The most shameless alchemist in history

Moreover, the crisis Henry faced was not limited to these. Previously, when he convened meetings of his ministers, most of them would attend.

However, ever since the River Bend Fleet arrived at the city gates, fewer and fewer ministers have come to attend the meetings.

Since the River Bend Fleet blockaded Zeeland for a week, Henry has been unable to summon any of his ministers!

"Damn it, these opportunists! When I drove William away, they all came to pledge their loyalty, but now that I'm in this predicament, they all shut themselves away!" Henry was especially furious after learning from his subordinates that all the ministers were making excuses to avoid attending the meeting.

"Your Highness, we are in a very difficult situation right now, and you should probably prepare in advance."

"Prepare in advance? What preparation? Do you mean I should run away like a stray dog?" Henry roared.

“Your Highness, although this is difficult, we must prepare for the worst. There have been a series of arson incidents in the capital recently, which is probably not just a simple security issue,” Henry’s confidant continued to plead.

"You mean someone is deliberately creating unrest in the capital, waiting to open the capital and welcome those rebels?"

"Judging from the current situation, that is probably the case."

"I spent so many years and finally won a great victory, only to lose to the Messiah in such a short time?"

Henry was very unwilling to accept this.

"No, to be precise, he lost to that young man named Du Lei," the confidant corrected.

“Durex… Damn it, I understand. I’ll go to the Land of Wind to lay low for a while.” Henry sighed.

No matter how unwilling he was, he knew that he had to protect himself first before there were any other possibilities. What if something happened to him?

Then forget about pursuing your dreams.

"Your Highness, the Kingdom of Wind is probably not an option."

"No? Why not? I've always had a good relationship with the Kingdom of Wind, we correspond, and they promised before that if anything happens, they will do everything in their power to protect my safety," Henry said, puzzled.

“Times have changed. Back then, our situation was excellent. From the perspective of the Wind Kingdom, we hadn’t reached the point where we needed to seek refuge. But now we are in a difficult situation, and the Wind Kingdom has also suffered losses in Crocodile Bay. Black Wind was already heavily criticized for his defeat in the war against the Snow Kingdom. Now, his actions in our Swamp Kingdom have also failed, which has caused his support in the Wind Kingdom to continue to decline. This time, he can’t even protect himself, so how can he ensure our safety?” the confidant analyzed.

"Damn it... I never thought we'd come to this. Where do we go?" Henry was furious and smashed the cup next to him.

“Right now, the safest place for us is probably the Land of Rain,” the confidant said softly.

"What? The Land of Rain? But we've always been enemies with the Land of Rain, and they've stationed a large army on our border." Henry was taken aback.

"The reason the Rain Kingdom sent troops is just for show. They have a bunch of problems to solve themselves, how can they interfere with our Swamp Kingdom? Your Highness, it's almost dawn. If I'm not mistaken, someone will open the city gates after dawn. Let's leave here as soon as possible before the capital falls." The confidant looked out the window, where the sky was already turning a pale white.

"Alright, I'll do as you say." Henry knew he had no other choice. After a moment's hesitation, he hurriedly left the palace...

At dawn, as the weary guards waited for their comrades to relieve them, they saw a guard rushing over and surrounding them. These guards were not the ones who were supposed to be changing shifts; they were members of the Rapids Guard.

Normally, the Torrent Guard should be responsible for maintaining order within the city, not for its defense. However, the Torrent Guard disarmed all the city's defense guards and opened the city gates, allowing an army that had been waiting outside to quickly pour into the city.

All of this happened so fast that when the people of the capital got up, they saw that the streets were full of guards, and they were wearing different badges on their chests, including those of the Osprey family and the Swordfish family. These were all families from the River Reef region.

"What did you say? The capital has fallen? The city defense force has been disarmed, and the army from the River Bend region has entered the capital?"

This news came as a great surprise to a leather merchant, as everything had been fine just yesterday.

Everyone was saying that the king should have been able to hold out for another month or so, but how long has it been, and everything has changed in just one night?

"What do you mean by 'fallen'? You don't know yet, do you? His Highness Messiah is the rightful heir to the throne. It's that guy Henry who's putting up a last-ditch resistance."

"I'm getting a little confused. Where is His Highness Henry?"

"Where else could they be? They would have run away long ago."

"How could things have turned out like this? The capital has changed so drastically. How am I supposed to do my business?" This worried the merchant greatly.

"You're worrying unnecessarily. Even if things change, you'll still do your business as usual. It won't affect you at all. In fact, I just heard that His Highness Messiah is planning to reduce our taxes for a year!"

"What? There's such a thing? This is fantastic news!" The leather merchant, who had been hanging his head dejectedly, suddenly became excited upon hearing this. If he could be exempted from taxes for a year, he could save a huge amount of money!

At this time, more and more people gathered on both sides of the street to watch the army entering the city.

According to previous rumors, the people in the River Bend area were all bandits who would kill everyone in the capital and encourage everyone to join the army to defend the capital. However, it seems that after the army from the River Bend area entered the city, they were orderly and did not offend the ordinary people.

The people then realized that they had been fooled before, and that the soldiers in the River Bend area were so well-disciplined!

This made them feel that it was no different from their usual life, and besides, those guys from the city defense team often didn't pay for their meals!

The River Bend army's excellent discipline won the favor of the people, who responded enthusiastically and welcomed the River Bend army into the city.

After all, they had a legitimate decree. On the carriage, Messiah looked out the window at the enthusiastic crowd.

Dure was sitting next to her.

"So we're back in the capital? When I fled the capital, I thought I'd never come back," Messiah said with a sigh.

“Now you’re not only back, but you’re going to sit on the throne,” Dure said with a smile.

"Dure, stop joking with me. You know I've never thought about becoming a king or anything, and I don't know how to do it." Messiah always appeared confident in front of others, but in front of Dure, she showed her true self.

"You can learn slowly if you don't know how. You're so smart, you'll definitely learn it."

"Then... will you teach me?" Messiah asked him earnestly.

"I have no experience either, how am I supposed to teach?" Du Lei chuckled.

“As long as you, Dure, are by my side, I feel at ease. Besides, you know, Dure, the situation in the Swamp Country is unstable, and I simply cannot control it.” Messiah was very self-aware.

Even this advance into the capital was orchestrated by Du Lei; in reality, she didn't do anything substantial.

"It's alright, the situation will stabilize soon. I will stay in the Swamp Country for a while to help you sort things out."

"Stay for a while? Does that mean you're still leaving, Dure?" Messiah asked, somewhat disappointed.

“Yes, I’ll be leaving once the stone tablet Lance gave me is deciphered. It should take two or three months to decipher,” Dure said after thinking for a moment.

“So short…” Messiah had originally hoped to keep Dure.

But before she could speak, Dure announced his departure date.

“Time is a bit tight, but handling all the affairs shouldn’t be a problem. Messiah, you’re about to become queen, how come you’re not confident at all? You should show some queenly demeanor,” Dure said with a smile when he saw Messiah’s expression.

"I know, I will study hard!" Messiah replied solemnly.

"We need to show this kind of momentum, otherwise many problems will be very difficult to deal with later."

"Huh? Is there any other question?" Messiah stared at him blankly.

"There are problems with Henry's old subordinates, problems left over from the old king, diplomatic issues, a whole host of them, all waiting for you to deal with," Dure listed them one by one.

"But Dure, didn't you say you would help me?" Messiah asked anxiously.

"Yes, I am here to help you, but the matter still needs to be handled by you, the Queen."

"No, Dure, you weren't like this when you were in the Snow Country!"

"That's because I'm the Inspector General in the Land of Snow, so I have a lot of things to do."

"In that case, I'll appoint you, Du Lei, as a cabinet minister!"

884 Coronation Ceremony

Even if the Messiah were to appoint Dure as a cabinet minister, the latter would not accept it, after all, he is just an outsider and a young man.

If he was able to hold a high position in the Snow Country, it was the result of a compromise between the old and new factions; he was the balancing point between the two factions.

In addition, Dure's hometown, Hot Spring Village, is actually within the territory of the Snow Country, so he can be considered a local.

However, for the Swamp Country, he was an absolute outsider. The nobles and ministers of the Swamp Country would certainly not welcome Dure to hold a high position in the Swamp Country, especially since Dure helped Messiah successfully move into the capital, which made the old nobles resent Dure even more.

Because without this guy, they would definitely be holding important positions under the existing system, but Messiah's entry into Ze City will lead to a new round of power reshuffling, and the original factions in the River Bend region will definitely be given important positions.

These factors made it very difficult for Dure to become a cabinet minister. In addition, he himself was unwilling to stay in the Swamp Country for too long. On the one hand, he sent people to inquire about Lance's whereabouts, and on the other hand, he accelerated the deciphering of the contents of the stone tablet that Lance left for him.

Of course, there is another very important thing to do, which is to help Messiah stabilize the situation. Although he cannot serve as the cabinet minister of the Swamp Kingdom, there is also an advantage, which is that he will not stay in the Swamp Kingdom for too long anyway, so he is happy to be a villain who offends people.

When Messiah first entered Ze City, the old nobles in the city had no choice but to accept her, but they put forward many harsh conditions, such as requiring Messiah to give up her title of Duke of River Bend. These nobles were very tough, and it seemed that if Messiah did not accept them, they would resist to the end. This made Messiah particularly difficult, after all, she could not be such an iron-fisted person.

But Dure was different; he already had a bad reputation when he was the inspector general of the Snow Country.

Faced with these Ze City nobles who were now taking a hard line, Du Lei took the initiative to speak with them. After spending two days visiting each of the Ze City nobles, these nobles who had previously openly opposed him all became obedient.

Another week passed, and after confirming the legitimacy of the will left by the former king and gaining William's support, it was finally determined that Messiah's coronation ceremony would be held in three days, and she would become the new queen of the Swamp Kingdom!

There were many things to prepare in the past few days. After all, the Swamp Kingdom had just experienced a period of turmoil and was beset by internal and external troubles. Even on the eve of her coronation, Messiah was still extremely busy. By the time she finished her chores, it was already late at night.

Late at night, she went to the palace terrace to rest for a while, only to find that someone was already sitting there.

There are not many people qualified to come here. To be precise, apart from Messiah, there is only one: Dure.

"You look very tired?" Dure asked softly as Messiah approached.

"I've met with eight groups of people today alone. It's hard enough to remember all their names, let alone anything else. It's such a mess, so annoying. I just want to go back to River Bend City." Messiah complained softly, though she still had to maintain her dignity in front of others.

But when she was in front of Du Lei, she didn't need to think too much. She muttered to herself, completely different from how she was during the day.

"You will soon be the first queen in the history of the Swamp Kingdom, and also the only remaining queen on the continent after the Frost Queen of the Snow Kingdom. If others knew how many complaints you have, wouldn't they be furious?" Du Lei said with a smile.

Throughout the history of the Snow Kingdom, the throne has always been inherited by the queen, but due to previous changes in the Snow Kingdom, the royal family has been dissolved.

This means that the Snow Kingdom will never have a queen again, so Messiah became the only remaining queen on the continent.

"Dure, stop making fun of me. I don't even know how to be a queen, and I don't want to be one either," Messiah glared at him.

"If you don't know how, you'll learn slowly. Besides, you're quite popular now," Du Lei joked.

"Where did they become popular? Those nobles were all against it before. It was you, Dure, who negotiated with them and reached an agreement. But Dure, how exactly did you make them so obedient?" Messiah asked curiously, she really couldn't understand the nobles' change of heart.

"I didn't do anything special, I just patiently reasoned with them," Du Lei said with a smile.

"Huh? Reason? Those nobles don't seem like reasonable people. It would be strange if they could be reasoned with." Messiah was skeptical; she didn't quite believe what Dure had said.

"Maybe they were in a good mood that day, so they listened to what I said?" Du Lei looked at her with a smile.

"I don't believe you at all, but thanks to your help, Dure, I really don't know what to do otherwise," Messiah said gratefully. She knew very well that without Dure's help, things in Ze City would not have gone so smoothly.

"It's just a small matter, why be so polite?" Du Lei wasn't one to take credit and didn't take it to heart.

“Although you say that, Dure, I will keep this gratitude in my heart,” Messiah said earnestly.

"Tomorrow you will be the Queen of Zhao Zhiguo. What you should keep in mind is the future of the Swamp Kingdom. Times are changing, and I'm sure you've noticed it. New forces are impacting the old system, and the tide of history will eliminate all the stubborn and corrupt forces."

Dure looked at Messiah and said softly, the moonlight reflecting on the sea, sparkling, and it was exceptionally clear from this position.

"But Dure, why don't we abolish the royal family like the Snow Kingdom did?" Messiah had discussed the possibility of dissolving the royal family with Dure in private before, and she had no interest in the idea of ​​a queen.

Because once she becomes queen, she will be nailed to the city of Ze, and it will be difficult for her to go to other places in the future.