Chapter 496

Although the Sun King lacked confidence when he said this, he never expected that as soon as his words fell, someone would speak up.

Your Majesty, forgive my frankness, but the enemy's slap has already landed on our faces; must we wait for them to slap us a second time before we strike back?

Turning his head, he saw, unexpectedly yet unsurprisingly, that it was Duke Ligang, who, like Duke Xiaoguang, was an out-of-power noble with immense influence and real authority.

Ha ha, these two old fellows finally are on the same side?

By this point, Duke Xiaoguang's entire plan for tonight has finally come to light.

First, they discussed feelings, feigned frailty, deliberately showed weakness, letting the Sun King let his guard down.

Next, they displayed their offspring, using obvious linguistic loopholes to provoke the Sun King into reacting, causing him to dismantle the warm atmosphere he himself had created.

Then they deliberately spoke vaguely about marrying the princess, tricking the two old foxes, Huuguang and Xiguang, into prematurely using their skill of 'throwing a tantrum to change the subject'.

Next, they brought forth Elinor, prompting the Sun King, who would surely show reluctance, to voluntarily mention the concession Hui Guang had once made to Deep Forest.

Finally, now, while using objective facts to put the Sun King on the spot, they summoned their new ally to add a strong dose.

A killing move, unstoppable!

As for his true purpose, the Sun King also roughly guessed it.

Upon reflection, it's not only that his refusal would grant Duke Xiaoguang a claim and justification; even if he agreed, the outcome would be the same.

The reason is why Deep Forest, while abandoning the purge of the Changge lineage, explicitly demanded that Hui Guang not provide Elinor with a normal royal education.

Because in the Hui Guang Kingdom, the term 'Changge' carries weight comparable to that of King Anton VI himself.

Especially in the western borders, on this land that has suffered greatly and lies extremely close to Duke Xiaoguang's fief, the value of that term can even exceed that of the king.

And after the Changge Marquis and Princess Mengquan both died, the only one left who could fully possess that claim is Elinor alone.

So if he agreed, it would create a duke wielding great prestige in the kingdom and able to easily seize the nearby vast lands.

Then.

【Duke Xiaoguang】 Evolution!

(Old man spinning)

【Warlord of the Shattered Land】!

Thus, the Sun King fell into a dilemma, and even the sole breakthrough—'proposing other retaliatory measures'—was banned.

No way; given the current situation, he believes that whatever he proposes will surely be jointly rejected by the two dukes.

After going around in a big circle, they forcibly placed his finger back on the 'bestow marriage' button.

"Your Majesty, please?"

And Duke Xiaoguang also seemed to feel that he had this cake in the bag, urging together with Duke Ligang without cease.

"Your Majesty, time is urgent; we must decide quickly."

"Your Majesty, Heinz is truly a very kind young man."

"Your Majesty, Princess Elinor marrying him will absolutely bring happiness."

"Your Majesty..."

"Enough!"

Just then, a harsh shout cut through their brain‑wrenching noise, but this voice did not come from above the dining table.

Everyone turned toward the sound and discovered that, at some point, a familiar presence had appeared at the banquet hall's entrance.

A presence they once feared like a tiger.

Duke Xiaoguang's face instantly turned ashen with fright, Duke Ligang instinctively dodged left and right, and even the others in the hall changed complexion.

Because.

"Queen... Queen Majesty, how did you come?"

"If I don't come now, I fear someone will rebel."

If commoner birth means being a mule or horse, noble birth means being in Rome; this group of great nobles, upon opening their eyes, just obtained queue numbers to enter the Senate.

Then, as an extradimensional demon, a savior personally guided by the world's consciousness, skilled in magic, adept at stealth, and retaining full memory, Meriel is the next generation of royal authority, even her diapers are purple.

Moreover, the Great Emperor Quan Sha... she 'killed them all'; could she be anything but a guzzler?

Thus, back when everyone was still young, forming several small gangs that caused trouble all over the country, the people present had almost all been struck by Meriel at least once, thereby firmly implanting the fear memory in one go.

Including now, one source of Duke Xiaoguang's confidence in setting up this scheme is that he heard the queen was gravely ill, the king's surroundings lacked strongmen, and he had no confidence to openly overturn the table.

However, facts prove his information is always off; this terrifying queen not only isn't dead, but judging by her current appearance, she might even let them see their own brains spill within three minutes.

Thus, clearly earlier he felt sure of victory, waiting to see the king concede and then dance a glorious victory dance, but Duke Ligang instantly lost his nerve and hurriedly began to explain.

"What rebellion? This is all a misunderstanding, Your Majesty the Queen!"

Duke Xiaoguang went further, fiercely blowing his beard and shouting loudly.

"Who dares rebel against Your Majesty!? Our Xiaoguang family will be the first to refuse!"

"Right, we refuse!"

Now it's not just Ligang; like the Liangshan heroes gathering, nobles from all sides vied to pledge loyalty to the elder brother, slapping their chests until the sound shook the heavens.

No matter how eloquent, there are limits to rhetoric.

Feigning weakness, weighing options, playing deaf and dumb, threats and inducements, dilemmas...

Before absolute power, they are all useless.

This is the reality of the magical world; this is the value of level eighty!

And with his wife backing him, even the previously somewhat passive Anton VI also got a big boost of calcium.

Now he is no longer cowardly or hesitant; he straightens his back and presses his hands downward.

"All right, all right, settle down; I understand what all of you, my loyal subjects, mean!"

"Ha ha, those here are all loyal subjects who serve the nation and share my worries; this will never change in my heart."

Having said that, he deliberately glanced at Xiaoguang, appreciating the clarity that had already returned to him.

But

But Meilier also didn't let him comfortably pull off this act, she walked up, took a chair from her storage bracelet and sat down.

No matter what, the Deep Forest people's overstep behavior must be punished, this will not change.

Everyone: "Ah?"

Moreover, this time everyone really let out an 'ah', there's no way, the speed of the reversal is just too fast, everyone's hearts can't take it.

Andong also wondered, aren't they already cleared up their misunderstanding with Meilier, mutually forgiven, just missing a chance to reconcile, how could this old woman jump out and sabotage him?

Xiaguang also wondered, could the rumor that the king and queen are not on good terms also be true? If so, following that logic, could he perhaps dig up another potential ally?

However, none of those were the answer; as an observer, Meilier had a position and starting point that none of them had expected.

——Want to marry Ailinuo? Sure, but are you worthy?

This is Ailinuo, the sole daughter of the Changge Marquis and Princess Mengquan, one of the five princesses of the Hui Guang Kingdom, and she holds the right to inherit the position of the next Sun King.

She has an honorary archbishop of high and special standing in the Church as her teacher, maintaining contact and friendship with multiple senior Church officials, including the Holy Light God's Chosen.

All of the above seems okay, it still seems to have some substance.

But in fact, all of these came with her birth; she didn't have to do anything, they were golden spoons shoved into her mouth by her parents, which can be said to have nothing to do with her personally.

But!

Who made her get talked into going to Sunshine City for gilding last year by Tenisi? So this résumé can still be continued.

First is 【Participated in the defense of Sunshine City, assisted the Holy Light God's Chosen in completing the descent ritual, slew the evil god incarnation that nearly occupied the city, preventing the land from turning into a strange death ground】.

Because there is sufficient evidence proving that this evil god called the 【Shadow God】 is related to the Wolf King's Court that holds sway over the wilderness and has stirred up a terrifying wolf disaster, so what is this called?

This is called the merit of protecting the country and guarding the land!

One must understand that even though Hui Guang is known for favoring literature over martial prowess, indulging in pleasure, and can be called a timid otherworldly realm, its military achievements are still the most substantial part of personal records.

Then is 【After leaving Sunshine City and heading north, deeply participated in the crackdown and encirclement of major evil god church forces in the southern part of the kingdom, directly or indirectly saved countless civilians' lives and property】.

This move, this move can also earn a big checkmark on the Church's side; among nobles, it's typical of those friendly to the Church, the pope at least has to personally issue a banner and stuff three award certificates.

Although compared to those legendary geniuses who leave their names in history, this bit of stuff is really too watery; squeezing out the moisture wouldn't leave much.

Not to mention far back, at least the Meilier of years ago, just pulling out her résumé, the number of kills alone could outright crush her eight streets over.

Moreover, many places are still vague and ambiguous in wording, as if the credit were given by others.

But!

She is only just twenty this year.

Moreover, since childhood she has never received systematic royal elite education; her curriculum only includes etiquette, musical instruments, painting, and baking small cakes, which is understandable.

Besides, merit is merit.

With these merits, Ailinuo is no longer an ordinary princess; she is a meritorious princess, a princess who has left her name in the Church.

In contrast, someone else.

Résumé: youngest son of the Xiaguang Duke, suspected illegitimate, knows how to wield sword and shield.

Achievements: not yet ascertained.

Completely unequal.

So.

"Just now I heard the Liguang Marquis say that the Deep Forest people's move is equivalent to slapping us in the face."

"Could it be that you think that if we forcibly marry off a little girl to someone… we could take revenge on them? We could slap that back?"

Of course, if Meilier only said these, it wouldn't solve the predicament, because the core of the problem now is not how Ailinuo is, but how to retaliate against the Deep Forest people on equal terms.

Therefore, her true purpose in denying the feasibility of this approach is actually to increase her persuasiveness and launch a second round of argumentation.

"So if you want me to say, if we want to take revenge on them, we should completely tear up the humiliation from twenty years ago!"

Andong VI's heart stirred, and he instantly guessed Meilier's thought.

"What do you mean?"

The facts proved his guess was indeed correct, because the queen's next words were exactly that.

"Since we can defeat a million‑level beast tide today, there's no reason we can't defeat the Deep Forest people's raids."

"After twenty years of rest and recuperation, we already have plenty of troops and generals; since we have swords in hand, we should use them, right?"

"You'd say that's right, Xiaguang Marquis?"

Xiaguang: "Uh‑uh, hard to say."

Seeing this old man again lower his brows and close his eyes to play dead, Meilier also secretly chuckled and said.

"The Xiaguang Marquis didn't speak; he must have tacitly agreed."

Xiaguang: "Damn!"

He was about to make amends when he saw the queen clench her fist and speak with finality.

"If that's the case, let me propose: each family contributes ten thousand troops, I'll take command, and while they haven't yet launched their attack, we'll preemptively strike west into the Deep Forest, slaughtering them till heads roll—how about that?"

Everyone: "Holy shit, no need to be so extreme!"

Now not to mention Xiaguang, even Liguang, Xiguang, Huguang, and even the Sun King himself were frightened to the point of standing bolt upright like old timers.

He hurried over and grabbed Meilier's hand.

"Your Majesty, you're really clueless! We've had no external wars for twenty years; wanting to launch a campaign, you can't just say start and it starts—you need a long preparation at the very least."

But the strong‑willed queen showed no weakness, pointing vaguely at the outside of the city.

"Preparation? Don't you lot already have everything ready? Look how many troops are assembled outside—all well‑trained; I'd say this is the perfect time to counter‑attack the Deep Forest!"

"You'd say that's right, Liguang Marquis?"

Liguang: "Oh dear, this fork is really something!"

Afterward, the queen questioned every noble present just like a conscription officer; the only ones who gave vague agreement were Huguang and Xiguang, and the only one who clearly said yes was Yueguang alone.

The Sun King also followed behind, pretending to advise along the way, like a sweet date after a slap, making the nobles who were questioned feel embarrassed and angry, yet they couldn't say anything more.

But the continuous failures still made the Queen tremble with rage, her words practically dripping with killing intent.

"In this situation, nobody wants to send troops—how can we take revenge? This slap was totally for nothing."

"Oh come on, who said it was for nothing? What's the rush?"

And the Sun King finally couldn't take it anymore, flicked his sleeves, returned to his main seat, and spoke loudly.

"Everyone here is a loyal and righteous martyr, devoted to serving the country—you propose such an extreme, dangerous method; nobody can easily carry it out!"

"And do you know how risky the expedition is? You might end up injured, or even lose the whole country!"

"In this situation, aside from the Moonlight Duke's kindness, as an older brother seeing you're young, he'll indulge you—who wouldn't refuse?"

Thus speaking up for justice, everyone naturally chimed in: "Exactly, exactly!"

And Mei Li'er, though she was nearly bursting with anger like a pufferfish, seeing this could only retake her seat.

"Then please, Your Majesty, give us an idea—what should we do?"

"An expedition is impossible, but we can still stir up something within our borders."

The Sun King let out a long sigh, helplessness showing on his face.

"The people and minor nobles of the Western Border are suffering—let's do this: be a bit braver, don't let them keep struggling to survive."

"Tear up the promise from twenty years ago, have everyone send out troops according to their territory, and reorganize the western border's defenses and garrisons—how about that?"