Chapter 583: with translation of title

In short, because of that humiliating crushing defeat, Maple Leaf's circumstances have been unsatisfactory recently.

The lord behind him is berating him for being unambitious, the surrounding colleagues are jeering, jeering that he wants to stand out; looking around, he is truly about to become a solitary minister.

After lying at home recuperating for several days, besides his own wife and children, only the Marquis father‑in‑law sent a family letter, and even that was sent quietly.

【You, sigh……】

Then, since you can pay filial respect to the Duke of Light a thousand li away, why can't you pay filial respect to Her Majesty the Queen?

Thus, after Ji Ming voluntarily went to treat him, the desperate Earl Maple Leaf changed his appearance and on the spot became a supporter of the Queen.

Moreover, as the Queen's presence and power gradually increase, the quality of talent who curry favor with her and wish to lean against this big tree has also risen considerably.

At least it won't be like before, making her feel as if she were the circus director, and the applicants are either clowns or beasts.

Fiya then selected some of these people, with Earl Maple Leaf as leader, and formed a brand‑new faction whose composition is uniquely her own.

Although they still operate under the banner of the Royal Capital faction, because their backing is Her Majesty the Queen, they are considered the "Queen faction."

But because this label is overly specific, it easily provokes targeting and resentment from other factions, affecting their court‑field relations.

Considering that the vast majority are newcomers eager to make a name for themselves, their official name is the Young and Vigorous faction.

So the question arises: since it's the Young and Vigorous faction, does this "young and vigorous" also include…

Ji Ming: "？？？"

"Uh, don't point the spotlight at me! I'm not any faction; I'm of the Apple faction!"

Unfortunately, while the identity is self‑assigned, whether one is believed is chosen by others.

Thus, even if he doesn't want to jump into this pool, once rumors like "the Queen is ruthless, forcing the Chosen to obediently comply" spread…

As a hot‑topic figure in the Royal Capital, already entangled in various gossip, Ji Ming, in an objective sense, voluntarily joined the Young and Vigorous faction.

Then the comedic thing arrived; almost simultaneously, a large group of young nobles, both male and female, formed their own secret society.

Indeed, they are determined to become flower‑guardians, overthrow the evil Queen Fiya, and rescue the innocent Chosen whom she repeatedly oppresses!

So this is…

the Flower‑Guardian faction?

Thus Qixia City gradually regained tranquility in a steady‑and‑improving trend; although the wounds from that catastrophe are hard to soothe, at least everyone's gaze has refocused forward.

In the blink of an eye, June ended, and the vast capital region welcomed the hottest month of the year, July, which is also the day when the overwhelming majority of farmlands nationwide reap a harvest.

To further boost her presence as king, upon Ji Ming's suggestion, Fiya decided to officially designate the first Sunday of every July as the Radiant Harvest Festival.

On the day of the inaugural Harvest Festival, she also went above and beyond, hosting a grand harvest celebration in the central square of Qixia City, attending personally and delivering a harvest congratulatory speech.

To the nobles, they just think the little queen is being frivolous; as long as she doesn't cause trouble up the mountain, let her have fun, it's just a bit of spending, which is better than continuing to anger the old man.

For the common folk… Wuhu, I thought our taxes were just for the lords to feast and gamble, but turns out we can get some money back!

In fact, the Harvest Festival was originally a traditional folk holiday in various regions; some places celebrate it, some don't, and the dates also vary.

On the day of the celebration, people from all over naturally poured into the Royal Capital, beginning a ruthless free‑riding spree, and taking the chance to see what the new king looks like.

When they looked up from below, oh dear, she didn't have six eyes nor eight arms; this little girl actually looks quite delicate.

After asking around, they learned that her homeland had been attacked, and she was the sole survivor—how pitiful, becoming an orphan at such a young age.

Upon further questioning, wow, she even swore to observe mourning for her father and brothers, to remain unmarried, to be vegetarian for three years—so filial, truly unlike other lords.

Moreover, this celebration was voluntarily organized by them; whether it's nighttime fireworks, flower‑car parades, or open‑air theatrical performances, everything is free to watch!

Unconsciously, Fiya's personal IP has at least spread among the populace, making her a bit more prominent.

Especially in the final paragraph of her speech, she announced a rest for the people, and unless there are special circumstances, this year's agricultural tax will be reduced by thirty percent.

This is the reasoning Fiya herself gleaned from Ji Ming's scroll—since the small benefit hasn't become widespread, the people won't follow, so the king will spread it once!

Coincidentally, because the Pioneers are present this year, commercial taxes have surged considerably, so she straightforwardly proposed a plan to benefit the people by lowering agricultural tax.

In the short thirty days of last month, she ascended the Sacred Mountain four times—for this reason, without some strong leverage, it's truly hard to squeeze money out of the nobles' mouths.

Fortunately, with her joint effort with the Young and Vigorous faction, Fiya ultimately succeeded, smoothly issuing the first true royal decree after her enthronement.

—Benefit the people, rest with the people, cut taxes!

Radiant Light is a multi‑plain agricultural nation; cutting this thirty percent agricultural tax is certainly closely related to the common folk below.

At first, they could hardly believe their ears; only after seeing the guard knights posting the new regulations everywhere did they snap out of their dream.

There were itinerant merchants who came to the city to do business, hoping to make a quick profit from the celebration.

"I didn't quite catch the mumbo‑jumbo the Your Majesty said earlier, but I definitely understood this sentence!"

There were old farmers who, seizing the chance of the celebration to enter the capital region, wanted to bring their families to see the world.

"Hey brother, what does this say… what! This year we can pay thirty percent less grain?"

And there was a naive youngster from a poor background who, relying on talent and hard work, managed to enter the Royal Capital Academy with his bare hands.

"Your Majesty's virtue is the people's blessing, the blessing of Radiant Light!"

Looking at the sea of joy below the stage.

She only let out a slight sigh in her heart; once this card is played, for at least three months she won't be able to continue ascending the Sacred Mountain to issue orders to the princes.

And the news of the tax cut spread rapidly across the four corners of the kingdom, riding on steeds that sliced through the sky.

The nobles, having suffered the frustration, forced awkward smiles and painfully accepted

To the north of Sun‑Moon Star, the long‑silent Shen Lin Wang Guo has seen a new upheaval.

At first, no one paid attention to this disaster.

It was nothing more than a weed, a big tree, a wildly growing vine, a sprawling forest.

Until this disaster became relevant to everyone, until the third prince woke up and found morning glories sprouting at his bedside.

"？？？"

In a daze, he was completely awakened by this bluish‑purple hue; he reached out his hand, hesitated, and in the end still did not rashly attempt to touch it.

Following a slight cold draft, he suddenly realized that these few flowers had actually pierced the glass of his own bedroom and forced their way in.

Is this normal?

The Third Prince's heart trembled, and he wrapped the blanket tightly, shouting loudly.

"Help! Help!"

If it were ordinary, the prince would suddenly shout, and instantly a couple of flower‑like young maids would panic and rush in, thinking about how to put out the fire for their master.

But today there was none, and nothing at all, except the sharp whine produced by the cold wind vibrating the cracked glass; the Third Prince heard no response.

It was as if this were merely a demo of a 3D sandbox game, with the world beyond the door not yet built, as if it didn't exist at all.

Something's wrong!

Extremely—nine out of ten, something's wrong!

The suspicious Third Prince instantly rolled out of bed, and before his feet touched the floor he already used the storage bracelet on his wrist, never leaving his side, to dress himself neatly.

He didn't head for the door nor break the glass; instead he sent magic to a specific spot on the wall, opening a hidden door concealed behind the bookshelf.

A crafty rabbit has three burrows; the prince likewise.

As one of the Crown Princes, wherever he spends the night—whether by waterway or tunnel—he must have a secret escape route.

All to avoid waking up to a lamb walking into a tiger's mouth, a king's assassin, a total defeat!

So even though his shout still startled the grass and rattled the snakes, strange knocking and some stiff shouts soon echoed through the bedroom.

But before the knocks turned into collisions, the shouts into roars, and the being outside, using brute force, ripped the bedroom door off.

The mechanism whirred, the hidden door reset, and the Third Prince had already vanished from his room without a trace.

"Damn!"

Muttering a curse, the Third Prince didn't bother figuring out which of those nearby, or how many, were traitors.

Instead, after entering the secret passage, he ran while gulping down every acceleration elixir stored in the nearby cabinet, maxing his buffs.

Then, like lightning, he surged forward, following the escape plan he had devised, unhesitatingly heading to rendezvous with his spear‑bearer.

His haste was no exaggeration, because reality isn't a detective novel; many things simply don't require deduction or searching.

In less than three minutes, a massive rumble and heavy, dense footfalls sounded behind him.

Clearly, that band of treacherous rebels had, through brutally indiscriminate attacks, forced open the entrance to the secret passage!

But precisely because of his decisiveness and ruthlessness, the Third Prince had already reached the end of the passage.

Just one more turn, and he could escape to safety!

Ha, victory always belongs to the prepared; disaster is always a step behind me—win!

Yet as a smug smile just spread across his face, he inadvertently caught something out of the corner of his eye.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a small segment of plant roots that had forcibly broken through the stone ceiling, exposed to the air.

"This..."

The Third Prince inexplicably felt a chill rise behind him, as cold as the wind that had blown through the bedroom window's crack earlier!

But the presence on the other side of the passage seemed to start sprinting as well, quickly erasing his pitiful head start.

So he dared not hesitate nor pause, casting everything aside, crossing the final stretch and pushing open the iron door at the road's end!

Although everyone knows that the three Crown Princes will inevitably be ranked, even to a life‑or‑death duel, the rules are the rules.

According to the ancestors' edict, at any time the Crown Princes' armies and banners may not enter the capital region, and must remain stationed in their own fiefs.

Thus the secret passage does not lead to his own personal guard's garrison, but to the camp where the forces of Duke Chongshan, belonging to his faction, are stationed.

The same age‑old rule applies: as a vassal of the Lion‑Heart King, he is on duty guarding the Royal Capital's north gate, with no room for error.

Since this is a military stronghold, beyond the iron gate should be a tense, solemn, rigorously strict scene.

Consequently, the Third Prince had even prepared for being attacked by panicked guards upon exiting, having already raised his shield.

However, when he pushed the iron door open, he was surprised to find that outside was not a camp, but...

Another dense, profound darkness?

"..."

After a brief one‑second thought, the Third Prince clenched his back‑molars and unleashed a high‑level Earth‑Shattering Technique toward the ceiling.

It is a magic that mimics the principle of an earthquake, causing the ground to split so the opponent falls through.

Used against the sky rather than the ground, its effect was undiminished, neatly tearing a fissure above his head.

Fortunately, beyond the fissure was not darkness but a bright light that would let him fly straight out and escape to the surface.

But when he reached mid‑air, he realized that sometimes staying underground might be better, at least he wouldn't have to face this dreadful reality.

Because the Duke's army he had inspected just days earlier—well‑disciplined, fully supplied—had vanished along with its garrison!

In its place lay an immense forest, dazzlingly green, eerily green—vivid yet somehow dead‑air heavy, making him deeply uneasy.

If it were only that, it wouldn't frighten the well‑traveled Third Prince, but when he stared closely, what if he saw the missing soldiers?

His high‑level detection skill pierced the canopy, and he saw a blindfolded soldier wrapped by vines, like a meat roll, shoved into a crack of a massive tree.

Then the tree's trunk began to wobble like putty, gradually transforming from a round, upright trunk into a tree‑person—abstract in appearance yet unmistakably outlined.

Most importantly, the tree's displayed level, aura, even the scanned skills were identical to that soldier's!

So…

So!

The Third Prince's spirit shook violently, his gaze sweeping the entire forest, realizing this was not a forest at all—it was clearly over ten thousand silent, standing tree‑people!

Moreover, it was dynamic, because among them, comatose soldiers were continuously being transformed by newly sprouted trees, giving rise to more tree‑people!