According to Qi Ji's understanding of the traditional etiquette of the noble families of the old times in his previous life, the magnificent main door was basically not opened and was only used on grand occasions. Normally, people only enter and exit through side doors, back doors or other informal entrances. He waited in the hidden place for more than ten minutes. During this time, Qi Ji sensed that Lunxi's spiritual fluctuations were moving rapidly and zigzagly toward the depths of the mansion, then stopped, and then approached in another direction a few minutes later. She estimated that it was about time and walked straight to the side door. "who are you?!" When the guard saw a mysterious man wrapped in a cloak and hiding his head and face approaching, he immediately showed an alert look and reached for the sword at his waist. Qi Ji stopped a dozen steps away and said in a clear voice: "I am here to accept the invitation of Miss Iris's party. You can go to her to confirm." "Miss Lunxi's guest?" The guard's expression of suspicion did not diminish, and his eyes wandered over Qi Ji doubtfully. After hesitating for a while, the two men came together and whispered a few words. Then a guard walked away quickly and disappeared through the side door. The remaining guard continued to guard the door and said to Qi Ji in a slightly more polite tone:
"Please wait, we haven't received any notification and need to verify with the young lady. Please forgive us." Qi Ji was not in a hurry and stood there waiting for a reply. About ten minutes later, the guard who went in to report trotted out of the door and gave his companion a look. "Come in." The two of them stepped aside in unison, with their hands on their sides. As Qi Ji entered the door, a well-dressed old man came up to him from the side and said slowly: "plz follow me." Qi Ji followed him. The Iris Mansion was located on a vast lawn, with several houses arranged in an orderly manner on the edge and a five-story gray-white house in the center, with a classical and luxurious style. The poetic atmosphere of European pastoral idyll is overwhelming. The two wings of the house were connected to a lush woodland. The old man led Qi Ji along the cobblestone path, bypassing the woodland from the right wing and arriving at the back of the house. "It's so troublesome... It would be possible to save half the distance if we just go in from the front." It took almost twenty minutes just to walk. Although Qi Ji was patient, he couldn't help but complain in his heart. Finally, the two came to the middle of the back of the house, where there was a small door with glass. The old man opened the door with the key, and pointed inside with his palm facing up: "Miss Qi Ji, the eldest lady has just woken up and is changing her clothes. Please wait here." He should have learned his name from Lunxi. "How inhumane..." Qi Ji couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the scene in front of him. Entering through the small door, what comes into view is a spacious flower hall in the shape of a circle. On the outside side is a floor-to-ceiling window about five or six meters high. Clusters of dense potted flowers and plants are planted close to the window, filling the hall with a natural atmosphere. Through the tall and transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, sunlight shines in, the flower hall is bright, and the scenery of the woods and gardens outside is also displayed at a glance. In the center of the flower hall were placed several elegant and exquisite small round tables and chairs and stools, all made of silver. Qi Ji walked to the small round table, pulled out a chair and sat down, resting his elbows on the table, holding up his face, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the vast and lush scenery. His thoughts gradually wandered and he forgot about time. It feels like being in a fairy tale, a peaceful and tranquil life.
But the poverty and sin of the South District and the bleakness and desolation of the East District reminded her all the time that illusions are just illusions after all. "...Miss has just gotten up and is changing her clothes. Please wait here..." The repeated words brought Qi Ji back to her senses. She straightened up and looked towards the door. I saw the old man brought in a few young people at some point, they should be Lunxi's other friends. “They are not ordinary people.” Each of them is dressed elegantly, looks calm and well-maintained. At first glance, they are well-educated and well-off. Qi Ji, wearing a simple and plain cloak, looked extremely out of place compared to them, like a toad among a group of swans. "...Excuse me, who are you?" The leader was a young man in his twenties. He was slightly stunned when he saw Qi Ji, and then asked with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm Lunxi's friend." Qi Ji paused, then continued, "...I'm a warrior." "Uh, hello." The young man nodded stiffly, and the expressions of the others were also surprised to varying degrees. Because Qi Ji's dress was too casual. Putting aside other things, the fact that she was going to the noble mansion was enough to make anyone dress up and make herself look more upper-class and more able to fit in with this circle. How could Qi Ji be wearing only a stealthy, gray cloak? However, the young man did not deliberately make things difficult for her, after all, she was a guest invited by the eldest lady. After greeting Qi Ji, the visitors took their seats one by one. In addition to Qi Ji, there were a total of four people including the young people, two men and two women. One of the couples was obviously in a close relationship. They walked very close to each other and sat together after sitting down. However, their faces look somewhat similar, so the probability that they are siblings is perhaps greater than that of a couple. The sound of moving tables and chairs subsided, and then the entire hall fell into silence. The four of them looked at each other, and no one spoke. Oops, I became a light bulb... Qi Ji could see that these four people knew each other, so the situation shouldn't be so awkward. But probably because of the presence of a stranger like him, these people couldn't let go of the topic, so it turned into this weird situation now. "Uh... what is your name, young lady?" The silence was broken by the young man at the beginning. He greeted Qi Ji with a somewhat awkward look on his face. "Qi Ji." "Oh, oh! Hello, Miss Qi Ji. What a nice weather today." "really." "Hmm..." The young man's words were stuck, and he pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. Damn it, the conversation is over. It's so embarrassing, I really want to run away. "Everyone is here," Lancey finally showed up at this moment, breaking the tense atmosphere, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."
She walked in from the other direction of the flower hall, wearing a light-colored long skirt. The shape was not gorgeous, but it had a restrained style. The material and dyeing were also very textured. You could tell at a glance that it was of great value. The four of them immediately felt as if they had seen a savior, and hurriedly stood up and saluted Lunxi: "Hello, Miss." "Why are you so polite today?" Lun Xi was a little surprised. "By the way, let me introduce this new friend to you." Then he walked quickly to Qi Ji, put his hands on her shoulders, and said with a smile: "Her name is Qi Ji, she is a... um, should I consider her a warrior? Although she is quite young, she is very powerful!" Chapter 34 Can you eat sweet rice dumplings? Last update. There are still four hours until midnight. I hope the number of collections can exceed 1000 during this time. ========================= After hearing Lunxi's words, the four of them stood up straight in awe! Although Lunxi herself was only honing her skills, her praise seemed to have little value. But she is a noble! In today's society, status is equivalent to insight, knowledge, and the right to speak, and what you say carries great weight. If the nobles praise someone as being very powerful, then that person is very powerful, there is no doubt about that, even though Qi Ji's current image does not quite fit the public's impression of a "master". Ordinary civilians were different. Even the lowest-level Tempering Skills Warriors were regarded as great masters who could not be provoked in the eyes of illiterate common people. Most people could not even tell the difference between ordinary mortals with superior martial arts and ordinary Tempering Skills Warriors. To the ants on the ground, the treetops are as far away as the moon. But as a noble, she has many more channels to access information. Even if she herself is not a supernatural being, she is very clear about the classification and grading standards of supernatural beings. To be evaluated by her as "very powerful", one must at least have positive thoughts. A righteous warrior, in the human world... at least in Stio, deserves the title of "master". In short, this little girl is by no means an ordinary person and should not be underestimated! "Um, hello, everyone." Qi Ji felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by so many people. He didn't know what to say, so he could only use a panacea to deal with it. At this time, two maids walked up from behind Lunxi with a dignified pace. It's not a Japanese-style sister, but a traditional formal maid with her hair wrapped in plain cloth. They each held a plate of dessert in their hands and gently placed it on the round table: "Miss, Miss's guests, please have your meal." The maid served the food and stood upright in the distance, saying nothing. Her meticulous appearance made the scene seem a little too formal. Fortunately, with Lunxi present, the atmosphere was relaxed a lot, and everyone was able to let go of their airs and talk freely. The six people sat down in batches, and with Lunxi acting as a lubricant in the middle, the atmosphere gradually became lively. Qi Ji didn't know these people, so he didn't plan to participate in the conversation. He just sat next to Lun Xi, folded his hands, lowered his head and listened carefully to their conversation, intending to get information from it. But to be honest, the content of these people's conversations is... quite boring. The operas and literary works they discussed enthusiastically seemed so old-fashioned and boring to Qi Ji. They were clichés whose endings could be guessed just by the beginning, and they did not arouse her interest at all. "These four people...are all children of businessmen?!"
After listening for about ten minutes, she was surprised by some of the content. "Speaking of which, the merchants in this country...are of extremely high status. How can they even have private gatherings with nobles openly?" The political system of the Holy Church is clearly in the feudal stage, and merchants are often the lowest status in feudal society. Taking Earth as an example, in ancient societies, whether in China or the West, from the rulers to the common people, the trend of thought is to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce. Moreover, this policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is reflected in specific policies and laws. For example, the rights of merchants are reduced, and the more ruthless ones even directly confiscate their property and send them into exile. You dare to go to the nobles' house to chat? If they don't confiscate your house and kill your whole family, then the landlords are kind-hearted. "The social structure of this world... is very strange." Since ancient times, the landlords, nobles, and royal families who represent the feudal system and natural economy, and the merchants and capitalists who represent capital and commodity economy have been irreconcilable and incompatible. Their interests are fundamentally in conflict and irreconcilable. Once the two exist at the same time, it will inevitably be a fight between you and me, with one rising and the other falling. However, according to what Qi Ji had seen and heard in Stio during this period of time, there were large-scale workshops everywhere in the outskirts of Stio, and there were countless private businesses and private industries in the northern district. Merchants and capitalists also enjoyed a high status among the people. In terms of productivity and economy, it was clearly an era in which the bourgeoisie was booming. However, the status of the nobility was not affected at all. In terms of political system, the Holy Church, or Stio, was a typical aristocratic feudal system. The status and power of the nobility, who were canonized by the royal family, enjoyed natural, unquestionable, and sacred legitimacy. This is contradictory, irrational, and weird. "...Well, after all, there is no magic or supernatural beings on Earth, so it is normal that the humanities on Earth cannot be directly applied to this world." In the end, Qi Ji decided not to delve into these details for the time being. "Miss Qi Ji doesn't want to eat?" Besides Lunxi, the girl with light yellow hair sat closest to Qi Ji. Seeing that Qi Ji didn't say a word the whole time and didn't even touch the dessert on the table, just sitting in the chair as if in a daze, she couldn't help but ask. "Um, I don't like sweet things." Qi Ji picked up the cup of tea, "I'll just drink tea." After saying that, he took a sip of tea. This was not a perfunctory statement. She had always had a physical aversion to things that were too sweet. In her previous life, she had no interest in Western-style pastries like brownies and macarons. She even disliked drinking the fat house happy water and only ate salty rice dumplings. Now, the colorful desserts on the small round table made her feel choked just by looking at them. "No, I don't like sweet things!?" The blonde girl leaned back tactically after hearing that, her eyes looking as if she saw a monster. How can there be people who don't like sweets? Are they still human? Common people would use salt sparingly, not to mention sugar; even big businessmen or nobles would rarely use seasonings without restraint. If this table of desserts were placed in a high-end restaurant in the North District, it would be worth at least a thousand ferums. How many people could not even dream of such luxurious delicacies? Yet you still complain that they are too sweet? Is this the so-called "expert's quirk"? I can't understand... "Miss, the master is here." The maid who was standing in the background suddenly came forward and said to Lunxi. "Ah?" Lunxi looked surprised. Before she could say anything, a figure walked out from another door. This is a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, dressed in luxurious dark clothes. He is tall, but his face is a little pale and his steps are a little unsteady. He is leaning on a cane and still needs a maid to support him to walk normally. He seems to be in the weak state of recovering from a serious illness.
"Father, why are you here?" Lun Xi stepped forward to support the man with concern, but his tone was a little unnatural, as if he had some grudges in his heart, "You still need to recuperate, it's better..." "Hmph, it's better for you to stay in your room and let you make friends with bad people, right?" The man sneered unhappily. His attitude was not like that of a father, but more like that of a mean boss. "Father, how can you say that?" Lun Xi was obviously a little angry, frowned his beautiful eyebrows, and lowered his voice, "They are still here, you are so honest..." The man interrupted her rudely: "I don't care about your nonsense. Augustus' son will come to visit later. I have arranged a dinner party. You must show up. There are no conditions. Don't try to be clever!" "Lancaster is coming?" Lunxi was stunned. "How dare you ask!" The man glared at her angrily, "Last night, the Lion Craftsman's family specially prepared such a grand celebration banquet, but because you were stubborn and refused to go, it was cancelled before it was even finished! It's so embarrassing, I don't even have the face to meet Augustus!"