Chapter 69: Time to Collect Evidence
It had already been a week since my accession to the throne.
During this period, the armies of Lord Warung and Lord Chamneaux occupied and secured the fief that was originally under the direct control of the Emperor. Although, there wasn’t much resistance. Most of the magistrates in the Chancellor and Regent factions who were in control had already fled.
The capital had issued an imperial decree regarding the ‘Rebellion of the Three Families’. This was only announced to the capital and its surroundings, but I intend to notify all the lords about this along with other information.
I had declared this at the audience, but I had only placed the responsibility on Aquicurl House and Raul House. I have decided to charge the lords who had attacked L’Mitedeau House and the other two families under the instructions of the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies.
This was our limit. If we are too harsh on the lords in the Chancellor and Regent factions, then they will all turn against us. We won’t be able to win the civil war if all the lords from the factions turn against us and then I won’t be able to govern.
This was my basic policy as the Emperor. I will severely punish Aquicurl and Raul House and be relatively lenient with the other lords. I intend to be lenient towards them for a while.
The lords who participated in my coronation ceremony are still under the guise of ‘interrogation’ instead of being unjustly imprisoned. The Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies committed many crimes, including assassinating the Emperor and the Crown Prince and tax evasion. The lords were being questioned about whether they helped the Chancellor and the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies with their crimes or if they had known about their crimes.
… Well of course I expect all of them to say, ‘I don’t know’.
I don’t expect to get a testimony from them either. Their interrogation was only conducted to buy time. In the meantime, I had the spies and bureaucrats working under the Treasurer to spend a week scrutinising every document that remained in the palace.