Chapter 14, Dawn of the Dead (Part 1)
Although they had roughly figured out the reason for the unusual movement of the militia that departed from the original plot, Wang Qiu and the others were still at a loss as to the ins and outs of this inexplicable London plague. Next, according to the descriptions of several travelers who had just arrived from London, the illness seemed a bit like influenza, but the specific name of the disease and the cause of the outbreak, whether it was a single infectious disease or a compound plague, probably only God knows.
"...When you were in London last week, you didn't feel anything strange?" He muttered, but he didn't take it too seriously - with the experience of traveling to different worlds so many times before, "The Traveler" "There will be a plague after death" has become a common sense in Wang Qiu's understanding.
Therefore, the London Plague, which did not appear in the novel "Pride and Prejudice", might have been caused by the butterfly effect caused by modern people like me traveling through various modern viruses. Longbourn is in the countryside, with a vast area, sparsely populated areas, and a good natural environment, so the germs of the modern world have not caused great trouble here. On the other hand, the city in London has poor sanitary environment, crowded population, easy breeding of germs, and poor physical health of the residents. People like me took a walk with modern germs and ignited the powder keg... This is probably the whole cause and effect, right?
In view of the above speculations, Wang Qiu and his companions still did not pay enough attention to the London Plague itself. They were just worried about the disturbance caused by the plague to the main plot line of "Pride and Prejudice", but they did not know how to proceed. .
——Before, I was in the plot world of horror movies, war movies, adventure movies or superhero movies, and I was used to all kinds of decisive, simple and crude ways of doing things. Now I have traveled into the love novel of "Pride and Prejudice" , but some don’t know what to do.
At the same time, some of the militia officers and lieutenants continued to use the last moment before entering the London epidemic area to work hard to save themselves, looking for personal escape strategies, and selling their military positions at low prices everywhere. It's a pity that very few transactions are successful. There are only a few free-spirited people who are willing to risk catching the plague to buy their official hats, and the price is even reduced to 30% or even 10% off the market price.
On the other hand, in order to make up for the vacancies in the regiment, another group of second lieutenants and lieutenants were sent out to capture young men and made a big fuss in the pubs and slums of Meritun. Unfortunately, the results were very few - Meritun was not a big city, just a city. In a small town with a population of two to three thousand, there are very few homeless people, beggars, criminals and vagrants who meet today's conscription standards. And these "scum of society" are local snakes. Many of them are well-informed people. They had a premonition that something bad was going to happen as soon as they saw the militia group stationed. Before the red uniforms started to arrest the strong men, they had already slipped away...< br>
Despite the above-mentioned dissatisfaction, in general, the officers of the militia are still very popular in this rural place. A few years ago, this regiment was also stationed in Langbourne and Meryton, and made many friends. Now it has returned to its old places and started to visit each other again.
Then, because they were about to carry out an extremely dangerous mission, and God knew whether they would come back alive, the officers in the militia regiment generally seized the time to indulge in a wild life, planning to enjoy one last time in the town of Meritun, and spent their money extremely generously, as if they were afraid that " The money hasn’t been used up even after someone dies.”
So, on the third day after they entered the station, the officers of the militia group emptied their pockets, scraped together a lot of money, bought drinks and food, hired musicians, and then borrowed lawyer Philip's house to hold a dance, inviting local gentry The ladies at home came to participate and were ready to have a good time.
And this lawyer Philip is the uncle of the five Bennet sisters, so the five Bennet sisters and "Mr. Collins" (played by Wang Qiu) who will inherit the Bennet family's real estate in the future, as well as Mr. Collins' friend "Hadock" "Captain" (played by Political Commissar Guo) also received an invitation to the ball.
In response, Wang Qiu, disguised as Mr. Collins, happily accepted the invitation, preparing to take this opportunity to inquire for more information, and at the same time see if there were any opportunities to increase his points. For this time travel, the central government specially sent someone to conduct a test for Wang Qiu. Special training in ballroom dancing in the 18th century, he is waiting to show off his skills! But since Political Commissar Guo came back from London last time, he has had a cold. It seems to be due to old age and weakened immunity. Even though he took medicine, he has not recovered. In the past two days, he has started to have a fever, and the fever is severe. So I could only stay at home and recuperate, and declined the invitation to the dance.
Then, Shizuka Marikawa and Rika Minami, disguised as maids, stayed in the Bennet house. Although they were very interested, they had to stay in the house and missed the dance - upper-class gentlemen and ladies Our dance is not something that low-class people can participate in...
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By the standards of this era, Lawyer Philip's house in Meryton Town can be regarded as quite decent - a spacious living room, exquisite and beautiful wallpaper, portraits of previous owners, a clean fireplace, and new and bright silver cutlery and fine white linen tablecloth. Although some details may not be exquisite enough and are far from magnificent, it may already be the best that this small town can see.
And those young ladies who came from all over added a bit of exciting color to this country dance - although the bloated long skirts of this era could not reflect the graceful figure of women, their radiant beauty alone A smile full of youthful vitality is enough to make people feel happy...
In short, the town of Meryton came to attend this dance, and there were many guests cheering for the officers of the militia, especially the ladies who were in uniform. Even a pregnant woman who had obviously been pregnant for several months was attracted by the militia. The little fresh meats were attracted. When Wang Qiu, disguised as Mr. Collins, took the time-travel version of the five Bennet sisters to the meeting in a carriage brought from the modern world, many people were already standing in Lawyer Philip's house, including those in uniform and in control. Ladies, ladies, and gentlemen were all talking and laughing loudly, making it as noisy as a market.
"...Oh! There are so many people here. It's almost dazzling to see." Elizabeth stood at the door of the living room, rubbing her forehead and said - as a home girl, she was born with this kind of mingling and bustling people. I have a little bit of stage fright in social situations.
"...It's really too noisy, noisy and crowded." The time-travel version of Miss Jane also echoed that she was also not interested in this dance. After all, the living room of Philip's house was limited in area, and the officers seemed to have forgotten that Knowing this, she distributed too many invitations. As a result, after so many people crowded in, she felt a headache just standing there. When she thought about what might happen during the dance later, she felt even more abnormal. Tired.
"...Why hasn't the music started playing yet?" Looking at this crowded scene, which looked like a station during the peak period of Spring Festival travel, Elizabeth also had a headache. She planned to dance a dance or two, but found an excuse to leave midway, "... …When will we start dancing?”
"...Because the real master hasn't arrived yet..." Wang Qiu, disguised as Mr. Collins, explained, "...Look, they are here!"
Following Wang Qiu's hand, Elizabeth saw the landlord's lawyer Philip walking in with a group of military officers. Although the middle-aged and fat uncle Philip seemed to affect the scene a little, as long as he was blocked, this scene would not be visible. It is still very beautiful in the eyes of women.
——It is said that men in uniform are the most masculine. Elizabeth didn’t quite understand it before, but now this strong visual impact suddenly woke her up. Those officers in red uniforms looked better than other men. His posture became more upright and heroic.
So many handsome guys in red uniforms appeared in front of her. They were so tall, brave, and tough. It was as if the crisp uniforms and cloaks they wore had magic power, which instantly improved the handsome appearance of these people by several levels - - No wonder there are so many uniform-obsessed ladies among country squire families. How can those ignorant country women resist such a group of handsome guys full of male hormones?
Seeing so many handsome and handsome "little fresh meat", the hearts of all the ladies immediately involuntarily accelerated their beating speed. What makes these classic-uniform-obsessed nymphos even more happy is that the five Bennet sisters, who were originally the most beautiful in this rural area and were "the most beautiful among all the beauties", have become extra "shy" for some reason and no longer scream in joy. Go up and show off your coquettishness and steal men from them - although there are many militia officers hosting the banquet, However, the number of ladies who came to the meeting was obviously larger, and the overall gender ratio was more women than men: more monks and less meat, and deducting some old, ugly or unpopular officers with bad tempers, it is estimated that There are still many unlucky ladies who can only sit on the sidelines and be wallflowers...
As a result, in the hall for a while, those innocent or charming wives and young ladies, as well as handsome and lively men, were all looking for prey that they were interested in. The band, which had been waiting for a long time, also began to play fast-paced music, and a warm atmosphere rushed over. Everyone found their dancing partners, extended their hands politely, and then walked to the middle of the hall together and danced gracefully.
The social dances at this time were somewhat of a group dance. Men and women often stood in two rows, exchanging the movements of their partners while circling, advancing and retreating. Those well-dressed girls shuttled around like butterflies. From time to time, among the male guests, there were bursts of delicate laughter like silver bells. The whole scene is like a living British costume drama, everything is exquisite, gorgeous and colorful, making it a pleasure to watch.
Although the time-travel version of the five Bennet sisters had some stage fright when faced with such a scene, and were not so active and lively, they were naturally beautiful, and it was hard to hide their beauty, which made the officers of the militia regiment shine when they saw them. Moreover, they wear a lot of shiny and exquisite jewelry (cheap jewelry with artificial gemstones in the modern world), and the dresses they wear are also made of "expensive" embroidered silk fabrics (also purchased online in the modern world). It seems that their family status should also be They look very good, even those snobs who despise poverty and love wealth, regard them as ideal prey who can get both people and wealth.
Therefore, during this dance, among the five Bennet sisters, except for the unattractive Mary, the remaining four girls were all favored by the young officers. People were always vying to come over to show their courtesy, and at the same time, they were also favored by the young officers. It attracted resentful and jealous looks from the other ladies...
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However, what Wang Qiu, who was disguised as Mr. Collins, did not expect was that he also became a "hot commodity" among those country squires!
——This discovery made Wang Qiu very puzzled at first. He had naturally seen his appearance in the mirror after makeup, and he felt that it was just ordinary, far from handsome. The clothes on my body are not out of the ordinary, they are simply old goods left by Mr. Bennet... Why don't you girls who are obsessed with uniforms go after those handsome and handsome officers in red uniforms, but instead focus on a boring guy like me? Where's the guy?
Later, after some overt or covert exchanges, he discovered that his current status was actually quite attractive in the eyes of unmarried women from the squire class - how should I put it? In the final analysis, everything is the fault of property.
Borrowing the title of another masterpiece "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen, the author of "Pride and Prejudice", in this era, among the young ladies of the British squire families, there were of course "sentimentalists" who risked everything for love and even left their families behind to elope. exist. But more ladies belong to the category of "rationalists". Although they are also obsessed with the red uniforms of young officers, they know very well that they are just having fun with these handsome officers. They can only have fun, but nothing will happen. You must not count on them for life-long events - the lower-level soldiers of the British Army these days There are basically not many officials with rich wealth. They are either civilians who want to get ahead by joining the army, or they are the second and youngest sons of big families who have no inheritance rights. In short, they are just people with little money, only a pretty face and a Sweet words cannot provide them with a pampered and luxurious life.
In this way, "Mr. Collins", who can inherit the Bennet family's real estate in the future and has a stable rent income of two thousand pounds, is obviously a very good golden rice bowl in the eyes of the girls, or a "successor": Such a guy may It's very boring and can't give them a romantic and charming love. But it allows them to be as free as the clouds in the sky all day long after marriage, doing nothing from morning to night, and spending money like water.
Of course, apart from the real estate he will inherit in the future, the current "Mr. Collins" seems to have no other job and source of income. If it were in modern society, it might be regarded as a sign of incompetence. But in that era, it was exactly a symbol of dignity and nobility!
——Some modern people may have a hard time imagining that on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, Britain, although it seemed to be full of vigor and vitality with its expeditions to the east and west, sailing and colonizing all continents, the atmosphere of the entire upper class was still very different. Conservative, decadent and decadent. Those successful capitalists who are diligent and hard-working to make a fortune are often regarded as nouveau riche and suffer all kinds of exclusion and contempt. Other lucky people who inherited large sums of money for nothing were regarded as decent gentlemen worthy of respect. The concept of "labor is shameful" was deeply rooted in the upper class society of Western Europe at that time. Generally speaking, from From capitalists to engineers, all professional people are not decent people. Only those social parasites who do not do any work at all and rely on their manors to earn land rent or rely on deposit bonds to earn interest are truly "born noble"...
Although he had roughly figured out the cause and effect, as a young man with modern thinking, Wang Qiu was still somewhat accustomed to the various attentiveness, winking, and various incomprehensible dark expressions of the English squire ladies at the end of the 18th century. bad.
Just imagine, when a little girl you meet for the first time stares at you with her loving eyes, paying attention to your every move, as if she is about to give you a kiss in the next second, what are you? Feel? Note that this is not a romantic place, but a social occasion, and the other party is not a sit-down girl who can be seduced by spending a little money. If they really kiss, the trouble that follows will never be shaken off!
Well, if you feel very good about yourself and think that being favored by so many ladies is obviously a very honorable thing. So what if it’s a group of girls? A group of such girls surround you like a piece of delicious meat, vying to flatter you, quibbling with each other, and vying to dance with you, but you can't even remember their names... …can you still adapt well?
If he really was that kind of "silly and naive" guy, he might be very happy. But as a person who has experienced endless space reincarnation for a long time in the killing field, Wang Qiu believes more in the truth of "showing courtesy for nothing, committing adultery or stealing"... What's more, these squire ladies who took the initiative to come over are really very good in appearance and figure. Normally (girls who maintain their beauty will not be so proactive), most of them put strong-smelling perfume or powder on their bodies, which makes Wang Qiu always want to sneeze - this kind of beauty is really not something he can bear. Damn...
Therefore, after reluctantly dancing for two times, he did not leave the show. Instead, he hid beside the wall and found a place to sit down, holding a glass of wine and watching the fun.
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At the same time, in the Bennet family's house in Langbourne Village, the female school doctor Marikawa Shizuka from the plot world of "School Apocalypse" is doing her long-lost job, treating the bedridden Political Commissar Guo. ——Since returning from his last trip to London, Political Commissar Guo's health has gradually become a little worse. He has developed a high fever in the past two days. No matter what cold medicine he takes or what anti-fever injection he takes, he doesn't get better.
In desperation, Marikawa Shizuka had no choice but to use the [Automatic Medical Kit] from the world of Doraemon. Since she was currently disconnected from the world of Doraemon, the supply of [Automatic Medical Kit] could not be replenished. It must be used to save the lives of terminally ill patients in the modern world. Even if Wang Qiu and the others contracted some minor illness in another world, they would try to use ordinary treatment methods, and would only use the [Automatic Medical Kit] unless absolutely necessary.
Then, under the magical diagnosis and treatment of the [Automatic Medical Kit] that can cure all diseases, the unknown disease suffered by Political Commissar Guo was quickly cured by the medicine, and he could regain his health with just a little more rest. But the problem was that the pathological analysis report that came with it made Marikawa Shizuka take a breath. "...the traits and data analyzed...actually look like the T virus that creates zombies? Where did Political Commissar Guo contract it?!"