Chapter 85: The Deputy Lord’s Betrayal and the Emptied Treasury (3K)

Since Willis became the Lord of Ushi City, she had visited the City Lord’s Treasury here several times.

Aside from some costs and necessary expenditures, almost all of Ushi City’s revenue was kept here.

Inside the City Lord’s Treasury, the storage was generally divided into several areas.

One area was for storing Gold Dragons and Silver Dragons; right now, fifty wooden chests still lay there.

The golden light inside the chests was dazzling.

Under the surrounding oil lamps and illumination spells, it looked incomparably luxurious.

Next to where the money was kept was a place for storing all kinds of rare minerals.

Apart from top-grade metal ores, there was also the most valuable and widely used ore on the Vistoria Continent—Magic Crystal Ore.

Leaving aside some miscellaneous Crystal Mines, Agate Mines, and other minerals, there was now not a single strand in front of Willis.

Not to mention Magic Crystal Ore—there wasn’t even a shadow of it.

As for other items like spices, fine fabrics, silk…

These things weren’t even within Willis’s range of concern.

When she saw that the area originally used to store forged weapons was also almost empty of swords and spears,

Even the good-tempered Hill Yu was about to explode.

“Looks like while you were away, Ushi City changed owners.”

“Originally, when you said chaos reigned in Ushi City, I thought you were exaggerating. Now it seems you were being too mild.”

Hill Yu’s expression was ugly.

She walked to the nearby shelves and began checking them one by one, seeing what was left.

Meanwhile, Willis sat on a chest of Gold Dragons, her face gloomy, lost in thought.

Based on Ushi City’s annual revenue, there should be at least five hundred chests of Gold Dragons and seven hundred of Silver Dragons piled here!

Various ores and forged high-grade weapons should have been dazzling and countless!

Once, the light from those ores was so bright that you didn’t even need lamps in the City Lord’s Treasury!

But now, it was so empty it looked as if it had been looted.

Dozens of chests of Gold Dragons scattered on the floor might be a fortune to others.

But to a city like Ushi City—

It was far from enough.

“Should I bring the relevant officials for questioning tomorrow?”

Hill Yu said.

She was a little afraid Willis might do something drastic, like ordering the massacre of everyone involved…

That would only increase the bloodshed and lead to unforeseeable consequences.

So Hill Yu wanted to help her herself.

But Willis said nothing, just sat there, her hands clasped, head buried between them.

After a long while, she finally stood up.

“This matter… don’t make a fuss about it for now.”

As soon as Willis spoke, Hill Yu was dumbfounded.

“No, don’t make a fuss?! Willis, aren’t you angry at all?”

Hill Yu could hardly believe it—was this really her imperial sister?

“Anger is useless.”

Willis took a deep breath.

“If the other party dares to do this so brazenly, do you think they’re unprepared?”

“For such a huge amount, it can’t possibly involve only Mike Millen, the Vice City Lord.”

Willis’s eyes narrowed, and a terrifying shadow crossed her face.

“I’m afraid most of the officials and the City Defense Army in Ushi City have their hands on this money.”

“If you interrogate them without evidence, they’ll just stick to the same story—what’s the use?”

“Useless?”

Hill Yu snorted coldly. “Do they dare say they’re innocent?”

“Imperial Sister, think about it. So much money, minerals, and weapons are gone—what do you think they used them for?”

Willis explained.

“If it were just ordinary embezzlement, taking Gold Dragons and selling rare minerals would be bad enough.”

“But after we returned, they should’ve tried to make this place look less empty somehow.”

“Now, all the signs point to one thing—the other side is waiting for us to act, and they’ve already used my money to make their preparations.”

Willis’s chilling voice fell, and Hill Yu felt a cold sweat down her back.

“Re… rebellion!? They dare to rebel!?”

Hill Yu cried out.

“That… can’t be, right?”

After all, to rebel on the Vistoria Continent was to stain one’s name with infamy.

With a first betrayal, there was bound to be a second and third.

That’s why, for such people, other nations generally held a hostile stance.

Even if they didn’t send troops to suppress them, they’d still restrict entry to their own lands.

“Isn’t it good to enjoy wealth and glory in Ushi City? Why would anyone want to rebel?”

Hill Yu still couldn’t believe it.

“Willis, aren’t you being too pessimistic?”

Seeing Hill Yu’s reluctance, Willis shook her head helplessly.

“Heh, I just fear the reality might be worse than this.”

“Those officials and City Defense Army below might not dare, but with the Vice City Lord as the leader, who knows?”

After all, it was always him acting as acting City Lord, managing the Castle Lord’s Mansion.

The money inside was surely embezzled by him.

In other words, if there’s a rebellion, he’s the main suspect!

Changing the subject, Willis continued, “Originally, I wanted to move slowly, but now it seems our time is running out, Imperial Sister.”

“Willis, aren’t you overthinking this?”

Hill Yu still found it hard to believe anyone would dare rebel.

Though misappropriating so much wealth was a capital crime,

Rebellion was a whole different matter!

Hill Yu rather hoped Mike Millen was just blinded by greed.

Otherwise, if they really used this money to corrupt Ushi City and plotted rebellion,

Their situation would be truly dangerous!

“It’s you who’s thinking too simply, Imperial Sister. In these times, the human heart is as blinding as the sun.”

Willis said calmly.

“Besides, if you head east, there’s the Amis Strait—once you escape to sea and change your identity… couldn’t they just take all this wealth for free?”

Hill Yu was stunned by Willis’s analysis, almost convinced by her seemingly paranoid reasoning.

In the end, she probed, “If it’s that dangerous, why don’t we just leave Ushi City tonight?”

“Leave?”

Willis shook her head.

“Once you enter this place, it’s not so easy to leave, Imperial Sister. Why don’t you understand?”

“Running away only gives the enemy time to gather strength and kill us—and it doesn’t suit the status of an Imperial Princess!”

Willis said coldly, “I am an Empire Princess! How could I fear these petty villains!”

“If they dare provoke me—maybe I was ignorant before, but now, I will make sure they’re damned for eternity.”

“And in this Ushi City, I am the Lord. I am the law! If we leave here, Imperial Sister, have you forgotten the ambush in Yufeng Valley?”

Willis’s words left Hill Yu speechless.

Finally, she asked, “Then what should we do?”

“This money…”

As she spoke, Willis leaned toward Hill Yu’s ear and whispered a few words.

“Ah? Imperial Sister, are we really going to do that?”

“We have no time—hurry.”

Willis said.

“Besides, us arriving in Ushi City half a day early probably ruined a lot of people’s plans.”

“And that’s an advantage we can use!”

Seeing Willis so quickly adjust her mindset and make arrangements, Hill Yu showed a complicated expression.

Her imperial sister had changed so much.

Maybe it was because of all the recent assassination attempts.

She was so young, she should have been hiding behind her elder sister—yet now…

***

On the other side.

After being driven out of the Castle Lord’s Mansion by Hill Yu, Mike Millen returned to his own home.

His house had been expanded and was now even more grand and spacious than the Castle Lord’s Mansion itself.

If anyone came in for a look, they’d be frightened by the sheer luxury inside.

But the scariest thing wasn’t the wealth in Mike Millen’s home…

It was the rows of guards standing from the inner courtyard all the way to the front gate.

By rough count, there were more than three hundred!

All of them well-equipped, moving with tiger-like steps!

All fierce soldiers trained regularly!

“Haha, Mike, you sure work fast—gathered everyone back from the outskirts in just one day?!”

The visitor outside the residence was one of the Ushi City City Defense Army commanders and also a Baron noble of the Empire—Mik Englandram.

He looked to be in his thirties, always wearing a top hat, looking more like a noble lord than Mike Millen himself.

His large build and prosperous life had given him a slightly plump appearance.

But overall, he was still a handsome middle-aged man.

“So it’s you. I thought it was Willis…”

Seeing the visitor, Mike Millen cursed with a laugh.

“Who would’ve thought they’d travel day and night to reach Ushi City by this afternoon? We still have two thousand people at the outer mines who haven’t been recalled…”

“But three hundred is enough for self-defense. Have the others been arranged?”

The other man nodded in response, “They entered the city not long ago and have been settled in various strongholds.”

“Willis didn’t notice, did she? What about the City Defense Army?”

Mik Englandram replied, “Neither side has probably discovered our intentions yet… But if everyone gathers here, it might get noticed.”

“To be safe, it’s best to keep them in the strongholds for now.”

The two were silent for half a minute before Mik spoke first.

“If it weren’t so hard to move one thousand three hundred people on short notice—and if there weren’t so many, making it easy for Willis to spot, and if we could fit more people here…”

Mik sneered, “Otherwise, we’d just ambush with a thousand troops and wipe out Willis completely.”

Hearing this, Mike also sighed.

“Damn, arriving half a day ahead of schedule messed up all my preparations—”

“And they kicked me out of the Castle Lord’s Mansion… Otherwise, that place would be their grave!”

“Sigh, it’s come to this…”

Mike Millen sighed.

“As soon as anything happens here, we’ll be branded traitors and wanted men—then all that’s left is to flee east to the Amis Strait.”

“Once we’re at sea, who knows when or if we’ll ever return.”

Mik Englandram looked at him with contempt.

“Relax. With that person backing us, the crime of killing an Empire Princess will vanish soon enough.”

“It won’t be long before we can return with new identities.”

Mike Millen froze, thinking of a terrifying possibility.

“Er, is that person planning to…”

“Shh! Do you want to die!? Just do your job…”

Mik Englandram made a silencing gesture.

“Wait. With all this tension, even Hill Yu won’t be able to sit still—let alone Willis.”

“It won’t be long before they come here to interrogate you!”

“So what if there are five hundred City Defense Army? In a surprise attack, quality beats quantity!”

“Then you pretend to admit guilt, lure them in, and activate the traps around here…”

Mik Englandram made a bloodthirsty cutting motion.

“And then capture Willis and Hill Yu in one fell swoop!”

“Next, contact our brothers in the surrounding strongholds, burn down the Castle Lord’s Mansion, seize the treasure, create chaos—and you and I will escape together!”

The two looked at each other and laughed in the darkness.

Two hours later…

“Why hasn’t she come yet?”