Chapter 515: You are simply a natural-born Duke! (Two-in-one)

This is truly... too outrageous! How could such an absurd thing happen?

Looking at the silver-glittering new badge on the interface, not only were the nobles in the ward stunned, but Leon, sitting in his wheelchair, was also caught completely off guard.

He had broken into the Laien estate just a few days ago, not only killing their first heir but also successively crushing over two hundred core members, single-handedly creating the "Laien Blood Night" that sent the Laien family to hell.

As a result, the old Duke of the Laien family didn't know what kind of madness had taken him; he hadn't even been pushed into the ward for five seconds before inexplicably naming him the next heir, making him the biggest beneficiary of the Laien Blood Night incident...

Damn it! Isn't this setting him up?

He was both the ultimate beneficiary and suspected of having the ability to create the Laien Blood Night; any investigator in the Cleanup Bureau with a functioning brain would have to send a company of agents down to investigate him from the inside out!

"Everyone, please listen to me!"

Suddenly hit in the face with a two-ton hot potato, Leon, who felt no guilt but was indeed guilty, tightened his brow and hurriedly opened his mouth to refuse:

"I have no interest in this title; perhaps consider someone else..."

"Scoundrel!"

Before Leon could finish his sentence, an old man with white hair and beard, dressed in gorgeous clothing, stood out from the crowd and scolded with eyes full of disdain:

"This is the title of the Lionheart Duke! And it was personally designated by the old Duke before his death! Is this something you can just casually decline with a single word?"

So what does that have to do with you?

As someone who was still considered to have some quality, Leon might have minded his words under normal circumstances, but right now he was desperate to shake off this hot potato and get rid of the suspicion of creating the Laien Blood Night, so he wasn't being very polite.

"Who the hell are you?"

After saying a response that made the nobles' expressions change drastically, Leon quickly sized up the old man's attire and found a cyan crown with three single feathers on the badge on his chest.

Although cameras existed now, they were not widely circulated due to their high cost, so identifying identities often relied on documents and badges; therefore, the Kingdom's badge laws were quite strict.

According to the badge laws, all badges must strictly follow relevant requirements during production, especially noble crests representing identity, where the crown, shield, supporters, and mantle must all be present.

The most important crown mark was the badge used to identify the rank of identity. Excluding the diamond royal rank representing the royal family, the five noble ranks of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron required the use of colors corresponding to the five metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, in order.

In addition, there would be a robin as a badge under the royal diamond crown, while the crown badges of the five noble ranks needed to be lined with corresponding single feathers, meaning that nobles were important wings supporting the royal family.

Among these, the highest-ranking Duke's base is five feathers, while the lowest-ranking Baron's base is one feather. Those who have made significant contributions after inheriting their titles can add an extra feather, which is considered a form of additional honor.

The three-feathered copper crown on the white-haired old man's badge proved that he belonged to the third tier of the Kingdom's noble ranks—an Earl—and was the kind of ordinary Earl who had achieved nothing in his life other than inheriting the title.

"Heh, with such a big tone, I thought you were some big shot, but it turns out you're just an Earl?"

In order to shake off this troublesome Duke title as soon as possible and avoid attracting an investigation from the Cleanup Bureau, Leon simply let go and gave a contemptuous smile at the white-haired old man.

Acting on the plan to offend as many people as possible, preferably offending everyone so they would exert effort to elect someone else as Duke, Leon endured the sharp pain from his skin, stood up from the wheelchair, and under the gaze of everyone, walked slowly to the white-haired old man, raised his hand, and poked the three-feathered copper crown on his chest hard.

"A third-tier Earl, and only with the most basic three feathers... so you're just a small fry?"

Small fry? Me? A small fry?

After hearing Leon's "candid" evaluation of him and feeling the strange gazes of the nobles falling on him, the white-haired old man, who had been poked into staggering back two steps, couldn't help but feel a rush of blood to his head, and roared with his beard and hair bristling:

"You!!!"

"You what you? Am I wrong?"

Worried that the attack wasn't strong enough to shake off this unlucky Duke title, Leon secretly switched badges, equipped the silver-tier 【Elite Performer】, then crossed his arms, raised his head slightly, and sneered with eyes full of disdain:

"A third-tier Earl with three feathers... Heh, don't you know how worthless the feathers given by the royal family are?

Fooling around to collect taxes, putting on a show to provide disaster relief, or even giving a big gift when the Princess was born, all could get you a feather from the royal family. You're already at such an old age, and your badge still only has three feathers; if you're not a small fry, what are you?"

"I... I..."

"I what I? If I were you, I would have slit my throat long ago!"

With the help of the silver-tier 【Elite Performer】, Leon's rather handsome face revealed heartfelt disgust and bone-deep disdain.

"Trust me, die early."

After reaching out and patting the white-haired old man's sagging face, Leon leaned in and suggested with eyes full of sincerity:

"Looking at how full of energy you are, you can at least continue to waste food for another twenty or thirty years. If you hanged yourself today, you could probably save the Kingdom a large sum of money, which could be considered a bit of a contribution.

Think about it, if the royal family knew you had made such a great contribution, and if they were happy, they might reward you with another bird feather; then you wouldn't be a small fry anymore, right? Wouldn't doing this be the best of both worlds?"

Nonsense! Absurd!! You deserve to die!!!

After being subjected to this mockery that exhausted all means of insult, the white-haired old man, whose face had turned purple, was just about to object, but he saw Leon's eyes.

Two parts disgust, three parts disdain, and the remaining five parts were full of sincerity.

This damn dog thing was actually telling the truth! He truly believed from the bottom of his heart that a "small fry" noble like himself was really more valuable dead than alive!

"Heh... heh..."

After being hit by the sincere critical strike from Leon's eyes, the belly full of scolding and even the most vicious curses were all stuck in his throat, turning into blood pressure that instantly exceeded two hundred, and a mouthful of sticky, hot yellow phlegm that burned his heart and lungs, causing the white-haired old man's eyes to roll back and his legs to kick, falling backward toward the sky on the spot.

Holy crap?!

Not expecting that after only two sentences, the old man would be -1 on the spot, even Leon was taken aback and instinctively took a step back.

"You all saw it! I only poked him twice with my finger; he fell down by himself!""..."

Yes, we all saw it; you indeed only poked him twice with your finger, but you just used your mouth to stab his heart at least a thousand times!

Most nobles cared about their face, or at least cared about their face on the surface. Seeing the old man, who had only scolded the other party once, get his face stripped off and pointed at and scolded, and then faint on the spot after two sentences, the dozens of nobles in the ward fell into complete silence.

This new Lionheart Duke really had a bit of a reckless streak. With the white-haired old man's lesson there, if they went up to speak, and if they were also insulted by him in front of so many in-laws, would they still be able to live?

After waiting for a short while, except for a few familiar nobles who called people over to carry the old man out, the entire noble group maintained silence with great tacit understanding. Although no one stood up to scold Leon again, no one proposed to change to another heir, highlighting a direct default.

Anyway, this was the Laien family's heir, not their own; if he caused trouble, it wouldn't fall on their heads. As for the noble's face... heh, compared to actual interests, it wasn't worth a single copper wheel!

If the succeeding Lionheart Duke were a shrewd and capable person, everyone might have opposed it; after all, the more Laien assets the new Duke could protect, the less they would be able to divide. But now...

Looking at the new Duke who chose to brazenly offend his in-law family when the Laien family needed support the most, and could even be said to be throwing a tantrum in public, the eyes of dozens of nobles couldn't help but reveal satisfaction.

Very good, this kind of greenhorn who had no depth, no brains, and was arrogant and ambitious, was the most suitable person to succeed as Lionheart Duke right now!

It's just that after a month or two, when everyone had divided up the Laien family's assets, his time as Duke would probably be over, right?

There weren't many people in the Laien family who were real power-holders and could have a decisive influence on the succession of the title.

Excluding the old Duke who "strongly supported" Leon, the rest of the people were first killed or crippled by Bobby Laien, and then another batch was "crushed" by Leon. The remaining ones were just a few kittens and puppies, and they were either long-term power-relinquishers or old and frail. The remaining people with the most say were the group of "in-laws" in the ward.

Ignoring the strong opposition of the new Duke himself, the Laien family's in-laws didn't even spend five minutes deciding to follow the old Duke's last wish, making Leon, who was completely black-haired and black-eyed and didn't look "Laien" at all, the new boss of the more than ninety thousand little golden-haired people in the Laien clan.

This is truly... too absurd! It's just like child's play!

From the officer who pushed Leon into the ward, learning how the new Duke was chosen, the Minister of Defense felt both excited and annoyed.

What was exciting was that his daughter had guaranteed to him, patting her chest, that Leon was definitely not the kind of person who would lean toward the nobles. Rather than worrying that he would collude with the old nobles after becoming Duke, it was better to worry that he would directly flip the table, or even collude with the rebels to have another blood night, wiping out the Laien family's in-laws in one fell swoop.

If Yisha's judgment was correct, the successful rise of such a "non-noble" Duke would definitely be a huge help to the Princess's reforms. Having an "insider" in the impenetrable Shangyi Academy was equivalent to stabbing a knife into the heart of the old nobles.

As for why he was annoyed...

"Your Highness! These old nobles must be dealt with as soon as possible!"

Looking at the calm Princess behind the desk, the old man couldn't help but say with eyes full of anger:

"The Laien family's sphere of influence is in the Department of Road Administration and the Department of Military Affairs, mainly in public facilities and arms procurement. And these two important departments have their core power firmly held by the old nobles, and they can even privately transfer them without appointment! You can only stamp and agree to the candidates they choose! How can this be allowed?"

"Hmm, I will, but it can't be now."

The Princess behind the desk said calmly while flipping through the "new Duke's" file:

"These old nobles are rotten flesh parasitic on the Kingdom and must be cut out. But if not cut out well, the wound will bleed endlessly.

Father once drove three successive Ministers of Finance out of office and cleared out many small and medium-sized families, trying to control the Kingdom's financial power himself, and then he faced an extremely fierce counterattack.

The result of their contest was that the entire Kingdom's finance was paralyzed for half a year, and a deficit totaling nearly 600 billion was exposed one after another, almost dragging the whole thing to ruin. Six years ago, the War of Defense couldn't even make up the military expenses, and the resulting deficit has been suppressed until today."

When she said this, she stopped, picked up a pen and marked something on Leon's file, then continued:

"So doing this kind of thing must not be rushed. If the price of cutting out the old nobles is to let this country temporarily paralyze, it will only cause greater disaster, so it must be done step by step.

And the current situation is actually just right, especially our new Lionheart Duke... hmm... do you know what he once said?"

Looking at the place circled with a pen on the file, the Princess read in a calm voice:

"As for the royal family and the nobles, they are just a group of lice growing in the crotch; once they suck blood until it hurts, they should be pulled out and crushed to death!"

?!!!

Completely unaware of Leon's "rebel" identity, after hearing the Princess's words, the Minister of Defense couldn't help but be shocked.

However, just as he was about to say something, he saw the Princess's usually stable corners of her mouth actually lift up imperceptibly.

"Although the metaphor is a bit bad, it's not wrong."

Not angry because she was compared to lice in the crotch, the Princess closed Leon's file, opened the report on the succession situation, and then smiled and said:

"Lionheart Duke... hmm... Louse-heart Duke... thinking about it carefully, it's really quite ironic.

This Duke who sees nobles and the royal family as lice has now become one of the strongest lice in this country. With the ability to suck blood from the Kingdom, I'd like to see what he will do...

Oh right, take a look at this."

After handing over the report in her hand, the Princess, who usually frowned, gave a rare light laugh, then pointed her finger at the record on the report and narrated with great interest:

"That Earl who was scolded by him until he fainted on the spot actually put a cabbage in his bedroom, and then declared to the outside world that Leon Laien's Lionheart Duke would definitely rot faster than his cabbage!"

Cabbage... meaning at most two or three months?

After taking the report and looking at it, the Minister of Defense's brow couldn't help but wrinkle, thinking of his daughter's eyes shining when she mentioned Leon.

"Your Highness Veronika..."

The Minister of Defense sighed in his heart and then took the initiative to ask:

"How long do you think he can last as Duke? After the Laien family is divided up, will he be liquidated?"

"Liquidation won't happen."

The Princess thought for a while and shook her head:

"Except for that Earl who was offended to death by him, other nobles won't care about a hollow Duke. But the Laien family may not necessarily live longer than that cabbage.

After losing the clansmen in the Department of Military Affairs and the Department of Road Administration, the Laien family's influence in the Department of Military Affairs has completely bottomed out, and there is only one seat in the Shangyi Academy left in the political arena. In terms of business, it seems there are still some things, but they are all supported by taking orders from the Department of Military Affairs and the Department of Road Administration.

Military, political, and business, the Laien family now occupies none of them. What kind of person must it be to support this stall that is about to collapse?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 516 =====