Urban Sims

Chapter 820 Return to court
What news caused the court to have a slight shock?
News about the Lucis family.

The Lucis family sent a special envoy to the imperial capital and played in front of the palace, expressing their intention to return to the imperial court and imploring the imperial court for approval.

Of course, the meaning of "surrender" here is different from the "surrender" expressed repeatedly after the previous defeat.

The so-called "return to obedience" is mainly reflected in the word "return".

That is to return to the court and participate in the imperial government, hoping to occupy a seat in the court.

As long as His Majesty the Emperor approves and agrees, the new Lord Lucis will return to the imperial capital to contribute to various causes of the empire, offer advice and suggestions, and play the role that the Lucis family has always played before.

Regarding this request, there was a lot of controversy in the court.

The mainstream opinion of the ministers and nobles is to express their opposition.

"The Lucis family refused to change after repeated teachings. First they rebelled, then assassinated His Majesty, and finally annexed the nobles. They committed three unforgivable crimes in a row. Instead of shutting themselves up and thinking about their mistakes, they wanted to disrupt the government. It is simply delusional!" Prime Minister Orusconi said.

"Now that the court has just stabilized, why is the Lucis family involved? What are you still fantasizing about? The court no longer needs the Lucis family."

"Anyway, I don't want to work with the members of the Lucis family. They only make trouble, oppose and quarrel. With the Lucis family, the imperial court can't do any big things."

"Your Majesty, please reject the request of the Lucis family, let them stay in their own territory, develop well, be a down-to-earth person, and stop meddling with the affairs of the court."

The opinion of most of the ministers is that they hope that the Lucis family will be completely out of the game and will not return to the court to make trouble.

The same is true of the opinion of the majority of the nobles.

Even more fierce opposition.

"Your Majesty, my fief was looted twice by the Lucis family, and my father was also killed by Bruno. I hate the Lucis family so much, I really don't want to work with them!"

"The Lucis family has done a lot of unreasonable things for hundreds of years because of their merits. The empire has been suffering from the Lucis family for a long time! This fierce tiger can no longer be released from its cage!"

"Your Majesty, the Lucis family has not received the punishment they deserved, yet they made such an excessive request. Your Majesty, I feel that if they don't punish the Lucis family well, they still can't see their position clearly! I think that the imperial court Cut off half of the Lucis family's fief and lower its title to a duke!"

"That's right. The Lucis family thinks they are still very powerful, and they still have the capital to negotiate terms with the imperial court. Your Majesty, I beg you to give them a good beating and make them stop delusional!"

"Your Majesty, please cut half of the Lucis family's fiefdom and demote one level of title!"

The nobles not only opposed the return of the Lucis family to the court, but also hoped that Zhou Ming would be severely punished and suppressed!
Hearing the voices of opposition and condemnation in the hall, Zhou Ming suppressed his hand.

Shaking his head, he said: "For more than a year, the Lucis family has been honest and responsible, and the property tributes offered at the beginning of the year are three times higher than in previous years. This is just after they have just experienced the war, which is enough to prove their obedience. Sincerity, how can I punish without reason?"

Immediately, a minister stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the Lucis family's wolf ambition is just a trick for them to deceive! When they recover, they will still stutter!"

Another noble said: "Your Majesty, for the sake of safety, it is better to weaken the Lucis family!"

"Okay, the imperial court governs the country according to the law, and will not punish people who are innocent or punish people who do not teach!"

Zhou Ming directly rejected the proposals of the ministers and nobles.

So, how did Zhou Ming consider the request of the Lucis family to "return to court"?

Is it a promise?
Is it better not to agree?
Zhou Ming pondered for a while, and then expressed his decision.

Hearing this decision, the ministers and nobles were all taken aback and expressed their dissuasion, but seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was more persistent, they had no choice but to agree.

……

the other side.

To the southeast of the imperial capital, in a big city 5000 miles away.

In this majestic and tall palace.

Everyone in the Lucis family was anxiously waiting for the news.

In the main hall of discussion.

What is surprising is that the person sitting on the head of the family is actually a young and beautiful woman in her 20s. She is wearing a royal robe and has a dignified face. , already filled with the demeanor of a superior.

In the Lucis family, her prestige is increasing day by day, and her position is becoming more and more stable.

She is the new head of the Lucis family - Elsa.

Or you can call it "Lord Elsa".

She became the first female head of the Lucis family to stand out in the more than 300 years of family history established by the Lucis family.

By the way, as a woman, how could she take the position of Patriarch?
Especially in a family of masculine straight men like Lucis, how did she emerge?
There are three main reasons:
One, she is a resolute anti-war faction. Not long after the death of the old prince, she begged Bruno not to rebel and not to bring the family into a state of doom. It is her fault that she was abandoned by the emperor. The family should not do anything for her Lives were devastated, and hundreds of millions of people fell into war.

But her words were not listened to, and she was even complained and insulted by many people in the family. For a period of time, her freedom was restricted and she was locked in a dark room.

Later, the situation was critical, and she was released, but because she continued to oppose the war and various actions of Grandpa Bruno, she was even beaten severely.

Even so, she kept chattering, persuading the family not to oppose the court, and finally persuaded some people to stand by her side.

Two, after many battles, the men of the Lucis family suffered heavy casualties, out of ten.

Prince Bruno, for example, died of an infected gunshot wound.

The two patriarchs who came to the throne temporarily died on the battlefield one after another.

After Elsa's father Liszt came to the throne, he was also hit by a stray bullet while guarding the royal city, and struggled in the hospital bed for two days. He didn't even have time to designate the heir to the throne, so he burped.

In the end, there were only two candidates left for the throne: Elsa, and her brother Cloonan.

But her elder brother Clonan was cowardly and cowardly, he had no idea of ​​what to do, and always wanted to escape, which was a disgrace to the Lucis family.

Only Elsa remained calm in the face of danger, presided over the overall situation, and accepted the most dangerous mission, went to the imperial capital in person, and saved the Lucis family at the last moment.

Three, Elsa who successfully saved the family and returned to the capital, easily got her brother out of power.

But in order to take the position of head of the family, Elsa also had to make a promise: she would never marry in the future, sacrifice her personal happiness, and serve the family wholeheartedly!
In this way, Elsa eliminated all the voices of criticism and took the position of head of the family.

In fact, after a lot of tossing, things came to this point, and the Lucis family, who had suffered a lot, also reflected on it from top to bottom.

Reflect on what?
Reflecting on the old prince and Prince Bruno, who has been conspiring to rebel, did he make a fatal misjudgment of the court?

On the one hand, he misjudged the strength of the imperial court, which led to heavy losses and a crushing defeat on the battlefield.

Another fatal misjudgment was the Emperor Noctis, did the Lucis family completely misunderstand him?

at a meeting one day.

A vassal analyzed: "Noctis wanted to postpone the wedding for a while and get married later, but the old prince took this as a sign of the emperor's repentance, and made a big fuss, and even pissed himself to death, making the family fell into the abyss."

"But in fact, we have also seen that during the past two years, Noctis has been single since he did not marry his concubine. It can be seen that the emperor's delay is not an excuse for him to regret the marriage, but that he really wants to marry later. .”

"But the old prince didn't believe it, and this caused a catastrophe!"

"Yes! The old prince really misjudged it!"

Another retainer continued: "I heard that in the harem of His Majesty Noctis, ministers and nobles stuffed more than 3000 young and beautiful maids into the harem for His Majesty's blessing. What happened? Three thousand beauties, under such a temptation, His Majesty the Emperor remains unmoved, one of them has not got his hands on it, and if it was any other man, he would have already died of exhaustion."

"There are so many beauties, the emperor won't touch any of them, let alone accepting a concubine as a queen. The emperor's plan for a late marriage is definitely not a lie, but a real plan!"

"So, the old prince really misjudged him."

This misjudgment almost brought the Lucis family into the abyss of eternal doom.

Hearing this, everyone's faces, including Elsa, shook their heads again and again, feeling extremely regretful.

How wonderful it would be if the old prince hadn't misjudged it?

But some people felt that something was wrong, and questioned: "Three thousand beauties, and some beauties, whose beauty is not inferior to His Highness, can be picked at will. Normal men, no matter how good their concentration is, they will never be able to control them, but Noctis Unexpectedly, he didn't look sideways and didn't move his heart, which caused rumors from all over the empire: Only peerless beauties can be seen by His Majesty. As a result, beauty contests were set off everywhere, and even some ministers sent people to us to inquire about the whereabouts of beauties .”

"But I think that even if he finds the so-called peerless beauty, the emperor will not be moved, because he is not interested in women at all, what he likes is..."

"boom!"

Elsa slammed on the back of the chair and warned severely: "Fildman, you don't want to die! If your words get out, I won't guarantee the lives of your whole family."

"Patriarch, please forgive me!"

Feldman was taken aback, slapped himself twice, and said in a cold sweat: "The villain will never dare to talk nonsense again!"

"Your Highness, the old minister has a guess, which can explain why the emperor has not made a queen for so long?"

Another senior veteran said.

"If this kind of speculation won't make you lose your head, you can say it." Elsa looked at him expressionlessly.

"I think His Majesty the Emperor is keeping a promise, and he is waiting for someone."

"What promise to keep? Who to wait for?"

"Follow the promise of 'Kaneya Zangmi', he is waiting for you, Your Highness." The old minister said.

Elsa's face suddenly turned red.

But immediately became serious again, shook his head and said, "This is impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

"But Noctis said that a gentleman's words are hard to follow, and what he says will definitely count." The veteran said solemnly.

"But I have already said that for the sake of the family, I will never marry in this life!" Elsa said.

"If His Highness marries Noctis, who in the family will object to it? Who will ask you to keep your promise? This will only bring great benefits to the Lucis family!"

"Stop talking about it, I've already said it, that's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Elsa shook her head again and again, forcibly ending the topic.

But for some reason, her heart beat faster.

Even in the next topic of "returning to the imperial court", she agreed: once the imperial court allows the Luxi family to submit, she will go to the imperial capital in person, and as an ordinary courtier, she will live in the imperial capital for a long time!

It's just that the Lucis family has offended too many ministers and nobles. Regarding this matter, Elsa does not have much hope in her heart.

But the veteran said, "If Noctis agrees that His Highness will return to the imperial capital, it means that the Emperor still has a little affection for His Highness in his heart, and His Highness still has a chance!"

Elsa blushed like blood!

Immediately reprimanded the old minister severely.

And in the process of waiting for the court's reply, Elsa was anxious and anxious, and reminded herself repeatedly: "Elsa, stop being passionate! If you say it is impossible, it is impossible!"

But for some reason, the old minister's words always sounded like a curse in her ears.

She was in this kind of torment, and on May 5th, she waited for a reply from the court.

(End of this chapter)