Chapter 228 "He and I broke up a long time ago..."
The bustling, dilapidated train station, as always, was crowded with ragged civilians and slaves.
The air was filled with a sour, foul, and rotten smell.
When the dilapidated steam train stopped, everyone rushed onto it in a chaotic frenzy, pushing and shoving, stomping and cursing.
Those who squeezed through the doors, climbed through the windows, climbed onto the roof, stepped onto the edges of the carriages, and clung tightly to the connecting parts of the carriages—all of them successfully boarded the train.
Those who couldn't get on were all cursing loudly under the train, or running around looking for a chance to get on, or punching and kicking a few people clinging to the train body, trying to knock them down so they could climb on themselves.
“It’s still the same as before,” I murmured, dressed in a black hooded long coat, completely covered up. “It’s comparable to an Indian train. But, oh well.”
I raised my hand and gestured to Letea, who was also wearing a black hooded coat not far away, indicating that we could move.
Within seconds, a group of short, agile men carrying large bags squeezed onto the train. Those already on board pushed aside the others to let them in.
They efficiently and swiftly distributed the dry bread from the large bags to the commoners and slaves. The commoners and slaves, already starving, picked up the bread and began to nibble. After a few bites, they unexpectedly found a piece of paper. There were no words on the paper, as these lower-class people were illiterate. On it was a simple drawing of a person wearing a hat distributing bread on a mountain not far from the train station.
The quick-witted ones understood immediately, and since someone was going to hand out bread later, the less quick-witted ones asked someone nearby and also instantly grasped the meaning.
Is it possible for something so good to fall from the sky?
Some people thought it might be a conspiracy or some shady business, while others didn't think much of it. Why not take what's falling from the sky? A few bolder ones even pulled the short guy handing out bread aside and asked, "Brother, is someone really going to hand out bread later?" "Yes," the short guy nodded emphatically.
It was well past midnight, and before dawn, the train arrived at the station. A large group of people rushed off the train. Guided by someone with good intentions, they all staggered, jumped, and sprinted towards a mountain not far away.
As people dispersed and reached the mountainside, a group of men in black were distributing bread to those who arrived first, and those who received bread could then enter the cave.
Inside the cave, a passionate speech was taking place. The speaker, clearly well aware of the needs of the common people, passionately proclaimed: "All we need is a clean cup of water, a loaf of bread made from the most ordinary flour, a bed with sheets and blankets, but even these things, the upper classes refuse to give us. They suppress our wages, leaving us and our children to starve. We have no food, no clothes, no shelter. When our children fall ill, we have no money for medicine and can only watch them die. What are we toiling away day and night for? We can't even save our basic survival and our children's lives..."
A cheer erupted from dozens of civilians in the audience, clearly expressing their sentiments.
The speaker continued, "What's even more terrifying is that when we're on the verge of despair, we're forced to sell our children for bread, even our women, just to get three meals a day... What are we living for? What's the point of all this suffering? Why can't we even have our basic needs met? Why are we torn apart like this?!"
Many men wiped away tears, and some women and old women even cried out, "Yes, why? Why can't we earn money even though we work so hard?"
Why sell us?
I made another gesture from the corner, and immediately another group of men shouted, "We must resist! We must fight for our rightful rights!"
"Why can these nobles be high and mighty while we are oppressed and toiled?"
"Why?!"
People from different social classes have different ways of thinking. Those at the bottom, lacking education, sufficient information, and intellectual training, are prone to dividing people and things into friend and foe, good and evil, making them easily swayed. Simply put, they need an emotional outlet, not the reality of the world.
Finally, I adopted a reward system. Anyone willing to participate in this gathering would receive a loaf of bread. The second time they came, they would receive another loaf of bread; the third time, they would receive another loaf of bread on top of the previous two; the fourth time, in addition to the three loafs of bread, they would also receive a piece of clothing; the fifth time, in addition to the bread and a piece of clothing, they would receive another piece of clothing; and if they persisted for a month, they would also receive an extra small bag of money.
“Just hold on for three months, and that should be about it,” I told Lethea. “Then you’ll know what to do.”
Those who can persist in attending rallies for three months must be die-hards. Once they are gathered together, it will be easy to incite them to do something else.
“I know that now,” Letea said, “but a mob riot alone is not enough.”
“There’s still a lot that can be done in three months. Which nobles can be bribed, which can be persuaded to change their stance, and which can be directly… eliminated,” I said. “These are all your tasks.”
Letea: "And what about you? Did you plan this mob riot?"
Me: "Borrow troops. I will persuade the North to lend us troops."
Letea: "If you can really do it, I'll really have to think highly of you. The Grand Chancellor of the North is extremely stingy right now, and nobody can get a penny out of him."
Me: "I'm not sure, I'm just giving it a try. If it doesn't work out, there's nothing I can do, but I don't have a better path to take."
Letea: "Be prepared to die with me. If we lose, neither of us will survive."
Me: "If you're kept in confinement, there's not much difference between being alive and being dead."
I'm being watched very closely by Beatrice now, and I basically have no chance to go out. I'm not even allowed to go to the courtyard; I can only stay in my room.
These past few days, I've only had a chance to catch my breath because she's out. Letea found a woman with the same voice, build, and hair color to replace me, which allowed me to sneak away.
The maids generally don't enter my room. They leave my meals at the door, occasionally greeting me outside or quietly opening the door a crack to make sure I'm inside before leaving.
Beatrice forbade any of her maids from getting close to me, not even a little bit.
This gave me the opportunity to slip away.
That very night I returned to the Independent Capital and slipped back to my room without anyone noticing. What followed—whether it was a peasant uprising, bribing nobles, or eliminating them—was entirely Letea's responsibility. Letea's target was the King of the West, so it was only natural that she would expend so much effort.
The next day, upon waking, I heard that Beatrice had returned to the city. A maid outside the door said, "Please wash and dress immediately, the Queen has returned to the city."
I couldn't help but feel secretly glad that I had returned at the right time, rather than the early one.
In the rugged and spacious stone hall, Beatrice had changed out of her travel robes and put on a gorgeous bright orange gown with a very low neckline that almost fell out.
A fair-skinned and handsome young man was half-squatting, carefully trimming her toenails, while another tall and muscular handsome man was gently massaging her shoulders.
"The Eastern Territory is divided into three parts," Beatrice said lazily, leaning back on her throne and picking up a grape from a maid's plate. "One part belongs to your former lover, Bernard; another to the conservative nobles, namely the combined forces of the Amur royal family and the former queen's Duran family; and the third to the Yod family and several other powerful families. Bernard may be wealthy, but his military strength is insufficient, so he was driven to a capital city far from the capital. However, this has the advantage of making it easier for him to connect with the other capital cities in the Eastern Territory, and he has subdued at least half of them. The Amur royal family and the Duran family occupy the capital and several nearby capital cities; the remaining capital cities have been occupied by the Yod family and their allies. Haha," she laughed, "It seems Bernard will soon be able to bring you back to the Eastern Territory. I'll take this opportunity to ask for some benefits."
I sat on the cushion beneath her. "Why did he take me back to the East? We broke up a long time ago."
Beatrice laughed heartily, "Your chase is a joke to us. Princess Yanni and I were just talking about it the other day, saying that your relationship will probably only stop when Bernot can't keep going anymore. Do you know what I mean by 'can't keep going anymore'? It means that a man can't get aroused by a woman anymore, hahaha!"
She enthusiastically recounted how she and the nobles of the South and North gossiped about us, and I then learned that a few days earlier she had held a large meeting with the nobles of the South and North to discuss how to deal with the divided East, just like Attis had urgently convened a meeting to discuss how to deal with the East.
“By the way, I heard that Daio of Achia has already taken sole power,” Beatrice said with a smile, taking a small sip of the red wine handed to her by a maid. “If Artis hadn’t died, he wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”
“How could that be?” I said. “Artis has always been very good to Daio, almost treating him like his own son.”
Beatrice laughed loudly and casually threw her wine glass at a maid. The maid was startled and stepped back. Beatrice laughed even more wildly, "If Daio were really Attis's son, Attis wouldn't have died so quickly."
There was something more to that sentence, and I paused for a moment.
Beatrice looked at me, smiled meaningfully, and then said nothing more.
That evening, Beatrice hosted a small social ball, reveling with the nobles in the Great Stone Hall. While I was in the restroom, I secretly wrote a note for Mambeya in a stall and slipped it to Lethea's bodyguard.
I was kept under close surveillance and had almost no free time. I could only contact the outside world during the revelry of dance parties and by taking a dump.
"Haha, I've been so lucky these past few days!!"
Just as I came out of the restroom, I heard Beatrice sneer, "King Midian is seriously ill?! That guy is finally going to die! He's been paralyzed for so many years and still won't die, he's like an old monster."
Excitedly, she dragged the two handsome men onto the dance floor, and they started dancing arm in arm. She kissed one after another, and even got the two men to kiss her too, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight.
The music was joyful, the nobles were jubilant, and Beatrice laughed wildly, dancing excitedly in circles, her laughter echoing throughout the stone hall.
I sat silently in a corner, not speaking to anyone, and of course, no one came to find me.
I was as if I didn't exist, becoming an invisible person at the ball.
The next morning, while having breakfast with Beatrice, I asked to see King Midian.
“We’ve known each other for a while now, and he’s critically ill, so I should at least go and see him,” I said.
"Oh?!" Beatrice smiled, pursing her lips. "When did you become so kind?"
“Although I don’t have a friendly relationship with him, we’ve known each other for a long time,” I said. “Now that he’s so sick, it’s only right and proper that I see him.”
Beatrice's gaze shifted. "Although I don't quite believe what you're saying, it won't hurt me if you meet him."
She considered it for a moment and then agreed to my request. Perhaps she wanted to hear what I would say to King Midian, or perhaps she wanted to meet King Midian's queen, since she had not attended the conference a few days ago for some reason.
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