From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 761: Divide the Cake

In the conference room of the Mianlui Fortress, the warm white ceiling lights illuminated the two opposing parties, and the blue shadows under the holographic projection were clearly distinguishable from the real people in reality.

After realizing that this "big deal" might fall into his hands, Amber finally couldn't help but join the conversation. He tried several times to lead the topic to the "key person" he brought back, but was cleverly avoided by this group of people.

Whether it was Princess Agnes in the main seat, or Duke Soren, Duke Duke and others on the other side of the projection, their minds were obviously not on this. Their attention was highly focused on "conviction", and they fought back and forth for every inch of benefit.

"I don't know how you, Your Highness, have the nerve to say something like 'come with sincerity'! Deprive me of my title and demote me to a commoner?! Your previous condition is to drive us to death!" The projection of Duke Soran almost rushed out of the screen, and his voice was filled with uncontrollable anger.

"According to the imperial law, treason is punishable by death. Not only have I pardoned your death sentence, but I will also not deprive you of your titles. I will only reduce the size of your private army, which is already a great favor."

There was no emotion in Agnes' voice, as steady as the surface of a frozen lake. It was at this moment that Amber fully felt the temperament of a superior in her.

Duke immediately followed up and retorted: "Even so, Your Highness, isn't your way of reducing the size of our private army a 'soft knife'? If we really take the initiative to reduce our troops as you said, I'm afraid you will attack us unscrupulously at that time!"

After realizing that she couldn't get a word in for the time being, Amber leaned back in her chair and watched the scene in front of her as if she were watching a play.

It has to be said that the conditions proposed by Agnes were indeed harsh. Not to mention the deprivation of titles and noble status at the beginning, this approach was almost tantamount to taking their lives. Even the proposal to ask the other party to disarm was not something that could be easily accepted.

However, Amber was also very clear that the anger shown by the two old foxes, Duke Sauron and Duke Duke, at this moment might be more of a "performance".

Because the emperor of the empire has been replaced, although they had some "minor frictions" with Princess Agnes before, if they can fully support the successor at this moment, then they will suddenly change from rebels to loyal followers!
As long as the title remains and the family foundation is not overthrown, everything is actually easy to deal with. But you have to put on a good show. Wouldn't it be too spineless to agree directly? How can you bargain later?

Both sides were spitting and arguing over their own interests. They were so angry that their faces turned red. There was no trace of the arrogance, calmness and elegance of the so-called imperial aristocracy in them.
Amber even felt a little bored. He had originally hoped to sell Norton II, this hot trophy, for a good price, but now it seemed that these people had no intention of taking it over.

He also understood that this group of people tacitly wanted to marginalize Norton II completely to avoid having one more person when it came time to divide the cake.

A former regent who has fallen from power, a "rebel" who almost overturned the table, which party would be stupid enough to spend money to redeem him and hinder their future power map?

Amber was somewhat surprised by the fast pace of the negotiations. He had thought that such a major issue concerning the power structure of the empire would take at least ten days or half a month.

Unexpectedly, in this short meeting, most of the core content was finalized. The tense atmosphere just now eased and even a hypocritical "harmony" began to appear.

"Finally, the imperial government has the right to intervene and supervise the affairs of the duke's fiefdom."

At the end of the negotiations, Princess Agnes slowly threw out a key clause.

Duke Soren and Duke Duke exchanged glances quickly, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

Amber raised her eyebrows. She knew very well why Princess Agnes proposed this condition. Wasn't this a way for the Atlas Group to intervene in the fiefdoms of the imperial nobles in the future?
Agnes's plan of killing two birds with one stone was just right. First, she stabilized the two military leaders by pardoning their crimes in exchange for their loyalty. At the same time, she paved the way for the introduction of Atlas, an external force, to further control the local area.
As time went on, the final protocol framework quickly took shape:
Duke Solon and Duke Duke supported Agnes's succession to the throne and publicly swore allegiance to her.

He retained the dukedom and most of the family property, but had to accept partial supervision of the imperial center over fiefdom affairs.

In exchange, Agnes would completely forgive their sins of 'treason'.

It seems that everyone is happy
After the two dukes finished their conversation, the topic naturally turned to Astral and Perseus.

The treatment of these two former regents' core aides in this matter was vastly different from that of the two dukes.

All real power was stripped away, only an honorary title was retained, the fiefdom was repatriated and the size of their private army was drastically reduced, nominally to allow them to begin to retire in peace. This was tantamount to sentencing them to the end of their political lives.

Perseus moved his lips, as if he wanted to argue between himself and his old master.

But Astral next to him pulled him calmly and shook his head slightly.

The only expression on the two men's faces was unconcealable fatigue and resignation. They symbolically struggled for a few words, but finally accepted the arrangement sadly.

Amber watched this scene and realized that Princess Agnes was far more wary of the Regent's lineage than of other imperial nobles. She was also ruthless to the Regent's two most trusted right-hand men, completely depriving them of any possibility of making a comeback.
The atmosphere in the conference room had become quite harmonious after the two imperial dukes came out with their "opinions on how to deal with the issue". Both sides even began to discuss in a low voice about holding the coronation ceremony again as soon as possible.

It was as if the civil war that had just engulfed the imperial capital and caused rivers of blood to flow was just a harmless misunderstanding.

Seeing this, Amber felt that he couldn't wait any longer. He cleared his throat. The sound was not loud, but it instantly broke the hypocritical warmth. "Everyone, since you have almost finished talking, what do you plan to do with the former regent Norton II himself?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on him with all kinds of complicated and inexplicable emotions.

Duke Soran reacted the fastest, and an expression of great loyalty immediately appeared on his face:

"Mr. Amber is wrong! The Star Dragon Empire has only one sun, and that is Her Highness Agnes who is about to ascend the throne! Norton II committed treason and his crime is unforgivable. Your Highness has been extremely generous in letting him go! As important officials of the empire, how can we have anything to do with him?"

"Okay, okay, the Imperial Minister, the Imperial Minister."

Amber resisted the urge to sing "You came from Dandong and gave me back my white clothes" and looked at Duke on the other side.

The latter immediately agreed after noticing his gaze: "Duke Soran is absolutely right! We should follow the lead of Her Royal Highness the Princess and draw a clear line between ourselves and Norton II."

"Okay, okay, I will follow your lead."

Amber turned her attention to Agnes, who was sitting in the main seat.

The princess who was about to succeed to the throne had a faint smile on her face, as if she had expected him to ask this question.

"Mr. Amber, I am generous and have decided to pardon Norton II's death sentence. This is also a gesture of friendship between the monarch and his subjects. However, his position as regent must be revoked, and he must not participate in any political affairs of the empire for the rest of his life."

She paused, and her eyes became somewhat teasing.

"In that case, there seems to be no reason for me to spend a huge amount of money and follow tradition to 'redeem' him from you, right?"

"Okay, okay, please be generous."

Amber felt the veins on his forehead throbbing. He forced himself to keep his expression under control, and then placed his last hope on the two silent aides, who were also the arms that Norton II once relied on most.

"Lord Astral, and Lord Perseus, what about you? After all, we have worked together for many years, don't you want to make some money?"

Perseus immediately forced a smile that was uglier than crying, with a hint of embarrassment:

"Mr. Amber, you are joking. Given our current situation, I am afraid it is difficult for us to pay the price you expect."

He spread his hands, looking helpless.

Astral on the side seemed more sincere. He bowed slightly and added calmly:
"Mr. Amber, perhaps, for the Lord Regent, staying away from the troubles of the imperial capital and staying by your side might not be a better destination. After all, after going through so much, I'm sure the Lord Regent has already become disheartened."

Norton II's childhood playmate paused, and as if thinking of him, he added, "And from what I know about adults, he must think so too."

Amber was completely speechless.

He looked at this group of people, these 'winners' who had just happily divided up the power pie of the empire. They were so tacit and unspoken in throwing Norton II, the biggest 'trouble', to him as lightly as discarding a piece of useless garbage.

He was even able to come up with such a long list of reasons in such a short time.

Amber subconsciously glanced down at her personal communication terminal, which showed a real-time monitoring image of Norton II who was being held in solitary confinement in another room.

In the picture, the hero who once stirred up the empire is now sitting quietly in a chair.

He seemed to sense Amber's gaze, and suddenly raised his head to look in the direction of the surveillance camera, then gave a kind smile.

This smile also made Amber feel unhappy that she had suffered a loss.
He sighed deeply, stood up and straightened out the non-existent wrinkles, then turned around and left silently with Isabel under the gazes of everyone without saying another word.

(End of this chapter)