Chapter 169 Authentic

"Your Majesty!" Ailin bent down and saluted.

"Is there anything?" asked the little girl. After so many things, she is no longer the little girl who was bullied on the street before. It is hard to describe this change in temperament, but what must be said is that she already has a bit of queen's dignity.

"When you are not here, a few important things happened." Ailin began to report on what happened in the Hawk City after the little girl left. It can be said that the little queen won a victory on the battlefield, and Ailin made full use of this victory. Now, the little queen's rule is no longer a circle of Hawk City and its surrounding areas, but actually covers most parts of the country. She is no longer the nominal queen, but the actual queen.

The remaining rebel forces, including Byron, have all lost the power to counterattack. Of course, part of this is due to Essin.

However, there are some exceptions, such as the church. Now, with the change of the situation, the church's "neutrality" also seems very unpleasant to the court of the Eagle City.

"…So, your majesty, it's the church. You may need to put some pressure on them," Ellen suggested.

"Well, I have to find a chance to meet with the high priest of Eagle City." The little girl nodded and agreed with Elinn's suggestion.

"Well, there is one more thing...I found some evidence...it seems to show that Earl of Ashu Rufat..." Ailin raised the appropriate words. "When he was the Minister of Finance, there might be some..."

"What's some?"

"Maybe there is some suspicion of corruption," said Alinn. "Your Majesty, you know that Earl Ashu Rufat is a mercenary after all, and it is understandable that people like him have special obsession with money, considering..."

"This is impossible!" the little girl replied straightforwardly. But she immediately became curious again. How could Ash Rufate be mistaken for embezzling public funds? "You said he embezzled... why did he embezzle?"

"Earl of Ashurufat may join forces with people... to conduct price difference transactions through the purchase and sale of magic messaging scrolls."

"Magic messaging scroll?" The little girl also heard a little about this. "Is it the chamber of commerce called 'reel'?"

"That's true, the president of the Scroll Chamber of Commerce, named Akin, seems to be a friend of Count Ashrufat." Ailin said. "So, they may have made some deals in private..."

"Wait, you mean, Ashu Rufate buys magic messaging scrolls at a higher price than the market?"

"More than that," said Alinn. "Earl of Eush Rufat buys and sells it. He buys magic scrolls at a high price, and then sells them to Mr. Akin at a low price." He said. "The difference is almost twice... and, this kind of transaction... they have been doing it for more than half a year. They are still going on now."

This time, even the little girl was moved. Ailin said this with certainty, there must be evidence. But how could Aishu Rufate use such a bad method to embezzle...? At that time...

"How many more are there in our treasury?" the little girl took a deep breath and asked.

"There are still some, about five or six million." Ailin replied. During the time when the little girl was not in the royal city, with the authority of the prime minister, he now has a good understanding of the situation of the treasury. "In terms of the current numbers, it should be able to support it for a period of time," he said.

"Why... so much money?" the little girl asked herself in a voice that she was talking to herself. At that time, didn't Ashu Rufate tell herself that there was nothing in the treasury? What did he do later? No matter what he did, the money would not be transformed out of nothing, right?

"Although this number is not small, your majesty, please don't forget that we still have to pay huge debts." Ailin said. "It's okay next month, but in a while... a huge debt may expire."

“High debt?”

"The total amount is no less than five million gold Oly. It is a huge loan by Byron to the Silverfish Chamber of Commerce. Although it is an interest-free loan, the whereabouts of the money are unknown. I can only guess that Byron secretly borrowed money in your name and then transferred himself away. Your Majesty, I must remind that no matter how abundant the treasury is, it cannot withstand... such unscrupulous corruption."

"Okay, I understand." The little girl was obviously a little dazed.

"By the way, there is another thing, about your temporary tutor, Ms. Rotia... If I'm not wrong, she was recommended by Earl Asu Rufat?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, although this is very rude, this Ms. Rotia may be a...Fengchen woman. I heard that she seems to be a...prostitute! Such a person who serves as your tutor, even if it is temporary, is... extremely rude. If people from other countries know that your teacher is a prostitute, then...this matter may become a laughing stock in other countries."

Ailin looked at the little girl's expression, but the other party never spoke.

"Your Majesty, this matter is probably..."

"I understand, you go down first." said the little girl.

A few minutes later, Alinn came to the Prime Minister's office room. Although the regent's residence was large, it was not a royal palace after all. Over the past period, as the power expanded, the number of officials in the palace increased rapidly, making it look a little narrow. In the Prime Minister's office room, a small group of officials at all levels were already standing.

"Prime Minister..." Seeing Ellen coming back, everyone greeted him. "What did Her Majesty the Queen say?"

"The Queen may not be able to make up her mind for a moment," said Alinn. "After all, Earl Ashu Rufat... saved the Queen's life in a critical moment. And she was still skeptical about this."

"So, that Rotia's thing..."

"I'm afraid this matter must be discussed with Ash Rufate," said Alinn. "This matter... must make His Majesty realize the unreliability of that man."

Well, although it is understandable that those who are born in mercenaries are obsessed with money, he is the prime minister after all, and he cannot allow this kind of thing to continue.

...

"The situation in Fornoros City is indeed very bad. The Wang Army did not have any attacking situation. It seemed that she wanted to carry out a simple siege tactic, but because the grain warehouse was burned, the city would not last long... In addition, there was news that Byron had lost his peace... The people in the city were panic..."

Ashrufate sat quietly alone in the central army tent, with his eyes closed. The words carried by the wind of magic flowed in his mind, as if there was a person in his ear, clearly telling him this.

It seems that this is a spy from Tiberius in the city of Fornoros, who is sending back information to the master with magic communication.

The contact with the Magic Wind was by no means a pleasant experience. It felt like a greasy oil surrounding him, making him feel his stomach twitch. But it was all worth it. Today, after receiving a lot of boring business reports, Ash Rufate finally found the information he needed.

He let go of the magic wind, but the smell of rotten oil still filled his senses and was delayed. After a long time, this feeling gradually faded.

"Sure enough, that guy Byron wants to do this at a critical moment?" He murmured to himself softly, then stood up and walked out.

It should be a look at the authentic siege.

A little later, he came to a side of the camp. The dwarf craftsman was still busy, and Ogreve, the dwarf's engineer, was doing calculations with paper and pen. Eshu Rufate did not disturb him, but stood aside and waited for his calculations to be completed.

"Very good, that's all done!" Ogriff finally finished the calculation and said to himself. He turned around, but unexpectedly saw Ashu Rufate beside him.

"How is the situation, Master Ogrif?" Ashu Rufate asked. He has now discovered that the dwarf named Ogrif likes to call him "Master". Although he had previously modestly expressed that the title "Master" was not worthy, every time Ashu Rufate called him Master, his face would be more joyful.

"It will be done in ten days." Ogreve answered confidently. "I will detonate the gunpowder at that time, and... I will bang it, and the wall will be gone."

"Ten days?"

"Damn, don't you see how long our tunnel is?" Ogriff replied dissatisfied. "Only our dwarves can dig so quickly. If you humans were the ones who would do it, it would have to dig at least one month!"

"Of course, I'm very satisfied with your progress." Ashu Rufat looked at the entrance of the tunnel. The dwarf was indeed a master of excavation. While maintaining high speed, he could still keep quiet. He could be sure that the other party had not noticed it yet.

"By the way," Ogriff lit his own special pipe (this pipe is very cleverly made, which will prevent Mars from being exposed, and is obviously a professional item) and took a sip. "We will use new gunpowder this time, which is much more powerful than your human gunpowder. This gunpowder must be charged extra money."

As he said that, he picked up a small restaurant from beside him, which contained black granular solids. "That's it."

For some reason, Ashu Rufate suddenly realized that this was actually an ordinary black gunpowder, but it was made into particles with some kind of glue. After the pelletization, the power of the gunpowder will increase. However, the dwarves did not seem to intend to popularize this science and technology to humans, but just said that the two gunpowder formulas were different.

"Of course there is no problem." Ashu Rufate replied calmly. "But in terms of price, you know, the Engineers Association has promised me the best price..."

"The beard is on!" Ogreve cursed. "You are really the best business man I have ever seen!"

It only took ten days... Ashu Rufate narrowed his eyes and looked at the city wall in the distance.
Chapter completed!