Five days later.
Yun Wei walked dejectedly through the campus of Lunagal Academy, with Isaac beside him. The two of them were heading to the Tower of All Laws to visit Mr. Oakes.
This specially convened "special meeting" was undoubtedly a failure.
In retrospect, this failure stemmed from the earlier "constitutional conference" that failed to reach a consensus and ultimately ended in discord.
Yun Wei later learned that in the previous meeting, Her Majesty the Empress's attempt to restore the centralized monarchical power of the Second Dynasty had failed.
The current model of the Red Moon Kingdom is the same as that of the Second Dynasty eight hundred years ago.
The Senate, composed of nobles, voted on and proposed various policies.
Her Majesty the Queen appointed cabinet ministers who were loyal to her alone and were responsible for handling secular affairs submitted to the Senate.
She was only responsible for her own directly governed territories and her direct vassals.
This is actually hard to understand. Even Yunwei, which came from a civilization that had long since achieved unification and absolute monarchy, spent a considerable amount of time and effort, under Isaac's personal guidance, to fully comprehend it.
It turns out that the Zhuyuan Continent did not produce a decisive and ruthless "First Emperor" who unified the six kingdoms, nor did it have strategists like Wei Yang and Han Fei who advocated "promoting power." Just like in his previous life in medieval Western Europe, national and ethnic identities had not yet been formed.
The monarch did not have the centralized power of "all land under heaven belongs to the king," which is why absurd theories like "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal" would emerge.
As the Queen of the Red Moon Kingdom, Catherine can manage the daily life of "Grand Duke of Icebird" Yun Wei, but she cannot manage the daily life of "Earl of Reston" Yun Wei.
The latter can only obey the orders of the Ice Sparrow Flower Duke, that is, Yun Wei can govern itself.
Although in essence, both the Grand Duke of Icebird and the Earl of Reston are Yunwei.
Of course, if Grand Duke Yun Wei of the Icebird Flower Kingdom is bullied, Her Majesty Catherine also has an obligation to protect him. However, this obligation is limited to cases of territorial loss, such as when the Kingdom of Blacksock suddenly claims that the Icebird Flower territory belongs to the Kingdom of Blacksock.
However, if it is a dispute within the kingdom, such as the Duke of Florence sending troops to extort Yunwei, Catherine can simply stand by and watch.
Because regardless of the outcome, it will not affect her legitimacy as the monarch of the Grand Duchess of Florence and the Grand Duchess of the Icebird.
However, if the situation gets completely out of control, the monarch will not really sit idly by, because to them, two vassals who harbor resentment and fight each other are much easier to deal with than a powerful subordinate who possesses two duchies.
However, the situations in the Golden Cloud Kingdom and the Black Sole Kingdom are quite different.
The power in the Golden Cloud Kingdom has been completely consolidated by Sid Liujin.
To be honest, what Master Sid did was exactly what every monarch throughout history on the continent of Zhuyuan had dreamed of.
However, under the resolute will of this alchemist, the business tycoons from the Kingdom of Golden Cloud formed an expanded "Deal Council".
This is a republican system that is completely different from the Red Moon Kingdom, where decisions are made collectively by the council members. It is equivalent to promoting the model that has already matured in Alchemy City throughout the Golden Cloud Kingdom.
Similarly, based on the original rules, Her Majesty Catherine, as the emperor of the second dynasty, has no right to interfere with any decisions made by her vassal, namely King Sid Liujin of the Golden Cloud Kingdom, within the territory of the Golden Cloud Kingdom.
Unless she is determined to strip Sid of his title as King of the Golden Cloud Kingdom, the latter will certainly not comply, which will undoubtedly drag most of the continent of Zhuyuan into war.
The situation is different in the Kingdom of Blackso to the north.
Due to the previous chaos caused by the assassin organization and the dictatorial rule of Crown Prince Alejo, the Kingdom of Blackso is now mainly controlled by various "oligarchs".
They were autocratic tyrants, newly emerging nobles, greedy landowners, and people scattered throughout almost the entire territory…
Abbot of the monastery.
Yes, the situation in the Kingdom of Hexor was more complicated because, in addition to the monarchy, there was also a theocracy that was deeply involved in secular society.
Although monarchical and divine authority were briefly bound together by the special relationship between Cardinal Allen and Alejandro, their current separation is bound to unleash an even more intense and bloody conflict.
His Highness Prince Regent Alejandro was also unable to attend the meeting due to his personal involvement in suppressing the rebellion. Therefore, his twin sister, Vivian Rose, the next in line to the throne, had to attend in his place.
This increasingly confident young woman displayed the political acumen inherent in the Rose family.
She simply smiled slightly, like the most elegant lady in the world, yet her words were perfectly tactful: "My brother and I both believe that the situations in both the Red Moon Kingdom and the Golden Cloud Kingdom are worth learning from for the Blackso Kingdom."
"Therefore, we are prepared to temporarily adopt the 'shock therapy' technique of the Holy Church of Radiance, maintain the status quo and hold our position, and finally choose the better option based on the situation on both sides."
But unfortunately, this is not something that can be decided immediately.
Whichever side is preparing to put pressure on the Kingdom of Blacksor, they must first consider whether it will completely push Blacksor to the other side.
That's it.
Even Catherine, who was once crowned "Emperor" by the Senate, had to face the fact that the entire continent of Zhuyuan would be torn apart eight hundred years later.
The current awkward situation at the "special meeting" stems from a disagreement on the very issue of "how to deal with the Abyss," a question that Yun Wei considers completely uncontroversial.
After providing a detailed and unreserved account of the Abyss's historical background, the Corpse Puppet Mage, the series of events orchestrated by the Abyss Apostles, and even the "Black Snow" encountered in the Ice Sparrow Flower Territory, Yun Wei naturally proposed:
"We must unite and prepare for the fight."
But he was interrupted by Grand Duke Chifeng.
The shrewd old man clearly had a different opinion. “I think perhaps we should make contact with the forces of the Abyss… After all, what if we could get along with the Abyss? Everyone knows that we are trying to communicate even with the undead plane.”
“Taking hostile actions rashly will only escalate the situation further. In any case, we cannot easily give up such an option with the least sacrifice.”
He summarized it this way, and received unanimous support from the other noble lords beside him.
Yun Wei almost thought he had misheard. He was so angry he almost laughed. "Get along well? What kind of daydream are you having? Didn't I make myself clear enough? In the eyes of the Abyss, you're no different from nourishment!"
But Grand Duke Qingfeng immediately retorted, "But didn't you also intend to join the Abyss camp? Since there is a possibility that the Abyss will accept humans as Abyss Apostles, I also think that, as Grand Duke Chifeng said, we should not be so arbitrary."
Yun Wei paused for a moment, then immediately explained, "I'm not planning to join the Abyss faction, I actually..."
He wanted to explain that he was preparing to assassinate the Lord of the Abyss, but when he saw the expressions on the faces of the nobles, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
They had already prejudicially condemned him, so whatever he said today would only be helping Catherine the Great consolidate her power.
From the moment he began to defend himself, he was already at a disadvantage.
Even if he tries his best to prove his innocence, he will still be met with endless new questions.
This is a huge no-no!
From the moment he put himself in the position of a test taker, he was bound to be constantly running around in the predicament of answering questions.
However, a single sentence from Catherine the Great at this moment pushed the situation to a complete stalemate.
The other person said, "It's been two months since I returned. I've always wondered why I should discuss the future of the Continent with a bunch of people who can't even be called professionals?"
“My former vassals, your ancestors, were all professionals of equal strength to me. But what about you? Apart from Yun Wei, who among you has the right to negotiate with me?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Wei's heart skipped a beat.
Although he was grateful that Catherine had stood up for him among the vassals, he also knew that His Majesty's words were mainly intended to warn the treacherous ministers within the Red Moon Kingdom.
but--
He couldn't help but look across at the other side, and saw that Sid Ryukin Julius had indeed turned cold.
The grand duke with golden-red hair sat in the shadows, backlit, and spoke in a rather unfriendly tone:
"If this is Your Majesty's truest thought, then it seems we don't need to hold any more final meetings."
"If only the strong are qualified to survive on the Zhuyuan Continent, then I will apply to go home immediately and be with my beloved."
...
In the days that followed, people with differing stances were talking to themselves.
According to the previous schedule, tomorrow will be the final meeting.
It's obvious even to a fool that if this meeting ends like this, then any future meetings will just be a bunch of hostile people wasting their time under one roof.
Yun Wei sighed heavily, "See? Whenever it comes to Silver, Sid becomes aggressive, and I happen to understand him perfectly."
In fact, everyone understands him now.
To the point that he no longer knew what his stance was.
“I never thought things would turn out this way. There was nothing like this in the hero stories I read when I was a child. People could always unite and work together to defeat evil. Sigh... I guess I was oversimplifying things.”
He was very sad.
It's just that this is a bloody reality, not a happy fairy tale.
The knight beside him listened silently, and only after seeing that he had completely fallen silent did he say, "Let's make this clear first: my position will always be the same as yours, and I will always stand on the side of my lord. If we are going to argue later, you should keep that in mind."
"Although I don't want to argue with you, well—we've agreed that even if we do argue, you have to listen to my explanation."
Yun Wei rarely heard Isaac use such convoluted sentence structures, so it took him a while to process it.
Although she understood, she couldn't help but blush.
He couldn't help but shout, "Isaac, what nonsense are you spouting now?!"
It sounds like a confession of love.
No, this is clearly a court intrigue version of a confession!
"Besides, why do we have to argue... I told Her Majesty a long time ago that Sid is my friend and asked her not to use me against Sid, and she agreed at the time."
"Oh?" Isaac had no idea about this. He thought for a moment and then asked again, "Is it another one of your magicians' etiquette?"
“Yes.” Yun Wei turned to look at the other person, only to find that the other person was looking down, staring at him intently.
Before they knew it, they had arrived outside the Tower of Ten Thousand Laws.
It was a rare sunny day, and the sunlight cast dappled shadows under the rustling trees, just like the shadows on his beloved man's brows and nose.
As Isaac gazed at him silently, Yun Wei felt a little itchy again.
If the only two people in sight are together, and their eyes meet, everyone knows what will happen next.
This sudden escalation of the ambiguous atmosphere is clear proof of it.
He couldn't help but tiptoe and slowly approach the man's furry head.
But at that moment, a familiar yet aged voice suddenly came from the shadows of the trees nearby.
"Children, do you want to visit Mr. Oakes? Unfortunately, he is currently on leave."
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