The Empror's Trap

Chapter 90: Ch 90 - To The Holy Country II

The reason Kenji said this was partly because he genuinely believed that establishing an independent department would be better for handling this, and partly because...

The emperor didn’t seem particularly eager to hand over educational authority to him.

Understandable, considering that Kenji’s influence was already quite extensive. Military affairs, politics, food security, and more were all under his purview, and recently he had even been involved in imperial family matters (although temporarily, just to eliminate Yunis). Even now, the actual Director of family Affairs was still very angry with him.

If she were to let him freely control education as well, he would have to seriously question whether she as the emperor was thinking clearly.

Evidently, Pluvia understood this point, so she very decisively chose to entrust educational authority to others. From Kenji’s perspective, this wasn’t a bad thing either.

If possible, he didn’t want to be overwhelmed with responsibilities every day. He could completely let the Chancellor handle educational matters. But to say he would let them handle it completely independently was also impossible.

"I won’t directly participate, but I can recommend a few people, right? You should at least give me that courtesy."

Uncle Cui’s son would be quite suitable—wasn’t his name Alan? Although Uncle Cui had once been instructed by Pluvia to monitor him, that was merely unavoidable. Now Uncle Cui had returned to his hometown, and his son had been recommended to the central government. Reportedly, he had been doing well lately.

He would place him in charge. This child was quite sensible (although this child was actually older than him), and being familiar made communication easier. After the previous incident, Uncle Cui should be more loyal to him, and the situation of having his son monitor him at someone else’s request shouldn’t occur again.

Moreover, in the emperor’s eyes, Alan, as the son of Duke Anos’s manor spy, certainly had some value in being won over. After all, when Kenji recommended him to the central government, the spy hadn’t yet been exposed. Now that he had been exposed, the relationship between the two might not be good.

If someone recommended this person, Pluvia would most likely agree.

However, it couldn’t be Kenji himself making the recommendation, or Pluvia would certainly be suspicious.

Why not have the esteemed Remonstrance Officer make the recommendation? It would arouse less suspicion. The Remonstrance Officer was technically one of Kenji’s faction members, but his political leanings weren’t very obvious in court. Besides, Alan had indeed achieved some results in the central government, so it could be considered a worthy recommendation.

Of course, they couldn’t let Alan immediately become the head of the Education Department. He would still need to learn from the Chancellor and Kenji for a period, and once he was ready, they could consider handing the department over to him.

He couldn’t hand over everything completely. He needed to arrange for some senior officials, partly to temper his personality, and partly to reassure Pluvia with the presence of veteran ministers.

As for his own side, he would occasionally remind the man not to forget where his loyalties should lie.

Kenji was calculating his own small schemes, but this proposal was overall quite reliable. Regarding this, Pluvia indicated that it was acceptable, nodding: "Very well. At first, you and the Chancellor will be responsible for this matter. Once it stabilizes, we can establish a separate department, which will make management more convenient in the future."

"Your Majesty is wise."

Kenji said with a smile.

Meanwhile, in the Holy Country, people were crowding around His Holiness the Pope as he entered the grand cathedral. The current Pope was nearly ninety years old and quite frail, yet his face still revealed the elderly man’s vibrant spirit.

He warmly received each political official from the church countries, while also discussing recent international situations with these officials, and expressing sympathy for the people of many countries experiencing warfare.

To be honest, by elderly standards, the Pope’s physical condition was remarkably good. His mind remained sharp, and when facing different political figures, he always maintained control of the conversation, often actively raising topics through questions—something many found difficult to imagine.

Now, this elderly man was smiling as he listened to several small countries’ leaders complaining about recent trade route blockages, while glancing at the political figures seated below the pulpit.

Soon, the pulpit was prepared.

The Pope ascended the pulpit and began to preach the gospel of the Holy Lord.

Among the crowd below the pulpit were two peculiar guests.

One was a young woman wearing an elegant sky-blue dress and an adorable white straw hat. Her arms, like white jade, were exposed, and her soft body curves were in full bloom. Her eyes quietly watched the figure of the Pope preaching.

The man beside her appeared much more low-key. He was tall, wearing a well-fitted black formal attire, sitting nearby. His identity as the girl’s attendant or similar role was apparent, as his body often unconsciously leaned toward her.

"Your Majesty, you might be easily discovered this way."

Kenji said in a low voice.

"Discovered? It doesn’t matter if I’m discovered. That Pope is no fool. Besides, even if I did come to his territory, what of it? He would only hope, as always, that their Holy Lord forgives me, this ’heretic.’ Though I don’t need any forgiveness."

As she spoke, Pluvia gently touched the hat on her head.

It was a very cute straw hat that she had just found while walking on the street. In this place, the decorative value of straw hats far exceeded their practical value, so each hat was made with exquisite craftsmanship. Wearing this hat added a liveliness to her that was absent in her daily demeanor.

Actually, the Holy Country was not originally part of their travel itinerary. The main purpose of Pluvia and Kenji’s visit was the Western Empire; there was no need to visit the Holy Country.

According to the original plan, their convoy was to travel through the buffer plains between the western mountains and then detour southward.

But this route brushed the edge of the Holy Country.

Since they were already here, under the pretext of observing local conditions (although these conditions weren’t Camelot’s concern at all), Pluvia, after careful consideration, finally decided to set foot on this land that was said to be blessed by the gods.

Of course, the two weren’t visiting officially this time, but rather as noble believers from an eastern island country.

To facilitate the privacy of their visits, successive emperors of Camelot had specialists create false identities for them—these identities, though indeed fake, would stand up to scrutiny if one were to investigate thoroughly.