Chapter 231 You really know how to handle men. ...
The sky was overcast, and a strong wind filled everyone's mouths with sand. As soon as I stepped off the carriage, the wind blew my headscarf away.
The wind and sand were blowing so hard I couldn't open my eyes, but thankfully I was immediately taken to a sheltered spot on the city wall of the small town.
There's a battle taking place just three kilometers outside the city today. It's not far from the mines, only two kilometers away. The armies from the North and West are locked in fierce combat.
The wind and sand raged, dust billowed, and the sounds of fighting and shouting, swords clashing, could be heard even three kilometers away, creating a terrifying atmosphere.
After watching for a while, I claimed to have a headache and walked towards the palace against the wind, deliberately ignoring the disdainful look of the head maid, Atresia, who had accompanied me.
She couldn't even stand watching the fight for a short while; she's so fragile.
Beatrice had many trivial matters to attend to and did not come along, only sending her most trusted head maidservant with me.
Upon entering the makeshift room prepared for me in the palace, I lied and said I needed to sleep for a while because I was too tired from the journey. The head maid left without saying anything, though she did order two guards and two maids to stand watch at my door.
As night fell, Leyteya's bodyguards came to me and told me the results of the battle: the North had lost, the West had won, and they estimated that the battle would resume in a few days.
I was silent for a moment, then said, "Let's go, now."
Then I left a stand-in woman in the room who had the exact same hair color and figure as me.
In just two hours, with the help of my guards, I arrived in the royal city that Bernot had sent me in a secret carriage. The distance from the small town to here was the shortest, which was one of the reasons I provoked Beatrice to come to the battlefield.
The small gate of the royal city opened, and a head steward with a full beard and a hunched back was already waiting there.
"Have all the generals in the army been persuaded?" I asked.
"There's still half left."
"Half left?"
"Yes, there are ten generals in total, and so far only five have been successfully turned. I apologize, madam."
Seeing that I didn't speak, the hunchbacked head steward cautiously asked, "How about I try to persuade them again? Maybe there will be a change of heart. Two of those five seem to be interested, but they haven't made up their minds yet."
“No need, just kill them all.” I said, placing a packet of poison in his hand. “Try to sprinkle it into their drinks or water. If that doesn’t work, just stab them.”
The hunchbacked steward remained silent for a while before asking, "What if stabbing with a knife fails?"
"Just blow it up!" I placed another small packet of gunpowder in his hand.
Only success is allowed.
I will surely take back the royal city.
Tonight is the perfect opportunity. I have personally come here, and I have also won over the three chief stewards of the royal city—bribing them with large sums of money and promising them high positions. I can also seize military power unexpectedly. This is the best chance to reclaim it.
This hunchbacked chief steward was extremely greedy; I used almost all the treasures Letea had given me to subdue him and have him persuade the other two chief stewards. These three stewards had long been dissatisfied with Beatrice; since she took over my capital, Beatrice had levied heavy taxes annually, leaving them with very little to gain. Now, with the opportunity to acquire treasures and reclaim real power, they couldn't be happier.
"Then... what about the city lord?" the hunchbacked steward asked again.
The city lord, appointed by Beatrice's confidant, is also the most powerful person in the royal city.
I took out three small packets of gunpowder. "Place one in the main hall, one in the courtyard, and one at the palace gate. Then shout slogans, just like I told you in my last letter. Finally, capture the city lord alive."
As midnight gradually passed, I chose to wait until dawn again, just like I did many years ago when I helped Beatrice reclaim the Independent Kingdom.
—When everyone is most relaxed and sleeping the most soundly.
A deafening roar shattered the pre-dawn tranquility. Another roar followed, and screams of agony filled the air. Yet another roar erupted, unleashing even more screams and wails, along with panicked shouts and the sound of people running back and forth.
A large group of armored guards rushed out of an inconspicuous tunnel, brandishing their swords and storming into the palace.
This tunnel is extremely secret, only drawn on the map of the palace, and I was the only one who saw that map before it was burned.
The tunnel connects to a river outside the city. I then had the royal army stationed outside the city secretly infiltrate it. Their general, whom I had already bribed, sank to the bottom of the river to enter the secret passage and successfully swam into the palace.
Flames soared into the sky, thick smoke billowed, cries shook the heavens, blood flowed like a river in the palace, and maids, servants, and palace guards were all thrown into chaos, frantically rushing and fleeing towards the palace gates, pursued by the crazed guards...
At this time, Beatrice should have received the news, as there was a message carried by a bird, and she was not far from the Independent Capital, but she had no time to pay attention to it.
At the same time, a massive mob movement erupted. Countless mobs rushed toward the city of independence, demanding bread, water, and human rights from Beatrice. They pounded on the gates with stones and long tree stumps, while a large group of nimble people climbed ropes to the top of the city walls.
Beatrice was too busy to pay attention to me.
I never dreamed that some rioters would actually climb up the city wall, sneak into the city, dodge the hail of swords and spears, and successfully rush to the city gate. After fighting with a few guards, they actually pulled off the bolts, opened the city gate, and with a bang, the rioters poured in like a flood.
At first, I only wanted the mob to hold back Beatrice so she wouldn't have time to focus on my conquest of the capital. I never expected to be so lucky; even her capital city was breached.
Letheia's private army also rushed in and fought with the defenders of the Great City.
Atreus's main legions consist of three forces. One has been dispatched to the border to guard the small town and prepare to compete with the North and West for the mines. Another has been sent to train ten kilometers outside the city, and the third is stationed in the capital. All three forces are formidable.
The mob, having obtained the map beforehand, stormed into the palace with ease. Stunned by the magnificent halls they had never seen before, they engaged in a frenzied burning, looting, and pillaging, desperately grabbing whatever they could, and even setting fire to what they couldn't take.
Half of Atreus's garrison stormed in, while the other half remained outside to fight the mob and Letea's private soldiers.
Although the mob was brutal, they were no match for the well-trained garrison and were either knocked to the ground or captured alive in less than an hour.
But just then, Paria, covered in blood, stepped out with a sword pressed against Beatrice's neck. The palace guards were stunned. "Put down your weapons," Paria said viciously. This former male favorite was a far cry from his usual seductive and alluring self; he was now menacing and ruthless.
Beatrice's face was contorted and curled up, making it impossible to discern any expression.
The defenders were forced to drop their swords on the ground, and the still-energetic mob and Letheian private soldiers swarmed forward and subdued them almost instantly.
Then came the sounds of shouting and fighting outside the palace. It turned out that a legion of King Midan and Queen had entered, spreading rapidly like a virus, infiltrating the important areas of the palace, and taking control of the entire battle with overwhelming force.
Beatrice gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at Queen Midan, who entered gracefully, her long dress stained with blood. Queen Midan smiled sweetly and said, "It's not my fault. Blame it on the fact that their offer was too tempting."
The conditions they proposed, which were those of me and Letheia, were: to give her the royal city closest to the mine, to also give her the share of the mine that the independent royal city was entitled to, and to give her one hundred trade orders in the North—originally signed with Beatrice, but now we are transferring them.
Paria used his unparalleled charm to persuade King Midian and Queen Midian in bed.
Meanwhile, in the royal city where I was, a great victory had been won. The city's lord, a confidant of Atreus, was bound to the city wall by a group of guards and beheaded with lightning speed.
When his head fell from the city wall, the guards who had been resisting threw down their swords and surrendered.
Beatrice was imprisoned, and after I returned to the capital at full speed, she was escorted here by a group of guards. Because she was the queen, the guards still treated her with utmost respect, carefully following her around without daring to make the slightest move.
"Are you satisfied now?" Beatrice asked me menacingly.
"Don't you treat me the same way?" I retorted.
"Are you going to kill me?" she forced out the words through gritted teeth.
"No," I said.
"So, how are you going to deal with me?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"You won't have a good ending; you'll be worse off than me!" she said viciously.
Letea frowned, raised her hand, and the guards surrounded her and took her out again.
“Today is not a good day to catch up with her,” Leithea said.
After she was led out, I went out as well and was surprised to see Queen Midian. I thought she had already left the capital, but she looked at me with a smile and said, "I didn't expect you to have hooked up with Letea, our prince of the West."
“Don’t use the word ‘to rely on’,” I said.
She shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, you've found another helper. I don't know how you found him, but you really know how to handle men. If I didn't know he only liked men, I would almost think your bedroom skills were legendary, that you've seduced one man after another."
I was a little annoyed and was about to retort when she immediately changed her target, jogging towards Beatrice, "Your Majesty, wait a moment!"
Beatrice didn't look back and kept walking forward.
"Oh dear, wait a minute, why are you so angry?!" Queen Midan caught up, slightly out of breath, and said with a smile, "I wanted to ask you..."
Before she could finish speaking—as all our attention was focused on the second half of her sentence—she suddenly raised her wrist, and a sharp dagger slid out from her sleeve. The next second, she forcefully slashed around Beatrice's neck, blood spurting out, and we were all stunned.
It happened too fast, too suddenly, completely unexpectedly, and without any warning. She actually dared to do this in front of everyone!
The technique was quite familiar—the same technique, the same force, used to slit my neck, causing blood to gush out.
Before I could react, Beatrice collapsed heavily to the ground without uttering a sound.
If someone succeeds in one way, they may succeed again by using the same method.
King and Queen Midian succeeded once again.
Looking at my pale face, she said with a grin, "She's one of our pure-blooded nobles. Pure-blooded nobles all end up pretty much the same."
The guards who had surrounded Beatrice surrounded her again. Amid the clanging of swords being drawn, she smiled, but not at me, but at Letea. "I am the Queen. You know the rules."
Letea's expression was unpredictable, deep and dark.
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Author's Note: Thank you all for your support! Please continue reading, and I'll keep trying my best!
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