After that, Fang Zheng chatted with Roselia for a long time.
They mainly discussed matters concerning the Empire.
Although Fang Zheng could obtain information from Ratziel, it still could not compare to someone familiar with the local situation. Besides, Ratziel was not the People's Daily. At least newspapers highlighted their front-page headlines, while Ratziel simply described everything. There was no way to identify the important points.
Although Roselia put on the appearance of "we are a mysterious clan isolated deep in the mountains, completely unconcerned with the outside world," Fang Zheng did not believe a word of it. In his experience, those old bastards who refused to die kept a close watch on the situation outside at all times. Unlike ordinary remote villages, what these people watched was the core of high-level national strategy...
You claimed to be ignorant country folk from the mountains? Someone had to believe you first.
Sure enough, Fang Zheng obtained quite a bit of information about the Empire from Roselia.
According to Roselia, although the Empire appeared prosperous and flourishing, its internal conflicts were extremely intense. The fiercest of them was the struggle between the Ironblood Chancellor Giliath Osborne and the Four Great Noble Families. Giliath had been born a commoner and earned the position of Chancellor through his achievements in the Hundred Days War. Afterward, he had vigorously promoted reforms and ushered in a new era of prosperity and strength for the Empire.
In contrast, the nobles had grown increasingly hostile toward him, because Chancellor Osborne's growing power represented the decline of the nobles' status. This was something the nobles did not wish to see, nor were they willing to accept it.
As for the imperial family, rumors said that the Emperor intended to follow the Liberl Kingdom's example and abolish the noble system.