Chapter 560: Carriage and Carriage

A robin wearing a diamond crown… the royal crest?

Gazing out the rear air-vent of the carriage toward the back, the young woman inside the two-wheeled carriage could not help but darken her expression at the sight of the robin crest carved into the front of the luxurious carriage; the bright, faintly roguish smile on her face instantly transformed into boundless, gathering-storm wrath.

"Behind us… that should be His Highness Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's carriage."

Watching the freight carts topple over one after another after being shoved off the road, and the petty merchants who scrambled out of their carts to hurriedly gather their goods, glaring at the luxurious carriage with fury they dared not voice, the middle-aged noblewoman's expression was equally unpleasant.

Although she was equally dissatisfied with that other Highness's conduct, upon seeing the anger deepening in the young woman's brows, she still hurriedly spoke up to dissuade her:

"Princess Veronica, you slipped out today on your own—no honor guard, not even a single escort.

If you go out now, you'll not only disrupt the Lionheart Duke's investiture ceremony, but if the rebels learn you're here, it'll surely cause a great commotion!"

"Mm… I know…"

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath; the bright, lively girl vanished completely, and she returned to her usual solemn, dignified bearing.

After fixing her gaze once more on the luxurious carriage behind her, the young woman—or rather, Princess Veronica—drew back her eyes and calmly instructed:

"Drive the carriage off the road. Let Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's coach pass first. Once the investiture ceremony is completely over, have someone write up today's incident into a pamphlet in the style of those petty merchants and bring it to me. Make the contents as pitiful as possible."

The middle-aged noblewoman gave a slight start at the words, then said, somewhat puzzled:

"Are you planning to take the pamphlet to His Majesty to lodge a complaint and demand he rein in His Highness Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's behavior?"

"No. When he was wrangling with the nobles over the Ministry of Finance, Father owed Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's mother too much, so he's been a bit overly indulgent with him. Even if he learned Watching Watching Qiaoshuya had done something like this, at most he'd just give him a verbal scolding."

The princess shook her head, watching the luxurious carriage speed past as she said lightly:

"If we truly want to solve the problem, this pamphlet should be leaked to the Lower House, handed to those few councilors who've been looking for any excuse to pick faults with me—give them something to make a fuss over.

No matter how I try to talk him out of it, it's useless. Only when the entire royal family's face has been thoroughly slapped, and real interests have been carved away in chunks, will Father's palm finally land on Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's cheek, and teach him what he should and shouldn't do."

"Princess, you truly are…"

Hearing the princess's words, the middle-aged noblewoman could not help but let out a soft laugh, then shook her head as she watched the luxurious carriage recede:

"Knowing His Majesty's temperament, His Highness Watching Watching Qiaoshuya is in for a rough time this time. If, under those councilors' 'pressure,' you're forced to give up a few things, His Highness Watching Watching Qiaoshuya probably won't have a carriage to ride for the better part of a year."

Just one slap, and then no carriage for half a year—can that really be called a rough time?

Hearing the middle-aged noblewoman's words, the princess said nothing, but looked through the carriage window toward the several dozen carts overturned by the roadside, and the crates of various sizes smashed along the verge.

A light rain had fallen only last night, so even on a carefully maintained road like Redwood Avenue, the verges were inevitably muddy, dotted with puddles great and small.

Among the goods these petty merchants were hauling, the porcelain and lamps smashed outright went without saying; coal, flour, spices and the like cannot be allowed to touch water.

As for the velvet ribbons and silks meant to adorn the investiture ceremony, once soiled by mud and water, the Bobby Laien family wouldn't accept them either—so it was certain to be a wasted trip.

And Charl Department Store, in order to protect itself, had been forced to run clearance sales at low prices for over half a month straight. The petty merchants were already having an extremely hard time of it, and supplying goods for the Bobby Laien family's investiture ceremony was a rare opportunity for them. If her guess was right, many of them had likely taken the goods on credit, or even taken out loans—and now all of it had been knocked into the roadside mud by Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's guards.

If she turned a blind eye, the owners of these carts might well be more than half driven to bankruptcy, and those few in shabbier clothes, weeping as they gathered their goods, would soon enough be showing up in the slums of the capital…

"Never mind. Forget the investiture ceremony."

Looking at the ribbons fallen in the mud, and the merchants weeping by the roadside, the princess could not help but shake her head helplessly, and waved her hand with a touch of weary indifference:

"Let's go. We'll find Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's guards and make him pay these people for their losses first. Otherwise, among these people, someone might just…"

"Make way! Make way, quickly!"

"Why is a freight cart on the express lane? Get it off at once!"

"Push them all off! The Duke's coach is behind us—the investiture ceremony's already running late!"

Hearing the clamor rise again from behind, the princess's brow furrowed once more, and she leaned out the carriage window to look back.

This newly arrived carriage was drawn by eight tall, powerful Shire horses, and nearly filled the almost ten-meter-wide road; its lavishness was no less than Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's.

The sandalwood carriage, carved with the golden-crowned lion coat of arms, was studded everywhere with gilt copper nails; its walls were inlaid with sheets of jewels; even the white-steel wheels bore beast-paw-like embossing, leaving trails of lion-paw prints on the ground as it passed—pushing every detail permitted by regulation to its absolute extreme.

The Lionheart Duke's carriage? This is trouble…

Watching the road fall into chaos once more, the princess could not help but sigh inwardly.

To avoid that scoundrel Watching Watching Qiaoshuya, most of the carriages up ahead had already turned off onto the express lane, and many had only just barely struggled back onto the road. Just restoring order would take at least twelve or thirteen minutes—there was simply no time to make way again.

And if that newly appointed Lionheart Duke wanted to reach Bobby Laien Manor on schedule, he'd probably have no choice but to follow Watching Watching Qiaoshuya's scoundrelly example and forcibly shove these carts aside too—ruining yet another batch of goods…

…

"Everyone, stop!"

Just as the princess was hesitating over whether to reveal her identity and go speak with the Lionheart Duke to buy these petty merchants some time to move their carts, a head suddenly popped out of that carriage's window, calling a halt to the guards who were about to overturn the carts.

"What's the rush to shove people? A road this wide isn't enough… mm…"

Looking at the express lane half-occupied up ahead, then estimating the width of his own gaudy carriage and finding it really wasn't quite enough, Hearing Li Ang silently swallowed the second half of his sentence, then turned to glare at the sweating, finely-dressed old man beside him and said, looking thoroughly disgruntled:

"I told you there was no need to take a carriage—we could've walked there in no time. But you lot just had to make a fuss. I've already arrived, and now you want me to turn back and walk it all over again… Look! We're stuck!"

Stifled by Li Ang's words but truly unable to do anything about him, the former duke's old steward could only force a smile and earnestly plead:

"Duke my lord! Riding this 'Lionheart Carriage' into the manor is a tradition of our Bobby Laien family, and part of the investiture ceremony. Please bear with it a little longer—just a little longer!"

(End of Chapter)