The people's fanatical support for the Pharaoh and their hatred toward corrupt officials once caused the situation to spiral out of control.
But soon Nitocris regained the rhythm of her speech.
"I am very glad that all of you trust me so much," Nitocris spoke, and the crowd gradually quieted again.
"I can indeed say with certainty that I have never had any intention of harming this nation.
However, the truth is that my inaction allowed certain people to abuse their power. These individuals betrayed my trust and caused great harm to this country."
"Fortunately, just a few days ago, these people received their retribution. They fell into the abyss of death, and Anubis will judge the sins they committed in life."
"Although I do not know who caused all this, whether it was the gods, or some righteous assassin, what matters is that these parasites of the nation have indeed perished."
At this point, Nitocris's tone softened slightly, and the people's emotions calmed a little.
But the next turn of her words once again seized their hearts.
"So now, is Egypt truly ready to rise again in glory?" Nitocris asked loudly.
Without waiting for an answer, she gave one herself.
"No. It is not." She shouted, "Although the chief villains among Egypt's enemies are gone, I must still tell you that Egypt is facing an unprecedented disaster!"
Her words caused waves of gasps, while the officials had already sensed that something was wrong.
"People of Egypt, what I must tell you now is that those officials who died were only the larger parasites among many.
They still have countless accomplices and subordinates.
These enemies of Egypt are spread among the ministers, within the temples, and even throughout the army and the palace!
Though their leaders have died, they can elect new ones at any moment. Even now, they are conspiring to push Egypt into the abyss!"
At this point, the ministers below the platform understood everything. They understood Nitocris's true intention.
The purpose of this gathering had never been to publicly select candidates for the vacant positions.
Her true goal was to gather them all together and eradicate them completely.
And the people surrounding them were the source of the Pharaoh's power.
Although Nitocris could gain support from the garrison forces of Memphis through her popularity among the people, most of that support came from ordinary soldiers.
But in the eyes of these officials, no matter how many soldiers supported the Pharaoh, as long as they could bribe the officers, that would be enough.
After all, while the vast number of low-ranking soldiers was difficult to bribe, tempting a few officers with money and status was entirely possible.
Even if the ordinary soldiers possessed great numbers, without organization from commanders, they could not accomplish anything.
This greatly limited what Nitocris could make them do.
At most, her influence could ensure that they would not revolt.
Thus, in the minds of the officials, the only force they truly feared was the strange assassination ability that seemed to come from that foreign visitor.
And such ability would be useless in a public assembly like this.
Was it still assassination if it happened in broad daylight?
And killing government officials without trial was not something even a Pharaoh should do.
That was why these officials had all agreed to participate in this meeting.
Of course, the fundamental reason was their fear of assassination.
In their view, this meeting meant that the Pharaoh was trying to use the lingering intimidation of those killings to seize power.
Afterward, such assassinations would not happen again. If such incidents occurred repeatedly, even a Pharaoh would be despised.
Assassination, in any civilized society, was a violation of the fundamental moral bottom line.
And once that deterrence was gone, these officials planned to make Nitocris taste their power, to make her experience once again what it meant to be a puppet.
Politics was not a game a naive girl could play.
But now they realized they were wrong.
The girl they had looked down upon was in fact a ruthless and decisive ruler.
She had never taken their petty schemes seriously.
Because her plan from the very beginning had been total eradication.
They believed that in broad daylight the Pharaoh could do nothing to them.
But in truth, Nitocris intended to eliminate them in broad daylight.
They believed that without them, the government could not function, that they were indispensable to the operation of Egypt's administration, and that Nitocris could not bypass them.
But they were wrong again.
Under Alaric's guidance, Nitocris had already resolved to destroy and rebuild everything, and would never again allow these corrupt elements to influence Egypt's dynasty.
As for how the government would operate without them,
Sorry, finding people willing to do labor might be difficult, but finding people willing to become officials was easy.
But even if they realized Nitocris's intentions, what could they do now?
The people of Egypt surrounded them in layers upon layers around the square. There was no escape.
Among the soldiers maintaining order, many officers had indeed been bribed by them.
But under such circumstances, none of the officers could openly defy the Pharaoh's command.
As for the Pharaoh herself, she was not only powerful but also had beside her someone suspected to be a "master assassin."
Trying to solve the problem by controlling her was clearly impossible.
Thus, all they could do was sit trembling in their seats, waiting for death while praying that Nitocris's speech was only empty words.
At this moment, her speech continued.
"People of Egypt, do you know how much I have longed to change all this? I love this nation, and I love you, the people of Egypt!
There were so many unnecessary taxes I wanted to abolish, so many policies for your benefit I wanted to implement, so many criminals I wanted to punish.
I wanted to do so much to make this country strong again and bring you happiness. But in the past, I could not do it. Why?"
"For a long time, my decrees could not even leave the palace.
In other words, if not for the sudden deaths of those sinners, I would have remained nothing more than a puppet, controlled by the ministers."