Chapter 144 Doyle's Attitude
Not only was Marlon suspended and docked half a year's salary, but Doyle also brought up the old case of Sophie's retainer who had lost the official seal.
Taking this opportunity, Doyle severely punished the retainer under Sophie who had committed the crime back then. Not only was he exiled, but Doyle also dismissed in batches all the officials involved who had pleaded for leniency and provided protection layer by layer.
It was said that Sophie went to see Doyle about this matter, but he turned her away by bringing up Michael's case.
Doyle said: "Michael made a mistake and was so ashamed he wanted to kill himself. What more is there to say? You all pleaded for him at every turn - do you really think our dynasty's laws are a joke?"
For a time, the entire court felt uneasy.
Sophie could only watch helplessly as several of her trusted confidants were mixed in among the batch of officials Doyle dismissed!
The informants she had planted over the years were were uprooted just like that.
Odette was even secretly crying injustice, because some of her people were among them too. But what had she done wrong? She wasn't the one who arranged for Marlon to examine the body!
If she had known that getting involved in Michael's affair would lead to such consequences, she might as well have ignored him at the time and let him die!
Amid the turmoil of these past few days, Michael was hastily buried.
Perhaps it was Doyle's affirmation that helped Patrick recover slightly from his grief.
On the day of Michael's burial, not a single member of the Hamilton family appeared, and the people in the streets all felt it was inauspicious, staying indoors.
Rumors spread that Michael had been a wastrel who squandered fortunes in gambling houses, even pawned his official robes, and tried to stab his relatives—simply inhuman.
Although he had killed himself, his lonely ghost must still be wandering around Emerald City, and everyone wanted to avoid that bad luck.
Only the people carrying Michael's coffin remarked privately: "Mr. Michael Hamilton's coffin is so light, it doesn't seem like there's a person lying in it."
Others scoffed: "Before he died, he was locked in prison for a long time and naturally wasted away. That's normal."
On the night of Michael's burial, all matters were settled.
Cressida sat at her desk, gazing at the flickering candlelight, recalling what Michael had said before he died.
She had advised him to give up joining the military and choose the civil service examination instead because when Cressida received his letter from home, she had just been carried off the battlefield.
Covered in blood, having just barely survived the battlefield, when she saw that Michael also wanted to join the military - at that time the enemy had not yet been defeated - how could Cressida bear to let him come?
She immediately had Chris write on her behalf in a rough voice, sternly forbidding Michael's idea of joining the military in her letter home.
What was her reason? Was it because she was afraid Michael would achieve military merit?
She was afraid he would die on the battlefield!
When she joined the military, she knew about a thousand people in the entire battalion, but in the end, fewer than twenty people made it with her to the position of general. Over nine hundred people had died in battle.
Having witnessed the cruelty of the battlefield, she wanted to protect her family. Yet ironically, this caused Michael to resent her.
If that was the case, when Cressida moved to kill him that night, she had no mixed feelings - she had single-mindedly determined he should die!
The person she personally wanted to kill - even if ten people like Marlon who could investigate cases came, they wouldn't be able to find the cause.
Moreover, she had said early on that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill Michael. Even if Doyle knew Michael had died in prison, he wouldn't reopen the case for Michael.
Simply because Cressida had long sensed that although Doyle and Sophie were biological siblings, over the years Sophie had been encroaching on the royal family's power, creating factional disputes, and using Marshall's influence to form cliques for personal gain - such incidents were endless.
Cressida had seen the retainer under Sophie who committed crimes. At that time, Cressida was still an insignificant soldier and heard him say confidently: "I'm only at the military fortress temporarily. When the right opportunity comes, I'll be able to return to officialdom."
For the crime of privately stealing a seal, he could still keep his life - this showed how hard Sophie fought to protect this person.
Cressida didn't believe Doyle had no resentment in his heart. This time, when Marshall's faction used the same old tricks, Cressida was just using Doyle's dissatisfaction to make Sophie and Marshall suffer a bit.
So that next time they encounter something involving the Hamilton family, they'll have to think carefully.
However, this incident also served as a warning bell for Cressida.
Doyle was so sensitive this time, punishing officials with such wide-ranging implications, because he had long been dissatisfied with Sophie and Odette.
And Doyle's behavior of dismissing officials and strengthening the law also represented his attitude.
At this rate, Doyle would definitely limit the development of Sophie's or Odette's influence. Because of this, Doyle probably wouldn't give women the opportunity to become officials or generals at all.
After all, among all the women in the world, Sophie possessed the highest power and status.
Once Doyle relented and indicated that women could join the military or become officials, how much could Sophie and Odette accomplish with that opportunity?
As long as Sophie and Odette needed them, there were plenty of capable girls willing to work for them. Those girls would definitely try to attach themselves to Sophie and Odette to elevate their own status and gain power.
How could Doyle allow Sophie and Odette's influence to expand?
Thinking this through, Cressida closed her eyes. Winning Doyle’s recognition of her military achievements—and becoming a female general—would not be easy.
The road ahead was difficult. Fortunately, she had two backup plans.
If Doyle wouldn't acknowledge her achievements, she could still count on the new emperor.
Thinking of Miguel, Cressida couldn't help but recall that day when she pretended to faint in Marshall's mourning hall.
Miguel had said through gritted teeth in her ear: "You faint when you see me—what if I hadn't caught you?"
She had never seen the composed and stern Miguel use that kind of tone, as if she had played him.
At that thought, Cressida suddenly smiled.
Seeing this, Emma whispered to Verity: "Look, Mr. Michael Hamilton is dead, and Ms. Cressida Hamilton is so happy she's smiling. I wish Ms. Cressida Hamilton would smile like that every day."
Hearing this, Cressida thought to herself.
It should be Rose's turn to have bad luck.
Only five or six days had passed, and the city had already forgotten about Michael's death.
Patrick had Noah remove the items commemorating Michael to avoid bad luck.
Unexpectedly, this move pierced Clio's heart. Her heart condition flared up, and she fell ill again.
Several times she cried to Rose: "Michael died and it hasn't even been forty-nine days, yet Patrick, as his father, is so heartless!"
Rose didn't know how to console her, but secretly felt afraid.
Michael was dead. Who would Cressida target next?
Could it be me?
Rose was so frightened that her hands trembled even more than Clio's.
Clio thought Rose was worried about her and said weakly: "Rose, in the future I'll only have you. You must take good care of yourself..."
Whenever she said this, Rose couldn't help but cry out in fear.
"Mother, I'm afraid of Cressida. Now that Michael is dead and Father is even more dismissive of us, will Cressida take the opportunity to drive us out of the household?"
"She wouldn't dare!" Clio shouted sharply.
Then Clio pulled out a letter from under her pillow and stuffed it into Rose's hands.
Rose looked at it - it was a reply to Clio from someone who called himself her cousin.
He said he would return to Emerald City before December.
Rose knew he was a relative from Clio's stepmother's family.
"Mother, what good will it do when he returns to Emerald City?"
"He's a favored minister before Doyle! When he comes back to support you, we won't have to look up to Patrick anymore, and we won't have to fear Cressida either."
"But Mother, why would he support me? I'm not even a daughter of the Hamilton family."
Clio said nothing, but smiled, stroking Rose's long hair over and over.
"He will. He'll definitely like you."