How to Save Humanity After Transmigrating into a Villainess Princess? Chapter 318.1 : Observing the Holy Capital

"My goodness... it's been half a month, why is it still so crowded..."

Looking at the queue stretching over a hundred ters in front of Northern Fire's state-run grain station, Caroline, dressed in coarse hemp robes disguised as a disaster victim, exclaid in disbelief.

"No... you don't understand. From a certain perspective, this place has actually beco part of the black market."

Adeline, also dressed in coarse cloth robes beside her, shook her head.

"Think about it, if you were so citizen, would you wait for grain prices to continue falling at this ti?"

"The failure of the Holy Court's grain price control policies is sothing everyone has witnessed, and now we're using the sa thods as the Holy Court, so many people will definitely think we'll fail too."

"So at this ti, ordinary citizens will definitely rush to stockpile more grain from us while we've just launched grain control policies, to prepare for future ergencies."

"Moreover... haven't you seen the latest data? We've now gradually sold nearly ten thousand tons of grain."

"Ten thousand tons of grain converts to twenty million pounds, but... you must know—the Holy Capital only has three hundred thousand people."

"If this money were divided equally among everyone, that would be nearly seventy pounds of grain per ordinary citizen."

"But... do you think that's possible? After experiencing so many economic fluctuations before, how many citizens might now have funds to buy seventy pounds of grain?"

"Even under our latest grain control policy, one pound of the cheapest bug rice costs ten copper coins."

"Even assuming all citizens buy the cheapest bug rice, even under this assumption, a citizen would need to pay at least seven hundred copper coins."

Adeline rolled her eyes at Caroline.

"Do you think that's possible?"

"This... definitely impossible."

Caroline shook her head.

"Mm... so I said, to so extent we've entered black market trading."

"None of those rchants wanting to compete with us are fools."

"They know running directly to our state-run grain stations to buy too much grain at once would definitely be noticed by us."

"So they can only establish so black markets privately to purchase grain from citizens at higher prices."

"This way, they can ensure their safety through relatively safer thods."

"Oh..."

Caroline nodded.

"So... actually quite a few of these citizens aren't buying grain for themselves, but are unknowingly and intentionally helping those profiteers run errands?"

"Mm... exactly."

"Geez, knowing this damages our policies, these guys are really..."

Understanding the reason, Caroline gritted her teeth.

"Sigh... don't say that."

Adeline sighed deeply.

"After experiencing the Holy Court's rule for so long, citizens losing trust in governnt is reasonable."

"I think... most citizens probably don't believe we can regulate the Holy Capital's economy well at all, only wanting to grab as much as possible before we fail..."

"Sigh..."

Caroline also sighed deeply.

"Fortunately we have Empress Elashia's help, otherwise we'd have to use extraordinary asures..."

Caroline thought again and asked Adeline:

"Then... can we gradually uncover the masterminds behind this through these transaction routes?"

Adeline smiled.

"Of course."

"Princess Ileina has already had Catherine and others secretly investigate."

"But..."

Adeline smiled again.

"Now isn't the best ti for us to act..."

"These guys have developed their influence in the Holy Capital for at least a hundred years, with big families and businesses. Rashly striking them might be dangerous."

"So... my strategy is—boiling frogs in warm water."

"Even if we truly find who the masterminds are, using swift and fierce strikes will definitely cause considerable upheaval."

"Because their backing forces are too large and involve too many interests, even when we have all their evidence and just cause, it will still create considerable trouble."

"Moreover..."

A shrewd gleam flashed in Adeline's eyes.

"Doing this... how do we maximize our benefits..."

...

"Hehe... Elashia, wearing these clothes still feels familiar to ."

Having changed from her Holy Princess outfit to robes for disguising as a disaster victim, Ileina smiled as she looked at Elashia, who was similarly dressed in patched clothes.

Seeing herself and Elashia wearing these tattered clothes... made Ileina feel like she had returned to Radiant Emperor City long ago...

"You... don't tell you want to nd clothes for you every day again..."

Looking at the nostalgic Ileina, Elashia laughed and scolded her.

"Hehe..."

Ileina scratched her head.

When she was small, she always liked running around everywhere, constantly tearing her clothes.

So every few days, Ileina's clothes would end up in Elashia's hands, ultimately requiring Elashia to spend half a day nding them...

"Then... let's go see the city now."

"Wait."

Elashia looked at Ileina with exasperation.

"Are we going out like this?"

"Going out in our current state, we'd probably be surrounded by crowds within minutes..."

"Oh! Right!"

Reminded by Elashia, Ileina realized—she hadn't disguised herself yet!

Going out like this, they'd probably be recognized before long...

"Sigh..."

Looking at the awakened Ileina, Elashia sighed helplessly.

This Holy Princess... really had her IQ instantly drop to zero upon seeing her...

"Wait... I'll call soone to disguise us..."

Just as Ileina was about to go call soone, Elashia stopped her.

"Really... did you forget I can use magic?"

"Oh... right."

Ileina scratched her head sowhat embarrassedly.

"Hehe... I never thought to ask before, how has your magic progressed, Elashia?"

Ileina rembered clearly—when they had just parted in the past, Elashia could already use so very weak magic...

Although Elashia's magic could only create very weak little flas then, after all these years, Elashia's magic should have improved considerably...

"Well..."

While using the [Disguise] spell the system had given her earlier to disguise Ileina, Elashia answered her question.

"Actually haven't improved much... in current Elasia probably just an ordinary mage..."