Chapter 320: Chapter 316: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes
Perfikot executed a major businessman and hung his corpse on Eagle’s Beak Cliff, causing an uproar in public opinion.
Leaving aside the situation in the Empire’s homeland, many people in the New Continent are openly and covertly criticizing Perfikot, calling her a brutal ruler, clinging to the old feudal aristocracy despite being in the industrial era.
This kind of opinion has a lot of traction in the New Continent, as it is essentially seen as a territory the Empire opened after entering the industrial era; largely lacking a historical past or feudal era experience.
Thus, to a large extent, people of the New Continent lack reverence for nobility and tradition.
In their view, that’s all rotten and decay; this era is the industrial era, the era of freedom, where money reigns supreme and capital is celebrated!
They do indeed fear Perfikot because of the New Shaker City massacre; the impression people of the New Continent have of Perfikot is that of a brutal, bloodthirsty maniac.
However, it’s hard for this impression to align with Perfikot herself.
After all, no one can link a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl with the legendary brutal and bloody Count who orchestrated a massacre.
This leads many to fear her reputation before seeing Perfikot, filled with fear and horror towards her.
But when they truly meet Perfikot, many subconsciously underestimate her because of her appearance.
Ultimately, a teenage child, a slender and frail noble lady, evokes pity and disdain more than anything else.
It’s hard to say there is much awe-inspiring majesty and presence to make people shrink back in fear.
This is primarily why Mr. Thomson would be disrespectful and show no respect towards Perfikot.
He has indeed heard of Perfikot’s fierce reputation; before coming to the Northern Territory, he was indeed in awe of Perfikot, thinking she was an unpredictable, capricious, and spoiled noble lady.
Mr. Thomson used to meet some "noble ladies" in New Shaker City; many times, they indeed act based on their whims.
Such behavior is difficult to understand.
One moment she might be laughing with you, the next she might throw a glass of wine in your face.
Of course, it could also be that she’s scolding you one moment and embracing you in tears the next.
So initially, Thomson did fear Perfikot, afraid that one careless mistake might get him hanged by her.
But when Mr. Thomson met Perfikot at Eagle’s Beak Cliff, that awe didn’t vanish but could only be said that seeing her was less intimidating than hearing of her.
Ultimately, it was because Perfikot looked too non-threatening.
Consequently, Thomson, naturally aggressive and overbearing in character, developed a sense of contempt towards Perfikot, even thinking of overwhelming her with his presence.
This thought was put into practice after his audience with Perfikot, and then there was no "after".
Thomson’s widow and son dared not retrieve his corpse from Eagle’s Beak Cliff, leaving it hanging for people to gaze upon.
Ultimately, it was his daughter who pulled favors, petitioning Andrew to finally have his intervention to retrieve the corpse and arrange for a proper burial after tidying it up.
Of course, the burial was done discreetly, without any show.
This was quite in contrast to Mr. Thomson’s style when alive, but both his daughter’s financial capacity and the pressure from the Lord of the North made the funeral very low-key.
If Thomson’s daughter hadn’t insisted on preparing a plot and inviting a Priest to preside over the funeral, his son might have just buried him hastily to avoid implicating family members after offending the Lord of the North.
From this perspective, Mr. Thomson’s behavior in front of Perfikot seemed quite foolish.
After all, even his wife and children knew of the Lord of the North’s intimidation, yet he dared to act pretentiously before Perfikot, really asking for trouble.
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the lack of reverence for nobility among people of the New Continent.
Those who rise in the New Continent tend to believe money is almighty, and is the primary measure of one’s social status.
So when a wealthy and industrious businessman comes to the Northern Territory to invest, seeing its barren state naturally brings forth a sense of superiority, thinking they themselves are the ones occupying the high position.
After all, without these major businessmen’s investments, how could the Northern Territory, akin to a survival in a wilderness, develop?
And so, from the viewpoint of some, represented by Mr. Thomson, Perfikot, if not seeking their help, ought to at least woo them.
Before being rude to Perfikot, Mr. Thomson indeed considered the consequences of provoking an Empire Count, but it was all part of his and some others’ plan.
Yes, it was indeed a plan.
They intended to use Perfikot’s need for them to invest in building factories in the Northern Territory to dominate negotiations with her, thereby gaining more benefits.
Mr. Thomson was merely pushed forward as a representative by those behind the scenes.
He can indeed be seen as a pawn intentionally used to show a strong attitude to test Perfikot.
They considered Perfikot’s possible outrage, her silent endurance, and also her applying noble privileges directly, having prepared for these scenarios.
However, clearly, neither those behind nor Mr. Thomson himself expected Perfikot to kill directly.
But this gave them an opportunity to challenge Perfikot; after all, with a death, the nature of the incidents changed, allowing them to unite more people to protest to the Imperial Center against Perfikot’s wanton conduct.
At the same time, they could use this matter to negotiate with Perfikot, even announce withdrawal from the Northern Territory investments, showing her their influence.
After all, though capitalists dare sell the rope to hang themselves, they are ultimately cautious about their lives; if their lives might be at peril any time, who would still invest in the Northern Territory?
They believed as long as enough people united, chances against Perfikot would be significant.