Urban Sims

What news caused a slight shock in the court?

News about the Lucis family.

The Lucis family sent a special envoy to the imperial capital and made a memorial in front of the palace, expressing their intention to re-submit to the imperial court and begging the imperial court for approval.

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

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

That is to say, he returned to the court and participated in the imperial government, hoping to occupy a seat in the court.

As long as His Majesty the Emperor approves it, the new Duke of Lucis will return to the imperial capital, contribute to various undertakings of the empire, make suggestions, and play the role that the Lucis family has played before.

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

The mainstream opinion of the ministers and nobles is to oppose it.

"The Lucis family refused to change despite repeated admonitions. They first rebelled, then assassinated His Majesty, and finally annexed the nobles. They committed three unforgivable crimes in a row. Instead of thinking about their mistakes behind closed doors, they wanted to disrupt the government again. This is simply delusional!" Prime Minister Orusconi said.

"Now that the imperial court has just stabilized, why are the Lucis family interfering with it again? What are you still fantasizing about? The imperial court no longer needs the Lucis family."

"I don't want to work with the Lucis family anyway. They will only make trouble, oppose and quarrel. With the Lucis family, the court will not be able to accomplish anything big."

"Your Majesty, please reject the Lucis family's request and let them stay in their own territory, develop well, and be down-to-earth people. They should not get involved in the affairs of the court."

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

This was also the opinion of most nobles.

The opposition was even more intense.

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

"The Lucis family has done a lot of harming things over the past hundreds of years because of their merits. The empire has been suffering from the Lucis family for a long time! This tiger cannot be let out of its cage anymore!"

"Your Majesty, the Lucis family has not received the punishment they deserve, but they have made such excessive demands. Your Majesty, I feel that if the Lucis family is not punished properly, they still cannot see their position clearly! I think that the imperial court Cut off half of the Lucis family’s fiefdom and reduce their title to a duke!”

"Yes, the Lucis family feels that they are still very powerful and still have the capital to negotiate terms with the court. I would like to ask your majesty to give them a good beating and make them stop their delusions!"

"Your Majesty, please reduce half of the Lucis family's fiefdom and lower their title by one level!"

The nobles not only opposed the return of the Lucis family to the court, but also hoped that Zhou Ming would punish them severely and suppress them!

Hearing the voices of opposition and condemnation in the hall, Zhou Ming lowered his hands.

Shaking his head, he said: "For more than a year, the Lucis family has done their duty honestly. At the beginning of the year, the property tribute they paid was three times more than in previous years. This was just after they experienced the war, which is enough to prove their surrender." Sincerity, how can I punish you without reason?"

Immediately, a minister stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the Lucis family is so ambitious. This is just a ploy to confuse them! When they recover, they will still open their mouths and eat people!"

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 in accordance with the law. It will not punish the innocent or kill without teaching!"

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

So, how does Zhou Ming consider the Lucis family's request to "return to the court"?

Did you agree?

Is it better not to agree?

Zhou Ming thought for a while and then expressed his decision.

Upon hearing this decision, the ministers and nobles were surprised and expressed dissuasion. However, seeing that the emperor was more insistent, they had no choice but to agree.

…

the other side.

Southeast of the imperial capital, in a large city 5,000 miles away.

In this magnificent and tall palace.

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

The meeting is in the main hall.

What is surprising is that the person sitting on the throne of the head of the family is actually a young and beautiful woman in her 20s. She is wearing a royal robe and has a solemn face. Although she has just sat on the throne, her movements are... , already full of the demeanor of a superior person.

In the Lucis family, her reputation is growing day by day and her position is becoming more and more stable.

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

Or it can be called "Elsa Prince".

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

As a woman, how could she be the head of the family?

Especially in a family full of masculine straight men like Lucis, how did she stand out?

There are three main reasons:

One, she is a resolute anti-war faction. Shortly after the death of the old prince, she begged Bruno not to rebel and not to bring the family into a place of eternal disaster. It was her fault that she was abandoned by the emperor. The family should not do anything for her. All lives were lost, and hundreds of millions of people were plunged into war.

But no one listened to her words, 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 up in a dark room.

When the situation became critical, she was released, but because she continued to oppose the war and various actions of her grandfather Bruno, she even received a severe beating.

Even so, she kept nagging, persuading the family not to go against the court, and finally convinced some people to stand by her side.

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

For example, Lord Bruno died of gunshot wound infection.

The two heads of the family who temporarily ascended the throne died on the battlefield one after another.

It wasn't until Elsa's father Liszt came to the throne that he was hit by a stray bullet while guarding the royal city. He struggled in bed for two days. He didn't even have time to name an heir to the throne, so he died.

In the end, only two candidates were left who were qualified to inherit the throne: Elsa and her brother Cloonan.

But her brother Crunan is cowardly, has no independent ideas and is always thinking about running away. He is simply a shame to the Lucis family.

Only Elsa stayed calm in the face of danger, took charge of the overall situation, and accepted the most dangerous task, personally going to the imperial capital and saving the Lucis family at the last moment.

Three of them, Elsa successfully saved her family and returned to the capital, easily removing her brother from power.

But in order to take the position of head of the family, Elsa had to make a promise: she would never marry, 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 trouble, things have reached this situation, and the Lucis family, which has suffered heavy losses, has also conducted some reflection.

Reflect on what?

Reflecting on the old prince and Prince Bruno who had been plotting rebellion, did they make a fatal misjudgment of the court?

On the one hand, they misjudged the strength of the imperial court, resulting in heavy losses and complete defeat on the battlefield.

Another fatal misjudgment was about Emperor Noctis. Did the Lucis family completely misunderstand him?

At a meeting one day.

A retainer analyzed: "Noctis wanted to postpone the wedding for some time and get married later, but the old prince took this as a sign that the emperor regretted the marriage, so he made a big fuss, pissed himself to death, and let the family Into the abyss.”

"But in fact, we have also seen that during the past two years, Noctis has not taken a concubine and has been single. It can be seen that the emperor's procrastination is not an excuse for regretting the marriage, but that he really wants to get married later. .”

"But the old prince didn't believe it, which caused a big disaster!"

"Yes! The old Wangjue really misjudged!"

Another retainer continued: "I heard that His Majesty Noctis's harem was filled with more than 3,000 young and beautiful maids by the ministers and nobles in order to please His Majesty. What's the result? I face him every day. Under such temptation of three thousand beauties, His Majesty the Emperor remained unmoved and did not touch any of them. If it had been any other man, he would have died long ago."

"There are so many beauties, but the emperor won't touch any of them, let alone concubine and establish a queen. The emperor's plan to marry late is by no means a lie, but a real plan!"

"So, Old Wang Jue really made a misjudgment."

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

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

How great would it be if the old Wang Jue didn't misjudge?

But some people felt something was wrong and questioned: "There are three thousand beauties, and there are some beauties who are not as beautiful as His Highness, and they can be picked at will. A normal man, no matter how good his concentration is, will never be able to control it, but Noctis He actually looked straight and showed no emotion, causing rumors throughout the empire that only peerless beauties could win His Majesty's eyes. As a result, beauty contests were held in various places, and even some ministers sent people to us to inquire about the whereabouts of beauties. .”

"But I think that even if he finds a 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 knocked on the back of the chair and warned sternly: "Fidelman, you don't want your life! If your words get out, I won't protect the lives of your whole family."

"Master, spare your life!"

Fidelman was startled, slapped his mouth twice, and said in a cold sweat: "You villain will never dare to talk nonsense again!"

"Your Highness, I have a guess that can explain why the emperor has not established a queen?"

Another older minister 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 should you keep? Who should you wait for?"

"Abide by the promise of 'Golden House Hidden Beauty', he is waiting for you, Your Highness." The veteran minister said.

Elsa's face suddenly turned red.

But he 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 his words will definitely count." The old minister said solemnly.

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

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

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

Elsa shook her head repeatedly and forcibly ended the topic.

But for some reason, her heart beat faster.

She even agreed with the following issue of "returning to the court": once the court allowed the Luxi family to submit, she would go to the imperial capital in person and live in the imperial capital forever as an ordinary courtier!

It's just that the Lucis family has offended too many ministers and nobles, so Elsa doesn't have much hope in this matter.

But the old minister said garrulously: "If Noctis agrees to His Highness's return to the Imperial Capital, it means that the Emperor still has some feelings for His Highness in his heart, and His Highness still has a chance!"

Elsa suddenly blushed like blood!

The veteran was immediately reprimanded severely.

And while waiting for the court's reply, Elsa felt uneasy and anxious, and reminded herself repeatedly: "Elsa, stop being so sentimental! If you say it's impossible, it's impossible!"

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

It was in this kind of suffering that she waited for a reply from the court on May 20.