The actions initiated by Perfikot did not cause much of a ripple in the Northern Territory. After all, even if the influence of progressive young officers was great, there was only one Guards Division in the North, with limited scale. Naturally, nothing major happened.
Even if there were, a squad of Steam Knights could completely settle it.
But it was a different story in the Empire’s homeland.
The Imperial Intelligence Department, having received information from Perfikot, took this matter very seriously. They expended significant effort to investigate the so-called progressive young officers group and the Rose Legion. After gathering enough intelligence, they began a large-scale cleanup and capture.
The Military Department’s attitude towards this matter was somewhat ambiguous. Although they did not stop the intelligence department’s actions and cooperated during the arrests, they did step out to protect certain young officers.
This attitude did not surprise the intelligence department. After some negotiation with the military, they accepted that the military would protect a small portion of people and did not delve deeper.
The operation by the intelligence department, supported by the military and the Privy Council, had a wide scope, almost netting the entire promising young officer generation in the Empire’s army, yet it did not cause a large ripple within the Empire’s power center.
Most of these young officers had low military ranks, mainly lieutenants and junior officers, so although they controlled some troops and could incite rebellions, such actions were hardly troublesome for the Empire.
With Steam Knights in the Empire now, military actions are difficult to succeed without the knights’ support.
Thus, even though some young officers initiated armed uprisings, they were still utterly crushed by the Empire’s latest Steam Knights, leaving no chance of success.
The Navy was the only area where a group of young officers successfully hijacked an old cruiser and drove it into Langton city center, attempting to bombard the palace to stir up widespread unrest.
This temporarily strained the situation in Langton, with even the Empress required to temporarily evacuate from the palace to Windsor Castle for protection against possible bombardments.
It’s important to note that the cruiser-level naval cannons far exceed the largest caliber conventional artillery used by ground forces. If they attack the palace or bombard the city, the destruction would be terrifying.
Under such circumstances, the Empire certainly would not risk the Empress.
Thus, a series of emergency response plans were activated, marking the first instance where the Empire’s central authority demonstrated its capability to react under an attack in its capital.
The first move was the attack by the Royal Mages.
By consuming some special casting materials, the mages froze the river surface, thereby freezing the entire cruiser within and holding both banks together.
This way, the hijacked cruiser was immobilized and intercepted.
Although the officers responded quickly, immediately organizing soldiers for combat and ordering the naval cannon to fire towards the palace direction indiscriminately to try their luck, hoping to hit the palace.
However, the knights, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed forward in a great charge. With the powerful support of the Steam Knights, the gathered honorary knights unleashed power almost reaching the Legendary Knights, ending the crisis in a destructive fashion.
Under the combined attack of seven honorary knights, the entire ship was shattered.
While this world lacks external energy concepts like fighting spirit emission that defy energy conservation laws, Extraordinary beings above the level of knights could indeed cause significant destruction.
As for Legendary Knights, such absolute powerhouses could destroy a new-style cruiser even without the Steam Knights’ support.
Because their bodies had broken through the limits of what humans could achieve through relentless training, every move contained great muscle strength capable of releasing devastation.
If merely causing destruction was the goal, it would not adequately showcase the knights’ heroism and might.
After shattering the warship, the seven honorary knights immediately raided the ship’s debris, capturing many officers planning the event, most belonging to the so-called Red and White Rose Corps of the Progressive Young Officer group.
This incident had already alerted the Empress, hence handling the young officers could not proceed as before.
Upon the Empress showing concern and inquiry, the Empire’s intelligence department interrogated the captured young officers immediately, using various severe tortures to force out the identity of all participants and planners involved in the attack.
Getting new names one after another, the intelligence department fully mobilized, launching a city-wide search with assistance from the police and City Guard.
Those captured were also thrown into prison, where under the intelligence department’s interrogation, they revealed new names continuously.
The intelligence department knew some of the questioning-named people were innocent yet in facing such a heinous incident nearly implicating the Empress, they had to ignore those pitiful innocents.
Under such a roundup, matters progressed very smoothly until a whole new name surfaced before the intelligence department’s director.
Justinian, who had been stripped of the Duke of Windesore title, the Empress’s biological son, the younger brother to Eldest Princess Annie.
Once involving the Royal Family, the seriousness of the issue shifted radically.
Before this, it was merely a minor issue, as this so-called Progressive Young Officer group seemed insignificant to the Empire’s true violent authority.
The intelligence department had initially proceeded with a mindset of pleasing the Lord of the North.
But now, everything turned uncontrollable.
Finally, under the direct instruction of the Empress, Eldest Princess Annie personally executed Justinian’s arrest.
Originally, matters could have ended here, but fate often played tricks.
From Justinian’s routine inquiry, an astonishing name emerged from his mouth. Content originally comes from noveⅼfire.net
Receiving this name, even Eldest Princess Annie could not help but be shocked, for this was a name more weighty than Justinian.
Prince Edward, the Empress’s brother, Eldest Princess Annie’s uncle.
The weight of this name differed entirely from Justinian.
Justinian was at most a discarded royal waste, whereas Prince Edward truly possessed the power for succession rivalry as a former throne competitor.