo and Nepdo Quint is there are the other three major military protection families. "Stu Gara doesn't care, he just wants to end the chaos in Suke City as soon as possible and end this nightmare.

"Devin-Pompo will not thwart our plans. Woz Pedro said in a low voice, "However, Marquis Barry Victor is a staunch supporter of His Majesty the Emperor, and although he is far north of Suke City at the moment, he has nearly 100,000 troops in his hands..."

As he spoke, he looked at Sim-Erke.

"Someone will hold the Marquis of Barry Victor in check. "Sim-Erke represents the promise of the new aristocracy.

"Good!" Woz Pedro smiled "hehe", "Others... For example, the Marquis of Nepdo-Quint and the Count of Crete-Slitt did not need to worry, and the Tano family had long since been absent from the affairs of the Empire because of the exile of Magnauel Tano. ”

Stu Gara immediately agreed, and then added: "However, this matter must be resolved within a day... On the day the plan is implemented, everything must be prioritized to serve our plan. ”

"I agree. ”

"I will fully support this project. Temple-Bob nodded.

"I have already informed the Council of Nobles. Woz Pedro said: "It's not a day, it's just three hours. ”

"Very well!" Stu Garra, Temple-Bob, and Sim-Erke looked at each other, and Stu Garra said, "So, who is going to talk to His Majesty the Emperor?"

"There's one person that's the most suitable!"

"Who?"

"Queen Penny..."

。 m.