I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 690 Canggu, what crime have you committed? (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)
"What a brilliant move! A truly brilliant move!" Sergei paced back and forth in his command tent, his brow furrowed. "This act of exonerating and rewarding me has struck right at my Achilles' heel!"

His core slogan when he raised an army in rebellion was "to purge the court of corrupt officials and seek justice for my father."

Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, his first act is to exonerate his father, which is tantamount to directly removing the greatest moral basis for his rebellion.

What reason would those generals and soldiers who followed Andrei out of sympathy for his plight have to continue attacking the "wise" new emperor?
The generous reward he received put him in a very difficult position.

If he accepts, then the nature of his rebellion will change, turning him from a "righteous army" into a warlord seeking "enfeoffment," and the people's hearts will inevitably be scattered.

If he doesn't accept, he will appear aggressive and lack sincerity in negotiations, thus losing some support.

"This must be a scheme by that old fox Romanov! It's a calculated move, forcing me to either disband my army and accept amnesty, or completely lose my legitimacy!" Sergei felt a sense of unease.

His once-ambitious rebellion was about to be rendered futile by this imperial edict.

"No, we can't just sit here and wait to die!" Sergei suddenly stopped, a resolute glint in his eyes. "Now, only Master can break this deadlock!"

He dared not delay, and disregarded the fact that it was already late at night. He immediately gathered a small team of trusted guards and left the camp overnight, riding at full speed towards the sacred land of the Northern Witch Ancestor.

He must see his master as soon as possible, explain the situation, and seek a solution to the predicament.

This sudden turn of events disrupted his plans and made him realize more deeply that experience truly matters, and Romanov's combination of moves was indeed formidable.

Meanwhile, the new Emperor Matvey's entourage was making its way to the sacred land of the Northern Witch Ancestor. The old sorcerer Canggu, a confidant of the Witch Ancestor, knew that the Witch Ancestor intended to control the Great Luo Dynasty, and that making the royal family, who had held sway for thousands of years, bow down and submit was a crucial step.

The emperor is the face and symbol of the royal family. How can one truly subdue this proud royal family?
Li Chen entrusted the entire matter to Cang Gu, which was also a test of his skills.

The old wizard Cang Gu had lived for a long time and was well-versed in human nature and power struggles.

Instead of directly refusing an audience, he set out a series of extremely harsh and ancient rituals designed to humiliate the dignity of the royal family.

He ordered the new emperor to remove his fine clothes and wear only plain clothes in the freezing cold, and to perform the ancient ritual of "nine steps and three kowtows" that had long been lost and was almost humiliating, starting from the outer perimeter of the holy site.

After taking nine difficult steps forward, one must kneel down and kowtow three times towards the sacred site, repeating this process until reaching the ancestral altar.

This etiquette originated from ancient tribal rituals of submission to powerful shamans, and is filled with connotations of enslavement and subservience.

The news caused a global uproar.

Such a demand would be an utter disgrace to any emperor with even a modicum of spirit. They would rather die than live in dishonor, and would fight to the death against the ancestor of witches, even at the cost of national ruin and family destruction. Otherwise, how could they have the face to stand between heaven and earth?

However, Matvey's reaction surprised everyone.

The new emperor was not angry at all; on the contrary, he was extremely grateful and agreed with tears in his eyes! He really did walk towards the sacred site of the ancestral witch in the biting cold wind and flying snow, bowing his head with every step in an extremely "devout" manner.

His cheeks were blue from the cold, his body shivered in the wind, and his movements were clumsy and awkward, yet he still insisted on that set of tedious and humiliating etiquette.

The royal guards accompanying him were furious and tried several times to rush forward to help him up, but he stubbornly pushed them away each time, muttering, "This is the ceremony for paying homage to the ancestral shaman; it cannot be abolished, it cannot be abolished."

When the news reached the Holy Capital, Ivan, who had just abdicated but was still closely monitoring the situation, was so enraged that he smashed his beloved jade paperweight on the spot and roared at Patriarch Romanov:

"Ancestor! Look at this! This is outrageous! This good-for-nothing has utterly disgraced our family! How will the world laugh at us? Where is the dignity of the royal family?!"

To Ivan's surprise, Romanov did not get angry. Instead, he revealed a mysterious smile and slowly said, "You are still too young and impetuous. Sometimes, losing face is not necessarily a bad thing. The key is how to guide the world to view this 'loss of face'. We must learn to use public opinion."

"Public opinion?" Ivan was stunned. This is so shameful that it has disgraced their ancestors. What kind of public opinion could there be?

However, what happened next was completely beyond Ivan's expectations.

Under Romanov's covert instigation and manipulation, public opinion within the Great Roman Empire began to subtly shift. Various pronouncements praising the new emperor began to emerge:
"His Majesty, in order to quell the war, spared no expense to perform this grand ceremony; this truly shows his concern for the common people!"

"If it weren't for saving us common people from the ravages of war, why would His Majesty have gone to such lengths? He is truly a benevolent ruler!"

"To endure temporary humiliation for the sake of peace throughout the land—Your Majesty's magnanimity is as vast as heaven and earth!"

Under the influence of these deliberately manipulated narratives, Matvey's cowardly and humble behavior was actually interpreted as a heroic act of "serving the country and the people" and "bearing humiliation and hardship"!

The public sentiment, which was originally somewhat turbulent due to the change of the throne and internal and external troubles, has actually been greatly rallied as a result, and the public's sympathy and support for the royal family has increased rather than decreased!
Even some soldiers on the front lines, upon hearing of this, felt that the new emperor was so "benevolent" that they should be even more loyal to him to the death.

The old wizard Canggu quickly received feedback from all sides and learned that his carefully designed humiliation plan had not only failed to damage the prestige of the royal family, but had instead boosted their reputation. His old face turned red, and he was filled with guilt and frustration.

He rushed to Li Chen, knelt down with a thud, and pleaded guilty with deep remorse: "Lord Wuzu! I am incompetent! I deserve to die! I intended to use this opportunity to humiliate the royal family and dampen their arrogance, but I never expected to fall into the trap of that old scoundrel Romanov and do all the work for them!"
The prestige of the Great Luo royal family has risen rather than fallen, and the hearts of the military and civilians are even more united. This is extremely detrimental to our Witchcraft Cult's control of Great Luo! I have failed in my duties; I beg the Witch Ancestor to severely punish me!

He lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise his head, his heart filled with remorse, feeling that his actions had ruined the ancestral witch's grand plan.

Li Chen sat upright on his throne. After listening to Cang Gu's report, he was not angry. Instead, he chuckled and asked in a calm tone, "Cang Gu, what crime have you committed?"

Cang Gu was taken aback, raised his head, his old face full of confusion and self-reproach: "Ancestor Wu, if I hadn't set up such a humiliating ceremony, how could Matvi have taken this opportunity to cultivate his 'benevolent' image? Now that their royal family's prestige has risen, wouldn't it be even more difficult for us to seize power?"

“Difficult?” Li Chen shook his head, his gaze deep, as if he had already seen through everything. “In my opinion, this is not difficult at all; on the contrary, it makes things much simpler.”

(End of this chapter)