Super Righteous Player
Chapter 276 - 274: The Crow’s Scheme_1

Chapter 276: Chapter 274: The Crow’s Scheme_1

Ding~

Suddenly, a crisp sound came from the entrance, and the servants in the kitchen looked toward the source of the noise.

A middle-aged man with a gentle smile, neat clothing, black hair, and black eyes walked in unhurriedly. His composed and imposing manner made the servants unable to resist speculating about his identity.

In his right hand, he held a silver coin.

At that moment, the silver coin was rapidly flipping and rolling between his fingers.

"Excuse me,"

The middle-aged man suddenly stopped a passing servant and asked in a low voice, "How do I get to the basement?"

As he spoke, half of a silver pocket watch silently slipped out from the wide sleeve of his robe.

Seeing the familiar mark of the three-eyed crow, the servant’s pupils shrank instantly, and his eyes filled with a fearful respect, not daring to meet the middle-aged man’s gaze.

"Just, just go straight from here... then take a left turn and you’ll see it."

Saying this, the servant quickly bowed to the man with black hair and excused himself.

"David form" Annan watched his retreating figure thoughtfully.

So that’s how it is.

Is this how the people of Noah regard the Crow family?

These servants, towards this "man related to the Crow," only show fear and caution... but for those nobles, officials, and Transcendents, it’s probably not so simple.

However, this was also quite normal.

Looking back at the composition of Noah’s royal family.

Henry VIII had a total of nine children... five daughters, four sons.

But five years later, only three remained.

One Eldest Princess, active in the court, eagerly intervening in political affairs, always ready to ascend to the throne; one second-rate guy who seems to want to kill his dad and his siblings to snatch the power of foolishness eternally; one lazybones who never does anything and doesn’t care about anything, just killing time every day... and six dead spirits who had already passed away.

Given that nearly a hundred percent of their children had issues, it was no surprise that the servants working for the royal family were all disloyal and undisciplined...

...No, something’s not quite right.

This seems to be the work of the Crow family?

Earl Geraint, as the chief of intelligence, controlled the special intelligence agency "Cyclops Crow". Its main tasks were to collect information for the King from all over the kingdom and to monitor, investigate, and arrest suspicious nobles of the Royal Capital.

Annan suddenly fell into contemplation.

Was the Geraint family too loyal... or simply not competent enough?

With just a fraction of their manpower, and with their power, they could completely gather ill-fame, fabricate evidence, and even directly contrive evidence to frame and attack political enemies.

But they didn’t do that.

Why would that be...

Just from the unmistaken fear shown by the servants, it was probably not the latter reason.

Annan paused slightly in his step, then continued toward the basement without betraying any emotion.

He suddenly understood:

——This was probably Earl Geraint’s arrangement.

Despite the Geraint family being hampered everywhere in the Royal Capital, it seemed as if every heir wanted to be an enemy of the Crow... but as soon as one of them clearly gained the upper hand, they would immediately turn around and seek to ingratiate themselves with Earl Geraint.

Even the third Prince, a second-rate character with intentions of patricide and regicide, was going through great efforts to make contact with Ferdinand, attempting to directly court him with promised benefits, just to win over someone from the Crow family.

Because obtaining the support of the Crow family’s intelligence was essential for a newly crowned King.

Therefore, Earl Geraint’s current repeated insistence on being impartial and only loyal to the King may not be out of loyalty.

His plan was simple.

——Raising brigands for self-reliance.

Placing bets on all four contenders.

Henry VIII was nearing his death, and they had to find the next ruler. However, the current generation of Earl Geraint was not active enough... or perhaps it could be said he was too cautious.

He did not interfere with or promote the birth of the new King in any form.

Considering that Benjamin was well aware of the rebellion of the third prince and even knew of his assassination plan... Benjamin must have been a member of the "Cyclops Crow."

They knew everything but did nothing.

In this internal struggle of the royal family, all heirs could sense what they would become without the power of the Geraint family... Without a source of local intelligence, they were as good as blind; unable to protect themselves from assassins, especially Transcendent assassins; unable to discern others’ true intentions and thereby easily deceived and caught in conspiracies; even their thoughts could be controlled by others.

All these were things Cyclops Crow could see through, prevent, and even completely block.

They could do it, but there was no need.

They had a good reason—for neutrality.

And no matter who emerged victorious in the end, after having gone through a period without the protection of Cyclops Crow... they would all have to try to win over the Geraint family after succeeding to the throne.

There was no way they would betray Earl Geraint at this juncture by stripping him of his position as head of intelligence. They even had to increase his power... to win their support.

Only then could they securely sit on their throne.

In other words, no matter who the new King was—after taking the throne, they would effectively be held hostage.

They would have to pay a price that satisfied Earl Geraint.

Otherwise, Earl Geraint could simply demand a higher price from the losers.

...What is this?

The inheritance law of the royal guards?

Annan immediately became somewhat cautious of Earl Geraint.

He now began to doubt the initial intelligence he received—that Earl Geraint had sent Tan Juan away to keep him out of the center of the struggle.

The purpose of all this was to make the third prince believe that he had killed Tan Juan. But Annan couldn’t guess the reason behind this...

Earl Geraint, after all, had only three children!

To bait the third prince... he was even willing to put his youngest son at risk.

And Earl Geraint could not possibly be unaware that his eldest son had already sided with the third prince.

"...Betting on all three outcomes?"

Annan narrowed his eyes slightly: "To use Tan Juan’s feigned death to elevate the identity of Ferdinand..."

If the third prince turned out to be the one who finally succeeded, the Geraint family could continue to thrive.

Is that why he had the heirs fight each other until only three remained, to achieve this goal?

—No, that’s not right.

He was actually betting on four outcomes.

To this date, the Geraint family still loyally served the King... If the King ultimately accepted the rotten-seeker’s request and completed the eternal life ceremony, their status would remain unchanged.

Annan thought rapidly.

This intelligence... might save his life when he arrived at the Royal Capital a few months later.

Now there was only one unclear point.

He had three sons; if they corresponded to the three royal heirs, and he himself corresponded to the King...

Then who was Tan Juan Geraint’s advisory target?

Annan suddenly paused.

Images of himself, Prince Albert, Kafney, Roth Fort, the rotten-seeker, and Sir Silver flashed through his mind...

Did he include me in his plans as well?

Benjamin knew too much.

If he were a member of Cyclops Crow, then Earl Geraint would have known about his impersonation of Tan Juan long ago.

Unless, that was his intention—to let Tan Juan fake his own death and get away...

And then have me replace Tan Juan as the one to assist Prince Albert in his ascension?

In that case, what was Tan Juan doing?