The Thorn Birds Alliance is the largest business alliance with the most members gathered from Wayne Port and even the entire Sara.
She thought of Sarah VII's strange attitude towards the great nobles in the death ticket case.
From that case, to the strange rhythm of Wayne Port before the Crystal Sea case unfolded, to the confrontation that intensified due to the Nan Xinze incident some time ago... She was surprised to find that all of this was explained.
It was not Sarah VII who was restraining and balancing the power of the nobility.
But he had known about the existence of this organization for a long time, and was sure that it must be closely related to the great nobles, and was using this method to force them to reveal their true colors!
"We have suspicions, but no evidence," Pippen said with regret.
"With the two trump cards of the Legion of Ashes and the Flint Knights, do you still need evidence to do things?" Hitzfeld found it unbelievable.
Is this still a kingdom of dictatorship?
Why should the king reason with the nobles in a place where there is no parliament?
"need."
Pippen licked his lips. "This is important."
"Is it because Your Majesty cares a lot about his reputation, or is it out of moral considerations..."
Xia Yibing asked softly.
She also thought it was strange.
In her impression, many of Sarah's policies were "overbearing".
For example, the absolute power of the secret police in the local area, and the boundary demarcation and trade agreements with several neighboring countries.
"Because it concerns the stability of the royal power."
Pippen gave the reminder as subtle as possible.
But the other three were still confused.
"This is related to whether the Tree People will continue to support us as always, and whether many ancient families will gather around us to build this country together."
Pippen continued to explain.
But the effect still doesn't look good.
So he thought about it and decided that it would be better to make it clear.
"I'll tell you what we call those people."
"Yes, they are indeed not the Slit-Mouth Wolves, nor are they the mess of various schools and sects."
"They are actually very noble and ancient."
"they are……"
He paused.
"The old royal party."
"..."
"..."
Agent Anmi was in complete shock.
Xia Yibing also frowned.
As for Hitzfeld, she remembered that Ferdinand and Villefort were originally awarded the Order of the Holy Oak.
I thought of the pattern in the upper left corner of the Sarah royal coat of arms, which is an oak tree.
But the middle name of the royal family of Sarah means poplar.
Well……
She felt that she might know what the root of the conflict was.
Chapter 49: Shocking Change
Agent Anmi was shocked because he knew exactly what the "Old Royal Party" was referring to.
It can't be the previous king from decades ago.
The royal power is passed down from generation to generation through blood. To put it bluntly, this is the royal family's family affair. Even if you go back generations, or generations before that, you are still "Sara". The title and sovereignty of "Sara" will not change.
There is no point in supporting the kings of previous generations, that is still supporting Sarah.
But since it is not referring to this aspect, it can only be the sovereign state before Sarah.
That is, the kingdom that existed on this land before Sarah was actually established.
Only the royal power of that country, the royal family who holds the orthodox name of that royal power, and those who support this royal family are qualified to be called the "Old Royal Party" by people like Vesta.
"I want to know one thing right now." He lowered his voice to the lowest level, looking around with a sly look on his face: "...The hypothesis of usurping the throne is not true, is it?"
"Of course it's not true, it's just a rumor they spread!" Pippen's face darkened. "Although I don't know much about this matter, I also consulted Mr. Vesta once, and he told me very clearly that there has never been a concept of 'usurping the country'!"
Indeed, there won’t be any.
Hitzfeld nodded mentally.
The direct evidence is the Woodmen... This tribe is older than Sara, and it is very likely that they were attached to the previous dynasty. If King Torredo did not use insidious means to gain the kingdom, the Woodmen would not have recognized Sara.
Even if the situation was critical at the time, facing the gray fog invasion and the disaster of human extinction, the Woodmen had to help Sarah fight against the foreign enemy. Now that so many years have passed, the situation has long been stable, and there is no sign of the Wheel of Fortune and the royal family cutting ties.
So no matter what the process of dynasty change is, no matter what happened during that period, it would not be a usurpation of power.
Of course, it is not ruled out that the wooden people and the Sara royal family colluded to stab each other, but this possibility is extremely low. After all, the wooden people do not have human desires.
but……
Even if there is no usurpation of power, conflicts are certain.
Thoughts and human hearts are, after all, too fickle.
Even two people who live in the same era or are good friends may become enemies for various reasons.
Why should two dynasties and royal families who lived in different eras still treasure the peace treaty made by their ancestors?
"The royal family of the previous dynasty, they must have stayed behind." Hitzfeld suddenly said, "If my guess is correct, these people must be controlled by your majesty, even though their numbers are small... This may be why King Torredo was able to get all the support back then."
Pippen opened his mouth and stared at the girl as if she were a monster.
"I swear I never revealed any relevant clues... Why did you..."
After a pause, he quickly shook his head and sighed: "If you guessed it on your own, then you are really not suitable to be a detective...Don't be a detective, Miss Hitzfeld, come over here, we can give you a better position."
This is a disguised admission.
"Do you know what you are saying? Don't forget that you are still a traitor!" Xia Yibing couldn't stand him poaching people in front of her, and warned him: "You betrayed the director's trust in you!"
"Do you understand what true loyalty is, Captain?" Pippen retorted righteously, "Let me tell you...true loyalty is only for that one person. We can betray anyone, lie to anyone without batting an eyelid, because everything we have is dedicated to him. We are the extension of his will, and we are the real 'Shadow Lion'!"
"Even if the one standing against you is the Goddess of Mechanical Sun?" Hitzfeld suddenly interrupted.
"Good!" Pippen was still immersed in the excitement. He immediately turned his head and looked at her with his sharp eyes.
"No one can stop this will, not even the evil gods! Not even the true gods!"
"Pippen and Ovis!" Agent Anmi shouted, "I think you are crazy!!"
What is treason?
This is truly treasonous!
Compared to what Pippen is saying now, what are Hitzfeld's doubts about the royal family?
After all, the Church of the Goddess of Machinery and the Sun is the state religion of Sara. Maybe some people have doubted the goddess because they know too much, but more of the lower-class people believe in her mindlessly!
If these words get out, those fanatics will tear him to pieces alive!
Xia Yibing clenched her fists and glared at Pippen with gritted teeth.
She wanted to get angry and wanted to rush over and punch that young but proud face. But her reason told her that what the other person said made sense.
What is Shadow Lion?
The police force directly under the royal family only accepts orders from the royal family and can take action against any other system when necessary.
It was something that existed only for the royal power. As long as it served the royal power, Pippen's behavior naturally could not be considered as betraying anyone.
From this perspective, she trusted Villefort too much and was not loyal enough to Sarah VII.
Am I...wrong?
But if I had to choose between the goddess and your majesty...
I……
A cold little hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Looking up, he met Hitzfeld's single blue eye.
“There’s no need to dwell on this,” she said.
"This is not a confrontation between theocracy and monarchy, but between the new monarchy and the old monarchy - just like the name they gave to those people - 'the old monarchy'. It's just that some things that should have been buried in the ruins of the times are unwilling to resign themselves and want to regain their status."
"well said!"
Along with this voice, another figure walked out of the darkness.
"Asfen." Hitzfeld looked at him and smiled.
"Would you like to try and give me a grade?"
"You haven't completely solved this problem, including how to escape from the Ash Legion's artillery fire." Asfen shook his head.
"But you were able to figure all this out with almost no intelligence support. No matter how you did it, I personally am willing to give you a high score."
"...That little guy is not wrong. You are more suitable to be a politician."
"I know nothing about politics," Hitzfeld said again.
Exactly the same thing he had said to Villefort in the underground headquarters.
"Can you tell me when you started to doubt it?" Asfen pretended not to hear and asked her directly.
“Start with your name.”
"my name?"
"Regarding honors... whether it's academic honors or war honors, I've noticed that most of the medals awarded in this regard are the 'Holy Oak Medal' for the highest achievements."
The girl said.
"Also, the royal coat of arms has been mentioned in various descriptions and records. The oak tree is almost a symbol of the royal family. If you must say, this is the national tree of Sara."
"But the middle name King Torredor gave to his descendants was Asfen...which translates to Poplar."
"It's almost like a cuckoo laying its eggs in another bird's nest."
"He probably thought that one day a taller poplar tree would grow out of the shadow of the holly oak and that would be the true replacement for the holly oak."
"From this point, I think he also has complaints about keeping the bloodline of the former king."
"And the most important thing."
She took a breath and stared at Asfen seriously.
"The so-called dead forest...the tree of death should also be an oak tree."
"The truth about the Death Tree is that the old royal party, which used the Holy Oak as its emblem, secretly developed or inherited a special natural disaster weapon."
“They can decide in the big picture who this thing is directed at.”
"This is a warning and also a punishment."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The dead silence lasted for quite a long time.
Among them, Agent Anmi and Xia Yibing were the most shocked.
Although they have always been aware of the undercurrents of struggle in the country's political arena, they never thought that things would be so serious.
