Chapter 648: The map is very long

Indeed...

After hearing these words, the group of old nobles in the room could not help but nod one after another, their faces revealing expressions of helplessness.

It was naturally difficult to be absent from the Lionheart Duke's succession ceremony. More than half of the old nobles present had been at the scene, witnessing with their own eyes how the "Three Elders of Laien" had fallen, and they had a clear understanding of the current state of the Laien family.

According to the rules among the old nobles, if one wanted to depose the current Lionheart Duke and replace him with a new one, a "Laien" with sufficient status had to step forward to lead the charge, and only then could the group of "in-laws" follow suit.

Although it sounded somewhat pedantic—having to find a raft before taking action even when the fire was already burning their backsides—this was indeed one of the "unspoken rules" that the old nobles had to strictly abide by.

After all, within the old noble group, there were quite a few people with conflicts among themselves, and some even had blood feuds that had lasted for hundreds of years. If they truly did not follow the unspoken rules and acted whenever they wanted, I fear that before the Princess could even make a move, the entire old noble group would have collapsed first due to infighting.

"We can no longer manage that much!"

Looking at the newspapers on the table with headlines that made one's scalp tighten, a younger old noble stood up, his expression slightly agitated as he proposed:

"Even if there is no one in the Laien family who can take the lead, we cannot let things go on like this. Everyone knows what the Princess wants. If she truly succeeds in the end, I fear we won't even have the qualifications to be vassals of the royal family; we will only be pinched to death by her bit by bit!

Regardless of the situation in the future, we must find a way right now to get this Duke who is ruining everything down! At the very least, we cannot let him lean toward the Princess while taking the Laien family's resources and seats with him, otherwise, it will be too late!"

"I think so too."

Another "young and vigorous" old noble stood up, his face full of agreement as he echoed:

"Compared to those old rules, stopping the Princess is more important right now. In terms of support, we cannot compare to the royal family; in terms of wealth, we cannot compare to the chambers of commerce in the Lower House. If we don't act now, it will be too late."

"Seconded!"

"Sigh... I have no objections."

"Agreed, even if it doesn't work, we have to try!"

"Wait, everyone, calm down for a moment."

Just as the group of old nobles were rising one after another, expressing their agreement to forcibly replace the Lionheart Duke, another older noble stood up and offered a reminder:

"Don't forget, even if we can pass a vote in the Upper Academy to forcibly replace the current Lionheart Duke, this position of Lionheart Duke still needs someone to sit in it."

"That is not important!"

The young noble who stood up first said loudly:

"No matter who sits in the Lionheart Duke's seat, as long as it isn't the current one, that is fine."

"No, this is very important!"

The old noble shook his head upon hearing this:

"I fear you haven't read the Laien family genealogy, have you? Do you know? If you pass a vote in the Upper Academy to forcibly replace the current Lionheart Duke, then according to the order of succession, the person who would become the next Lionheart Duke would be his own younger sister."

"Then we shall vote his sister down as well!"

The young noble said ruthlessly:

"At worst, we can just concede some more benefits. Compared to having our necks choked by the new decrees pushed by the Princess and having the cake snatched away by those merchants in the Lower House, the price of replacing two consecutive Dukes is completely acceptable, as long as we vote this pair of siblings down..."

"After voting this pair of siblings down, there is another pair of siblings waiting!"

The old noble snorted coldly:

"Go and flip through the Laien family genealogy properly! After voting her down as well, the person next in line for succession is still the current Duke's younger brother, and further down is his other younger sister.

Heh, replacing four Lionheart Dukes in one day—do you take the royal family for dead, just watching you forcibly replace them like this?"

"..." Turning back to inquire with other nobles with whom he had closer relations, and having received an affirmative answer, the young noble who proposed forcibly changing people suddenly could no longer hold it together.

"Then with this family of four stuck here, doesn't that directly block the path to changing people? Are we just going to do nothing and watch?"

"Just watching is definitely not an option, but acting recklessly won't work either. It is rare to encounter such a good opportunity; given the Princess's personality, she will definitely guard against it strictly and won't give us the slightest chance."

"So after all that, we still have no solution?"

"There is still a solution."

After waiting for most people's gazes to gather, the old noble then unfolded his "Yan State Map," squinting his eyes as he said:

"However, before I start sharing my thoughts, I must remind everyone that our Lionheart Duke is far from as simple as he appears.

Although he looks like a fool who doesn't understand the rules at all, acts recklessly according to his own whims, and just got lucky.

But we might as well calm down, stand in his position, and calculate properly: even if he doesn't hand over the Laien family, does he have the ability to protect the Laien family?

If it weren't for this turn of events, besides holding onto the empty shell of a Duke's title, what else could he have left? And would the situation the Laien family faces be any better than it is now?"

After asking these questions, watching the crowd who began to think along with his words, their faces faintly revealing expressions of realization, the old noble continued to analyze with squinted eyes:

"To be honest, I think this Lionheart Duke of ours is the truly intelligent one.

From the very beginning, he understood that he had no ability to protect the Laien family at all. Whether he tried hard to befriend us in-laws or struggled to maintain the Laien family, in the end, nothing would be left.

But his mind was clear enough to know that he lacked this ability, so he simply and cleanly drew a line between himself and us, directly ignoring his reputation to propose to the Princess, pulling in someone who had the ability to protect the Laien family."

"After all, we don't need him to obtain the Laien family's inheritance, so this Duke is worthless to us, but to the royal family and the Princess, his status as Duke is the only ticket to enter, worth using all their strength to win him over.

And because of the existence of people like us, the royal family cannot completely swallow the Laien family; they must use his name as Lionheart Duke to compete with us for the Laien family's resources. This has instead achieved a delicate balance, allowing him to keep the Laien family under his control.

Tsk tsk, this Duke of ours, even if he truly doesn't know how to be a noble, he definitely knows how to do business. He knows how to sell himself to the most suitable target and sell himself for a rare, good price."

After finishing his views on Li Ang with eyes full of admiration, the old noble paused slightly, giving the crowd a moment to think, then picked up a newspaper from the table, reached out and tapped lightly on the two characters for "Princess," and proposed loudly:

"Everyone, it is time for us to learn from the intelligent Duke and find a more suitable 'buyer' for ourselves... What do you think of Prince Qiaoshuya?"

Prince Qiaoshuya?

Upon hearing the old noble's proposal, the group of nobles could not help but frown one after another. Someone could not help but directly object:

"You want us to lean completely toward the royal family? How is this any different from surrendering to the Princess? Won't we still be controlled by the royal family?"

"First of all, I am only suggesting leaning toward Prince Qiaoshuya. Besides, since when has the Princess been able to represent the entire royal family?"

After asking this meaningful rhetorical question, the old noble completely unfolded the "Yan State Map," revealing the "dagger" he had prepared in advance, and asked:

"Everyone, you might as well think carefully: is what our Princess wants what the entire royal family wants? And is what the royal family wants what Prince Qiaoshuya, as well as the Wang Hou and the Minister of Finance standing behind him, want?"

Glancing at the crowd who seemed to have realized something, the old noble explained slowly and methodically:

"Or to put it more clearly, what the Princess wants, besides the throne, is the power to restrict us nobles, and this is also the idea of the entire royal family, which is why the Princess was able to represent the will of the entire royal family in the past.

And the reason the Wang Hou and the Minister of Finance were willing to support the royal family was that they had received the King's promise, believing that the Princess would be married off and the entire kingdom would belong to Prince Qiaoshuya in the future. Naturally, they were happy to let the Princess take action to help him clear away obstacles.

But now, our Princess has not only not been married off, but has even obtained enough power to shake the entire kingdom through her marriage to that intelligent Duke. The situation is different now.

Right now, the Princess is powerful, and there is also the King, who wants to check and balance the old nobles, taking action to suppress them. Even if the Wang Hou and the Minister of Finance are dissatisfied, they dare not act rashly at such a time.

But if the old nobles collectively lean toward Qiaoshuya, giving our Prince a not-so-weak arm of support... then can the Princess still represent the will of the entire royal family?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 649 =====