In the Name of Empress-Chapter 505 - 326: Emperor or Clown?

"Welcome the great Emperor’s triumphant return!"

"His Majesty Sylph is our sun!"

"Long live the Empress!"

...

The excited crowd squeezed at the city gate to welcome Sylph’s triumphant return after the annihilation of the Oden Kingdom, and the fervent cheers echoed high above the city.

This is the grand scene that Sylph encounters when returning home with her army through every city.

Sylph personally led an army of 180,000 northward to conquer the Oden Kingdom, wiping out a complete kingdom in just fifty days and expanding the territory. Such a feat is illustrious even in the Empire’s glorious history.

This is not a colony developed in the wildernesses of the New Continent or the South Continent; this is the fertile land of Rodinia.

The Oden Kingdom may not be a first-class power, but it is a medium-sized kingdom that has stood on the Rodinia Continent for over five hundred years.

The last time the Sussex Empire annexed such a level of a kingdom was over a hundred years ago, and such an achievement is certainly deserving of praise.

The fall of Frank Castle left the people of Hansa City anxious, with many even planning to flee overseas and return to the homeland as soon as possible.

People urgently needed a resounding victory to turn the situation around.

This victory came at the perfect time.

When Sylph appeared, dressed gloriously and bringing the spoils of war, the cheers of the crowd came from the heart.

They are proud Sussex people, they need victories, one victory after another.

While Sylph enjoys the glory, the Jin Yuan Kingdom feels the same way. The Weimar Federation occupies the fertile land on the east bank of the Rodinia River; they have long coveted it but never had the opportunity.

It’s not that they couldn’t win, but that international perceptions had to be considered.

To annex a medium-sized country, one must consider how other great countries view this, whether allies would be astonished; this is a more complex consideration than the outcome on the battlefield.

But now, they no longer need to consider it.

The opposing camp will be astonished no matter what, and the allied Sussex will support them no matter what, so Jin Yuan Kingdom no longer pretends.

They mobilized over 300,000 troops, equipped with an astonishing number of cannons, advancing in straight lines and completely annexing the Weimar Federation.

Though this violent approach incurred significant losses, it was simple, crude, and effective.

The new army also gradually grew during the tests of blood and fire.

More important than the new army growing in blood and fire is the gain in people’s hearts.

The glory of victory made the Jin Yuan People accept Alina’s alliance with the Sussex Empire and also accept the new allied commander Christine.

Though sharing some of the spoils with the Sussex Empire upset some extreme Jin Yuan nationalists, such discordant voices were quickly suppressed before they could be heard.

Under the invisible guidance of public opinion, any such statements were brutally suppressed as soon as they surfaced, being criticized harshly as traitorous speech.

While celebrating victory, several waves of minstrels set off from the capital, traveling across the country to begin their performances.

This group of minstrels was personally trained by Adam, and the scripts of their performances were all carefully compiled by him.

This set of scripts consists of several theatrical programs.

Main Content I: Promoting the traditional friendship between the Jin Yuan Kingdom and Sussex Country, downplaying the numerous historical conflicts between the two nations, especially diminishing the presence of the Jin Yuan Kingdom’s heroine respected as the Red Lotus Saintess.

Main Content II: Promoting the traditional hatred between the Jin Yuan Kingdom and the Odin Empire. What, you say the Odin Empire is gone? That doesn’t matter; the Weimar Federation, Tirol Kingdom, and Prudon Kingdom all claim to be the successors to the Odin Empire. Hatred doesn’t disappear; it can be transferred.

Main Content III: Praising Miss Alina’s brilliance and valor, surpassing many monarchs in history.

Main Content IV: Promoting that Saintess Christine is the real War God, and that the historical Red Lotus Saintess was merely hyped up; her actual military accomplishments were exaggerated.

Main Content V, and the most important part: To celebrate victory, Miss Alina announced that there would be no taxes this year, and anyone daring to collect taxes would be considered a traitor and could be killed on the spot with a hoe.

...

After this set of propaganda punches, the emotions of the grassroots populace were quickly ignited.

They knew nothing of history or international situation; they believed whatever the minstrels told them.

To them, full bellies were most important.

Miss Alina isn’t collecting taxes this year, so she’s a good person.

Since Miss Alina is a good person, Christine with her is also a good person.

Who is the Red Lotus Saintess? Not familiar.

...

West Palace.

Alina stood by the window watching the emotional crowd outside, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed.

These people cheered when her father overthrew the Old Empire, cheered during Marco’s coup, cheered when she regained power, and still cheer now.

Perhaps they just needed a reason to cheer; why they cheer isn’t important.

For a moment, she found amusement in her naive complaint and laughed, "Heh."

The uneducated populace is like this. They just cheer, while the helmsman has to consider many things to ensure that the Jin Yuan ship sails in the right direction.

Alina put aside her slight worries, as she already heard footsteps coming from the corridor.

Crisp boot sounds, steady and powerful, with a consistent pace—this is the sign of a super expert.

No need to guess; the arrival is Saintess Christine.

Without waiting for Christine to knock, Alina waved her hand, and the door was already open.

Christine was not surprised; Alina was not only a Transcendent but also an Astrologer. If she didn’t know about her arrival, that would be odd.

"Alina, there’s something very important you need to know."