Chapter 937: A Stinger
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
In the next few days, the situation had changed so rapidly that it was beyond everyone's expectations.
People in the king's city had never thought that they would witness such a scene. The Quinn family, who had served the royal family of Moya for hundreds of years, publicly opposed Appen Moya.
This was not a secret conspiracy, nor a conflict of interest between noble families which civilians simply could not understand. Everything was on the table. The Prime Minister of the City of Glow stood in front of everyone and publicly declared his ideals and purpose, which was overthrowing the rule of the incompetent tyrant, and promising a bright future for the Kingdom of Dawn.
In his speech, the Earl exemplified the signs of the decline of the city and the tyranny of the new king for more than a year, and he used precise evidence to describe the inevitable fall of the Kingdom of Dawn. Since no noble ever told the people the principles and inside information of running the domain and the speaker was the Prime Minister who had served the king for over a decade, his act surprisingly caused a heated discussion. From the auction house of the Chamber of Commerce to the taverns on the Black Street, nearly everyone was talking about it.
"I have heard that hundreds of people starved to death in the slums last year. It turned out to be caused by the reduction of cultivated land in the outer cities."
"In actuality, more people died in the outer cities. There is nothing wrong with His Majesty's decision to occupy the land for the expansion of the palace, but the Earl said that the amount of grain saved is gradually decreasing. What should we do?"
"No wonder the price of food is so much higher recently."
"I heard that the peasants in suburban towns were forced to serve in the army. Now that the army was defeated, few people are able to come back."
"Doesn't that mean that the food prices will be even higher?"
"Oh, I hope we won't starve during the Months of Demons this year."
"Well, do you want to support Earl Quinn? He has promised, if his promises hold, that there will be no need to worry about the food in the City of Glow and everyone will be able to get enough food in the future."
"Hey, I didn't say that!"
The speech of the Prime Minister quickly spread throughout the City of Glow through these discussions.
Quite a large portion of the people were doubtful about the contents of the propaganda and it was the conflict itself that drew their close attention to this issue.
How often could they witness the conflicts between the great nobles and the royal family of Moya?
For the general public, they usually only heard, from the tavern, the exaggerated and modified rumors or boast of the nobles. These days it was simply too exciting for them.
This was not a show of drama, but a real treason!
King Appen did not remain indifferent. He had ordered several groups of men to stop Earl Quinn, all of which ended in failure. Earl Quinn possessed advantages beyond imagination, and an incredibly powerful guard team became his solid shield, which not only defeated the king's team in spite of a numbers disadvantage, and expanded from a dozen to forty or fifty members.
What was more exciting was that the Earl explained his plan directly. He would move the frontier line 200 meters toward the Castle District every day until the King of Dawn gave up his throne or was forcibly removed off the throne.
In other words, the confrontation would come to an end in five days or so.
...
"Bang!" "Bang!"
Appen threw everything from the desk on to the carpet. The delicate room became a mess, but it could not quench his anger.
"Damn, damn! When did I occupy the farmland outside the city? Isn't it the problem which my father ordered him to investigate? How dare he blame me for the cause of uncivilized suburban villages and towns! It's Roland Wimbledon's fault!" He almost roared, "It was his witches who killed them, not me!"
"Your Majesty, please appease your anger..." The minister and Chief Knight said, "Now the most important thing is to stop the pace of Horford Quinn so you can dispel his arrogance. The nobles in the kingdom are waiting for your move!"
"I should have thrown them all into jail at the very beginning," Appen thought in anger and then asked, "How many people do we have now?"
"There are still 1,500 knights, lifeguards, and mercenaries in the palace. And if we use the maids and servants, then we have an additional 2,000 hands." The Chief Knight replied, "Outside the Castle District, the stone wall can block the enemy. Though it's not as thick as the city walls, they can stand on it and easily kill the enemy even without much training."
Originally, he intended not to show his hand until he dealt with other lords, especially since the palace lifeguards were nearly as strong as the knights and were equipped to teeth. He had begun to cultivate them before his father passed away, but now he had to use them in the defense of the palace.
"Bring the boxes in the vault and tell the servants that they can get a reward of 100 gold royals as long as they kill a monster!" Appen said, gnashing his teeth, "If they can stop the treason, I'll give them titles and domains! Or promote them it if they already have!"
"Yes!"
The God's Punishment Warriors of the church were not impervious to blades and spears, which he had confirmed from the Pure Witches. Even though the monsters were powerful, it was impossible for them to remove the entire stone wall by hand!
As for the fact that the monsters were increasing in number, it must be a trick played by Earl Quinn. He must have arranged for them to hide somewhere beforehand, and then disguised themselves as if he had more and more helpers.
No noble would believe that there were so many fierce warriors in the City of Glow and that they did not emerge until now. The stupid civilians might believe it, but their opinions had little effect on the situation.
"Has Horford gotten the support of other nobles yet?" Appen turned to the minister.
The latter immediately became embarrassed and replied, "Uh, well..."
"Speak!"
"It is rumored that 'Black Money' started to come into contact with Earl Quinn, but the specifics of the situation is still not known yet—"
"Those greedy wolves!" Appen clenched his fist and angrily said, "My father treated their underground kennel as part of the market. In my opinion, I should have confiscated their property much earlier!"
However, he also knew that he could do nothing but express his anger. The organizers of Black Money were all rich businessmen in the City of Glow, and their status was no lower than that of the great nobles. Moreover, a large amount of wealth accumulated by the Moya family came from those people.
"In addition, the Tokat family has openly supported the Quinn family," the minister swallowed and said. "But Your Majesty, please don't be too worried. I heard that the Luoxi family had rejected Horford Quinn's invitation several times. "
"These were the three families which my father was so proud of..." Appen sneered silently and thought, "Now two of them have become traitors, even faster than those minor nobles who are sitting on the fence. And the reason why the last family doesn't act is because Otto Luoxi is still in my hands."
But this might be his weapon.
"Send someone to tell Earl Luoxi that if he wants to prove his innocence, he must immediately bring his knights and squires to support the palace," said Appen coldly. "Otherwise... I will not show any mercy toward the rebellious family."
"It will be done!" The minister quickly replied.
Four hours later, the King of Dawn received a message that Earl Luoxi was willing to comply with his demands, which made his anger somewhat abate a little. He managed to mark a little comeback in the face of bad news.
Appen did not care too much about Luoxi's knights. Most importantly, he knew that the younger generation of the three families was close friends. He wondered whether they would still be line with the family when they knew one of them would die if they opposed to the king.
This was undoubtedly a stinger which they could not remove.
Soon, the deadline announced by Horford Quinn, the Prime Minister, arrived.