I! Anomaly Cleansing Agent!

Facing Princess Veronica’s questioning, Leon blinked his eyes a couple of times before continuing:

“Moreover, I haven’t finished speaking yet. Besides the officer selection order, weren’t you also planning to propose the expansion of citizen voting rights at the grand parliament in three days?”

“This proposal not only dilutes the merchants’ influence, preventing them from continuing to excessively compete with the royal family and nobles for benefits, but it also genuinely expands the power of the parliament, giving more groups a chance to voice their opinions.”

“I’ve read the newspapers; among the policies you’ve pushed in recent years, there’s been strong support for the energy industry, tax cuts for small artisans, subsidies for farmers, and most recently regulations on minimum hourly wages for factories. So big merchants don’t really support you, but other groups? That’s a different story.”

“Do you know what I think? Once the bill to expand voting rights passes, the new parliament, no longer completely controlled by merchants, will likely welcome a new queen who has consistently fought for their interests.”

“…”

This… can it really be seen this way?

Looking at the princess, whose rosy lips were slightly agape and her expression full of shock, Leon said meaningfully,

“In fact, after hearing your explanation about the officer selection order and this proposal to expand voting rights, I even thought you were already preparing for the old king’s abdication.

“After all, the royal family won’t truly support you, but the mid and lower-ranking officers of the military department, as well as the new members of parliament representing artisans, farmers, and workers, have no choice but to support you to stabilize their acquired status and power.

“So just wait a bit longer, push these two things through thoroughly, and both the mid and lower-ranking officers of the military department and the newly elected members of parliament after the expansion of voting rights will be completely tied to your chariot… Honestly, aren’t you deliberately doing this?”

“I… I really didn’t think about these things…”

After listening to Leon’s words with her mouth open, Princess Veronica said somewhat bewilderedly,

“My purpose in reorganizing the military department is that the old nobility-controlled military department is too corrupt, causing the kingdom’s defenses to deteriorate. Expanding voting rights is also because there are too many merchant-born members of parliament, and the proposals in the past two years have been too biased… This… this…”

“This proves that you have chosen the kingdom, and the kingdom has, in turn, chosen you.”

After defining this coincidence, Leon stared into the princess’s eyes, switched the corresponding badge, and earnestly advised, “Regardless of whether you did it intentionally or unintentionally, the things you’ve persisted in doing over the years have indeed given you feedback, becoming your strongest support! So you don’t need to feel uneasy, nor do you need to have any psychological pressure. After all, you’re not some power-hungry schemer; you’ve simply done the right thing.”

“…”

I’ve just… done the right thing? After being thrown into confusion by Leon’s words and silently repeating this sentence twice in her heart, the princess unconsciously tightened the edge of her clothes with her hand, then shook her head while biting her lower lip and said, “Mid and lower-ranking officers and new members of parliament, they… although they are indeed strong supporters, they haven’t really grasped power yet. The kingdom has always been dominated by the royal family and nobles for hundreds of years. They will never tolerate such behavior.

“If I really do that and succeed, fine, but if I fail, the entire kingdom will surely fall into chaos. And the Ice Plains Kingdom has just endured a harsh winter. Once the weather warms up, if they take advantage of the kingdom’s internal strife…”

“It won’t go chaotic.”

Leon shook his head, then pointed at himself and said, “Have you forgotten? I’m the biggest old noble! You’re worried that the upper house will declare your throne invalid, but I, the Duke Lionheart, am the deputy speaker of the upper house.

“That’s different!”

In response to Leon’s suggestion, the princess, for some unknown reason breathing a little faster, quickly shook her head and said, “During Lane Family Blood Night, many key members of the Lane family died, and Bao Hua is now left with only Miss Emma. The two pillars of the kingdom no longer have the same status as before.

“Although according to the founding laws, as long as there are still people in your two families, the positions of speaker and deputy speaker must be retained, but when it comes to that, the two of you cannot decide the judgment result of the upper house.”

“That doesn’t matter. According to the kingdom’s laws, if both the speaker and deputy speaker agree, it’s equivalent to passing directly in the upper house. If it doesn’t pass, then there’s an issue with the upper house itself.”

Leon, who had already considered this question, said without blinking,

“If the upper house goes against the will of the two speakers and forcibly declares your throne invalid, then you can use the kingdom’s laws to declare the upper house’s decision invalid, right?”

“Ah?”

“My point is, you shouldn’t follow their rules. In situations like this, everyone should play their own game.”

Leon stared straight into the princess’s eyes and explained earnestly,

“You don’t need the upper house to recognize your throne. You just need a reasonable excuse to start dragging the upper house into bureaucratic squabbles, preventing them from officially declaring your throne invalid, which would mean achieving your goal.

“After all, as long as your throne hasn’t been declared invalid, you’re still the nominal queen. The upper house has no authority to directly mobilize troops to drive you out of the royal palace. But with the support of mid and lower-level officers, you can easily surround the upper house instead… After all, they’ve already broken the law, haven’t they?”

“…”

Ah, this… it can be like this? Looking at the princess whose thinking hadn’t fully opened up and was still stuck on “following the rules,” Leon, with bright eyes, couldn’t help but remind her,

“You said it yourself, the whole capital only has one garrison in the royal palace, and the rest are all outside the capital. Even if the guards of those noble estates are elite, what can they possibly achieve against organized armies equipped with heavy weapons?”

“To put it bluntly, considering the current situation, if you don’t care about legitimacy, you don’t even need to surround the upper house. After all, however powerful the old nobles’ influence may be, there’s only a team of guards in the capital.

“Just call in two teams of soldiers, one to blockade Red Pine Avenue’s mansions, preventing anyone inside from coming out, another to block Rosser Arcade. Just throw something random into the river, and the upper house will effectively disband.

“After all, those who can speak in the upper house are at least viscounts. And there aren’t that many viscounts and above in the entire capital, and they all live on those two streets. If you surround their entire families, are you still worried they won’t listen to you?

“To put it even more straightforwardly, you’re just taking over the throne from your father; you’re not planning to kill those old nobles. Do you think, given their loyalty to the royal family, they’ll fight you to the death with their entire families’ lives on the line?”

(End of Chapter)