Catherine and the Black Emperor

Chapter 136. Jones's Challenge

"British Ambassador to Sweden, William, is suspected of kidnapping and raping Princess Manon of France, the niece of former French Ambassador Arnold!"

"Member of Parliament, leader of the Hats faction, Elias, is suspected of murdering Princess Manon of France, the niece of former French Ambassador Arnold!"

The two news items, once published in the newspapers, exploded like a thunderclap in the Swedish capital.

The newspapers were distributed to City Island and Knight Island, and the news spread throughout the palace.

For a time, both William and Elias became the focus of attention.

"Bastard! Saltykov, that bastard!"

In one of the rooms, William flew into a rage and slammed the newspaper on the table.

"This is no time for insults; we must come up with a solution as soon as possible," Elias said, his face extremely grim.

"How can we solve this? Countless copies of these newspapers have been printed and distributed free of charge to every corner. There's no way to stop it!" William lamented in despair.

Sergei bribed the newspaper office to distribute newspapers for free.

That's all my money!

But they used it against me!

asshole!

Elias's eyes flickered: "I've already sent the Commerce Department to the newspaper office to shut it down and stop printing. After that, all the newspapers distributed to the distribution points will be recalled."

"There are two urgent matters. I will first go to His Majesty the King to explain the situation and establish this as slander. And you, you must immediately find someone to deal with Matthias!"

William quickly calmed down and nodded, saying, "I'll arrange for someone to do it right away."

That's right, only the three of them knew about this. He and Elias couldn't have done such a thing, so it could only have been Matthias who revealed this secret.

That Matthias, you should have been sent to hell long ago!

Hmph, just you wait. Once I've cleaned up this mess and sent Saltykov and Panin back to Russia, I'll take good care of your wife!

Let her go to pay respects to you while she's heavily pregnant!

Meanwhile, in Speaker Joachim's room, there were two other guests: Representative Johannes and Representative Ras, both members of the Hat Party.

"So, they were the ones who caused Princess Manon's disappearance. They're really audacious!"

"That old lecher William, when his desires are aroused, what wouldn't he do?"

"Did Elias really murder the French princess? Would he dare to do such a thing?"

All three of them were engrossed in reading the newspaper.

Congressman Johannes couldn't help but question, "Were all these things, including Matthias's downfall, orchestrated by that new Russian ambassador? Does he have that much power?"

Congressman Ras frowned and said, "Judging from Ingrid's repeated appearances, she is most likely a staunch supporter of His Majesty the King. Her help to Sergei is very likely at His Majesty's behest."

Johannes nodded.

The current parliament controls all government affairs, weakening King Adolf's power, and the Hat Faction currently holds the power in parliament.

They were also aware that the King had always been close to the Hat Faction, but they weren't in a particular hurry.

Because the hat-wearing faction and the king were both exploiting each other.

The Hats faction attempted to use the King to deal with them, becoming the new "Top Hat faction" in Parliament, while the King wanted to use the Hats faction to strike at them and regain his weakened royal power.

Therefore, the two sides could never truly come together.

But now, with the arrival of this new ambassador, everything is different.

Joachim's eyes gleamed: "We all underestimated this Russian ambassador, we were all fooled by his youth. He actually dared to defy our external pressure, actively instigate infighting within the Hat Faction, and even gained His Majesty the King's support in this matter."

Johannes and Ras both nodded in unison.

"So what should we do now?" Lars asked. "Should we help Elias and William? With them around, they can help us restrain Russia, Hedwig, and even the King and Queen."

Joachim shook his head and smiled.

"Why help them? They've caused us a lot of trouble. Instead of keeping them around to help us deal with Hedwig and his cronies, why not let them fight amongst themselves and secure the complete dominance of the Top Hat Faction!"

Johannes and Ras exchanged a glance, both understanding the Speaker's plan.

While Hedwig and Elias are both weakened, kick them out of the council and let the Hat faction take complete control of the council, making the king and queen true puppets of the Hat faction.

The whole of Sweden will be in their hands!

Both of them were excited when they thought about such an achievement.

Joachim put down his newspaper: "Gentlemen, we must take action."

All three stood up, and Joachim looked at the two of them.

"If I'm not mistaken, Elias will definitely send someone to the newspaper to prevent things from escalating further. Ras, you go there yourself and help the newspaper withstand the pressure!"

"good!"

"Ras, you're coming with me to the palace to see His Majesty the King. Elias certainly won't wait for the King to come to him, so we must get to His Majesty's side before Elias does, and not let him muddy the waters!"

"good!"

However, just as the three were about to leave, the door was pushed open and two people walked in.

One of them was the French ambassador, Jones, and the other was also a member of the Hat Faction, and his position was second only to Joachim, the deputy speaker, Anders!

"Gentlemen, there's such a big matter outside, and it's understandable that you didn't call me—after all, I'm not a member of the Top Hat faction. But Vice Speaker Anders, you also deliberately avoided me. Isn't that showing a lot of disrespect to the Vice Speaker?"

Jones walked over with a smile on his face.

A cold glint flashed in Joachim's eyes, but a smile remained on his face.

"Ambassador, what are you saying? Andrews and I are friends first and colleagues second. How could I not call him? As for you, Ambassador, it's even more impossible for me to avoid it. Even if I don't call Andrews, I must call you, Ambassador!"

Joachim didn't know why Anders was walking with Jones.

Because he had spoken with Andrews earlier, and the latter was older and, after failing to win the election for speaker, was planning to stay in parliament for a few more years before retiring.

He promised to guarantee the other party's old age and to arrange a promotion for his grandson.

Why is that?

Lass also laughed and explained, "The ambassador was joking. I was having dinner with Congressman Johannes at the Speaker's house when a servant brought us the newspaper, and that's when we started talking about it."

Johannes nodded: "That's right, now is our best chance to deal with the cap-wearing faction!"

Jones ignored him and instead nitpicked, "Having a meal? It seems there was no intention to invite Vice Speaker Andrews and me. Could it be that the Vice Speaker and I have offended Speaker Joachim?"

Joachim's expression turned cold.

"Alright, there's no need for us to dwell on this little thing. We all know the situation perfectly well, and it's best to be mindful of each other's petty squabbles."

"This is a rare opportunity, and doing it well will benefit everyone. We're all in the same boat!"

Jones looked regretful.

"If Speaker Joakim had said this earlier, I don't think things would have developed to this point. To be honest, I came here on behalf of Minister Arnold, carrying his opinion."

Joachim, Johannes, and Ras all tensed up.

Arnold!

minister?!

At this point, the only possible candidate is the finance minister responsible for Swedish financial subsidies.

Former French Ambassador Arnold becomes France's new Finance Minister?

How is this possible?!