Chapter 343 The Feast Is Hard to Come Back (1)
April 30th.
The atmosphere in Houllier City has changed a little because of the upcoming dinner party held by the Duke's Mansion. The number of carriages of all kinds on the street has increased significantly. Nearby cities rushed over.
This banquet invites all the powerful lords of Efta, and because it is a formal banquet, the lords will also bring their wives and children to attend, so the number of participants exceeds two hundred, and these are just pure nobles And the number of family members, if you count the private soldiers, stewards and servants they carry with them, the number has already exceeded 2,000.
It's also fortunate that the back garden of the Duke's Mansion is large enough, otherwise, a banquet of this scale really cannot be held... Butler John has seconded hundreds of maids, servants and chefs from various places, and just by the time the banquet begins The current expenses are already worth the taxes of dozens of villages.
The sudden extravagance of the Duke, who had always lived a simple life, was naturally not for pure "showing off"—but as for the ultimate purpose of his behavior, everyone is still guessing.
And in the "Pig Head Bar", while the owner Hook was still in a daze, Rody had already tidied up his cloth robes, pushed open the dirty wooden door, led the ugly-looking draft horse, Walking along the street, walking slowly towards the duke's mansion where the nobles are gathering...
It was said to be a "dinner banquet", but in fact all the preparations had already started a few days ago, and in the early morning of the 30th, nobles and knights began to participate.
"Banquets" in this period actually existed in the "knight" class. Although "gluttony" was listed as one of the seven deadly sins by the "Rosie Cross" church, these knights who eat a lot still like to show off by hunting before the banquet. own force.
Therefore, before the dinner began, a group of knights and barons rode war horses and took their hounds to the hunting area outside Houlier City. In the afternoon, they carried the wild boars and deer they had hunted. He returned to the banquet scene with the rabbit and other food, and was the first to reap the first batch of cheers and applause.
Dozens of open tents were set up in the secluded back garden, and the dining tables were neatly arranged according to their status. The middle area of the banquet venue was set aside as usual for a "dance floor". musical instrument in hand.
At sunset, the nobles began to enter the venue in gorgeous costumes.
They glanced at the back garden belonging to the largest lord of Efta with subtle expressions. Obviously, this banquet had some special meaning in their eyes. However, the "Barononess" and "Viscountess" who followed them were obviously not very interested in it. Their more role was to make their own "vases", silently watching the scene with well-tailored long skirts and exquisite jewelry. Compete for splendor—in the slightly hot weather, those white gullies under the collar of the low-cut collar have become a scenery that the men present are willing to appreciate.
In contrast, the young noble children are much simpler: they did not participate in the conversations among the adults, and most of them formed small circles. Arriving here can also be regarded as a "blind date meeting". When the lord is intriguing, the heirs who have just grown up or underage have already begun to contact and test each other, paving the way for more marriages and cooperation in the future.
When night fell and the banquet began, the Duke of Angmar stepped into the venue wearing a purple robe—such a bland appearance made the nervous nobles inexplicably relieved. After all, in the eyes of most nobles, this old man It seems to have never been extremely strong.
The scene of him gaining a firm foothold in Efta with ruthless means more than ten years ago has left a deep impression on too many old nobles, but now it seems that this Duke is really... old.
Although the gray hair was meticulously groomed, the loose skin and wrinkles could not conceal the fact that he was already advanced in age. Due to the damage from the "soul extraction potion", the Duke of Angmar's face looked much older than his actual age …So when he walked into the venue with a slightly arched back and a slow pace, it seemed that he had lost the slightest bit of power and influence of the past. It only made people feel that he was an old man who was dying and dying.
As the lord of the territory, the Duke of Angmar did not speak nonsense impassionedly, but simply delivered a speech and announced the start of the banquet—the venue was huge, and it was too difficult to hear one person clearly, so small-scale exchanges after the banquet began. is the real highlight.
The servants began to bring freshly roasted meat to the table. Outdoor banquets are not like indoors, and there is no requirement to sit at the table and finish all the meals, so most nobles simply eat a few mouthfuls. , they held their glasses of wine and started talking in low voices...
"Angmar is old after all, this time I'm afraid it's a scene he put on to compromise."
"It doesn't matter how powerful you are when you're young. People don't accept their old age. The son died, and the daughter joined the church. Although she can come back, it's hard to become a great player in the end."
"Where are Wellington and Titus? No matter what, they should come out to support the scene, heh, is this an active show of weakness?"
"We're not strong in the first place, so why show weakness? Those two big knights are just there to support the scene. If they really want to fight, what can they do if they are strong?"
"By the way, why didn't Viscount Juan come?"
"Perhaps this is also an attitude. We don't need to guess what he thinks now."
The chatter of the lords was not loud, but if one listened carefully, most of them were not optimistic about Angmar, and some even showed naked hostility—but the Duke of Angmar didn't listen at all. As if arriving, he was chatting with several lords in a low voice with a smile, and there was no superfluous emotion on his face.
The other nobles knew that the barons who spoke with Angmar at this time were the only ones in Everta who were willing to support him.
However, such a ratio is really pitiful, and it is no wonder that the lords who are accustomed to adapting to the wind are standing on the opposite side of Angmar-the Luciferon family is gone, and now it is powerless to recover. Instead of letting those resources be used by this The old man holds it in his hand, why not just snatch it from him and manage it well...
In their view, no matter how much resources are squandered, it is better than today's militaristic support for the border.
The banquet was slowly going on with the accompaniment of the band, and at the edge of the venue composed of dozens of tents, Rody had already changed into a dark green dress, standing silently in the shadows, silently scanning the group... He's a bit disheartened guys.
Except for a few Houllier city nobles who had seen Rody, almost no one in Efta could confirm his true identity through his appearance, so when Rody, who was a little withdrawn, stood here, he looked more like a The unpopular "poor settled households" were excluded from the mainstream circle.
Listening to the indistinct conversations of the nobles, the coldness in Rody's eyes became more and more obvious, but when he picked up the wine glass and tasted the boutique fruit wine specially transported from Elsa Village, the open space beside him But suddenly there were some footsteps—turning around, he found that the person who came was a young boy, with his mouth pouted angrily, stomping every step as he walked, obviously aggrieved.
Compared with the lords, these young aristocratic children are obviously not very interested in """. Although the thirteen and fourteen-year-old children have understood a little bit of stakes, but after all, they have no place to speak at such a banquet, so these young people The successors left their parents dressed up to attend, and formed small circles of their own, quarreling or playing around, and they didn't need to care about the situation of the Duke of Angmar anyway.
Quentin is fourteen years old this year. After having unpleasant conversations with several people of the same age, he wanted to be alone at the edge of the banquet venue, but he was walking and found a young nobleman standing in front of him.
He said he was a noble, but he could only judge from the clothes of the other party. After all, apart from the waiters, only nobles would attend this banquet. Quentin naturally regarded the other party as the eldest son of a certain lord—because Rody's appearance was too young , Only twenty years old, except for the "dead" Baron Soderol in Efta, there is no such young lord.
"Anything bothering you?"
Luo Di just asked casually, his actual age is about twenty-eight years old, he has no interest in children's thoughts at all, and the reason for talking at this time is just to prevent the other party from becoming more suspicious.
"It's really annoying, but it has nothing to do with you." Quentin has a bad temper, which is actually a characteristic of young people's rebellious period, but he at least remembers to find out the background of the family in front of him: "Which family do you belong to? Have you seen it?"
Listening to his pretentious question, Rody smiled, shrugged and said, "The Medici family came from the south of the kingdom, just happened to come to see it."
"Mediqi? I haven't heard of it," Quentin shook his head. Although he wanted to pretend to be cold, he still couldn't bear to complain, and said, "My name is Quentin, from the Feral family...Forget it , It’s meaningless to say this. You must know about the Luciferon family, right? The duke has been bullied by their partners so much that he can’t hold his head up, and even brought me to be ridiculed by those guys.”
The previous sentence was understandable, but the latter sentence made Rody a little surprised: "Why are they laughing at you? Are you related to the Duke of Angmar?"
"Of course it matters"
Quentin straightened his slightly messy wheat-colored hair, and said angrily: "My father is the only lord who is willing to support the Duke, but now that the Duke's power has declined, those guys have been attacking him since the meal. I was sneering and sarcastic——that stupid pig of Basta said that when my family is ruined, I can clean his toilet... Really"
Quentin said something vaguely slang, clearly meant to be rude.
"I argued with them, but they were too many to argue with, what a bunch of bastards"
He kicked the wooden flower basket while talking, and then remembered that he didn't know Rody's "position", raised his head and asked, "You won't be partnering with those guys to oppress the Duke, right?"
"I have no reason to do this." Rody looked at the boy with an immature face in front of him, and the anger that had gathered in his heart dissipated a lot—the existence of people like Quentin's father shows that the word "noble" The meaning it represents has not been completely rotted yet.
[Only found out in the morning that I uploaded it yesterday but forgot to click release... Depressed, there will be two updates tomorrow. 】