Chapter 112 You are born to be a Duke!
Chapter 112 You are born to be a Duke! (Two in one)
This is really... too outrageous! How could such a ridiculous thing happen?
Looking at the new silver emblem on the panel, not only the nobles in the ward were stunned, but Leon in the wheelchair was also caught off guard.
He had just broken into Ryan's house at night a few days ago, not only killing their first heir, but also killing more than two hundred key members one after another, creating the Ryan Bloody Night that plunged the Ryan family into hell.
As a result, the old duke of the Ryan family didn't know what was wrong with him. Less than five seconds after he was pushed into the ward, he inexplicably designated himself as the next heir, making himself the biggest beneficiary of the Ryan Bloody Night incident...
Damn! Isn't this a scam?
Since he was the ultimate beneficiary and was suspected of having the ability to create Ryan's bloody night, anyone with a normal mind in the Cleanup Bureau would have to send a company of investigators to investigate him from inside out!
"Everyone, please listen to me!"
Suddenly, a two-ton hot potato was placed on his face. Although he felt no guilt at all, Leon, who was really up to something, frowned and quickly refused:
"I am not interested in this title. I'd rather consider something else..."
"Bastard!"
Before Leon could finish his words, an old man with gray hair and beard and gorgeous clothes stood out from the crowd and shouted with contempt:
"This is the title of the Duke of Lionheart! And it was appointed by the old duke himself before his death! Can you just give it up with a single word from you?"
So it’s none of your business?
As a relatively well-mannered person, under normal circumstances, Leon might have been more careful with his words, but now he was eager to get rid of this hot potato and get rid of the suspicion of creating Ryan's bloody night, so he was not very polite in his words.
"Who are you riding on?"
After giving a response that made the nobles' expressions change drastically, Leon quickly took a look at the old man's attire, and found a green crown with three single feathers on the badge on his chest.
Although cameras are now available, they are not widely used due to their high prices. In many cases, identity recognition still depends on documents and emblems, so the kingdom's emblem law is quite strict.
According to the Emblem Law, all emblems must strictly follow relevant requirements when they are produced, especially the noble coat of arms representing identity, the crown, shield, halberd and cassock must be complete.
The most important crown symbol is the emblem used to identify one's identity. In addition to the diamond king representing the royal family, the five levels of nobility, duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron, need to use the corresponding colors of the five metals of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin in order.
In addition, there will be a robin as an emblem under the royal diamond crown, and the crown emblem of the fifth-level title needs to be lined with a corresponding single feather, which means that the nobility is an important wing supporting the royal family.
The highest-ranking duke has a basis of five feathers, and the lowest-ranking baron has a basis of one feather. Those who have made significant contributions after inheriting the title can be given an additional feather, which is considered an extra honor.
The three-feathered bronze crown on the white-haired old man's badge proved that he belonged to the third tier of earl in the kingdom's nobility hierarchy. He was an ordinary earl who had not achieved anything in his life except inheriting the title.
……
"Haha, you're so arrogant. I thought you were some big shot, but you're just a count?"
In order to get rid of this troublesome dukedom as soon as possible and avoid being investigated by the Cleanup Bureau, Leon simply went for it and gave the white-haired old man a contemptuous smile.
With the intention of offending as many people as possible, preferably all of them, so that they would make an effort to elect someone else as the Duke, Leon stood up from the wheelchair, enduring the severe pain in his skin. In full view of everyone, he slowly walked up to the white-haired old man, raised his hand and poked the three-feather bronze crown on his chest.
"A third-class earl, and he only has the three most basic feathers... He turns out to be a little jerk?"
Little punk? Me? Little punk?
After hearing Leon's "fair" evaluation of him, and feeling the strange looks from the nobles, the white-haired old man staggered two steps, and couldn't help but feel a surge of blood rushing to his head, and roared with his hair and beard standing up angrily:
"you!!!"
"What do you mean? Am I wrong?"
Worried that his attack was not strong enough and that he would have trouble getting rid of this unfortunate dukedom, Leon secretly switched his badge and equipped himself with the silver-level [Elite Performer]. He then folded his arms across his chest, raised his head slightly, and sneered with disdain:
"A third-class earl with three feathers... Oh, the feathers given by the royal family are worthless, don't you know that?
You can collect taxes by trickery, give disaster relief by pretending to be serious, or even give a big gift when a princess is born, and the royal family can give you a feather. You are already so old, but there are only three feathers on your badge. What else can you be but a punk?"
"me……"
"What do you mean by 'I'? If I were you, I would have stabbed my own throat long ago!"
With the help of the Silver-level [Elite Performer], Leon's handsome face revealed his heartfelt disgust and deep contempt.
"Trust me, and die soon."
After patting the white-haired old man’s sagging face, Leon leaned over and suggested sincerely:
“Looking at your full energy, you can at least continue to waste food for another twenty to thirty years. If you were to hang yourself today, it would probably save the kingdom a lot of money, and it would be considered a contribution.
Think about it, if the royal family knows that you have made such a great contribution, and they are happy and reward you with a little money, then you will no longer be a small fry, right? Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"
Nonsense! Ridiculous!! Damn you!!!
After being mocked in the most insulting way possible, the white-haired old man, whose face turned purple, was about to object, but he met Leon's eyes.
Two points of disdain, three points of contempt, and the remaining five points are full of sincerity.
What this damned bastard said was actually true! He truly believed from the bottom of his heart that for a "bastard" noble like himself, it would be more valuable to die immediately than to live!
"Ho...ho..."
After being hit by the sincere critical look from Leon, all the scolding and even extremely vicious curses in his heart were suddenly stuck in his throat, and turned into blood pressure that instantly exceeded 200, and a mouthful of sticky and hot yellow phlegm that burned his heart and lungs. The white-haired old man rolled his eyes and kicked his legs, and fell to the ground on the spot.
Damn it? !
Unexpectedly, after just two sentences, the old man was -1 on the spot. Even Leon was startled and instinctively took a step back.
"You saw it! I just poked him twice with my fingers, and he fell down on his own!" "..."
Yes, we all saw it, you did only poke him twice with your fingers, but you just stabbed him in the heart at least a thousand times with your mouth!
Most of the nobles had dignity, at least on the surface. Seeing that they had only scolded the other party and then had their face peeled off and their noses pointed at and scolded, and the old man fainted on the spot with just two words, dozens of nobles in the ward immediately fell silent.
The new Duke of Lionheart is really a bit reckless. The white-haired old man's previous experience is a lesson for him. If he goes up and speaks out, and is also insulted in front of so many in-laws, will he be able to survive?
After waiting for a while, except for a few familiar nobles who called for people to carry the old man out, the entire noble group remained silent tacitly. Although no one stood up to scold Leon, no one suggested replacing the heir with another, and everyone just agreed.
Anyway, he is the heir to the Ryan family, not ours, so the harm cannot come to me. As for the face of the nobles... I laughed. Compared with actual interests, face is not worth even a copper wheel!
If the successor Duke Lionheart was a shrewd and capable person, everyone might oppose it. After all, the more Ryan's industry the new Duke can keep, the less they can share. But now...
Seeing the new duke choose to brazenly offend his in-laws and even make a scene in public when the Ryan family needed support the most, dozens of nobles couldn't help but show satisfaction in their eyes.
That's good. This young man who has no scheming, no brains, high aspirations but low skills, and an arrogant temperament is the most suitable person to succeed the Duke of Lionheart right now!
But after a month or two, when everyone has divided up almost all of Ryan's assets, his tenure as Duke will also be over, right?
……
There are not many powerful people in Ryan's family who can have a decisive influence on the succession to the title.
Apart from the old Duke who "strongly supported" Lyon, a group of the rest were first killed or maimed by Bobby Ryan, and then another group was "suppressed" by Lyon. Only two or three big cats and small cats were left, and they either gave up power for a long time or were very old. The people who had the most say were the "relatives" in the ward.
Ignoring the new duke's strong opposition, the Ryan family's in-laws didn't even spend five minutes deciding to follow the old duke's last wish and make Leon, who had completely black hair and black eyes and didn't look like "Ryan" at all, the new boss of the more than 90,000 little golden-haired kids in the Ryan family.
This is...too ridiculous! It's like child's play!
After learning from the officer who pushed Leon into the ward how the new Duke was selected, the Minister of Defense felt both excited and annoyed.
What made him excited was that his daughter patted her chest and assured him that Leon was definitely not the kind of person who would side with the nobles. Instead of worrying that he would collude with the old nobles after becoming the Duke, he should worry that he would directly overturn the table, or even collude with the rebels to have another bloody night and wipe out all the Ryan family's in-laws.
If Isa's judgment is correct, the successful ascension of a "non-aristocratic" duke like him will definitely be a huge help to the princess's reforms. Having a "own person" in the impenetrable House of Lords is like stabbing a knife into the heart of the old aristocracy.
As for why I’m annoyed…
"Your Highness! These old nobles must be dealt with as soon as possible!"
Looking at the calm princess behind the desk, the old man couldn't help but say with anger in his eyes:
"The Ryan family's sphere of influence is in the Ministry of Road Administration and the Ministry of the Army, mainly in the areas of public facilities and arms procurement. However, the core power of these two important departments is actually held tightly by the old nobles, and they can even transfer power without being appointed! You can only stamp your approval on the candidates they choose! How can this be possible?"
"Yes, I will, but not now."
The princess behind the table was flipping through the file of the "new duke" and said calmly:
"These old nobles are the rotten flesh parasitic on the kingdom and must be cut out, but if they are not cut out properly, the wound will bleed profusely.
My father once ousted three finance ministers in succession and cleaned up many small and medium-sized families, trying to control the financial power of the kingdom himself, but was then faced with an extremely fierce counterattack.
As a result of their competition, the kingdom's finances were shut down for half a year, and deficits totaling nearly 600 billion were exposed one after another, almost ruining the entire kingdom. The Patriotic War six years ago couldn't even make up for the military expenses, and the deficit has been accumulated to this day."
At this point, she paused, picked up a pen and marked something on Leon's file, then continued:
“So we must not rush into this kind of thing. If the price of getting rid of the old nobility is to temporarily shut down the country, it will only cause a greater disaster, so we must do it step by step.
And the current situation is just right, especially our new Duke of Lionheart... um... do you know what he once said?"
Looking at the circled area on the file, the princess recited calmly:
"As for the royal family and nobles, they are just a bunch of lice growing in the crotch of pants. Once they feel pain from sucking blood, they should be caught and crushed to death!"
? ! ! !
The Minister of Defense was completely unaware of Leon's identity as a "rebel" and was shocked when he heard the princess' words.
However, when he was about to say something, he saw the corners of the princess's mouth, which were usually calm, actually curled up slightly.
"Although the metaphor is a bit bad, it is not wrong."
The princess did not get angry about being compared to a louse in the crotch. She closed Lyon's file, opened the report on the succession to the title, and then smiled and said:
"The Duke of Lionheart... um... The Duke of Liceheart... it's quite ironic when you think about it.
This duke who regarded the nobility and the royal family as lice has now become one of the strongest lice in the country, with the ability to lie on the kingdom and suck blood. I want to see what he will do...
Oh, and look at this.”
After handing over the report in her hand, the princess, who usually frowned, chuckled, which was rare. Then she stretched out her finger and tapped the record on the report, and narrated with interest:
"The earl who fainted on the spot after being scolded by him actually placed a cabbage in his bedroom and then declared to the public that the Lionhearted Duke of Leon Ryan would definitely rot faster than his cabbage!"
Cabbage…meaning two to three months at most?
After taking the report and reading it, the Minister of Defense couldn't help but frown, remembering the way his daughter's eyes lit up when she mentioned Leon.
"Your Highness Veronica..."
The Minister of Defense sighed inwardly, and then took the initiative to ask:
"How long do you think he can hold on as a duke? Will he be liquidated after the Ryan family is divided up?"
"There won't be a liquidation."
The princess thought about it and shook her head:
“Except for the earl who was killed by him, other nobles would not care about a hollow duke, but the Ryan family may not live longer than that cabbage.
After losing their clansmen from the military and the Ministry of Highways, the Ryan family's influence in the military hit rock bottom, and they only had one seat left in the House of Lords in the political arena. They still seemed to have something in the business sector, but it was all supported by orders from the military and the Ministry of Highways.
The Ryan family doesn't have any of the military, political, and business responsibilities. What kind of person would it take to prop up this business that is about to collapse?"
(End of this chapter)