Chapter 787: Palace Conspiracy (5) |
The second prince's brow furrowed, and the ninth prince actually dared to disrupt him in front of the crowd, directly cutting off his speech.
"Since the ninth prince is in such a hurry to leave, as my older brother, I won't say much more." The second prince's words contained a hint of ridicule.
Subsequently, an elderly official with a dignified demeanor stepped out. He had served two emperors and was deeply respected by both the current and previous emperors.
"The emperor has departed, and we feel immense grief. However, the Rota Empire still exists, and the country cannot be without a ruler for even a day. The ten princes here today are all the best candidates for the next emperor." The official paused, then continued, "Please, Your Majesties, ascend the stage, speak of your advantages, and share your aspirations to become emperor. Let the grand officials make their choices."
At this moment, Su Chen was focusing on the situation here, finding it quite interesting. He didn't know what kind of game these princes would play.
In the eyes of the Rota people, this was a very serious matter. In Su Chen's eyes, it was just a play.
The first to ascend the stage was, of course, the second prince. As the longest-serving of the ten princes, he ascended the stage naturally.
"Honored grand officials, I am the second prince of the Rota Empire, and I believe I have the ability to become the next emperor..." The second prince's speech was not bad, and many of the grand officials nodded their heads, especially when he mentioned that after becoming emperor, he would lead the Rota Empire to victory over the Red Alert Empire and personally ride a horse of state!
This alone was enough to gain the support of many warlords.
The second prince's face revealed a hint of smugness. In such a situation, the best choice was not to take the lead. Only the first one could declare victory.
After all, performances can have repetitive parts. The further into the performance, the less likely it is to move the grand officials.
Since the ninth prince had committed suicide, and he was his good younger brother, why not help him a little.
"48th, the ninth prince said so much, you should go up first." The 48th prince did not mince his words and immediately went up to perform. The performances of the nine princes were soon over, and it was the turn of the 13th spy.
Everyone was curious about what kind of performance the ninth prince would give.
He walked onto the stage, did not deliver a long speech, and casually said a few words before leaving, leaving many people speechless.
"I don't have anything special to say. Support me, and you should be clear about what I can bring to you and the empire. If you don't support me, you can take care of yourselves."
This was a performance, and this was a threat!
Su Chen saw this and couldn't help but laugh, thinking that his spy was indeed deep and had never liked to waste words.
A spy could not afford to say such words, could he?
He was confident that no other prince could get such a good deal, even if some loyalists would support their chosen prince, the most supporters would still be for him.
After the performances, it was time for the voting. This process would determine who would become the emperor of the Rota Empire.
Some grand officials began to discuss their choices.
"Foreign Minister, are you planning to vote for the second prince?" a grand official asked.
"You're planning to vote for the 48th prince. Don't try to hide it; you and the 48th prince were together last night drinking." The Foreign Minister smiled.
Each grand official was discussing the choices of the others, and they were quite familiar with each other's choices. They understood each other's intentions with just a glance.
Among the ten princes, the second prince and the 48th prince were confident, believing that they were the best candidates for the next emperor. After all, from various perspectives, only the two of them seemed to have the qualifications to compete for the throne, while the others were just bystanders.
When it came time to vote, they also gave a smile to the prince they supported, making them feel even more smug.
Only the ninth prince seemed to have no one's support, and he became the target of ridicule from the other princes.
After the voting, the old official began to check the results. He had to announce them one by one, following the order of the princes' ranks. The first was the 456th prince.
"The 456th prince received 1 vote!" He said that, and then revealed another secret.
"1 vote!"
Hearing this number, some of the princes' expressions couldn't help but change, and they immediately started laughing. The 456th prince's face was stiff, he knew that he had lost the support of at least five grand officials who had been smiling at him just a moment ago. How could it be that only one vote?
"Next is the 355th prince, the number of votes is……"
"1 vote!"
The 355th prince's face was just as stiff, he had just been mocking the 456th prince, and didn't expect that he would be in the same situation. Even if his support rate was lower than that of the second and 48th princes, it shouldn't be only one vote!
Later, the results continued until the fourth prince, who received the fewest votes.
In the end, the old official announced the 48th prince's vote count, which was 35 votes.
This number was quite high, but for him, it was not satisfactory. He had not expected to fight for at least 80 votes.
The old official did not care about all these details; he was ready to announce the next prince's vote count, that is, the 13th spy's vote count: "The ninth prince's vote count is……"
At this moment, the second prince suddenly spoke up: "Mentor, there's no need to announce the ninth prince's vote count. Once I announce my vote count, which is more than 48, the throne will be mine. As for the ninth prince, he can just watch from the side."
The old official's face showed no expression, but his eyes were a bit strange: "Second son, are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Then the ninth prince's fate is…."
Before the old official could finish, the 13th spy directly raised his hand: "Since the second prince has spoken, we should follow his words. Once his vote count is more than 48, the throne will be his, and there's no need to care about the ninth prince."
Everyone was in agreement, and the old official began announcing the second prince's vote count. His vote count was 40 votes.
Compared to the 48th prince, it seemed like a few more votes, but what about the foreign official's words? The number of grand officials was more than two hundred.
The nine princes' combined vote count did not even reach one hundred. So, what about the remaining one hundred-plus votes?
This vote could not be allowed to have a blank spot!
Everyone's gaze turned to the ninth prince. They were full of disbelief.
At this time, the old official's voice resonated: "The ninth prince's vote count is 129 votes!"
The entire Grand Hall was silent, and each person's expression was full of excitement, especially those princes, who were full of disbelief, envy, and admiration, intertwined into one expression, forming a distorted face.
[Read atPatreon.com/maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]