A Psychiatrist's Bizarre Game Journey / Dream of the Mist

The crown prince, seated in the main seat, narrowed his eyes and felt a sudden tremor. However, sensing Zhou Ke'er's murderous gaze behind him, he forced himself to remain calm and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, I will absolutely not say a word against it!"

"So well-behaved, so well-behaved, that's our good crown prince."

Zhou Ke'er patted the Crown Prince's head and revealed a satisfied smile.

With the last minister seated, the meeting was about to begin.

The Crown Prince sat in the main seat, with the Lannisters and Isaac standing on either side of him, representing their support as high-ranking nobles.

Dressed in the uniform of a guard captain, Long Aotian stood behind the crown prince, leaning on his sword, glaring at the ministers.

Izmi was not originally qualified to attend, but Zhou Ke'er insisted on giving him the identity of "commoner representative" and made him stand behind the Crown Prince.

Elon, having barely finished dealing with most of the church's affairs, rushed over here, still wearing his priest's robes, and stood beside Long Aotian.

Nossa, acting as the negotiator representing the Crown Prince, sat in the side seat.

Good heavens, under the pressure of such a powerful lineup, how could those ministers dare to say anything? They all realized at this moment that this was no discussion at all; people would believe it if they were tricked into coming here and then all killed.

Just then, a minister, with an air of righteous indignation, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up, arrogantly surveying the assembled officials.

The others were startled and looked at him with expressions that said, "Is this guy really that brave?"

Then he declared righteously, "I, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, firmly support Crown Prince Elson's ascension to the throne! My loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon, and as evident as heaven and earth! Moreover, I am willing to contribute half of my fortune to help the kingdom overcome this crisis!"

Good heavens! To actually say such shameless, sycophantic things with such a righteous tone and expression!

Norsha naturally welcomed this traitor to take the lead in speaking, and immediately clapped and said, "As expected of our glorious and esteemed Earl Reiflesh, this is a very good example! Come, please sit here."

As she spoke, Nosa pointed to an empty seat near the Crown Prince, then grinned at the other ministers, “It’s a pity. Although I believe you are all loyal subjects of the kingdom, there are only a few seats left near the Crown Prince… no, His Majesty the King who will soon be crowned.”

At the same time, Long Aotian raised his sword and planted it on the ground again, saying loudly, "In my opinion, the table in this conference room is too long. It seems to hinder everyone from getting close to our esteemed His Majesty and uniting with him. Perhaps, after the meeting, I should cut off the furthest section."

Upon hearing this, the ministers sitting at the end all changed their expressions drastically—the implication was that this wasn't about chopping down a table, but about chopping people down!

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581. Who is in favor, and who is against?

Seeing the situation below, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but curl her lips slightly. Generally speaking, in this kind of situation, there would always be some troublemakers, or ministers representing the aristocratic class, who would step forward and lead other ministers in protesting against it.

But just before the meeting began, in the afternoon, after Zhou Ke'er asked Nuosha for the few people who were capable of serving as representatives, she and Long Aotian sneaked over and made them all sacrifice themselves gloriously—dying in the midst of a major disaster to protect their family, truly a glorious and noble death.

So now these ministers are a disorganized mess, and with the finance minister leading the way in turning against them and becoming their loyal lackey, plus Long Aotian watching them like a hawk, what do these ministers dare to say? They all rush to speak and pledge their allegiance, fearing that if they are too slow, they will miss the front and not get a spot near the crown prince, and end up being killed by Long Aotian's sword.

Noble honor? Family interests?

Just kidding, if you lose your life, then you lose everything.

Seeing that these guys were so sensible saved Zhou Ke'er a lot of trouble. If they had stubbornly resisted, she would have had to kill a lot of them. Although it is said that those in power are despicable, the affairs of the capital still need to be managed by them. Zhou Ke'er and the others do not understand this kind of thing. If too many people die at once, the administration will come to a standstill, which would be terrible.

Clang!

Just then, amidst the chaotic clamor, the sound of swords striking the ground rang out. The ministers immediately fell silent, and then Long Aotian announced in a clear voice: "The first proposal is for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne immediately. Since this is a time of crisis, everything should be kept simple, without grand ceremonies. Furthermore, since the bishop has passed away and cannot be baptized, these formalities will be omitted, and he will directly ascend the throne. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"

The ministers looked at each other, naturally not daring to disobey Long Aotian, who held military power, at this time. No one dared to object and all expressed their agreement.

Seeing this, Long Aotian nodded in satisfaction and continued, "The second proposal is that Defense Minister Ulysses gloriously sacrificed himself to protect his family during today's disaster and will be posthumously granted the title of Duke. However, this is a time of critical survival, and the position cannot be left vacant. Therefore, Long Aotian, the captain of the Royal Guard, will temporarily assume this position. Does anyone have any objections?"

The ministers' eyes widened in disbelief. Good heavens, Long Aotian not only wanted to control the military forces within the capital, but also dared to try and seize command of the armies stationed outside the capital! This was absolutely...

Yes.

The ministers nodded in agreement, and the first lackey, the finance minister, put on a righteous and solemn expression and said loudly, "The Long Aotian Guard Commander has commanded with great skill and reacted swiftly, saving the capital from imminent collapse. He is the only candidate for Minister of Defense. I, Finance Minister Reeflash, agree a thousand times over!"

The others looked at the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a mixture of shock and regret. They were shocked because they hadn't expected him to be so shameless, and they regretted not doing it before him!

"Excellent! As expected of the Finance Minister, you are truly a pillar of the nation!"

Long Aotian nodded in satisfaction. "The third proposal is that, since Prime Minister Duke Timius gloriously sacrificed himself to protect His Majesty when the monster attempted to assassinate him, the position is temporarily vacant. It will be jointly held by two of Duke Timius's sons—Lannister and Isaac. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

"This...this is not in accordance with regulations..."

An elderly man with white hair spoke tremulously, but before he could finish, Long Aotian frowned slightly—but before Long Aotian could even utter a word, Finance Minister Reeflash stepped forward with a fierce expression, disregarding all aristocratic etiquette, and angrily shouted: "You stubborn old man, what time is it now? Do you still need to worry about your rigid regulations? Can regulations save our Wright capital? In an emergency, we should act according to emergency methods. What more nonsense are you spouting? Or do you have ulterior motives and want to sit in the Prime Minister's seat for yourself?!"

Startled by Rayflosh's words, the old man waved his hands repeatedly and shook his head hastily, saying, "No...no, I didn't mean that! I...I have no objection, I agree to Lord Long Aotian's proposal!"

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the Finance Minister and secretly raised an eyebrow—this guy looked like a lackey, but he was actually quite something. At first glance, his reprimand of the old man before Long Aotian could even seem like a lackey bullying others, but upon closer inspection… since he had already reprimanded the old man, Long Aotian couldn't say anything more—originally, Long Aotian might have slapped the old man so hard he'd be spinning three and a half times in mid-air, but now he was just scolded a few times.

Moreover, there always seemed to be some hidden meaning in his reprimands, a warning to those who hadn't yet grasped the current situation.

Sure enough, not all those who become ministers are fools.

However, there's no need to expose him; having such a guy isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Very good, it seems everyone agrees. Let's move on to the next proposal."

Seeing that no one objected, and not bothering with the other ministers' ulterior motives, Long Aotian continued, "We have received important intelligence that other countries are also suffering from the same disaster as our country, with the Duchy of Dragon being the most severely affected. Therefore, we have decided to strictly control the routes and number of people entering and leaving the city to avoid being affected by the disasters that other countries have failed to control in time."

Secondly, the area around the north gate of the capital remains out of control. We will be sending guards to gradually clear away the dangers, and we hope you can provide us with the maximum support you can. Please understand that helping us is helping yourselves.

Finally, because at the same time, our troops are still fighting desperately against the demons on the front lines, if news of the capital's demise were to reach them, it would definitely shake morale. Therefore, I hope that you will temporarily block this information, maintain the same communication with the troops on the front lines as usual, and not reveal anything about today's events.

That concludes my statement. Do you all have any comments?

None of the ministers dared to utter a sound.

Just then, Zhou Ke'er suddenly spoke up, saying softly, "Captain Long Aotian, please allow me to add something—the capital has suffered such a disaster, and we have already sacrificed many ministers. Every one of those remaining here is a precious asset to us. I suggest that each of them be assigned two to three guards for close protection to ensure their safety."

Upon hearing this, the ministers, though still unsure of Zhou Ke'er's identity and why she was allowed to speak in such a setting, dared not pursue the matter further, seeing that Long Aotian had not refuted them. They were filled with mixed feelings of worry and joy. They were happy that they were safe, as someone was protecting them, but worried because... this behavior, ostensibly for protection, was in reality blatant surveillance!

However, contrary to what the ministers thought, Long Aotian and Zhou Ke'er exchanged a glance and understood what the other was thinking—it was to prevent the escaped Duke Timius from silently taking over a minister's body, which would be troublesome.