Elara had finally figured out how to deal with the mysterious expert. She sat back down at her desk and looked at Mathias.
"You said the palace sent two memorials just now. What are they about?"
Mathias took out the memorials from his sleeve pouch. "Two officials are asking for money and grain to help with disaster relief and to calm rebellions."
Elara raised her eyebrows and took the memorials. As she read them, her face slowly turned mocking.
Both memorials came from Lord Gregory's subordinates. They were close relatives or allies of the Zhu and Yan families and held high positions at court. These men were loyal followers of Lord Gregory, doing his bidding without question.
They claimed the national tax revenue had just been collected, so now the court should send them money and food for their disaster relief and rebellion efforts.
Elara couldn't help but laugh as she read them. Putting aside whether these relief and rebellion missions were real or not, they dared to call the collected "national tax revenue" five carts of food and five carts of silver!
Even though the Plumera Kingdom was weak, it was still a proper country. Just five carts of supplies and money—some richer merchants probably earned more than that in a year!
Even if the Plumera State was in chaos, the taxes from across the land wouldn't be that little.
What was written in the memorials wasn't even a tenth of the real taxes collected.
So where did the other nine parts go?
Of course, they had been stolen by Lord Gregory and his kind long ago!
No wonder he had managed to get his hands on most of the country's power. He was even bold enough to steal openly from the national treasury!
And after taking more than ninety percent of the taxes, they still weren't satisfied. Now they wanted to use the excuse of disaster relief to take back the small amount they had pretended to submit?
Elara held the two memorials in silence for a while. Then she tossed them aside.
She looked up at Mathias, who had remained silent across from her.
"Mathias."
He lowered his eyes and bowed. "Princess."
"What do you think the chances are if I pretend to approve the memorials for now, then arrange for someone to attack the transport on the road and steal the money and supplies back?"
Mathias paused for a moment. Then his face stayed calm, as if her sudden and fierce words were just ordinary small talk. He replied quietly, "That depends on who you plan to send."
Elara rubbed her temple with her fingers. "Hmm… what if I send Uno and the others?"
"No." Mathias' voice stayed calm as he kept his head lowered. "Lord Gregory has been watching your household for years. He may not be able to touch your hidden guards, but he is very familiar with how they operate. Even if they don't leave any proof behind, there's still a big chance they'll be suspected."
That made sense. But aside from the Wei guards, she had no other strong forces to rely on.
Elara tapped her forehead with her finger. "Then what do you think I should do?"
Mathias looked up at her. Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, he finally said, "If you truly want to take back this batch of tax revenue, you can go to the Crimson Garb Hall in disguise."
Crimson Garb Hall was a well-known underground organization spread across the land. Elara had seen it on System 92's map of the world's powers the first time she looked. It was ranked very high and had been founded by a strong second-class country named Xiali. They were leaders in both the assassin world and intelligence networks.
There was also a branch of Crimson Garb Hall inside Plumera Kingdom. But unlike the Lianyi Hall, Crimson Garb Hall was extremely low-key.
Its location was very well hidden. It didn't run any public businesses. Unless someone went out of their way to learn about it, they wouldn't even know where it was.
If this task were given to Blood Robes Hall, the success rate wouldn't be low. But dealing with this kind of group without full preparation would lead to many uncontrollable problems. Especially in times like this, where death is everywhere and chaos spreads.
Elara stayed silent in thought for a while, so Mathias spoke again.
"The tax grain and funds will be delivered in four or five days. Your Highness only needs to decide before then, no need to rush."
He added, "There's something else, more urgent with the current situation."
Elara pushed the two memorials aside from the table, clearly annoyed by their presence. She looked directly at Mathias and asked, "What is it?"
Mathias used his pale fingers to pick up the teapot and slowly poured a cup of the tea Elara had been drinking recently.
He placed it next to her hand and said, "In five days, it will be time for the seasonal small ritual."
Small ritual…
From the memories of this body, there was indeed something like that. Elara had already learned about it before.
In this world, many different ceremonies are held every year.
But the original soul of this body had hated these rituals deeply.
Even after Elara looked through all the memories, she only found bits and pieces of information.
It wasn't very complete.
Hearing Mathias say this now, Elara leaned back in the chair and lifted her chin slightly. "Explain in detail."
"Yes," Mathias lowered his dark eyes slightly. "Rituals are held every year, but this year is different. This year is a Grand Ritual year."
"A Grand Ritual happens only once every ten years. Even though the Sky Offering isn't until the end of the year, the two small rituals before it are already different from the others."
"In a regular year, only the emperor needs to offer to the spirit veins, but during a Grand Ritual year, all royal bloodlines must each offer separately. During this time, no one else is allowed to follow them, not even guards or shadows. Breaking this rule offends the gods, and even a royal heir could be punished by others using this reason."
Listening to Mathias's calm voice, the missing knowledge about rituals in Elara's mind started to fall into place.
Her fingers gently twisted on the armrest as she stared at him. "So you're saying that in a few days, there's a part of the ritual where I must go alone, and even Uno and the others can't come with me?"
Mathias put down the teacup. His voice remained steady. "Yes, and no."
Elara narrowed her eyes at this vague answer, then gave a low laugh. "So Mathias, you're reminding me about this now because you think Lord Gregory plans to act during that time?"
Mathias sat back at his desk, thin and composed, his eyes still lowered. "Based on Lord Gregory's recent moves, it's very likely."
Elara took a sip of the tea Mathias poured. The flavor was rich and lingering, making her smile. "Then besides me, what do you think Lord Gregory will do about my younger brother?"
Mathias was silent for a second. "Right now, His Majesty is much safer than you. Lord Gregory won't move against him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited this long."
He finally lifted his long-lowered eyes and looked directly at Elara.
"This time, Lord Gregory likely only wants to use Your Highness to test the situation."
No wonder he had the reputation of being a great scholar in the capital.
Even after being locked away in her back garden for years and tortured into a miserable state, he recovered slightly and could still sense the outside world's situation so quickly. His judgment was almost exactly like Elara's.
But how did he know all this?
Elara knew that Mathias only had one loyal servant with him.
That servant only knew how to serve him and nothing else.
Mathias himself had been abandoned by his family after entering the princess's residence. He had no allies.
Though he had talent and reputation, since being forced into the residence, his fame had faded.
He had no position, no power, and he had been tortured daily.
There was no way he had secret connections. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been dragged so close to death over these years.
The guards watching the residence weren't fools either.
So, the only explanation was that Mathias figured out all this just from those two times he followed her outside?
Elara looked at him, her smile deepening slightly.
In her heart, she sighed. This standby personal secretary she found really was something.
Then she asked him, "What do you think Lord Gregory really wants to test?"
"The Regent." Mathias had become more comfortable with her subtle changes over the past few days. Their conversations no longer needed as much hiding.
Elara smiled even more. "Then in your opinion, what should I do in this situation?"
Mathias looked at her for two seconds, then lowered his gaze. "Naturally, you should prepare early."
For the rest of the time, Elara and Mathias stayed in the study discussing the small ritual and all the things that might happen, along with how to respond to each one.
As Mathias spoke, Elara began to appreciate his talents even more. Her mood became much better. If they were back on Earth, she would have hired him with a high-paying offer right away.
By the time they finished talking, it was already dark outside.
After Mathias finally left, a mechanical voice suddenly rang in Elara's mind that wasn't from System 92:
Congratulations. You've completed the first domination mission: Settle the rebellion in Marigold City. Reward has been delivered.
As the voice ended, Elara noticed a new book suddenly appear in her consciousness.
Its title was printed clearly on the cover: Encyclopedia of Epidemic Prevention.
She paused. Before she could start reading it, the mechanical voice rang again.
New mission released: Own your first base (requirement: 300 acres or more).
Reward: Basic ore smelting technique.
Detected that you already own one base: Bai Family Commercial Estate (approx. 480 acres), requirement fulfilled.
Congratulations. You've completed the second domination mission: First Base. Reward has been delivered.
Three machine-like messages rang one after another in Elara's head.
The first floating book, Encyclopedia of Epidemic Prevention, hadn't even been opened when another book pushed it aside.
This new one was half-transparent. On the cover were glowing gold words: Basic Ore Smelting Technique.
So the second mission was completed just like that?
Before she could feel anything, the voice continued:
New mission released: Own your first personal force (requirement: 5000 members, current progress: 379 out of 5000). Keep working hard.
Reward: Paper-making technique.