Perhaps it was a common flaw of people in this era.
They respected the strong and revered kings, yet always overlooked the most fundamental and weakest force, the common people.
In their view, so-called power struggles only took place among those in power. The people had no voice, nor could they participate in them.
The common folk were merely objects to be exploited at will.
This was also why, after usurping power, they had not used public opinion to destroy the Pharaoh's prestige among the people while building up their own.
In their eyes, the people only needed to be deceived a little.
But they were wrong.
They had never truly realized that no matter what kind of princes, nobles, or ministers a person became, their ancestors had once been ordinary commoners.
Now, these usurpers were destined to suffer greatly because of this.
With the help of magic, Nitocris successfully spread the rumors, or rather, the true facts disguised as rumors, among the people, allowing them to spread rapidly.
With the assistance of these rumors, combined with the people's natural reverence for the Pharaoh and their resentment toward the ministers who had thrown the nation into chaos, the news quickly gained the trust of the majority.
The people all said that these ministers and priests deserved their deaths. They had betrayed the Pharaoh and brought disaster to Egypt.
It was only right that they be punished by the gods.
As the rumors spread, the reputation of the deceased quickly became utterly vile in the eyes of the people.
At the same time, due to their hatred extending to all connected parties, even the subordinates of these ministers and priests, most of Egypt's current officials, were seen as bad people.
More and more citizens believed that these ministers and priests had failed the nation, and that Egypt urgently needed the Pharaoh to step forward and change everything.
Everything was developing exactly as Alaric and Nitocris had envisioned.
And this process was not purely due to magic.
More importantly, years of chaos in Egypt had allowed great resentment to accumulate among the people.
In the past, when those nobles held high positions, arbitrarily increased taxes and corvée labor, and exploited all of Egypt, the people had dared not voice their anger.
But now, with these people dead due to "divine punishment," the masses felt as if the dark clouds over their heads had largely lifted. Naturally, they dared to speak out.
Thus, years of suppressed resentment erupted, all directed at these officials, after all, even the god Horus had declared them sinners.
For a time, the entire Egyptian court, and the remaining officials within it, became targets of universal condemnation.
They were terrified, unable to understand how public opinion had changed so drastically in just a few days.
When it came to manipulating and guiding public opinion, they were far inferior to Alaric, who came from Earth.
And trapped in such trouble, they had little interest in competing for the vacant positions of power.
In fact, Alaric and Nitocris had miscalculated one thing.
Even without the assault of public opinion, the followers of the deceased, those who had the chance to inherit their power and continue suppressing royal authority, would not have dared to act rashly.
The reason was simple.
They had been frightened.
If Nitocris had used her original plan for revenge, inviting the nobles into an underground palace filled with traps under the pretext of a harvest celebration, sealing the doors.
And drowning them by releasing the floodgates, then these people would have immediately seized the dead men's positions.
They might even have killed this rebellious female Pharaoh and installed another puppet.
After all, such a method relied on conspiracy. Anyone could understand it, and with caution, it was not particularly frightening.
But now, things were different.
These victims had not died through a simple scheme. They had been killed at night, in their own homes, under layers of strict protection.
Aside from the victims, everyone else in the house, including livestock and pets, had been knocked unconscious.
Such an operation was beyond even the greatest assassins in Egypt.
Not to mention that dozens of such assassinations had occurred in a single night.
What level of power was this?
Although runes representing Horus, judgment, and revenge had been left in the rooms of the deceased, suggesting divine punishment, the ministers were not fools.
Though they had no direct evidence, they were certain these deaths were not divine punishment.
Because if it truly had been divine punishment, which god would use something as crude as a dagger?
Why not strike them down with lightning, have them torn apart by beasts, or burn them with heavenly fire?
Would that not appear far more magnificent and awe-inspiring?
Using daggers was clearly the work of humans.
Moreover, every victim had died the same way, caught off guard, with a dagger piercing the heart, exactly like the death of Meleran II.
Thus, suspicion immediately fell upon the Pharaoh. Some even believed it was the new bard at her side, since the incident had occurred only days after his arrival.
However, even if they knew, what could they do?
Once again, the deaths were too strange, too terrifying. They could not comprehend how such assassinations had been carried out.
The unknown was the most frightening of all.
If Nitocris truly possessed such terrifying power, none of their lives were safe.
The ministers knew full well that when their superiors had murdered Meleran II and sidelined Nitocris, they had been accomplices.
Now, all of them trembled in fear, afraid that they too would suffer the same fate. They feared waking up dead in their homes, with everyone around them unconscious.
Even the most powerful nobles had failed to stop the Pharaoh's assassins. How could they?
Under such circumstances, how could they have the courage to fight for power?
Even the most arrogant among them, even those who doubted the Pharaoh possessed such strength, chose to observe and wait.
And by waiting, they gave the Pharaoh time to grow stronger.
In short, as time passed, Nitocris successfully gained absolute influence among the people.
There were also unexpected contributions from certain foolish allies among the officials.
In truth, after the usurpation, the conspirators had long engaged in factionalism and suppression of opponents.
Many officials of common origin had been denied promotion, while high positions were monopolized by nobles.
Among these officials were many incompetent and useless individuals.
These useless people not only lacked ability, but also possessed extremely weak mental fortitude.
The bizarre assassinations and the rumors among the people placed tremendous psychological pressure on them.
They lived in constant fear, worried that they too would be targeted and killed in the same mysterious way.
Thus, in recent days, some officials had even knelt at the palace gates, loudly confessing their crimes and begging Nitocris for mercy.
Their actions naturally attracted the attention of the people, and their confessions further confirmed the "rumors."
Alaric believed that the other officials probably hated these fools to death.
By now, Nitocris's momentum had become unstoppable. What remained next was the final checkmate.