plumnovel #649 - The Imperial Diet and the Three Popes
#649 - The Imperial Diet and the Three Popes
"You should be ashamed of what you've done!"
"The Imperial Council no longer possesses even an ounce of legitimacy!"
"I dare say, among the Imperial Council members present today are spies of the Flesh Courtyard!"
In the spacious Imperial Council Palace, the moment the voting results were announced, Hahn Dan, the Duke of Naderbach's envoy, flew into a rage.
He even climbed onto the podium, holding aloft a large oil painting, depicting the Battle of Khan Jinshan, hastily produced by the renowned imperial painter Quivello in five days.
In the painting, half the sky was clear, while the other half was filled with blood-colored clouds and rain, with two handsome Duke's soldiers standing valiantly in the bloody downpour.
Opposite them were the King's soldiers, bearing the blue bee banner of the Leia Royal Family, but compared to the Duke's soldiers, these soldiers had狰狞 faces, with sharp vampire fangs protruding from their mouths.
On the hill behind the King's army stood a gray-robed figure with pale hands raised, emitting a red mist of blood.
In the damp, brownish-yellow soil, gray-green zombie hands reached out from beside the hooves of the King's knights, while giant bats circled in the sky.
"Look, do you see that? Can such a terrifying scene not evoke the justice in your hearts?" Hahn Dan's voice was almost a cry from the heart, "Is this still not enough to serve as evidence that the despicable usurper Ginigis is colluding with the Flesh Courtyard?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hahn Dan." Duke Denoar, as the temporary speaker of the Imperial Council today, knocked the gavel helplessly. "This painting has high artistic merit, and I would be willing to spend a fortune to purchase it, but based solely on oral accounts and an oil painting, we cannot determine that King Ginigis is colluding with the Flesh Courtyard."
"Oral accounts? Didn't I show you the decaying corpses of the soldiers after they were attacked by magic?" Held by several guards by the legs, Hahn Dan continued to shout wildly.
"Forgive my bluntness, Mr. Hahn Dan." The King's envoy, in a silk notary robe, stood up behind the mahogany desk. "I didn't want to say it directly, but your fabricated evidence is too fake. Is it difficult to hire a few members of the Secret Society to create such a corpse?"
"Bullshit, you spy of the Flesh Courtyard, Ginigis is a spy of the Flesh Courtyard!" Clamped between two halberd guards, Hahn Dan kicked and struggled, his feet dangling in the air. "You are all spies of the Flesh Courtyard, Pope Puliano is also a spy of the Flesh Courtyard!"
Watching Hahn Dan being dragged out, Duke Denoar brushed the dust off his knees, and while standing up, smiled wryly at the High Judge Quivalin beside him: "This is truly unseemly."
Shaking his head and sighing, Quivalin was equally exhausted by the farce of "Duke Naderbach accusing King Ginigis of colluding with the Flesh Courtyard" that had been going on for some time.
But amidst his exhaustion, he couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity and ridiculousness.
In this battle for the throne, the River Isle Royal University, representing scholars, maintained a neutral stance.
Since there would be no change of dynasty, at least half of the nobles had chosen neutrality, and even the Decree Legion vaguely showed signs of neutrality.
Compared to Prince Condé, the famous Fran general and titled knight who took the lead, these three great nobles vying for the throne were all useless.
To get the Decree Knights to follow them wholeheartedly like they followed Prince Condé, unless extremely high bounties were promised.
In this regard, Ginigis, who lavishly rewarded his followers upon ascending the throne and replaced the Decree Legion captains with lightning speed, had a greater control over the army.
Starting last winter, the two sides repeatedly pulled back and forth on Dawn Island, with each having its victories and defeats, and the two dukes even holding the advantage.
Because they accepted a large number of Decree Knights and high-level monks who had fled from Thousand River Valley.
However, the shift in the balance of power happened almost in an instant.
As the large number of mercenaries hired by Ginigis arrived, the situation gradually reversed.
Last month, the two sides were still fighting a messy war of attrition.
This month, King Ginigis suddenly personally took to the field, leading a large number of archers, knights, and mercenaries to swallow 1,500 knights and 5,000 infantry at Khan Jinshan.
Among them, two Decree Legions were completely annihilated, a large number of Decree Knights surrendered, and Duke Alava, the most important military commander of the two dukes, was killed in battle, instantly reversing the situation.
Obviously, the two dukes couldn't afford to lose, and immediately sent people to the Imperial Council to accuse Ginigis of colluding with the Flesh Courtyard.
Admittedly, there were desert nomad mercenaries from the Flesh Courtyard in Ginigis's army, but that didn't mean Ginigis was colluding with the Flesh Courtyard.
As for the matter of the wizards, it was even more absurd. Although the Church openly prohibited the Secret Society and magic, it was common for both sides to secretly hire some wizards during the war.
As soon as Hahn Dan provided evidence of the King's army hiring wizards, the King's envoy could immediately provide similar evidence of the two dukes' armies hiring wizards.
This made the clergy members of the Imperial Council quite embarrassed and they could only ignore it.
"Ahem, but with the matter causing such a stir, many rumors have spread among the people." Quivalin coughed. "The new Pope in the north hopes that we can suppress these rumors as soon as possible."
"I know, I will announce the launch of an investigation into Ginigis."
"Well, that's good." Quivalin stood up with the help of his cane, and looked up at Duke Denoar, who was supporting him. "This period has been like watching a slapstick comedy."
Having held it in for a long time, Duke Denoar couldn't help but laugh: "Do you know what's truly ridiculous?"
"What?"
"After receiving the excommunication from Pope Grandiva, our Pope Puliano announced the excommunication of Pope Grandiva yesterday."
Quivalin was stunned at first, then burst into laughter: "If this continues, before the Imperial Council loses its legitimacy, the title of Pope will truly lose even an ounce of sanctity."
"Hahahahaha, well said, High Judge Quivalin." Duke Denoar couldn't help but laugh.
As El elites, they were to some extent happy to see the Church embarrassed. The El people and the Church were both interdependent and mutually disgusted.
So they were both troubled by the mess left by the former Pope and secretly delighted by it.
Quivalin knew the arrangements and thoughts of the former Pope Johnny VIII better than anyone.
Because the Fran faction within the Curia was still strong, once he stepped down, it was likely that a Fran bishop would be elected, and it was very likely to be Grandiva.
Once Grandiva was elected, the Curia would likely move back to the Kingdom of Fran, and all the efforts of Johnny VIII's life would be in vain.
At that time, with the key votes of the El people and the Pope gathered, the crown of the Holy El Empire would once again fall on the heads of the Fran people.
The last time the Fran people relied on this crown to establish a large number of autonomous cities, cleaning up the largest vassals in the country, and successfully went from being one of the weakest countries to the strongest.
If the Kingdom of Leia hadn't fought the Battle of Windmill Land, destroying the Fran Kingdom's momentum, Leia might have become a vassal state of the Fran Kingdom by now.
If the Fran people were to wear this crown again, the Holy El Empire would truly become the empire of the Fran people.
The old Pope Johnny VIII would rather cause a split in the Curia than keep the power in Golden Horn Bay, at least the triple crown would not fall into the hands of the Fran people.
This ultimately led to the strange sight of two suns in the sky within the Empire.
"Speaking of which, isn't there another Pope within the Empire?" Duke Denoar asked mischievously.
"Just a Secret Society heretic with the name of a heretic." Quivalin shook his head repeatedly. "I've read their 'Charter', it's good, but there's ultimately a problem."
"What problem?"
"My teacher spent his life reissuing the 'El Civil Law', but have you seen any nobles or clergy abide by it? In less than two years, the 'Civil Law' was abolished." Quivalin's tone was filled with both unwillingness and melancholy.
Some things, once lost, are lost forever and cannot be recovered.
He breathed deeply and slowly, looking at the exquisite marble statues of El sages on both sides of the long corridor, his eyes filled with undisguised helplessness and sadness.
"Young people like Rofil can still believe, and even use favors to ask me to help, but in the end, they are still too young and naive."
"Didn't they defeat Prince Condé?"
"You saw the Thousand River Valley people defeat Prince Condé, I saw the Fran and Noorn people join forces to defeat Prince Condé." Quivalin walked with difficulty. "Duchess Melia stands behind the Noorn people, the false Pope stands behind the Fran people.
Can a few thousand farmers defeat a duke or even a Decree Legion with a few alchemical crossbows? The number of Decree Knights killed in the Leia civil war so far is only 300!
Don't forget, there were 500 Royal Constitution Knights stationed in Jeanneburg at that time. Take a closer look at the battle report, I suspect that the Royal Constitution Knights opened the city gates for them that day.
Otherwise, why would the so-called 'Holy Father's Family' of the Holy Father's grandson, with such high sanctity, compromise so much and open the doors of trade wide to the Fran people?"
Duke Denoar opened the doors of the Imperial Palace for Quivalin: "So the current situation is a siege of the Leia people by the Noorn and Fran people?"
Walking out of the Imperial Palace, the high autumn sun shone on Quivalin's face, he only opened his cloudy eyes and looked east: "The Kingdom of Noorn is like a hydra, each head has its own ideas, it's impossible to guess them."
Duke Denoar nodded slightly: "Then do you think that young King of the Fran people has the face of an emperor?"
"The Kingdom of Fran also has many constraints, and that king is too impatient. Lorenzo is a little fox, but underhanded tricks will never be on the table, um, still too hasty." Several servants stepped forward and put a thick fox fur coat on Quivalin. "With the current situation in Fran, if the conquest of Windmill Land goes smoothly, that's one thing, but if it doesn't go smoothly, if it doesn't go smoothly..."
Saying this, Quivalin's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally turned into a few words: "Possibly... but unlikely... or possibly... alas..."