Time moved back several hours.
After Mathias left the residence, Elara quickly skimmed through the information brought back by Lianyi Tower and grasped the chaotic situation of the Plumera Kingdom's court.
Simply put, the current court system was strange. It felt like a mix of the Three Dukes and Six Ministers and the later feudal system of the Zhou dynasty.
In Plumera Kingdom, the highest officials were the Three Dukes: one in charge of ceremonies, one in charge of the military, and one overseeing literature and administration.
At this time, rituals were taken very seriously. Elara had only just arrived in this world, and the original host had no memory of these matters, so she only realized after reviewing the materials that a small ritual would soon take place to prepare for the grand year-end ceremony.
The one in charge of ceremonies, one of the Three Dukes, was specifically a department for conducting rituals.
Based on modern equivalents, this position should at least be held by someone knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, capable of tracking the seasons and advising the people on farming.
But in the current court, the person holding this role was someone from the Yan family. He knew nothing about astronomy but was skilled at hoarding wealth. He was a leech and one of the three wolves at Lord Gregory's side.
Since people of this era deeply feared ghosts and spirits, they would offer food to gods even when they had nothing to eat. The official in charge of ceremonies could therefore control the nation's wealth and precious items.
In other words, the one overseeing ceremonies also managed the kingdom's economy. This included overseeing farming, tax contributions, and the collection of national revenue.
This vital economic position had fallen into the hands of Lord Gregory's group. Elara didn't even need to visit the treasury to guess how empty it must be.
Lianyi Tower, a foreign force with roots in the capital, had deep infiltration capabilities. Maybe it was because Plumera Kingdom was now so weak that it couldn't stop outside spying. So when Elara reviewed the information on the Yan family, she found that Lianyi Tower had clearly marked nearly all of their financial sources.
This included the only discovered and developed gold mine in Plumera Kingdom, two silver mines, five or six salt pools, coal mines, the Jade River, and all trade rights over essential goods like cloth, oil, salt, and rice used by ordinary households. These had all fallen into the Yan family's hands.
Yet from all the wealth that flowed through their hands, less than one-tenth entered the national treasury. The remaining ninety percent was split among the Gregory, Yan, Lin, and Zhu families under various excuses.
They were blatantly sucking the country dry, using their power without shame. The Plumera Kingdom's wealth had been completely devoured by them.
Compared to them, Elara, labeled a spoiled princess, was poorer than a beggar. They were like maggots and rotting insects.
Even though she already knew the situation was bad, seeing so many things that once belonged to the royal family now divided up so carelessly still made her quietly suck in a breath. She calmed her emotions and kept reading.
As she read further, her brows furrowed deeper.
Lianyi Tower, known as the continent's top intelligence network, had provided not only the obvious financial records of the Gregory and three other families, but also secret incomes and expenses that were hard to trace.
These hidden accounts made up a large portion. Although Elara could be sure that even this wasn't the full picture, since someone like Lord Gregory wouldn't have lasted long if he were fully exposed. And Lianyi Tower wouldn't be allowed to operate so freely across nations if it could reveal everything.
Still, even this part was enough to prove that the Gregory, Zhu, Yan, and Lin families had embezzled massive public funds and were involved in shady dealings.
Elara looked at the detailed data recorded across many bamboo slips. After comparing and calculating, she noticed the wealth wasn't just randomly split.
Lord Gregory received the largest portion. Each member of his group took a share equal to almost half of the national treasury's revenue.
Even more shocking was that the rest of the wealth was sent north as tribute under the guise of trade caravans.
Her frown deepened further.
The north… her uncle, Regent Martin's territory.
She had just used Regent Martin to threaten Lord Gregory the day before. Gregory had shown fear and didn't want Martin to return. But now it turned out Gregory had been sending him a massive tribute every year.
What kind of situation was this?
If Gregory gave Martin seven to eight times the kingdom's annual revenue every year, almost treating him like a king, then it was likely their relationship was far closer than she had thought.
If not for her test yesterday, Elara might have assumed that Regent Martin was the secret backer of the Gregory family.
But if that were the case, why would Lord Gregory be so afraid of him? Why would he not dare to let him return, despite paying him so much?
Could it be that Martin had an even bigger appetite than expected, or a crueler personality that made them so scared? Or was Gregory doing something in secret, something that he feared Martin might discover, even after offering so much?
Elara rubbed the edge of the bamboo slip and felt it was more likely the last option.
Her uncle, with his power, wealth, and military strength, didn't lack anything. If he truly had ambitions, he wouldn't have remained quiet for so many years.
Though she didn't fully understand it, she could be sure that Regent Martin had no current intention of becoming emperor. Or perhaps something was stopping him from acting, keeping him bound for the time being.
Then what exactly had the Gregory and the three other families done to make them so afraid of someone who was so far away?
She narrowed her eyes and reread the information on the Gregory family. Then she compared their income with the treasury's revenue.
Huge amounts of data spun through her mind. After a while, she found another suspicious gap in the numbers.
Her brows furrowed tighter.
Because the gap had started more than ten years ago. Each year, a portion of income and goods from the four families would mysteriously vanish.
As for where these missing resources had gone, neither the Gregory family nor the others had any records. Even Lianyi Tower's vast intelligence had nothing about it.
Elara stared at the gap and roughly calculated the figures.
After a few seconds, as she looked at the large total she had worked out, a terrible idea suddenly appeared in her mind.
With so many years of financial buildup, so many years of supplies…
What if all of it had gone to buying private troops, horses, land, and weapons?
Elara suddenly let out a low hiss and dropped her brush with a loud snap.
No wonder. No wonder Gregory had acted so superior yesterday in the palace, like he was about to take control of it all. No wonder he showed such fear when the Regent was mentioned.
If things were really as she guessed, everything made sense.
Damn it. There really was no such thing as the worst. It could always get worse.
Elara spoke silently to the system in her mind.
"System, if Plumera Kingdom falls, will it be taken over by the Gregory family first?"
System 92, hidden in her subconscious, had been observing her thoughts. It was shocked by her sharp analysis, that she could deduce the Gregory family's deepest secrets from just a few rough data scrolls.
Just as it was marveling at her mind, she suddenly spoke to it. Sensing her emotional unrest, System 92 quickly steadied itself and replied a bit guiltily:
"Apologies, master. I can only see Plumera Kingdom's fate up to the moment before its fall, not beyond. But if your guess is right, then according to rough calculations, it's very likely that the Gregory family would take over temporarily after the kingdom's destruction."
It actually didn't know the full answer. It was just a support system, only capable of predicting short-term outcomes in order to assist the host.
But ever since forming a bond with Elara, System 92 had begun to feel useless. She was too smart. She didn't need its guidance to foresee future developments and prepare for them.
Now, when she finally asked it something, it was about something far beyond its ability to calculate. It really wanted to help, but all it could do was offer a vague response based on her own conclusion.
Elara wasn't disappointed. Although the system had its functions, she had always relied more on herself and disliked depending too much on external help.
And the system's estimate was enough. That answer confirmed that the Gregory family and the three others had likely been planning their scheme for over ten years. During that time, they had gradually built up a significant amount of power through strategic moves.
After all, if those four families had only wasted their money on luxury, they couldn't have grown so powerful or made everyone flock to them.
Lord Gregory had always shown ambition. With so much wealth under his control, it would be strange if he hadn't developed evil intentions.
But this meant the situation was more complicated than she first thought.
If Lord Gregory and the others were just corrupt court officials, things would be much easier. But now, Elara didn't know how much of a military advantage they had secretly built over the past decade. How many private troops they had raised, which cities and garrisons they had taken over, where their secret camps were built, how many weapons they had stockpiled…
The situation had shifted. It was no longer just about clearing out parasites from the court. It had become a tense crisis that could lead to rebellion or even the destruction of the kingdom.