After a round of pleasantries, the topic finally shifted to the main topic of the banquet.
"Actually, I invited everyone here this time because I have an idea and a proposal that I want to discuss with you." After drinking several glasses of wine, Gweil's face flushed slightly. Her charming appearance attracted the attention of everyone present. Even some noble ladies had to admit that this girl had a pitiful temperament.
"Oh, what is it?" Everyone answered casually, thinking that the girl wanted to seek help. After all, they heard that a lot of the Wenlani family's wealth was destroyed in the war.
"I just hope that everyone in Longjiao Province can form a loose alliance to resist possible crises."
Gweil's surprising words caused the party to fall into a dead silence for a moment.
"Miss Gweil, you're joking, right?" Several nobles felt beads of sweat on their ears. Such remarks were tantamount to treason.
"I know what everyone is afraid of, but now it has come to the point where we have no choice but to do this." Gweil shook her head.
"I think everyone should know what happened to the Pascal family today. And how many of the famous families in the southern region that were once passed down for hundreds of years are left now?" She said this about the fact that everyone was secretly worried and anxious about.
"Those legions directly under the royal command will not let us go."
"The Regent not only wants the Pascal family to disappear, he also wants all the nobles in the entire southern region to disappear. This way, the entire southern region can be turned into a royal territory. Although it is nominally under the jurisdiction of the imperial bureaucracy, what is the difference between this and actually being controlled by them?" The charming and beautiful girl analyzed clearly, her snow-white skin emitting a moving color against the dark blue dress and the firelight.
"Just like the former Emperor, His Royal Highness the Regent's appetite will only grow, not shrink, because they are twins and share the same ideals and desires."
"This..." The nobles present looked at each other, still not daring to answer casually.
"In the minds of these two cold-blooded majesties, nobility is probably superfluous. All they need are slaves who obey them absolutely. Everything belongs to them, and they will be the master of everything."
"Such intentions and ideas have been repeatedly demonstrated in the policies and actions of these years. If this continues, the Empire will no longer be a place of freedom. It will become a prison, where everyone will become a slave."
"And even you and I are not immune." Gweil said this fact in a low voice.
"Excuse me, may I interrupt the beautiful Miss Gweil?" A bearded nobleman walked out from the crowd and came to the center of the dance floor. He was wearing a light green dress with gold edges and seemed to be a viscount.
"Everyone present here may have considered what you've said. But have you ever thought about why everyone remains indifferent?"
"Even if we know the truth, even if it is true, we are still powerless."
"You know how powerful the empire is. Mobilizing a million-strong army is easy for them, and suppressing us is as simple as flipping the palm of your hand. How can you question or oppose us so easily?"
"Of course I know how powerful the empire is, but you don't necessarily need to fight against a million-strong army." Gweil began to recall the words Miss Jialan asked her to remember before the banquet.
"First, the northern border of the empire is still suffering from the cold and is struggling to protect itself. We can't possibly send an army south. Letting a group of starving people pass through the fertile central part of the empire is a big guess. What will happen?"
"Well." Thinking of the rumors about people gnawing on tree bark or even corpses during the famine, the nobles present shuddered and shook their heads. It was indeed unlikely that the army from the north would be mobilized.
"The current Lord of the West is the elderly Duke of Griffin. He's practically the elder of the current Regent. He has a strong and stubborn character and won't easily accept the Regent's orders. Furthermore, they have to focus on guarding the border to prevent Clancy's rebellion, so they can't send an effective army to support them."
"It seems to make sense." The nobles began to waver slightly.
"As for the Landsworthy family in the East, that's even easier to say."
"The former Crown Princess Frosia disappeared at that wedding, and the Landsworthy family has been resentful about it ever since. Even now, the upper echelons of the empire are starting to exclude the elves, but the Landsworthy family has always been on good terms with the elves and has elven blood."
"Many of the nobles in the East Territory are more or less half-elven and half-human. They disagree with the Empire's new policies. The Unicorn Duke even voted against the Emperor's Western Expedition. Naturally, they are unlikely to aid the Regent in sending troops."
"Finally, we're not plotting rebellion or starting a rebellion. Instead, we're selectively refusing to accept certain unreasonable orders. At the same time, we're all keeping pace and supporting each other."
"If the current situation weren't so dire, I think no one would want to go this far. But the truth is, if we don't unite, your continued status as nobles will be in jeopardy."
"Look at those lords who were stripped of their titles by the Inquisitors under various pretexts. Do we really have to wait until they have a knife to their necks before we resist?"
"Then everything would be meaningless."
"There are only 200,000 to 300,000 Imperial troops stationed in the southern border, spread across various provinces. As long as we don't openly resist, they can't mobilize all of them. It's like abandoning the forest to cut down a single tree."
"We only have to face 20,000 Imperial troops at most, and as long as we can hold our ground, that's all we have to do."
"But even if there are 20,000 legionnaires." The people present still shook their heads. They knew very well the situation of their own guards.
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