Chapter 246 The atmosphere in Chapter 246 is becoming increasingly ambiguous, more and more...
After settling my daughter in, I thought I could rest for a few days, but unexpectedly, riots broke out in both royal cities. The newly conquered royal cities were already weak in foundation, and the escaped old nobles gathered their forces and made a comeback, launching an attack in the middle of the night just like when I attacked the cities, causing chaos and upheaval.
I was urgently woken up in the middle of the night. I gently pushed my two daughters, who were sleeping next to me, away and quickly left the bedroom.
An emergency meeting lasted from midnight until dawn, confirming who the general leading the team was, the marching plan, and the battle plan. Only then did I drag my weary body out of the meeting room.
My two daughters have already gone to school, and I was sitting alone in the dining room eating breakfast when I fell asleep before I even finished.
I dozed off for an hour in a high-backed armchair, then woke up and rushed to the capital city where war was raging. My carriage stopped at my two daughters' prestigious schools to say goodbye before continuing my journey.
What followed were several tough battles. I didn't sleep for three days and three nights, closely monitoring the situation. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, howls filled the sky; the brutality of the war was indescribable. Sometimes, even in the middle of the night, the smoke and fire would rise straight into the night sky, turning half the horizon red.
The war ended after half a month, and we were able to achieve a great victory thanks to our early preparations.
The rebellion of the old nobles was to be expected. We had already deployed a large number of troops near the capital. When the attack came, we launched a swift and powerful counterattack. With proper deployment and effective tactics, we quickly gained the upper hand, our army's morale soared, and we soon defeated the private army of the old nobles.
The former noble leaders were hung on the high city walls, their hearts, livers, and lungs ripped out, and their flesh was cut off piece by piece—a truly gruesome sight.
I didn't want to do this, but several leaders and generals insisted, saying that if we didn't do it, it wouldn't have a deterrent effect, the old nobles would make a comeback, and then even more people would die.
I had no choice but to agree.
After the war, both royal cities were stained with blood; the stench of blood seemed to be detectable kilometers away. The cities were rebuilt, but a significant financial shortfall loomed. I asked the nobles to donate, but they were reluctant and only managed to scrape together a couple of coins, which was far from enough.
I asked Princess Yani to donate some money, but she said she didn't have even half a coin. "My trade projects have all lost money, and I even owe the Eastern and Northern Territories some money. I really can't afford it."
"Can I use your dowry?" I asked tentatively.
"My dowry is my last line of defense. I won't use it unless absolutely necessary, so don't even think about it."
I had no choice but to give up.
After thinking it over for a few days, I wrote to Daio. I said that I had signed an agreement with Artis that one-third of Artis's assets would belong to me, and that I urgently needed the money and asked him to give me the money.
Many people know about this agreement, and the most respected elder in their tribe signed it as a witness. If Daio cares about his reputation—the king's reputation—he will give me this money.
The question is whether it's worthwhile for me to use this money for the construction of the royal city.
Will I really stay here for long? I consider myself a part of the royal city, but will the royal city consider me one of them? Is all this selfless sacrifice worthwhile?
Forget it, there's no use worrying about these things. I desperately need money right now. Without money, I can't stand here. The nobles are very likely plotting to overthrow me.
After sending the letter to Daio, I decisively implemented a new resolution, overcoming all opposition. This resolution encouraged wealthy non-royal merchants from the western border to relocate to our great or new capital, with taxes reduced to only 40% of the normal rate, for a period of three years. This resolution was met with strong opposition from the nobles, who felt they were being taken advantage of. I shrugged and said, "Then you will cover the cost of renovating the capital, or do you have a better way to raise funds?"
When the nobles heard that they were being asked to pay again, their momentum immediately deflated.
Finally, the resolution was passed, and the nobles looked at me with sneers, mockery, and ridicule. They were waiting to see me make a fool of myself—this resolution had no other use than to cause the capital city to suffer losses.
“After the new wealthy merchants enter the city, they immediately start holding all sorts of dances, one every few days.” I said to the hunchbacked head steward, “Go and make preparations in advance now.”
The hunchbacked head steward accepted the order and was about to leave when I stopped him again, saying, "Make sure the ball is organized in a way that girls like, the more girls they like, the better."
The hunchbacked head steward narrowed his eyes. "What does Madam mean by this...?"
"Try to get young, handsome or energetic wealthy businessmen to participate," I said with a smile, "and send invitations to all unmarried noblewomen."
"yes."
Encouraging wealthy merchants to move to the capital not only brought them a large amount of wealth, but also facilitated intermarriage with local nobles, allowing them to become new elites and break the monopoly of the original noble circles.
I need money, and I also need the support of new forces.
I also began to secretly plan to build "highways" and waterways near the two new royal cities to facilitate the rapid arrival of the army on both land and water.
The two new royal cities were conquered by me, but they are extremely unstable and could be breached by the old nobles at any time. Therefore, we must strengthen their defenses, but how to repair them and how to raise the funds are all problems.
I racked my brains and made version after version of the plan, but I was never satisfied.
Winter arrived in the Western Regions, snowflakes fell, and with the first wave of wealthy merchants moving into the capital, the first social ball began. Although the number of wealthy merchants was not large, only five or six families, the ball was still a resounding success. All the candles in the banquet hall were lit, illuminating the space as if it were daytime. Fine wine and food were plentiful. Under my discreet direction, clever and quick-witted maids "lured" unmarried noble ladies onto the stage to play various games, attracting the attention of the young and handsome sons or nephews of the wealthy merchants.
When it came time to dance, the sons or nephews of these wealthy merchants vied to invite the noble ladies to dance. The music gradually became more ambiguous and soft, and a third of the candlelight was extinguished, turning the dance floor into a place for intimate moments. Before the music had even ended, several noble ladies were led behind stone pillars to embrace and caress young, handsome men.
I also noticed with my sharp eyes that several older, wealthy businessmen were drinking and flirting with young noblewomen, and I secretly groaned. This was likely going to lead to extramarital affairs. I rubbed my temples, but I couldn't care less about that now.
Never mind, even without this dance, these guys would probably still be looking for partners elsewhere. My connections only made things easier for them, but that's just the "effect," not the "cause." The "cause" lies with them. Even without this dance, there would be other places.
The atmosphere grew increasingly ambiguous and heated; I couldn't stand it any longer and fled.
Three months later, I received my first wedding notice. A young lady of modest means was to marry a wealthy businessman who had just moved in, while pregnant. It wasn't the businessman's son, but the businessman himself. The businessman was forty years old and had a sixteen-year-old girl completely smitten with him. She cried and begged to marry him, even going so far as to bring several of her friends to the businessman's house to force his first wife to step down.
The first wife, who already had three daughters and two sons with the wealthy businessman, was unwilling to back down. However, the lower-class lady pressed her relentlessly, even threatening suicide, nearly causing a bloodbath at the businessman's doorstep. Left with no other choice, the first wife had to accept alimony, sign the divorce papers, and leave.
She didn't take any of her children with her because, according to the rules in mainland China, divorced women cannot take their children with them; the children belong to the father.
The alimony was meager, because of the young lady's crying and tantrums, and the threats from her parents, the wealthy businessman dared not give more. Meanwhile, the first wife's parents had long since passed away, and her family had declined, leaving her with no one to stand up for her, so she could only leave in sorrow.
After I found out, I couldn't sleep well for several days and kept sighing.
“That’s none of your business,” Paria laughed. “What’s meant to happen will happen sooner or later.”
“If it weren’t for this ball…” I sighed.
“It will still happen,” Paria said.
“Give her a house,” I said. “Give her a house wherever she lives now, with front and back yards and a hot spring pool. I’ll pay the annual maintenance fees.”
“I advise you not to,” Paria said, “otherwise you will offend the nobles of the royal city. In the eyes of the world, it is only natural for a young noblewoman to steal a commoner’s husband. If you stand up for the commoner, you will be at odds with the nobles. And you cannot fall out with the nobles now, at least not in public.”
On this continent, even the wealthiest merchants are still commoners, and their first wives are also commoners. Nobility and commoners are determined by birth.
Me: "Oh, then what do you suggest we do?"
Paria: "Why don't you introduce her to a husband? This can be done in secret. This husband's house has front and back courtyards and a hot spring pool, which will fulfill your wish."
Me: "Okay, I'll do it your way."
Paria looked at me intently, "Do you know what your weakness is? It's that you're soft-hearted. This weakness will one day be your downfall."
"Are there any ways to improve this?" I asked.
"If you simply let go of this matter, that's the first step towards improvement."
I remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "It's not that I'm soft-hearted, it's that I don't want my sins to be too heavy."
Paria smiled again and suddenly kissed my cheek. "You are the first soft-hearted female politician I have ever met."
Half a month later, I received a letter from Daio, who surprisingly agreed to give me one-third of Artis's property.
“It seems that Artis was indeed killed by Daio,” Paria said with a smile.
"Yes." If he hadn't been the mastermind, he wouldn't have so easily handed over his property to me. Some high-ranking members of the clan probably knew about it too, and he had to express his "remorse" to gain any understanding from them. Atis and I have a legally binding marriage agreement, and we have the most respected elder's signature as proof; it's only right that he honors it.
"The financial crisis has finally been somewhat resolved." I breathed a sigh of relief.
Paria just smiled at me and said, "I find you to be quite remarkable. You are neither from the Great Royal City nor of the same mind as the nobles there, yet you use your own money to build the Royal City."
“I had no choice,” I sighed.
“I understand.” Paria gently took my hand.
Our hands were clasped tightly together. I suddenly realized that he was currently my only good friend. I had many things I only told him, and many emotions I only revealed to him.
Is this a crisis or something else? I don't know.
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Author's Note: Thank you all for your support~~ It's almost finished~~~
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