Can’t Pretend Chapter 93: Ordination Ceremony

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: SpringBreeze, Kiramekineko

 

Bessemer was too naive to think that. Of course, the royal family would not want Ji Shanhong to do whatever he wanted, and if they could, they would not even want to acknowledge Xie Quan’s identity so easily in the first place.

But what could be done?

The two legions outside the Imperial Capital were watching, and the warships and mecha were parked on top of the mountains outside the Imperial Capital. If there was the slightest movement inside the city, the warships and mecha could immediately enter the palace.

Who would dare to make a move?

And to be honest, none of the candidates for this year’s crown prince were very promising, and the two that had some hope had almost reached the bottom of their reputations, so even if they were to choose the most obscure, Her Highness Erica, they would never choose the third prince or the eldest daughter.

There was a new candidate, but it also solved the current crisis of the royal image. So this was a willingness to fight, a willingness to suffer, the royal family and Imperial Parliament simply would not do too much unnecessary resistance.

Of course, this was only one idea.

There was also a thought that was directly reflected in the legions that were retreating to the Imperial Capital at this moment. The Second and Fifth Legions supporting the third prince had already withdrawn from the front line, and the Fourth Legion of the eldest empress had also assembled and set off from their own garrison.

At the same time, the rest of the legions received orders from Emperor Hea to return to the capital, except for the eleventh and twelfth Legions, which were stationed at the border to defend against the invasion of intergalactic beasts, to purge the rebellious ministers, and uphold the righteousness!

The First Legion in the city also entered a state of war alert, guarding Emperor Hea’s side every step of the way.

The Ninth Legion under Ji Cheying was also ordered to be on war alert, and was responsible for patrolling the city. For a while, military aircraft and mecha could be seen hovering over the Imperial Capital on a daily basis.

This was the meaning of war.

However, for the people, especially the beta, there was no breakthrough. They were afraid of war, but they were more desperate to not stay at the bottom of society for a long time. So they were eagerly awaiting the investiture ceremony of Prince Caesar.

The beta from other cities could not go to the ceremony, so they gathered in front of the screen and waited for their hope.

At ten o’clock in the morning, the investiture ceremony officially began. The magnificent and noisy salute exploded over the palace, followed by the magnificent sound of music.

In the auditorium, the sunlight shone through the glazed windows and fell on the heavy red carpet, which was lined with members of the royal family and the rest of the nobility, the generals of the military, the officials of the empire, and some of the scholars with awards.

Almost all of the highest status people in the empire were currently in this auditorium.

Ji Shanhong was wearing a solemn military uniform with as many various colors of medals as stars in the sky. He stood at the front on the right, his back straight.

Ji Cheying, also wearing a military uniform, stood at the back of the right side; opposite him were the members of the royal family, Saroyan and Amelia sat impatiently in their positions. The two were close to each other, but did not talk much to each other.

The only conversation was after the two entered the auditorium and took their seats, Amelia said in a cool tone, “Royal brother, now this situation, have you ever thought about it?” She sneered, “The two of us have been fighting openly and secretly for so long, but in the end we have done it for others.”

Saroyan gave a cold snort and didn’t say anything back.

And when the camera lens swept to the two, the screen of the live broadcast also floated all kinds of abusive pop-ups.

[They actually have the face to appear here]

[Trash, get out of the royal family!]

[They should go to jail!]

Lilith was among them, after all she was the daughter of a duke and had a duchess title of her own. She was wearing a gown, and she coughed a few times while covering her lips with a handkerchief, and couldn’t stop looking at Ji Cheying on the opposite side.

And as everyone finished entering, the music played by the royal orchestra became more and more exciting. The courtesy officer announced in a loud voice, “His Majesty is entering, please stand up…”

Under everyone’s attention, Emperor Hea wore an extremely formal dress, with a crown on his head, a symbol of glory and status, and a long cloak that was several pounds and dragged out three or four meters on his shoulders. He slowly sat on the throne, his face proud and filled with indifference.

The salutatorian shouted, “Please take your seats, and now the ceremony of the investiture of His Royal Highness Prince Caesar will begin, please, His Royal Highness Prince Caesar—”

Ji Cheying’s eyes immediately moved to the gate, this was the first time he saw Xie Quan so formally dressed. The young man was wrapped in a black and gold patterned suit. The style of the garment was a bit like a military uniform, the cut was straight, generous and sharp, but there was more decoration than the military uniform, and the lining of the collar was soft silk with some elegant and understated small lace. They also tidied up his hair to reveal his delicate eyebrows more clearly to the public.

No one would suspect that Xie Quan was not a real royal at this moment. It was hard for people to even imagine that this man did not grow up in the royal family. If they knew that Xie Quan actually lived in the slums until he was sixteen, they would have dropped their jaws. After all, even if they were raised with good food and clothing, they may not be able to develop such a noble aura.

So the pop-ups in the live stream directly exploded in this instant:

[Moving is better than the photo, and the look is too divine.]

[He is the royal son of my destiny, when will he come to pick me up?]

[As expected of a royal bloodline, his face is really good.]

[The first three princes are good-looking, genes can’t fool anyone.]

However, this Xie Quan was stunning to Ji Cheying, but not his favorite. He still preferred the mechanical fan with his face stained with machine oil and his face focused on building his kingdom with his hands.

Xie Quan slowly walked towards Emperor Hea, who was sitting above him, and then slowly knelt down under the eyes of the crowd. Emperor Hea stood up and put the golden ribbon, symbolizing the prince, over the top of Xie Quan’s head and placed it on him.

Next to him, Ji Shanhong’s eyes burned, and although his face still had that gentle smile, his ambition could be seen in his eyes.

“This position of prince originally belonged to your father, and now you inherit, it also can be counted as my brotherly love.” The great emperor Hea said softly, “If you stop at this position, you can still keep the glory and wealth.”

Although Xie Quan knelt on one knee, he did not lower his head, and he did not look at Emperor Hea, then replied, “Then thank you, Your Majesty.”

Emperor Hea hooked his lips and laughed lightly, then straightened his back, then read in a deep voice, “Young Ansel, the glory of the family and the Empire will shine on you forever, and you will return with blood and believe in this glory with your soul.”

The next salutatorian solemnly shouted, “After the ceremony, congratulations to Prince Caesar, please Prince Caesar move to the terrace to deliver a speech to the nation.”

Ji Shanhong came forward at that moment, and he said to Xie Quan, “Please, Your Royal Highness.”

Xie Quan followed behind Ji Shanhong and entered the corridor from the left side, the stone corridor had holes left for windows, the noise of the crowd outside fell into their ears without reservation.

Ji Shanhong said, “Look, they’re all waiting for you.” Half sideways, he asked, “Have you memorized all the scripts you were given before?”

Xie Quan nodded.

Ji Shanhong saw Xie Quan did not speak, and only thought he was nervous, so he smiled slightly, said soothingly, “Later, you do not need to be nervous, do as you usually do.”

These days Xie Quan had been very cooperative, Ji Shanhong asked him to meet with people, he met with those people obediently, and said the words were also no mistake. The only thing was that he liked to pile his palace with all kinds of mechanical materials, and no matter how he persuaded him, he did not stop.

Ji Shanhong also knew that Xie Quan was a little crazy about anything mechanical, so let him go.

Xie Quan suddenly asked, “Do you know that Emperor Hea and the third prince are already gathering their legions?”

Ji Shanhong smiled. “Of course I know.”

Xie Quan could know, as a military marshal, how could he not know? Now Emperor Hea could be so cooperative, but it was only the calm before the storm, preparing for the fish death net afterwards.

Xie Quan raised his eyebrows. “Then are you still prepared to go it alone?”

Ji Shanhong gently shook his head. “This is not a bolt from the blue, this is the general trend.” He turned his head sideways and looked at Xie Quan with a loving gaze. “Your Highness still doesn’t quite understand, now I can do all this, I alone can never succeed, I am only acting in accordance with public opinion. The one who wins the public opinion will win the world, Your Majesty, they act against the public opinion, this battle, they will definitely lose.”

Even if the legions were called in, so what? Could they fire on the civilian population?

Even if they could break through the defense of the legions outside and storm the city, by then Xie Quan would already be a candidate for the crown prince, and all that remained was the choice of public opinion. Could they kill all those beta supporters of Xie Quan and not let them vote?

Xie Quan had become the crown prince, a foregone conclusion that no one could shake. And he had been preparing for this for more than ten years. When the door was opened, light poured in like a tidal wave, and Ji Shanhong extended his hand, inviting Xie Quan to come forward.

“Please, Your Highness, your people are waiting for you.”

Xie Quan stepped into the light, and at that moment his eyes squinted slightly in discomfort because of the bright light, and then there were the cries of the crowd that boiled away with his appearance in front of him.

Some of them were cheering, and some of them were cursing and protesting.

Most of them were shouting his name, but it wasn’t Xie Quan, it was Caesar.

As Xie Quan adjusted to the light, his eyes finally saw the scene in front of him—a wide square about eight hundred meters beyond the terrace, but it was crowded with people looking at him eagerly, and many of them were holding banners.

[Your Highness Caesar! Welcome home!]

[Our beta prince!]

The minister in charge of the process led Xie Quan to the microphone, and he was about to speak to quiet the crowd and signal that Xie Quan would be speaking soon, but at that moment, the crowd at the head of the room dispersed, leaving a relatively empty space.

A silver-haired beta with a cane walked into the room, and it was none other than Ham Rikaiser, the owner of the Chamber of Commerce building and one of the Chamber’s board of directors. Many people know him because he often appeared as an economic advisor on the empire’s top programs. Xie Quan also knew him because he was the one who spoke to him with affection and loyalty not long ago.

And in front of all eyes, including hundreds of millions of people in front of the broadcast, he bowed deeply and then took a letter out of his arms and held it in his hands as he shouted in his voice, “The Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce unanimously requests the royal family to include His Royal Highness Caesar as one of the candidates for the crown prince!” He said loudly and earnestly, “His Highness Caesar is a royal family member and an S-class omega, now the crown prince candidates, the Grand Duchess and the Third Prince, have broken faith with the people and are unable to carry out their duties, the people need a new candidate for the crown prince, and His Highness Caesar is the best candidate. Please let the Royal Family and the council listen to public opinion and let His Highness Caesar become a candidate for the crown prince and run for the crown prince! “

At this moment, some people who had been arranged by Ji Shanhong and Ham started to shout along with the crowd, and the emotion spread rapidly in the crowd. Gradually, after a moment of hesitation, the betas were also swept by this emotion, and then they also shouted, “Please let the royal family and the council listen to the public opinion, and let His Highness Caesar become the candidate for the crown prince and run for the crown prince!”

The ministers suddenly panicked, not expecting such a situation to occur, and the guards below to maintain law and order also looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

The people’s behavior was not too radical, the originator only stood there and shouted a few words, they could not be used to suppress on the grounds of endangering the security.

Just when everyone was at a loss for words, Xie Quan stood in front of the microphone and spoke without warning, “Do you know what you are shouting?”