Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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Just leave like that?

Also, why did Her Majesty the Queen throw that punch?

I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all.

"I should go too," Stefan said, brandishing his walking stick and disappearing from the spot.

Now, everyone was left looking at each other, completely bewildered. Even Elena, Alice, and the others were staring at Ronan and Dinia with puzzled expressions, wanting to know what had happened.

“Don’t look at me, there’s a huge mess to clean up,” Ronan said, then began assigning tasks, “The guards stay here, and while you’re at it, get someone to come and refill the square with earth, then level it.”

"Your Majesty, and gentlemen, it is necessary to convene an emergency imperial meeting now."

"Members of the Mage Corps, please assist the Security Bureau in arresting those who bombarded the Royal Palace, and also in restoring order to the capital."

"Minister Dinia, the Ministry of the Interior needs to take action, especially in the town of Ates."

After saying that, Ronan pulled Ambrina along, called the Prime Minister, and headed towards the area where the royal council meeting was being held.

Dinia gestured for Elena, Alice, Isabelle, and Ashley to leave.

The royal guards and the mage corps, having received their missions, also began their operations.

Fifteen minutes later, in the Imperial Conference Room.

Although it was called a royal meeting, the scene was actually similar to a ministerial conference, because apart from the Minister of Security and the Minister of Civil Affairs who were on duty to maintain stability, almost all the ministers were present.

Ronan then fabricated a version of the story, which excluded Rabelais, one of the three giants, and told everyone that Ussel was merely "uneducated" and "failed to look after the White Tower."

As for the others, they are all complete traitors. Whether they were directly involved or were later found to be implicated, every single one of them must die.

Ambrina, in a fit of righteous indignation, punched Ussel. Ussel, with his high moral standards, felt guilty and willingly accepted the punch before leaving.

Is that really true? No one would ask such a stupid question.

Ussel must be subjectively innocent, Queen Ambrina's punch must be out of righteous indignation, she must be a saintly king, great, bright and righteous, that's all that matters, Principal Stefan must be a staunch patriot, without any selfish motives, and as for Ronan and Dinia, who saved the country and millions of people, they must be the role models for all officials and magicians.

In short, it must.

The tone must match the facts.

If you don't even understand this, you shouldn't be an official.

Clap clap clap, applause rang out, proving that everyone understood.

Chapter 409 The Stability Maintenance Masters Are All Rats; He Actually Died

Within two days, the situation stabilized.

The officials in the capital may not be good at much else, but they are quite adept at maintaining stability. After all, the capital is a place teeming with troublemakers, a bunch of old Parisian white flags, and a large group of "stinky outsiders" magicians. It's not news if they cause you any trouble; it's news if they don't.

Officials have long since developed a set of practical operating procedures.

Moreover, this incident, while seemingly significant (after all, the royal palace was hit by a cannonball), was also relatively minor (because the palace was only hit by one cannonball, a large crater was created in the middle of the square, and apart from that, a large number of poor people's homes were crushed, and a street leading from the east gate of the capital towards the capital was destroyed).

More than a hundred poor people died, but it was just a matter of giving them a few coins to get rid of them.

Even if some individuals are determined to cause trouble, we can just suppress them.

Muskets are used to target troublemakers.

In fact, no citizens who received special compensation caused trouble; in fact, many citizens even praised Queen Ambrina, which is quite unusual.

The reason lies in a rapidly spreading and fermenting message: Queen Ambrina struck Ussel, the Lord of the White Tower. The Lord of the White Tower was innocent, and his status in the kingdom's magical world could be said to be supreme, but Ambrina still struck him, all for the sake of the innocent citizens whose families were destroyed and whose lives were taken because of the White Tower.

Afterwards, Ussel, the lord of the White Tower, was forced to hand over 10,000 gold coins as compensation to start the reconstruction project.

What a benevolent and loving queen she is!

On the other hand, the nobles, priests, wealthy merchants, and idle magicians—those who were truly capable of causing trouble—did not suffer any losses.

If these people suffer losses, it's not a problem that can be solved simply by spending money.

They were also discussing Ambrina punching Ursel, but unlike the lower-class citizens who were moved, they were filled with fear. Ambrina dared to hit Ursel, a seventh-level mage, so who wouldn't she dare to hit?

It's best to stay quiet for now, and especially avoid speaking out about the treason case, lest you face a fatal consequence.

Let's return to this incident.

The person who set off the firecrackers was arrested, along with a whole bunch of other people.

The matter has been basically clarified, but overall it's a bit complicated.

The masterminds were three people: Ursel's son Heath, Ambrina's great-uncle Lori, and a magician named Rector.

The whole plan was to bombard the palace, then have the White Tower crash into it, colliding with another section of the White Tower beneath the square, triggering a massive magical explosion. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they would storm the palace, kill Ambrina, and then Ambrina's great-uncle Lori would ascend the throne and become king.

Next, the parliament was expanded to include the states, and then a congress was established, which was led by magicians.

Ambrina's great-uncle Lori is dead; he died in the town of Ates.

Heath, the man who proposed the entire parliamentary plan, is currently missing.

The magician Rector has been captured and is currently at the "education center".

According to this guy's confession, he had tried to join the Ministry of Magic many times, but the Ministry insisted that he pass an exam, which he just couldn't pass.

So he joined this cause that could bring fairness to magicians, and incidentally, vent his anger and prove himself.

The truth is not the problem; the problem is how the case is classified.

Ronan meant that this matter should be treated as a major treason case, which the Prime Minister was unwilling to accept, and other officials were even more unwilling to accept.

The reason is simple: in cases of treason, it's better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

All the officials knew that if it was treated as treason, Ronan would probably use this as an excuse to start a frenzy of "recruiting" students, and a large number of people would enter that so-called education center.

Not long ago, that bastard Ronan released a group of people who had been "educated," so everyone knows what this so-called "education" is all about.

There's nothing the officials aren't afraid of.

Alexander also objected, saying that Ronan's approach was like treating officials like pigs to be slaughtered, which was extremely detrimental to political stability. If officials were all sent to education, who would govern the country?

It was still the same little tavern at night.

“Alexander, once John is captured, Tom will naturally take his place. Why worry about not having officials? Isn’t that the advantage of the civil service system? There is never a shortage of reserve forces, unlike in the feudal era, where getting rid of a nobleman was a troublesome matter of who to replace him with.”

Ronan didn't think sending a few more ministers in was a big deal at all.

“Ronan,” Alexander said in a very serious voice, “I admit that some officials have been removed from their posts, and their deputies or subordinates are perfectly capable of taking their place. But you’ve taken down a large number of them all at once on charges of treason. Are the replacements competent?”

Ronan smiled. "In the far east, in Seres, many, many years ago, there was a prime minister who, when he was young, saw rats in the barn and rats in the toilet. They were all rats, but very different. He said that the difference in people's talents is nothing more than that, you know? These officials, even ministers, have no talent whatsoever. They just perform better on the platform of the system. They are no different from some local young officials. They are all rats, and so are you and me."

Ronan adapted the story of Li Si.

"I cannot agree with that."

Alexander remained opposed.

Ronan also said frankly, "Actually, I'm helpless. None of the current ministers, including the two or three who supported my father-in-law, the late king, support my wife. This time, with such a big incident, not only do they not take the initiative to take the blame or shirk responsibility, but they all just stay there and pretend to be dead."

"If they're going to play dead, then they really will die."

Ronan's words got a bit harsh towards the end.

“You’re starting to look more and more like a vice-king,” Alexander said sarcastically.

Ronan followed up with a joke, "You're a veteran bureaucrat, you should know that this title has a 'deputy' part, um, it's just..."

Alexander took a big gulp of wine. "Enough. If you just wanted to fire a few people, would you have made them all play dead? But this time you don't want to fire a few people at all. You want to use the pretext of handling the treason case to dismantle the Ministry of Finance and expand the Ministry of the Interior. Who dares to answer to you? Anyone who supports you on this matter will be going to heaven the day they retire."

As a seasoned politician, Alexander understood that Ronan wasn't trying to harm anyone, but rather to target the central government, separating taxation from the Ministry of Finance and expanding the power of the Ministry of the Interior.

The Ministry of Finance, this monstrous deformity, is a tool used by the entire bureaucratic group to make, cut, and distribute the cake.

Bruno, the minister, could be executed a thousand times over, and it wouldn't matter if several other ministers were dismissed as well, but the Ministry of Finance cannot be dismantled, and the Ministry of the Interior's authority cannot be expanded. This is the thinking of many officials.

Normally, officials would definitely jump out to oppose it, but at this point in time, no one dares to do so, so they have to play dead.

“It’s okay if they don’t agree. Just transfer them to the education center and bring in someone else. They’ll eventually agree,” Ronan said. “After all, there are too many men who want to be my wife’s dog.”

"I'll go check out."

Alexander immediately got up and left his seat.

Ronan didn't say anything more, left the tavern, and headed straight for the Ministry of the Interior.

There is another particularly troublesome and important matter to deal with at the Ministry of the Interior.

This matter involves Rabelais, who is now dead.

He died, but someone connected to him lives on, lives on in a very special way.

Chapter 410 Rehabilitation Center, One of a Kind, Wolf Exterminates the Bookkeeper

Late at night, at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Centre next to the Moulin Rouge Education Centre, not far from the Royal Palace.

The Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center is located on a small hill in the royal capital, Paristo, where one can overlook the city lights shining between the buildings in the distance, like stars scattered across the ground at night.

The view from afar is beautiful and vibrant.

But it's not like that up close.

Inside the rehabilitation center, Golan led the way with an oil lamp. In the dark corridor, a dim, swaying light emanated from the lamp, and the constant clattering of two footsteps created an eerie silence.

It all started two days ago.

At that time, the matter at the royal palace was temporarily put to rest, and Dinia led the people from the Ministry of the Interior to the town of Ates.

The original objectives were twofold. First, to arrest the rebels. In those days, information didn't spread that fast, so the rebels wouldn't receive news of the failure immediately. At least a few could be arrested. Second, to completely erase all traces of Rabelais, one of the three leaders, from the rebellion. There was no other way; the involvement of one of the three leaders in a rebellion had a terrible social impact, and too many people couldn't know about it.

The operation went unexpectedly smoothly, and many of Ambrina's uncle Lori's gang members were arrested.

But two unexpected discoveries were made.

The first unexpected discovery was the body of Ambrina's Nadaborough.

It was precisely because Lori suddenly disappeared at a crucial moment that his men panicked. Several important figures came to look for him, but just as they discovered Lori's body and decided to split up and run away, they were surrounded by Dinia and his men.

These people immediately named the people connected to Heath.

Following that, the leaders of several small magician organizations connected to Hiss were also arrested.

The traitor was gone just like that.

But during this process, in a house, Dinia discovered Rabelais's body and an unconscious girl.

Rabelais's body and the girl were brought back.

Going back to reality.

Ronan arrived at the room where the girl was being housed. Golan put down the oil lamp, handed Ronan a document, and then left.

Although Grandine is usually even more unreliable and mischievous than Elena, and has become good friends with Ashley, who is by Isabelle's side—to use Ronan's Seris idiom, they are birds of a feather—she, like Ashley, does have a talent for doing covert work. Without being reminded, she is very self-aware as a subordinate and never pays attention to things that her superiors don't want her to do.

Ronan opened the almost completely sealed room and went in carrying an oil lamp; Dinya was also inside.

There are now three people in the room.

“Rabelais’s magic was transplanted into her, but only a part of it: her eyes of ice and fire, and her extraordinary self-healing ability,” Dinia told Ronan.

She still finds it hard to believe. After all, magic is bound to the soul, not a prop or an organ. Transplanting magic is simply too incredible. But the facts are right in front of her. Extraordinary healing power is rare, but not unique. But those eyes are unique.

"Hello, Mr. Artes," the blindfolded girl greeted Ronan calmly.

"Do you know me?" Ronan asked.

The blindfolded girl replied, “The Queen’s husband, I should know him. Uh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Camille Rabelais.”

Ronan looked at the information about Camille that Grand had given him. It showed that Camille had no connection to this incident, and her kinship with Rabelais had only been confirmed recently.

Like Stefan, Rabelais was unknown in his youth, and arguably even less so than Stefan. By the time Stefan was thirty, he was already close to the third rank of the second order and was of noble birth. Rabelais, on the other hand, was only a first-rank commoner at the age of thirty. At that time, he was simply tough enough to withstand blows, and he wasn't born in the war-torn era when Lawrence rebuilt the country. With that level of skill, he couldn't possibly make a name for himself in the capital and could only run errands for the church without any official position.

Until one day, his wife was murdered and his son disappeared. After that, Rabelais left the capital and traveled around the continent. It is said that during this time he went around looking for people to challenge. Some people say that he was beginning to hone himself, while others say that he just wanted to commit suicide.

More than a decade later, he became famous in one battle, fighting two fourth-tier mages with the strength of a third-tier mage, one of whom died and the other fled.

After that, Rabelais's strength continued to rise, and his fame grew.

More than ten years later, when he reached the fifth rank, he returned to the Kingdom of Fas. He did not build up any power, nor did he accept any invitation from any organization to take up any position. He remained a lone wolf.

However, after returning to the kingdom, he began to offer a reward for information about his son's whereabouts.

But after many years of fruitless efforts, he lost all hope.

Two years ago, by chance, he found Camille, his great-granddaughter. At that time, Camille had fallen ill, her eyesight had deteriorated significantly, and she was weak and unable to move.

Ronan asked Camille, "Are you involved in this?"