The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

When Marcel returned home, his wife and others had been waiting for him for a long time.

“Darling, what’s going on? Those peasant soldiers are out in the streets again. I was supposed to go horseback riding with Mrs. Pete today, but now I can’t go out.”

Besides his wife, there were a bunch of other members of the Marcel family, including Marcel's brothers and other relatives.

They all put down their work and other matters and assembled here as quickly as possible after seeing the soldiers in the southwest region start taking to the streets again.

This is also why Marcel's family has been able to continue from the previous dynasty to the present day, becoming one of the most prestigious old noble families in the capital. No matter what happens, they must keep in step with the head of the family and will never act on their own.

Last time, the soldiers took to the streets and purged a group of nobles who were not loyal enough to Her Majesty the Queen. Now, these peasants have stepped into the inner city with their dirty military boots, and the nobles in the inner city are starting to feel uneasy again, especially since Her Majesty the Queen seems to have some clues about the assassination of the King.

Marcel reassured his wife, saying, "Don't worry, this is none of our business, but you and Mrs. Pitt didn't talk about anything sensitive, did you?"

"No, I'm following your advice. I'm just an ordinary friend of Mrs. Pitt, and our relationship is limited to the interactions between ordinary ladies."

"You didn't promise her anything, did you?"

Seeing Marcel's serious expression, Marcel's wife nodded and said, "She has hinted to me many times that she has something to tell me, but I always find an excuse to run away."

Hearing his wife's reply, Marcel finally breathed a sigh of relief. After embracing her tightly, he ordered, "Bring out all your and Mrs. Pitt's letters and send them all to the palace."

As long as there's no deep connection, then you can openly and honestly submit all the letters you've exchanged with those insects. It might not be of much use, and Her Majesty the Queen can't possibly read them all, but what matters is the attitude.

The essence of fence-sitting is not to stay on the wall indefinitely, but to turn around and get off the wall without looking back at crucial moments.

Then, Marcel looked at the crowd that had come to greet him at the entrance of the mansion and simply treated the place as the venue for a family meeting. He shouted, "Her Majesty the Queen has obtained information about the assassin behind the assassination of the former king. If any of you have any connection with the assassin, speak up immediately. Don't let yourselves implicate the entire family."

In fact, much of the intelligence was leaked by Marcel. Marcel was even worried that Her Majesty the Queen was trying to get something for nothing, and fearing that Her Majesty did not have enough clues, he simply wrote down many of his own speculations and clues.

Some things you either don't do, or you do them thoroughly.

This is a crisis for the old party, but also an opportunity. As long as they betray their allies ruthlessly enough, they will be the ones who find out who assassinated the king. This will not only sever ties with those traitors but also enhance the old party's prestige.

Even because the old party provided the clues and obtained the authority to trade artillery, the nobles in the southwest had to give the old party face.

At that time, the power in the capital will be restored to a balance, and the win-win-win future that Her Majesty the Queen spoke of may really come true.

Marcel was not worried that the Queen would shamelessly take credit for the old party's achievements. Once this precedent was set, all the credibility the Queen had built up to date would collapse, and reform would be out of the question.

The situation in the capital is far from the point where the Queen should break ties with the old party. Rather, Her Majesty's political talent has far exceeded Marcel's expectations. She is adept at using the tactics of dividing and conquering, and such a person will not easily overturn the table.

The family members around Marcel all shrank back, none of them daring to speak.

Seeing this, Marcel sighed and said, "I'm going back to my study first. You can all go your separate ways. If anyone has any contact with those insects, you can come to my study to find me. The rest of you should go and gather intelligence. Be polite to the nobles in the southwest; they may not be our enemies in the future."

After Marcel gave his orders, the family members left, though some were already planning how to return later.

Marcel reassured his anxious wife once again before heading to his study.

Soon, a servant brought news that Her Majesty the Queen was no longer in the palace. The Vatican had decided to restore Her Majesty's title of saint, so Her Majesty had moved to the cathedral and was under the protection of the Church of the Goddess.

Furthermore, the city gates of the capital have been temporarily closed, especially the inner city, where almost all nobles are unable to step outside.

Many noble families who wanted to escape have been detained.

Meanwhile, some family members returned one after another, truthfully reporting to Marcel their interactions with the masterminds behind the scenes, hoping that Marcel could save their lives.

Fortunately, these people were not in high positions and could not do much. Marcel felt that he could handle the situation. After reprimanding them, he told them to hand over the evidence and go back to wait for news.

Seeing that Marcel only wanted to hand over the evidence and not them as well, those people cried and hugged Marcel's legs, saying that they would never dare to do it again and would follow the head of the family from now on.

After all, on their way back, these people had already seen soldiers from the southwestern border carrying muskets and arresting people in the streets.

Her Majesty's methods are very simple and brutal, but effective. No one dares to really accuse Her Majesty of cruelty, because although Her Majesty does not kill many people, she really does kill. At most, these nobles only dare to point at the new prime minister's nose and curse him as a treacherous minister, because the prime minister will not fight back.

A group of nobles, including Marcel, began to reminisce about the era of Cran. Although it was a short time, Cran was a very exemplary king. His methods were not so ruthless, he was willing to communicate with both sides, and he would not send troops into the city to take over the city's defenses at the drop of a hat.

The reforms that Kran had initially rejected as unacceptable to the nobles have now become more approachable. After all, these reforms are in line with the image of a good king. Wasn't he reforming to revitalize the nation?

Marcel grew angrier and angrier, even slamming his fist on the table in his anger. Why hadn't he accepted Crane's proposal back then? Why hadn't he rushed to stop him when he heard even a whisper of it? What a fine king, gone just like that.

Now that Kran is dead, a new queen has taken over who is even more ruthless, acts without regard for consequences, and whose husband has just died. Are those insects happy now?

It could be said that if it weren't for the pressure of the rise of the Kingdom of Anjou, Clan would be the perfect king in the eyes of almost all the nobles. Of course, it is also possible that Clan's short reign and early death automatically added a filter to the minds of these nobles.

Especially after being compared to the new queen.

Many nobles of the old party hypnotized themselves with this reasoning: it was all the fault of those scoundrels. If those scoundrels hadn't assassinated the king, then His Majesty the more moderate King Cran would still be in power, and Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't have lost her husband so soon after her marriage, wouldn't have ascended the throne, and wouldn't be in the state she is now.

These nobles selectively forgot that before his assassination, Cran had frantically strengthened the Queen's power and cooperated with Lilith's series of reforms.