My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 102

After that, everything seemed uncertain. Yang Hao frowned and pressed the only button.

Chapter 218

For the Duke of Kosiché, today's work was exceptionally difficult. Truly.

"So...you've offered us such an exorbitant price? Even before we've seen your intelligence? You can only verbally assure us of its importance?"

"No, Your Excellency Duke, you misunderstand. We are capable of acknowledging its importance and credibility. If possible, you can test some of our intelligence tomorrow and compare it with the intelligence obtained by your spies. However, I do not wish to lose our due benefits by prematurely revealing it."

"But you also know that we will not pay any price for this without seeing concrete evidence."

"Yes. So we wish to negotiate with Your Grace, Duke, that on a certain occasion, we will provide you with some intelligence, and after you verify that intelligence, you will give us some resources. After completing the first transaction, Your Grace should understand the importance of our [secret intelligence]."

Simply put, it's like asking for an exorbitant amount—right?

Captain Glamorgan's United City seemed overly arrogant, believing the intelligence was so important that it warranted demanding more resources from a large city, and they did just that.

Using classified information as leverage, they made an exorbitant demand of the Duchy of Kosiché, hoping to trade the following:

1. Provide them with economic and consumer goods support.

2. Grant them military independence guarantees [not to vassal states].

3. Provide a large amount of resources at once.

...

These three things, taken individually, are not surprising. Kosiché would actually think that as long as the amount of information is sufficient, their individual needs would seem reasonable.

The problem is that these three demands, along with other minor and major demands, combined, made Kosiché feel that they were asking for far too much, almost to the point of bursting their stomachs.

Therefore, Koschei rejected their offer. After all, considering it carefully, giving so much to the United City without knowing whether the information was important enough for her to pay a high price to obtain it seemed like a huge waste!

not to mention...

Kosichrie glanced at her husband, who seemed to be deep in thought. Since her husband hadn't offered any indication, it was best not to make any decisions on her own.

Thinking of this, Kosichrie sighed softly. Then she suggested that since it was getting late, everyone should rest for a while and discuss it again in the afternoon after they had each presented their respective "sincere intentions".

"If that's the case, then we'll take our leave now."

Captain Glamorgan readily accepted the proposal. He left with his diplomatic team, and it was after they left that the head maid appeared, looking at Yang Hao, who had a furrowed brow, together with Duke Kosch.

Feeling the two women's gazes, Yang Hao smiled wryly and said, "They're definitely asking for too much." He then added, "Their intelligence is indeed very important." As for what to do next? He honestly had no idea.

"After all, they're asking for way too much... And although my [Puppet Stage] popped up a message confirming the credibility of that information, we still need to get the evidence. Sigh, can't we just have His Majesty listen to me directly?"

"Impossible. Even if Her Majesty is blinded by... her heart is with Ursus, and she won't listen to you based on a few words and carry out our plan after the civil war. We need evidence. Sigh, there are still some Serpent Scales guarding the territory; I'll have them go there later..."

"Snake scales? Fine, then you can arrange it..."

The couple sighed heavily. After making some preliminary plans, they decided to go back and have a meal and rest for a while before returning to work.

However, just before leaving, Kosichelle suddenly said that if Yang Hao still wanted to go to his friend's place for drinks today, then he didn't need to come over this afternoon. After all, this was her job, not his.

Faced with his wife's concern, Yang Hao simply patted her on the back and smiled slightly, indicating that he could go to the party after he finished work. And so, the couple left the audience hall with smiles, while the head maid went ahead to prepare lunch for them.

......

At the same time, the major news that the United Cities had arrived in the Duchy of Kosiché and established close contact with the Duke of Kosiché caused a complete uproar in Saint-Germain Castle.

Almost every minute, Her Majesty Catherine received a message from the Imperial Diet. Even during the recess, those who cared about the Empire—no, those who cared about their own interests—harassed Her Majesty the Emperor day and night like tireless machines, just to add a grain of rice to their bowls.

"Sigh... Tomorrow is the day of the meeting, and I can already picture those councilors slumped over their desks, yelling and blaming each other like shameless dogs, each accusing the other of violating their own interests." Empress Catherine sighed heavily. Sitting on her throne, she was too exhausted to say anything more. After all, even among her supporters, there were quite a few short-sighted scoundrels. "I clearly notified them beforehand. Ugh... the councilors from the Sherlock Holmes nightclub are one thing, but the neutral fence-sitters are all brain-dead bastards! A bunch of shameless street beggars."

His Majesty the Emperor is of little importance; within the Ursus Empire, it's not a major issue for a duke to communicate with an independent city. The reason the councilors object is simply because they haven't received enough benefits.

In the past, His Majesty the Emperor would have been happy to watch their infighting. But now, the ones being attacked were his loyal Duke Kosiché and that man, coupled with the impending inevitable civil war and the majority of members of the Masquerade nightclub in the Imperial Diet...

Now she can't just stand by and watch. But intervening would be far too difficult, wouldn't it?

Although Her Majesty the Emperor is of noble birth, in Ursus, which is not a dictatorship at this time, it is almost impossible for her to carry out large-scale executions of officials—it would be impossible for her to do so without a suitable reason, a strong and capable minister, a powerful policy, and the support of the entire empire.

Given the impossibility of mass executions or arrests of councilors, His Majesty's attempt to intervene in the parliament through relatively mild means is like cutting flesh with a dull knife, torturing the empire. There are currently about 600 councilors. To satisfy those 600 members, how much would the empire need to sacrifice to fill that insatiable, greedy mouth? Even if it could provide that much, what then? Once those resources fall into the hands of these insectoid beings, would they truly strive for the prosperity of the Ursus Empire? No, impossible!

That's why Her Majesty the Emperor hoped that when Yang Hao came, he could help her completely eliminate the former Imperial Council. She had become utterly disillusioned with "mild" methods—the Ursus Empire needed a radical reform, and reform was destined to involve bloodshed.

"...In short, let's get these messages through first." Emperor Ursus rose and left his palace, intending to rest for a while and attend to some personal matters. "Using a mobile phone would be faster. Sigh... I hope Duke Koschei can handle things there well. And speaking of which, the Imperial Council's [condemnation] should soon be sent directly to the Dukedom of Koschei through the Speaker's authority... As Emperor, I can force the Imperial Council into a ten-day recess, but doing so might incite the members to anger..."

"No, public sentiment is already running high. Sigh, but if it's not necessary, we should avoid doing that—we need to clear out the Imperial Council members and take over the territory controlled by Sherlock Holmes as quickly as possible before starting the civil war. We shouldn't let the recess bring the possibility of civil war forward..."

But if things really come to the point where I have to forcefully suppress the parliament, then that's the only way.

Her Majesty Catherine was worried and agitated, preparing for the worst.

At the same time, Captain Glamorgan, after returning to United City, anxiously reported his situation to the representatives of the military government.

"Ministers, our problem is very serious. Duke Kosiché does not believe that our [secret intelligence] has any value. We need to prove its value to them before they will be willing to discuss this cooperation further."

“Captain, we certainly know that doing this might result in a complete loss. But the problem is, if we don’t do it, who knows if what’s wrapped in cloth is a pile of shit or a piece of steel? They’re unwilling to take the risk, so we have to.” A bald gentleman wearing a wig sighed with a wry smile. Just as he was explaining his point of view, another senator agreed with him.

"Yes, because they don't take risks, at most they'll lose a few dollars, but we don't take risks... we might soon have Colombia taking control of our minds and limbs again."

"And if we only leak a portion of the [insignificant] information, we can still prove the credibility of that secret intelligence, right? Let's give them the intelligence about Colombia's military expansion and research into new weapons, in exchange for some resources—they'll soon find out that the intelligence we provide is true."

Another senator proposed a new plan—to trade some resources for a piece of insignificant intelligence. They knew about Colombian intelligence, and even if the Ursusians knew it, they wouldn't know too many details. After all, Ursus was geographically too far from Colombia, and even if their spies had the best equipment, Colombia would never be a higher priority than Casimir or Yan in their espionage missions.

"But aren't you worried that the Ursus people might steal our intelligence by doing this?"

However, while this plan is feasible, it also has unsettling aspects: what if the Ursus people, after verifying the intelligence, decide not to trade but instead intend to seize it through espionage or even force? What would we do then?

In response to the lawmakers' concerns, the military representative stood up and said that this was not something to worry about.

“We have a disguised secret room to confuse their plans—a secret room that even the highest levels of the military might not know is real,” the military representative explained. “In addition, we have a large number of counter-espionage and counter-infiltration devices in operation. Considering that the Ursus people would not be willing to risk being discovered and facing international backlash just to obtain an unverified intelligence report, I, on behalf of the military, believe that they are unlikely to use force or espionage to steal our important goods.”

"You saying that makes us feel a little more at ease. But are we really not asking for too much?"

“No, not at all. Because that would be an opportunity for Ursus.” The military representative shook his head. “An opportunity for them to annex the entirety of Kazimir—so this intelligence would be invaluable to them. I don’t think our proposed trade terms would be excessive.”

"That would naturally be the best."

Captain Glamorgan watched the council members deliberate. He silently took a step back, pondering the various problems facing the United City and the only chance to change them.

He sadly realized that this was their only chance. If they won, the United City could continue to develop. If they lost, the United City might soon become part of some other country.

On the other side, the Duchy of Koschche, also participating in this gamble, will not be crippled no matter what price they pay... In this unequal bet, the United City can only rely on that [secret].

Captain Glamorgan sighed heavily. He felt an immense weight on his shoulders.

......

Meanwhile, while enjoying lunch in the palace, although he still hadn't reached a suitable conclusion with his wife, Yang Hao, Koschche, and even Head Maid Monica all reached a consensus:

“They’re asking for too much. Even if those things aren’t crippling for us, we’re still losing money on so many.” Yang Hao said this while eating, his wife sticking her tail into his pants to relieve her own pressure. “So we have to lower their prices… let’s let the snake scales find their bottom line first, then we’ll bargain down to that bottom line, as much as we can.”

"Could you... use a better word?"

"Then, it would be best if we could get them to lower the price of their resources..."

He chuckled dryly, showing no intention of offering United City a discount.

Chapter 219

It was afternoon. When Captain Glamorgan returned to the audience hall, the somewhat weary soldier brought Yang Hao and his men intelligence that was "enough to prove the sincerity of the United City."

“Your Grace, this is our sincerity.” He handed a sealed box, along with the key, to the waiter. “Here is some of the latest intelligence from Colombia—I think you will need some time to verify it. But before that, we would like to receive a certain amount of [security deposit].

"A deposit? I see... What you need now are consumer goods and products, right?"

"Yes."

"That's settled then. We'll give you this amount for consumer goods and merchandise first... Once we confirm the intelligence is correct, we'll hand over more items to you to complete this transaction—we hope your sincerity will prove the value of your secret intelligence."

"of course."

Unlike the morning's drawn-out discussion, the afternoon's exchange concluded quickly. While Captain Glamorgan led the diplomatic corps to confirm the goods acceptable to the United City, Yang Hao and Koschich had already assessed the credibility of this "provisional intelligence."

They each read a copy, and after reviewing their respective intelligence reports, they exchanged the reports they had, occasionally asking Monica to make notes for them.

"In short... this is a list of orders from Colombian state governments and military companies near Casimir for new weapons, as well as data on military expansion spending... and beyond that..."

"There are also data on their contracts with mercenaries, as well as the code names of some mercenaries who have already signed contracts with those state governments and are heading to their respective assembly points to wait for orders."

Yang Hao and Kosiché exchanged a glance. They quickly realized that this was the Columbia state government's military expansion plan—and not only that, they had also hired a large number of mercenaries. It seemed that this was not simply about "protecting the border," but rather that they had something to do with Kazimirtu.

However, this isn't crucial intelligence. After all, this intelligence seems to contain the false information that "Colombia is preparing for civil war, and the various states are forced to hire mercenaries to protect themselves." And even if this false information were true, Ursus, separated by Casimir, couldn't possibly intervene in Colombia...

Therefore, after briefly reviewing this preliminary intelligence, Koschke first instructed Monica to notify the Serpent Scales to verify the intelligence's credibility as quickly as possible. Then, she turned to Yang Hao and asked:

"So, what about you over there, darling? Have you received any news about your puppet stage?"

"Yes, of course... but this isn't certain. I need to verify it before I can provide more information."

"Then let's leave it at that—but if we deploy Serpent Scales, our duchy really has almost none on standby, you know?"

"Is it okay?"

"It's alright. Because the Serpent Scales, who are in charge of counter-espionage work in the duchy's cities, haven't been mobilized... Sigh, but in that case, we can't infiltrate the United Cities and get what we want by stealing."

"The pony isn't here either... but Napoleon seems to be coming back soon?"

"It's no use him coming back, is it? Or do you prefer to just break down the door, darling?"

"never mind..."

Yang Hao's puppet stage didn't display a decisive "Event" confirming the value of this temporary intelligence. However, he did gain a new resolution called "Confirm Intelligence" to investigate further. Considering his wife had already sent Snake Scales out, Yang Hao didn't waste his precious political points on such an operation. He simply thought that it might take several days to confirm, while telling his wife that if the intelligence was true, then they had already obtained some small evidence of Colombia's actions against Casimir.

However, a single piece of evidence is meaningless. It's like when you reported your sister for eating your cake—even though her mouth was covered in cream and her face was flushed, who knows if she actually ate real cream cake?

You need to produce the video evidence, and use that decisive video evidence to let your mother see your sister's misdeeds. In today's terms, this temporary intelligence is just a bonus, and if they want His Majesty the Emperor to approve Yang Hao's plan, they still need to obtain that crucial secret intelligence.

But the choice now facing Yang Hao and his wife was proving difficult. One option was to offer a large sum of money; if they did, the United City would naturally release the secret intelligence. However, Yang Hao felt that giving away so many resources and money was a huge loss! Everyone's money and resources certainly didn't come from thin air, and with a civil war looming, it was better to save money if possible.

If they weren't going to pay, then the remaining options were either robbery or theft—they wouldn't do the former unless absolutely necessary. Partly, they were concerned about the international reputation of the Ursus Empire; partly, Yang Hao's friend Jack was living comfortably there, and unless Jack was willing to bring Mette to live with them, he really didn't want to resort to violence against the United City...

What about the latter?

"The remaining snake scales cannot be sent out for long-term theft operations."

Kosichrie sighed. Serpent Scale had been overwhelmed with work lately, and it was impossible to spare any of them from the duchy responsible for counter-espionage...sigh.

"The ponies cannot be recalled from the Duchy of Nicolai at this time..."

Yang Hao was somewhat helpless. The ponies had all gone out to do business in the Duchy of Nikolai, and now that they were back, all their previous work would be in vain.

"Um, gentlemen, what I have to say—"

Monica stammered as she spoke, but the couple interrupted her before she could finish.

"No. Not now."

Needless to say, the two organizations, Serpent Scale and Creed, are not even in the Duchy of Kosiché. How could they possibly help the two dukes steal things?

Monica, being the girl in the mirror, possesses the ability to teleport and appear between mirror images, so she could simply go and steal the item. But the problem is—neither Yang Hao nor Koschche knows where the real secret information is!

Moreover, there must be at least hundreds of thousands of things in the United City that can cause [reflection], right? In order to avoid having his head maid work hard for months without any results, Yang Hao decided that it would be better not to take any rash actions before knowing the exact location of the target.

Chapter 220

6 month 22 day.

Just as the two rulers of the Duchy of Kosiché were waiting for the Serpent Scales to confirm the authenticity of the goods in their hands.

"I propose that we strongly condemn the Duchy of Kosiché's unauthorized actions! And we should use the power of Parliament to punish them!"

"I agree."

"I agree."

"But the Duchy of Koschei is currently the region in the Ursus Empire with the best economic recovery! How can we impose sanctions on them for ordinary foreign exchanges?"

"But the problem is, that independent city still has Colombian influence. Who knows if they're spies sent by Colombia to use this opportunity to inflict further damage on Ursus?!"

...

In the Imperial Council of Saint-Germain Castle—a vast, luxurious, and noble building—His Majesty the Emperor sat on his throne, silently watching the councilors below argue and fight, their eyes red with anger, their faces flushed as they roared and gesticulated at each other. They showed none of the elegance expected of councilors or nobles; instead, they resembled street thugs or bandits fighting amongst themselves over a dispute over the spoils.

If it weren't for the railings separating the seats of the councilors, wouldn't they be wrestling together right now, staging a full-blown brawl in front of His Majesty the Emperor? Catherine sighed softly. She really didn't want to see even a second of this chaotic council, but until he arrived, she had to restrain herself...

Just as His Majesty the Emperor was thinking this, the conflict among the councilors below the stage had escalated to another level. Moreover, it was clear that compared to the majority of councilors from the Sherlock Holmes nightclub, and compared to the wavering neutrals who were now vehemently advocating for their own interests, the voices of the Emperor's faction councilors were becoming increasingly faint, and they were gradually being suppressed.

Seeing this, Her Majesty the Emperor frowned. She glanced at the Speaker, who was sitting on a throne slightly lower than hers, and noticed that the Speaker had already slightly raised the gavel in his hand. She then closed her eyes and chose to remain still.