Chapter 148 - Nobles and Quasi-Saint Sons
Chapter 148 - Nobles and Quasi-Saint Sons
Royal banquets, or birthday celebration banquets, are theoretically the most lively.
If Ning Fei was truly an ignorant commoner and had come to the palace for the first time, he would probably be shocked by the brightly lit and magnificent scene inside and outside. But at this point, Ning Fei only had one feeling.
——Is the royal family so poor that they don’t even have money to paint?
The walls and sculptures, which should have been glowing white, are now gray, and if you look closely you can even find dried bird droppings, and the weathered and damaged parts have not been repaired. Not to mention that some corners of the wall have obviously changed color, turning gray and yellow, and even showing signs of corrosion. If you get closer, you can smell a faint smell of urine.
This is the side of the palace that often faces guests. The places deep inside where few people go are probably even more unbearable to see.
But in Ning Fei's distant memory, this palace was not so shabby. Ning Fei himself couldn't tell whether it was because the past thirty years had passed and this place had naturally become old, or whether it was because his memory was too distant and he had little experience in the past, so he embellished his impression of the palace.
However, no matter how much Ning Fei disliked it, the other guests still came to the banquet happily. There was a constant stream of people and cars in front of the palace, and the nobles' grand attire was a feast for the eyes. In comparison, Ning Fei, who was dressed mainly in dark purple and had very few accessories, was indeed a bit inconspicuous. Even though he followed Seris into the palace, he did not attract much attention.
Only the nobles who came to greet Seris and chat with him occasionally asked "Who is this?" And he was familiar with Seris. He saw Seris and Ning Fei leave together a few days ago, so the first thing he did was to make an ambiguous and dirty joke. Ning Fei was still calm after hearing this, but Seris got anxious first: "Don't say such things to him...!"
"Sir." Ning Fei held his arm signally and smiled, "It's okay."
"but……"
"It's okay." Ning Fei patted him soothingly, "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously."
Seris's anger gradually subsided and his solemn expression relaxed. His noble friend thought he was showing possessiveness and was unhappy that his lover was offended, so he joked, "Do you like your new lover so much, Ceres? You bring a royal dinner and don't allow jokes. This is really rare."
Seris glanced at him, wanting to say something, but then he remembered Ning Fei's instructions, and in the end he could only utter one word coldly: "Ignorance."
The joking noble's face froze, but due to Seris's identity, he couldn't turn hostile on the spot. He forced a smile, found an excuse and walked away with his companions.
As soon as they left, Seris lowered his head and approached Ning Fei and said, "I'm sorry, I apologize for their rudeness. I definitely don't have such unreasonable thoughts about you..."
"No need to explain, I understand." Ning Fei was too lazy to listen to his nonsense and waved his hand, "It's enough for me to know your loyalty, there's no need to publicize it to the world."
“But you are the true messenger of God, and you should be the Son of God who saves all living beings!” Seris said dissatisfiedly, “Your light magic is enough to cleanse everyone present. All living beings should respect and admire you…”
"The Duke is here."
Ning Fei really didn't want to listen to him "singing hymns" here. He was already annoyed enough by it during that short journey in the carriage. Just catching a glimpse of Duke Bartley, Ning Fei immediately interrupted Seris: "Aren't you going to say hello to your father?"
"I should go. But I don't want him to offend you." Seris didn't want to go, and complained directly to Ning Fei, "He is just like me in the past. He has such unbearable and foolish thoughts about you, and he doesn't know how to repent. He should also realize his mistakes..."
"Don't recite your (broken) sutra." Ning Fei's hand gently pushed him on the back, and his impatient tone could hardly be concealed, "Go practice, respect your parents... Oh, he's coming."
Duke Bartley came over and looked at Ning Fei with a scrutinizing gaze before looking at his youngest son: "Why did you bring him here? There are so many noble ladies, can't you invite a companion?"
The first thing he said was a condescending speech. His idea that "ordinary people are not worthy of me (my family)" has not changed at all.
"I just wanted to invite him. The king didn't order that only people with noble status are allowed to attend the banquet today." Seris was really dissatisfied with his father's disrespect to Ning Fei. "Don't those people in the church, those quasi-holy sons and holy apprentices, have noble titles too?"
"If you say that you did this on purpose today and brought a commoner lover to the Queen's birthday party to show that you don't take the royal family seriously, I still think highly of you," Duke Bartley said coldly, "but you compare a common doctor with the quasi-holy son of the church? Seris, are you out of your mind?"
"Father, you know what I'm talking about." Seris also said sarcastically, "How the church selects its apprentices and saints, and what they are selected for, everyone knows it. Haven't you played with them too? People like that are just holy on the surface, but they are prostitutes and playthings in private. Is it worth it for us to take them seriously in private?"
The words of the father and son were wild and harsh. Ning Fei listened with no expression.
He had been told this kind of thing by nobles to his face many times before. Even the Duke of Bartley used to make such remarks in bed. If you care about this, you would have died long ago.
"You are right. The quasi-holy sons, the holy sons, and even the priests are nothing but prostitutes in prettier packaging." The Duke's tone was arrogant and cruel. "But you, my lover, are nothing in comparison. I don't care how you play with me, but if you bring shame to the Bartley family, I will confiscate your 'toy'. I want to see what he can do in bed to make you lose your mind."
Seris held his breath and reminded, "Father, you can't touch him."
"Oh, the little lion has learned to mark his territory. Well, I can give you some respect first." The Duke replied nonchalantly, "But don't go too far, my dear son, and don't repeat your uncle's mistakes."
When Ning Fei heard Duke Bartley mention his younger brother, his eyes moved.
"Speaking of him—" Seris looked around, "I think he still didn't come today?"
The Duke said coldly: "Him? Did anyone send him an invitation?"
"Indeed. The royal family won't think of him." Seris replied, "I'm not that bad."
The Duke didn't want to talk about his younger brother anymore, so he said a few more words casually and finally turned and left.
As soon as his father left, Seris turned his head. Ning Fei saw that he wanted to apologize again, so he "struck first" and asked first: "Who is your uncle...?"
"He is my father's younger brother. You may not have heard of him. He has been away from the capital for ten years." Seris replied, "Although the Bartley family did not say it explicitly, he has actually been expelled from the family. It is better to say that he was forced out rather than leaving the capital."
Ning Fei just happened to chime in: "Why?"
Seris hesitated for two seconds, but then he explained further, "Because he...had competed with the king for a lover, and tortured that lover to death. The lover couldn't bear it, so she stabbed him and then committed suicide. The Bartley family also went to great lengths to rescue him, but this was too absurd, so after he was rescued, his father sent him to another province to recuperate."
Ning Fei: ...
Ning Fei: My second one is even worse than my first one.
But it’s a pity that the lover’s dying stab didn’t kill him. So, lovers still have to lift more weights and do both work and killing.
Ning Fei was still lost in thought, but Seris's gaze passed over his shoulder and fixed on his side and back. Ning Fei noticed his movement, turned around, and was stunned.
Duan Yunhong...Oh no, Earl Andrew is here.
He came alone, and it seemed that he did not bring a female companion or Miyal with him. However, in such occasions, the people of the church always act together, which makes the scene look more imposing, so the candidate for the Holy Son, Miar, will definitely not leave the main group. Duan Yunhong entering the palace alone actually means that he is likely to go find Miyal later.
But this is not the point. The point is, why is Duan Yunhong mainly wearing purple today? !
To be precise, it has a black base with gold edges, but the decorative ribbons, brooches, gems and other accessories are all purple. From the perspective of matching, purple is the finishing touch of Duan Yunhong's outfit.
Ning Fei put them next to him, and they were a perfect couple outfit.
——But wasn’t this dress a gift from Seris? coincide? still……
"Why is Count Andrew staring at you?"
People in this world have no concept of "couple outfits", let alone understand that the main color of one person is the key color of another person. Seris didn't notice that Duan Yunhong's purple echoed Ning Fei's purple, but felt that the earl's eyes were malicious: "He's not trying to harm you, is he?"
Ning Fei retracted his gaze: "Who knows?"
"Didn't he go to support that Miyal? How foolish! He left the real treasure to support a fake one. What a blind guy..." Seris' hostility towards Dr. Ning's nominal "ex" was still very obvious. "If he harasses you or is rude to you again, please tell me and I will deal with it."
Although Ning Fei didn't like him, he didn't hate him to the point of wanting to kill him, so he pulled back and said, "You are just a believer, not a knight. You don't need to charge into battle."
Seris took this as a concern and turned around to express his loyalty: "I can be a 'knight'!"
"You can't. Seris, everyone has his or her own responsibilities." Ning Fei touched the ring that Seris gave him and said to him, "When this ring returns to your hand, your responsibility is to atone for the sins and help in other ways."
"...Okay." Seris said angrily, "You are too low-key. I dare say that the church is full of fakes now. You should be the Pope..."
He was still mumbling, but the sudden sound of a horn drowned out his voice.
The crowd quieted down at the sound of the horn, and looked towards a set of ornate double doors that had been kept closed. As the door slowly opened with the music, the king and queen, dressed in their best clothes, walked out slowly under the attention of everyone.
The king was still the one Ning Fei knew, but the queen had been replaced. The queen was much younger than the king, but she was nearly forty years old, and the thick makeup on her face prevented her from making many expressions. In addition to their ceremonial guards, the two were also accompanied by representatives sent by the church. The highest ranking ones were two priests, followed by several candidates for the Son of God and other clergy. Those who came from the church all wore white robes with gold edges, had their hair combed and had gentle smiles, and on the surface they really looked holy and spotless.
It's funny, everyone present knows what they are like in private, but they are always harsh in their evaluation of them. Ning Fei didn't understand at first, but then he understood. Being holy on the surface is to decorate the "facade" of the nobility, the royal family and even the country, while having no bottom line in private is to satisfy the selfish desires of the nobles. Over the centuries, the church has become an organization parasitic on the nobility. If they want to continue, they can only tailor and distort themselves according to the hobbies and needs of the nobles.
Even who will be the next Holy Son is a game between the nobles, and the church itself has little say.
"Earl Andrew really went to look for Miar." Seris kept a close eye on the movements of his "enemy" and seized every opportunity to deduct points from Duan Yunhong in front of Ning Fei. "In recent months, Miar has become a hot favorite for the next Holy Son. How many people's beds did he have to climb into to gain so much support? Earl Andrew must have been treating his little lover as a gift and pushing her into other people's beds. I don't know how many people he has shared her with..."
Ning Fei watched from afar as Duan Yunhong approached Miyal. The two of them lowered their heads and talked in low voices, but she did not respond.
——Last time, he seemed to be on the verge of death, but his wish was to stay and become the Son of God instead of escaping from it all?
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