บท 73: Chapter 73: The Grain Law, Royal Evening Party
Chapter 73: The Grain Law, Royal Evening Party
Who exactly was stirring the waters from behind? Gray? That didn't seem like his style.
Glarent? He shouldn't have the courage or the motive.
It wasn't until Hastur went to Beckland University and met Professor Wayne that he realized all this was orchestrated by Professor Wayne from behind.
Having taught for many years, Professor Wayne might not have students everywhere, but he still had many, including some outstanding figures.
Once he knew of Professor Wayne's request, the Beckland Daily named after the university placed the news about Hastur prominently on the front page.
It shared the front page with the successful joint operation with the Trinity Church and the latest news of the Dawn.
The Beckland Daily was a major newspaper covering the entire Rune, with a high gold content.
For this, Hastur could only sigh silently; there was nothing else he could say.
After all, Professor Wayne meant well.
Indeed, the next evening, Gray personally visited, saying that the king, having heard of his heroic deeds, wanted to reward him and invited him to attend the party on Saturday.
Hastur tentatively asked, "What usually comprises the king's reward?"
Gray replied with a smile, "A title promotion is a bit difficult, but I guess he will grant you some land, after all, the royal family won quite a bit of property from your father."
"…"
Hastur didn't know how to describe Voltaire, and he was also curious, just how much property did the Campbell family originally have?
Gray glanced around, lowered his voice, and said, "The kingdom is about to start reforming. If the king lets you choose between land and pounds, you must choose the pounds."
Hastur was shocked and asked in surprise, "Is the kingdom going to abolish the Grain Law?"
Gray didn't speak immediately but looked Hastur up and down for a while before sighing, "Hastur, you truly are my close friend, sharp and smart when it comes to politics."
No, I just knew in advance that the Grain Law would inevitably be abolished before Klein's birth, I just wasn't clear on when.
Hastur murmured in his heart, smiling, "I've always been very concerned about the future of Rune."
"A baron's title is too low; it doesn't match your intelligence and wisdom."
"Reviving the glory of the Campbell family has always been my goal."
The two talked about the situation in Rune for a while, then Hastur brought up investment matters.
The wheel of fate had begun to turn, and he should make plans early to gain more benefits in the future.
He had already paid off the 2000 pounds debt to Glarent, and with the king's upcoming reward, he had a significant amount of spare money to use.
Investment was the best direction.
Especially with the impending abolition of the Grain Law and the start of reform.
The era of the landed gentry lying at home collecting money was about to pass, and next would be the rise of the bourgeoisie.
In areas such as steel, banking, coal, and so on.
This was what Gray and Hibert were currently working on together.
Gray subtly told Hastur that to enter the banking field, one needed substantial funds, at least starting with 100,000 pounds. The threshold for steel was lower, but Hastur didn't have the funds for that either.
In coal, if he could gather 10,000 pounds, Gray could help Hastur get started.
Hastur thought about it and felt that buying related stocks was more suitable for him.
With his current financial power, he couldn't be a market maker, only a small retail investor.
Gray said with a smile, "This is the wisest choice. Through stocks, 10,000 pounds can easily become 100,000 pounds, but 100,000 pounds is hard to turn into a million pounds."
Hastur understood the meaning behind Gray's words; he wanted to help him buy stocks and, through insider information and manipulation, quickly increase his wealth.
For such kindness, Hastur really couldn't refuse.
In the end, he could only lament that retail investors are destined to be harvested like leeks!
…
Saturday evening, seven o'clock.
Hastur dressed in formal attire, sprayed on expensive perfume, and with the combined efforts of three maids, he was barely presentable to meet Butler Neil's standards.
Attending a royal-organized party was troublesome; every aspect had to be meticulous.
Butler Neil specifically reminded him that he must show the noble, elegant, and grand side of himself at the dinner, and absolutely not behave like he did at home! Recently, Hastur, because of the need to play the barbarian, was very casual at home and did not act like an elegant and proper noble when going out.
This made Butler Neil very worried about his performance at tonight's party.
Hastur thought Butler Neil's concerns were valid.
The royal-organized party was the most complicated and rule-bound place in the Rune nobility circle, perfectly fitting Hastur's need to play the barbarian.
It was a good opportunity to quickly digest the magic potion.
But he would try to be discreet to avoid an uncontrollable situation.
He knew well that to play the barbarian, he should be bold and fearless, ignoring these rigid rules and order to better digest the magic potion.
But in such a setting, being too unruly could easily cause his noble reputation to plummet.
He could only act according to the situation.
Better slow than to cause a big scene.
At seven-thirty, Hastur arrived at the venue of tonight's royal banquet.
The place was similar to his suburban Purple Awn Manor, a vast estate, the only difference being this one was in the center of Beckland, not the suburbs.
Hastur's arrival attracted much attention, and with the Beckland Daily's report, many nobles knew of him, the heir to the Campbell family.
And with the halo of the famous Voltaire, he naturally became the object of many nobles' scrutiny.
Hastur maintained a proper smile, scanned the surroundings, and found Viscount Glarent, who was also attending tonight's party.
Holding a glass full of grape wine, he walked over.
Glarent also smiled and raised his glass, touching it lightly with Hastur's, and said, "Hastur, I heard that the king intends to commend you tonight."
"Perhaps."
Hastur didn't continue the topic but walked with Glarent to a quiet corner where there were fewer people, and he relaxed a lot more.
"Hastur, such a temperament won't do. As a qualified noble, learning to communicate with others is very important."
Seeing Hastur unmoved, Glarent continued, "Take Miss Audrey, for example. She doesn't like noisy parties either, but whenever she attends, whether it's socializing or elegant communication, she's perfect."
"You're right."
Hastur nodded, holding his wine glass and walking towards the crowd, then bypassed them and went to a corner by himself, savoring the wine and appreciating the so-called noble elegance.
"…"
Witnessing this, Glarent was stunned for a moment, then helplessly joined the crowd, skillfully interacting with familiar nobles.
At tonight's party, Audrey was naturally among the invited. She arrived later, around eight-twenty.
Her arrival naturally attracted a lot of attention, and Hastur took advantage of her light to taste the evening's desserts during his free time.
The royal offerings were top-notch in both taste and texture, making it difficult to judge their relative merits at the moment.
Mainly because he ate too little; if he tasted more for a while, he could rank the dozens of desserts served tonight.
Audrey, amidst the crowd, also saw Hastur, who was comfortably tasting desserts away from the crowd.
"Mr. Hastur seems to be in a different world from the other nobles, hmm, he seems to really like desserts? Especially that chocolate cake, he tasted it three times."
Audrey interacted gracefully with the other nobles, and when she had a moment, she observed Hastur.
"I'll try it too."
Audrey went to the chocolate cake, took just a small spoonful, and tasted it silently.
The soft entry with a hint of bitterness was followed by a mouthful of fragrance and a continuous sweet taste emerging from the bitterness.
Rich in texture, sweet but not cloying, the slight bitterness added a lot of charm, indeed much tastier than what was made at home.
She tasted another small spoonful and then left the place. One shouldn't taste the same food too many times at a party; it's an unspoken rule.
Otherwise, people might think you haven't seen the world.
By the lakeside, Hastur was quietly admiring the moonlight on the lake.
"Baron Campbell, you are even more handsome than described in the newspapers."
A middle-aged man about thirty-five years old, full of smiles, approached with a glass in hand.
His eyes measured Hastur up and down like a ruler.
The unabashed gaze was like seeing a beautifully packaged commodity, full of greed and disgust.
Hastur frowned and asked, "And you are?"
"Viscount Chelf Barren!"
The middle-aged noble seemed quite proud of his surname.
"…"
Hastur had no intention of engaging in conversation, said a few polite words, and prepared to leave.
Chelf stopped Hastur, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "If you're willing to follow me, I can help you restore the glory of the Campbell family."
Hastur paused, looked at him, and said calmly, "Could you repeat what you just said?"
"In our circle, young and handsome nobles like you are a rare resource."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Hastur's face showed a smile, and
Hastur's face showed a smile, and just as Chelf's smug expression began to form, Hastur grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.
In Chelf's horrified gaze, Hastur threw him into the artificial lake, creating a splash as Chelf's corpulent body hit the water, rippling outwards.
"It's better for you to sober up in the water."
(The chapter ends here.)
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