Saint-Lun City, Rose Manor.

The increasingly tense situation caused Agatha to cancel all her outings. Additional guards were deployed inside and outside the manor, and spies set up criss-crossing magic sentries in important peripheral areas.

As the dispatched imperial agents were secretly recruited into the imperial capital, the power available to Agatha gradually increased, but she was still far behind against Fania.

In the study, Agatha sat behind the desk and listened to the report of the valet. She did not wear a skirt, but wore neutral clothes and pants, with her hair tied into a bun, looking ready to fight at any time.

"Your Highness, we have contacted almost all the ministers in the imperial capital, and most of them do not want to express their positions. Several cabinet ministers all refused to see the people we sent. The situation is very unfavorable to Your Majesty..."

The current situation in the palace, Fania can be considered as clear-cut. With this step-by-step approach, Emperor Augustine still stayed behind closed doors, complaining that everyone in the palace was in danger.

Not to mention the ministers, even those within the Secret Service are extremely pessimistic about this struggle for imperial power.

Agatha is in good spirits and her eyes are sharp and unyielding.

"Is there any news from His Majesty? What's Millscomb's reply?"

The female officer replied: "There is still no news coming out of His Majesty's palace. Millscomb's answer is still the same: He will lead the royal knights and palace guards to protect His Majesty's safety."

Agatha couldn't help but sigh: "Royal knights? Palace guards? After Fania announced that he was the new emperor of the empire, how many of them dared to attack the new emperor!

I don’t know what the father is doing, but his son has put a knife on his neck, and he still doesn’t show up."

The female officer said worriedly: "If the royal knights and palace guards cannot be relied on, then we alone may not be able to stop Prince Fania from leading his troops to break into the palace.

An elite army withdrawn from the southern front this morning has quietly entered the city, and the Assault Bear Team is among them."

"Has the Assault Bear been transferred by the First Prince as well?"

The Assault Bear Squad is one of the special operations units formed by the strongest warriors in the north, specializing in high-end battles. In the battle against the barbarians on the southern front, even if the Abyss Apostles personally took action, they did not take much advantage of the Assault Bear Squad.

Big ones are cheap.

Fania dispatched assault bears to the imperial capital at this time, obviously targeting the "Raven" of the Secret Intelligence Service, a unit composed of ace spies.

In a head-on confrontation, the "Raven" is no match for the "Assault Bear".

Agatha didn't have much reaction to the arrival of the Assault Bear Team. She asked again: "Is there any news from Governor Meteor?"

The female officer answered awkwardly: "No! The Governor's Mansion of Raging Wave City refused to provide any information related to the Governor of Meteorite.

Your Highness, it’s impossible for Governor Meteor to be unaware of the situation in the palace. Doesn’t it mean that he doesn’t show up all this time... does it mean that he supports the eldest prince?”

Regarding the female officer's guess, Agatha did not answer immediately, but looked at a newspaper on the table.

This newspaper is the Winter Daily of the Yate County Union, and the most eye-catching one is "The obituary of Mr. Luke, the genius steam engineer."

The newspaper was from five days ago. It was delivered from the Winter Capital to the Imperial Capital. The meteorite should have arrived long ago.

Why is there no news about him so far?

"Your Highness..." the female officer reminded the distracted Agatha: "These are all random guesses on my part. Governor Meteorite must still be loyal to you."

Agatha couldn't help but smile and said: "Yes, he must still be 'loyal' to me. Continue to pay attention to the movements of Governor Meteor and all parties in Raging Wave City, and report any news to me immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

At this time, the study door was pushed open violently, and Princess Dale ran in from the outside: "Sister Agatha, I haven't seen you for three months, I miss you so much!"

When the guards chasing in saw Princess Dai'er hugging Agatha, they immediately saluted and apologized: "I'm sorry, Your Highness, Princess Dai'er, we didn't stop Princess Dai'er."

Agatha looked at Del with great joy and said to the guards: "It doesn't matter. I understand my sister. It's strange that you can stop her."

The guard said: "Your Royal Highness, Princess Dai'er is escorted by Miss Qingkong. She is waiting outside the door."

When Agatha heard that Qingkong was coming, she immediately said, "Please come in, Miss Qingkong."

Then Agatha said to Dale: "I am also very happy to see you, but Miss Qingkong and I have something very important to talk about now. You first go to see the sculptures I made during this time. I will talk to Miss Qingkong

After I’m done, I’ll go find you and hear what you experienced in the winter capital?”

Princess Dai'er knew that what Qingkong talked about with Agatha must be very important. She and her sister had plenty of time to talk heart-to-heart: "Okay, I'll see if my sister has any good new works. See you soon!"

"In a moment!"

The female officer took Princess Dai'er away.

Qingkong followed the attendant and walked in. Princess Daier waved to her as she went out, looking carefree and innocent.

The door of the study was closed by the leaving guard, and only Qingkong and Agatha were left in the room.

Agatha invited Qingkong to sit on the lounge chair by the window. Outside the window was a glass greenhouse filled with blooming roses, which were particularly bright against the snowy scenery outside the greenhouse.

"Thank you for taking care of Dai'er during this time. I didn't expect that she would quietly follow you to the winter capital. I hope she didn't cause you too much trouble."

Qingkong leaned on the backrest of the rest chair and admired the scenery outside with her green eyes. At the same time, she said lightly: "Princess Dai'er has a very keen sense of changes in the palace. She sensed danger and therefore escaped.

I also know where to escape."

Agatha couldn't help but smile and said: "She has been very smart since she was a child. If this great change in the palace is going to kill many royal family members, her chance of surviving is greater than all of us."

Qingkong turned to look at Agatha: "Meteor asked you to go to Raging Wave City, why are you still here? You can't stop Fania now."

"But someone has to do something?" Agatha took a deep breath: "If I stand up, there is at least a chance of stopping him; if even I give up, he will really kill the king and his father.

Meteor will not respect him as the emperor of the empire, and neither will Alec... The empire cannot be divided at this time!"

"If the Empire really needs a new Emperor...would you be interested?"

Qingkong's question made Agatha turn her head, her eyes full of all kinds of speculation: "My father is still alive, but he can't show up for some reasons. The succession of the emperor has its own rules, it's not another turn.

to me.

You, do you know something that I don’t know?”

Qingkong and Agatha looked at each other: "I know some news that you don't know, but I can't tell you yet. You just need to answer me... This time is a good opportunity for you,

If you are willing to take on the responsibility of ruling the empire, I think Meteor will support you."

Although Luke had already consulted Queen Christina's thoughts in Snow City, he still asked Agatha's attitude towards the throne for the last time.

Agatha didn't know what kind of news Qingkong had obtained, and she actually asked such a question at this time.

She thought for a while and said: "No... I have never thought too much about the throne, especially after meeting the meteor, I feel that the persistence and competition for the throne are really ridiculous.

This era is no longer the past. To me, the high throne is just a prison sentence for life.

When everything stabilizes, I will take a long vacation for myself and go on a long trip. I will go see the strange places that Meteorite mentioned and explore the secret places where treasures are hidden."

Qingkong knew that Agatha was not very interested in the throne, but she did not expect that he would have such a big influence on her.

"Your Augustine family is really full of extremes. There are princes who are fighting for the throne and there are princesses who want to escape from royal life.

Since you have no interest in the throne, you probably don’t mind Queen Christina supervising the country and even becoming the first queen of the Golden Shield Empire in the future.”

Agatha asked in surprise: "What do you mean? What on earth do you know that you would make such a ridiculous suggestion!"

Qingkong said: "Meteor Star is now escorting Queen Christina back to the Imperial Capital from the North. Her Royal Highness the Queen said some things related to Your Majesty.

Your Majesty is doing something very dangerous. If he succeeds, it will bring a greater crisis to the empire than the usurpation of the throne by Prince Fania."

Agatha said seriously: "What on earth is my father doing?"

Qingkong replied: "I think... it would be most appropriate for Yuexing to tell you the specific situation. My mission is to stop His Majesty when he finally takes that step!"

Agatha understood what "stop" meant.

"You want to murder the emperor?"

"As long as he can rein in the situation, I won't do anything to him."

Agatha looked at Qingkong. This was an elf known for its mystery, beauty and power. Every time she saw her, she always fought against the sense of oppression emanating from her.

"It seems that I have to wait until I see the meteor to know the truth."

"Actually, I don't recommend that you know too much of the truth. It's best to let His Majesty leave with dignity."

Agatha forced a smile and said: "Whether I accept the suggestion or not is my business. Is there anything you need me to do before Yue Xing and Her Royal Highness the Queen arrive at the Imperial Capital?"

Qingkong cast his gaze out the window.

"I want to use the sewers of Saint-Lun City to deploy a large-scale secret technique that can provide us with some combat power that can serve as cannon fodder when Fania launches a coup.

After the secret ceremony, the sewers of Shenglun City need to be overhauled. Fortunately, it is winter, and there will be no scene of flooding in the imperial capital..."

Agatha also looked out the window, the snow was falling even harder.

"The sewers in St. Lun City should have been repaired long ago."

…

In the northern border of the Golden Shield Empire, due to the outbreak of war, all the residents in the northern border fled. Those who could not escape would not just run out in this bad weather, so Queen Christina's convoy was in

During two days of running across the snowfield, I met almost no one.

This is also related to the fact that the team specifically bypasses cities and villages.

The four royal horses pulling the cart trotted forward, and Luke scanned the sky through the open window with a telescope.

After a while, he sat back in the car, opened a folding table between himself and the queen, and laid a map of the northern territory on it.

The moving carriage was slightly bumpy.

Luke found the current location of the convoy on the map, clicked on it and said to Queen Christina: "I just saw the falcon used by the Northern Legion scouts for reconnaissance. We should have been discovered by them. There will definitely be traps and ambushes laid by assassins ahead.

lock up."

The queen asked: "What should we do? This place has not yet left the area controlled by the Northern Army, and we cannot escape their surveillance."

Luke thought about countermeasures.

If Taotie is willing to accept being ridden by a stranger, it would be the easiest way to take Queen Christina directly to the City of Saint-Lun.

After thinking for a moment, Luke said: "Our whereabouts have just been exposed, and the assassins are not so quick to arrange the attack. At night, you and I separate from the team on horseback and let your guards attract the sky's followers. Our two targets are not easy to be exposed.

.

Moreover, the riding speed is also very fast, and you can reach the imperial capital in just one day and one night's running."

Luke's suggestion made Queen Christina think deeply.

Being attacked is not only a matter of personal safety. Even if the assassins are defeated, precious time is wasted. If you are entangled by waves of assassins, the best time to return to the imperial capital may be delayed.

Being separated from the guard can indeed reduce the number of targets and make the light cavalry faster.

But as the queen of an empire, spending a day and night alone with a young man would definitely trigger some rumors in the future. Royal scandals are a popular subject of folk gossip.

Especially since I married an old emperor at a young age and then stayed in the cold palace for several years, while the meteorite was the envy of all the ladies of the empire's powerful families.

Queen Christina was well aware of the ability of nobles to fabricate rumors to discredit each other.

But without thinking too much, Queen Christina said to Luke: "Okay, I will listen to you. At night, you and I will ride away quietly."

Luke didn't think too much, all his attention was on the map. After the northern border, there was a vast plain, and the extraordinary bred royal horse could run with its hooves open. Even if the assassin found himself and the queen, it would not be that easy to intercept him.

.

Therefore, the best and final ambush location for the assassins should be near St. Lun City. There is a city garrison stationed outside the imperial capital, and the assassins can lay out the ambush circle while waiting for work.

Luke plotted his journey on the map.

Queen Christina watched Luke draw and think while holding a pen, and couldn't help but think of herself when she was a princess.

At that time, I loved lying on the tower of the castle, looking at the endless golden rice fields outside, imagining what kind of person I would marry.

When I was a teenager, I really liked to read stories about knights and princesses. The knight overcame many difficulties regardless of danger, defeated enemies one after another, and rescued the princess, and then the two of them lived a happy life together.

What is happening now is very similar to those stories, except that I am no longer a princess, and happiness has long become a luxury.

At a certain moment, Christina suddenly had a bold idea.

But in the end she laughed to herself: "The stories are all lies, we are all slaves to fate!"
Chapter completed!