Imperial Crown

Early in the morning, in the bathroom of the Lord of Eagle Castle, Raven's face was full of foam. Facing the bronze mirror, he used a razor to scrape off the foam on his face bit by bit.

Slowly, a face with deep features appeared in the bronze mirror.

His eyebrows were thick and sharp, straight into his temples, his brow bones were high; his black pupils were dark and deep, his nose was straight, his lips were thin, and his facial contours were sharp and clear.

Grinning at the bronze mirror, Raven took the towel from Petty's hand and wiped his face dry, turned around, spread his hands, and let Petty put on his clothes for him.

When the dress was put on, Petty stood aside honestly, contrary to her usual behavior.

She wore a lace headband on her head, a black ribbon around her neck, and a proud wheat color on her chest.

There was a big bow on her black maid skirt, and her legs were extremely close-fitting black suspender stockings. The lace straps made her thighs look fleshy. At this time, she lowered her head and occasionally raised her eyelids to secretly look at Raven.

Raven came close to her and leaned his head gently.

Before Raven could speak, Petty's body trembled slightly, her face flushed a little, her hands twisted together, bit her lips and whispered: "Baron, you have something important to do today..."

"Wait two days, I will serve you well again."

There was a hint of pleading in the words.

Just yesterday, Raven asked Judra to sign the contract and sent it to the Council of Nobles by express horse.

Finally, the Eagle Territory was completely taken back and the mess left by Donald was cleaned up. Raven was in a good mood.

So, he had an in-depth discussion with Petty about how to play chess all night, and it was more than a dozen games at a time.

In the first half of the night, the two of them won and lost, and later Petty's white chess was rushed by Raven's black chess and was defeated.

Looking at Petty's expression, Raven laughed and turned to leave the room.

Because he did have something important to do, that is, to hold a celebration party.

After returning from the Bloody Highlands and receiving capital injection, Eagle Town began to build intensively. Although there was a shortage of building materials for a while due to the chaos of the Death Hand Cult, some new buildings were built.

For example, the venue for the cocktail party selected by Raven today - Wallace Hotel.

This name was set by Raven himself.

The building is three stories high and covers a large area, no less than half a football field.

Unlike most buildings nowadays that are mainly made of brick and stone structures, this hotel only uses precious granite on the back wall, and the other three walls are made of whole pieces of glass. After special treatment, you can clearly see the outside from the inside, but from the outside, it is foggy. From a distance, it looks like a crystal palace.

Not only the appearance, but also the interior decoration is unique.

Nowadays, any restaurant, hotel, or hotel, the higher the level, the more precious solid wood tables and chairs will be used, the lighting is relatively dim, and the overall color tone is brown, which can better reflect solemnity and elegance.

But the Wallace Hotel uses magic lamps, which are bright and clear both during the day and at night. The tables and chairs are made of "lead-sinking pine wood" which is a specialty of the Thousand Needle Jungle. After complicated processes, it has become a soft bone white. The tableware is a gold and silver plate that can create a clear contrast with the tabletop.

The three-story building does not have much difference in the decorative style of each floor, but is clearly distinguished in function.

The first floor is an ordinary restaurant, the second floor is a buffet restaurant, and the third floor is a VIP box, which only accepts reservations. Looking out from the third floor, you can see the scenery of half of the Eagle Territory.

Today is the first day of opening. Various carriages gathered at the door, as many as dozens of them. In addition to the wealthy families of the Eagle Territory, there are more wealthy businessmen from the Snow Maple Territory. There are hundreds of people, which is very lively.

Ino is one of them. He is the president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Snow Maple Territory. He is in his early forties this year. He came here specially after hearing the news that Raven would appear here. He didn't have any expectations for the hotel itself.

But when he saw the hotel, he was really surprised. The three walls were made of glass, which was bold and novel. It looked quite spectacular from a distance.

Entering the hotel, the decoration refreshed his three views. He had never thought that a hotel would use magic lamps.

Magic lamps! How many nobles would not use them at home.

The sun rose and the cicadas began to chirp. Ino thought it would be very hot inside the hotel, but as soon as he entered the door, a cool air flow rose.

It was a temperature control array.

With magic lamps as the first, although the temperature control array was not cheap, Ino still accepted this reality relatively calmly.

And when he opened the menu, his eyelids began to twitch slightly again, because the cheapest item was also priced in silver coins, at least thirty or fifty, and most of them were priced in gold coins.

His keen business sense made him understand that Raven wanted to make this Wallace Hotel a real high-end restaurant, but after all, it was located in Eagle Town. Would so many people really come here?

This probably depends on Baron Raven's arrangement. With this novel architectural form and decoration, if it can also provide unique dishes, the taste does not need to be too good, it is enough to attract the nobles.

After all, to put it in a vulgar way, most of the nobles are bored.

Gently putting down the menu, Ino ordered a bottle of Angel's Tears, but did not order any dishes. It was not because he could not afford it - well, it was a bit painful for him, but the most important reason was that the host had not come yet.

Ino chose a seat near the door, tasting wine while looking at the scenery inside and outside the house. Judging by his standards, just based on this street and this building, the construction of Eagle Town has not been inferior. The upper town of Meng'en City.

This made his thinking a little divergent.

The businessman pursues profits. Since the news of the end of the war came out, he took the risk to organize a caravan to transport goods and led the team himself.

What he saw along the way made him quite emotional.

The closer we get to Meng'en City, the more the economy and people's livelihood deteriorate. Everywhere is dilapidated, especially around Meng'en City, which has turned into a white field.

Even other places in Xuefeng County were more or less affected by the war and declined a lot. Many nobles were holding funerals, funerals, or urgent recruitment, causing a lot of noise.

Only Eagle Town is as calm as if it has never experienced anything, and it is still developing vigorously!

There was a low cry all around, and Ino came back to his senses and found that a carriage with the Griffith family crest had stopped outside the door.

The Baron is here! ?

Ino quickly adjusted her clothes for fear of being rude. The next moment, a man in a black dress got out of the car.

This made Ino startled.

He had heard about Raven's achievements, and always thought that someone who could conquer the Bloody Highlands, kill Heleti, and make a splash in the previous war must be at least in his thirties.

But I didn't expect that Raven would be so young, he looked to be in his early twenties at most!

Ino raised her butt slightly, waiting for Raven to come in and immediately began to salute. However, unexpectedly, Raven turned around and stretched out his hand, and then, a white and slender palm fell on Raven's palm.

A girl who seemed to be shining with light stepped out of the car.

On her feet were a pair of white soft-soled cloth shoes, which were immediately covered by a fluffy goose-yellow pleated long skirt. The white cotton top was as gentle as its owner, and her golden hair was braided on her shoulders. , Those eyes are watery, like azure sapphires sinking in the sea.

As soon as she got off the carriage, she immediately retracted her hand, put her hands behind her back, and walked into the door side by side with Raven.

As soon as he entered the door, Raven saw hundreds of people in the hall standing up and bowing to him, but no one came up to talk to him unexpectedly, which made him very satisfied.

Taking Lux up to the third floor, the core members of the Griffith family are now waiting here, divided into two large tables. Seeing Raven's arrival, they all stood up immediately:

"Lord Baron!"

Raven scanned the whole place, taking everyone in his eyes.

Sitting on the central table was Denise. To her right were two empty seats for Raven and Lux. To her left sat Anno, and then Vesdon.

In addition, there are Eric, Volaf, Link and Simon, as well as old Gordon and Fiona.

This table can be said to be Raven's "founding team" and the administrative, financial and military core of the entire Griffith family.

At another table, sat Fili, Hopkin and Gabe. These are all people from Goldsmith Town. Among them, Fili serves as the political officer, Hopkin is the tax collector, and Gabe is the sheriff, who controls the goldsmith town. town patrol.

There are also people from the riverside workshop sitting at this table, including Poirot who is now the workshop director, Green who is in charge of managing the leatherworkers, Joya, the leader of the sewing workers, and the two leaders of the gray dwarves, Thorhe Ironhand. and Bowell Grayhammer.

Raven smiled: "Today is a family banquet. You don't have to be polite. Please sit down!"

Everyone sat down one after another, and their expressions were different, and they were all more or less a little cramped.

The most generous and natural person was Denise, who stepped forward and took Lux's hand, taking her to the seat next to Raven: "Previously, Raven set out to support the Slater family. Thanks to you, he was with Lux more than once. I mentioned it."

As she spoke, she looked at Lux and thought to herself, no wonder Raven cared so much about Lux.

Even as a woman, she had to admit that Lux was indeed quite pure and beautiful, which was rare in the world.

Denise looked at Lux and Raven looked at her.

Even though the weather was hot, she still wore a rather thick white coat with a lavender high-collar shirt underneath. The lower body was a blue pencil holder-shaped knee-length skirt. Under the long skirt, she wore flesh-colored stockings and stepped on her feet. A pair of tightly wrapped purple high-heeled shoes will never let anyone see more of it. The whole person's temperament appears smart, strong and conservative.

It reminded Raven of the beautiful and dignified female principal in high school before time travel.

In contrast, Annuo was different. She was sitting on a chair with a light gray cloak on her shoulders. She was quiet and mysterious. When Raven arrived, she just nodded slightly.

Clapping his hands, Raven drew everyone's attention to himself and said loudly: "Everyone, it has been one year since I inherited the title of baronet and served as the lord of the Eagle Territory."

"In this year, we have gained a lot. We have defeated powerful enemies, recovered all our territories, and held the Xuefeng Territory in our hands. All of this would not have been possible without your help and support."

"And I am not a stingy person. I see your hard work and of course I will reward you."

Having said this, Raven touched his belt, and a stack of red envelopes suddenly appeared in his hand. He stepped forward and handed out the red envelopes one by one, starting with Eric.

There has never been a custom of "red envelopes" in the Middles continent, but this does not prevent everyone who receives them from being happy. After all, they contain real gold coins!

Poirot held the red envelope and looked at the number carefully, counting it over and over again.

That's right, twenty gold coins!

Like Eric and Gordon Sr., he had served Donald.

It was fine in the early years, but later on, with the "proper management" of Raven's uncle, Donald, the Griffith family was declining day by day, and his salary as a cook was also reduced, and he could no longer even steal food!

It can be said that I was hanging out with my uncle and starved for nine meals in three days.

But things are different now. After only one year with Baron Raven, I actually got twenty gold coins at once!

It is equal to his salary for the previous ten years.

Hey! When I get home today, I will slap the money on the table and let the short-sighted woman at home know that I, Poirot, can also make a lot of money!

Let’s see if she still dares to lose her temper because she always lives in the workshop and rarely comes home!

When thinking of that scene, Poirot first made a serious face, then couldn't help but smile like a chrysanthemum.

The so-called happy life should be like this!

In comparison, Fili's performance was more calm, but the joy in his heart was not bad at all.

He pressed the red envelope in his palm, and he had already memorized the amount in it - ten gold coins in cash, and a reward slip signed by Raven himself, which allowed him to receive fifty gold coins.

Added together, it is a reward of sixty gold coins.

Lord Baron is so generous!

Feili couldn't help but think that he had been running a shop and worked hard, and the gross profit for the whole year was only eighty or ninety gold coins. After taking into account taxes, he would only be left with forty or fifty gold coins.

He originally served as the political officer of Goldsmith Town and resigned as the president of the Chamber of Commerce. In addition, the business of Goldsmith Town was affected by the turmoil. He thought he would be poor for a while, but he did not expect to get so much.

Looking back now, choosing to follow Baron Raven wholeheartedly was truly the best investment he had ever made in his life!

At the main table, Simon looked confused and rubbed the red envelope with a naive smile.

He looked down at the red envelope in his hand, as if his eyes had been sucked into it.

Ten gold coins in cash were enough to satisfy him. What really attracted him was the reward sheet, which rewarded him with a full year's compensation.

Now he is not only a first-level extraordinary, he is also responsible for leading a hundred-man scout team. The extraordinary salary and military pay total a full eighty gold coins!

You know, just a year ago, Simon had only seen silver coins, and gold coins were a legend to him.

Now, I got eighty of them in one go.

Baron Raven's promise to improve their lives was indeed achieved, and it was achieved tenfold and a hundred times.

Because he had military pay, the family's life had been greatly improved. They had meat to eat every day. His grandmother and mother no longer had to drag their sick bodies to work in the fields, and his sister could wear new clothes every quarter.

Now with this money, he can buy more things for his family, such as renovating the whole house and hiring a teacher for his sister.

Now that he has the ability, he doesn't want his sister to grow up in chaos and find any man to marry.

Holding his palms tightly, Simon showed a happy smile on his lips, looking forward to the bright future of his family.

Seeing the reactions of the people around her, Fiona was a little confused. The red envelope she received contained five gold coins. Although it was a lot, it was not enough to make her so excited.

At this moment, Old Gordon choked twice and stuffed the red envelope in his hand.

"Grandpa, how are you?" Fiona asked with concern.

Old Gordon has recovered somewhat, but has not fully recovered yet. He managed to get through today. He shook his head and said, "It's okay, it's just that this thing is a bit heavy. Please help me put it away."

What's the value of five gold coins?

Fiona was stunned for a moment and took the red envelope. She didn't feel much weight and couldn't help opening it quietly. Her eyes suddenly widened.

Inside the red envelope, there was no gold coin, but a brand new monocle, made entirely of gold, with complex lines engraved on the edge, and a faint light blue magic glow flashing inside.

It's a magic item!

This should cost at least several hundred gold coins! ?

This weight is not in terms of weight, but in terms of friendship.

Giving a gift directly, and it was such a thoughtful gift, was enough to show how attentive Baron Raven was to her grandfather.

Now, Fiona gradually began to understand why her grandfather had told her what she had said before.

In the Keynes Empire, being able to follow such a lord is really a blessing. It is both lucky and a blessing.

Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, Lei Wen felt quite happy. Being happy alone is not as good as having everyone happy. Only when everyone is happy can they be prosperous.

Walking back to the main seat, Raven took the wine glass from Lux and took a sip of Angel Tears.

Denise smiled.

Old Gordon was unwell, and the Eagle Territory's finances were currently all on her. She knew how much gold coins Raven had spent this time, and she also expressed her support.

After all, no matter how many gold coins there are, they are just decorations stored in the warehouse. Only when they are spent can they be paid. Raven's approach can not only tighten people's hearts, but also stimulate the economic vitality of the Eagle Territory. It can be said to be a win-win situation.

She said half seriously and half jokingly: "Baron, won't you give me some rewards too? And even if you don't consider me, you should give something to Priest Lux, she has made a great contribution to the Eagle Territory."

"Of course there will be rewards, and there will be surprises." Before Lux could refuse, Raven smiled and said: "Since today is a family dinner, as the head of the family, I will show you my skills in person."

The Baron is actually going to cook himself! ?

Most people present showed surprise, and at the same time a little excited - being able to eat the food made by the Baron himself is an honor that can be boasted to grandchildren!

Seeing their expressions, Raven smiled and said: "Do you really want to eat it?"

"Yes!" Except for a few ladies, everyone responded, even the sick old Gordon smiled.

Raven nodded and said, "Well, after this meal, the Griffith family must drive forward with all their might."

"After all, happiness must be protected by strength!"

After saying that, Raven turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Everyone's eyes showed a light of expectation.

I don't know what the Baron will do?

...