Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Inside Pantai City, a scene of desolation unfolded, with few people on the streets.

Ever since the General's mansion exploded, Ariki White had begun his operations.

The operation proceeded very smoothly. No one in the military camp could explain Ishbu's bizarre death, and no one would associate it with assassination.

Producing a forged military order, Ariki White successfully took control of the military camp and doubled the military pay.

After that, he colluded with Fang Zheng Yi to scour the city for food and control prices!

At the same time, a scorched-earth policy began outside the city, with all civilians, livestock, and other supplies being gathered inside the city.

The news of the core Jin officials dying violently together could not be concealed; many people knew about Fang Zheng Yi's invitation.

Upon learning of the collective deaths of important figures, many family officials were greatly shocked, but by the time they reacted, they didn't dare to move at all... The reason was simple: Ariki White had the army in hand and had already arrested several of the fastest-reacting and most fiercely resisting minor officials.

His Majesty was fighting on the front lines, and no one could solve this problem. The best option was to wait.

They watched anxiously as Ariki White led his troops to take over the granaries and treasuries of the deceased officials, but they were helpless.

The city was now seething with public resentment.

Prices soared, with various grains and daily necessities increasing tenfold!

Originally, ordinary people had the habit of storing grain, but the Wutu army had already exploited the people once before the desperate mobilization, leading to many people having no grain in hand, living one day at a time.

Now, only large families and major grain merchants had grain to sell.

Small families did not dare to act rashly, while large families and grain merchants were controlled by Ariki White.

Robbery, arson, theft, and various other malicious incidents began to gradually increase.

The timing was gradually approaching the satisfactory point in Fang Zheng Yi's mind.

On this very day, a massive stage began to be erected in the main thoroughfare of Pantai City.

The stage was so large that it almost covered the entire main thoroughfare, making normal passage impossible in either direction.

The area beneath the stage was empty, storing a large amount of supplies, and the houses on both sides of the street were also requisitioned in advance to store supplies.

Fang Zheng Yi was inspecting the construction site when Ariki White accompanied him, asking, "Teacher, is it really necessary to use such a large space? Won't it be demolished later?"

"No, it's very necessary. This place can gather the most people. Choose this place for your first speech, and we'll decide whether to demolish it later." Fang Zheng Yi said, turning his head to look at him, "How is the speech I gave you yesterday coming along?"

Ariki White hesitated for a moment: "It's... passable."

"Passable? What do you mean passable! You're going to be speaking in front of thousands of people; you must show your best attitude, the air of a king, the demeanor of a leader. If you don't have it, you need to practice constantly. Go back and continue practicing. You need to carefully study every action and the tone of every sentence I wrote. You have one day left," Fang Zheng Yi frowned.

He was now striving for perfection, not allowing even the slightest mistake.

If Ariki White didn't have enough control over the masses, there would be problems later if Wutu sent someone back to the city.

Ariki White nodded after listening, asking with some uncertainty, "Thousands of people, will that many people really come?"

"Didn't we already send soldiers to notify every household? All the people in the world love to watch a spectacle; even someone spitting would attract a crowd. You're still a Second Prince, have some confidence in yourself, okay?" Fang Zheng Yi glanced at him, seeing that he was still hesitant, and said, "What other problems do you have? Your teacher will help you solve them all."

Ariki White forced a smile: "Nothing... it's just... nervous. So many people, I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing."

"Hey, what's there to be nervous about?" Fang Zheng Yi sighed, turned around, walked in front of Ariki White, and said seriously, "My disciple, your life before this can be described as conventional, but now the situation has changed."

"Not to mention you, let's talk about your teacher, shall we? Actually, your teacher was the same as you when he was young. He only thought about being conventional and reaching his ideal position step by step."

"But what happened later? This world gave your teacher a hard slap in the face. I died and then came back to life. Only then did I realize that there are no dogmatic rules in this world. Before, I had been limiting my own life."

"Don't be afraid of making mistakes. How wrong can a prepared speech be? Be bold, the most important thing is to bring out your aura, let the people see that there is hope in following someone like you. You must be domineering, fierce, boiling, burning! You can do it. You have already controlled the army. Success is just one step away tomorrow. Go!"

"Okay!" Ariki White was filled with enthusiasm by what he said, nodded heavily, and turned to leave. In the instant of leaving, he turned back again, a look of confusion on his face: "Teacher, what does it mean to die and then come back to life?"

"That's a metaphor, don't dwell on it."

.......

A day passed quickly.

The time for the public speech to the people was chosen in the afternoon. If it weren't for considering the subsequent procedures, Fang Zheng Yi would have preferred to choose the evening.

In the evening, people's energy is exhausted, and they easily enter a state of emotion.

However, considering that the lighting was too poor and the disorder was prone to problems, he finally gave up.

The huge stage was already packed with people.

Countless people curiously looked at the huge stage that had taken two days to build.

A day in advance, they had received a notice saying that there would be a show that everyone loved to watch here today.

But it didn't say what it was specifically, only that the Second Prince would personally be on stage.

Anyway, they were idle now, and it was better to come out and take a look than to be hungry.

The people were discussing.

"The Second Prince is personally going on stage, and they've built such a big stage, do you know what they're going to do?"

"Hiss... such a big stage, I don't know!"

"Don't tell me he's going to perform 'Fighting the Wolf Three'..."

"Even if he did, the Second Prince wouldn't perform it himself!"

While the people were discussing, Ariki White, dressed in military uniform and surrounded by soldiers, walked straight to the center of the stage with a straight back.

A microphone stand was set up in the center, with a large loudspeaker on it.

As soon as he arrived, the soldiers who came with him immediately walked to the edge of the stage, holding hands to block the people on the periphery.

A space was left empty at the very edge of the stage, with three soldiers, each holding a stack of wooden boards, facing Ariki White in the left, middle, and right positions, with their backs to the people.

Fang Zheng Yi was also below, directing the three soldiers.

The boards in the soldiers' hands were 'prompters'.

Yesterday, after thinking about it, he felt that Ariki White was still unreliable, so he temporarily arranged a human PPT to have them follow Ariki White's rhythm and turn the pages for prompts.

Everything was ready, and Fang Zheng Yi gave Ariki White a signal from below.

Ariki White kept taking deep breaths, and when he saw Fang Zheng Yi's signal, he straightened his back and walked to the loudspeaker.

He gently pressed his hands down, and the people gradually quieted down.

"Today we stand here, on the land of the Great Jin capital, this land that our ancestors watered with blood and dignity...."