After hearing those words, the old nobles in the room couldn’t help but nod one after another, their faces showing a helpless expression.
The Duke of Lionheart’s ennoblement ceremony was naturally one not to be missed. Most of the old nobles present had been there at the scene back then, witnessing firsthand how the “Three Elders of Lane” fell, and they were well aware of the current state of the Lane Family.
According to the rules among the old nobility, to depose the current Duke of Lionheart and replace him with a new duke required someone of sufficient standing from the “Lane clan” to step forward as the leader, followed by the “affinal relatives” who could then act accordingly.
Although it seemed somewhat rigid—having to find a scapegoat before taking action when things were urgent—this was indeed one of the “unspoken rules” that the old nobility must strictly adhere to.
After all, within the old nobility group, there were plenty of conflicts among each other, and even some century-old grudges. If the unspoken rules were completely disregarded and anyone could just act on impulse, it was likely that long before the princess made her move, the entire old nobility would collapse due to internal strife.
“Enough of this nonsense already!”
Looking at the newspapers on the table with alarming headlines, a younger noble stood up, his expression slightly agitated as he proposed: “Even if no one from the Lane family can take the lead, we can’t let things continue like this. Everyone knows what the princess wants. If she really succeeds, we won’t even have the qualifications to be vassals of the royal family; we’ll only be strangled by her little by little! No matter what happens later, we must find a way now to get rid of this rotten duke! At the very least, we can’t let him drag the resources and position of the Lane family towards the princess, or it will be too late!”
“I agree.”
Another young noble from the “vigorous faction” stood up, fully agreeing:
“Compared to those outdated rules, stopping the princess is more important right now. In terms of support, we can’t match the royal family, and in terms of wealth, we can’t compete with the merchant associations of the lower house. If we don’t act soon, it will be too late.”
“Agreed!”
“Ah… I have no objections.”
“Agreed, even if it doesn’t work, we still need to try!”
…
“Wait, calm down first.”
Just as the old nobles began to rise one after another, indicating their agreement to forcibly replace the Duke of Lionheart, an older noble stood up, reminding them:
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? Even if we can force the replacement of the current Duke of Lionheart through the upper house vote, someone still has to sit in that position of Duke of Lionheart.”
“This isn’t important!”
The young noble who stood up first shouted loudly:
“It doesn’t matter who sits in the position of Duke of Lionheart, as long as it’s not the current one.”
“No, this is very important!”
The old noble shook his head and said: “You probably haven’t seen the Lane family’s genealogy, do you know? If you force the replacement of the current Duke of Lionheart through the upper house vote, according to the line of succession, the next person to become the Duke of Lionheart will be his younger sister.”
“Then we’ll also vote her out!”
The young noble stubbornly said: “If necessary, we can give up more interests. Compared to being strangled by the new policies promoted by the princess and having our share snatched by the merchants of the lower house, the cost of replacing two dukes is completely acceptable. As long as we get rid of this brother and sister…”
“After getting rid of this pair of siblings, there will be another pair waiting!”
The old noble coldly snorted:
“Flip through the Lane family’s genealogy carefully! After getting rid of her, the next heir in line will be the current duke’s younger brother, and the one after that will be another of his sisters.
Haha, changing four Dukes of Lionheart in a day, do you think the royal family is dead, just sitting idly by watching you forcibly replace them?”
“…”
“Then if these four members of his family block the way, aren’t we directly blocking the path of replacement? So should we just do nothing and watch?”
“Just watching definitely won’t work, but forcing it won’t either. It’s a rare opportunity, but given the princess’s character, she will surely Strictly Prevent and Guard, not giving us any chance at all.”
“In the end, aren’t we still without any solutions?”
“There are still solutions.”
When most people’s attention gathered, the old noble finally unveiled his “Yan State Map,” squinting his eyes and said: “However, before I start explaining my idea, I must remind everyone that our Duke of Lionheart is far from as simple as he appears.
Though he seems like a complete fool who knows nothing about the rules, acting arbitrarily based on his preferences, purely lucky.
But let’s calm down and think from his perspective: even if he doesn’t send the Lane family away, does he have the ability to protect it?
If not for this incident, apart from holding onto an empty title of duke, what else would he have left? And would the situation facing the Lane family be better than now?”
After asking these questions, seeing that everyone started thinking along his lines and gradually revealed a look of enlightenment, the old noble continued analyzing with half-closed eyes: “To be honest, I think our Duke of Lionheart is actually a smart person.
From the beginning, he understood that he didn’t have the ability to protect the Lane family. Whether trying to befriend us these affinal relatives or forcefully maintaining the Lane family, in the end, he would be left with nothing.
But his mind is clear enough to realize that he doesn’t have this ability, so he decisively cut ties with us, shamelessly proposing marriage to the princess, pulling in someone capable of protecting the Lane family.”
“After all, we can get the inheritance of the Lane family without him, so his title as duke means nothing to us, but for the royal family and the princess, his title as duke is the only ticket, worth going all out to win him over.
And because of our existence, the royal family can’t completely swallow the Lane family, and must use his title as Duke of Lionheart to compete with us for the Lane family’s resources, thus achieving a delicate balance, allowing him to control the Lane family in his hands.
Tsk tsk, our duke, even if he really doesn’t know how to be a nobleman, he certainly knows how to do business, knowing how to sell himself to the best target and getting a good price.”
With admiration in his eyes, after finishing his analysis of Leon, the old noble paused briefly, giving everyone time to think, then picked up a newspaper from the table, tapping lightly on the word “princess”, and suggested aloud:
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to learn from our smart duke and find ourselves a better ‘buyer’… What do you think of Prince Joshua?”
Prince Joshua? After hearing the suggestion from the old noble, the nobles couldn’t help but frown, and someone couldn’t help directly opposing: “Are you asking us to completely side with the royal family? Isn’t that the same as surrendering to the princess? Aren’t we still controlled by the royal family?”
“Firstly, I’m only suggesting siding with Prince Joshua, secondly, when did the princess represent the entire royal family?”
After meaningfully counter-questioning, the old noble unfolded the “Yan State Map” completely, revealing the “dagger” he had prepared ahead of time, and asked:
“Ladies and gentlemen, why don’t you all think carefully: Is what our princess wants what the entire royal family wants? And is what the royal family wants what Prince Joshua and the queen, as well as the Minister of Finance behind him, want?”
Glancing at the crowd who seemed to understand, the old noble slowly explained: “Or put it more clearly, what the princess wants, besides the throne, is to limit the power of us nobles, which is also the thought of the entire royal family, so in the past the princess could represent the will of the entire royal family.
The queen and the Minister of Finance support the royal family because they were promised by the king that the princess would be married off, believing that the entire kingdom would belong to Prince Joshua in the future, naturally willing to let the princess clean up obstacles for them.
But now our princess hasn’t been married off, and she has even obtained enough power to overturn the entire kingdom through her marriage with that smart duke, so the situation is different.
Currently, the princess is powerful, and also has the king’s hand pressing down on the old nobility to balance her power. Even if the queen and the Minister of Finance are dissatisfied, they dare not make moves at this time.
But if the old nobility collectively sides with Joshua, giving our prince the necessary support… Can the princess still represent the will of the entire royal family?”
(End of Chapter)
