In the Name of the Queen

"Your Majesty, there are many crises at sea. The late emperor encountered a shipwreck when he returned from the sea, and more than 5,000 people from the Fourth Fleet suffered misfortune. The lesson is right in front of you, please think again!"

Chief Minister William loudly advised on behalf of all cabinet members.

No matter what you think in your heart, your sincerity is expressed.

"Qing William, I understand your painstaking efforts, but I am the emperor of the empire and there are some things that must be done. You cannot retreat because of danger, otherwise Uncle Andy will definitely impeach me."

Andy rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky.

This child Sylph used to be so honest. Who did she learn this from? How could she tell lies and blame him?

Who has nothing to do to impeach the emperor?

This would only happen if the crime was extremely heinous and completely unworthy of virtue.

In the seven hundred years of the empire's long history, only one monarch was impeached and replaced after doing hundreds of stupid things within a month of taking the throne.

But everyone knows that it is a political struggle, not an impeachment based on moral issues.

Even the son of the devil who came to the world could not do so many bad things in a month.

The Queen said calmly and resolutely: "I have made up my mind. Sir William does not need to persuade me."

She raised the golden scepter in her right hand and said loudly: "Mr. William, during my absence, please have full authority to handle government affairs. You do not need to report except for major matters such as diplomacy and war."

William was a little surprised. He looked at the Queen in surprise, then looked at Walder with his peripheral vision, and declined very humbly:

"Your Majesty, I am not qualified for the job. Your Majesty's teacher, Mr. Walder, is highly respected. It is better for him to preside over government affairs."

"Mr. William, Mr. Walder is old, and I don't want him to be too tired. You make the decision on government affairs, and other ministers will assist you. This is my decision."

The Queen does not have a personal rule and cannot perform the imperial power. Powers have to be decentralized. Now handing over the power to William in front of everyone is to reassure him.

"His Majesty."

William still wanted to persuade him a few words, but the Queen had already picked up the scepter and raised her hands flat.

At this point, William had no choice but to "reluctantly" step forward and take the scepter.

He wiped away tears and said with great reluctance that he would fulfill his duties while the Queen was away. He would not act arbitrarily if anything happened, and would discuss it with all the ministers.

It sounds nice, but it's actually a scapegoat.

Let him make decisions on his own, which may seem like a lot of power, but it also puts him under more pressure.

He already has thirty-four provinces on his shoulders, and it would be too heavy to carry the central government affairs of the empire.

Although the deal was reached, superficial work still had to be done. He turned to Albon and asked slowly:

"Mr. Alban, what do you have to say?"

Alban took a step forward with a straight face and spoke in a different tone.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say. The previous emperor took the crown prince with him when he went to sea, which seriously violated the law of succession. In the end, the emperor and the crown prince had an accident at the same time, causing great chaos."

His words were very rude, not only scolding the former emperor, but also the current queen.

Although he knew that he and the Queen had "a bad relationship", William was still shocked by Alban's words.

Can you say this in front of everyone?

Sure enough, after hearing Alban's words, the Queen's expression changed instantly.

She was already frighteningly fair, but her face had no color at all.

She snorted softly and said coldly: "Mr. Alban said well, but I am not married yet, and I have no heirs. Where can I get the crown prince?"

Alban seemed to be confronting the Queen, and he said directly:

"Your Majesty, you have not officially ascended the throne yet. It is normal not to have a crown prince. If your Majesty insists on going to sea, please designate a member of the royal family to supervise the country on your behalf in accordance with the succession law."

"Then let's talk about it, who is suitable?" The Queen's tone was very unkind.

"I think the Earl of Tyrone is very good."

Alban said calmly.

Even William couldn't bear it this time.

Isn’t this fucking asking for trouble? Who among the cabinet ministers does not know that the Queen is the Earl of Tyrone?

Usually everyone is pretending to be confused. It's good for Albon. Are you really stuck on this matter?

Although William and others wanted to limit imperial power, it did not mean that they wanted to rebel.

He stood up and looked at Alban angrily, and said coldly: "How presumptuous! It's not your turn to talk nonsense here about establishing a prince!"

William turned to the Queen and explained with a smile: "Your Majesty, Alban is a straightforward person and always talks like this. Don't argue with him. But what he said makes sense. Your Majesty has a special status. It's best if you can."

The Queen raised her right hand to stop William and Alban from continuing to talk.

She looked around the audience and received the new instructions from Sif.

Bring on Uncle Andy!

Can you still play like this?

The Mirror Queen was slightly surprised, but still carried out the instructions resolutely.

The soul contract is above all else.

"Sir Alban is right. It is indeed imprudent for our father to go to sea without leaving the crown prince at home."

"Let's do this. I'll ask Uncle Andy to supervise the country on my behalf."

The whole audience was stunned.

Uncle Andy, who just looked up at the sky with the mentality of having fun, was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out.

He was a little sad.

Sylph is a bad kid after all.

He is not young anymore, how many more years does he have left to enjoy life?

If you don't give your uncle any benefits, will he be put in jail in the palace?

Just when he wanted to protest, the Queen's soft voice made him unable to refuse.

"Uncle Andy, please help me."

Andy sighed dejectedly. This was how Sylph begged him to help her climb a tree to catch birds when she was little.

Maybe in her heart he was just Uncle Andy.

As an uncle, he couldn't refuse his lovely niece's request.

As a minister, he could not resist the king.

He could only nod.

All things were decided, the fleet was ready, and the Queen's team was finally going to sea.

The next morning, the farewell team filled the dock.

Cabinet members headed by Chief Minister William, local officials headed by the mayor and port officials, and the remaining personnel of the Fourth Fleet all gathered at the dock to see the Queen off.

In addition, there were citizens and merchants from various countries who came on their own initiative.

The Queen's peerless beauty and graceful temperament made them admire.

People were shocked by the Queen's demeanor until she slowly stepped onto the deck, climbed to the top floor where the captain's room was located, and disappeared in the room before they reluctantly dispersed.

William and others watched the Queen and her team leave, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In the past two months, the Queen has brought them too many surprises, which has become a normalized shock.

If this continues, the retirement age of cabinet members will probably be greatly advanced.

It's better to leave, everyone will feel at ease and avoid torturing each other.

The sky over the strait was exceptionally clear, completely different from the foggy imperial capital.

The fourth fleet, led by the Sovereign, slowly left the port of Dowall and sailed into the sea.

This fleet has a total of fifteen ships.

These include the first-class battleship Sovereign, three second-class battleships, five cruisers, several destroyers and a supply ship.

The entire fleet was built by the Royal Dockyard, well maintained, and the ships are in good condition.

"As long as there is no ambush by the main fleet of the enemy country, our fleet is invincible!"

Bridges confidently introduced the fleet situation to the Queen and concluded.

"What if we encounter an ambush by the main force of the enemy country?"

"The Sussex Navy will fight every enemy, and we have defeated countless powerful enemies."

Bridges paused for a moment and said slowly: "Of course, to ensure the safety of your majesty, the Sovereign will leave the battlefield and return to the port alone."

The Sovereign is extremely fast, and it is very rare to catch up with her main battleship in this era.

As long as she is determined to escape, her speed is also invincible.

In short, in one word, invincible!

Bridges's confidence was infectious, but Roland didn't like the term "invincible".

He pointed out very seriously, "The last fleet that claimed to be invincible sank in the Dovor Strait and lost its maritime supremacy. General Bridges, I need you to ensure His Majesty's safety, not to brag about invincibility."

Bridges didn't like to hear this.

He glanced at Roland from the corner of his eye, and looked down on this pretty boy who relied on the Queen to get to the top.

"Sir Roland, you are an excellent 'knight', but you don't understand naval warfare at all."

"There may be luck in naval warfare, but it is more about the navy's foundation and superb skills. No one knows naval warfare better than me, and General Planck is no exception."

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Sif hurriedly came out to smooth things over and persuaded: "General Bridges, you are right, but despising an enemy that has not been defeated is underestimating the enemy, whether it is the army or the navy."

"Captain Roland, you should also say less. We all listen to Bridges at sea."

She blinked at Roland, hinting with her eyes that she understood everything.

Bridges is indeed a veteran of the navy and has rich experience, but his underestimation of the enemy is almost written on his face.

Roland is right to knock him down.

But someone has to come out to comfort him after the knock.

Sif understands this.

Bridges and Roland confessed to the queen at the same time, and the conflict was temporarily suppressed.

Although Bridges despised Roland, he was not an idiot. He knew that Roland had a special status and could not confront him head-on, so he stopped talking and introduced navigation knowledge instead.

Roland was not angry, but rather praised Bridges a little more.

In front of the Queen, he was ruthless to her "favorites". Such a straightforward character could make him a major general in the navy where connections were rampant, which showed that he had real talent.

This person is worth winning over.

Bridges has a firm position, a decent style, outstanding ability, and a long-standing prestige. He is far more qualified to be the fleet commander than Planck.

But Planck is the brother-in-law of the Minister of the Navy Winston.

Since Planck is gone, it is only natural to let someone like Bridges, who is outstanding, loyal and reliable, take over.

But this matter cannot be rushed.

No one cherishes the opportunity for advancement that comes easily, and Bridges must spend more effort to strive for the fleet commander and a higher rank.

Bridges wants to perform in front of the Queen, so this navigation tutorial is naturally full of dry goods.

Roland and Sif, who played the role of the Queen, were both excellent listeners.

They listened very attentively, and would signal before asking questions if they had any.

Although some of the questions were very unprofessional, Bridges didn't care.

He enjoyed the feeling of teaching the Queen.

Perhaps because he was in a good mood, even Roland, the pretty boy lover next to the Queen, looked a little more pleasing to the eye.

In General Bridges' eyes, Roland's status instantly rose from an incompetent pretty boy to a slightly competent and polite pretty boy.

Roland, who didn't know that his reputation was still so bad, accompanied Sif to finish the basic navigation class, raised his hand and asked a sharp question.

"General Bridges, you have rich experience in navigation and have seen all kinds of storms. According to your judgment, what is the probability of the late emperor and the Fourth Fleet surviving? What might they have encountered?"

This question was very direct, which made Bridges a little confused.

Roland's reputation in his mind instantly dropped a lot.

From a polite pretty boy to a pretty boy with some ability but full of bad water.

What a joke.

He said unhappily, "Without any evidence, we can only guess. Can we make accurate guesses?"

Sif smiled and defused the tense atmosphere, "General Bridges, it's been almost three months since the incident, and we've cried all the tears we should have. We need to solve the problem now, so you can talk."

Since the Queen said so, Bridges would not miss the opportunity.

He had been holding back some words for too long, and if he didn't say them, he would really get hurt.

He took a deep breath and said slowly: "At present, all signs prove that His Majesty Edward and all the members of the fleet were killed, but there is a huge doubt. No matter how terrible the shipwreck is, there are often survivors."

"I have never heard of such a neat annihilation of more than a thousand people in a shipwreck. But there are no survivors in this shipwreck."

"Not only that, no ship fragments can be found in the nearby waters."

Bridges frowned and said: "Most warships are made of the best tall trees. Even if they capsize in a shipwreck, the wreckage of the hull will often be washed away by the ocean current. However, we searched downstream of the scene for half a month and found nothing."

"Combining the above doubts, I suspect that His Majesty Edward's fleet is not killed, but missing. They seem to be swallowed by the cracks in time and space and disappeared directly."

Bridges shook his head and said helplessly: "Please forgive my nonsense."

After all, the complete disappearance of the entire fleet sounds too incredible, like a rant.

Roland and Sif looked at each other, and their eyes lit up at the same time.

Looking at the frustrated Bridges, Roland said slowly: "General Bridges, your discovery is very useful, at least it provides a lot of clues. Have you reported these things to the cabinet?"

"Of course, I reported it in writing to the Minister of the Navy, but there was no follow-up."

"General Bridges, today's conversation is only known to the three of us. The clues you provided are very important, and this matter will be investigated. This is my promise."

Sif's concluding remarks ended the conversation.

Bridges knew that the Queen and Roland had something to discuss, so he left first.

Thinking that such a smart person like the Queen was fooled around by Roland, a pretty boy, he felt very uncomfortable and his evaluation of Roland was lowered by a few points.

From a pretty boy with some skills but full of bad water to a pretty boy with some skills but full of bad water, especially good at fooling innocent girls, a morally corrupt pretty boy.

In short, he is not a good person.

Watching Bridges' somewhat desolate back as he left, Sif couldn't help but smile and said softly:

"General Bridges' loyalty to me is beyond doubt, but he seems to have a lot of opinions about you. Don't you plan to clarify?"

"I never explain misunderstandings. People who truly trust me won't misunderstand me either."

Roland and Sif's eyes met in the air.

Sif understood that she was the person Roland was talking about.

How could there be so many misunderstandings if there was true trust?