Chapter 161 "I have a suggestion, would you like to hear it..."
At my command, some white mist swiftly attacked the charging guards, while others followed me towards a secret room in the palace—the hidden residence of Duke Yedana, which Manboa had discovered. When I arrived, I was surprised to find the duke naked, violently slapping a young boy across the face and stomping on him. Enraged, I gave the command again, and the white mist surged forward, tearing the duke to pieces.
The door was flung open, and the guards rushed in at the sound of screams. They were stunned to see the Duke's body. "The Duke is dead!" "The Duke of Yedana is dead!" The cries quickly echoed throughout the palace.
I quickly led the white mist to other places, and according to the list and locations given by Manberia, I directed the white mist to kill several other core nobles.
When I saw the last person on the list, I was stunned. It was Manberia's father, the old geezer I had seen in the attic.
I stood there for a long time, not knowing what to do, until I returned to human form and the white mist dissipated.
Suddenly, a glob of phlegm was spat onto my face; it was Manberia's father.
The next moment, Manberia led his troops into the room, and Manberia's father was surrounded.
Manberia led his army in ambush near the capital, and when the time was right, he stormed the city. The siege went exceptionally smoothly. Manberia had a thorough understanding of the capital's defenses and the character of each officer, allowing him to anticipate their possible strategies and make ample preparations.
The snow was falling heavily, and they were fighting fiercely. It would have taken at least an hour for Manberia to break through the city gate, but a nobleman who had originally sided with Duke Yedana suddenly switched sides and sent several fierce generals into the melee. They managed to open the city gate and let Manberia's army rush in with a bang.
The tide of battle turned. The Mambaa army's high morale routed the city's forces. With the news of "Duke Yedana is dead" and "Duke Yedana has been beheaded" spreading, the city's guards' resistance became increasingly weak. Before long, the Mambaa army stormed into the palace.
The entire palace was in chaos, and many people were still recovering from the fire, which allowed Manberia's army to easily gain the upper hand. Manberia ordered his main force to attack the palace, while he led another contingent of guards towards the chamber where I was.
The moment he barged in, I saw his father spit in my face. He was furious and was about to slap his father when I grabbed his wrist.
His father was immediately taken out of the house by his general.
He was still angry and tried to rush over to hit me, but I stopped him with my body.
“Do your most important thing now,” I warned him. “Otherwise, you’ll lose everything you’ve worked for.”
He had to control his emotions, lead a large group of guards away, and rush towards the next target...
Four or five hours later, the entire palace was under Manberia's control, and all the servants, maids, and nobles were gathered in different courtyards to await questioning and registration.
I took a quick shower, put on a robe, and opened the bathroom door, where I ran into Manberia. Perhaps he had been waiting at the door, because he immediately embraced me and led me into the inner corridor.
"Are you hungry? Let's go get something to eat now," he said gently.
"Have you got everything sorted out?" I asked.
“Yes, most of them.” He smiled at me. “Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to take this place, or rather, it would have been much harder to do so quickly. You’ve taken care of the key figures in Duke Yedana’s group. Without a leader, they were able to conquer the palace so quickly.”
"It's because you're so familiar with the palace," I remarked.
This time, Manberia had the perfect combination of timing, location, and popular support. The timing was perfect because the recent heavy snowfall prevented Duke Yedana's faction from attacking him immediately, giving him time to regroup, recruit soldiers, and implement countermeasures. He then launched a surprise attack before the snowfall ended. The location was advantageous because he was extremely familiar with the capital and palace layout, knowing exactly how many alleys the capital had, how many bricks were in the city walls, and how many secret passages the palace had – all making the attack effortless. The popular support came from my help, who captured several key figures, and a nobleman even defected, opening the city gates for him, making the capture of the city extremely smooth.
It seems even Heaven is on his side; I can't help but marvel.
"All I know is that I couldn't have done this well without your help." As we walked out into the inner corridor, a gust of cold wind blew by, and he held me even tighter.
He was holding me so tightly that only my face was exposed. I was a little unhappy, but I couldn't break free.
"How is the boy?" I asked.
"Which boy?" he asked, frowning.
I hesitated before mentioning the boy whom Duke Yedana had trampled underfoot. I didn't really want to ask, because the way I killed Duke Yedana was too cruel; I didn't want to face that version of myself.
"Oh, that." He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "You scared me to death. I thought you had your eye on some boy. I was wondering whether to let you have him or secretly get rid of him."
I rolled my eyes at him. "What are you thinking? I..." I hesitated before finally voicing my thoughts, "Am I being too cruel?"
"You mean the Duke of Yedana's death?" He laughed heartily. "You're overthinking it." He laughed as he put his arm around me and led me forward. "Who was the Duke of Yedana? Countless young boys died at his hands. He especially liked teenagers, the kind with delicate skin and tender flesh. He was ruthless when torturing them, not even sparing the legitimate sons of ordinary noble families. There are plenty of people who hate him. You killed him this time, and I wonder how many people are applauding."
Well, those words made me feel a little better.
This counterattack took a full month to eradicate. First came the capital city purge, where Manberia purged all the nobles. Those who submitted to him could temporarily save their lives, while those who did not were basically killed. Manberia always believed in the jungle law of "cutting the weeds and eliminating the roots," and "otherwise I would have died even more miserably," he told me.
Secondly, a major purge of the palace was carried out. He thoroughly investigated all the servants and maids, and only those with completely clean backgrounds were allowed to remain in the palace. The others were either expelled or sold, and in severe cases, they were even demoted to slavery and exiled to remote places.
Finally, he also questioned everyone around him to prevent any spies from showing up.
"What are you going to do with your father?" I asked him.
"Under house arrest until death," he replied.
"I have a suggestion. Take it or leave it."
"Oh, tell me about it."
"The reason Duke Yedana was able to persuade the other nobles to rebel against you is because you are cruel. You imprisoned your own father, killed all of his illegitimate children, and slaughtered tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers. Everyone will fear you and think you are untrustworthy. Once a person of high rank and power stands up against you, others will surely follow suit because they feel that following him is better than following you. You are bloodthirsty by nature. What if you kill them one day?"
He laughed. "I guessed what you were suggesting: that I shouldn't kill my father?"
"Not only should you not kill him, but you should also treat him with respect. Dress him in beautiful clothes, provide him with a luxurious and warm room, and arrange some attentive servants. Even if he wants to have another child, do not stop him. Everything should be based on respecting and treating him with courtesy. You should also tell people that you were wrong before, apologize, and from now on you should repent and treat your father with care to make up for your past mistakes."
He laughed repeatedly, "You want me to apologize to him? I'd rather die."
"Only in this way can you win back the opinions of some people, even if they know you are being insincere, they will treat you differently than before. A person who cares about their reputation is much easier to control than a person who doesn't. This 'control' doesn't mean that you are actually controlled by others, but rather that they feel you can be controlled by your reputation, that you are someone who cares. A bloodthirsty person who doesn't care about anything will only make people afraid, wary, and want to get rid of you at all times."
He was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll think about it."
Deep winter has finally passed, and early winter is arriving late. Everyone is saying that this year's deep winter was particularly long, firstly because it was indeed delayed by half a month compared to previous years, and secondly because the killings experienced during it made it feel especially long.
Early winter arrived, the weather warmed considerably, and the thick snow melted, leaving only a thin layer on the ground. On a day with light snowfall, the new king—the younger brother of the previous king—officially ascended the throne. Mambea, as Grand Chancellor, stood by his side. But this time, Mambea did not speak on behalf of the king; instead, he encouraged the king to speak for himself.
"Everything is as you wish, as long as you deem it right," Mamboa said politely to the king in public.
This earned Mamboa a wave of goodwill among the nobility.
Later, Mamboa even took the initiative to set up a cabinet for the new king, selecting some nobles to serve the king and offer advice, so that he would not appear so autocratic.
Although the nobles in the cabinet were chosen by Manberia, the real power of the entire cabinet was still in Manberia's hands. However, in the eyes of the nobles, there was always another place to speak, which was much better than the previous "one-man show". Perhaps they could bribe a noble in the cabinet and use some rhetoric in front of Manberia to achieve their goals.
Regardless of the circumstances, it's still progress.
Another thing happened that shocked the nobles: Mamboa actually treated his own father well. In full view of everyone, he moved his father, whom he had once regarded as an enemy, to a beautiful and luxurious room, arranged for young and pretty maids to serve him, and provided him with good food, drink, and entertainment every day, which surprised everyone.
When asked why, he replied, "After going through hardships, I realized how important the bond between family members is. And I only have one father, how can I not cherish him?"
It's hard to tell whether this is true or false, but it certainly makes one feel that this hard-hearted prime minister is different from before.
"I heard it was his new wife who persuaded him," a well-informed nobleman said. "Women with superpowers are soft-hearted and can't stand bloodshed."
"How could I not be able to see it? She was the one who killed Duke Yedana during this civil war."
"That's because she happened to see Duke Yedana violently stomping on his male lover, so she took action."
When I heard about it, I asked Mamboy, "Was it you who spread my reputation among the people?"
He just smiled and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Why?"
"It can both explain my actions and show the public that you are not so bloody, and that killing bad guys is doing a service to the people."
"..." I was speechless for a moment.
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Author's Note: Please support my other works too!! "My Girlfriend is a Genius" has been updated, and there are probably only one or two more chapters left before it ends. Welcome everyone to check it out, mwah~~
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