Inside the Budapest Royal Palace, the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Laszlo sat on the throne, with Matthias standing by his side.
Since the news came so suddenly, Laszlo didn't even have time to summon his other ministers.
Ester entered the palace with two Imperial Guards, escorting a hunched prisoner in heavy shackles.
A Wallachian diplomatic official walked beside Ester.
"Your Majesty, they are all here."
"Hmm," Laszlo glanced at the prisoner, who was almost unrecognizable from torture, then turned his gaze to the Wallachian envoy, "Is this man the mastermind behind the rebellion?"
"No, no, no, noble Emperor," the envoy, Mihai Vodă, quickly waved his hand, "He is merely a pawn, and the true mastermind behind the plot to overthrow Wallachia is someone else."
Laszlo's eyes narrowed. It seemed Vlad had already uncovered the truth for him, which saved a lot of trouble.
"Oh? Elaborate."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Vodă glanced at the dejected and suffering Dan, then recounted everything to the Emperor.
Laszlo listened intently, and Matthias, standing by, also pricked up his ears.
When they heard the name Hunyadi mentioned, both their hearts tightened, though their thoughts were diametrically opposed.
"Good, Hunyadi Laszlo, I have repeatedly indulged you, but this time you have delivered leverage into my hands."
Laszlo thought this to himself, feeling a faint sense of schadenfreude, but his expression remained unchanged.
In fact, if Hunyadi hadn't stirred up so much trouble, Laszlo hadn't intended to do anything to him.
After splitting the Hunyadi Family, Hunyadi's threat lessened slightly, and the threat to the monarchy could be gradually weakened.
Even for Janos's sake, Laszlo didn't want the Hunyadi Family to end in such a tragic state.
However, since this Hunyadi fellow was so restless, Laszlo would no longer be polite to him.
On the other side, Matthias's expression changed several times, finally settling into one of helplessness.
He wanted to sigh but feared the Emperor, who was so close, would notice. Not long ago, the Emperor had ordered the Austrian government to allocate some valuable land in Styria and Venetia as his fiefdom in exchange.
The value of these fiefdoms was clearly higher than the few castles and vast tracts of barren land his brother Hunyadi had grudgingly given up.
This made him both touched and conflicted.
On one side was his blood brother, and on the other was the Emperor who treated him like a brother and favored him greatly.
Perhaps, this time he would have to choose between the two.
No matter which side he chose, Matthias felt he wouldn't be at peace.
While Matthias was still conflicted, Laszlo's mood took a turn for the worse.
"You mean the rebels were supported by the German immigrant cities?"
Laszlo stared intently at Vodă, his severe gaze making even the experienced diplomat feel a little weak in the knees.
But he still straightened his back and answered with certainty: "Yes, Your Majesty. The Saxons in Transylvania also participated in this conspiracy, attempting to overthrow Prince Vlad's rule."
Hearing this, Laszlo sighed softly.
How could he not have thought that this matter would involve such a wide range of parties?
He had originally thought it was just another Hunyadi conspiracy, but he hadn't expected him to try and drag all the German immigrant cities in Transylvania into it.
The only good news was that Brașov, the richest and most important of these immigrant cities, did not participate in this conspiracy.
Otherwise, Laszlo would truly find it difficult to handle this conflict.
After all, balancing things perfectly was not that simple.
If the punishment was too severe, there would certainly be rumors like "the Emperor favors the Wallachian foreigners and persecutes his German brethren."
There was no need to doubt this, because Laszlo had already figured out where the popular works about "Vlad the Impaler" originated: they came from these immigrant cities along the Transylvanian border near Wallachia.
The stories spread along trade routes deep into the Empire.
Now, in Rhineland and even the Low Countries in the western part of the Empire, many people already knew of Vlad the Impaler's fearsome reputation.
Rumors like "impaling over twenty thousand Ottoman infidels" sounded very mighty.
Of course, normal people would only find it cruel, but in an increasingly religiously fervent Europe, people had begun to praise such cruel acts as great achievements.
Under such terrifying speed of dissemination, once he made a ruling biased towards Wallachia, the enthusiasm for immigration within the Empire would likely suffer a heavy blow.
And if the punishment was too light, with Vlad's vengeful nature, he would likely cause even more bloody massacres to vent his dissatisfaction.
At that time, the conflict between Hungary and Wallachia along the border would likely intensify, which was very detrimental to the unity of the vassal states.
Fortunately, only Sibiu was currently identified as having participated in this conspiracy, so Laszlo could easily make a largely just ruling.
"Go back and tell Vlad that I will uphold justice for him, but before that, he must exercise restraint!"
Vodă looked at the Emperor with some surprise, paused for a moment, and then immediately complimented him: "Enlightened Majesty, your justice will be respected and praised by the people. May God forever protect you and your great Empire."
However, he secretly groaned inwardly.
Prince Vlad was not the type of person who could endure so much.
If he were to return, perhaps all the Saxon merchants in Wallachia would already be "new saplings" in the Impaling Forest?
But he absolutely dared not say such a thing to the Emperor.
And Laszlo felt a strange sensation hearing an Orthodox Christian tell him "God bless you."
He looked at Ester, who had been waiting for a long time, and said solemnly: "Ester, I can trust you, right?"
"Your Majesty, my sword will always serve you."
"Good," Laszlo nodded slightly, "Then go bring Hunyadi to me. Try not to harm his life."
Ester nodded vigorously and left the palace with his subordinates and the two Wallachians to carry out the Emperor's command.
This time, he was going to arrest his old superior and predecessor, Hunyadi Laszlo.
However, he would not feel the slightest bit of compassion.
Since Hunyadi's return to Hungary, Ester had succeeded him as the commander of the Imperial Guards, constantly following the Emperor, receiving numerous rewards, and was extremely loyal to the Emperor.
Towards Hunyadi, who had betrayed the Emperor, Ester felt only regret and disdain.
Soon, Ester, riding his warhorse, led a troop of Imperial Guards towards Hunyadi's residence.
On the street, the populace, seeing this unit rush out of the Royal Palace, moved to both sides of the road.
Some busybodies couldn't help but wonder what this imposing army was going to do?
Among them were some acutely perceptive nobles who began to realize that things were becoming somewhat amiss.
Inside the Royal Palace, as everyone withdrew, Laszlo began to converse with Matthias.
"Matthias, what do you think I should do about this matter?"
Laszlo asked in a gentle tone, without any of the tension from moments before.
Matthias's heart tightened, and a look of weariness appeared on his young face.
After a moment of silence, Matthias bowed deeply to Laszlo and said solemnly: "As your subject, I would say that such an act of treason should be handled officially: arrest Hunyadi Laszlo, bring him to court, and then pass final judgment.
As the second son of the Hunyadi Family, I hope you will remember my late father's meritorious service in diligently assisting three Emperors, and show some leniency to my rebellious brother. This is my request."
"Hmm."
Laszlo nodded slightly upon hearing this, not saying another word.