Free Web NovelChapter 387: Chapter 384: Negotiation Between the Powerful
"Supreme Leader, is this really wise? To ignore the welfare of our people for the sake of one woman... Moreover, I’ve checked your approval ratings online. You only took office a few years ago, and this incident has already caused significant public discontent. If you insist on this course of action, your position could be jeopardized. You must reconsider."
He was silent for a moment before saying, "I will consider it. You’re dismissed. I’m going to see that old woman."
He called her an old woman, but in reality, she was only in her forties.
Lillian Bancroft’s birth mother.
The woman who had abandoned him. Since coming to power, Lillian had rarely visited her.
But this time, he had to.
Upon entering her courtyard, he found her sitting there, impeccably preserved, with no trace of age. His mother had been smiling, but the moment she saw him, her expression instantly changed.
"What are you doing here?"
Lillian Bancroft chuckled. "Nothing much. Just came to see you. After all, you are the one who gave me this life, aren’t you?"
"I gave you your life, and this is how you repay me? By imprisoning me here?"
He walked closer to her. "Although you’ve tried to take this life back several times, you never succeeded. How could I let you continue to run wild? Even though I’ve confined you to this courtyard, you haven’t stopped your little schemes, have you?"
Mrs. Bancroft looked taken aback for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "I don’t know what you mean."
"You don’t know?" he sneered. "You don’t know that you sent people to Fravia with a message? That Chloe Marshall’s brother is in your hands? You wanted to shift everyone’s attention to me because you know the relationship between the Grant, Ellsworth, and Hawthorne families. A frame-up so perfectly cobbled together from coincidences... no one would suspect a thing. Am I wrong?"
Seeing she’d been exposed, his mother laughed. "Did you think no one knew you secretly executed Chloe Marshall? I’m helping you! This way, it’s only natural for all eyes to fall on you. If you can take this seat, you can certainly be removed from it. Because..."
Her gaze shifted, her sharp eyes fixing on him. "This position was never yours to begin with. You used underhanded means to force your way into it. Sooner or later, this country will be ruined at your hands."
"I have no desire to discuss matters of state with a woman like you. Hand over Zeke Marshall. Otherwise, we both know who will be responsible for plunging this country into a bloodbath."
She laughed. "But the one who will go down in history as a villain is you, not me."
"Do you think I’ll let things go your way?" He raised his right hand, and a squad of soldiers instantly flooded in through the doorway.
"On my command, chop off both of her feet. If she still won’t talk, then take both hands. Both eyes. Her tongue. Both ears. I imagine a living death must feel wonderful."
"Lillian Bancroft!... You... you truly are a demon reincarnated! You..." His mother shot to her feet, her face a mask of terror and rage. She had always believed that he, out of respect for their mother-son relationship, would never harm her. She never considered that since she had long stopped seeing him as her son, why should he still see her as his mother?
His heart had died long ago.
"Do you think doing this will clear you of suspicion? No one will believe you didn’t do it! I had someone forge your handwriting so perfectly it looks more authentic than your own! Lillian Bancroft, even if you do this to me, I’ll drag you down with me and let my son, Jonathan, take office again!"
A dead calm filled his eyes. "I never intended to escape the suspicion for this frame-up."
’Because the moment I ordered the execution of Chloe and Dorothy, I knew I had lost them completely, forever.’
’I wanted to become strong enough to protect her, but in the end, I only hurt her more and more.’
’Where did it all go wrong? Even I can’t tell anymore.’
"Even locked up in here, you’re still trying every trick in the book to make moves on the outside. Perhaps only by turning you into a true monster, pickled in a vat of salt, will you finally learn whose world this is."
Turning his back, he spoke flatly, "Continue until she reveals Zeke Marshall’s hiding place."
Several expressionless soldiers moved forward and threw her to the ground. At a time like this, her noble status meant nothing.
When Mrs. Bancroft saw he was serious, she was terrified, her whole body trembling. "Get off me! Do you have any idea who I am? How dare you treat me like this!"
The moment she saw the sharp axe, all her composure shattered.
Utterly broken, she watched as the axe was about to fall on her ankle and shrieked, "Wait!"
Lillian Bancroft turned back to face her. "Speak."
"From the beginning... I received news from the outside that the First Lady’s brother had come looking for her. I had my people lock him in the cellar beneath the rockery. I don’t know if he’s still alive."
Lillian’s eyes flashed. "Find him, now!"
He hurried after the soldiers. Just as he was about to leave the courtyard, he turned and spoke to his birth mother, who was still on the ground. "He’d better be alive. Otherwise, I will make sure you get to fully enjoy the ’joys of family life’."
Mrs. Bancroft lay on the ground, still reeling from the shock.
After a long moment, she finally uttered a single word: "Lunatic!"
And indeed, Zeke Marshall was in the cellar under the rockery.
He was horribly emaciated and looked to be on the verge of death.
Lillian Bancroft had him carried out and given medical attention.
An examination revealed he was only suffering from starvation; otherwise, he had no serious injuries.
Lillian Bancroft sat at his desk, his temples throbbing.
The Premier requested a meeting, and he rose to go.
"Supreme Leader, a message has arrived from Quentin Grant, the eldest grandson of Fravia’s Grant Family. He says that if we don’t hand over the person, he will force his way into the Imperial Palace. He’s given us a half-hour deadline. Should we put the military on high alert?"
Lillian Bancroft waved a dismissive hand. "No need. There’s no reason to mobilize the troops over such a small matter. Send him a message. Tell him I will meet him personally, outside the palace. He must come. I will only see Quentin Grant, and him alone."
"What about Ethan Ellsworth?"
Lillian Bancroft snorted. "Do you think I want to see him? Comparatively, he doesn’t have the standing to meet with me."
He turned and walked out the door.
Soon after, he left the Imperial Palace with only a small retinue.
He arrived at a famous teahouse in Harrowin.
When Lillian Bancroft arrived, Quentin Grant was already there.
Pushing open the door, he took off his hat and extended a hand. "Lillian Bancroft."
Quentin Grant composedly shook his hand. "Hello, Mr. Bancroft. I’m Quentin Grant."
"Hello. Please, sit." He sat down, crossed his legs, and said with complete composure, "I received news this morning that a Mr. Grant had come to my country of Harrowin with a large contingent of men. I also received word that you’re here looking for someone—someone I’ve supposedly hidden away. Chloe’s brother, is that right?"
"That is correct."
"Zeke Marshall is indeed in the Imperial Palace. But he was not hidden there by me. Whether you believe it or not, I must make that clear."
