novelraw Chapter 84: The Decision
Chapter 84: The Decision
After the minor wave caused by the wedding contract passed, Helena managed the most urgent matters and warmly hosted her invited sisters.
Previously, she had been absorbed in discussing the validity of the marriage agreement with Lynn, somewhat neglecting her sisters, which Helena felt was inappropriate.
Fortunately, aside from Catherine, everyone was very magnanimous and didn’t mind, they even thought Natasha’s performance was delightful, breaking the stereotypes about the Giant Dragon clan.
It turns out Lynn is quite sought after, with Her Majesty the Empress and the Dragon Maiden vying for him. If he’s not watched closely, who knows how many others might be waiting for their chance.
Of course, having an outstanding partner does lead to such troubles, yet it’s a happy problem to have. It’s much better than choosing someone nobody likes, always being judged wherever you go.
Following this, Helena held a banquet at the palace, inviting Lynn’s family due to their unique relationship, with no external guests present.
Because of the Late Emperor’s extravagance, the palace chefs were the Empire’s finest, using top-tier ingredients. Even Lynn, who had little interest in cuisine, and Xiya couldn’t stop praising the food, not to mention the two little ones who joined in.
Even the two pet cats that tagged along enjoyed a feast, with the best silver fish snacks offered abundantly for them to devour.
"Aunty Empress’s food is really tasty, even better than what dad makes."
Little Yuna had started calling him dad and was now eating enthusiastically, while wiping each other’s mouth with Little Yuna.
"Mmm mmm! This is the first time I’ve eaten something tastier than little cakes. Lynn dad, can you bring Aunt Helena home? Little Yuri still wants to eat this."
While helping Little Yuna clean her mouth, Little Yuri shared her opinion, wholeheartedly supporting Helena entering the Lynn household, as she certainly wouldn’t mind having more mothers.
"Silly girl, these dishes are made by the Imperial Chef, what does it have to do with Helena? If she really brought a team of chefs to live here, our house couldn’t accommodate them."
Lynn patted the round heads of the two little ones, defeated by their innocence.
"Why can’t it fit? Little Yuna and Lily could share a room, chefs can stay in the guest rooms, dad and some moms and aunties can share one room, right!"
Little Yuna knows how to calculate, considering Catherine, Helena, and Natasha, Lynn’s household now totals eight people, astonishingly fitting into just two rooms...
Share a room with the two little ones is certainly spacious enough, but can five adults and an elf and a dragon squeeze into one room?
Though squeezing can foster closeness, sometimes it’s just too much for the bed...
Later, swap it for a larger, sturdier bed, Lynn silently planned in his mind.
Leaving these aside, after the banquet concluded smoothly, Helena sought out Lynn for a serious discussion.
The matter was not complicated, concerning how to deal with the wrongdoers.
Apart from the main villain, the Late Emperor, heinous nobles were not few in the Celestial Destiny Empire.
Helena postponed the major purge because the issue was not as straightforward as it seemed.
If this were the feudal era history Lynn knew, executing criminals publicly would be mild. Confiscating properties, destroying entire families, executing three generations, or even implicating nine generations was common, historically there were even cases involving ten generations.
Yet Helena, ascended as the emperor by circumstance, lacks the natural imperial authority and decisiveness.
She considers more practical issues.
Take the Soros clan for example, almost everyone in the clan is vile, from Duke Soros to his children, they were notorious within the empire, annihilating them poses no moral burden.
However, some families have members or elders who are not so bad.
Like the Bird Clan, Marquis Bird was a staunch loyalist to the Celestial Mandate Emperor, whose misdeeds are such that executing nine generations wouldn’t be excessive, yet his two sons aren’t bad; one valiantly fought in battle, earning numerous achievements during fierce wars, having killed not less than ten thousand from the Demon Race, proving himself as a protector of the nation.
The other son of Marquis Bird, though enjoying wealth from Marquis Bird’s exploitation or corruption, uses this dirty money for charitable causes, funding dozens of welfare institutes around Celestial Destiny City, his doing can almost be seen as walking the path of virtue.
Can a noble family’s fate be determined by one member’s crimes?
Helena postponed the major purge for three days, spending the time distinguishing guilt, identifying who should be punished and who can be spared, all within this period of investigation.
The task isn’t hard because, during the Late Emperor’s reign, the Celestial Destiny Empire never held nobles accountable, allowing them to act unscrupulously, with no thoughts of concealment, making investigations highly accurate.
The three days are necessary primarily due to the sheer number of criminal nobles, requiring time for judgment and sentencing.
"Three days later, please join us to oversee the purge. Although I can order minor nobles to be apprehended, handling certain nobles requires Natasha and me to personally intervene, the Imperial Vein can assist in suppressing, yet this time, they’re quite numerous."
Talking about this issue, Helena’s delicate brows furrowed. Although she expected the nobility class of the Celestial Destiny Empire to be generally despicable, deeper investigations revealed the prevalence was far greater.
In just half a day, out of forty plus investigated noble families, thirty-seven will face accountability, with thirty-five families having direct members guilty of capital crimes, indicating widespread corruption.
Noble clans like the Jones Clan, where Vivian belongs to, are exceedingly rare, in a hundred noble families, finding even five could be difficult; all thanks to the Late Emperor, whose indulgence, combined with covert gold coin bribery, has fostered this environment.
"Don’t worry, with me around, no wrongdoer will escape justice."
Regarding this issue, Lynn naturally agreed unconditionally. Since Helena is determined to reshape the Celestial Destiny Empire, he’ll join her in overturning the old decaying empire, after all, without demolishing, there’s no rebuilding. Without cutting away rotten flesh, rebirth is impossible.
Even if ultimately purging eighty or even ninety percent of the nobility risks shaking the empire’s foundation, some actions must be taken, like venturing into fire and water, nothing will deter them.