Catherine and the Black Emperor

Chapter 122. The Mad Guy

"Accepted a bribe of 2? Look at this yourself, is this really a case of accepting a bribe of 2?!"

King Adolf threw a report directly in front of Elias.

Elias, after reviewing the report, looked extremely grim, inwardly cursing Matthias to the core.

"This is the evidence provided by Attorney General Ingrid—witness testimony, physical evidence, everything is there. Congressman Matthias abused his position to sell off state land without authorization. Executing him without following legal procedures wouldn't be an exaggeration!"

Adolf was filled with righteous indignation.

"It was my oversight that I failed to investigate properly, Your Majesty. I apologize for my rashness and rudeness today. I knew nothing about what Matthias did. His actions were tantamount to treason and he deserves to be severely punished!" Elias bowed.

"Elias, step down. Don't act so erratically again. If Joachim catches you in a compromising situation, even you will be in danger. The Queen and I don't want to lose a capable person like you," Adolf warned.

"I will heed Your Majesty's instructions."

Elias left the office.

"How is it? Has His Majesty agreed to release Matthias?" William asked hurriedly.

"Release them? Matthias will be lucky to escape with his life! That greedy bastard dared to sell off state land without permission; the Agricultural Department has practically become his private backyard!"

Elias was consumed by rage and felt dizzy.

William's expression immediately changed.

Selling off state-owned land is a serious crime!

No wonder the king was so furious; Adolf probably wants to find those landowners who bought the land and tear them apart alive.

No.

The fact that Adolf dared to imprison Matthias shows that he already had irrefutable evidence against Matthias, and those landowners who had embezzled land have probably been arrested as well.

"Would it be of any use to find the Queen?" William asked.

Elias shook his head: "His Majesty the King must have consulted the Queen, and it might even be Queen Louise's opinion! She has more ambition and drive than His Majesty the King!"

William remained silent.

Indeed, the national land, the national treasury, and all other national interests are the "private property" of the King and Queen, and they would absolutely not tolerate someone like Matthias.

"I'm not going to see Matthias. Let him fend for himself. If you want to go, then go," Elias said.

William nodded. "I'll go see him."

The two left the palace, and the two carriages then separated.

William arrived at the prison and saw Matthias outside a cell. Matthias was covered in wounds and bloodstains on his prison clothes, a stark contrast to the once glamorous senator.

It is clear that Matthias has already been tortured.

Matthias approached William with trembling hands and slow steps, already knowing the real reason he had been arrested.

"Impossible. How could Saltykov know about my land sales? I did it very discreetly. Everyone who knew was in the same boat. No one would dare to betray me."

"What's the point of saying all this now?" William asked indifferently.

Matthias was stunned for a moment, then became utterly despondent.

Yes.

It's pointless to say all this now.

The evidence is irrefutable. Even if he doesn't die, he will be exiled, or imprisoned for life in this dark and hopeless cell.

"All your property will be confiscated by the national treasury, and your wife and daughters will be homeless," William said slowly.

Matthias gripped the cold, icy iron bars tightly: "Ambassador, I beg you, save my wife and daughters!"

He couldn't imagine how the officials and nobles he had offended would retaliate against him after he lost his protection; his relatives were simply not enough to provide protection.

"That depends on whether you are of any use to me, such as whether you know any secrets about a minister, or how much wealth you have hidden somewhere," William said unhurriedly.

Matthias remained silent.

William was convinced from his reaction that the other party must be hiding property.

If it's a secret, at this point, the other party has no reason not to reveal it in exchange for the protection of their wife and daughters.

"You must understand, even if you leave this money to your wife and daughters, they won't be able to keep it. In fact, this money will only bring them greater danger," William advised.

Matthias looked at him: "Can I trust you, Ambassador?"

"Of course, after all, we fought side by side."

"At the Ice Bridge Market, I rented a courtyard, and I hid some money in the dry well—"

William smiled with satisfaction: "I will take good care of your wife and daughters."

"Thank you, Ambassador." Matthias looked dejected.

William turned and left, a lewd smile on his lips.

Even if you don't say anything, I will still take good care of your wife and daughter.

How could such a beautiful woman become a widow?

Besides, she's a beautiful woman who's already married.

"The title of 'Congresswoman's wife' is so alluring."

William's smile grew even wider and more lewd.

Five days later, MP Mattias was sentenced to life imprisonment, stripped of his parliamentary seat, and all his property confiscated for the crime of illegally selling state land.

Garden Mansion, Building 7.

Sergei threw the wooden plaque bearing the inscription "Mathias" into the brazier and watched it burn to ashes.

There was a knock on the door, and the butler Roman's voice came through.

"My lord, Count Panin has arrived."

Sergei put the other wooden plaques into a drawer and left the room.

"The 'senator killer' truly lives up to his name," Panin said with a smile upon seeing Sergei.

"Is the Earl just here to flatter me?"

Sergei sat down with him, and Roman brought him tea.

"Prince Jonathan had just left me before I arrived. He asked me if I was behind the case involving Congressman Matthias. I told him it was a matter for the Ministry of Justice and had nothing to do with us."

Paning blew on the steam rising from the teacup.

Sergei smiled and said, "This is originally a case handled by the Ministry of Justice."

"Stop keeping me in suspense. Attorney General Ingrid has been investigating Matthias for at least a year, and they haven't found anything after all this time. You arrived and they already have irrefutable evidence?" Panin scoffed.

Sergei smiled but said nothing.

Indeed, he brought down Matthias with the help of Attorney General Ingrid, but the crucial evidence is that he had Yuri secretly send people to Ingrid's home.

Seeing that he remained silent, Panin continued, "Since you have evidence of Matthias's unauthorized sale of state land, why don't you just threaten him directly?"

Sergei didn't hide anything and spoke his mind.

"This evidence can only be used to destroy Matthias, not to force him to comply."

"I used the bribery to test his attitude. If he could be used by me, I would help him hide the evidence temporarily to delay the time when Ingrid finds it."

"During this time, we will use Matthias, along with our own strength, to garner more support, overthrow Elias, and expel William from Sweden."

Panin asked, "And then?"

Sergei shrugged.

"That's it. It was only a matter of time before Ingrid found evidence of Matthias's crimes. Once she found it, Matthias would be in this state now."

"We absolutely cannot get too involved, otherwise if Matthias gets caught and says we helped him hide evidence, we'll be in big trouble."

"So from the very beginning, it was just a matter of whether Matthias lived a little longer or a little shorter. Do you really think we'd risk our lives to save a senator who's been drained of all his value?"

Panin couldn't help but say, "You're really ruthless."

"We're all in the same boat. At least by helping us, Matthias could live a little longer, but he didn't make a wise choice," Sergei chuckled.

Panin nodded. "Who's next?"

"I haven't decided yet. It's either William or Elias. The other councilors are all good at changing their tune, and they only have minor issues. I can't bring myself to go all out on them," Sergei said casually.

Paning smacked his lips.

Judging from these words, if those people have serious problems, Sergei will not be polite at all and will deal with them deadly!

hiss----

This crazy guy!