Witch Troupe and the Undead

The traces of spiritual magic on these people, as well as their fanatical demeanor, revealed clues. However, the emperor was certain that this was not an act of the Holy Church, because he knew what kind of people he was, and the Holy Church also knew that if they had planned it, they would most likely have been killed by the Royal Guard Knights in a surprise attack on the church after either failing or succeeding.

After all, the Holy Sect is a typical example of a sect that can run away but can't escape its ancestral temple. Therefore, they wouldn't plan such a thing. Moreover, the Holy Sect clearly understands that the curse on the emperor is a troublesome and even intractable problem. So, they just need to wait for the emperor to die naturally.

In the emperor's plan, the Holy Church's real strength lay in public opinion, specifically in the matter of the "Youthful Witch" Niel Riley, whom he intended to curse. At that time, the Holy Church would do everything in its power to steer public opinion toward the witch's evil deeds, and at that crucial moment, demand the destruction of that evil potion. After that, all that was needed was to wait for the emperor to die naturally.

With the church backing them, their foolish daughter wasn't entirely incapable of standing up to her two brothers. The eldest prince, on the other hand, was backed by powerful military nobles from various regions—in short, warlords. Compared to a complete waste, their eldest son, this precious possession, was more in their interest.

Cruel, vicious, and tyrannical natures are not a flaw for these warlords. In fact, only when such an emperor ascends the throne and becomes a complete tyrant will more wars be waged, more taxes be levied, and these warlords gain more power and opportunities.

Behind the youngest son were the imperial court nobles and bureaucrats. After all, what use were these advisors to a wise and powerful emperor? A foolish emperor paired with a court full of upright officials was a more fitting sight.

As for the fourth force, the emperor glanced coldly at the Imperial Guards and the chief steward beside him. They were not entirely without suspicion. After all, if the other side failed in this whole affair, it would mean that the three forces mentioned earlier would be eliminated.

However, such a purge requires not only accurate intelligence but also manpower and personnel to fill the vacancies afterward. This means that the power or voice of the intelligence department and the Imperial Guard will be greatly enhanced, and they will gain more freedom of action. Therefore, they could not be the planners, but only opportunists who sit idly by and watch the success or failure unfold.

Thinking of this, the emperor chuckled to himself. How ridiculous! He was indeed cursed and his body was weak, and he was not going to live much longer, but he was not dead yet, much less senile. His hawk-like eyes swept over the capital outside the castle. It was time to teach these young and strong men a lesson.

"What were their slogans?"

"Yes, yes, they are demanding that we hand you over." The Grand Judge kept wiping his sweat, while the heavy sword of the tall silver-armored knight behind the emperor was already about an inch out of its sheath.

"Why?" The emperor smiled and pushed the sword of the attendant knight back.

"Yes, it's a rumor. They say we colluded with the Royal Guards to put you under house arrest and push the Crown Prince to the throne." After all, he is indeed the first in line to the throne, and as a ruler, if we don't consider personal morality, then it's barely acceptable. But the problem is, even if a ruler doesn't value personal morality much, he can't completely disregard it!

To put it simply, the ruler's moral requirements are anthropomorphic; you at least have to reach the level of a pseudo-human, right? But the eldest prince's moral level can only be described as: it's obvious at a glance that he's not human.

Once someone rises to power, levying exorbitant taxes and engaging in militarism is nothing short of a compliment. The real fear is that this guy will do something crazy that no one can predict, such as arbitrarily starting a war with a neighboring country or causing the nobles in the country to turn against him because of some noble purchase. Although those warlords all think they can use him as a puppet, ordinary people are not so optimistic.

Putting aside the fact that these powerful military nobles are practically all hypocrites, the eldest prince's character alone doesn't suggest he can be a stable puppet. Who knows, the empire might split and civil war break out in the future.

"So, these people have so many opinions about my eldest son, and they're even willing to risk their lives to stop him." The emperor shook his head, his expression becoming more serious. These people were clearly influenced and induced by mental magic, but deep down they genuinely didn't want the eldest prince to ascend the throne, which gave them an opportunity to incite so many people.

Moreover, given his extensive experience in coups, this was merely a feint, intended to entangle his own guards and delay the knights stationed at the border. His real trump card was not to storm in through the main gate to purge the court of corrupt officials, and these commoners were the best witnesses—witnesses to the crime of regicide and scapegoats.

"It seems I've been a very unsuccessful emperor," the old emperor said, removing his golden crown and placing it on a nearby table. "Everyone wants me dead."

"..." No one knew how to respond to that.

"However, I'd like to see what kind of exit they've arranged for me."

The emperor continued, "Now is the time for the mastermind behind this to reveal their true colors, kill me here, and let those mobs bear the blame for regicide. At the same time, they can use the excuse of inadequate security to significantly weaken the power and influence of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Royal Guard, minimizing the internal turmoil."

After all, in the face of the atomic bomb of regicide, no one cared about the internal purges and power shifts within the Knights Order, let alone the fact that they could use this crime to continuously exclude dissidents.

"A very ingenious plan. It seems the Empire still has quite a few capable people." The Emperor quickly reviewed the entire plan. From the moment he was drawn to the Black Iron Palace by the so-called new developments about the curse, the whole plan had been operating like interlocking gears.

"What a pity..." the emperor muttered something under his breath, and when he looked up again, his expression was serious.

"Lord Grey, you've been following me for ten years now, haven't you?"

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the chief intelligence officer said in a deep voice.

"You surely know perfectly well how I came to rule the throne."

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

"So, what gave you and those people outside the illusion that your clumsy plan could be kept from me?"

Your Majesty is too kind. Neither I nor anyone in the Military Intelligence Bureau has ever underestimated your abilities, but you are, after all, just a mortal."

Mortals are destined to die. Even the most valiant and divine rulers will eventually grow old and die. No matter how much this process is delayed, it will eventually come one day. In fact, the current chaos in the empire is essentially this.

As the old rulers grow old and weak, burdened by an intractable curse, their ability and speed in handling state affairs decline—an undeniable objective fact. In order to maintain their rule over the empire, they have no choice but to promote a group of bureaucrats to share the workload. As the emperor's condition continues to deteriorate, these new nobles naturally wield more and more power.

They craved higher status, dissatisfied with their current identity and the power that might disappear with the emperor's death. They preferred to pass on power from generation to generation, just like the nobles. This was their instinct, unrelated to good or evil—regardless of their moral character or whether their position was good or bad.

Good bureaucrats desire more autonomy and resources to realize their ambitions and save and benefit the empire; mediocre bureaucrats hope to retain their privileges and jobs and live a mediocre life; while corrupt ones hope to permanently possess this power to manipulate things from top to bottom, ensuring the long-term survival of their own interests and those of their families.

"You see, whether it's good or bad, they all want as much power or resources as possible in their hands. This world is no exception, and I am no different." Even at this age when he can hardly see the world, he still clings to power. He has thought about passing on power to the next generation of successors in advance, but none of them are reliable.

"The empire is in such a state of chaos today, and it is indeed my fault," the emperor readily admitted his mistake.

Whether for the sake of a smooth power transition after his death, or for some other seemingly well-thought-out reason, he did not appoint a formal successor, and at this age, he did not relinquish some of his political duties, but instead held onto power tightly, even at the cost of cultivating another distorted power group.

This is the root cause of today's coup in the empire. Today's turmoil is neither the cause nor the process, but the result. "So, I'm too lazy to ask anymore, who are your accomplices?" the emperor said, looking like he had given up.

"I regret that we have no accomplices, and we will protect you to the very end. If I had to say, it would probably be... a coincidence."

"Don't put on this martyr's act, old friend," the emperor laughed. "I've seen plenty of people like that, and without exception, I've put them all on the gallows. I know the blame lies with my hesitation today, but so what?"

Having used the "brotherly love and respect" inheritance method, and now that he has completely given up on clearing his name, he exudes a chilling sense of nonchalance.

"Let me tell you a lame joke. You know, when I carried my two older brothers' heads and stepped over my sister's corpse into my father's palace, do you know what the first thing the old man said was?"

"..." This topic is taboo for every high-ranking official in the empire. After all, the previous emperor died under mysterious circumstances, and the current emperor has not left behind any brothers or sisters who could threaten him. There are none, not even any living nephews or nieces.

"The old man asked me: How many people have you killed? I said: I haven't counted, maybe a few hundred. I might have to kill a few thousand more tomorrow. Anyway, I've killed everyone ahead of me in the succession line. Do you know what the old man's reaction was after hearing that?"

"A furious rebuke?" The Grand Judge was stared at intently by the Emperor, like a frog being stalked by a venomous snake, only realizing he could breathe again when the snake looked away.

The old man's reaction was to frown and say to me, "Too few." Too few? What's too few? It can't be that we killed too few, can it?

"Therefore, I acknowledged my father's criticism. He was right. I have always been weak, and even at this moment, I still hoped that after doing such a thing, I could enjoy both supreme power and family affection."

The emperor grinned. "So I sincerely apologized to him and promised it wouldn't happen again. Then I personally chopped off the old man's head, along with his favorite woman and the child in her womb that might threaten me, and I also wiped out almost all of my brothers and nephews."

"And now, I seem to hear my father's words again: Too little, alas, too little, don't you think so, old friend?" The steward's head began to break out in a cold sweat. Could this old man have gone completely mad? The blood of the Black Iron Palace was almost completely dyeing the river water in the trench red.

"Has your conspirators not arrived yet? Have they given up? I'm growing impatient." Black lines began to spread across his pale skin, corroded by the curse. The flaring curse caused the emperor to involuntarily bend over, and it wasn't until several minutes later that he finally let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, he saw a group of people appear around the corner of the corridor outside the door. "Tsk~"

"What a piece of trash!" He thought he would see his eldest son and daughter's heads being carried in someone's hands, but this idiot actually came empty-handed. What did he take a coup or regicide as? Playing house?!

"Father, your era is over." The second prince strode into the office with his head held high, followed by several young knights. Clearly, the hot-tempered leader had not expected that the warlords were not entirely supporting him, but rather hedging their bets—both tyrants and fools were good for the powerful local military nobles.

"Is this all you've got?" The old emperor's expression turned extremely impatient. He had initially felt a surge of anticipation, like an aging lion king witnessing a young lion challenging his authority, as if he had rediscovered some of his youthful courage. But then…

"Two fools!" The emperor shook his head.

"You always call me stupid, but now you're the one in dire straits. Now, old man, you should accept your fate!"

"...I was talking about two idiots, what do you think?" The emperor glanced at him in surprise. He really shouldn't have placed too much hope in such a useless person. The blame for regicide couldn't be shouldered by a few royal guards and a chief intelligence officer, especially since the latter would likely sacrifice himself to protect the military intelligence agency. Therefore, a truly idiotic person with a clear motive and a sufficiently high status was needed to take the fall. And this idiot in front of him was actually smugly questioning why he had called him stupid?

"You're just as stupid as your older brother!" One became the scapegoat, another the victim, and the third one can't be called stupid, at least today's scene proves she's not stupid, she's just blind!

"One is stupid, one is dumb, and one is blind. What virtue or ability do I have to have the three of you!" No, his deceased empress had nothing to do with these three words. It couldn't be that his empress had cuckolded him and that none of the three were his children, could it? This guess made the emperor a little amused.

"One plotted to assassinate the emperor and proved that he couldn't even control the mob; another actually assassinated the emperor; and the last one, although he made a good plan, didn't consider me at all, like a blind man." This was the emperor's assessment of today's farce. However, he was still somewhat relieved, at least there weren't three idiots in the family, only two idiots and a blind man.

"Enough, I've had enough of this farce, let's stop now," the emperor said, leaning on the table as he stood up. "Old man, even at a time like this, you're still putting on an act." The second prince, enraged, was about to order his knights to charge, but when he turned around, he found that two unarmored imperial guard knights had appeared behind him, and his attendants were already corpses on the ground.

At the same time, a pillar of light rose up, enveloping the Black Iron Palace. The civilians outside, who had been affected by mental magic, suddenly came to their senses and began to retreat in the face of the terrifying mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood. The Royal Guards, who were already on the verge of exhaustion, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let me test you, as the final test of your princely career: How many of my Royal Guard Knights do you have?"

"One, one?"

"Sigh~" The emperor waved his hand helplessly. "The Imperial Guard was established after I ascended the throne, with the national treasury being emptied out. Before that, did all your uncles die of illness? Take this fool away. I don't want to see him again. Also, have the palace chefs prepare dinner, and bring the other two... never mind, just call the princess."

Fools and idiots are beyond saving, but the blind might be salvageable. Of course, this refers to the emperor's current physical condition; five years ago, these three auspicious treasures would have been his brothers and sisters accompanying him on his journey.

Chapter 106 Great Fooling Appears as Wise

The crimson wine dripped into the glass, splashing out along the rim. Looking at the wine droplets on his fingers, the old emperor remained silent for a moment, then chuckled wryly, and shakily placed the glass back on the table.

A sumptuous dinner was laid out on a long table covered with a white tablecloth. On one side of the table, the eldest prince, who was bound tightly, sat in a chair with a boiled apple stuffed in his mouth, like a suckling pig about to be put into the oven.

"With your brain, you can figure out that the most dangerous place is the safest place. It's really impressive that you can do that." The old emperor nodded to his eldest son. "At least you know what kind of person you are. Well, it's hard to say whether you know it or one of your subordinates who is eager to make a name for himself knows it."

"The rumor that he would triple the poll tax after ascending the throne successfully tricked your foolish younger brother into believing it." After all, the second brother wouldn't doubt that the eldest brother spread the rumor.

He just felt that the time was right, all he had to do was get rid of his father, and then the eldest prince could take the blame. Of course, the second prince did use his brain a little, he mixed the previous rumors with the name of the eldest prince's house arrest of the emperor.

"Hmm, no, that's not right." The emperor suddenly thought of something. With his eldest son's brains, he could indeed come up with such an idea. Although he was a nobleman, he was not stupid. That's all. "You wouldn't really think that, would you?" The emperor looked at his eldest son, who was struggling violently, which made the emperor's head start to ache.

"I thought this was just a rumor you spread using your bad reputation. While it's still incredibly stupid, at least it had a touch of cunning; you knew how to turn a disadvantage into an advantage." Turns out, the tax increase news was actually true!?

If it's true, then it's not a rumor, but rather...

"Your strategist has really worked hard. I really can't bear to kill such a talent!" He said this very sincerely. After all, the Witch of Youth was indeed a clue to lifting the curse. However, it was not unexpected that the location of the Witch of Youth could not be divined. It was perfectly normal for a "witch" of this level to take some counter-divination and counter-prophecy measures for herself.

Of course, he doesn't need to find the witch herself, he only needs to find the potion of youth. Although such a thing is rare, it is not entirely impossible. Moreover, the court apothecaries are already collecting the potion notes and formulas left by the witch of youth in various countries, trying to recreate such a thing.

However, it was impossible for the emperor to place his hopes solely on the potion, so it was essential to prepare for both possibilities. If the potion could not be replicated or found in time, it would indeed be a pity to kill such a talented advisor.

"Waaah~" "Stop crying, you're not going to say that today's events have nothing to do with you, are you? You've already got your hands on the Royal Guard... Wait, you really have nothing to do with this?" The emperor's head started buzzing.

Given his age and health condition, it's not a bad thing for his son to be ambitious, but the problem is that not only does his son lack the ability, but this ambition is also something that others have imposed on him.

His subordinates began to interfere with the Royal Guard without his knowledge. The implications of this are self-evident. After he ascended the throne, even the Royal Guard was in the hands of others. What is that called?

"You are more foolish than I thought," the emperor hesitated, then thought, "Why don't we just cut him down and start over? Let's see if my cursed body can produce another heir. When your sister comes, I'll see if she's really blind or..." The emperor shook his head, completely losing interest in the conversation.

A dozen minutes later, a pink figure appeared at the door. The girl with slightly curly, long black hair carefully lifted her skirt and walked in, trying her best to avoid the corpses and blood of the attendants on the ground. Although she seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the corpses and blood, the emperor's eyes lit up.

She looked beautiful in her pink dress adorned with white ribbons, and she even wore light makeup. If you disregarded the surroundings and the commotion outside, she looked just like someone dressed for a normal banquet.

However, the emperor was not attracted to her beauty, but rather by her current state. Apart from showing discomfort at the blood on the ground, she showed no fear whatsoever, which was an excellent quality. Whether it was she simply audacious or purely reckless, it was a virtue.

Recklessness is not a problem. As long as she is given a proper external cooler, she will be a proper monarch. The key is to be bold. As a monarch, one can be incompetent, foolish, and even have no bottom line or morality, but one cannot be cowardly. A pure foolish and reckless person is even a kind of advantage - after all, she might actually do something like pushing out and beheading all the nobles who oppose her without any regard for the consequences.

And honestly, being brave to this extent is impossible to call me just reckless courage. She couldn't possibly not know what her father meant by summoning her at this time, especially since they had just ended an unsuccessful coup and the Shadow Knights were massacring people in the city.

Even if one were truly oblivious to what was happening outside, the pile of corpses and the still-uncleaned bloodstains on the floor upon entering were enough to demonstrate the severity of the situation. These attendants were suspected of revealing the emperor's whereabouts and were executed, while the corpses and blood were meant to give their awe-inspiring trio a warning.

Freya Storell VI finally smiled. "Perhaps I've been too focused on your two incompetent and useless brothers and haven't really taken a good look at you."

While sheer boldness isn't a decisive advantage, after witnessing the antics of his two sons, the feeling of finally discovering a virtue in his offspring is entirely different.

— No matter how many good qualities a perfect prince has, people will just take it for granted. But when one of these three good-for-nothings finally has a shining point, the impact is much greater.

"Um, Father... what... what's going on?" Princess Freya looked at her eldest brother, who was tied to a chair, with some incomprehension. Even though she had been taught various etiquettes since childhood, she almost couldn't keep her expression in check—after all, her eldest brother had been dragged out of his bed and surrounded by women and sent here, so he was only wearing a pair of underwear.

With his white, fleshy body exposed and a tuft of chest hair, and especially with a boiled apple stuffed in his mouth, the large-bodied prince really did look like... a pig about to be roasted.

"Oh, he's been practicing being captured by the enemy lately," the emperor said nonchalantly. "Now that everyone's here, let's begin."

"What about another one?"

"Isn't that idiot right here?" The old emperor pointed to the largest covered plate on the table, which terrified the eldest prince, causing him to struggle violently with disbelief in his eyes, as if he were looking at a complete madman.

"Then I won't open it," Princess Freya wisely decided not to open it, which relieved the old emperor. It seemed that a vase was still just a vase, but compared to a pure vase, at least she had some self-awareness and knew that what was inside would be unacceptable to her, so she chose not to open it.

However, the fact that they could still have a normal conversation at a time like this... He didn't know if this girl was really brave or if she had some kind of emotional problem. You know, the boss next to him was so scared that he almost peed his pants. Oh, he already peed his pants.

"Watch closely, learn carefully, see what a coup looks like." The emperor pointed to the Upper City outside the window, which was almost shrouded in smoke from burning flames. The entire noble mansion in the Upper City was covered in flames, and cries of agony shook the heavens.

The Shadow Knights' guards dragged the richly dressed men out of their homes and killed them on the spot. Blood flowed like a river at the church entrance. In another setting, the nobles and the church would surely have united to fight back.

However, things are different now. On the one hand, the incident happened suddenly, and they had not coordinated their armies properly. On the other hand, the emperor's two knightly orders quickly took control of the capital and began to purge and slaughter people one by one in the name of regicide. Except for a very few who acted quickly and escaped, they were basically caught red-handed.

"Next time, remember to kill all the opponents and threats the moment you launch a coup. That way, even if you fail, I will have no other choice but to put your son on the throne. Do you understand?" The emperor spoke in a friendly tone, as if he were explaining a homework assignment.

"Furthermore, when you are in control of the army, do not expect the army to support you voluntarily. Remember to kill any generals who do not support you, and especially make those officers who support you incite all the soldiers to take action. In this way, they will also be guilty of treason with you and will have no way to jump ship halfway."

After all, there's only one path to take. If you win, it can't be called a rebellion or usurpation; it can only be called a rebellion of the emperor. Not only will you not die, but you'll also become very rich. As for losing? Surrendering or losing will only mean your whole family will be buried with you. Even if you switch sides quickly, at most you'll just avoid being purged.

"Also, don't fantasize about controlling the entire city or the emperor himself at once. Focus on the palace, because the person sitting inside the Giant Rock Palace is the emperor, and those outside are just a stand-in, understand?" The old emperor was speaking from experience.

"Furthermore, after taking control of the palace, you should imprison or tie up the key officials who control the major affairs of the empire, and issue proclamations in their names that everything is normal. You don't need the people in the capital to believe it; you only need the provincial governors and border counts to believe it. It doesn't matter if they don't believe it, as long as they don't immediately conclude that you are rebelling."

"That way you'll have time to find every illegitimate child and every son of that old man and arrange things properly for them. By the time those nobles find out, you'll already be the de facto emperor. As long as you don't do anything to harm their interests, they'll support you instead of supporting a bunch of dead men. No matter how many people you kill, they'll all eventually 'die of illness,' understand?" The emperor gently adjusted the apple in his son's mouth. "I think you probably don't understand, but if I explain it to you step by step, do you understand? The process of a coup."

"Look at you! You haven't even taken this position yet and you're already talking about what policies you're going to implement. You've already positioned everyone in your own way. How are you going to get anyone's support? And you can't even control your subordinates. You've made a complete mess of the whole process. And your stupid brother, he actually believed that the Chief Justice and the others were really on his side. They're just observing. Not expressing their opinion is a form of expression, but not expressing an opinion is not expressing an opinion. Do you understand?"

This means that not expressing an opinion is a form of neutrality. However, conversely, being neutral means not expressing one's specific choices and positions, which could lead to a sudden change of heart or even inaction at crucial moments, causing your entire plan to fail.

"Um, can we force them to take a stand?" Princess Freya asked, somewhat bewildered. "I don't quite understand what you're talking about, but if someone is unwilling to pledge allegiance, is there some way to force them to take a stand?"

"Oh!?" The emperor turned around, staring at his daughter's face. "What methods do you plan to use to force them to take a stand?"

"How about using their families?"

"Hmm!?" The emperor smacked his lips. "How do you plan to use their families to pressure them?"

"Um, should we let their family members persuade them?"

"Hmm..." This woman actually looks like an emperor, and she uses the threat of family members to threaten people with ease.

"Yes, that's certainly possible. How do you plan to persuade their families?"

"Um, how about we have a tea party?"

"..." Okay, she must have misread it. She thought it was a gathering of ladies? Holding a tea party so her salon friends could go back and whisper sweet nothings in her ear? But honestly, for a princess, this was indeed the maximum she could think of and do. She couldn't be too critical.

"I suggest you hold a tea party, call their families over, and then detain them. Even if they don't express their opinion, it's as if they've already expressed it." The emperor pointed out his daughter's naiveté: "Your wife and children are my supporters, and you say you aren't?"