Chapter 300: Beautiful, powerful and miserable

The United States of Europe uses a parliamentary system of government, but members of parliament are not elected democratically. Instead, they are nominated by hereditary families that control resources from the industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors. The system is somewhat similar to the Roman Senate.

In principle, each family can only nominate one member of parliament, which is one electoral vote.

But in practice, those small families that are dependent on the big families often cannot decide for themselves who to cast their electoral votes for. It is generally assumed that the resources belong to the political resources in the hands of the big families they are dependent on, not their own.

For example, the Dyke family, which holds military power, has only one nomination seat for a member of parliament and can seemingly only cast one electoral vote. However, those small families that are affiliated with the Dyke family, such as the Milicato family from Fusolus, have long been regarded as Dyke-affiliated forces by other parties in parliament, and the electoral votes they hold also belong to the Dyke family.

As far as Ning Zhe knows, the Dyke family can directly decide who to vote for with 7 electoral votes, corresponding to 7 seats in parliament, while they can indirectly influence 3 votes.

The owners of Vanessa Castle, the Frimmislet family, can directly decide 6 electoral votes, and the number of votes indirectly influenced is unknown.

The European system is not a monolithic entity. There are many factions within the parliament, and there are both covert and open struggles.

Therefore, for those children of aristocratic families who fled overseas from Kyushu, seeking refuge abroad is not as simple as just getting out. After getting out, they have to wait for the price, make careful considerations, and seriously consider which camp they should join.

“What I can confirm at the moment is that the last male member of the Yundu Liu family, Liu Hongwen, and the vice president of the Yanzhou Merchants Association have joined the Dai Ke family.”

Ning Zhe stood on the breakwater and looked into the distance. The sea water was silvery and vast under the moonlight. “When Ji Bochang was alive, he had established contact with the Flimmisret family. His brother Ji Boying and his children all chose to accept the protection of the Flimmisret family. If you want to investigate, you have to seize the opportunity.”

Tomorrow’s swimsuit show is just a cover. The Milicato family, where Fussole was born, is a Dyke faction. This is a game organized by the Dyke family. The participants are nothing more than the young people from various major families. Some children of Kyushu families who have gone overseas and changed their identities are also on the guest list. It can be seen that what they are talking about is very likely related to Kyushu.

Or to put it more directly, it is related to the arrangements left by Ji Bochang before his death.

“After the swimsuit show at noon today, the private gathering of these young nobles will really begin.”

“Didn’t you ask me to be a spy? Now that I’ve delivered the intelligence, it’s up to you whether you can seize this opportunity.”

Ning Zhe bent down and pulled the unconscious mummified skeleton out from the gap in the wave-breaking block with one hand. The cold white moonlight sprinkled on its dry skin, revealing clearly visible ribs.

Lan Shiwen glanced sideways and saw that the mummy was dressed in tattered clothes, with a few dirty strips of cloth loosely draped over it. Its limbs were curled up tightly and the whole body was curled up in a ball, motionless, like a baby curled up in its mother’s womb.

People who were hypnotized by Requiem seemed to be like this… Ning Zhe thought of the housekeeper, Marylin. After being hypnotized, she fell to the ground and her limbs began to curl up unconsciously. But before she could completely curl up into a baby position, Plumeria regretted her move.

“That’s it for now. I’m leaving.” Ning Zhe dragged the ragged corpse back along the embankment without looking back.

Lan Shiwen let out a long sigh, turned around and left in the opposite direction.

“That mummy…has no little finger.”

Lan Shiwen’s quiet whispers drifted in the evening breeze as the two of them walked on the embankment under the moonlight, gradually moving farther and farther away.

It was early morning, and the moon hanging high in the sky fell into the sea with a splash, splashing a pink morning glow. Ning Zhe woke up from his bed in the apartment and served as a pillow for Xia Yubing again.

“It’s time to get up, Miss. We have activities to attend today.” Ning Zhe shook her shoulders, pried open the two white pythons wrapped around him, and got out of bed to wash.

Xia Yubing stretched out her hands to hug someone, but found nothing. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, yawned, and sat up, muttering softly, “What’s the matter? Isn’t the swimsuit show at noon? What time is it now…” Wait, that’s not right.

“Are you really going to watch that swimsuit show?” Xia Yubing suddenly lost all her sleepiness and became alert. She ran barefoot to the oval sink without even putting on pants. “What’s so good about foreign women? If you like those fancy swimsuits, I’ll buy them and wear them for you to see.”

Ning Zhe glanced at her and said, “The fabric on your body is only slightly more than a swimsuit.”

“Ah?” Xia Yubing looked down and was stunned for a moment. She ran to put on her clothes with a red face.

“Virtue…”

After washing and dressing, Ning Zhe switched to Van Dyke’s identity and went out with Xia Yubing.

From the apartment door to the elevator, Xia Yubing had been keeping a distance from him intentionally or unintentionally. Her body language and micro-expressions showed her disgust for Ning Zhe’s current appearance. She no longer had the clinging attitude that she had last night.

Is Van Dyke ugly? No. He has a good image, thick eyebrows, handsome looks, and a good body. He looks like a gentleman in a suit and a cowboy in a jacket. He is a handsome middle-aged uncle with a retro aesthetic.

With his outstanding looks and noble family background, Van Dyke has never lacked popularity among women since he was a child. However, his handsome face, which has always been successful in everything, failed only with Xia Yubing.

After spending so many days together, Ning Zhe has gotten to know this young lady’s personality and personal preferences.

Xia Yubing likes clean and youthful boys, and even better if they have a bit of world-weary and melancholy temperament. They must be handsome but not too feminine, and they must be strong enough to overpower her and force her to bow her head and admit defeat… a typical aesthetic of beauty, strength and misery. In general, Xia Yubing is very picky about food, and Van Dyke, an uncle with a masculine temperament, is not her type.

The elevator door slowly closed. Ning Zhe unlocked Van Dyke’s phone and handed it to Xia Yubing: “I’ll take you to meet two people later. Take a look at their information first.”

Xia Yubing took it and looked, and saw that they were two people from Jiuzhou, one young and one old, both men.

The younger one looked less than 35 years old, his surname was Liu, and his given name was ‘Liu Hongwen’.

Liu Hongwen, a native of Yunzhou, whose ancestral home is Yundu. His grandfather Liu Mao was once the top official in Yunzhou and the governor of Yunzhou. Now all the more than 3,000 members of the Liu family have been killed, and Liu Hongwen is the only one left.

The older one was over 50 years old, with loose skin on his face. He was a fat man named “Shen Changjiang”.

Shen Changjiang, a native of Yanzhou, whose ancestral home is Yongzhou, came to Yanzhou from Beijing to start a business. He took advantage of the favorable conditions and became successful. He was once the vice president of the Yanzhou Merchants Association. Later, he fled abroad with the money for unknown reasons.

“These two are members of the Run Party who fled overseas and accepted political asylum from the Dyke family. Your current status is the same as theirs.”

Ning Zhe took back Van Dyke’s phone and put it in his pocket, then said:

“Xia Yubing is from Qinzhou, and her ancestral home is Qinchuan. Her family was persecuted by the government for being involved in the weird, and the family fell into decline. The former eldest daughter of the Xia family was forced to flee overseas, and is now under the protection of the Dyke family. – These are roughly what you need to pay attention to, remember?”

Xia Yubing puffed out her chest confidently: “I won’t let you down.”
–
I have a cold, so I’ll update once tonight.

(End of this chapter)