After returning to Fog City, Li Wei reported to Her Majesty the Queen on the course and results of his expedition to the Underground Sanctuary.
How should he put it-half good, half bad.
Before he left, Her Majesty had insisted that Li Wei uncover the connection between the Lord of Clot and the Underground Sanctuary. Now he had found it, and could even confirm that the Clot Family had come from the Underground Sanctuary. The problem was that this was of little use. The Lord of Clot's noble status had been officially recognized at the time. Disgusting as buying and selling titles was, it had happened many years ago.
Naturally, Her Majesty could not dredge up matters from almost a century ago. After all, the Lord of Clot's family had not been the only one buying titles under those circumstances. Many of the Empire's lords had acquired their titles and territories then. If Her Majesty abolished the Clot Territory on those grounds, wouldn't the other nobles fear they might be next?
There was nothing Li Wei could do about that. He was a detective, after all; he couldn't simply fabricate evidence because he had none. The fact was that the Underground Sanctuary had been destroyed decades ago by the Disaster Cultists' meddling. All he could offer was his guess that the Lord of Clot's bloodline had been an "insurance policy" that the king of that time had left aboveground.
This was perfectly normal among noble and royal families, especially those with many children. They never put all their eggs in one basket, instead spreading their children out as a precaution.
And look, hadn't it paid off?
The underground branch of the Clot Family had definitely colluded with the Disaster Cultists, but Li Wei had no evidence against the branch aboveground.