The haze of alcohol vanished in an instant. Nianze stared fixedly at Oyashiro En, sweat gradually trickling down his forehead.
"Your Excellency the Speaker, there's more to your words than meets the eye!"
"That depends on how Your Highness chooses to understand them." Oyashiro En poured himself a cup of wine, tipped his head back and drank it, then said with a smile, "Your Highness has governed for more than half a year now, so you must be well aware of Peach Country's various circumstances. In the end, it all comes down to money. Hehe, Peach Country doesn't actually lack money. The problem is that none of it ever makes it into the treasury."
"Oyashiro En, how dare you!"
Nianze flew into a rage. "It would be one thing if you were merely sowing discord, but you even dare to make veiled accusations against my father. Do you think your life has been going too well?"
Oyashiro En waved a hand, the smile still on his face. "This isn't parliament. It's only a private conversation between us, so there's no need for Your Highness to be so tense. Besides, I'm only telling the truth. Does Your Highness prefer lies?"
Oyashiro En took a scroll from his robes and placed it on the table. "This is intelligence I obtained from Konoha. Your Highness may take a look if you're interested."
Nianze opened the scroll skeptically. After merely glancing at it, he threw it to the floor and said in a towering rage, "Konoha has truly become lawless! They actually monitored Father because of a toad's prophecy. They clearly still bear a grudge against Father over old enmities. Utterly unreasonable! Every last one of those Konoha people deserves to die!"
"Your Highness doesn't believe it?"
"Does Your Excellency the Speaker believe such