Yes, Madam Prime Minister

The boy's family was originally quite well-off. His father was the illegitimate son of a knight, who died in a war, leaving behind his mother and a younger brother to depend on each other.

The kind knight gave their family a rather old mare. The boy worked very, very hard, but still couldn't save any money. He felt helpless and thought of secretly selling the horse to get money. He would use a small portion to buy hair ornaments and the rest as tuition for his younger brother to become an apprentice in the city, hoping that his brother could change his fate.

The mother, while singing, kept lamenting her misfortunes, saying that her eldest son was having such a hard time, and what would become of her youngest son?

In the fourth act, the girl's father went to borrow money from a fat man. After returning home, he ran into his daughter, who asked him for more money. He immediately got angry, scolded her, and refused.

The daughter ran out, crying, and decided to cut off her long hair to sell for money, and then buy the boy a pair of riding boots.

In the fifth act, the young boy and girl each bring a gift and meet again. Unexpectedly, one has lost her horse and the other has lost her hair. Faced with two things that are no longer useful, the two happily embrace each other and sing a joyful song.

In Act VI, the narrator announces that it is harvest season and the harvest is good, but the price of grain has fallen. The girl's father is unable to repay his loan, and the short, fat man comes to threaten him, saying that he must either repay the money or his daughter will be used to pay off the debt.

In the end, the girl was still taken away.

The crowd below had already begun shouting for the short, fat man to be killed, but Isabel remained silent with a smile.

In the seventh act, the angry boy tries to kill the short, fat man, but only manages to stab him once before being stopped and captured by the guards. The fat man, due to his large size, suffers only minor injuries and tells the girl that he will release the boy if she serves him well. In the end, the girl has no choice but to comply.

Then, a curtain blocked the view of the short, fat man and the girl. The audience could only see the shadows of the two people inside the curtain. Judging from the shadows, the girl was kneeling in front of the short, fat man.

The short, fat man's singing drifted over, and he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, singing as if he were showing off that he had gained both money and a man, and that he wouldn't really let the boy go, but would instead report him for assault and robbery after releasing him.

At this moment, several people in the audience almost rushed onto the stage, but fortunately the guards stopped them in time, otherwise the musical would have been unable to continue.

In the eighth act, the girl returns like a zombie, only to hear that the boy has been arrested. He was indeed released by the short, fat man, but was soon arrested again by the sheriff.

"There were sheriffs in the era of lords?" Ronan whispered.

Isabel was immediately annoyed and stomped hard on Ronan's foot. "Where did you get all this nonsense from?"

In the ninth act, the boy's mother went to find the knight and happened to meet the lord. She cried to the lord, and the just lord finally upheld justice, executed the short, fat man, confiscated his property, and then released the boy. The boy's family and the girl's family sang in a happy reunion.

Ronan couldn't help but click his tongue before clapping his hands, and then bursts of enthusiastic applause rang out in the arena.

While the actors were still taking their curtain call, Isabelle pulled Ronan away.

As we left the open-air theater, Isabelle asked, "You think the ending was poorly written?"

"It's really just average," Ronan said.

A just lord, that's truly laughable.

Isabel wasn't angry; instead, she laughed happily. "That's right, it's bad, very bad. There was originally a tenth scene where the lord was counting the money he'd taken from the short, fat man, while the tall, thin man flattered him. It was all part of the lord's conspiracy to justify the murder and confiscation of property."

"It's a pity that everyone says we can't perform the tenth act yet; it's not the right time."

Hearing her say that, Ronan smiled slightly, "Indeed, Your Highness wrote this script, and even paid for the construction of this open-air stage."

"Hmph." Isabel snorted coldly, "She can sing and play those lousy songs, but I can't write scripts? I'm a million times better than her. My scripts can resonate with the general public. What she sings and plays is all stuff that the public doesn't like to hear."

“If you say so, then so be it.” Ronan didn’t completely deny Isabel’s point of view, but he felt that it was really not good for her to criticize Ambrina every three sentences.

Isabel crossed her arms confidently. "You appreciate my play more than listening to her sing those boring songs, don't you?"

Ronan shook his head. "I cannot agree to that."

“If you disagree, then you disagree. You’re the kind of person who’s always lying anyway,” Isabel said. “You saw how those people were just now. I just want to tell you that this country is like a dilapidated house. It needs a big fire, a fire of reform, to burn it down instead of just patching it up. Patching it up might keep it going for a few more days, but the result will be a complete collapse.”

Ronan asked with a smile, "So how will the new house be built?"

"After the great nobles and church forces were eliminated, civil officials became the implementers. But civil officials are not good either. We need to establish a strong oversight agency like what you did in Xinhai City. However, the agency you had in Xinhai City was really terrible. A real oversight agency should be a huge agency that reports directly to the king and has people in every aspect of society, including the army."

"This country needs a sword hanging over its head to remove the termites at any time. The termites will always reproduce, but as long as the sword is there, they will never hollow out the whole house like they are now."

"This country only needs one voice and one idea."

Isabel shared her vision.

Ronan sighed softly, "Although I am not your advisor, I would like to suggest that you abandon this idea, just as your advisors suggested that you delete the tenth act of that musical."

Isabel looked at Ronan. "If you want to change me, then come to my side."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Ronan spread his hands, indicating that he was very sorry.

“You do, but you don’t dare,” Isabel said.

“It’s getting late, I have to go back.” Ronan said, extending his hand. “Oh, and please return my cufflinks.”

Just now, when Isabel stepped on him, she also reached out and took off his cufflinks. This princess is really not honest.

Isabel was surprised that Ronan had discovered her and instantly disappeared into her alternate dimension.

"Ugh."

Ronan could only sigh, feeling both amused and exasperated.

He really has no way to deal with these young girls.

The next morning, as soon as Ronan met Ambrina, he told her about going out with Isabelle the night before.

After telling the story of the man in the linen clothes, the next part was the musical. Ronan not only told the story, but also, like a film analysis, stopped from time to time to analyze the connotations of the characters' key lines and the hidden plot that could be found in individual details.

Although the story is woven together by the male and female protagonists, every character has an important role and is not a supporting character. Their characters are not one-dimensional at all. Originally, the characters of the knight and the lord were not very interesting, but if the tenth act is performed, then these two characters will become interesting.

After discussing the play, Ronan brought up the topic of cufflinks.

Chapter 177 Promises, Strategies, Even Being a kept man is a skill

Isabelle took Ronan's cufflinks when he wasn't looking, intending to bring them up in front of Ambrina at some point. If Ronan had told Ambrina about going to the theater with her, that would be fine; if not, she would have room to make her point.

Her plan failed before it even began because Ronan never let his guard down. After all, Ronan already knew that Princess Isabelle, though outwardly magnanimous, could be quite petty at times, especially when it came to targeting him.

Ambrina didn't say anything about the cufflinks, but instead asked about the capital, "So, Ronan, what are your thoughts on the situation in the capital?"

Ronan didn't answer, instead turning the question back to Ambrina. "What matters is your opinion, not mine. Now and in the future, I am merely an executor."

Ambrina was silent for a moment, then pinched the flesh on her thighs through her skirt with both hands, released, and pinched again. After a dozen or so times, she finally spoke, "Let's change it."

Ronan deliberately made a comical kneeling gesture to swear allegiance, just to amuse Ambrina, saying, "At your service, Your Majesty."

Ambrina smiled and took a baguette from her storage space, placing it on Ronan's shoulder. "Remember your words, my knight."

"Hahahaha." The two of them burst into laughter.

After laughing, Ambrina became serious. "Ronan, do you have any plans for the next few years?"

“I don’t, but His Majesty obviously does,” Ronan said. “I guess I’ll stay in New Sea City for another year or two after I return, and then I’ll be promoted and transferred along with Dinia.”

Dinia was the person the king arranged for Ambrina to use her fists to make decisions. Therefore, before the king died, Dinia had to at least qualify to be transferred to the central government as the head of a department, which meant she had to become an official at the level of governor.

Of course, Ronan was promoted and transferred along with him.

Ambrina asked, "Is it a direct promotion to governor of your state?"

"Definitely not. The next stop is a whetstone for her and a test for me. It will definitely be a state with a big problem. If I'm guessing, it will be a special place like a border province or a colony."

Ronan said.

If it's a direct promotion to the state that nominally governs Xinhai City, it can hardly be considered a whetstone or a test.

But if she were sent to another state to be governor, she would be much more constrained than in New Sea City due to her lack of governing experience. Even with Ronan in charge, she would probably only be able to negotiate with local officials for the first two years and wouldn't be able to achieve anything significant.

Therefore, the king must arrange for Dinya to be placed in a place that is convenient for her to act, a place where she can have autonomy and make use of her strengths.

So, apart from the border provinces that border other countries and have important strategic positions, all that's left are the colonies that she can do whatever she wants with.

It's a choice between two options.

“Oh,” Ambrina responded, a hint of disappointment in her voice. The border provinces were all quite far from the capital, and the colonies were even further away, located in the New World, separated by a vast ocean.

Ronan gently placed his hand on the back of Ambrina's hand. "If everything goes well, I think I should be able to return to the capital in four or five years at the earliest, and then it will be our wedding."

Ambrina placed her other hand on Ronan's hand. "Ronan, you must succeed."

“Of course I will succeed,” Ronan said confidently. “Ambrina, you are the one who should be more careful. The storm that will sweep through the capital is coming.”

“Mmm,” Ambrina responded softly.

“I’ve given you one principle and two strategies,” Ronan said. “The principle is to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible. The two strategies are to make friends and to spend money.”

Although Ambrina had the king's support, the king's personal prestige and power were insufficient, and he was about to die. The group of people in power could tolerate him, but they were not afraid of him.

Of the three princesses, on the surface, Ambrina's faction is the weakest, while Isabelle has connections and Marian has money.

In this situation, some strategy is necessary.

Ronan further explained, “Making friends means going to befriend people on Isabelle’s side. Don’t count on those young officers; they don’t like the King, and by extension, they don’t like you, whom the King favors. So, you have to befriend those ‘retro’ types.”

"These retro enthusiasts are very radical in their words, but in reality, they are a group of intellectuals who are not that radical at all. Moreover, intellectuals definitely look down on each other. If you organize a gathering and invite them, then bring some of your own works, appropriately reveal your progressive ideas, and give them some praise, not to mention that some of them will side with you, but at least the number of people cheering for Isabel will be greatly reduced."

Ambrina nodded, but then struggled with a question: "But Ronan, where would I get my own work?"

“You don’t have it, but I do,” Ronan said. It’s not difficult to plagiarize and modify to create some progressive humanist literary works.

“Then it’s all about throwing money around,” Ronan continued. “I won’t even mention using money to buy off those fallen nobles who have titles but no substance. They’re good at causing trouble, but they can’t do anything worthwhile.”

"What I mean by 'spending money' is that you find people to set up the business yourself. If you need more people, go to His Majesty the King. The three businesses are sugar, stockings, and high-yield crop seeds. Once you've expanded the scale, you can borrow as much money as you can. The bankers in the capital who can lend a lot of money are all on your mother's side. Once you borrow money from them, they won't be able to run away."

Ambrina had some doubts. "Would they really lend me the money?"

Compared to those bankers, she, the princess, was a poor woman.

“If you suggest debt-to-equity swap, they will definitely lend you the money. Debt-to-equity swap means that if you are overdue for a certain period of time and still can't pay back the money, then the debt will be converted into shares for them.”

Ronan said this with great certainty.

It has to be said that he had a really tough time living off Ambrina. He had to help her write books and provide her with businesses. He really had to use up all his savings.

"In short, you'll have to work hard these next few years."

Ronan said.

"What have I been working so hard for? You're the one who's been giving so much. I don't have anything to give you in return," Ambrina said, a little annoyed.

"Ha, weren't you going to return a Queen to me?" Ronan joked.

Ambrina fell silent.

Ronan stood up and took Ambrina's arm from behind. "When two people are together, if they keep calculating what they give and what they receive, it's no business. Although marriage is a kind of asset reclamation and operation, love is not."

Ambrina's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ronan, do you believe in love?"

“I didn’t believe it at first, but after meeting you, I do,” Ronan replied.

Ambrina was very touched. "Really?"

Ronan sighed inwardly. His words, "After seeing you, I believe," were not because he fell in love with Ambrina at first sight, but because he discovered that a princess could fall in love with him at first sight. Wasn't this an irrational love?

Chapter 178 The Mage, Nickname, It Was Too Sudden

This was Ronan's last night before leaving. He would depart from the capital at dawn the next day and return to New Sea City.

Late at night, a man emerged from the villa where Isabel had met Ronan and the other three secretaries. He was the aloof magician who had led the way.

The aloof magician walked into an alley. He went in, but another person came out, dressed in old but fairly clean clothes. If Ronan were there, he would recognize him at a glance as the sleazy-looking man who had shown him the way to the hotel when he first arrived in the capital.

A moment later, the old street thug whom Ronan had met once walked into the crowd and disappeared into it. Soon after, a tall, thin middle-aged man with a small mustache pinched his nose, as if disgusted by the sour smell emanating from the common people, and quickly walked out of the crowd and headed towards the tree-lined path on the other side.

When he arrived in front of a villa, he had transformed into a handsome young man with a clean-shaven beard and long hair.

Upon entering the villa and announcing his arrival, the long-haired youth approached a middle-aged man who was embracing a woman in her thirties who was tall and voluptuous.

The long-haired young man bowed in greeting, "Greetings, Your Majesty, and Your Majesty."

The middle-aged man was King Lucien, and the tall, voluptuous woman was the wife of Count Tani, who was also the king's most important mistress.

As for those from the past, and those who come only occasionally now, there are too many to count even for the king himself.

The king's strange illness was not due to physical weakness. His main symptoms were twofold: first, he would fall into a coma without warning, sometimes for an entire day, and wake up perfectly fine, even with a strong appetite; second, he would sometimes be extremely agitated, to the point that his back ached, yet he still wanted to get pregnant, but he was unable to impregnate a woman.

This strange disease had appeared in his second brother before. His second brother didn't take it seriously at first, but when the condition worsened and he started to age rapidly, he died within a few days.

Because he had experienced the same disease before, he had accumulated some experience, but no one had ever seen this disease before, so Lucien could only live a few more years and there was no hope of a cure.

"How's it going?"

King Lucien asked.

The long-haired youth straightened his back. "There have been no unusual movements from Her Highness Isabelle and Count Aquitaine. I have already submitted the recent report."

Isabelle's trusted subordinate, the spy placed by Count Aquitaine by Isabelle's side, and King Lucien's intelligence agent—these three people are one person, and these three identities are only his covert identities. On the surface, he is also the head of a small street gang, the behind-the-scenes owner of a tavern, and the young husband of a widow who inherited a jewelry store.

After listening, the king nodded, "Let's go back."

"Farewell." The long-haired young man added, "Have a pleasant day."

He spoke so frivolously, and never referred to himself as a subordinate, because "Thousand Faces" was not the king's subordinate, but merely served the king. Magicians of his level almost never entered the system, nor were they completely subordinate to anyone, not even the king.