Quiet Changes

Xie Hai Zhu left the room without waiting to hear the rest.

‘Punish them?’

‘There’s no need; they merely spoke the truth.’

‘Rather, the fault lies with the kingdom’s upper echelons, whose actions have instilled such widespread fear.’

‘But it matters not; she is here.’

‘With the golden stopwatch’s hand only at the two o’clock mark, she could already wield the strength of a peak Battle Duke. In a few days, manifesting the power of a War Duke would be effortless, would it not?’

‘Simply suppressing others’ words would never quell the rumors.’

‘The best approach was through tangible actions and demonstrable results.’

“However, for someone to dare utter such words, they must either be instigated by someone, or perhaps they’ve joined some organization… Intriguing.”

Xie Hai Zhu began to anticipate the performance of these hidden clowns.

Upon arriving at yesterday’s office, Xie Hai Zhu found that Duanmu Yun had yet to appear, though her aide-de-camp was already present.

“Lady Hai Zhu?”

Startled by Xie Hai Zhu’s sudden appearance, the aide-de-camp’s eyes widened, and they hastily bowed, stammering, “My, my greetings, Lady Hai Zhu!”

“Simply call me Xie Hai Zhu.”

Yet, at these words, the aide-de-camp immediately grew even more reserved.

“P-please wait a moment, I-I’ll go prepare some tea for you right away!”

The aide-de-camp scurried away.

‘The Xie family alone shouldn’t warrant such nervousness from her, should it?’

Xie Hai Zhu fell into deep thought, her expression unreadable.

‘Is it out of reverence for the previous Hai Zhu?’

The aide-de-camp’s name was Li Ziying, a mid-tier Martial Duke. Her ancestors had once been nobility in the Four Directions Kingdom, but for the past five generations, her family had been commoners.

Yet now—

The Deep Crimson Knights boasted a full complement of 1000 members, organized into squads of 10 and companies of 100. Li Ziying served as the captain of the First Company and was Duanmu Yun’s direct aide-de-camp, holding a position of immense authority within the order, second only to the commander and above a thousand others.

Even externally, she was a significant figure, one whom many nobles had no choice but to humble themselves before.

Furthermore, as one of the few who understood the truth about the Hai Zhu Puppet, she could be considered among the kingdom’s highest echelons.

Beyond revering Saintess Hai Zhu, who had altered her destiny, Xie Hai Zhu truly couldn’t conceive of any other reason for Li Ziying to respect her… No, even that reason didn’t hold up.

Li Ziying’s demeanor towards Duanmu Yun clearly indicated that she held little respect for those who manipulated the Hai Zhu Puppet from behind the scenes.

While this situation was partly due to Duanmu Yun’s own personality, someone merely attached to Duanmu Yun would have even less reason to earn Li Ziying’s respect—Xie Shenhong, for instance, would certainly have pursued this line of thought.

But at this moment, she was Xie Hai Zhu.

‘Has she been won over by my talent and abilities?’

Xie Hai Zhu didn’t believe her contributions to the kingdom over the past five years had been insignificant in the slightest.

Moreover, for someone without magic to simultaneously handle the work of both the research department and the finance minister… it was simply astounding.

Not to mention her ability to advance the golden stopwatch’s hand—

This signified that she was the most suitable person in the entire kingdom to wield the Hai Zhu Puppet, the prime candidate to restore Saintess Hai Zhu’s glory.

It was only natural for Li Ziying to view her as the kingdom’s hope.

The only other reason she could conceive of was—

‘If it’s fear that I’m not mature enough, fear that I might expose myself too easily… then I’ve truly been underestimated.’

Xie Hai Zhu waited silently on the central sofa.

Before long, Li Ziying returned, respectfully presenting the tea.

Xie Hai Zhu took an elegant sip, set down the precious teacup, and glanced at Li Ziying, who stood dutifully by her side.

“Are you also dissatisfied with my actions today?”

“Huh?” Li Ziying looked utterly bewildered.

However, as the captain of the Knights’ First Company, her intelligence network was far more extensive than that of ordinary people, and she quickly understood what Xie Hai Zhu was referring to, hastily waving her hands.

“No, no, no, how could I possibly be displeased with Lady Hai Zhu’s actions?”

“But some will be.”

Hearing this, Li Ziying ceased her panic. Instead, her face hardened, and her eyes sharpened with resolve.

“Lady Hai Zhu, please tell me the details.”

Xie Hai Zhu did not respond. Instead, she silently took another sip of tea before speaking:

“This should be your affair.”

“My apologies, I was inconsiderate,” Li Ziying quickly apologized, then began to explain. “What Lady Hai Zhu witnessed was likely someone from the ‘Patriots’ Society’…

It turned out that over the past five years, although members of the Vermillion Bird and Azure Dragon families had taken turns impersonating Hai Zhu, there was no wall that could keep out all wind, and people had still begun to notice discrepancies.

Some understood the difficulties faced by the kingdom’s high command, yet others were discontent with their decision to conceal the truth.

This faction formed the Patriots’ Society, resolving to independently seek a solution to the crisis.

“If finding a solution were that simple, we would have done it long ago, why would we wait for them…” Li Ziying scoffed.

The kingdom’s high command adopted a policy of suppression and restriction against the Patriots’ Society, which had now transitioned to operating in secret.

It was widely believed that the recent rumors of Lady Hai Zhu’s disappearance were spread by them, and yesterday’s emergency press conference had been convened precisely to severely criticize these actions and affirm the kingdom’s official stance of pursuing the matter to its conclusion.

“So, my absence from the press conference caused you trouble, then.”

“Not at all! Your return, Lady Hai Zhu, is more important than anything else!” Li Ziying hastily waved her hands. “Moreover, we have already devised a countermeasure; we plan to turn their own scheme against them and apprehend those individuals!”

At this point, Xie Hai Zhu could confirm that Li Ziying’s attitude towards her fell into the second category: she believed Xie Hai Zhu could protect the kingdom just as the original Hai Zhu had.

This was fine; Xie Hai Zhu inherently harbored the ambition to save the country, believing herself uniquely qualified. Earning others’ adoration for this was only natural, and she wouldn’t, as she might have in her male form, entertain thoughts of inadequacy or worry about her future performance.

The problem, however, was this Patriots’ Society—she had never heard of it in her previous life.

After the Empire’s invasion, numerous resistance forces had emerged throughout the kingdom. For an organization to be taken seriously by the kingdom’s high command, it simply couldn’t have remained obscure by conventional reasoning.

The only explanation was that they had been eradicated by the kingdom before then.

“When do you intend to make your move?”

Xie Hai Zhu did not favor this approach of securing internal stability before addressing external threats, yet she would not condemn it.

In the absence of a Saintess, forging a unified internal front was entirely understandable.

But now, the situation had changed.

With her present, there was no need to deplete internal strength.

Even extremists, if utilized properly, could become a sharp blade for the kingdom.

Moreover—

“Within a week, they are already growing impatient.”

Indeed.

This organization was linked to the rebellion that would occur six days later.

‘Lyte must have sided with Sister Yun, helping to resolve the Patriots’ Society issue, which is why he was hailed as a hero by the kingdom, right?’

Having understood the connections.

Xie Hai Zhu had already made her decision.

“Do you require my assistance?”

“No, such matters are not significant enough to trouble Lady Hai Zhu.”

“If I’m not mistaken, the Patriots’ Society has Martial Dukes among its ranks, does it not?”

Li Ziying was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, but her fleeting surprise did not escape Xie Hai Zhu’s keen eyes.

Xie Hai Zhu quickly adopted a crestfallen expression.

“I see. So, I have no right to be informed about your decided matters…”

“N-no, that’s not it!” Li Ziying hastily waved her hands. “We absolutely have no intention of keeping things from Lady Hai Zhu… I-I’ll go get the information for you right away!”

Just then, a sudden voice rang out, halting Li Ziying’s movements.

“You are forbidden to do that!”