Chapter 170 A Sudden Change.
As evening fell, they prepared to leave by carriage. The old noblewoman boarded the carriage first, and Princess Yanni said in a very low voice, "You can write to me if there's an exchange of benefits. Don't worry, even if the deal falls through, I won't reveal the details. I need outside help right now."
After saying that, she got into the carriage with a chuckle. The old noblewoman looked at us with a strange smile on her face.
As the carriage drove away, I remained standing in the same spot.
When I first met them at Black Castle, they were locked in black iron cages, struggling to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. Now, one by one, they've escaped their cages, enjoying a life of luxury and privilege, yet they're no more free or happy than they were in those cages. Even after leaving the cage, they haven't found the happiness they imagined; worldly life is just an even bigger cage.
When will we be able to break free from our cages?
My busy life resumed, handling palace affairs and maintaining secret communications with King Midian's queen, with Letea still acting as the intermediary. As my belly grew larger, I found myself lacking energy, often only able to handle affairs in the morning and sleep in the afternoon until evening. In the evenings, I could do little; I'd glance at official documents, take a bath, or attend a ball, and then I'd be sleepy again.
Occasionally, someone would whisper in my ear about which woman Manberia had spent the night with, but I would just laugh it off; I couldn't care less.
I do not have unwavering love for him, so I cannot expect him to be unwavering in love with me.
Just as she was about to give birth, news of turmoil broke out in the Western Kingdom royal family. King Midian's past assassination of all of his queen's brothers and sisters was exposed. The queen's father was furious, and the entire family was extremely shocked. They rallied other close relatives and prepared to demand justice from King Midian. Ten thousand private troops had already set out.
King Midian was caught off guard and hastily tried to organize his army to prepare a response. However, with witnesses and evidence of his assassination of the family heir, the nobles were filled with fear that the same thing would happen to their own families. They gathered together and demanded a response from King Midian.
Although King Midian still controlled the military, his generals were also members of several powerful families in the West. Once these families began to have opinions about him, his military power became precarious.
But King Midian was King Midian after all, a cunning and shrewd man. He immediately found a scapegoat—the son of one of the most prestigious noble families in the West. He claimed that this son had a personal grudge against one of Queen Midian's brothers, and that years ago, the brother had fought tooth and nail over a lover. In a fit of rage, the brother poisoned the lover, and the son of the prestigious noble family then sent someone to assassinate him, staging it as a robbery and murder.
But Queen Midian's other brothers sensed something amiss and began an investigation. The son of a high-ranking noble family, ruthless and decisive, had them all murdered.
Because the son of this top noble family was known for his malice, cruelty, and cunning, once King Midian revealed the incident, coupled with ample evidence, all the nobles believed it.
King Midian also implicated two other noblemen, favored sons from two other prominent families, claiming they were the murderers of his queen's sisters. They said that, lusting after their beauty and allure, they had inadvertently given them too much of a sleeping potion while spending the night with them, resulting in their deaths.
King Midian also provided ample evidence, causing an uproar among the nobles. They had only known that the sons of those two powerful families were notorious for their womanizing, but they never imagined that the Queen's sisters were also so promiscuous.
The situation suddenly reached a stalemate.
The standstill lasted for more than half a month.
I have given birth. I went into labor in the middle of the night, screaming and crying out in pain, not knowing what to do. The imperial physician kept comforting me from outside the bed curtains, while the female physicians stayed by my bedside, wiping the sweat from my forehead and combing my disheveled hair.
Mamboya's voice occasionally came from outside the door, asking how I was doing and gently comforting me. He tried to come in several times, but was stopped by the royal physicians and nobles, as this was against royal protocol.
After enduring pain for most of the night, a loud baby's cry pierced through the anxiety.
"Congratulations, Your Highness, you have given birth to a daughter."
"Look at her, what an adorable little girl she is!"
I was both amused and exasperated. How could you tell what a newborn baby looked like? It was just the doctors' flattery. The baby was quickly cleaned up and taken outside for Mamboya to see.
I was carefully helped up by the female physicians and watched as the maids quickly changed the sheets and made the bed again.
I lay down again, pulled the thin blanket over myself, and then Mamboya came in. Seeing his empty hands, I asked in surprise, "Where's our daughter?"
"She was afraid she would disturb your rest, so the nanny took her to the room across the street." He came to my bedside, took out a handkerchief to wipe my face, and said affectionately, "Why are you still all sweaty?"
“A newborn baby should feel safe in its mother’s arms,” I said unhappily. “Bring her here.”
He chuckled, "It's not too late to bring it tomorrow; you need to rest now."
Just as I was about to retort, he suddenly said, "I just received the latest news from the West: King Midian has been paralyzed."
"Paralyzed from a fall?" I was startled, but my attention was successfully diverted. I stopped asking to take my daughter back and said, "How could this happen?"
"King Midan's father personally led ten thousand private troops to a royal city not far from the capital. He denounced King Midan for fabricating evidence, confusing right and wrong, and attempting to cover up his murder. King Midan happened to be in that royal city as well. Standing on the city wall, he argued with the Queen's father, when suddenly he pressed his temples, touched his head, and then his chest, and fell off the city wall, startling everyone. But the Queen's father dared not confront him, nor did he dare to actually lead his troops forward. Instead, he retreated a dozen steps and announced a two-kilometer retreat. He feared being branded a traitor and attacked by the nobles. Although he had ten thousand private troops, the capital had thirty thousand garrison troops, and some top nobles also had their own private armies. If they really dealt with him, he would be in great trouble."
Manboa laughed. "He originally brought his army here just to scare King Midan and take two royal cities from him. He didn't really want to rebel; he didn't have the strength to do so."
"How did you know?" I asked. I knew from Queen Midian that King and Queen Midian's father wanted to seize two royal cities, but how did Manboa know?
“Anyone with eyes can see it,” Manboa laughed. “Since his sons are all dead, and he can’t defeat King Midan, he can only take two royal cities to support his mute son in his old age. But King Midan is notoriously stingy, and it won’t be easy to get anything from him. He can only bring ten thousand private soldiers to bolster his forces and intimidate him. King Midan probably knows this too. It’s said that he was looking at a map the night before, marking it up, probably to see which royal city would be the most profitable. But on the night of the negotiations, he never expected to fall from the city wall.”
Manboa clicked his tongue and said, "This royal city, which is closest to the capital, has a defensive function. The city walls are not low, which is why I said it would cause paralysis."
Dawn was approaching, and I leaned back on the pillow, rubbing my forehead, and didn't mention bringing my daughter again. Mamboya, on the other hand, watched with amusement as my attention was diverted.
"Get some rest." He tried to kiss my cheek, but I refused. He smiled and left.
Half an hour later, I summoned my bodyguard and secretly delivered a letter to Letea, instructing him to convert five chests of jewels and five chests of silk into silver notes and give them to King Midian's male favorite.
"And I will send him a hundred elite guards to help him leave the Western Regions safely," I said.
"yes."
My plan with King and Queen Midian was to use the family of King Midian's male favorite as leverage to secretly drug him. This drug was extremely rare, and Queen Midian had obtained it herself. Sprinkled on a candle, when lit, its scent would be released. Upon smelling it, King Midian would feel dizzy and then temporarily lose his mind for about a month. During this month, the nobles would surely force King Midian to abdicate; no one wanted a "mentally challenged" king. They would allow his mad son or his son—King Midian's grandson—to succeed him, thus giving King and Queen Midian control of the government.
Originally, King Midan and Queen were reluctant to take such a risk. King Midan was very shrewd, and any mistake at any stage could lead to failure. King Midan's candles were specially made and would be lit for a while in other servants' rooms before being escorted to his chambers by several servants and guards, who kept a watchful eye on him, fearing that someone might tamper with the candles.
Each time a male concubine entered King Midan's room, he had to be completely empty-handed and naked, with nothing hidden in his body. Even his mouth, hair, and ears would be checked to ensure there were no concealed items before he was allowed to enter.
So how did the male favorite succeed? He needed the help of the mother of his mentally unstable son. Queen Midian instructed her to deliberately trigger her son's madness, causing him to run around in terror, eventually ending up on the route used to deliver the candlesticks. This route was not accessible to just anyone; only top members of the royal family were allowed to pass.
The grandson rushed in, and the guards dared not stop him. His birth mother chased after him, and the guards dared not stop her either. They wanted her to bring her grandson back quickly, but unexpectedly, the birth mother bumped into the male concubine who had come with the candlestick.
The male concubine grabbed the birth mother's hand and scolded her for not watching her grandson. The birth mother cried and apologized repeatedly. While the two were arguing, the servants would be distracted for a few seconds, and the male concubine would stuff a handful of powder into the grandson's hand. The grandson would then sprinkle the powder into the candle as instructed by his birth mother, his grandmother, and then run away with a smile.
The male concubine then pushed the birth mother to the ground, saying she had ruined his mood, and left angrily. The birth mother also left with her head down and her grandson.
The male concubine, his birth mother, and his grandson had no contact whatsoever, nor could they possibly have any contact. King Midan kept a very tight rein on his insane son and grandson; no one but himself was allowed to approach them.
To my utter surprise, before King Midian could even become mentally disabled, after inhaling the smell of candle powder for several hours, he fell from the city wall due to dizziness and became paralyzed.
I leaned against the headboard for hours, unable to fall asleep even though I had just given birth.
This is such a surprise!
The sun slowly rose, its rays shining on the thick snow outside the window. Suddenly, news arrived: "Queen Beatrice of the Western Independent Royal City announces that she will sign a marriage certificate with Prince Haya of the Western Regions, officially marrying him!"
I was so shocked that I froze on the bed.
Another message reads: "Queen Beatrice will officially declare war on the Westerlands! She angrily denounces Queen Midian and some of her nobles for plotting against King Midian, an unforgivable crime and a disgrace to the Western Kingdom. Prince Hyja will seek justice for his brother!"
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Author's Note: I'm back~~ Sorry everyone waited so long~~
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