Chapter 133: Chapter 133 Don’t come to the capital of the empire (5)
When Lard asked, the emperor stopped for a moment and let out a sigh. Obviously, it bothered him to punish them who had nothing to do with the explosion. But he said firmly, “I think they should be punished, too, as their family was involved in the explosion meant to kill me.”
Then he looked at Lard’s ash eyes. While he tilted his head to examine each of the violins in his hand, Lard spoke with a heavy voice, “I’ve found in his letter that he was connected to the Setorang family. I don’t have enough evidence yet on Setorang’s involvement, but I have no problem summoning him. I think isolating Duke Engre’s close allies is probably the most effective way to restrain him. ”
“Sure, go ahead without hesitation. This time you don’t have to be generous in dealing with this case. So, you can be a bit more cruel in removing the duke’s allies.”
The emperor told him about his intentions without hesitation.
Lard opined, “I have to first find out how much he was involved in the explosion, but saving the Setorang family to some extent would be a good tactic, too. Stoking division among them can be the right method to ruin the duke.”
Explaining how to stoke division among the duke’s allies, Lard presented the emperor with a list of evidence. When the emperor received the list, the attendant outside announced, “Your Majesty, Sir Jean Jacques Simuan wants to see you.”
“Let him in.”
As soon as the emperor gave a greenlight, Jean quickly came in through the open door. With a badly contorted face, he barely managed to calm down and reported to the emperor. His report was enough to shock everyone in the room.
“Jopiern has fallen. Thousands of farmers are rising up in revolt and heading to the capital right now.”
Wendy and Pascal, who were picking flowers inside the greenhouse, raised their bodies, startled at the sudden loud noise from the outside. It was coming from the shop. When she went out of the greenhouse into the shop, someone was knocking on the door so hard that the bell hanging on the door was shaking violently.
Pascal, pushed her to the back, checked the weapon in his arms and opened the locked door carefully. Wendy, looking nervously at the open door, sighed “Whew!” when she noticed a familiar woman outside the door standing in the sun. She felt relaxed at once.
“Wendy!”
“… Melissa, what’s the matter with you?”
She was Melissa, a daughter of Marquis Lowney. Accompanied by three escort knights and two maids, she stood in front of her flower shop.
“Come on in!”
Melissa, looking around anxiously before stepping into the shop, grasped her hands suddenly. Embarrassed, Wendy tried to pull her away from her, but didn’t because her hands were trembling.
“Wendy…! ”
“What’s the matter?”
“Daddy sent me a messenger urgently. He was staying in Jepisa because my grandmother called for him.”
“… ”
“There broke out a big uproar in Jopiern. I hear that not only the people there but also those in surrounding areas started a riot and they are now heading to the capital. All of them moved in small groups to Jopiern and gathered all at once, so the provincial government didn’t notice it. We have to hurry! As you know, Jopiern is not far! ”
Jepisa was a city right next to Jopiern. Her father urgently sent his family members a message because of the disturbances in the neighboring town. As soon as Melissa heard about it, she worried about Wendy’s safety.
“Let’s go to my house together. They can’t keep the security here properly.”
Melissa made an earnest request, pulling her hands. Standing for a moment and thinking about something, she calmly held Melissa’s hands and said, “Thanks for your concern, but I cannot go. I’m waiting for somebody. Don’t worry about me and refrain from going out for the time being.”
Melissa, who was relatively familiar with Wendy’s personality, quickly realized that she would not go to her house no matter how strongly she insisted.
Melissa said, releasing her hands helplessly, “Well, if you change your mind, can you come to my house? If you say your name, they will open the door for you anytime.”
Her eyes shined tenderly. Although Melissa looked back often, as if she was worried about her safety, Wendy sent her away calmly.
“It looks like something bad happened.”
“I think it’s because of the Montrapi. I hear the damages by blight and insects have already affected Jopiern.”
Blight and insects dried out the delicate stems of Montrapi flowers even before they grew ripe.
Peasants were agitated when they saw Montrapi flowers withering and were helpless to stop it. The riots in the Henoby region were the first sign of their revolt. Their landlords were helpless in the face of the devastating disaster, and last year’s Montrapi grains, which they harvested long ago, were sold at a skyrocketing price at the stores run by some nobles.
These stores, which were run in close association with the landlords, purchased all the crops from the Montrapi fields of their estate lands by offering the down payment before the early spring farming began. As a result, the peasants were put in a miserable situation where they had to buy the Montrapi again for the following year at the price several times the amount they sold it for. The more they farmed Montrapi, the more they experienced the vicious circle of increasing debts, fanning their hopeless and desperation.
A little later, Sir Martin Bishop came to her flower shop. Given his gloomy look, he also seemed to know the grave situation in Jopiern where the peasants revolted.
“I’ve brought you a message that you have to come to the Imperial Palace.”
She stood up without replying and got ready to head for the palace quickly. She felt she had to lock the door of the flower shop firmly.
When she came out and went round the alley in front of the shop, she saw a large four-horse wagon waiting for her. As she got inside with Sir Dowain, Sir Bishop closed the door.
Sir Bishop, who sat next to the horseman, asked for her understanding, saying that he would drive the wagon a little faster than normal. Soon she heard the clattering of the horses’ hoofs.
She thought about the people while looking at the outside as the scenery passed by quickly.
At the same time, she thought about the safety of the farmers heading to the capital right now.
Which of them could she blame? No matter how righteous a judge came, it would be impossible for him to judge clearly. However, what was certain in this situation was that the weakest of them would experience the worst.
At that moment, the horses neighed loudly and the carriage stopped quickly. The wagon shook violently, and Wendy could not keep her balance. She bounced off the seat and hit against the wall inside, but Sir Dowain managed to grab her.
Thud!
“… Are you okay? ”
Sir Dowain, whose back hit the wall severely, squinted one of his eyes and asked whether she was okay. She nodded quickly and helped him to raise his body. While the two were trying to come to their senses, the noise outside became louder. Sir Bishop’s voice was heard.
“What the heck are you doing?”
“Are they safe inside?”
“Please get out of our way!” Sir Bishop’s voice was unusual.
“Well, I need to check their safety inside if I want to feel relieved.”
Sir Dowain, who was watching the outside movement closely, was about to pull his sword.
Wendy held her breath at the scary noise of several knights pulling their swords outside. Shortly afterwards, the carriage door was opened in a tense atmosphere.
“Oh, you’re safe. I’m glad you are okay.”
As the man who opened the door turned to the side, another man standing behind him said with a sigh, “This lady over here is familiar to me. I think we have met before, right?”
Looking at Wendy, the man stroked his jaw as if he was recollecting his memory of having seen her. He stared at her as if he was convinced he knew her. Faced with his good-looking eyes, she smiled a bitter smile. Their encounter this time was far from accidental, she thought.
“Duke Engre, I remember seeing you at the Imperial Palace recently, ” she said, slightly bending her knees.
“Oh yes! You were next to Sir Schroder! I now remember you. “
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