Chapter 163 Justajoke
In the early morning, in the washroom of the Lord of Eagle Castle, Raven's face was covered with foam. He faced the bronze mirror and used a razor to scrape off the foam on his face bit by bit.
Slowly, a face with profound features appeared in the bronze mirror.
The eyebrows are thick and sharp, reaching straight into the temples, and the brow bones are high; the black pupils are dark and deep, the bridge of the nose is straight, the lips are thin, and the facial contours are sharp and clear.
Grinning in front of the bronze mirror, Raven took the towel from Petty's hand and wiped his face dry, turned around, spread his hands, and let Petty put on his clothes.
When the dress was finished, Patty stood aside, uncharacteristically.
She wore a lace headband, a black ribbon around her neck, and a proud hint of wheat color on her chest.
The black maid skirt is tied with a big bow, and her legs are in extremely close-fitting black suspender stockings. The lace straps make her thighs look voluptuous. She is lowering her head and turning over from time to time. He raised his eyelids and looked at Raven secretly.
Raven came close to her and leaned his head gently.
Before Raven could speak, Petty's body trembled slightly, his face turned a little red, he wrung his hands together, bit his lip and whispered: "Lord Baron, you have business today... …”
"Wait for two days, and I will serve you well."
There was a hint of pleading in his words.
Just yesterday, Raven asked Judra to sign a contract and quickly sent it to the Noble Council.
Having finally taken back the Eagle Territory completely and cleaned up the mess left by Donald, Raven was in a great mood.
So, I spent the whole night having an in-depth discussion with Petty on how to play chess, which lasted more than a dozen games at a time.
In the first half of the night, the two of them were victorious, but later on, the white chess held by Petty was overtaken by Raven's black chess, leaving them completely defeated.
Looking at Patty's expression, Raven laughed, turned and left the room.
Because he does still have something serious to do, which is to hold a celebration party.
After returning from Bloody Highlands and with the injection of funds, Eagle Town began intensive construction. Although there was a shortage of construction materials due to the rebellion of the Death Hand Order, some new buildings were also built. of buildings.
For example, Raven chose the venue for the reception today - the Wallace Hotel.
This name was decided by Raven himself.
The building is three stories high and occupies a large area, no less than half a football field.
Unlike most buildings nowadays, which mostly use masonry structures as the main body, only the back wall of this hotel is made of precious granite, and the other three walls are made of whole pieces of glass, which have been specially processed. From the inside, you can clearly see the outside, but from the outside, it is foggy. From a distance, it looks like a crystal palace.
Not only the appearance, but also the interior decoration is unique.
Nowadays, the more high-end restaurants, hotels, and hotels are, the more they use expensive solid wood tables and chairs. The lighting is also dim, and the overall color is brown, which is more solemn and elegant.
But this Wallace Hotel uses magic lamps, which are bright and clear both day and night. The tables and chairs are made of "sunken lead pine", a specialty of Thousand Needles Jungle. After complicated processes, it turned into a soft bone white. The tableware is a gold and silver plate that creates a clear contrast with the tabletop.
In a three-story building, there is not much difference in the decorative style of each floor, but there is a clear distinction in function.
The first floor is a general restaurant, the second floor is a buffet restaurant, and the third floor is a VIP box. It only accepts reservations. Looking out from the third floor, you can take in the scenery of half of the Eagle Territory.
Today is the first day of business. Various carriages are gathered at the door. There are dozens of them. In addition to the wealthy families from the Eagle Territory, there are more wealthy businessmen from the Xuefeng Territory. , there were hundreds of people there, it was very lively.
Ino is also one of them. He is the president of the Xuefeng Territory Chamber of Commerce. He is in his early forties. He came here specially after hearing the news that Raven would appear here. He originally had no interest in the hotel itself. expect.
But when he saw the appearance of the hotel, he was truly surprised. Three walls made entirely of glass were really bold, novel, and a bit spectacular from a distance.
Entering the interior of the hotel, the decoration refreshed his outlook. He had never thought that a hotel would use magic lamps.
Magic lamp! Many nobles are reluctant to use it at home.
The sun rose and cicadas began to chirp. Ino thought it would be very hot inside the hotel, but as soon as he entered the door, a cool air flow rose up.
It is a temperature control array.
With the magic lamps as the starting point, although the temperature control array was not cheap, Ino still accepted this reality relatively calmly.
When he opened the menu, his eyelids began to twitch slightly, because the cheapest item among them was also priced in silver coins, at least thirty to fifty pieces, and most of them were priced in gold coins.
His keen business sense made him understand that Raven wanted to build the Wallace Hotel into a real high-end restaurant, but after all, it was located in Eagle Town, so many people would come here to visit it. Come?
This probably depends on the arrangement of Baron Raven. With this novel architectural form and decoration, if it can also provide unique dishes, the taste does not need to be too good, it will be enough to make the nobles flock to it.
After all, to put it crudely, most of the nobles are too idle.
Putting down the menu gently, Ino ordered a bottle of Angel's Tears, but didn't order the food. It wasn't that he couldn't afford it - well, it was a bit distressing for him, but the most important reason was because it was... The Lord has not come yet.
Eno chose a seat near the door, tasting wine while looking at the scenery inside and outside the house. Judging by his standards, just based on this street and this building, the Eagle The construction of the town is no less than that of the upper town of Meng'en City.
This made his thinking a little divergent.
The businessman pursues profit. Since the news of the end of the war came out, he took the risk to organize a caravan to transport goods and led the team himself.
What he saw along the way made him quite emotional.
The closer we get to Meng'en City, the more the economy and people's livelihood deteriorate. Everywhere is dilapidated, especially around Meng'en City, which has turned into a white field.
Even other places in Xuefeng County were more or less affected by the war and declined a lot. Many nobles were holding funerals, funerals, or urgent recruitment, causing a lot of noise. .
Only Eagle Town is as calm as if it has never experienced anything, and it is still developing vigorously!
There was a low cry all around, and when Ino came back to his senses, he found that a carriage with the Griffith family coat of arms had stopped outside the door.
The Baron is here! ?
Ino quickly adjusted her clothes for fear of being rude. The next moment, a man in a black dress got out of the car.
This made Ino startled.
He had heard about Raven’s exploits, and always thought that someone who could conquer the Bloody Highlands, kill Heleti, and make a splash in the previous war must be at least in his thirties. .
But I didn’t expect that Raven would be so young, looking like he was in his early twenties at most!
Ino raised her buttocks slightly, waiting for Raven to come in and immediately start to salute. However, unexpectedly, Raven turned around and stretched out his hand, and then, a white and slender palm fell. In Raven's palm.
A girl who seemed to be shining with light stepped out of the car.
On her feet were a pair of white soft-soled cloth shoes, which were immediately covered by a fluffy goose yellow pleated long skirt. The white top made of cotton was as gentle as its owner, and her golden hair was combed into The braids were draped on her shoulders, and her eyes were watery, like sapphires sinking in the sea.
As soon as she got off the carriage, she immediately retracted her hand, put her hands behind her back, and walked into the door side by side with Raven.
As soon as he entered the gate, Raven saw hundreds of people in the hall standing up and bowing to him, but no one came up to talk to him unexpectedly, which made him very satisfied.
Take Lux up to the third floor. Now the core members of the Griffith family are waiting here, divided into two large tables. Seeing Raven's arrival, they all stood up immediately:
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"Lord Baron!"
Raven scanned the whole place and took everyone in his eyes.
Sitting on the central table is Denise. To her right are two empty seats for Raven and Lux. To her left are Anno and then Vesdon.
In addition, there are Eric, Volaf, Link and Simon, as well as old Gordon and Fiona.
This table can be said to be Raven's "founding team" and the administrative, financial and military core of the entire Griffith family.
At another table, sat Fili, Hopkin and Gabe. These are all people from Goldsmith Town. Among them, Fili serves as the administrative officer, Hopkin is the tax collector, and Gabe is the sheriff, who controls the goldsmith town. Town patrol.
There are also people from the riverside workshop sitting at this table, including Poirot who is now the workshop supervisor, Green who is in charge of managing the leatherworker, Joya, the leader of the sewing workers, and the two leaders of the gray dwarves. , Sohei Ironhand and Bovel Greyhammer.
Lei Wen smiled: "Today is a family banquet. You don't have to be polite, just sit down!"
Everyone sat down one after another, and their performances were different, more or less. All a bit cramped.
The most generous and natural person was Denise, who stepped forward and took Lux’s hand, and took her to the seat next to Raven: “Previously Raven set out to support the Slater family, thank you. , He mentioned it to me more than once." As she spoke, she looked at Lux and thought to herself, no wonder Raven cared so much about Lux.
Even as a woman, she had to admit that Lux was indeed quite pure and beautiful, which was rare in the world.
Denise looked at Lux and Raven looked at her.
Even though the weather was hot, she still wore a rather thick white coat with a lavender high-collar shirt underneath, and a blue penholder-shaped knee-length skirt. Under the long skirt, she wore a flesh-colored She wore stockings and a pair of tightly wrapped purple high-heeled shoes on her feet. She absolutely refused to let anyone see more of her. Her overall temperament seemed shrewd, strong and conservative.
It reminded Raven of the beautiful and dignified female principal in high school before time travel.
In contrast, Annuo was different. She was sitting on a chair with a light gray cloak on her shoulders. She was quiet and mysterious. She only nodded slightly when she saw Raven's arrival.
Clapping his hands, Raven drew everyone's attention to himself and said loudly: "Everyone, it has been one year since I inherited the title of baronet and served as the lord of the Eagle Territory."
“In this year, we have gained a lot, defeated powerful enemies, recovered all our territories, and held the Xuefeng Territory in our hands, all of which are inseparable from Thank you for your help and support."
"And I am not a stingy person. I see your hard work and will certainly be rewarded."
Said. At this point, Raven touched his belt, and a pile of red envelopes suddenly appeared in his hand. He stepped forward and handed out the red envelopes one by one, starting with Eric.
There has never been a custom of "red envelopes" in the Middles continent, but this does not prevent everyone who receives them from being happy. After all, they contain real gold coins!
Poirot held the red envelope and looked at the number carefully, counting it over and over again.
Yes, twenty gold coins!
Like Eric and Gordon Sr., he once served Donald.
It was fine in the early years. Later, with the "proper management" of Raven's uncle, Donald, the Griffith family was declining day by day. His salary as a cook also dropped to the lowest level, and he could not even steal food. Something!
It can be said that I was hanging out with my uncle and starved for nine meals in three days.
But things are different now. I only followed Baron Raven for one year, and I actually got twenty gold coins at once!
It is equal to his salary in the previous ten years.
Hey! When I get home today, I will slap the money on the table and let the short-sighted woman at home know that I, Poirot, can also make a lot of money!
Let’s see if she still dares to lose her temper because she always lives in the workshop and rarely comes home!
When thinking of that scene, Poirot first made a serious face, then couldn't help but smile like a chrysanthemum.
The so-called happy life should be like this!
In comparison, Fili's performance was more calm, but the joy in his heart was not bad at all.
He pressed the red envelope in his palm, and he had already memorized the amount in it - ten gold coins in cash, and a reward slip signed by Raven himself, which allowed him to receive fifty gold coins.
Added together, it is a reward of sixty gold coins.
Lord Baron is so generous!
Fili couldn't help but think that he had been running a shop and working so hard that he only had a gross profit of eighty or ninety gold coins throughout the year. After taking out taxes, he would only have forty or fifty gold coins left.
Originally, he served as the political officer of Goldsmith Town and resigned as the president of the Chamber of Commerce. In addition, the business of Goldsmith Town was affected by the turmoil. He thought that he would be poor for a while, but he did not expect to be able to get it. so much.
Looking back now, choosing to follow Baron Raven with all his heart was truly the best investment he had ever made in his life!
At the main table, Simon looked confused and rubbed the red envelope with a naive smile.
He looked down at the red envelope in his hand, as if his eyes had been sucked into it.
Ten gold coins in cash were enough to satisfy him. What really attracted him was the reward sheet, which rewarded him with a full year's compensation.
He is now not only a first-level extraordinary, he is also responsible for leading a scout team of 100 people. The extraordinary salary and military pay total a full eighty gold coins!
You know, just a year ago, Simon had only seen silver coins, and gold coins were a legend to him.
Now, I got eighty of them in one go.
Baron Raven's promise to improve their lives was indeed achieved, and it was achieved tenfold and a hundred times.
Because he had military pay, the family's life had been greatly improved. They had meat to eat every day. His grandmother and mother did not have to drag their sick bodies to work in the fields, and his sister could also change her body every quarter. Get new clothes.
Now with this money, he can buy more things for his family, such as renovating the house as a whole, and hiring a teacher for his sister.
Now that he has the ability, he doesn't want his sister to grow up in chaos and find a random man to marry.
Holding his palms tightly, Simon showed a happy smile on his lips, looking forward to the bright future of his family.
Seeing the reactions of the people around her, Fiona was a little confused. The red envelope she received contained five gold coins. Although it was a lot, it was not enough to make her so excited.
At this moment, Old Gordon choked twice and stuffed the red envelope in his hand.
"Grandpa, how are you?" Fiona asked with concern.
Old Gordon has recovered somewhat, but has not fully recovered yet. He managed to hold on today. He shook his head and said, "It's okay, it's just that this thing is a bit heavy. Please help me put it away."
What’s so important about five gold coins?
Fiona was stunned for a moment and took the red envelope. She didn't feel much weight and couldn't help opening it quietly. Her eyes suddenly widened.
In the red envelope, there was no gold coin, but a brand new monocle, made entirely of gold, with complex lines engraved on the edge, and a faint blue magic inside. There was a flash of light.
It’s a magic prop!
This must cost at least several hundred gold coins! ?
This importance is not in weight, but in friendship.
Giving a gift directly, and it was such a thoughtful gift, was enough to show how attentive Baron Raven was to her grandfather.
Now, Fiona gradually began to understand why her grandfather had told her what she had said before.
In the Keynesian Empire, being able to follow such a lord is really a blessing. It is both lucky and a blessing.
Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, Lei Wen felt quite happy. Being happy alone is not as good as having everyone happy. Only when everyone is happy can they be prosperous.
Walking back to the main seat, Raven took the wine glass from Lux and took a sip of Angel Tears.
Denise smiled.
Old Gordon was unwell, and the Eagle Territory's finances were currently all on her. She knew how much gold coins Raven had spent this time, and she also expressed her support.
After all, no matter how many gold coins you have, they are just decorations stored in the warehouse. You can only get money by spending them. Raven's approach can not only tighten people's hearts, but also stimulate the economic vitality of the Eagle Territory. It can be described as a win-win situation.
She said half seriously and half jokingly: "Baron, why don't you give me some reward? And even if you don't consider me, you should give something to Priest Lux. She is right The contribution of the Eagles is not as good as "Little one."
"Of course there will be rewards, and there will also be surprises." Before Lux could refuse, Raven said with a smile: "Since today is a family dinner, as the head of the family, I will show you my skills. .”
The Baron actually wants to cook himself! ?
Most of the people present looked surprised and a little excited at the same time - being able to eat the food made by the Baron himself would be an honor to be praised by the grandchildren!
Seeing their expressions, Raven smiled and said, "You really want to eat?"
"Yes!" Except for a few ladies, everyone was responding, even the sick ones Old Gordon smiled.
Leaven nodded and said: "Well, after this meal is over, the Griffith family's carriage will have to be bold enough to drive down."
"After all, happiness must be protected by strength!"
After saying that, Raven turned and walked to the kitchen.
Everyone’s eyes were filled with anticipation.
I don’t know, Lord Baron, what will you do?
……
(End of this chapter)