Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 666 - 623: Imperial Court Conference

After reaching an agreement with the Duke of Gloucester, both sides didn't say much further and entered the venue of the meeting.

In a Privy Council meeting, the Empress was supposed to attend, and as the Royal Family's heir, Eldest Princess Annie was expected to be present.

But now, the Empress is absent due to illness, Eldest Princess Annie is on an expedition, and it is the Duke of Gloucester, the Speaker of the Noble Council, who is representing the Royal Family to preside over the meeting.

As for whether other members of the Royal Family could take their place, such notions are just nonsense to all factions.

The current Royal Family relies entirely on the Empress's personal prestige to maintain its standing; although Eldest Princess Annie has been recognized by all sides as the Empire's heir to the throne, this recognition does not extend further.

Eldest Princess Annie has a long way to go if she wishes to truly possess the same prestige as the Empress herself, and to sway various factions with just her reputation.

Regarding other members of the Royal Family? There's truly none who are capable.

Even within the Imperial Center's cabinet meetings, aside from the Empress and Eldest Princess Annie, there are no Royal Family members present, which already speaks volumes.

Previously, Prince Edward held such prestige, with sufficient status and position, but due to his expressed desire to retire to a pastoral life, he has never actively involved himself in the political scene.

As for him secretly fostering power, that's outside the discussion range.

It can be said that the Royal Family's absence from this Privy Council meeting has cast a rather pessimistic shadow over the event from the start.

As soon as the meeting began, an aged loyalist minister reprimanded the irregularity of this Privy Council meeting, demanding that it should at least be postponed until Eldest Princess Annie returns or the Empress recovers enough to attend.

And not conduct it in such a way that completely ignores the existence of royal authority.

This is obviously unacceptable to all sides, even among the loyalist faction itself.

The reason is simple, because for all factions, the priority is to promptly push forward national assembly reforms; as for whether it follows protocol or respects the Royal Family? How can you respect the Royal Family when adopting a parliamentary system?

For all parties, this respect is merely a nominal one.

The loyalists maintaining the Royal Family's power and position is directly tied to their own interests, rather than them genuinely being devoted loyalists to the Empire, undeniably loyal to the Royal Family.

The old gentleman's speech largely served as a disruption, making the situation chaotic so they could fish in troubled waters.

Faced with the old gentleman's obstruction, Perfikot directly spoke up in front of everyone: "If that's the case, I remember Prince Edward seemed to have given me a nominal royal succession right.

Although my rank is very low, according to the current imperial succession law, I should have royal succession rights and can theoretically represent the Royal Family."

Perfikot's statement shocked everyone because the implications were significant.

However, evidently no one truly desired to see Perfikot ascend the throne, and immediately someone spoke: "Count Brandelis, your nominal royal succession rights are ranked somewhere in the twenties, right?

Regardless of what you say, it isn't your turn to represent the Royal Family, is it? There's so many people ahead of you!"

"So many people are ahead of me? Are you sure?" Perfikot shot the person a look, leaving it for him to contemplate.

Without a doubt, Perfikot's rhetorical question silenced everyone.

For the current Empire, if Perfikot truly wanted to ascend the throne, apart from Eldest Princess Annie potentially posing a threat to her, no one else could threaten her.

Especially when Perfikot followed up with: "Moreover, if my succession rights aren't sufficient, how about Prince Edward's granddaughter? If you need, I can request her to come at any time."

Evidently, Perfikot was deliberately shutting down their line of questioning.

Prince Edward's granddaughter does not wish to involve herself in politics; when the old prince passed away, arrangements for her were simply made to ensure she could live a peaceful and prosperous life, leaving no political assets for her.

Yet, it must be admitted, her bloodline remains noble, and if necessary, this old prince's granddaughter could still become a strong competitor for the throne.

As long as Perfikot is willing to support her and strives for her rightful treatment, the old prince's granddaughter could even inherit the prince title, instantly placing her among the top five in the royal succession rank.

Of course, this belongs to the category of overturning the table tactics; Perfikot can threaten in this way but would not actually do it.

But nobody dares to bet on whether she actually has such intentions, because Perfikot indeed has the capability to do so.

Understanding that the topic was drifting away from the start, the Duke of Gloucester quickly knocked the small wooden gavel in his hand, drawing everyone's attention back before speaking: "Enough with the digressions, what we need to discuss now is about the parliamentary reform issue!"

The Duke of Gloucester still held sufficient prestige, and his words quieted everyone down seriously to listen to him speak.

"Regarding the reorganization of the Empire's current two councils into a single national assembly, this topic has become the most discussed issue across the Northern Territory and New Continent; whether nobles or workers, all are discussing this topic, hoping for the Empire to undergo change." Seeing everyone seriously listening, the Duke of Gloucester continued: "From the current situation, since the crisis of the apocalyptic winter, the Empire has indeed entered a new phase, and we indeed should be making some changes."

This essentially set the tone for the meeting today—that change is inevitable.

In fact, this is considered common knowledge, although all factions are continuously debating due to their interests and position issues, regarding whether the national assembly needs reorganization there is basically no dissent.

After all, the trend has been set, and anyone with insight can see the current situation; no one knows how to oppose it.

As for those unclear-minded individuals intent on moving against the flow of times, those fools have no qualification to sit in today's meeting room.

After the Duke of Gloucester's remarks, all factions naturally expressed their opinions, either subtly or directly showing agreement and support for the national assembly's reorganization.

Even so, this round of idle talk lasted several hours.

Regarding this tormenting idle talk, Perfikot naturally was unwilling to listen; she calmly sat there, even leisurely asking Beifa to make her tea.

And under the fear of the Lord of the North's authority, surprisingly, no one dared to complain about it.