Starting from the next day, Vulture and Puya led 225 child slaves to the back mountain, where there was a flat area overlooking the entire Baishi Building. It was also the training camp that Wu Lai had chosen long ago. Therefore, there were wooden sheds serving as barracks, as well as many training equipment, such as parallel bars, horizontal bars, stone locks, etc.
The booklet that Wu Lai threw to Pu Ya contained some simple military training courses. These courses would be what these child slaves needed to master in the next month. However, because they were too simple, Wu Lai was not even interested in watching the training.
But for Vulture and Puya, the contents of this booklet were definitely extraordinary. Vulture spent almost the entire night reading it last night, and before leaving, he asked Wu Lai a question: "Master, these courses are amazing, how did you come up with them?"
"Magic? Are you kidding me?" Wu Lai frowned. If it weren't for Vulture's sincere expression, he might have gotten angry, because no matter how you look at it, the content of this booklet has nothing to do with magic. In the world where Wu Lai once lived, even kindergarten children were familiar with these courses.
"Of course it's magical. Once they get used to these commands, they will behave like loyal warriors," replied the vulture.
Wu Lai looked at the vulture in surprise for a moment and said, "You have a good understanding."
After the vulture left, Woolley, accompanied by Gauguin and Monica, toured his four major workshops one by one, then went to the temple to meet with Mikoyan and Pompey respectively, then went to visit several shops on the street, and then took the gifts to Aesop's official residence to sit for a while, and did not return to the White Stone Building until the evening.
As soon as I entered the door, Hippo and El came to greet me.
"Master Wu Lai, you must be tired after a busy day. Would you like to take a bath first or eat first?" asked Hippo.
"Let's take a bath first. It's very hot today." Wu Lai took the towel handed to him by El and answered while wiping the sweat off his face.
"Okay." Hippo responded and was about to turn around, but was stopped by Wu Lai again.
"I picked up a few pieces of cloth while shopping. I didn't look at them carefully at the time. When I came back, I found that the colors were a bit bright and the patterns were not what I liked. You, Monica, and El each take a piece to make clothes, and put the rest in the storeroom." Wu Lai said to Hippo while throwing the towel back to El. He casually called over Xi'e who was hiding in the corner of the door and teased him with a smile, "Oh, little Xi'e, you look so chubby. You can hardly walk."
When Xibo was about to thank him, he saw Wu Lai playing with his son Xie again, so he smiled and said, "Stop talking, Master Wu Lai. Xie has a good appetite and is getting fatter and fatter. I can hardly hold him."
"Why hold him? Let him move more." Wu Lai said with a smile, then he looked up at El and asked with a frown, "Didn't you hear what I said before? I'm hot and I need to take a bath."
"Oh, okay master, I'll prepare some water right away." El, who also didn't find a chance to thank him, hurried towards the bathroom.
"Master Wu Lai, you are so generous. This is the fifth time you have rewarded us with cloth." Monica said with a smile.
"Monica, you remember the number of times so clearly that it makes me feel pressured. I would mistakenly think that you are reminding me that the rewards are not frequent enough." Wu Lai joked.
Monica smiled even more happily: "It's good to work for Master Wu Lai."
"Of course." Xibo agreed, then moved closer to Wu Lai, bowed and asked softly, "Master Wu Lai, you rewarded El, are you planning to pamper her? If so, I should make some preparations, so..."
"Stop it!" Wu Lai rolled his eyes at Hippo. "You are not ashamed to say these things. Do you still have the dignity of a housekeeper? What do you think of me? An old pervert?"
Xibo didn't expect that his inquiry would provoke such a reaction from Wu Lai. He was a little frightened and apologized hurriedly. Seeing that his mother seemed to be wronged, Xie, who was standing by, clenched his fist and hit Wu Lai's thigh, pouting and saying, "You are not allowed to bully my mother..."
"Xie!" Hippo's voice changed in tone due to fear, but Monica was quick-witted and quick-handed. She stretched out her hand and lifted Xie several elbows away before his second punch hit him.
Xibo quickly knelt in front of Wu Lai, bent his body, and said in a trembling voice: "Master Wu Lai, please forgive Xi Ai. He is still young and does not understand."
"Just because he is young, he can disobey his master? Hippo, you should educate your son well. Don't forget that he is still a slave." Gauguin scolded in a deep voice.
"Stop, stop, it's not a big deal, is it necessary to do this?" Wu Lai glared at Gao Geng in dissatisfaction, stretched out his hand to call over Xi'e who was about to cry, gently pinched his chubby cheek, and said with a smile, "Yes, a man should be like this, bravely protect your mother and family, you are my little warrior."
When Gauguin saw Wu Lai like this, he sighed silently, and Hippo finally felt relieved.
"Go and see if the water is ready." After making a few faces to make Xia laugh, Wu Lai got up and walked towards the bathroom.
The water temperature in the bathtub was just right, which made Wu Lai very comfortable, but in comparison, the shy blush on El's cheeks undoubtedly made him feel more comfortable.
"El, I heard from Hippo that you learn very quickly and you have adapted well to Baishi Building." Wu Lai said as he enjoyed El's massage.
"El is terrified by his master's praise," El replied softly.
"I tried to persuade your brother to come here, but failed. Perhaps the lieutenant general's residence is where he wants to stay," said Woolley.
"Yes, Master. My brother has been used to it for many years. He said that the lieutenant general promised to let him join the legion. It was an opportunity to escape from slavery, so..." El suddenly sighed, "My brother has paid a lot for the family."
After hesitating for a moment, Wu Lai turned around and looked at El, then said, "Although you are my slave, if there is anything you need my help with, just tell me."
A glimmer of joy flashed across El's eyes, but soon the light in her eyes dimmed, and then she gently shook her head.
Wu Lai waited for a while but El didn't say anything. He frowned, covered his face with a wet towel, and then leaned his head gently against the edge of the pool. Seeing him like this, El sighed softly in his heart and slightly increased the strength of his hands.
Late at night, Wu Lai had another dream. In the dream, he returned to the old world and drove through a lavender field. But for some reason, he had been driving for a long time, but the surrounding scenery did not change at all...
On the morning of the second day, a man who had never been to the White Stone Tower appeared in the building - he was a messenger from Archon Antony. After admiring the scale of the White Stone Tower in his heart, he met Woolley. Then, he handed Woolley an invitation letter with the fire seal of Antony and the city seal of Seneca.
Then, the messenger received treatment that he had never received from other nobles - Wu Lai casually took out a stack of silver coins, about ten in total, and stuffed them into his hand without counting.
The flattered messenger hurriedly thanked him respectfully. Wu Lai smiled and waved his hand, then went to the bedroom while reading the invitation.
"Oh, citizen Woleglindo is so generous." The messenger said to Gauguin who was seeing him off as he walked out.
"You should also add words like kindness, wisdom, and extraordinary to your praise," Gauguin said with a smile.
"He is a perfect citizen, there is no one more perfect than him." The messenger exclaimed sincerely.
Gauguin smiled and nodded. He was happy to hear people praising Woolley. It would make him feel proud because people might say, look, Gauguin has a very good employer.
The content of the invitation letter was simple - Dear citizen of Wooleglido, I am honored to inform you that the Seneca City-State Nobles' Meeting will be held on July 5th of the Julian calendar. Please arrive on time.
"Why choose to hold the meeting in such hot weather? Wouldn't it be hot with hundreds of people crowded together?" Wu Lai said to himself.
The answer is, it's not really hot. The reason is that the sky in Seneca does a good job of preventing heatstroke and cooling down the city - since July 3, the rain has been heavy and light without stopping. If it weren't for the good drainage facilities in Seneca City and the proximity to several rivers, it would have become a swamp.
The continuous rainy days had a significant impact on Woolley. Work at the mill, paper mill and White Stone Building site had all stopped, and it seemed like this was just the beginning.
Of course, Wu Lai was not the only one affected by the rainy days. However, apart from the small manor nobles who relied entirely on the fields for profit, no nobles cared too much about this, because no one could change the rainy season.
On the morning of July 5, Woolley's carriage appeared in the square in front of Seneca Palace in the drizzle. After opening the umbrella handed to him by Gauguin, he got off the carriage and walked towards the 120 stone steps in front of the Palace.
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Gauguin drove the carriage to the stables on both sides of the square. Although it was a rainy day, he was in a good mood because he could meet colleagues with whom he could chat in the stables - that is, the butlers of other nobles. Here, he could listen to others' praise for Wu Lai and their envy of him as the butler of Baishilou.
For Gauguin, this was a pleasure.
Soon, Wu Lai reached the end of the stone steps - the Council Hall built on a small hill.
In Wu Lai's eyes, the council hall in front of him was undoubtedly rough and simple - huge stones and stone beams, heavy wooden roof and traces of mottled moss on the outer walls.
But he had to admit that this shabby and rough place was very important to the hundreds of thousands of residents and millions of slaves within the Seneca city-state, because almost all of Seneca City’s people’s livelihood and construction issues would be discussed and decided here.
After showing the invitation letter to the two guards on duty at the palace gate, Wu Lai walked straight through the doorway that was in complete inverse proportion to the height of the Council Hall.
The environment in the Council Hall was beyond Wu Lai's expectations. It was neat and clean, with thick carpets on the floor and walls painted white. Dozens of large copper lamps hanging from the huge roof beams had all been lit, illuminating the hall and creating a sharp contrast with the gloomy and rainy weather outside.
There is a huge round stone table in the hall. After looking at it carefully for a few times, Wu Lai figured out that the stone table was carved from a whole piece of huge stone. In other words, this council hall was originally built around this huge stone.
There was a circle of wooden chairs with backrests next to the stone table. The chairs were not big and should not be comfortable at all. About ten steps away from this circle of wooden chairs, there were four circles of the same chairs. The number of chairs in the outermost circle exceeded one hundred.
"Five rings." Wu Lai smiled slightly and just shook his head, several nobles came over with smiles on their faces.
"Wuliglindo, what have you been busy with recently? It's so difficult for us to even meet each other?" The leader said with a smile.
Wu Lai took a quick glance and the smile on his face grew even wider. These people in front of him were his "next customers" - the ones who manufactured the carriages.
"Look at what you said. I'm looking forward to sitting with you all every day." Wu Lai laughed and walked over to greet him.
Immediately, many eyes from near and far were focused on Wu Lai.
"So he is Wu Lai..."
"Look, they're together again, maybe they're discussing new ways to make money..."
"Isn't Wu Lai a little too young? How old is he?"
…
As more and more people came to say hello, Wu Lai soon felt overwhelmed. Among these enthusiastic people, more than half were people he had never seen before. However, he could easily distinguish the differences between them - those who surrounded him affectionately were at least wealthy middle-class nobles, while the nobles from ordinary families stood behind the middle-class nobles with a smile on their faces.
Wu Lai was deeply impressed by the hierarchical phenomenon reflected in this small detail.
As a series of clear copper bells rang out, the hall, which had been bustling just a moment ago, suddenly became much quieter. The nobles nodded in a friendly manner, turned around, and walked towards their seats.
I think I should sit at the stone table? Why is there no one to usher me in? Woolley frowned, and suddenly felt that the venue of this so-called Seneca Noble Conference was not well arranged.
Just as he was complaining in his heart, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him: "Wu Lai..."
The moment he turned around, Wu Lai saw Mrs. Leah, who looked obviously haggard but still had a beautiful smile.
"Finally I see you here. Oh, poor Simon. If he were still alive, he would be very proud." Lady Leah gave Woolley a warm hug. When she put her chin on Woolley's ear, her voice instantly lowered a lot. "Tina told me everything, so don't try to cheat."
"I don't like such jokes." Wu Lai said with a smile.
Then, a serious voice reached Woolley’s ears—“Citizen Woolley Greendo, please take a seat!”
Wu Lai frowned and turned around, only to see the tribune Aesop looking at him with sharp eyes more than ten steps away.