Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 881

The extra supplies sent by the royal family were not precious alchemical materials, nor were they strategic supplies, but just a batch of food, clothing and daily necessities.

The list included cured bacon, air-dried sausages, jams sealed in clay jars, and cheeses sealed with wax.

Although these foods may seem ordinary, they are all meticulously processed - the bacon is made of top-quality northern wild boar meat, slowly smoked with sea salt and cedar sawdust, giving it a salty and fragrant aroma with a hint of crisp woody aroma; the sausage is a secret recipe of the royal court chef, mixed with spices and a little honey, and can be eaten as a side dish or alone; the glass jar of jam is labeled with the words "Summer Orchard", which is a product of the Queen's private estate, which was built by court wizards and alchemists after the royal family came to the North, and is exclusively for the royal family to enjoy.

The clothes include thick fur coats, windproof capes and velvet leather boots, each of which is carefully made by the royal tailors.

The lining of the coat is sewn with fine silver thread, which can keep warm and prevent static electricity in extreme cold; there is an inconspicuous copper button on the collar of the cloak, which can unfold a thin metal mesh with a light press to protect against sudden wind and snow; the soles of the leather boots are added with a layer of alchemically treated cork, which is both light and non-slip.

Even the stitching is well hidden and feels smooth to the touch, apparently to avoid wear and tear during long journeys.

Apparently Queen Anne was more concerned about Perfecto's life than anything else.

Although these supplies look ordinary, they are all carefully selected - the meat is salted and smoked, and can be stored for months without spoiling; the jams and preserves are sealed in glass jars to prevent them from spoiling; even tea and coffee are specially packaged in tin cans, and a layer of moisture-proof alchemical fiber is padded inside to ensure that they will not be damaged by moisture or other reasons.

In addition to food and clothing, there were also sets of silver tableware, portable folding tables and chairs, and even a complete set of small dressing utensils.

The handle of the silver fork is engraved with tiny snowflake patterns, and the joints of the folding tables and chairs are wrapped with soft leather to prevent noise during bumps; in addition to an ivory comb and a mirror, the dressing box also contains a small bottle of essential oil, which was the soothing fragrance that Perfecto often used in his early years.

Each item is made with consideration given to the damage caused by long-distance transportation, ensuring that it remains in good condition when delivered to Perfect.

After all, they were being transported to Perfect. If they transported things that were not easy to preserve, they might have rotted before they arrived.

There are also notes at the end of the list, indicating which boxes need to be ventilated regularly and which must be stored away from light.

Boxes of bacon and cheese were separated by hay to prevent them from being squeezed; tins of tea and coffee could not be exposed to high temperatures, or the wax sealing them would melt; even dressing cases were marked with the words "Handle with Care".

Apparently, the Queen had thought through even the transportation details.

Although the whole world is as cold as an ice cellar now, some things will spoil as easily when they are hot as when they are cold.

For example, fresh vegetables and fruits will freeze and rot even in low temperatures, so the list instead includes dehydrated vegetables and dried mushrooms, which are both light and durable to store.

The vegetables are cut into thin slices, dried and pressed into blocks, and can regain their freshness and tenderness after being soaked in hot water; the mushrooms are specialties selected from the northern forests, and their fragrance becomes more intense after being dried, making them suitable for stewing soup or cooking porridge.

Looking at the list in his hand, Perfect nodded slightly: "You have transported these things all the way from the North. You must have worked hard along the way."

The captain straightened his back, put his right hand on his chest and saluted: "Serve the Empire, serve the Regent!"

His tone was sonorous and powerful, but then he showed a slightly flattering smile and added: "Compared with everything you have done for the empire, my Lord Regent, I have only done some insignificant things."

Perfect's eyes lingered on the list for a moment, his fingertips gently stroking the line of words "Ceylon Black Tea", and finally closed the page and said lightly: "Now that the goods have been delivered, put them into the warehouse according to the list."

Her tone remained calm, but her tense brows relaxed a little.
-
In the warehouse on the airship, after the captain retreated with a flattering smile, the door of the warehouse was gently closed and the surroundings fell into a brief silence.

Perfect stood alone in front of the pile of wooden boxes, her fingertips still unconsciously pinching the list, the edges of the paper slightly wrinkled due to her strength.

“What a waste of time.”

She should have been impatient—the empire was at the brink of extinction, extreme cold was raging, the colonies were restless, and there was also the threat of the Old Gods outside the empire, and the Queen was wasting transportation capacity to deliver these insignificant food, clothing, shelter and transportation?
But when she opened a wooden box marked "Winter Clothing" and her fingertips touched the delicate silver thread of the cloak's lining, she felt the long-lost care and warmth.

The cloak had fine and neat stitching, almost identical to the one she had received in Longton many years ago.

At that time, she was just an orphan from a baron's family without a title, but now... Perfect lowered his eyes to hide his momentary trance.

"Aunt Anne...you are still as...unrealistic as ever."

Perfecto's comments on Queen Anne were sarcastic, but behind the sarcasm was her gratitude for Queen Anne's concern for her.

She checked the supplies one by one: the cedar wood aroma of the bacon was clear and dry; the labels on the jam jars were freshly marked, obviously prepared on the spur of the moment; the sealing process of the tea tin cans used a royal patented alchemical coating, which was by no means a hasty work.

These details add up to an almost stubborn thoroughness - as if the queen is silently declaring: even if the world collapses, she will still insist on stuffing these trivial concerns into every inch of the gap.

It was just like when her parents died in alchemy experiments and she was the only one left in the family, and Aunt Annie broke into her life as an old friend of her mother.

Anne was still the eldest princess of the royal family at that time, but she always rushed to Brandiles Manor after the military meeting, just to care for Perfecto, who had lost his parents.

She tried to adopt Perfectot in the name of the royal family so that she could legitimately take care of this child who had just lost all his relatives.

However, Perfect rejected the care from everyone around her at that time. She locked herself in Brandelis Manor like a wounded cub.

Except for the old butler Foster, she even dismissed all the servants, leaving the huge manor silent in the wind and snow.

Once, Anne sent a newly cut winter coat, but it was returned to Perfect the next day with the words "I don't need charity" written on it in childish handwriting.

But this did not stop Queen Anne from caring about her. The eldest princess of the royal family, who was busy suppressing the rebellion of the desert kingdom at the time, would write to Perfectoct in the military tent by the flickering kerosene lamp.

One letter a week, each one is full of care and greetings for Perfect.

However, Perfecto always maintained a polite distance at that time and did not want to accept the care from Queen Anne.

However, in fact, if it were not for Queen Anne's secret protection, Perfect would have been just an underage orphan and could not have kept the title and property of the Brandelis family. Those distant relatives who were eyeing them covetously would not know that every time they appealed to Parliament for inheritance rights, they would eventually appear on Anne's desk; nor would they understand why the tax officials suddenly began to strictly investigate the properties under their names.

Like an invisible warm current on a winter night, Anne's protection always flows in the dark.

It was only later that Perfecto realized that although she had sought refuge from a duke, the duke did provide her with refuge.

But on second thought, when other noble girls' fathers and brothers needed introductions to get an audience, why could she see the Duke and get his protection so easily?
Was it just because of the gift from Perfect? ​​No, no, with her status at that time, she couldn't even get an invitation to the Duke's banquet.

The timing of the appearance of the gold-embossed invitation was too clever, as it happened at the critical moment when she was being harassed by the Council of Nobles and was in urgent need of help.

But she just appeared at the Duke's banquet as a baron's daughter, representing the Brandelis family. She did not encounter any difficulties and successfully delivered her gift.

The noble daughters at the banquet were whispering to each other, not understanding why the Duke would stop for this ordinary baron's orphan girl.

When Perfect was confidently showing her alchemical doll to the Duke, she did not see Anne nodding slightly to the Duchess in the corridor on the second floor.

Perfect would never believe that there was no influence from Queen Anne behind this.

When she stood in the private library of the former queen and stroked the long-dusty documents with her fingers, the truth finally became clear - those yellowed royal secret letters, private diaries, and even some deliberately suppressed parliamentary proposals, all recorded Anne's silent protection over the years.

It turns out that every time she acted self-righteously "independently" and every time she got lucky "accidentally", there was Anne's shadow behind her.

Only then did Perfecto understand why some of the nobles who coveted Brandelis's fortune suddenly fell from power due to scandal when she was most isolated and helpless.

Why were those nobles who were used to making things difficult for newcomers so polite to her when she attended a social occasion for the first time in the name of her family?

Even why, when she was twelve years old, she tried to sell her family's collection of books to support her family, a scholar who "happened to pass by" bought them at a price far above the market price...

Only when all these fragments were put together did Perfecto finally see clearly - the person she had been trying to push away had already built a fortress for her against the entire world in the most silent way.

So, when the previous queen died and the empire fell into a power vacuum, Perfect made his choice without hesitation.

She was fully capable of sitting on that supreme position herself - with her wisdom, means, her status as the Lord of the North at the time, and the political legacy left by Prince Edward, she could easily sweep away all opposition.

But she didn't.

Instead, she put Anne on the throne and consolidated her royal power step by step.

She used her political influence to stabilize the restless opposition and skillfully maneuvered amid the undercurrents in parliament.

Those nobles who might have posed a threat to the royal power were surprised to find that their most powerful supporters suddenly changed their positions - these people were kept in their seats in parliament by Perfecto, either through bribery or threats, to ensure that they would not stand up and openly oppose the royal family.

At the same time, the moderate MPs she carefully selected were placed in key positions, acting like a buffer zone to defuse the waves that might impact the throne.

She showed no mercy when it came to clearing out the bugs among the nobility with an iron fist.

At that time, the Royalists tried to overthrow her reforms and control over the country, tried to push Queen Anne to compete with her, and even used the former queen's critical illness as an excuse to launch a military coup.

Perfect took advantage of the situation and sent out the Steam Knights to carry out a bloody purge of all opponents.

These purges not only deterred the evildoers, but also cleared the way for Queen Anne's succession.

After all, if Queen Anne was really pushed to the throne by the royalists, she would inevitably become a puppet.

All of Perfecto's careful planning was to build momentum for Queen Anne's ascension to the throne.

Although Perfect herself had no interest in the supreme position, wasn't everything she did a way of repaying Auntie Anne who brought her a stove on a snowy night? The princess who stayed up all night when she was sick? The relative who silently guarded her for many years but never let her know?
To this end, she even gave up her original plan with Kallen and the Workers' Union to overthrow the feudal rule of the entire empire.

The revolutions that were planned in the dark of the factory, the sparks that were about to ignite the entire old world, were all extinguished by her own hands.

Instead, workers' representatives are allowed to enter parliament and have their demands realized through political bargaining.

Because she knew that if a revolutionary wave really broke out, the first person to suffer would be Queen Anne - the person she could not bear to watch fall from the throne.

When she closed her eyes and the image of Anne being dragged off the throne by the angry people appeared in her mind, and the eyes that always looked at her tenderly were stained with despair, she could not convince herself to start a revolution.

"Constitutional monarchy is not an option, is it?" Perfect convinced herself with this reason, even though she knew it was not the solution to the problem.

Although she knew better than anyone that the feudal dynasty was ultimately a dregs that oppressed the people, and although if she were in that position, she would not mind being overthrown, and was even willing to become a sacrifice for the new era.

She had imagined herself being sent to the guillotine, and could even feel the touch of the cold blade against her neck - such an ending seemed romantic to her, like a martyr.

But when it comes to a loved one she can't ignore, Perfect finds she can no longer bear to do it.

The orphan girl who once stubbornly rejected all care is now carefully guarding another person in the political whirlpool.

Perhaps this is the irony of fate - the most radical reformer eventually became the most staunch defender of the old system, just because the crown was placed on the head of someone she cared about.

(End of this chapter)