Section 196

After Allyn snorted coldly, he bypassed these guys in the way and walked directly back to his office, leaving those people looking at each other. It's true that this thing is a bit unreliable, slaughtering the city or something...... Unless it is a result of desperation, or a siege tactic that harms innocents (e.g., fire, flooding, etc.), this is unlikely to happen in a civil war.

Probably because of this common sense, they chose to leave after a short while.

There was already a stack of papers on the Prime Minister's desk. Among them, the main one is the material support work of the Northern Front. Rafa apologized to the little queen as a courtier and asked for help, which avoided internal divisions, but also brought new pressure to the financial and material resources of Eagle City. Although the treasury can cope with it for a while, it is certainly not possible to sit on the empty side. Ellen was racking her brains to deal with it. Of course, there are a lot of other bits and pieces besides that. This is also known as "one power, one responsibility". Prime Minister is a very important official position in the court. In the absence of the Queen, all the important decisions, if any, were made by Ellene. His powers even included convening royal councils in place of the queen. However, in order to avoid suspicion, Irene still tried not to use it carefully.

He kept his mind clear, and then took care of a whole bunch of tedious chores in one go. After the paperwork at the desk had finally been reduced to an acceptable level, Erynn leaned the back of her head against the back of her chair and took a small break.

“...... General Aehurufat in the city of Fornoros...... Ordered to kill the entire city...... "I don't know what the road is for, but the words of that person just now once rang in Iryn's heart again.

"Damn it...... How...... Deal with this situation......" he whispered to himself. The Prime Minister is indeed the most powerful position, but he is also the focal point of all troubles. "That Ashrufat...... It's so daring!"

His hand reached into the office drawer. It's all confidential, and even cronies and maids can't read it. Allyn picked up a document from the top, it was a secret letter.

"That guy...... Isn't it on the cusp of the storm!"

The content on MeSign is already read, Elenn. But now I can't help but watch it again.

In politics, if a person wants to stand tall, in addition to being able to properly handle his own work, there is also a key ability, that is, vision. In other words, it is to stand in line. Some people may be foolish enough to think that everything (such as factional fights) is sufficient, but a true politician will never believe in such dogma. It is important to know that sometimes it does allow neutrality, but more often it is either friend or foe. Neutrality will only lead to your own isolation and eventual defeat by being besieged.

Irene may be considered a conservative, steady person, or even a diehard. But he is by no means a fool. Although he despised those civilians, he also knew that there were some qualities among the civilians that could not be ignored, such as cunning, viciousness, and ferocity.

This is bound to have far-reaching consequences. What level of public opinion will it reach? Opinion among the aristocracy...... Perceptions among the civilian population...... International perception...... The attitude of the church side...... And most importantly, what attitude will the queen adopt? Judging by the time, the little queen will certainly not ignore the previous exploits of Ashrufat...... But there is a good chance that public opinion will pursue it to the end...... Is this an opportunity, or is it the beginning of a reshuffle in the court? And at this time, the situation is really not good, the war in the north is still going on, and the current situation is calm, but it is only temporary. The battlefield is changing rapidly, and no one knows what will happen underneath the road......

"My lord," the servant's voice interrupted the Prime Minister's train of thought for a moment, "Countess Marianne asks to see you. ”

“......”

Seeing that the prime minister did not respond for a long time, the entourage cautiously asked again. "My lord, do you want to see her?"

Countess Marianne...... That old woman wasn't easy to mess with. Of course, in terms of status and power, Irene can ignore the other party, but the trouble is that Countess Marianne is the kind of woman who is very good at taking advantage of her various conditions, especially she is very good at taking advantage of her status as a woman and a widow. For according to a man's nature and default moral code, it is difficult for everyone to pursue a widow's petty faux pas.

In the past, she was tacitly driven out of Eagle City, but now this old woman is back. Well, she chose a good time, at that time, Byron had not been driven out of the city for a long time, the little queen's court had just been built, and all the past forces had been cleansed. Those in power at that time were either unrelated people or the old woman's side (such as Ashrufat), and naturally they would not do such a grudgeful but unflattering thing—perhaps they did not even know the cause and effect of this matter. So the old woman came back blatantly.

It's not just about returning to Eagle City. Countess Marianne soon re-entered the aristocratic social circle of Eagle Falcon City and began to officially expand her influence. Although she is no longer young now, she always has a way of getting welcomed in the reception rooms of different families. One of the most important points is Shirley, who is temporarily acting as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and her unmarried niece-in-law, Ishrufat.

"No...... You go back and tell her, just say I'm not feeling well," Allyn muttered again and again, and finally decided not to see the other party. Because he was too busy during this time to spare his energy and time to deal with the woman's conspiracy calculations. On top of that, the light outside the window was dim at this time - before I knew it, it was almost dark. It is not reasonable to visit someone at this time, especially to meet the prime minister of a country in the office.

......

The moonlight is cold.

Ashruphat walked down the stairs of the tavern. At this time, it was already late, everyone else had rested, and only the group of gamblers were still busy in the lobby to continue gambling. The number of gamblers seems to be several more at this time compared to dinner time. Surrounded the two tables.

Of course, for the tavernkeeper, this is exactly what is desired. The gamblers were shouting and drinking.

No, in fact, apart from this group of gamblers who were in full swing, in an inconspicuous corner of the lobby, sat a lonely figure. The figure appears thin, cloaked in a hood with a hood on its head, its face hidden in the shadow of the hood, but a short white beard clearly surrounds its chin. From this point of view, this man is quite old.

Ashruphat was sure that he had not seen this man before, in other words, that he had arrived later.

There is a lot of evidence to support this judgment. The man was munching on a slow meal, specifically an onion and lamb. Although he ate at an unhurried pace, it was clear that the food on his plate was a little too complete. This is enough to show that he has just started eating.

Ashrufat walked out of the tavern door and into the street. As I have already mentioned, it was getting late at this time, and the town was very quiet, except for the occasional barking of dogs or the chirping of birds. The moonlight sprinkled on the gravel pavement, dyeing the entire street with a chilling silver glow.

It was so quiet that Ashruphat didn't need to pay any special attention before he heard footsteps behind him. The steps are steady and not hurried, not like those gamblers who are gambling lively......

"Ashrufat. A voice sounded behind him that he hadn't expected. Ashrufat turned his head and saw that the diner had followed him out of the tavern. The voice was so familiar that he didn't need the other person to drop his hood for him to recognize who the other person was.

"Grand Director Skadra?" Ashrufat asked, somewhat surprised.

"It's me. Skadra took off his hood, revealing his silver hair.

"You should ...... It's right to accompany the Queen. Ashrufat estimated the trip. Skadera should have accompanied the little queen back to Eagle City before coming to find him. But what did he do when he came to see him, and why did he know his way back?

This...... It must have been a private meeting, right? But for what?

"There's really nothing going on in Eagle City. Skadera smiled slightly. As mentioned earlier, Skadera is a serious person, so his concept of "smile" is different from ordinary people. If it weren't for someone who knew him well, he wouldn't have been able to detect this smile. But even though Ashrufat was familiar with him, he couldn't see the meaning of this smile.

"Thanks to Byron, I have very little work to do. Skadera said. "Her Majesty has no intention of returning to the palace, as for the temporary palace...... Well, there are only a limited number of people there. I hardly need to care about anything anymore. For the first time in all my years as the Grand Governor of the Imperial Court, I have experienced this feeling of idleness. ”

Although these words were interesting, Ashruphat knew very well that Skadera had come to the door so specially not to discuss the work of the court with him.

"So, may I take the liberty of asking," Ashrufat tried to be as careful as he could in the face of his former boss, so as not to appear rude. "Lord Skadra, how do you know I'm here, or is it really just a chance encounter arranged by fate?"

"Actually, your itinerary is not hard to guess. Skadera replied. "Although this side seems a little farther away, the ferry here can be taken as you go, no more than the military took over over there. I'm guessing you'll try to hide your identity and make your way back to Eagle City in secret, so I guessed right. What's more, there is only one tavern in this town...... So it's more convenient. Even if I don't meet you now, I'll be sure to find out where you're tomorrow. Still," he nodded. "Tonight's encounter is exactly what I want. It should be said that the heavens are beautiful, and it is better than I expected. Because it seems that there is a rare opportunity for us to be alone. For us, this kind of opportunity is not very much. Sometimes it seems to be alone, but it can't prevent the wall from having ears. ”

"You want to talk to me? You want to talk to me...... It's not something that's within your purview, is it? something......" Ashrufat asked.

"Quite the opposite. You may have heard of the marriage of the royal family...... It is indeed within the scope of my duties. Skadera said. His words are so straightforward that there is no possibility of misunderstanding.

"Let's not influence other people's interests here. Ashrufat's eyes glanced at the lights in the tavern and the shouting coming from the crack in the door. "It's a lovely night tonight, and I'm going to go out for a walk. Will you join me, Lord Skadra?"

"Very happily. Skadera said.

The two walked side by side, along the street. The houses on both sides of the street had gone into darkness and no unusual sounds could be heard. But the two men continued silently until they reached the end of the street, beyond the town.