Law of the Devil

The 161th Chapter “glory!” (part 2)

Flus.h.i.+ng, the old emperor suddenly showed a hint of sickness on his face. Then forcing himself to sit upwards, this person carefully scanned his own son’s body up and down: “This event was single handedly handled by you. Now, even the entire capital is within your grasp. Such boldness and far sight…. If my speculation is right, this is the moment where I abdicate the throne and pa.s.s it on to you, right?”

Prince Son still didn’t answer.

Du Wei inwardly sighed because royalty holds no family bonds!

Although this Old Emperor favored this son of his and even went as far as to educate him for the throne….. But there is one problem

If I were to abdicate the throne, then it must be under my own free will!

Facing the throne, who would be willing to give it up? If things had gone according to the old emperor’s plan, then he would have kept staying on the throne till the day he is dead. Only then would the throne be up for grabs.

Even if this person is his own son or heir, they must still wait till I die!

At this moment, Du Wei fully grasped onto what Augustine the 6th was thinking in his mind.

Prince Son still didn’t speak, thus, agitating the Old Emperor even more. Gasping as if he was short of breath, this old man gritted his teeth: “You…. Are you going to be like him and have me step down right now?”

Finally, Prince Son raises his head. At this moment, Prince Son showed his iconic gentle and charismatic smile: “Father, you are over worrying yourself.”

With that said, this Prince care freely stood up and walked up to the edge of the bed.

At this moment, this old lion acted like he was being cornered by an enemy on the battlefield. Gripping his dagger under his robe, he was ready to fight for his dear life.

But unlike what his father expected, the only action Prince Son did was gently reach out his arms to straighten out his father’s disorganized robe. With a gentle smile, he only said this: “Father, brother and I are different.”

The downfall of Augustine the 6th all fell into Du Wei’s eyes. At this moment, only one word came up mind inside Du Wei’s head: “Politics!”

“Father, you still remain the Emperor. The one to rebel is brother, not me.” Prince Son faintly smiles, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence and coldness: “But father, you are old now. State matters are far too complex. If you keep tending to them, you will over exhaust yourself. Take this event for example. When Earl Raymond helped brother organize this rebellion, you didn’t even notice…. From my perspective, it would seem father needs to work on this in the future. I may have been able to solve this matter this time, but that doesn’t mean I will always be around to solve it every time.”

His voice may be soft, but the meaning his words is clearly hard!

After he finished, Prince Son takes a step back and bows to leave: “You still haven’t recovered from your illness; as such, you can leave the matters outside to me.”

After these words, Prince Son came up to Du Wei and gently pulled him up. Like this, the two left the room, leaving only the old emperor behind.

Before he left, Du Wei took one look backwards and saw how muddy and empty the old emperor’s eyes were……

Once out of the building, Prince Son didn’t immediately leave. Instead, he stood next to the gate as if expecting something.

Sure enough, after a brief moment, the chamberlain inside came rus.h.i.+ng out with a terrified face as he held something in his hands. Quickly, his person came up to Prince Son and kneeled on the ground. Then raising his arms above his head, he offered the item to the prince.

Gently but surely, Prince Son receives the item and opens it.

“Appoint Prince Son to Regent of the state. From this moment on, the matters of the state will be handled by the Regent!”

Apparently, these words were scrawled out onto this white cloth in a hurry. Clearly, the old emperor had to expend great efforts just to write these words based on how messy and faint they were written.

Seemingly pleased, Prince Son actually revealed his true emotions at this moment. Then summoning a imperial guard to him, he handed the cloth over.

“Spread the word to every department.”

Du Wei faces Prince Son and smiled: “Should I be calling you Majesty now, or Highness?”

“Highness.” Prince looks over at Du Wei: “I am the Regent, not the Emperor. There must not be any confusion on this point.”

The news of Prince Son being appointed to Regent of the state wasn’t all that surprising to everyone. With the death of the Crown Prince in the rebellion, it is only natural the winner would take everything.

But what did surprise everyone is the fact that Prince Son didn’t actually take up the crown. Instead, he only received the t.i.tle of Regent.

Prince Son’s actions are truly decisive and clear. Immediately after his appointment, he deployed a thousand of his own people to replace the guards surrounding the Old Emperor’s chamber. In this single move, he completely removed all members of the old security team around the former ruler.

And because the King’s guard lost 3,000 of their most capable personals, Prince Son transferred 5,000 people from the police department into the palace to help relief the much needed man power.

Subsequently, commands from the Regent started to flow downward to his subordinates like a river.

Removes Marquis Solomon’s t.i.tle and confiscate all territories under his banner. Also, any private armies supported by this house are to be disbanded immediately.

The Baron s.h.i.+p of General jean Claude (dead) is henceforth eliminated. As for his body, he will be buried with the formality of an ordinary citizen.

Regarding the rest of the n.o.bles and officials that partic.i.p.ated in the coup d’état, they will be confined in the dungeons until further notice. During this time, only the police forces may supervise them and none may enter or leave.

For any knights involved in the rebellion, their t.i.tle will be revoked and their punishment carried out as if they were ordinary citizens.

But what gave everyone a sense of relief was that this new Regent seems to have no intentions of going on a killing spree. Even for someone of high status like Jean Claude, his body was allowed to be buried like an ordinary citizen without restriction…..

This fact is already exceptionally lenient. From prior cases, the winner would always wave their killing hands just so they can destroy any traces of the opposition!

And like this, three days had pa.s.sed and the barrier around the capital finally came down. Calling in from the nearby cities, Prince Son mobilized two different divisions loyal to the royal family and had them occupy the capital. As for the mutinous second division that was previously in charge of the capital defense, they were completely disbanded and any personnel that was once part of this group is currently imprisoned in camps outside the city walls.

Again, Prince Son once again handed down a chain of commands, but this time around, it was to reward those around him. After all, this coup d’état is nothing but an a.s.sembly of bandits.

With it over, the time of the victor taking their share of the spoil will naturally occur.

But to everyone’s surprise, the person ranked on top of the list is actually the eldest son of the Rowling Household!

 Du Wei: bestowed upon thee the name of “Rudolph” (During the age of Aragon, this name was said to be the last name of a certain member of the Saint Roland squad). Granted the t.i.tle of: Duke, knighthood, Royal magic consultant, Imperial scholar, Royal Astrologist of the palace, and magic mentor of the prince.

 But what made every n.o.ble pop their eyes is the other line of text beside the word “Duke”……

Hereditary!!!

This message almost immediately caused a major ruckus like a fierce gust of wind in the aristocratic circles!

 On that day when Prince Son swore to make Du Wei a duke, just about everyone present heard it clearly. But in their minds, they only thought Prince Son intended grant a t.i.tle similar to a court official in the palace.

The peerage in the Roland Empire is divided into two kinds, hereditary and lifelong t.i.tle s.h.i.+p. Lifelong status is only granted to the person in question and cannot be inherited by their offspring’s. Other than that, these people do not own any territory under their banner and cannot form their own private armies. Once they die, the t.i.tle will be cancelled upon death.

Generally speaking, this form of t.i.tle s.h.i.+p is something the royal family would gladly often give out because it would cost them very little. It may be glorious  in name, but these people wouldn’t actually hold any real powers.

 However, hereditary peerage is something that cannot be easily handed out. Once bestowed, the person can own his own territory and collect tax in his domain. If that happens, it would be akin to having a state within a state. Every generation of emperors are not idiots. They all understand what it means to be handing out land so carelessly. If they can keep as much land under the royal family’s control, then it would be more beneficial to the well-being of the empire!

Otherwise, if they start handing out hereditary t.i.tles left and right, then the lands of the empire would eventually run dry!

Back in the age of the Rowling Household ancestors, this person not only fought long and hard for the Augustine household, he even played a big part in unifying the entire empire! Yet, the Rowling Household was only granted a hereditary Earl s.h.i.+p. Although Du Wei’s role in this coup cannot be considered small, nor can it be considered big, but to be given a hereditary Duke s.h.i.+p? Such a grand reward would definitely send shockwaves to every person of status!

And the even more shocking scene that is taking place out of everyone eyes is currently happening in the residence of the Regent.

In front of Prince Son’s select few confidants, including Kami that went undercover for over a decade, also the chief of the police department, as well as some of the cronies belonging to Prince Son’s faction.

The Regents took out a map of the entire empire and threw it in front of Du Wei. With the iconic charismatic smile on his face, he actually said: “My dear Duke, have a look! From this map, you can choose any territory you wis.h.!.+”

With this single sentence, everyone complexion immediately changed!!