As the saying goes, "Still as a mountain, moving like thunder."
Augatha, who deeply understood this principle, was either easygoing and didn't bother, or she acted directly and left no room for negotiation.
When the messenger returned from Demacia Capital to Silvermere, Lux's convoy was already less than three days away from Silvermere.
And in the eyes of the nobles of Silvermere, this was clearly an unchivalrous sneak attack.
Upon receiving the reply and learning that Augatha had sent Lux to provide disaster relief and Kulen to audit the accounts, the Crownguard collateral noble families, who had gathered to divide the spoils, were instantly dumbfounded.
After a moment of silence, the entire room seemed to erupt, instantly becoming a hubbub of voices.
"How could Augatha do this!"
"I was the one who introduced her to Peter!"
"I held Lux when she was two years old!"
"…"
"…"
Everyone was expressing their dissatisfaction, and the reason for such dissatisfaction was that they were anxious.
Augatha's guess was correct; these scoundrels were indeed defrauding their relatives—apart from the first year when Silvermere genuinely suffered from frost, for the next three years, Silvermere could be said to have enjoyed favorable weather, and even the barbarians to the north were well-behaved.
Under such circumstances, they naturally collected the full amount of taxes.
Then, as long as they reported frost damage, these collected land taxes became their freely disposable funds, which everyone divided among themselves, making everyone happy, while only the main family, loyal and devoted to the country, used their private money to fill the deficit.
Previously, Augatha had also sent envoys, but that time it wasn't a sudden attack, so Silvermere received the news in advance and made preparations, and after sharing a portion of the profits, they successfully passed the envoy's investigation.
But this time, the situation seemed a bit off.
They had just received the news, and Lux was already almost at Silvermere; this was clearly a surprise attack!
"Silence!" Amidst the clamor, an old man with white hair and beard sitting in the main seat finally spoke, "Quiet down, do you still have any noble dignity? Where have your usual manners gone?"
This elder was Kodora Crownguard, who was even a generation older than Peter in terms of seniority and had always been the spokesman for Silvermere.
"What's all the fuss about? Is it not normal for our Crownguard family's matriarch to provide disaster relief and audit accounts?" Kodora said righteously, "If she wants to provide disaster relief and audit accounts, let her—our Lux needs some experience in this area. Let's all work together to set up a situation for her and achieve a perfect outcome, that's all!"
Kodora's words made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief.
At this point, they finally realized that the person coming was Lux!
Judging by her age, Lux was only twelve this year, wasn't she?
What could a twelve-year-old girl understand?
Disaster relief and such… isn't it just about saving face?
If everyone put in some effort, found some farmers under their rule to put on a show, and composed a song of praise when she left, wouldn't everything be perfect?
It was the accompanying steward, however…
To silence that guy, everyone would probably have to bleed a little more.
"Don't think about making it too difficult by offering just a small portion." Kodora seemed to have completely seen through the thoughts of the others and added, "As long as this passes, our matriarch will be able to give an explanation to His Majesty—and then His Majesty will exempt Silvermere from land taxes, and she won't come looking for trouble anymore."
That's right!
Lux was coming for disaster relief; as long as everything went smoothly, it would mean that the frost disaster in Silvermere was an "officially certified" natural disaster.
Originally, it was a group of collateral branches colluding to deceive the main family, but now, as long as the act was performed well, after Lux's visit, it would be the collateral branches and the main family together deceiving the King!
Recently, Noxus's attention had been focused on Ionia, Demacia's situation was stable, and the King was very rich!
Following this line of thought, everyone present began to speculate about Augatha's intentions based on their own thoughts, and quickly came to an extremely absurd conclusion that they would all conspire to defraud Demacia, without realizing anything was amiss…
At this moment, they completely relaxed their anxious hearts.
According to their modus operandi, previously they, as collateral branches, had defrauded the main family's money, and Augatha would have held them accountable—but if they conspired with Augatha to defraud the Demacia state's money, then they would still be one family!
That made sense; they were all their own people!
Therefore, as long as they performed this act well and allowed Lux to complete the disaster relief smoothly, then everything would naturally be fine, and Silvermere would suffer from frost all year round from then on.
Anyway, in present-day Demacia, there wasn't just one or two places frequently suffering from disasters—Fosbairo, not far away, even claimed to have "perpetual gloomy rain and insufficient sunlight"!
This was far more absurd than frost.
And so, the relieved Crownguard collateral noble families began to discuss again, but this time, they were no longer anxious. Instead, each of them regained their noble composure, appearing full of confidence, seemingly ten-tenths sure of dragging the entire family into the mess.
As they talked, they found that bribing the messenger was easy, and finding a few farmers to pretend to be grateful was also easy, but only faking the frost scene was difficult.
In the eyes of these nobles, a twelve-year-old girl like Lux could only be deceived, not won over—or rather, they had nothing to offer to win over the Crownguard family's young princess.
But on the question of how to deceive her, the nobles had differing opinions.
Most believed they should put on a play.
Of course, some had different views.
"We can also send some young people to foster emotional connections with her." Among the nobles present, a handsome man with platinum blonde curly hair loudly suggested, "The young princess isn't old, she should get along better with people her age—"
This fellow was not originally surnamed Crownguard; he was a knight from a small local noble family in Silvermere, originally named Dili Malik.
Later, he married into a peripheral branch of the Crownguard family, changing his name to Dili Crownguard, and only then did he barely manage to enter Silvermere's upper social circle.
However, before he could finish his sentence, everyone else's gazes were already filled with disdain and impatience.
Although no one actively interrupted him, Dili's voice grew softer and softer…
Clearly, even for these nobles who were ruthless in defrauding their own kin, Dili was at the bottom of the moral pecking order.
Among a large group of people named Crownguard, this former outsider felt somewhat out of place.
Finally, surrounded by unfriendly stares, Dili could only swallow the latter half of his words.
Reading people was his forte; he had only spoken out earlier due to an uncontrollable surge of excitement—now that everyone seemed to disapprove, he naturally couldn't say anything more.
"Ahem." Just as this fellow felt awkward and sheepishly closed his mouth, Kodora cleared his throat, "As for the frost issue… I'll handle it. When our young princess arrives in Silvermere, I will definitely let her personally see a frost-stricken wheat field and a group of pitiful disaster victims, to satisfy the sympathy a noble young lady should possess!"
And so, Kodora made his promise.
The nobles, believing everything was in place, also rose and leisurely departed, showing none of their previous panic.
They were brimming with confidence, and had even begun to ponder ways to make a splash at the welcoming ceremony for Lux.
Dili, who was mixed in the crowd, lowered his head and subtly curved his lips as he left—these idiots, the greatest opportunity was right in front of them, yet they only cared about that bit of unreported tax.
Wild chickens are wild chickens; they could look up and see the phoenix branch, yet they kept their heads down, searching for scattered grains on the ground!
You deserve to be collateral branches, side branches!