"Great master! Good morning! Today is Wednesday, the weather is sunny, and it is also the first day of the unblocking of Lutesia."
"Your breakfast is ready today, a West Yunette cheese sandwich, an Elf Nectar salad, and a cup of avocado yogurt imported from the Grand Duchy of the North."
"Would you like to get up and eat now, or rest a little longer?"
In the early morning, Sebastian's familiar voice came from outside the curtain, waking Charlotte from her sleep.
Although she has no problem even if she doesn't sleep now, long-term living habits have long been formed, and sleeping every day is still Charlotte's way of rest and relaxation.
Yawning happily, she slowly sat up and said lazily:
"Get up."
After finishing speaking, Shirley, who had been prepared for a long time, walked in with the maids carrying various exquisite clothes.
Charlotte glanced at it and randomly picked out a family-style aristocratic dress that was mainly white.
Soon, the maids were in action, serving her respectfully and carefully as she changed her clothes.
"Any news today?"
Charlotte asked lazily and curiously while letting the maid operate her like a dress-up doll.
Outside the curtain, Sebastian's voice became much lighter:
"Yes, there is news from the palace that the central meeting will be held tomorrow. I have sent the invitation letter to your study."
Charlotte paused slightly, a little surprised:
"tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow, the commotion this time is so loud that even the nobles staying in various places are alarmed. As soon as the seal is lifted, a large number of noble carriages will go straight into the inner city from the city gate, and go straight to the palace and Lutecia Went to the cathedral.”
Charlotte chuckled:
"Are you asking for mercy?"
Sebastian outside the curtain shook his head:
"Not only that, but many of them saw opportunities. After all... a lot of titles were taken away this time."
Charlotte clicked her tongue:
"Then they will be disappointed. Our King is bent on strengthening the centralization of power, and it will not be easy to spit out the titles he took back."
As she spoke, she asked with great interest:
"They should have other actions, right?"
"Yes, I heard that some nobles outside the city have taken advantage of the closure of Lutesia to jointly request that a new proposal on title distribution be added to the central meeting."
Charlotte suddenly understood.
The full name of the Central Conference is the Central Joint Conference of the Crescent Nobles and the Royal Family. In essence, it is a platform for dialogue between the nobility and the royal family. It is also a battlefield for the nobility and the royal family to compete for power. It is a weapon for the nobility to limit the royal power.
In principle, even the king cannot veto the motion passed by a high vote at the meeting, otherwise it will be regarded as a violation of the "Sacred Code" and the "King Power Contract".
Although a large number of nobles were dealt with in this investigation, it was only a small part of the noble group after all. The vast majority of nobles did not want the royal power to be too strong.
Especially after this "purge", the conflict between the nobility and the royal family will only deepen. The proposal to redistribute titles is very likely to be passed with a high vote.
Once the proposal is passed, even if Louis V is unwilling, he will have to hold his nose and spit out all the withdrawn titles one by one.
However, the reporting of bills requires process and time, and the convening of the central meeting also has a "cooling off period."
In addition to the fixed time every four years, temporary meetings like today can only be held once in four years. This is also a limit and balance on the power of the central meeting.
The last fixed central meeting was a year ago, which means that after this meeting, the next meeting will be a fixed meeting in three years at the earliest.
So...as long as Louis V opens the meeting directly before the nobles who are greedy for titles submit a bill, the nobles will no longer be able to pressure the king through parliament to re-distribute the titles.
Thinking of this, Charlotte also admired the His Majesty of the Crescent Kingdom.
It can only be said that he is worthy of being recognized as a great monarch of the Crescent Kingdom. Not only is he personally powerful, but his military ability is outstanding, and his political skills are also outstanding.
As far as Charlotte knew, although the king nominally held the power to decide when the Central Conference should be convened, the time could only be decided by a cabinet vote.
In principle, it is impossible for such a hasty meeting to pass cabinet review, but as far as Charlotte knows, five of the ten cabinet members of the Crescent Kingdom have been affected by this investigation, including two Members were summarily executed and three others were deposed.
When Charlotte ate the melon, she specifically checked the list she reported to the Holy Royal Court.
The two cabinet members who were executed were indeed on the roster, but the three who were deposed were not.
However, as far as Charlotte knew, the three cabinet members were all nobles who were dissatisfied with the centralization policy.
Obviously, Louis V used this purge to eliminate dissidents and directly found an excuse to kick the three unlucky guys out of the cabinet.
This was done quietly, and no one raised any objection during the investigation. It is estimated that "evidence" of colluding with the Blood Demon Order was indeed found.
Not only that, there were many similar situations among other nobles who were investigated and tried.
Every time Sebastian brought back information about a noble being captured, Charlotte would correspond with the list. Except for the nobles whose names were actually on the roster, more than one-third of all the nobles who were tried were not on the roster. of nobility.
And...most of them are opposition parties.
Obviously, these unlucky people are all the royal family taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.
New cabinet members have not yet been appointed, and most of the remaining cabinet members are from the royal party. It is the king who has the final say when the central meeting wants to be convened.
The final result was that the Central Conference, which was supposed to be a meeting where the nobles restricted the power of the king, turned into a meeting where the king restricted the proposals of the nobles.
As for whether those deprived title assignments will be mentioned again at the next meeting...
That was three years later.
By then, I'm afraid the royal family will already have complete control over these territories.
As for the nobles... pull a group, fight a group, and with Louis V's skills, I am afraid there are ways to make the proposal continue to go bankrupt, or even directly pass the motion to recognize the direct jurisdiction of the royal family.
Looking at it now, the royal family's operations these days seem to be one after another.
I'm afraid Louis V had planned to do this for a long time, but Charlotte accidentally handed him another knife, which brought everything forward.
After a purge, the nobles suffered heavy losses. Although the church cleaned up a lot of scum and destroyed the infiltration of the Blood Demon Order, its reputation was affected.
Only the royal family made a lot of money and further strengthened the centralization of power.
This is really dramatic.
You know, at first everyone thought that this central meeting was a joint effort by the nobles and the church to put pressure on the royal power.
As a result, before the meeting was held, all the nobles who danced the most happily were dealt with. The name was still impeccable "Judgement of the Fallen", which was in line with the political correctness of the Crescent Kingdom's fight against the Blood Demon Order.
Thinking of this, Charlotte's evaluation of Louis V rose a few points.
…
The seal of Lutesia was lifted, and a large number of nobles, long-awaited caravans, and travelers poured into the royal capital after hearing the news, and the deserted streets became lively again.
If it hadn't been for the "big purge" a few days ago, it would be hard to imagine that people in the capital were still in panic a few days ago.
This is also true. The world will continue to turn around without anyone. Although the investigation and trial lasted for more than ten days, the number of people who were truly affected was limited.
With a population of nearly one million, the church and the royal family can't really go through it thoroughly. The main thing is to expand the corresponding scope based on the roster reported by Charlotte.
The people most affected and the ones causing the biggest fuss were the nobility, but the nobility were only a very small minority of the population.
For ordinary people, the purge against these people is just something to talk about after drinking. Maybe they will spit after the conversation and praise His Majesty the King for his good punishment.
After all...the reputation of nobles has never been very good, but Louis V has a very high reputation among common people.
After finishing breakfast under the somewhat reluctant service of the dragon maid Eudocia, Charlotte continued to browse Albrecht's memories in the study.
There was a meeting tomorrow, and she didn't plan to run around again to avoid being seen and overthinking.
After all, she is considered a noble in the kingdom, and her every move will attract a lot of attention.
Of course, interest in Albrecht's memory was one of the reasons why Charlotte stayed at home.
Not to mention, this guy was really honest when he printed his memory. He really stuffed all the memories about the "blood clan" into it, and even included a lot of gossip and anecdotes about the vampire clan. Xia Xia was fascinated by it. Lott enjoyed it with gusto and was ready to share the story.
However, Charlotte's personal time did not last long.
In the afternoon, Sebastian knocked on her door again:
"Master, Count Gaston has come to the royal capital. He has just sent an envoy and wants to visit you at the manor."
Count Gaston?
Charlotte frowned.
Before the central meeting, gatherings of nobles were prohibited.
Although one-on-one noble visits are relatively less eye-catching, if Charlotte, an earl of the Northland, and Gaston, the regent of the Duchy of Boulder, were seen meeting at this time, it would still inevitably cause some rumors. What comes.
However, after a little thought, Charlotte agreed.
Since Count Gaston wants to find her at this time, he must have something important to ask her for advice. After all, the other party is the blood servant she forcibly contracted, and he has also helped her a lot, taking the blame for a lot of things. It still satisfies her, so let’s meet him.
As for what it was... Charlotte probably had some guesses in her mind.
"I know, let him come over."
she said.
About fifteen minutes later, Earl Gaston arrived at Charlotte's manor.
He was travel-stained, and there was still worry in his brows.
"You guys should step back first."
Charlotte glanced at the maids and waiters in the hall and said.
The maids and waiters bowed respectfully and then slowly left, leaving only Charlotte, Earl Gaston, and the elf butler Sebas standing behind Charlotte.
After the others retreated, Charlotte's expression also dimmed and she said coldly:
"Sir Gaston, I should have told you that after arriving in the royal capital, try not to look for me."
Count Gaston looked ashamed:
"Master, I'm very sorry..."
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Charlotte asked directly.
Count Gaston glanced at Sebastian with a hesitant expression.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth and saluted Charlotte:
"Master, please...save the Gaston family!"
(End of chapter)
