Shan Daier felt that she simply had to help out with her family's business one way or another, otherwise wouldn't her status as a noble go to waste?
If you don't take and I don't take, when on earth would Commissioner Smith ever strike it rich?
Working near the border in this era, smuggling goods to make a bit of extra cash was a common occurrence, provided one inspected things carefully and didn't cause any major commotions.
Besides, Shan Daier was merely an acting duke and didn't do things very professionally at all, especially since her old man had recently come down with rheumatism and hurt so badly he couldn't get out of bed.
Otherwise, her turning a feather into an arrow of authority wouldn't have been her turn at all; as for the family motto...
The family motto only spoke of protecting the home and defending the country, and never said one couldn't use public office for personal gain.
Take when she was still working as a police officer a few years earlier, for instance: she caught a sneaky, handsome young man while walking down the street.
That fellow had fished out a mere single gold coin back then, hoping to make her turn a blind eye.
The reason Shan Daier didn't accept it wasn't because she was particularly upright, but rather because she felt a single gold coin was far too few.
Should that fellow have produced ten gold coins or even a hundred, she would have brazenly accepted the money even if people stood around watching.
Just kidding! I am a great noble, so what's wrong with accepting a few gifts from a friend?
It was only a pity that the fellow who claimed to come from Sargon back then had possessed no desire for progress whatsoever.
"You're finally here."
After waiting for a long time, just when Shan Daier thought she had been stood up, a rumbling mechanical sound suddenly echoed from afar.
She saw a massive steel machine charging straight toward the border, the unprecedented steel beast giving the garrison stationed there a tremendous fright.
Fortunately, however, Shan Daier had already prepared herself mentally, immediately ordering the soldiers under her command to quiet down.
"So it's an old acquaintance. Long time no see; you really did make a fortune, didn't you, fellow?"
"Miss Shan Daier... you actually became a duke? Are you really that amazing?"
Huang Cao stood atop the high-speed battleship, staring fixedly at the tall young woman before him.
Good grief, it had only been a few years, and that carefree law enforcement officer from back then had actually become a duke.
This promotion speed was simply too fast.
"I'm merely acting as manager on behalf of my father. I never expected you to genuinely have business dealings with my family, and this big guy looks expensive—you actually managed to rope in several dozen nobles to pool their money and purchase it."
"Tell me, what is this thing even used for?"
Shan Daier tapped the outer shell of the high-speed battleship with her cane and asked curiously.
"For plowing fields. You also know that peculiar soil has recently appeared in Victoria; every noble wants to renovate their own estate right now, which is why we ordered this big machine from another country."
The reason Huang Cao gave was seamless, and he incidentally explained the job divisions of the hundred people aboard his ship.
After all, the operation of a machine always required people, so it was completely reasonable to have some training personnel loaded onto the plow.
Fortunately, the innocent Shan Daier failed to spot the gun barrels hidden on the high-speed battleship, though she didn't wave them through immediately either, instead stretching out her hand with a cunning look on her face.
The meaning was self-evident: it was time to hand over a tip.
Huang Cao was somewhat taken aback, simultaneously lamenting that wealth truly corrupted a person's will.
In the past, this young lady wouldn't accept even a single gold coin.
"When you were a law enforcement officer in Victoria, you refused to accept even a single gold coin. How come now..."
Shan Daier rolled her eyes, her tone filled with dissatisfaction as she said, "Because a few years ago you only pulled out a single gold coin. If you'd taken out a bit more back then, I might have accepted it."
So the money she was given wasn't enough... Huang Cao was quite speechless as he retrieved a thousand gold coins from the cabin and handed them to the young woman before him.
"Have a safe journey~"
Having received the money, Shan Daier blinked playfully and waved goodbye to the distant, departing high-speed battleship.
Only, the young lady did not know that with just that single wave of her hand, she had ushered a grave internal threat right into the heart of Victoria.
And perhaps even altered history.
"Remember, everything we do tonight is not a rebellion, but a war to fight for the right to survive."
"Compatriots, we are going to make King Aslan remember our names forever."
"God save Victoria!"
With a violent roar of artillery, a revolution named after a shift in power quietly unfolded in Victoria.
Because the root of this revolution was the scramble for a special fertilizer called "soil," future historians would later refer to this revolution as the Fertile Soil Revolution.
These were matters for later, however; with that boom of artillery, the entire upper district of Londinium instantly devolved into a chaotic mess.
The old nobility, who had just been fast asleep, were momentarily stunned by the sudden explosions. The cohesion among the new nobility far exceeded their imaginations.
Because some of the old nobles lived relatively close to the residences of the new nobles, they had their heads lopped off by the allied forces before they even had time to put on their trousers—and the coalition forces specifically targeted nobles possessing the Aslan bloodline.
Because the new noble army was well-prepared, heavily equipped, and well-trained, their combat proficiency fell entirely short of regular troops, allowing them to rapidly break through the defense lines.
For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to this coalition army here as the New Council Army.
The New Council Army cut through everything like a hot knife through butter, fighting all the way from the base of the upper district to the gates of the imperial palace.
However, the army encountered some obstruction along its advancing route, causing their forward momentum to slow down instantly.
It was this single moment of disruption that bought the old nobility a breathing window.
"Hurry to the palace and summon the Steam Knights!"
The massive shouts and explosions also jolted the slumbering King Aslan awake.
Taking merely a few minutes, three sturdy steel monsters stood tall before the New Council Army.
"Mr. Shi Huaiya, you are committing treason!"
A booming voice rang out from within the Steam Knight, the pilot scarcely believing he could actually run into a rebellion.
Shi Huaiya stood before the coalition forces, taking out a prepared flare.
Without saying much more, with a bang, the flare burst into intense brilliance in the sky.
It illuminated the long-suppressed anger etched upon the faces of the new nobility.
"Then! Excuse us!"
The Steam Knights answered only to the king; neither the new nobility nor the old nobility possessed the authority to command them.
The Steam Knight drew a massive mechanical club from behind. At that moment, for reasons unknown, a strange piece of music suddenly rang out in everyone's minds.
And along with the swinging of the club, the blows landed upon people with exceptional clarity.
--One, one, one, five! One, one, one, one, one, five!
This was no longer an ordinary uprising; heavy blows were definitely required.
The three Steam Knights charged into the crowd and began a massive slaughter, routing the coalition forces out of the core area of Londinium in a matter of dozens of minutes.
The New Assembly Army suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to fall back.
After all, the Steam Knights were not using rubber clubs; as long as the clubs in the hands of these fellows struck a person, the victim would be left with nothing more than a puddle of mush.
Yet, what greatly surprised the Steam Knights was that although the rebel army was gradually distancing itself from them, there seemed to be no sign of retreat, as if they were waiting for something.
Could it be that these people still had a trump card?
Just as the pilot of a Steam Knight was pondering this, the mecha's body was suddenly struck violently by a fireball, nearly causing it to stumble and fall to the ground.
What a powerful recoil.
The few mecha turned their heads and discovered that more than a dozen sorcerers wearing long robes had inexplicably appeared among the New Council Army.
"You truly are beyond foolish! Risking your very lives for a rebellion that can never possibly succeed."
No wonder this spell attack could leave scars on the Steam Knight.
They saw that these sorcerers were hung all over with Originium crystals; this was already a desperate gamble with their lives.
"Output at full power! The Speaker will be here immediately!"
With the addition of the life-spending sorcerers, the war instantly entered a white-hot stage.
Intelligence reports were rushed into the imperial palace, prompting King Aslan to dispatch two additional Steam Knights toward the central area.
Just as the New Council Army was about to fail to hold its ground, another artillery shot suddenly resounded from afar.
Following the sound, a large black mushroom cloud traced a perfect parabola and landed accurately in front of the Steam Knights.
Before these steel monsters could react, the large black mushroom cloud exploded instantly, and in a single breath, one Steam Knight was blasted into fragments by the violent shockwave.
The new nobles who witnessed this scene were overjoyed, turning their heads to look at the massive machine hurtling toward them from afar, as well as the reinforcements rushing toward their side clad in silver-white armor.
"The Speaker has arrived! Brothers, all-out attack!"
"The Speaker is here, the clear skies are upon us!"
Watching their comrades turn to ashes, several Steam Knights also turned their heads to look at the massive machine and the rebels driving toward them from afar.
"The rebels possess heavy firepower! The situation is out of control; promptly notify the Border Duke to lead troops to rescue the sovereign!"
Unfortunately, before the Steam Knight could send out its cry for help, its body was instantly engulfed by countless tree branches.
Lowering its gaze, it discovered that the rebels clad in silver-white armor were using a single tree branch to pry open the joints of its entire body.
Just as the Steam Knight assumed the opponent was acting beyond their capabilities, the next second, its body instantly fell apart like building blocks.
72
The Aslan Bloodline Cut Down by the Roots
You come from Yan Country~ trade me for a suit of pristine white snow~ want to eat Cantonese cuisine~
Huang Cao was clad in silver armor, walking along the red carpet that originally only King Aslan was permitted to tread.
He held a longsword in his hand, his gaze fixed straight ahead at King Aslan seated upon the throne.
Under Huang Cao's arrangement, not a single one of the new nobles entered the imperial palace, leaving him alone to face King Aslan.
"Respected King Aslan, I am terribly sorry to disturb your rest. Might I ask where the princess and prince are? Could they come out to meet me?"
Huang Cao and his subordinates had searched the entire Londinium without discovering any direct descendants of King Aslan, as if they had been hidden away by someone.
"King Aslan, how does it feel tonight? I wonder if you are satisfied watching this play."
He raised his head to gaze at the handsome man seated upon the throne.
Without a doubt, this monarch was young—so young it was almost excessive.
"If We had been a dozen or so years older, perhaps your schemes and plots would have failed to execute, and the country could not have been usurped by a pestilence like you."
The coronation of Victoria's very first King Aslan took place in the year 798, and over a hundred years had passed since then.
The King Aslan who had now ascended the throne was extremely young, barely twenty-some years of age.
Having just ascended to supreme power and lacking life experience, he failed to properly balance the relations between the old and new nobility from the very beginning, which was precisely what allowed Huang Cao to exploit the opening.
Yet, according to future historical developments,
This fellow's descendants—meaning the next successor—did not seem to have handled the relations between the new and old nobility well either, or else Victoria's monarch would not have ended up pushed onto the guillotine.
"What do you want? My throne, or this country?"
The young King Aslan stroked his treasured sword, his burning gaze fixed tightly upon the young man before him.
"How would I dare covet your position? I am merely seeking justice for my councilors. After today concludes, you shall still be the king, only your sphere of activity will be restricted just a tiny bit."
Huang Cao's words revealed his intentions.
First of all, relying solely on this wave alone was completely insufficient to thoroughly seize power. If nothing unexpected happened, the Beast Lord serving King Aslan should have already sent his descendants out.
Victoria currently remained under a feudal system; according to the rule of direct lineage, as long as the monarch did not die, the remaining descendants stood no chance of succeeding.
Should Huang Cao slaughter this lion right now, he estimated that within a few days, his descendants would be forcibly hoisted up by the other dukes, so he had to block off this path.
Princes, marquises, generals, and ministers truly meant something here; ordinary people on this land valued bloodlines far more than they had in his past life.
Consequently, there was also a saying circulating across this land: bloodline determines destiny.
Just like the future Talulah, no matter how she fled or how she resisted, she ultimately failed to escape the Draco bloodline within her body, and the same held true for this dragon's parents.
A strong casus belli was, after all, exceptionally important upon this land.
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