After a full week of martial law in the Royal Capital, the nobles finally received the notification that Her Majesty the Queen had returned to her loyal Royal Palace.
All those involved in the murder of Klan among the old nobles were caught without exception.
A wave of mourning for Klan swept through the Royal Capital, and Lilith didn’t express much opinion on it, but not opposing it was a form of support. After all, Her Majesty was the widow of the former king, and mourning Klan was undoubtedly the correct stance.
Dealing with these nobles was simple, but how to handle the families behind them?
Initially, Lilith intended to continue the purge, but she encountered resistance beyond her imagination; the greatest opposition came from within the palace itself. Augustine and others advised Lilith against escalating the matter, suggesting that she should only punish the principal perpetrators.
Moreover, the families behind those nobles swiftly distanced themselves from the crimes, and moving on to a massacre at this point would make Lilith appear a bit ruthless.
After deep consideration, Lilith decided to publicly display the nobles who plotted the assassination of Klan in the Royal Capital. As for the families behind them, at Nora’s suggestion, Lilith chose reconciliation.
After all, it was not wise to sever ties with the royal family at this moment.
Furthermore, these families offered a substantial amount of gold coins and tangible assets, which were exactly the two things Lilith currently needed the most.
Reforms require money, a lot of money, and the prices of Graywhite Territory’s firearms and cannons are not cheap. It was unrealistic to rely solely on Judith and Scott for funding; Lilith also needed to ensure her influence within the army.
The tangible assets provided a foundation for Lilith’s reforms; many of the industries owned by these old guys were crucial industries within the Royal Capital and were precisely what Klan wanted to take control of apart from land.
It was like severing the tail to seek help.
From the price these families paid, it was far less than if they had honestly negotiated conditions with Klan initially, leading even Marcel, who had secured the position of old party leader, to lament: had he known this, why bother at the beginning?
If Augustine’s attitude had not been so nuanced, Lilith could have completely destroyed these nobles, as the crime of assassinating the royal family was no small matter.
However, Lilith had already sensed that compared to these old nobles who dared to murder royalty, Augustine and the others were likely more afraid of their own positions now.
Moreover, Nora also felt that if the situation continued to escalate, the others might act out of desperation, which could spiral out of control. The southwestern armies were not genuinely under Lilith’s control; Judith and Scott would not turn against these old nobles merely for Lilith’s revenge.
Considering everything, Lilith had to handle these families with care, which made her feel quite frustrated. Even though she had taken this step, she was still unable to truly punish these nobles.
However, seeing those old nobles paraded in the streets and spat upon slightly improved Lilith’s mood. Initially, the families of these old nobles were also against the public display, after all, they still cared about their reputation.
Once a name is tarnished, it can genuinely be ruined, affecting some within those families to varying degrees.
Yet, Lilith was very determined in this matter, needing the citizens of the Royal Capital and others to see exactly which families conspired to assassinate the king.
Augustine and the others also thought it appropriate to give some punishment to these noble families that dared to assassinate the king, which did not conflict with their desire to protect certain families.
The citizens of the Royal Capital had been relatively unfamiliar with Klan, the former king, but during these past few days of mourning orchestrated by those old party nobles, Klan’s actual status had even surpassed that of his father, who had reigned for decades.
The citizens of the Royal Capital flocked to the streets, cursing the murderers who killed their good king.
Some even began to spread rumors that His Majesty Klan was not dead, and An Zhu dared not make a move.
However, after seeing that some of those families had donated a sum of money, Lilith decided to give those murderers some face; throwing rotten eggs and slop was excessive, and just spitting should suffice.
The nobles tied to the wooden framework felt desolate, some appearing resigned.
The best news was that Her Majesty did not harm their families; as long as their families were unharmed, they believed they could eventually turn things around, satisfied to pay the price of a single person and some financial assets to extricate themselves, regardless of how harsh the treatment was now.
But once the queen showed any signs of weakness, their end would only be worse than the current situation.
Lilith sat upright on the platform, watching Nora read out the charges against these old nobles. Below, the calls to execute these old nobles grew louder, especially from those already emotionally invested in the old party. They hated those old nobles who had killed the benevolent King Klan to the core.
Instead, those from the new party were somewhat at a loss as they watched this surreal scene; how had the old party become more loyal than the new party in just a few days, particularly toward the former majesty? Even other male leads who had practically grown up alongside Klan were bewildered.
After all, these people would not die.
They hadn’t just attempted to assassinate the king; they had also attempted to assassinate the governor of Graywhite Territory.
It seemed that after that assassination attempt, Graywhite Territory suddenly became active, manipulating the Royal Capital from the shadows while declaring war on Doug in the Northern Border. It was rumored that they had recently breached Doug’s blockade and launched an official attack.
Lilith also recalled her correspondence with the governor of Graywhite Territory. There had been a conversation prior to the assassination attempt where the other party, although wanting to fan the flames, was more focused on pointing fingers at the Royal Capital from a standpoint of territorial division.
That assassination truly seemed to alter the course of events, as afterward, that intruder appeared to have been stimulated somehow, actively planning and laying out a strategy, even candidly hinting at Lilith the idea of usurping the throne.
Lilith shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside; after all, the threat from the intruder was still too distant, and residing daily in the Royal Capital, Lilith could only focus on what was in front of her.
After reading out the sins of these nobles, Nora continued with the final judgment concerning them.
However, these judgments would not be executed; those nobles would be directly escorted to Graywhite Territory, where they would face trial.
As for whether Graywhite would execute them, that was beyond Lilith’s control.
Amidst the cheers from the public and the nobles in their seats, Nora summoned a cardinal and announced that Her Majesty would be reinstated as the Saintess of the Church, continuing to protect the citizens and believers of the Royal Capital.
Although the citizens below did not know what this meant, they still cheered along.
Lilith’s prestige reached its peak that day.
The new party solidified its foothold, while the old party seemingly submitted on the surface, and the Church became Lilith’s stronghold. Reforms could be advanced using this opportunity, and Graywhite Territory’s cannons would also open for trade; everything seemed to be improving.
In the shadows, Claire watched all of this, having nearly bitten her nails to the quick.
She was worried about her best friend suffering but also feared her best friend enjoying herself.
Claire snorted softly and retreated back into the shadows.
Back in the Royal Palace, Lilith collapsed wearily into a chair. Though everything seemed vibrant and flourishing, only Lilith and her trusted confidant knew that such days would not last long.
Augustine and the others had already begun to act, holding Lilith’s most critical weakness in their hands, which was the legitimacy of her position as queen.
Moreover, the southwestern armies were not truly under Lilith’s control and could not remain stationed in the Royal Capital indefinitely.
Therefore, having solved the assassination case, Lilith would soon need to find a way to negotiate with Augustine and the others.
For how to counter Augustine, Lilith had no clear idea for now and could only start drafting a letter to the governor of Graywhite Territory.
Next to her, Nora watched the exhausted Lilith with concern, clearly aware of what Lilith was worried about, and said, “Your Majesty, I have a plan that could perhaps help you.”
Lilith thought to herself that Nora was indeed worthy of being the male lead known for his intelligence in the game, and she immediately asked, excited, “What plan?”
Nora looked at the letter paper on Lilith’s desk and said, “Your Majesty can ally with Governor Lind of the Northern Border and call him ‘brother.'”
For a moment, Lilith thought her lineage had been exposed. She glanced at Nora’s expression; it didn’t seem like she knew of Lilith’s relationship with Lind, which eased her mind.
However, Lilith quickly realized something was amiss; as a queen, how could she call a regional governor ‘brother’?
Although his name was the same as that of her older brother in her past life and there was a slight blood relation in this life, he was not her real brother. Formally, they were in a superior-subordinate relationship, so how could she call him brother?
“Nora, Prime Minister, are you in your right mind?”
