She straightened her collar and coat hem, walked out of the hall to the backyard, and quickly approached the food delivery truck parked at the edge. Most of the others were eating or chatting at the long dining table, so they didn't notice a strange petite figure passing by them. Qi Ji came to the food delivery cart and just as he picked up the kettle of tea to observe it further, he felt a gaze sweeping over him and then fixed on him. Looking up, I saw that it was Lanchester, and beside him stood Wadin, Lancy and the smiling old Edward. After seeing him, Lanchester was stunned at first, and then without even saying goodbye to the other two, he trotted over impatiently like a hungry wolf finding its prey. Chapter 40 Dusk Nobility "What's the matter?" Qi Ji put the kettle down slightly and said with a cold face. Lanchester did not respond. After he approached, he was like being struck by lightning and stood still, his eyes fixed on him. "If you have nothing to do, please don't disturb me. I have things to do and I don't have time." Her tone was not polite, and she did not try to hide the annoyance in her eyes.
"Uh, no." The other party finally reacted, and his breathing became a little rapid. "What an honor, Miss Qi Ji, we meet again." "So what's your problem?" "Uh..." Qi Ji's inhumane attitude made Lanchester feel a little at a loss. He swallowed his saliva and forced a kind and elegant smile on his face: "There are actually no two strangers in the world, only two friends who have not yet met. I don't want to miss any chance to meet you, because Miss Qi Ji, you have proved to me that angels exist." “Ah, huh???” Qi Ji was completely overwhelmed by this cheesy love talk. Her mind went into a state of shutdown. For a moment, her mouth was half open, but she couldn't utter a word. Lanchester said nothing, watching her reaction intently. On the surface, he looked as steady as an old dog, but in fact, he was extremely nervous, fearing that Qi Ji would not respond to him, or that he would not be able to continue the topic raised by Qi Ji. This was the first time that Lanchester was approached by someone who made him so nervous. In the past, if he wanted to get a girl, why would he have to go through so much trouble? As the beloved only son of Baron Lionsmith, whether she was a commoner, an adventurer, or the daughter of a big merchant, wouldn't she be available at his beck and call? If it really doesn't work, spend a few thousand ells and put out a few good vans, and even the most chaste girl will let down her guard. When he met those who were stubborn, he could just use force, without worrying about taking any responsibility, and just pull up his pants and leave. In Stio, besides the Lord, who else could be more capable than him? Who else could cause trouble for him? He has been a frequent visitor to the red-light district in the North District since he was twelve years old. Over the past ten years, he has enjoyed countless women through various means, from young girls to mature women and wives. Basically, all he did was a glance or a few words, and he has never experienced any setbacks. The most challenging one so far is Lunxi, and she has not succeeded yet. After all, she is also a noble, so we can't be as tough as we are with ordinary people. But he was not particularly anxious. Baron Iris was stubborn and conservative, always holding on to the stubborn integrity of the old aristocracy, and only wanted to maintain his family business through traditional methods such as collecting rent and taxes. He looked down on the emerging forces of merchants and workshop owners, and was even more unwilling to sell part of his property for money and start a business and set up a factory like his father, Baron Lionsmith, had done. He felt that this tarnished the elegance of the nobility, went against ancestral laws, and would be punished by heaven. This has led to the Iris Family's declining power. In recent years, their family wealth has been far less than that of the Lion Craftsman. Although aristocrats are aristocrats after all and have not fallen into a lower class, being marginalized in the circle of powerful people in Stiou has become an inevitable trend. Old man Edward is also interesting. His family business declined because he was unwilling to break through the old thinking, but he did not think it was his own fault. He cynically complained all day long about difficult to understand words like "the collapse of rituals and music" and "the way to chaos". I don’t know what he is thinking.
In short, the drastic decline in the status of the Iris family is an irreversible fact. In a few years, I am afraid that not many powerful people will take them seriously. By then, if the little girl, Lunxi, still refused to obey Lanchester, he would be able to take her over without restraint, just like he had taken over countless equally chaste civilian girls in the past ten years. If it really comes to that, no matter how dissatisfied Edward is, he will have to swallow his anger... Maybe he won't even be dissatisfied, but will be ecstatic to marry Lunxi to himself, so as to preserve the Iris Family's position in Stio through marriage. All in all, although Lunxi is difficult to deal with, she does not put much pressure on Lanchester. Every time he faces her, he can act calm, natural and decent. But the mysterious Miss Qi Ji in front of him was very different. Just by standing in front of her, he could feel an invisible and heavy sense of oppression. It was as if the darkness and filth in his heart were illuminated by some strange light, revealing everything, making him feel uneasy involuntarily. Not to mention that incomparable face, which made him unable to help but imagine the experience of holding this angelic beauty in his arms and loving her wantonly, which would be like ascending to the kingdom of God... These thoughts tempted his mind all the time. "Tsk, well, I'll just say it straight." Qi Ji felt sick at the greasy look in his eyes that seemed to want to eat him up, and subconsciously took a step back, "Don't have any thoughts about me, there is no possibility between you and me, so accept the reality, young man." Lanchester's expression froze for a moment. He had considered the possibility that Qi Ji would refuse, but he had never expected that the refusal would be so firm and merciless, leaving no room for negotiation. Qi Ji looked at his dazed expression, sighed, and without waiting for his reaction, he picked up the kettle and walked quickly towards the flower hall. "Hey, hey!..." Just as Lanchester was about to catch up, Lunxi suddenly appeared in front of him: "Didn't you hear what she said, Lanchester? Please stop bothering Miss Qi Ji." "You..." Lanchester's facial muscles twitched slightly, and his anger and hostility overflowed for a moment, but he restrained himself the next second, and his face still had a decent and calm smile: "Okay, okay, I get it, I understand, I'm sorry to have caused you any trouble." "I'm glad you can figure it out." Lunxi shook his head and turned around to chase Qi Ji. "Wait a minute, who are you!?" Old Edward came over hastily with his cane, his face full of anger, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth, "I don't remember sending you an invitation letter, who allowed you to come in?!" Lunxi hurried forward to explain: "She is Miss Qi Ji. You just met her this afternoon! Don't you remember her?" "Is it her?" His eyesight was probably really not good. Even though they were less than ten meters away and the light was not dim, he couldn't recognize Qi Ji. "...That's not the case. He has never seen my face, so it's normal that he couldn't recognize me." Qi Ji thought that Old Edward had only seen him wearing a cloak and a hood before, so he understood. Old Edward came a few steps away, squinting his eyes and carefully looked at Qi Ji for a while. Even though he was experienced, dry-hearted, and numb to beauty, he was shocked by the graceful and beautiful description, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that this person should only exist in heaven. But soon, a nameless fire overwhelmed his appreciation for beautiful things, and made him angry at Qi Ji's existence. Why did he go to so much trouble to create opportunities for Lanchester and Lunxi to get along? Wasn't it to help them develop feelings for each other, so that he could get the help of Baron Lionsmith through marriage and consolidate the family's position! Now, as soon as Qi Ji appeared, Lanchester's mind was completely attracted by this little vixen, and all his previous efforts were wasted! How could he not be angry? "Lunxi!" Old Edward was so angry that his mind was confused. His face, which was originally a little morbidly pale, turned red. "Well, in order to alienate Lanchester, you deliberately asked someone to seduce him, right?! How can you be so inconsiderate of my painstaking efforts!?" As soon as these words came out, Lunxi's face changed instantly, and he looked at his father in disbelief: "Father, how can you say such a thing?!" ====================== Yesterday's collection was a bit broken QAQ
Chapter 41 Temporary departure "Humph, is there anything wrong with me telling the truth?! But you, you dare to talk back after raising you to this age, right?" Old Edward was also overwhelmed with anger, and he spoke without caring about anything else, "You... do you know how sad I am!" Lunxi just looked at him with a complicated expression, speechless. It’s not because I think what he said makes sense that I didn’t say anything, but because what he said was so shocking that I couldn’t organize my words in a short period of time. "Ms. Qi Ji, this..." She hesitated and wanted to say something to ease the situation. "Don't interrupt me!" Old Edward interrupted her directly, raised his cane and pointed at Qi Ji: "Get out of here." Qi Ji looked at the furious old Edward, then looked at Lun Xi who was at a loss as to what to say. He sighed helplessly, spread his hands and shook the kettle with half a pot of tea left in front of him: "Well then—I'll take the pot?" "Pot, what pot?" Old Edward didn't expect Qi Ji to say that. He was ordering him to leave, so it would be fine if he wasn't angry, but he wanted to take away a kettle for tea? What's wrong with his brain? "Goodbye!" He said this and walked away. If you can't figure it out, just stop thinking about it. When people are angry, their ability to think is almost zero. "Baron Iris, you are really going too far." Qi Ji was about to leave when a dark green figure appeared in front of her, looking at Old Edward with his back to her: "This lady didn't do anything, yet you insulted her with such vicious words... I really don't think this is appropriate." "Tsk, why do you show up again?" Qi Ji smacked his lips as he looked at the person in front of him. "Ms. Sharon, it's great to see you again." Wading clenched one hand into a fist nervously, turned his head slightly, looked at Qi Ji with evasive eyes, and said in an erratic tone: "You left in such a hurry this afternoon that I didn't have time to thank you. This incident has been enough to make me feel upset for a long time... Now you are being insulted for no reason, and I really can't stand it." "Mr. Silk Carpet, what do you mean?" Because Wadin spoke up for Qi Ji, old Edward calmed down a little, and his IQ barely rose to the level of an ordinary person. Wadin put his hands behind his back and said righteously, "Seek justice." “……” Old Edward looked coldly and said nothing. He was so angry just now that he said such extreme words. Now that he has calmed down a little, he can't help but think about Qi Ji's identity. The fact that Wadin, a foreign noble, could stand up for her meant that either the two of them had a past relationship, or Qi Ji was very famous in the inland, so many people had heard of him. No matter which possibility it is, this mysterious little girl must be extraordinary. And according to Lunxi, she killed the skull ghost with one strike. Although Old Edward did not believe that Qi Ji had the strength of a psychic or magician, he thought it was a naive exaggeration by his daughter who was still inexperienced. But it can’t be too bad at all, as you will definitely have a mindful or righteous Dharma master. It is not a wise choice to make enemies with a transcendent who has a certain background and strong abilities. But the harsh words had already been spoken. As the saying goes, words spoken are like water spilled, and cannot be taken back. Old Edward could only bear the consequences of his own making and find ways to make up for it.
But asking him to apologize humbly is absolutely impossible. He was a nobleman, and an orthodox nobleman who had been passed down from generation to generation since the founding of the country. He was not one of those bastard nobles who gained the trust of the royal family by taking shortcuts and thus were canonized. Noble blood is running in his body, and he cannot afford to give up his integrity in front of anyone. That would be an insult to his great ancestors! "Mr. Silk Carpet, this is our internal affairs." He tried to keep his voice steady, like an elder giving advice to a young man, "Please do not interfere in other people's internal affairs. This is the most basic etiquette for a noble." Wadin wouldn't fall for it. Being young and hot-blooded, he wasn't afraid of anything. Besides, this was a great opportunity to show off his mettle! In order to redeem himself from Qi Ji's image of being scared to the point of peeing his pants in public, he was so anxious that he was willing to do anything. How could he possibly compromise? "I'm sorry," he said, acting like a gentleman. "The aristocratic education I received makes me unable to tolerate such injustice happening before my eyes. I can't tolerate such a beautiful lady suffering unjustified grievances." "Hiss, there's no way this situation can end..." Looking at the two people confronting each other, Qi Ji felt overwhelmed. "Alright, alright, that's enough." She simply decided to leave, and she left at a speed that was almost instantaneous, leaving the two people who were confronting each other on the spot. She didn't argue with Old Edward. It wasn't because she didn't have a temper or felt she was in the wrong, it was just that she wanted to leave for a while. "after all……" She glanced at the kettle in her hand, memorized the characteristics of the remaining spirituality in it, then let go of her inspiration and swept across the entire Iris Manor, and in the blink of an eye she found a clue somewhere. "If I walk out openly, I can sneak back in... and it will be convenient for what I'm going to do next." "Hey, wait!... Um." Just as Lunxi was about to try to persuade him to stay, he suddenly felt a heat in his lower abdomen. I looked down and saw a piece of paper flying from somewhere and sticking right on my flat stomach. She subconsciously took the paper off. She saw that it was covered with words written in crooked strokes, and Qi Ji's name was marked in the corner. "This is... the little note that Miss Qi Ji passed to me?" She quickly glanced at the contents on the piece of paper and was immediately delighted. She hid the piece of paper in her clothes before anyone else noticed and didn't say anything else. As for Wadin and old Edward... the central figure of their dispute actually ran away like that. The two of them were completely at a loss as to what to do except looking at each other. The atmosphere instantly became extremely awkward. At the side door a few hundred meters away, Qi Ji left Iris Manor with a kettle in one hand, witnessed by the doorman and the housekeeper. "All we have to do next is wait until midnight..." There was still a perfect full moon under the sky, a huge, azure full moon, covering the top of the head, giving an absurd feeling of oppression. Strolling along the quiet and neat streets of the Central District, she tilted her head slightly upwards, gazing at the deep, cloudless moonlit night, estimating the time by the position and brightness of the moon. I passed the time by taking a walk, and walked aimlessly to the North District, when I suddenly sensed several familiar spiritual fluctuations. "Friong...Lina...Aio...hmm?" She thought, "Thomas? Is he with Lina and the others?" So they knew each other? ——No, this feels a little unusual. She was very sure that the extraordinary person who stayed with Frion's team was Thomas, but his spiritual fluctuations were a little strange... She couldn't tell what was wrong, but it was different from what she felt last time.
It seems something has gone wrong. "… Never mind, let's go take a look." Driven by curiosity, she decided to go over there to see what was going on. Anyway, there are still at least two hours until the "appointed time", so there is still plenty of time.