in the name of the queen.

Chapter 284: Insiders are all inside ghosts

Who will serve the table and who will take the plate has already been arranged. The next step is to put the dishes on the table and start eating.

But it's not easy.

The Minister of the Navy and the Minister of War were on opposite sides, resulting in the only troops that Sif could mobilize were the Fourth Fleet and the accompanying Guards.

Director of Military Intelligence Rice is indeed not an excellent intelligence worker, but it is not difficult to just focus on a few important locations such as the Royal Palace and the Earl's Palace. He is fully capable of the job.

Sif and Roland met at the Earl's Mansion to discuss countermeasures.

Those restless cabinet ministers sensed that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, and they never gathered together these days to give Sif a chance to catch them all.

There are only a few thousand troops that Sif can trust. Even if they can avoid surveillance and move at the same time, it will be difficult to capture all the cabinet ministers.

Of course, if they gathered together, several thousand people would be enough to complete the arrest operation.

Except for Steven, who was a little bit stuck, it wasn't difficult for the others.

Although the number of soldiers brought back this time was not large, they were all loyal and brave men.

Catching people is easy, but the key is not to let any fish slip through the net.

Now that she is the emperor, no one can persuade her except Roland.

Roland's reminder made Sif gradually calm down.

Two years ago, Walder was able to persuade Sif to restrain her anger and forgive Roland, who wrote a novel that unintentionally satirized the Queen.

Several other cabinet members also agreed. Since the old emperor was in good health, why did he not want to return to the imperial capital to complete the handover?

Although I didn’t say it directly, it was almost the same.

It's just that killing people in front of the Hall of Valor and causing a river of blood would somewhat disturb the ancestors' rest, and it would not look good.

"Wait, are you talking about the Sun Newsboy?" Roland stopped the maid who was about to leave outside the door, and quickly walked over to open the door.

Call them all and kill them all.

Sif was really angry.

As long as Sif raises her voice, all but a handful of die-hards will defect. Apart from being a little ugly, this counterinsurgency is not technically difficult.

From a legal perspective, there was nothing wrong with his statement, but he was very rude when he spoke, almost saying that it was Sif who forced the old emperor to abdicate.

Allowing several of them to flee abroad would certainly have serious consequences, given their knowledge of the Sussex Empire.

The king's anger makes rivers of blood flow.

"At least meet him."

If you want to arrest people, you have to catch them all without making too much noise. If there is a violent sound of gunfire in the imperial capital, it will be an international joke.

I didn't notice it at the time, but now that I think about it, I feel a little strange.

Roland suddenly thought of something. When he was a post office clerk, he was stopped by newsboys more than once to sell newspapers.

It is better to bleed in a cathedral on the outskirts of a city than to bleed in a river in the city.

Just as Roland and Sif were plotting the details, subtle footsteps came from the door.

Sif knew what Roland was worried about and felt helpless, "Do you have a better way?"

"Are you planning to take action in the cathedral?" Roland remembered what Sif had said about how to deal with traitors.

"We have to wait for an opportunity, an opportunity where all cabinet members have to be present."

The newsboy who stopped him several times looked exactly like the same person.

"Don't bother me with such trivial matters!" Sif was a little angry and responded in a low voice.

Roland looked at Sif and concluded softly.

"Master, there is a kid who claims to be the Sun newspaper boy and brings a newspaper to see him. He says this newspaper is very important."

The maid didn't dare to look up at all, for fear of seeing something she shouldn't.

Smith and others may be plotting rebellion, but the soldiers below may not be willing to do so.

"Indeed not, just do as you say."

Is this a coincidence?
Rupert is a fierce royalist and there must be a reason why he sent the newsboy here.

Several years have passed and she has not changed at all, she is still so direct.

Alban stood up without hesitation and pointed out that the abdication procedure of the old emperor was illegal, and even questioned whether the old emperor was still alive.

She has been irritable these past two days, which has somewhat affected her judgment in doing things.

The calm expression she tried to maintain could not hide her anger.

The congressmen said nothing, but the cabinet members who were invited to attend had objections.

The day before yesterday, she went to the House of Lords to announce her father's decision to the members and submitted an abdication edict at the same time.

"According to tradition, the new emperor will go to Westminster Abbey to pay homage to the spirits of previous emperors and heroes in a week. Everyone must go."

Roland still remembers how ugly Sif's face looked at that time.

Although it sounds outrageous, it is still a way.

A hundred lies are not as lethal as the sharp knife of truth.

The old emperor actually wanted to come back, but he had no choice but to give up after considering the scene of a loving father and a filial daughter after returning.

He wrote an edict to abdicate but refused to come back in person, feeling somewhat resentful in his heart.

No one likes to be exposed to gold coins, not even their own daughter.

He did not abdicate on his own initiative, but was "initiated". If the old emperor comes back and sees the familiar palace and ministers, his calm heart may be agitated again.

Edward cannot come back. This is a tacit understanding between father and daughter, and it is also a shameful silent silence.

Alban's doubts directly pointed to the legitimacy of Sif's succession, which was more serious than the etiquette dispute over where the new emperor ascended the throne last time.

Sif's anger also emboldened other cabinet members.

They also raised questions from different angles.

Just when the atmosphere was about to suffocate, Alban raised a more serious issue than the old emperor not coming back.

"Is Prince Fino really dead?"

It is common sense that you want to see people when you are alive, and you want to see corpses when you are dead.

Emperor Edward refused to come back, but at least he wrote a personal letter and carried a seal as evidence. If you want to question it, you can only question that he was coerced, but it is impossible to question his life and death.

But Prince Fino is different.

According to eyewitnesses, he was swallowed by a huge sea shark and there was no body.

But this statement obviously cannot convince the public.

You said you were dead, do you have any evidence?

After Alban raised questions about the whereabouts of Prince Fino, the atmosphere at the scene completely solidified.

As soon as these words came out, no one doubted the identity of the iron rebel Alban.

Even Sif was a little unsure. Is this guy really the same as her? Is he going to rebel?

She had no choice but to cast her doubtful eyes on Roland, seeking answers.

Of course Roland nodded without hesitation.

What are you thinking about, beauty? You can doubt Albon's character, but never doubt his vision of lining up.

He dared to invest and place bets when Sif was in the most difficult time. Now he can run away during the harvest season?

Look hard and learn hard, this is called old drama.

After getting Roland's affirmative answer, Sif gained the confidence to start a heated debate with Alban.

The debate was ultimately fruitless, but it inspired the rebels' confidence.

In their view, since it has not yet been decided whether Fino is dead or not, Sif must restrain herself in her actions, at least not to dare to catch them all in one fell swoop.

Through the debate in the House of Representatives, Albon also completely established his position as the number one figure in the anti-thief group.

Good news: Albon blew out all the rebels.

Bad news: There are too many rebels to catch in one wave.

After experiencing the debate in the House of Representatives, these rebels have learned the lesson and have taken sick leave and annual leave. Some even remarried their wives immediately after divorcing them and announced that they would spend a honeymoon with their beloved wives to repair the estrangement.

In short, they will never appear at the same time to avoid being singled out by Sif.

As long as Sif didn't press them down immediately, there would be room for maneuver.

Whether you compromise or continue to take desperate risks, there is hope.

After the unhappy dissolution of the House of Representatives, the imperial capital's political arena returned to calm, with no personnel changes in the cabinet, as if nothing had happened.

But everyone involved knows that this is the calm before the storm.

Sif took a deep breath to dispel her worries, and her calm voice came out the door.

"Invite him in. I did order a special issue." The maid's footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Soon, the footsteps appeared again, and in addition to the maid's footsteps, there were also brisk footsteps.

"Dear Count, may I come in and give you the newspaper?"

"Please come in."

Sif's voice was calm, and she was also a little curious about what Rupert wanted to say.

The door slowly opened and the newsboy appeared.

Sure enough it was him.

Roland recognized the newsboy at a glance. He said nothing, but squinted his eyes to observe carefully.

The newsboy came forward, holding the wrapped newspaper, and raised his hands.

Sif glanced at it casually, expecting to see nothing of value, but she lost her composure after seeing the contents of the newspaper.

She stood up suddenly and grabbed the newspaper as fast as lightning, a sharp light flashing in her eyes.

This newspaper is neither gossip nor current affairs news.

To be precise, if it were three eras ago, this newspaper could be regarded as current affairs.

The text on the newspaper is in Elvish.

The Elvish language has not changed much for hundreds of millions of years, and it is terrifyingly stable. Of course Sif can understand it.

However, the contents of the newspaper made her feel turbulent.

"The blood elf general, representative of Sylve Windspeaker, calls on all blood elves to take up arms, deal with the compatriots who have turned into trees, and destroy the evil ancient trees."

"Compatriots, unite and fight for survival!"

"who are you?"

Faced with newspaper content that should never appear in the Sixth Era, Sif did not panic, but became calmer.

It's okay to pretend for a while, but it's hard to pretend for a lifetime.

The Plantagenets' near-absolute loyalty was unnatural, even outrageous. Giving up the basically stable separatist situation and choosing to become a loyal minister of the new empire is an operation that ordinary people cannot do.

It would be normal for a generation to be loyal, but the Plantagenet family is different. They have always stood by the royal family in all the crises the empire has encountered.

loyalty.

But apart from being loyal in their stance, they are a little out of touch in other aspects. Especially after the appearance of The Sun, they let themselves go.

This little newsboy is anything but simple, or in other words, Rupert behind him is not simple.

Facing Sif's questioning, the little newsboy's eyes gradually became blurred until he lost consciousness. The original boyish voice also gradually disappeared, replaced by a mature baritone.

"You can think that I am Rupert. After all, I am not the owner of this body, but it is me, Rupert, who controls his soul at this moment."

It turned out to be the case.

Rupert didn't want his secret meeting with Sif to be discovered, so he used the newsboy as a medium to communicate with Sif through the secret technique of soul possession.

He is cautious.

The murderous intent in Sif's eyes disappeared, leaving only passion.

"Mr. Rupert, please take a seat."

"No need, time is precious, I'll keep the story short."

Rupert did not explain where the special issue just came from, who he was, or how he recognized Sif's true identity.

He didn't tell her, and Sif didn't ask.

Some things don’t need to be known in too much detail.

Sif knew the past about the break between the tree elves and the blood elves, and could feel that the elven blood in her body was reviving after receiving Roland's inherited knowledge. She also gradually accepted the fact that she was a descendant of the elves.

Elves are beautiful and powerful, and normal people certainly don't mind having the blood of a strong person flowing through them.

Seeing that Sif was not too surprised, Rupert felt a little more admired in his heart.

He is indeed the general who once led the blood elves to resolve the ancient tree disaster!

The elves respect bloodline. There is a natural gap between the upper elves and the lower elves, and the royal family is the top of the upper elves.

General Sylph is also a member of the royal family.

Because of her outstanding performance in the elven civil war, as long as nothing unexpected happens, she will naturally become the new elven emperor.

But as expected, the unexpected happened.

Just when the old emperor was about to abdicate, Crown Prince Sylph suddenly disappeared.

No one has seen Sylph again, let alone knowing that she was killed on the way to escape, and only a pair of jade feet fell into the sea of ​​annihilation.

Rupert didn't know the inside story, but he recognized Sylph's true identity and knew that the blood flowing in her body was awakening.

So here he is.

Instead of reminiscing, Rupert gets right to the point.

"Your Majesty, do you intend to replace most of the cabinet?"

Rupert's straightforward question confused Roland and Sif.

Would a normal person ask this directly?
Bad news: Rupert is not normal.

Good news: Luckily, so does the Queen.

Faced with Rupert's simple question, Sif answered even more simply.

"Yes. I hope you will serve as both the intelligence chief and the national security minister of the new government."

"Ministry of National Security?" Rupert's eyes lit up.

Sif nodded slightly, "Yes, it's what you think."

Rupert was surprised.

He didn't expect Sif to be so direct. Faced with Sif's invitation, Rupert only thought for half a second before making a decision.

"I pledge my allegiance."

Newsboy Rupert stood proudly with his small body and his big eyes full of pride.

Since he is the new Minister of National Security, he will naturally have to show his true skills and no longer be as lazy as before.

He cleared his throat, smiled and said, "Your Majesty, can I see the other lists?"

"Can you keep it a secret?" Sif asked. ,

Rupert nodded calmly.

The corners of Sif's lips raised slightly, "Sir Rupert, of course I believe you, but I can do it too."

Her meaning was clear, rejection.

She skillfully placed the possible leaked facts here, and at the same time took care of the other party's face. This calmness was something that many emperors in their forties and fifties could not achieve, such as Ai Keke. In short, Sylph was still making progress.

This is the level that an elven emperor should be.

Although Sif refused, Rupert could probably guess something. He did not continue to ask, but lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Your Majesty, the rebellious ministers headed by Alban have been colluding to plan big things recently. They have even reached cooperation with many nobles."

"I have many enemies, including a few of them." Sif said calmly.

"They plan to retrieve Prince Fino, just like you find a substitute to play yourself." Rupert's expression became even calmer.

This time it was Sif's turn to sit still.

She narrowed her eyes and said slowly: "I'm very sure that Fino is dead. I have a magic mirror. Of course I can make it look similar, but they can't."

"Your Majesty, a seventy-eight-cent portrait is enough. Ordinary people will never see the adult Prince Fino."

Rupert's analysis touched the blind spot of Sif's angry thinking, and she suddenly realized.

Sif's eyes were as sharp as knives, implying the violent power to tear everything apart.

"Just tell me if you have anything."

With Rupert's status, there is no need to be mysterious here.

Just be direct.

"Your Majesty, I have an anti-aristocratic friend. By coincidence, he is very close to the people in the cabinet. After you landed, he believed that you were the final answer, but he had no channel to express his sincerity to you."

"He can invite these people to his home to drink. As long as the wine is spiked, these people will not be able to escape."

So it turned out that through the secret operation of the noble who wanted to bring order to the chaos, these people were gathered together and captured all at once.

This idea is really despicable, but I like it, Roland commented silently.

With the mole leading the way, the good days of these damn rebels are coming to an end.

(End of this chapter)