Chapter 40 White Rabbit. She's a kind little white rabbit.
With his two troublesome sons sent to work and the sweet and soft Omega by his side, His Majesty's days were happy and fulfilling.
The brief period of vulnerability has finally passed smoothly, and His Majesty's various physical indicators have returned to normal. King Sklag II felt that time had flown by.
After the examination, he asked Shiwei if she wanted to go on a trip abroad with him. Shiwei replied that she wanted to travel and didn't want to do any visits!
“I’ll go with you,” said King Sklag II.
Shi Wei shook her head and declined, saying earnestly, "There are still many backlogged matters to deal with, Your Majesty. You need to work hard! There's no need to trouble you with the travel arrangements."
Don't get involved in things that don't concern you. Go on your business trip, bro.
The Emperor, looking listless, reluctantly opened the schedule on his personal computer—it was densely packed with schedules, and just looking at it annoyed him.
Several more guests arrived for the usual afternoon tea; they all looked familiar. Shi Wei greeted them with a smile one by one.
The most familiar face is, of course, our refined and easy-going Secretary Jiang. Whenever Shi Wei sees his smile, she is reminded of those photos.
He's a smiling tiger, the so-called aristocratic standard, the first royal secretary whose every word and action can influence the direction of the great nobility.
Shi Wei couldn't help but think of her ex, the defector who had affected her life.
She recently consulted Decari Mien's file in the library, and there were some discrepancies with what was publicly available. He was undoubtedly a person with a very high IQ. He was not particularly outstanding during his school years, and it was only because of the recommendation of the head of the secret service that he was appreciated by His Majesty.
This former First Secretary, a young Beta who died in the icy sea, came from a commoner family and attended an imperial public university. His file describes him as a kind, sincere, and peaceful person.
Dekari is indeed suitable to be a secretary. He has enough ability to assist His Majesty in handling the affairs of the empire and is very loyal to His Majesty. If he had not been turned against His Majesty, he might have been able to rise to a very high position.
It seems that the biggest beneficiary of Decali's defection was Secretary Jiang.
Through her observations, she discovered that none of His Majesty's true confidants were from high-ranking noble families. Even Lu Qi, who came from a noble family, was only from a collateral branch. If he hadn't followed His Majesty, he would at most have become a count.
Class distinctions have become rigid, making it very difficult for ordinary people to rise above their circumstances.
So even though Shi Wei was captured by the Security Bureau because of Dekali, people still feel sorry for him.
She herself was a commoner, and the emperor of the Fran Empire was more like an ornament. When she was a child, Shi Wei would ask her brother: There is only one emperor, but there are thousands of nobles. It is better to be trampled underfoot by one person than to be trampled underfoot by a group of people, right?
Shi Chuan, who was already an adult at that time, asked his naive younger sister, "Then tell me, where did the emperor come from?"
Xiao Shi thought for a moment, then said crisply, "She was born from the Emperor's mother!"
Her brother patted her little head and said with a smile, "No, the emperor is the highest nobleman... and sometimes, he is a commoner just like us."
The transfer of power does not require bloodline inheritance; there are more violent methods.
These were His Majesty's words, and judging from his style of doing things, he prefers this violent approach.
Disobedient nobles can simply be beheaded.
Just like the animals in Leo's territory, it needs herbivores to clear some grass and trees, and it needs some carnivores to clear some herbivores. Sometimes it will also nibble on one or two carnivores to discipline those disobedient carnivores.
Some of those carnivores, even the fierce and daring ones, would not accept such a fate.
They wanted to share Leo's power, just as some nobles, when His Majesty was young, smelled the aroma of lamb and couldn't wait to devour the imperial power.
Asta's diary records a story of "the division of Jin into three states"—she describes, like telling a fairy tale, how nobles divided up imperial power and eventually became emperor themselves.
In reality, that's exactly what she did. Like many rulers, when she couldn't break through her opponent's defenses, she would start from within and launch a coup. Often, this was more cost-effective than direct warfare.
Lu Qi said that even if he hadn't encountered Shi Wei, Dekali would still have been caught eventually.
It would have been better if she had met Shi Wei.
You can't blame her for being overly suspicious, but Jiang Guyuan, as a beneficiary of the system, is indeed too suspicious.
"Whoever gets the biggest slice of cake is the first to take the knife," Asta said.
Shi Wei munched on a cookie, sitting next to His Majesty, listening to the group of Alphas chatting idly. There wasn't a single Beta among them, tsk.
The "fact" of AO equality masks a crueler truth—Beta is treated as a consumable.
The principle of scarcity driving up value became the reason for the nobility to exploit the larger Beta population.
That's the topic they were talking about. Recently, on this small planet in the south, the Beta community has been calling for "gender equality."
Because Betas are not affected by pheromones, do not have menstrual cycles, and can work 30 days a month—they are even very sensitive to caffeine, a chemical that can make them work with boundless energy with just a little bit of caffeine.
Therefore, Betas are considered the most suitable group for work in ABO society. Although Shi Wei is an Omega, she really wants to roll her eyes - the nature of humans is to love leisure and hate work, who would like to go to work?
Even emperors don't like going to work.
However, anthropologists say this: Young Betas shouldn't lie down. Two days off a week is already a blessing. Don't focus on the menstrual leave of AOs. Menstrual leave is only a few days a month. Procreate more. Maternity leave is half a year.
Betas rarely mate with AOs; they mate with each other much more easily. We often hear about the extinction of ancient noble forms because of the strict requirements for AOs to reproduce. Betas don't have this problem, which is why their population is so large.
Therefore, once they unite in large numbers, the government has no choice but to deal with them.
“Give them some benefits.” This was the Deputy Minister of Finance, a short-haired female Alpha, who seemed indifferent: “If they feel they are being treated unfairly, they will cause trouble. Just let the local government give them some money.”
As expected of someone from aristocratic background, they are indeed wealthy and powerful. Shi Wei thought to herself, "You make it sound so easy. If you're so capable, why don't you give them the money?"
Minister Lian An retorted, "The local government will definitely object. There are hundreds of thousands of people here. Giving each person a thousand star coins would amount to hundreds of millions of star coins. How much tax revenue does a small planet generate in a year..."
He saw Shi Wei looking at him, smiled at her, and raised an eyebrow: "It should be based on their needs. They demand gender equality, right? Beta women are physically weaker and earn less pay for their work, so we should give them more subsidies."
Shi Wei sensed something was wrong and asked curiously, "But wouldn't male Betas feel—"
Lian An smiled at her, like a fox: "Send them all. Give the female Betas who have been wronged a thousand star coins and the male Betas five hundred star coins. That way they will stop causing trouble soon."
The average is 750 star coins per person, which is much lower than the 1,000 mentioned before. It's because the trouble stopped soon... Shi Wei felt a chill in her heart. She glanced at His Majesty, who clenched his hands and said, "Stop fooling her. Go and investigate honestly. There must be something wrong with hundreds of thousands of people suddenly causing trouble."
Lian An shrugged and said to Lu Qi, "That's your problem."
Lu Qi rolled his eyes.
Shi Wei looked at the others again and felt that Lu Qi, who had a stern face, was kinder.
These smiling nobles are terrifying.
Their approach to solving the problem was also different from hers: they cleverly transformed the gender inequality caused by class inequality into a gender inequality problem.
This contradiction can even be intensified if necessary.
Just like when a company has a problem, some public relations firms immediately drag their competitors down with them, causing everyone to suffer together.
The pot is there, and since it remains the same no matter how you explain it, let others share the burden.
She, like a little white rabbit, seems out of place here.
After finishing that topic, Secretary Jiang casually remarked, "His Majesty is about to go on a foreign visit, but there's one thing they haven't reached a conclusion on yet: the selection of the executive officer for YN1 planet..."
Bai Xu resigned under pressure, which can be considered a narrow escape. This official position was too hot to handle, and it was better to run away early so that he could have a peaceful end.
The council spent a long time deliberating but still couldn't come up with a candidate: there were only two, and they didn't even need to remember their names—one was recommended by the second prince, and the other by the first prince.
Eight meetings were held, and eight votes were cast, all resulting in a tie.
Shi Wei: "Pfft—"
His Majesty frowned, seemingly displeased that Secretary Jiang had brought up such a trivial matter to ask him.
Her laughter drew the attention of Secretary Jiang, who seemed about to say something, when Shi Wei said to herself, "Since it's a tie, it means neither of these two candidates satisfies everyone, so let's not change the candidates."
After Bai Xu resigned, with Shen An's support, Aldrich, the mayor of Sunset Town, became the acting executive officer.
Secretary Jiang paused for a moment with a smile, then said, "This one is the acting executive officer, backed by the beastmen, and might..."
His Majesty has neither the patience nor the need to deal with this matter. Why insist on stabbing one of his sons in the heart? He simply said:
"It's good to have the support of the orcs. It will save us from being criticized like before. Let's drop the word 'delegate'."
His Majesty made the final decision.
Secretary Jiang remained silent for two seconds, and no one else spoke; no one else had the guts to do so.
He said yes, his gaze falling on Shi Wei's face.
The little white rabbit, who was munching on a cookie, gave him a kind smile.
Secretary Jiang's gaze froze, and finally she smiled slowly.
Shi Wei shuddered and moved a little closer to His Majesty.
Who would want their son to be instigated to fight to the death?
The position on YN1 star is coveted by Yi Lan. No matter which prince gets it, the other one will definitely cause trouble, and it will end up benefiting outsiders. Secretary Jiang can remain invisible, but the two princes will be in trouble.
Afternoon tea ended, Shi Wei saw the guests off. Secretary Jiang, a step behind Lian An, glanced at Shi Wei and said with a smile, "Aldrich, right? I heard that you persuaded that Alpha orc to reveal your location to His Majesty, which is how you were saved—"
Shi smiled and said, "Really? Is that so? Didn't His Majesty come to rescue me personally?"
Your Majesty's heroic rescue of the damsel in distress that day was quite impressive.
Jiang Guyuan gained a new understanding of her and continued, "The male snake-man that the Security Bureau failed to capture before has escaped to the Chaotic Starfield. I heard from his sister that he and his sister both like you very much."
This vague threat was nothing to her. Shi Wei shamelessly said, "But I love His Majesty."
"That's good—if I could marry His Majesty, I probably wouldn't have to worry for the rest of my life," Jiang Guyuan said.
Nobles always speak in such roundabout ways. Even when they're clearly unhappy, they still have to follow etiquette. Tsk tsk.
The wind was a bit strong outside. Shi Wei casually brushed her hair, which was being blown by the wind, and the ring on her finger reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight.
The swaying light caused the middle-aged man in front of him to look away.
Shi Wei sincerely said, "Thank you for your kind words, Secretary Jiang—I will always be by His Majesty's side."
Idiot.
Foolish Alpha.
If she wants to get married, this guy has to pay his respects to her right now.
Seeing his colleague noticeably quicken his pace, the head of the secret service showed no sympathy. After watching the whole thing, he walked over, stared at the ring on Shi Wei's hand, and said, "I really underestimated you. Not bad. When did His Majesty propose?"
After pissing everyone off, Shi Wei was in a very good mood and said nonchalantly, "It's been a while."
Lu Qi stared at her face, trying to determine if she was telling the truth, and asked, "So when are you getting married?"
Shi Wei smiled at him, tilted her head, and said, "I refused."
Lu Qi: He must be bluffing... But the ring is definitely real.
He was a little confused.
Asta's belongings were reserved for queens and princesses throughout history and were never given to outsiders.
Shi Wei stretched lazily, completely abandoning any ladylike demeanor, and said slowly, "I want to play for a few more years, and besides—being His Majesty's girlfriend is much happier than being the Empress."
Love is beautiful, but marriage brings more obligations and responsibilities.
Wait a minute, isn't it a bit scummy of her to think like that?
But His Majesty is the one with the decision-making power, Shi Wei comforted herself, she was definitely not a bad woman.
She's such a kind little white rabbit.
They are different from these blood-soaked beasts that fight and battle in the jungle.
Her life principles will never be assimilated by them.
Lu Qi stared at her with a strange expression: "A little white rabbit isn't scary, nor is a fierce tiger. What's scary is a human pretending to be a little white rabbit."
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Author's note: Only His Majesty thinks the little white rabbit is cute.
Everyone else just wanted to send the little white rabbit to wipe the bear's butt.
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