"Great Master! Good morning! Today is Wednesday, the weather is fine, and it is also the first day that Lutetia is unsealed."
"Your breakfast today is ready. A West Yunite cheese sandwich, an elf nectar salad, and a cup of avocado yogurt imported from the Grand Duchy of the Northern Territory."
"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 not sleeping now, long-term lifestyle habits have been formed, and daily sleep is still Charlotte's way to rest and relax.
Yawning comfortably, she slowly sat up and said lazily:
"Get up."
After she finished speaking, Shirley, who had been prepared, came in with a group of maids holding various exquisite clothes.
Charlotte took a quick look and randomly picked a homely aristocratic dress that was mainly white.
Soon, the maids took action and helped her change her clothes respectfully and carefully.
"What's the news today?"
Charlotte asked lazily but curiously while letting the maid control 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 for a moment, a little surprised:
"tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. This time the commotion was so loud that even the nobles who stayed behind in various places were alarmed. As soon as the seal was lifted, a large number of noble carriages entered the inner city from the city gate and headed straight for the royal palace and Lutetia Cathedral."
Charlotte sneered:
"You're here to beg for mercy?"
Sebastian shook his head outside the curtain.
"Not only that, many people also saw an opportunity. After all... quite a few titles were stripped this time."
Charlotte sighed.
"They will be disappointed. Our king is determined to strengthen the centralization of power. It will not be easy to give up the titles that have been taken back."
Then she asked with interest:
"They should have other actions, right?"
"Yes, I heard that some nobles outside the city have taken advantage of the closure of Lutetia to jointly request that a new proposal on title distribution be added to the central meeting."
Charlotte understood immediately.
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, a battlefield for the struggle for power between the nobility and the royal family, and a weapon for the nobility to restrict the royal power.
In principle, even the king cannot veto a proposal that is passed by a high vote at the meeting, otherwise it will be regarded as a violation of the "Sacred Code" and the "Royal Contract".
Although a large number of nobles were dealt with in this investigation, they were only a small part of the aristocratic group. 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, and the proposal to redistribute titles is very likely to be passed with a high vote.
Once the proposal was passed, even if Louis V was unwilling, he would have to hold his nose and give up all the titles he had taken back.
However, the submission of proposals requires procedures and time, and the convening of central meetings also has a "cooling-off period".
Apart from the fixed time every four years, an ad hoc meeting like today's can only be held once in four years. This is also a limitation and balance of power on the central conference.
The last fixed central meeting was a year ago, which means that after this meeting, the next meeting will be a fixed meeting three years later at the earliest.
So... as long as Louis V opens the meeting directly before those nobles who covet the titles submit their proposals, the nobles will no longer be able to put pressure on the king through parliament to redistribute titles.
Thinking of this, Charlotte also admired His Majesty the Crescent Kingdom.
All I can say is that he is worthy of being the recognized great monarch of the Crescent Kingdom. Not only is he personally powerful and has outstanding military capabilities, he also has excellent political skills.
As far as Charlotte knew, although the king nominally held the power to decide when the central meeting should be held, the time of the meeting could only be decided by a cabinet vote.
In principle, such a hastily convened meeting would definitely not be approved by the cabinet, but as far as Charlotte knew, five of the ten cabinet members of the Crescent Kingdom were affected by the investigation, two of whom were directly executed and the other three were deposed.
When Charlotte was eating melons, she specifically checked the list she reported to the Holy Court.
The two executed cabinet members were indeed on the list, but the three deposed ones were not.
However, as far as Charlotte knew, the three cabinet members were all nobles who were dissatisfied with the centralized policy.
It is obvious that Louis V used this purge to eliminate dissidents and found an excuse to kick the three unlucky guys out of the cabinet.
This was done silently, and no one raised any objections during the investigation. It is estimated that they really found "evidence" of collusion with the Blood Demon Cult.
Not only that, there were many similar cases among other nobles who were investigated and tried.
Every time Sebastian brought back information about a captured noble, Charlotte would check it against the list. Apart from the nobles whose names were actually on the roster, more than one-third of all the nobles on trial were not on the roster.
And... most of them are opposition.
Obviously, these unlucky guys are the royal family taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.
The new cabinet members have not yet been appointed, and most of the remaining cabinet members are royalists. The king has the final say on when the central meeting is held.
The end result was that the Central Conference, which was supposed to be a meeting for the nobles to limit the king's power, turned into a meeting for the king to limit the nobles' proposals.
As for whether the distribution of those stripped titles will be brought up again at the next meeting...
That was three years later.
By that time, the royal family would probably have completely taken control of these territories.
As for the nobles... he could pull some together and beat some others. With Louis V's ability, he probably had plenty of ways to make the proposal continue to fail, or even directly pass the proposal for direct royal jurisdiction.
Looking back now, the royal family’s actions these days seem to be a series of links.
Louis V had probably planned to do this a long time ago, but Charlotte handed him a knife by mistake, which brought everything forward.
After the purge, the nobles suffered heavy losses. Although the church cleared out a lot of scum and destroyed the infiltration of the Blood Demon Cult, its reputation was affected.
Only the royal family made a lot of money, and the centralization of power was further strengthened.
This is really dramatic.
You know, at the beginning everyone thought that this central meeting was a joint pressure on the royal power by the nobles and the church.
As a result, before the meeting was held, all the nobles who jumped the most enthusiastically were dealt with, under the impeccable name of "Judgment of the Fallen", which was in line with the political correctness of the Crescent Kingdom's fight against the Blood Demon Cult.
Thinking of this, Charlotte's evaluation of Louis V rose a little bit.
…
The blockade of Lutetia was lifted, and a large number of nobles who heard the news, as well as the long-awaited caravans and travelers, poured into the capital, and the deserted streets became lively again.
If it weren't for the "great purge" a few days ago, it would be hard to imagine that the capital was still in a state of panic a few days ago.
This is indeed the truth. The world will continue to turn without anyone. Although the investigation and trial lasted for more than ten days, the number of people who were actually affected was limited.
With a population of nearly one million, the church and the royal family have no way of really sorting it out thoroughly. Their main focus is to expand the corresponding scope based on the list reported by Charlotte.
The people who were most affected and caused the most trouble were the nobles, but they were only a very small minority of the population.
For ordinary people, the purge of these people is just a topic of conversation after drinking. They might even spit after talking about it and praise His Majesty the King for the good punishment.
After all... the reputation of the nobility has never been very good, but Louis V has a very high reputation among the common people.
After finishing her breakfast with the somewhat reluctant service of the dragon maid Eudocia, Charlotte continued to stay in the study and browse through Albrecht's memories.
The meeting will start tomorrow, and she doesn't plan to run around anymore, so as to avoid being seen and suspected by others.
After all, she is a great noble in the kingdom, and her every move will attract much attention.
Of course, interest in Albrecht's memory was one of the reasons why Charlotte stayed at home.
It's true, this guy was very realistic when imprinting memories, he really stuffed in all the memories about "blood clan", even including a lot of gossip and anecdotes about blood clan, which Charlotte read with great gusto, treating it as a novel and storytelling session.
However, Charlotte’s personal time didn’t last long.
In the afternoon, Sebastian knocked on her door again:
"Master, Count Gaston has come to the capital and has just sent an envoy to visit you at the manor."
Count Gaston
Charlotte frowned.
Before the central meeting, nobles were prohibited from gathering.
Although one-on-one visits from nobles were relatively inconspicuous, if Charlotte, an earl of the North, and Gaston, a regent of the Duchy of Boulder, were seen meeting at this time, some rumors would inevitably spread.
However, after a little thought, Charlotte agreed.
Since Count Gaston wanted to find her at this time, he must have something important that he wanted her to decide. After all, he was a blood servant that she had forced into a contract with, and he had helped her a lot, taken a lot of blame, and his work had satisfied her, so she should go ahead and meet him.
As for what it was... Charlotte had some guesses in her mind.
"I know. Let him come over."
She said.
About fifteen minutes later, Count Gaston arrived at Charlotte's manor.
He was exhausted, and there was worry in his eyes.
"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, Count Gaston, and the elf butler Sebastian standing behind Charlotte.
After the others left, Charlotte's expression darkened and she said coldly:
"Master Gaston, I should have told you that after you arrive in the capital, try not to look for me."
Count Gaston looked ashamed:
"Master, I'm so sorry..."
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Charlotte asked directly.
Count Gaston glanced at Sebastian, looking somewhat hesitant.
But in the end, he gritted his teeth and saluted Charlotte:
"Master, please...save the Gaston family!"