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The Bureau of Commerce and Industry Security, led by Ronan, did nothing except to have a group of people from the Territory Management Department receive salaries.
The supervisory bureau was even more bizarre. Director Cheney cobbled together a leadership team from various sources, but there wasn't a single person actually doing the actual work.
The National Security Bureau doesn't even have all its key officials.
That day, Alice and Agustina underwent a skeleton transplant together. Afterwards, Agustina went to spar with Elena, while Alice went home alone.
Afterwards, Elena went to visit her uncle as arranged, while Agustina went to her father's house.
She lost both her parents at a young age and was raised by her family members in turns. After settling down in the capital, Elena brought her family members to the capital and found them shops to do small business.
"Uncle, why is the restaurant closed?" Elena asked as soon as she entered the room and hung up her coat.
“The restaurant wasn’t making much money, so we sold it,” Elena’s uncle replied.
Elena didn't believe it. The restaurant was located near the factory area, with a lot of foot traffic. Although the workers either ate at the factory or brought their own food and were unwilling to spend money, many vendors who came here to do business were happy to have a slice of pizza or a plate of meat sauce noodles to make do with a meal. It was cheap and saved time. With so many customers, it was impossible for them not to make money.
Although she didn't believe it, Elena didn't want to dwell on the issue. "If you don't open a restaurant, what will your family do?"
Elena's uncle laughed. "Your little cousin met a good man and is now a police officer in the police force. As for me, I help count tickets at the theater. The income is not bad. Your aunt helps other people take care of their children."
"The police force is recruiting in the first half of the year, right? And will he even pass the exam?" Elena questioned. "Also, didn't I say that doing some small business would be fine?"
“Well, we’ve made some connections now,” Elena’s uncle said, giving her a look that said, “How can you not understand this?” “Besides, what’s the point of doing business? I’m planning to talk to your other uncles and aunts about making arrangements for their children.”
Ha, they've even started making arrangements for people.
Elena didn't say anything more, and a little while later, her little cousin came back.
Her uncle has three children, but the other two are already married and doing well in Venaya, so they haven't come to the capital.
"Elena, how's your Ministry of the Interior doing lately?" My little cousin asked casually.
They didn't even greet me; they just came up and asked this.
"Not very good," Elena replied dismissively.
My cousin looked at me with disbelief. "No way, Mr. Ronan must have some plans, right? You must know, tell me."
Do you still need to ask?
Elena already had a conclusion in mind, but she didn't refuse to answer. Instead, she pointed to the coat hanging on the other side of the clothes rack and said, "Please take my coat down."
The younger cousin was annoyed. Did they think he was a servant? That was what he thought, but he still turned around and fetched Elena's coat with a fawning expression.
As soon as he turned around, Elena kicked him to the ground, stepped on her cousin's waist, and pressed the tips of two swords against the back of his neck. "Who got you into the police force? Tell me."
Her aunt and uncle rushed over, but Elena pushed them aside and plunged her sword into her cousin's back. Blood gushed out, and her cousin screamed in pain, "It's a police officer, his name is..."
“I don’t want to know his name. Get up and take me to him,” Elena said. “I want to reason with him.”
Meanwhile, on the other side, Agustina was at her father's house.
Besides her father, there were a few other guests: her aunt who used to treat her like a servant, her cousin and cousin-in-law who had dragged her to the test but hadn't been selected, a talkative middle-aged woman, and a man in his thirties, a nobleman, a second-tier magician working in the Ministry of Magic, who was fairly handsome, but still far less so than Ronan.
After dinner, once the guests had left, Agustina's father called her aside and asked, "What do you think of him?"
“Not very good,” Agustina replied bluntly.
“My good daughter, it’s time for you to get married,” Agustina’s father said.
Agustina shrugged. "I'm a lesbian, didn't you know?"
"Stop talking nonsense. You're clearly Ronan's lover," Agustina's father said angrily.
Agustina chuckled softly, "You know that, yet you still bring it up?"
"Sigh, if only your brother hadn't died," Agustina's father suddenly sighed.
"Here we go again. Sigh, fine. I'll try to find a way to get you a grandson. Once he's born, we'll say he's my brother's son and he'll use our family name, okay?" Agustina said with a troubled expression. She knew very well that her father didn't actually ask anything of her; he was just too lonely.
Hearing that his daughter had promised to give him a grandson, and even one with their family name, he immediately smiled. "By the way, what's the situation in your department? I heard there's nobody there."
Agustina's one eye froze for a moment, but then her face softened into a gentle smile. "Who told you that?"
“People who drink and play cards together,” Agustina’s father replied casually.
"Oh, then I'll be going now." Agustina said goodbye.
She acted as if nothing was wrong, but in her mind she was already thinking about where to start burning her father's friend. She didn't intend to kill him; she just wanted to burn his limbs and let him die in the muddy, filthy market, screaming in agony.
the other side.
Alice, who had just arrived home, opened her sister's letter.
"Dear sister, how are you? I'm fine."
"At this moment when I'm about to graduate, a kind older sister wanted to introduce me to a job, but I refused. Obviously, your rival is really not good enough, resorting to such despicable means. I've already sent her to heaven. But to let something like this happen, you and Golden Retriever are really too incompetent. Brother Ronan still needs me."
"Respectfully yours, your most hated younger sister."
After reading the new moment, Alice slammed the letter on the table and muttered, "Idiot."
Alice immediately got up, skipped her meal, and headed straight for the princess's residence.
Ambrina, who was enjoying the new dishes with Ronan, saw Alice rushing over and immediately put down her knife and fork. "What's wrong, Alice?"
"No rush, let's eat and talk." Ronan gestured for Alice to sit down.
Alice sat down and began to tell her story.
Chapter 366 Suicide, a small business, calm down.
The next day, two more corpses appeared in the peaceful capital.
Soon, the news spread throughout the streets and alleys. The two deceased, whether it was the police captain or the owner of many taverns, were "important figures" that the citizens occasionally saw in their daily lives. If it were a high-ranking official or a nobleman who had died, the citizens might not have been so eager to discuss it, since it had nothing to do with them. But it was these two people who had died, so it was different.
The following day, the newly released Paris Weekly featured two headlines on its front page: "Police Captain Suicided After Being Struck by Eight Swords in Back" and "Tavern Owner's Spontaneous Combustion at Caishikou Was a Pure Accident."
Nobody believed these two reports, of course, but the citizens couldn't really come up with any conspiracy theories either.
That night, at the usual pub, Ronan sat opposite Prime Minister Alexander.
Alexander took a big gulp of wine. "I really didn't expect there to be such fools. I wish they were like your two lovers."
Ronan took a bite of the shrimp pie, which was about the size of a small round cookie, and asked, "Prime Minister, I'm curious, who was behind this?"
“I don’t know, I can’t even be sure if they’re from my lineage,” Alexander said.
“That’s normal, your faction, ha.” Ronan couldn’t help but laugh when Prime Minister Alexander’s faction was mentioned.
Well, this prime minister is an honest and upright person, leaning towards conservatism, who wants to carry out moderate reforms. Few of the so-called prime minister's faction got their high positions because of him; they can only be called allies, not cronies.
Ultimately, it's not difficult for corrupt officials to control honest officials, but it's difficult for honest officials to control corrupt officials.
Seeing Alexander fall silent, Ronan pressed on, "Are you going to find the person yourself, or am I going to use this opportunity to give the Ministry of the Interior something to do?"
“Investigate? Impossible. You know perfectly well enough that any investigation would uncover a whole host of problems,” Alexander said. “Just consider it doing me a favor, okay?”
“Sure, but I also hope you can do me a favor.” Ronan agreed and set his conditions.
Alexander gestured for him to speak. "Speak."
“When I saw His Majesty a few days ago, he could barely see people. Now he is probably completely unable to govern. It is likely that Anri will preside over the next ministerial meeting.” Ronan laid the groundwork first. “At that time, please stand up and propose to abolish the Royal United Chamber of Commerce.”
The Council of Ministers is like the court assembly of Seris, with ministers and important officials from various departments all in attendance, though it is mostly just a ceremonial formality.
What Ronan asked the prime minister to do was roughly equivalent to having the prime minister lead the way in embarrassing the regent crown prince when Emperor Seris was seriously ill and unable to attend court.
It's a life-threatening job.
The bargaining chips of the two parties were not equal. Alexander took a bite of a square potato crisp the size of a child's palm. "First, tell me your real purpose. Second, I want to participate in the formulation of the Ministry of the Interior's regulations."
"My real purpose is very simple: I want to add a new Property Law to establish the principles of free and fair transactions and promise to protect private property, so as to promote the development of industry and commerce."
"As for the regulations of the Ministry of the Interior, you are the Prime Minister, and I am a subordinate of your subordinate. If you want to participate, how can I object?"
Ronan laughed as he spoke.
Alexander remained expressionless, and Ronan could only lament the Prime Minister's lack of humor.
"Deal?" Ronan asked.
“Deal,” Alexander replied.
The transaction was complete, and the two did not speak again. They poured themselves drinks and focused on enjoying the inexpensive food and drinks in the tavern.
After finishing a bottle of wine and the small dishes on the table, Ronan paid the bill, and the two left one after the other.
Ronan did not head towards the princess's residence. He had received Ambrina's permission before leaving home that he did not need to go home that night.
At this point, Ronan was preparing to go find Dinia for a second round of drinks.
He didn't expect that Dinia would appear in front of him before he had taken more than a few steps.
Dinia sighed insincerely, "Alas, who would have thought that the leaders of the two factions were actually the biggest moles within each other?"
Ronan was a little embarrassed. "Didi, let me correct your mistake a little. You are the head of our faction."
“I hope so,” Dinia said.
“That’s the only way,” Ronan replied, casually grabbing Dinya’s buttocks. He had to admit, even through the wool skirt, the feel of those shapely buttocks was still amazing.
Dinia stepped on Ronan's foot. "This is the street, watch your hands."
"Isn't there nobody here?" Ronan said, looking completely aggrieved.
Dinia elbowed Ronan in the chest, almost choking him. "What did you talk about with the Prime Minister?"
“It’s nothing, it’s just…” Ronan told Dinia the whole story.
Dinia then asked, "Does Ambrina know?"
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow,” Ronan replied.
Dinia nodded secretly, paused for a moment, and then said, "We can't let those merchants run rampant. Our country is different from Wieland. Wieland only has four million people, while we have twenty million. Even if the situation is under control, many people will inevitably lose their homes. If it gets out of control, many people may die, and the impact will be incomparable to that of that island nation."
Today, Diniya has grown into an official with principles. She won't dwell on the plight of a small number of people whose homes have been ruined, but she won't accept the plight of a large number of people who have been driven to the brink of despair.
"Don't worry, you were involved throughout the entire process, and you reviewed every single one of them," Ronan assured him.
Speaking of this, Dinya was so angry she wanted to hit someone. "What's the use? Over the years, every time you lied to me, wasn't it with my own approval?"
Ronan felt wronged, and he wasn't faking it. "You may not believe in my character, but you have to believe in my stance, Didi. I am a bureaucrat and also Ambrina's husband. My stance is on the side of the civil service and the autocratic rulers. Would I allow capitalists to truly gain power?"
A hint of anger flashed across Dinia's face. "Why are you getting so worked up? When have I ever stopped believing you?"
Ronan stopped Dinia with one hand and stroked her breasts up and down with the other, eventually grabbing them. "Calm down, calm down."
"Heh, so you want me to calm down by grabbing my breasts, huh?" Dinia reached out and pinched Ronan's cheek. "How can you be so shameless?"
Ronan withdrew his hand. "Alright, let's get down to business. What brings you here?"
Dinia gently took Ronan's hand. "Although you wrote 'Communitarianism' to create a persona for me, I agree with it. Community values are superior to the individual, group interests are superior to the individual, and the state should not let the private sphere run rampant. I don't want to wait until problems arise before implementing these principles, do you understand?"
Ronan smiled. "Of course, the Ministry of the Interior doesn't exist for the sake of freedom, does it?"
"Hmm." Dinia responded with a satisfied "Mmm."
"Alright, that's enough business." Ronan looked at the two-story villa in Dinia not far ahead. "Dinia, it's time for a long night to begin."
Dinia didn't respond, but couldn't help squeezing her legs together slightly.
Chapter 367 Late Night Kitchen, Flavors of Life, Parting Advice
My name is Archirif, I am a Rus', a mage, and also a cook.
Another day has ended, and at a time when even drunkards have been dragged home, my shop has just opened.
That's the menu, but I'll try my best to make anything that's not on the menu.
The shop is open from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., and its name is "Night Owl Mage's Shop", but people prefer to call it Midnight Kitchen.
You asked if any guests have come? We've had quite a few guests.
Why? Because this is Palistor, the largest city on the Western Continent. There will always be some people who have just finished doing something at this time, and there will always be some people who are preparing to do something at this time.
There were three people in the shop: me, Laura, and Laura's daughter, Melissa, who had aphasia.
When the guests arrived, I took two big puffs of my cigarette and then put it out. I like this kind of cigarette that you can smoke by just putting on a metal mouthpiece; it's called Ronan cigarette, except for the price.
He was a regular customer, and I never asked customers by name, so he was called Scarface.
"One chicken burrito and two glasses of ale."
Somewhat surprisingly, he usually only drinks one glass.
"Ok."
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