Catherine and the Black Emperor

82. Loyalty

Sergei left Elizabeth's office.

Even he himself had not expected Elizabeth to bestow such a reward upon him—three official positions, a truly significant honor—but he was also somewhat disappointed.

Because his original expectation was that Elizabeth would reward him with a military position.

"How could I possibly be allowed to come into contact with the military while doing secret work?" Sergei shook his head and muttered to himself.

He then went to the secret committee.

Regarding the fact that he was framed, Elizabeth ordered him to find out the truth, whether it was a deliberate frame-up, what the intention was, and whether any major secrets had been leaked.

In any case, the Ottoman ambassador has been sent back by Elizabeth.

However, this matter was far less serious than the Lestoker case. At least Elizabeth allowed the Ottoman Empire to send another ambassador, instead of the French ambassador, who was only able to cross the Russian border again and arrive in St. Petersburg two years later.

Elizabeth knew perfectly well that this whole affair was, in essence, a game of wits between him and Shuvalov.

Both sides were digging for evidence against each other, and whoever's evidence was too serious for her to tolerate would be kicked out. This time, the two sides were evenly matched.

But this is only what's on the surface.

The moment Sergei appeared on the secret committee.

Secretary General Stepan, Elder Vadim, Elder Vitaly, Secret Police Captain Yulia, St. Petersburg Secret Police Captain Arseni, and a host of other secret police captains were already waiting for his arrival.

"Chairman!" the crowd shouted in unison.

Sergei raised his hand to signal everyone to disperse and go about their own business, leaving only Stepan and Vitaly behind.

Sergei arrived at a cell where Chom, a former member of the Secret Committee, was imprisoned.

Upon hearing the shout of "Chairman" from outside, Chom's face, which had initially lit up with joy, instantly lost all hope when he saw Sergei walk in, his expression filled with despair.

"I didn't expect you to have such authority in the committee." He looked at Stepan and Vitaly behind Sergei.

Sergei said slowly, "We're all doing secret work; you shouldn't try to be clever."

Chom knew that the other party was referring to him passing messages to Shuvalov in court.

His smile was bitter.

Originally, he was the only one destined to die, but now his recklessness has plunged his family into dire straits as well.

"Do my children still have a chance to live?" Chom tried to find a last glimmer of hope.

"All you can do is use the secrets you tell them to make them feel better."

Chom closed his eyes and finally revealed all the secrets he knew.

Every veteran of the secret committee, having worked in secrecy for many years, would know some little-known secrets, which might be about the internal workings of the committee or something else entirely.

"Don't let them suffer!"

After uttering his last words, Chom slammed into the wall with a thud, and his vibrant life turned into a corpse.

Vitaly stood behind, his eyes gleaming.

Even though he was Sergei's man, the other side still arranged for others to kidnap Chom's family, even though he knew that the other side was afraid that he would turn against them at a crucial moment, since Shuvalov would definitely have arranged for him to rescue them.

Yet he was still amazed by Sergei's meticulousness.

The other person is truly born for clandestine work!

Sergei didn't believe Arseni either; it must have been Yulia who arranged it. The secret police women were already a force to be reckoned with; they posed a considerable threat and had considerable combat power!

To be able to train a group of women to such a terrifying degree...

Vitaly now felt fear towards Sergei.

Stepan shared the same view, believing that it was Yulia who kidnapped the Chom family, and not someone else.

But this did not affect Sergei's desire to make them wary of the existence of the secret policewoman.

After leaving the secret committee, Sergei met Pimen, who handed him a piece of paper with names listed, one column with many names and the other with only a few.

"Deputy Fedordo clearly expressed his desire to save you, while Deputy Vladislav hesitated but still indicated he would do his part," Pimen explained the situation at the time.

Both were Privy Council members, holding high positions of power.

The former was in danger because of the census, and it was Sergei who helped him. The other person became a member of parliament, and before Feodor, he arrested Feodor's superior.

It was the downfall of the two parliamentarians, Vasily and Haridon, that led to the rise of Feodor and Vladislav.

Feodoro is clearly more reliable than Vladislav, but now that he has been reinstated, both of them will become his voice in the court.

"Greb, George, Count de Vere, Major Maxim... they are all outraged by your arrest and have expressed their desire to plead for your life and save you."

"There are a few others who have not yet given a clear answer."

"Based on preliminary assessments, the last two seem to be planning to cut off contact with you at any time."

Indeed, after Sergei saw through Shuvalov's scheme, he also used it as an opportunity to test those around him.

Without a doubt, most of those who had received his favor or been promoted by him were loyal and reliable.

Of course, there are also completely snobbish or selfish people.

However, he was mentally prepared, after all, these people were different from Yuri, Fiona and others, different from Pimen, Gemma and others, and even more different from Ekaterina, Naryshkin and others.

If there's a problem with him at the core, it can easily cause the group around him to collapse.

But as long as he's there, the team will be safe and sound.

Sergei put away the note: "Just deal with the last two."

"Yes."

Although he always trusted Pimen to do things, Sergei still asked, given the gravity of the matter, "They don't know you exist, do they?"

Pimen nodded: "I don't know. As you said, I had Ulyana contact them. They only know that Ulyana is one of your people."

Sergei nodded.

The Prime Minister's residence.

Army General Apravshin sat opposite Besdudev.

Although the two initially disagreed on the choice of the Grand Duke's fiancée, they were old partners and naturally would not sever their friendship because of it.

At this moment, the two were talking about Sergei.

"Senior Advisor to the Construction Department, no less than the Director, a fifth-rank civil official; Deputy Chief Steward of the Royal Household, a third-rank inner court position; Deputy Commander of the Hunting Corps, an honorary position." Besdudev's words were complex.

"Plus the most important position of vice chairman of the secret committee, to this day, I actually regret that this young man didn't become one of my men—no, I deeply regret it!"

Apraksin remained unmoved: "These are all just decorations in front of the army!"

He was an army general, a second-class military rank. If there were a war, he would undoubtedly be an army marshal, a first-class military rank. He was naturally arrogant and didn't take Sergei seriously.

In fact, Besdudev didn't need to, because as the Prime Minister, he was the only civil servant of the first rank and had more say than other first-rank officials, such as Field Marshal!

But he still felt sorry that Sergei could not serve him.

But there was nothing he could do; he was destined not to acknowledge Agafia's status as his illegitimate daughter.

"Fortunately, Sergei and Shuvalov are complete adversaries, which will make my position even more secure! Cheers, old buddy!"