The Empror's Trap-Chapter 67: Ch - A Conversation

Kenji observed the man across the table.

What did Prince Yunis truly lack?

Money? He had plenty. His annual stipend from the court alone was more than most commoners could imagine. Not to mention that Pluvia would occasionally give him some pocket money - and even that was no small sum.

Did he lack beautiful women? While his mansion may not have been overflowing with beauties, he certainly had many wives and concubines.

That left only power. As a prince, while his authority wasn’t equal to the emperor’s, there were very few in court who dared to openly oppose him - he could count them on two hands.

"Your Highness, I’ve seen your governance plans. If this vision was conceived by you alone, you must truly yearn for such a world," Kenji said, sipping the red tea before him.

"The ancient sages spoke of a world of great unity, yet it has never been achieved," the Fifth Prince mused, seemingly speaking both to Kenji and to himself.

He couldn’t understand where he had failed. He had his private army, his prestige, support from many court officials. Even the current emperor’s position wasn’t entirely secure. He had a group of followers loyal to both himself and his noble vision.

Why then?

"The sages merely spoke of it," Kenji said, watching the tea ornament become translucent as the water flowed over it. "Your Highness, what the sages described was a dream - an unattainable one."

"Because it’s difficult to achieve, we shouldn’t even try?" Yunis asked.

"Well, you did try, didn’t you?" Kenji tapped the expensive nanmu tea tray. "It didn’t work."

"Indeed, I got myself into quite a situation," the Fifth Prince smiled helplessly.

He admitted he couldn’t win this fight.

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"Today, Her Majesty will likely only question you, not immediately hold you accountable. Please give me face and don’t make this difficult."

Looking at the soldiers who had already searched Yunis’s residence, Kenji asked, "Is the search complete?"

"Report to the Grand Marshal, we’ve searched almost everywhere!" the soldiers in the courtyard called out, then turned their gaze to the room.

Their meaning was clear: Should they search this room?

"If you’re almost done, check for any hidden storage spaces," Kenji waved his hand. "I need to discuss something with his highness. You can search here later!"

"Yes sir!"

The soldiers obeyed immediately and left.

"You command great respect among them," Yunis remarked.

He had always thought his own followers were the most loyal and pure, but interestingly, Kenji had achieved the same results through different means.

"It’s nothing special," Kenji watched the soldiers in the courtyard. "I simply treat them as my own people. Soldiers are an interesting group - sometimes getting close to them works better than just giving orders."

"That’s why I initially wanted to bring you under my command... but it was too late."

"It’s not about timing, Your Highness. You took the wrong path."

That was all Kenji could say.

"Oh? Are you saying my ideas were wrong?"

Faced with Kenji’s "criticism," he showed interest and asked.

"No, your ideas weren’t wrong," Kenji shrugged - a gesture favored by people from the western countries. "You see, your opponent is no ordinary person. Our emperor has quite a few tricks up her sleeve. Moreover, the common people of Camelot haven’t reached the point where they’re willing to follow you."

Kenji knew what the Fifth Prince wanted to do. He hoped to truly free Camelot’s people from their current life, to create the world of great unity the sages spoke of - where elderly and children were cared for, every household had abundance, and people didn’t have to bow their heads in fear to anyone.

But the problem was that he was thinking too far ahead.

While Camelot’s people couldn’t be called wealthy, thanks to generations of diligent rulers, even if they couldn’t have everything they wanted, they could at least ensure basic sustenance through hard work, barring natural disasters or calamities.

The common people’s demands were actually quite simple - enough food, warm clothes, a happy family life. That was their main concern. Anything beyond that was secondary.

In short, while Kenji could understand what Yunis wanted to do, his actions lacked foundation. The prince’s slogans might have been powerful, and some intellectuals might have followed him, but what use was that? Most of Camelot’s people only wanted enough food and clothing, and under Camelot’s efforts, this goal was slowly being achieved. At this time, suddenly appearing and saying you want to overthrow the Camelot’s emperor that had lived in people’s hearts for over a thousand years...

Honestly, it was very difficult.

For Kenji, although he initially had similar ideas to Prince Yunis, he never thought about using his subordinates and soldiers to accomplish such a feat.

Taking a step back, even if he had military power and forcibly overthrew Pluvia’s rule, what then? In people’s hearts, the thousand-year-old Camelot wouldn’t perish, and he, a treasonous minister, would never be considered legitimate. No matter how hard he tried to resist the pushback from the old guard, it would be futile.

Progressive ideas needed a sufficiently progressive era, and new things naturally needed a background of transition between old and new. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to escape the suppression of the old order.

Moreover...

Prince Yunis couldn’t even get the basics right - how did he expect to succeed with just the people he had? His educational reforms were a mess, he couldn’t even properly enlighten the people; his construction projects were amateur at best...

So, Yunis’s failure to turn the situation around was a foregone conclusion.

"It’s about time, Your Highness," Kenji checked the time. "I’m carrying out Her Majesty’s orders now, as you know. I shouldn’t delay her commands for too long."

"I understand."

He sighed deeply and stood up.

"Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you today. I guarantee it on my position as Grand Marshal."

Pluvia naturally wouldn’t kill Yunis on the spot. Even when sentencing a commoner, Camelot empire would go through a series of procedures, let alone for royalty. This time, Pluvia was just giving Prince Yunis a warning shot - calling him in just to give him a mild reprimand.

To most royal family members, this kind of criticism and accountability was already considered quite serious.

This time, Kenji had no objections to Pluvia’s decision, because he understood this was both a matter of court politics and Camelot family business. Though he was involved in the final decision, he was only a participant.