The Empror's Trap

"Your Majesty, since this matter has been settled, there is another issue I would like to discuss with you."

"Go ahead."

Kenji glanced at Lina beside him, then said: "Under Your Majesty's orders, I have gathered several hundred people to form a special team. I believe Your Majesty is well aware of what kind of team this is. After this period of training, the team has taken initial shape and now possesses certain capabilities."

"Yes, I know about this. You mentioned it before. So now, you plan to put this team into action?"

"Exactly, but Your Majesty, to be honest, I don't currently have the energy to fully manage this team's affairs. Daily training, coordination, command - all of these require someone dedicated to be responsible. Therefore, I would like to recommend someone to Your Majesty who can complete this task on my behalf."

"Lina, right?"

Pluvia immediately understood why he had brought Lina before her today.

"Your Majesty is perceptive. My recommendation of Lina might seem like a personal favor to outsiders, but I don't see it that way. Lina has the strength to take on this important responsibility. This group was personally trained by Lina, and it's no exaggeration to say that Lina is completely capable of commanding this team effectively."

"Moreover, internally, this is extremely complex work. Most ministers of Camelot lack sufficient combat experience and covert operation experience. While the military officers have more battlefield experience, battlefield experience doesn't necessarily mean they can lead this type of unit well..."

"Therefore, I believe Lina is very suitable for this task."

Kenji expressed his opinion.

Of course, he couldn't claim to be completely without personal motives, but he wasn't entirely lying either. Currently within the Camelot Empire, there weren't many people truly suitable to lead this internal unit. Besides, this wasn't a clean job - if made public, it would essentially mean offending most colleagues in official circles. No capable official would want to take on such a task.

So, Lina was most suitable for this position.

Pluvia's gaze shifted between Kenji and Lina, and finally she sighed:

"Even if I approve this matter, it won't be enough. The senior ministers need to make the decision."

"???"

Kenji immediately felt that her mind was being eccentric again.

This is a secret unit! And you want the senior ministers to make the decision?! They would never allow an organization capable of dealing with them to exist!

"This unit cannot be kept hidden, so you might as well inform these people in advance. Its existence alone serves as a deterrent, so tell them that such a deterrent now exists—as for the personnel choice, I believe they wouldn't dare openly oppose you."

"...Very well."

Kenji nodded.

This was the only option. Recommending Lina would inevitably face opposition from the ministers, but fortunately, he had enough power to suppress these objections. Camelot's current situation couldn't be delayed; he had to implement these matters as quickly as possible.

After Kenji left, Pluvia took out the letter from the Celestial Master's residence from beneath the cushion she was sitting on.

She examined the letter, and finally sighed.

What was written in the letter was a marriage urging message.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't urging Kenji's marriage. The Celestial Master's residence wouldn't and wouldn't deign to manage a minister's marriage. They certainly wouldn't serve a minister.

However, when this minister's interests were particularly relevant to the emperor and Camelot's interests, the Celestial Master's residence wouldn't stand idly by.

Their marriage urging advice was divided into two strategies, upper and lower.

The lower strategy was to arrange a marriage between Kenji and Princess Uheya of the Sal Kingdom. With this marriage, Camelot could solve problems in the north in the future. It was a thoroughly stable benefit - low risk, but honestly, using the best piece to exchange for such an interest was not the most satisfactory result in the view of the Celestial Master's residence.

The upper strategy was more radical yet more beneficial to Camelot in the long run... This had been unanimously approved by the Celestial Masters. It still involved Kenji, but as for the marriage partner...

Emmm, she couldn't say.

….

Three days later, afternoon, at the royal palace.

Kenji stood in the courtyard that Pluvia had left for him, his right hand supporting his chin, lost in thought.

Behind him were Lina, Siyue, and various servants from Duke Anos' mansion (of course, those cultivators Kenji kept at home had been arranged by Kenji to live outside the palace).

When he first heard that Pluvia had prepared a place for him to stay, Kenji was quite pleased. After all, the fact that Pluvia was willing to give him a place directly inside the palace showed that she thought well of him. And according to his understanding, the place where he would be staying was actually very close to Pluvia's bedchamber.

But...

Kenji looked up speechlessly at the three prominent characters above:

"Spring Peace Palace."

"Um, young master," Lina beside him asked weakly, "I remember that Spring Peace Palace used to be... the harem, right?"

"…. I don't know what's going on either."

Kenji expressed his speechlessness at this.

This was ridiculous! What kind of arrangement was this? Why had the emperor's harem palace been cleared out for me?!

Thinking of this, Kenji turned to look at Pluvia, his gaze filled with confusion, waiting for her explanation.

"This was the late emperor's harem, also the palace where the late emperor's consort lived—oh, don't worry that it's inauspicious. You know the consort I'm talking about, the current Empress Dowager, my mother. She just moved to a different place, nobody has died here."

Pluvia thought Kenji was concerned about the place being inauspicious because someone had died there, so she explained.

Her mother had lived here before, but later when she gained favor, the late emperor simply brought her mother to his side, and since then this place had been vacant.

Now the Empress Dowager was living out her golden years in the Palace of Compassion and Harmony, so she naturally wouldn't return to live in Spring Peace Palace. Since the decor of Spring Peace Palace was no worse than Kenji's Duke mansion, Pluvia thought about it and decided to clear it out for him to live in.

"No, I'm not concerned about the environment here. What I mean is... isn't this Your Majesty's harem..."

A man like me staying in Her Majesty's harem just seemed wrong no matter how you looked at it.

"I don't keep a harem, so this place is now vacant. Of course there's no problem with you staying here," Pluvia said with a normal expression. "Or do you think it's inappropriate for a man to live in my harem?"

"I absolutely did not mean that."

Kenji thought carefully.

Oh well, harem or not, it's just a place to live, anywhere will do. And to be honest, maybe Pluvia was also making it convenient to keep an eye on me. If so, staying right under her nose might actually make it easier to gain her trust.

After all, with Lina's help, I can completely manage to do what he needed to do despite Pluvia's surveillance. As for whatever other measures Pluvia might have in place, that wasn't his concern—I'll just do what I need to do, and as for how you view me, you can't interfere with me now anyway, and in the future... in the future you'll understand my good intentions.

Early autumn brought cooler weather, and the court robes of Camelot were perfectly suited to shield each official from the morning chill.

Today was a regular court assembly. Before the sun had risen, the ministers were already waiting at the entrance of the great hall. Following the usual custom, they would wait for Pluvia to arrive before entering the hall to discuss matters.

Naturally, Pluvia herself typically wouldn't keep these ministers waiting too long.

At this moment, the ministers gathered at the foot of the steps, exchanging greetings in low voices while discussing recent political affairs and the situations in various countries. Some were discussing the former Chancellor and his conspirators. After all, the Chancellor and others like Prince Dani had been thoroughly investigated by the court authorities, and all that remained was sentencing.

Beyond these serious matters, there were also less formal discussions.

For example, some officials were discussing how Her Majesty had placed Duke Anos in her harem palace.

This was impossible to keep secret, because now many Camelot documents had to be submitted to Kenji, and many ministers had to go to his residence to discuss matters. Everyone knew that place was the harem palace, so naturally, word got out.

"I always wondered why Her Majesty would break protocol to grant Marshal Kenji a royal title. Even with his outstanding merits, such a hasty conferment seemed unusual—now it appears Her Majesty likely had plans all along..."

"Well, blame Chancellor and Prince Dani's group. Why couldn't they be content as princes instead of causing trouble? Now look what's happened—it seems Her Majesty intends to bind herself directly to the Grand Marshal. And what did the Chancellor and Prince get? Nothing good. At this point, house arrest for the rest of their lives is probably the lightest punishment they'll receive."