After listening to Lai En’s description, Alicia’s expression was absolutely priceless.
‘No wonder the Duchess didn’t recognize him as her son, no wonder his younger brother turned against him.’
‘Even if it’s teenage rebellion, not getting along with family, wanting to be quirky—if you dressed strangely, acted exaggeratedly, and pulled off some shocking performance art in noble circles, at worst you’d be seen as dissolute, and you could still excuse it by saying you were expressing your individuality.’
‘But constantly talking back to your parents, running away from home, insisting on associating with commoners as the eldest son of a noble family, and treating noble etiquette and socializing as nothing—no noble could ever accept such an heir!’
Thinking of this, the girl helplessly clutched her forehead.
‘Moreover, this man made a huge scene at his father’s deathbed, then used the excuse of bandit suppression to run away in a huff, not even attending his father’s funeral.’
That’s right, it was this running away in a huff that allowed Lai En to accidentally rescue Alicia, and the girl felt very fortunate about that, but!
‘This boss of mine has unleashed himself way too much!’
‘This is practically stabbing me in the back just when I need to establish my image and improve the cohesion of my retainers!’
This undoubtedly gave the Duchess and those fence-sitters plenty of reason to support Lemeng.
Perhaps the Duchess was fanning the flames behind the scenes, or perhaps Lemeng was truly disappointed in his older brother—in any case, Lemeng launched a mutiny.
But they never expected that Lai En was quite good at warfare and actually won despite being outnumbered!
Looking at Lai En’s face now, a mix of embarrassment, regret, and gravity, the girl felt a wave of emotion.
This confrontation with Lemeng served as a wake-up call for Lai En, forcing him to become mature and steady overnight, forcing him to rein in his inappropriate sharpness and rebellion, forcing him to face his identity and responsibilities.
Otherwise, the girl worried whether she could keep working under such a childish and unstable boss.
“Things are roughly like this. It can’t all be blamed on Lemeng…”
Lai En let out a long sigh, his eyes heavy.
“That’s why I don’t want to lead troops to attack him just like that.”
“Mm, I understand. I will definitely think of a good plan. According to the current situation, the Maximilian Family really needs Lord Lemeng’s wisdom.”
The girl forced a smile.
“Lord and Master, you don’t need to worry! For now, the priority is to stabilize the situation in our territory. I have a feeling…”
“What feeling?”
The girl gave a bitter smile.
“With successive poor harvests, the people’s strength is exhausted. And this year we encountered such a rare blizzard and severe cold, rampant natural disasters, hunger and cold… The people’s hearts are already unsettled.”
“Hmm…”
Lai En thought for a moment, then suddenly understood.
“You mean…”
“Yes, the current situation is like a pile of dry wood. A single spark will start a prairie fire!”
…
As expected, Alicia’s prophetic mouth had hit the mark.
In the spring of Year 422 of the Empire, because the Duchy of Smingt in the north refused to lower taxes, it triggered tax resistance among the commoners.
However, Grand Duke Smingt refused to compromise and sent armed soldiers to escort tax collectors to enforce the collection.
Thus, the tax resistance turned into a revolt.
The commoners stole the guard force’s weapons and armor at night, killed the tax collectors, and stormed Grand Duke Smingt’s castle.
Due to a lack of preparation, the mob managed to break into the city for a time, but the castle garrison raised the drawbridge in time and held the castle.
Frustrated in their attack and with no outlet for their anger, the mob turned their target toward any property that looked like it “belonged to a noble lord.”
Looting, killing, arson…
Overnight, parts of the prosperous town turned into seas of fire and ruins.
A spark can start a prairie fire.
The common people, suffering from heavy taxation, hunger, and cold, had long suppressed their resentment and despair.
Finally, this spark ignited.
The scale of the revolt rapidly expanded.
Grand Duke Smingt, unable to resist, could only flee, but was captured by the mob while on the run.
The illustrious noble family of three generations met its end when the Grand Duke was hanged from an old crooked-necked tree.
After achieving such a great victory, the mob simply elected a leader named Spartacus.
This leader called himself the Grand General and named the mob the “Freedom Army.”
They attacked noble estates, and when they captured cities, they massacred nobles and wealthy merchants, dividing their property and grain.
Except for the territories of the Guardian Grand Dukes, who had strong armies and guarded the borders and thus escaped disaster, the other small and medium lords were powerless to resist.
They either abandoned their cities and fled, or were captured and hanged.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control.
While the north was ablaze with war, the south’s Imperial Capital was a scene of feasting and entertainment.
After the chaotic struggles between the “Electoral Faction” and the “Royalist Faction,” imperial power had weakened and warlords had risen.
To maintain the empire’s superficial unity and dignity and to avoid another full-scale civil war, several of the most powerful great nobles joined forces with the Church to establish the so-called “Senate.”
The Senate consisted of a Church Archbishop and representatives from a few great noble families, effectively emptying the Young Emperor of power.
The power to decide daily government affairs, fiscal taxation, and even foreign negotiations was almost entirely in the hands of the Senate.
Now, requests for aid from all over were like snowflakes, all intercepted by the Senate.
Inside the imperial palace, they only reported good news and concealed the bad.
The Young Emperor knew nothing of the situation in the north.
…
The girl held a branch she had picked up somewhere as a pointer, rhythmically tapping the small blackboard set up on an easel.
On it, a rough summary of the recent situation was scrawled in crooked letters with homemade chalk.
“So, Damian, tell me: why hasn’t His Majesty issued an assembly order to suppress the rebels yet?”
Alicia mimicked the tone of a schoolteacher.
Andrew stood in the corner of the room, unable to help but lower his head and clutch his forehead, muttering in his heart: ‘Young Master Damian is only six years old! Isn’t it a bit too early to be teaching him this? And is it appropriate to speak so directly?’
Xiao Damian listened very seriously.
His small hand propping up his chin, his brow slightly furrowed, he unconsciously bit his finger.
“Because the Senate has always controlled the government. They deliberately didn’t report the bad news to His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Mm, you have a knack for learning!”
Alicia’s eyes lit up, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
She then picked up the chalk and quickly wrote “Report Only Good News” under the word “Senate” on the blackboard, with a shua-shua sound.
She tapped these new words with the branch.
“Then, next question: why does the Senate, which holds real power, report only good news to His Majesty the Emperor?”
Xiao Damian was clearly stumped.
It seemed that noble power relations and internal struggles were a bit too advanced for a six-year-old.
He shifted uncomfortably, lowered his head to think hard for a moment, then answered somewhat uncertainly, “Because if His Majesty found out, it would make the Senate look… useless?”
Andrew in the corner nearly dropped his jaw in shock!
‘Genius! This child is a genius!’
“Mm! Pretty good! Very impressive, Damian!”
Alicia did not skimp on praise.
She clapped lightly, her smile growing even brighter.
“Your teacher is very gratified!”
She walked back to the blackboard and explained in detail: “That’s right, that’s one of the main reasons. The Senate has controlled the government for so many years only to end up with such a big popular uprising. If this got out, it would undoubtedly make the Senate look like a bunch of fools, speculative profiteers who only use power for their own benefit. So the first thing they do is suppress the news. At all costs, don’t let the center of power—that is, the great nobles in the Imperial Capital and the Emperor—know.”
Xiao Damian nodded as if he understood.
“As for the rest, it’s too early for you now. Let’s think about the follow-up.”
After her long speech, the girl brushed the chalk dust off her hands and changed the subject.
“So, what will the Senate’s next move be?”
This time, it really seemed to push Xiao Damian to his limit.
He thought for a long time, then finally answered dejectedly, “Sorry, teacher, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!”
The girl smiled and waved her hand.
“Speak freely. Just say whatever comes to mind. After all, we haven’t received any news yet, and no one can predict the future. There’s no standard answer to this question.”
So Damian stammered back, “I think… for the sake of the Empire and its own interests, it should suppress the rebellion as quickly as possible, but it can’t cause too much of a stir…”
Here, he stalled, his little face flushed red.
He finally shook his head in frustration: “Sorry, teacher, I can’t think of a way to both quell the rebellion and not cause a big fuss…”
“Haha! Damian, you are excellent!”
Alicia laughed cheerfully and reached out to ruffle the little one’s soft hair.
“It’s already very good to think this far! This precisely shows that you’ve identified the key issue.”
She stood up, looked at the sky outside the window: “Alright, it’s getting late. That’s all for today’s lesson. Go find Uncle Andrew to read you a story!”
Watching Andrew lead the little one away, Alicia packed up and prepared to end her work.
‘You see, being a noble bureaucrat in another world is quite comfortable. As long as the matters you’re responsible for are generally running smoothly, and the end-of-month report can be fudged—ah, no, can be submitted brilliantly—the work hours are really quite flexible! As long as the boss doesn’t come looking, you can even slack off all day and be happy!’
‘Wonderful, ah, wonderful~’
Humming a little tune, the girl slowly left Damian’s residence, mounted her faithful Black Bess, and wandered home while admiring the city scenery.
As the weather warmed, the flow of people on the city streets had noticeably increased.
The cries of vendors, the hammering of craftsmen, the laughter of children… a medley of sounds intertwined.
Though not bustling, it was filled with a tenacious vitality.
‘It seemed her and Lai En’s hard work over the winter had not been in vain. A meritorious minister! She was definitely a great meritorious minister! If she could persuade Lemeng to surrender, peacefully liberate Saxon City, and reunite the Maximilian Family… What a great achievement that would be! How much of a promotion could she get? And a raise! How many times could her monthly salary increase? Hehehe~’
The girl daydreamed, drooling, a lecherous grin on her face.
“Cough.”
A familiar male voice suddenly sounded from ahead and to the side.
“That smile of yours is way too strange. Smiling stupidly and drooling in broad daylight? What are you thinking?”
Lai En had appeared by the roadside at some point, arms crossed, looking at her with an expression that said, ‘I don’t know this embarrassing person.’
‘Who! Who dares to ruin my beautiful daydream! What an unromantic guy… Huh!?’
Alicia snapped back to reality, quickly and frantically wiped the corner of her mouth, and adroitly dismounted.
“Ah, Lord and Master, what a coincidence meeting you here!”
“Yeah, what a coincidence indeed.”
Lai En gave a fake smile, staring at the girl’s face.
“I sent someone to find you this afternoon, but you were neither training troops at the camp nor resting at home. Elder Lord Enlaike said he saw you go to Damian’s place. But the attendants I sent were all turned away by your agents, so I had to come myself.”
With that, Lai En looked up at the sky.
“Who’d have thought, it’s only 3 PM, and our meritorious Lady Ailixiya is already planning to clock out?”
‘Uh oh!’
The girl wailed inwardly, but she strained to keep her smile tight.
“Not at all, Lord and Master. I was just about to go report to you! What a coincidence that we met!”
“Hmph! Glib tongue!”
Lai En lightly tapped the girl on the forehead.
“Come with me to the study right away! The situation in the north… it’s not good…”