Mond (1)

When they arrived at Mondstadt, they all felt a sense of relief.

Although the train journey is a novel experience, the train speed is not fast enough. After sitting on it for seven days, everyone who has taken it will say that there will never be a next time.

Operating a train is also a tiring job. The wizards ran to the hotel and lay down on their beds as soon as they got off the train, unwilling to move at all costs.

With the influx of a large number of tourists, many newly opened hotels at Montasi Station have enjoyed a successful start.

Inger was able to snatch a room only because of his strong financial resources.

They repaired for two days and one night, and on the third day they sat in the room and opened the map of Mondstadt that they had bought.

"I heard that the Mond family is holding a joint hunting party recently. They and their retainers and subordinate families will go to the foothills to hunt monsters."

It goes without saying that this is another piece of news that Alex passed on during the toast in the tavern.

"So what? Are we going to rush directly to them?" Inger said boredly as he lay slumped on the sofa.

"...Well, we can wait until the hunting meeting is over before paying a formal visit, but wouldn't that attract a lot of attention? We won't be able to get in with a normal identity."

The powerful ruffians stalking outside the Duke of Mond's mansion were not only in pairs, but were also too numerous to count.

However, no one even bothered to look at them. Their strength was there, and no matter how much they were on guard, no one could stop them from doing anything.

Such is the strength of Mondstadt's Knights.

The Qiuye royal family had also thought about weakening it, but they ignored the disarmament order and just went back to where they came from.

As a borderland facing the enemy, it is an indestructible shield but also a dreaded spear for the royal family.

When facing an enemy, you can take advantage of the courage of ten thousand men, but you just have to worry that one day they will poke a hole in you.

Facing such a group of strong men, you will be discovered if you go through the main gate, and you will be shot in the head if you go through the hunting grounds.

So Alex resolutely decided on the latter.

His cunning defense to this was, "I know Mond, he is a reasonable man."

At least he won't shoot someone in the head without asking clearly.

Inger was speechless, and listened to your words as if he were listening to a conversation.

He muttered quietly, "It would be nice if I could run into someone from the Mond family when I walk down the street at this time..."

Just like the plot of many classic novels and comics, when the protagonist is about to open the next copy, he first encounters a key character, and then the answer is revealed as expected after the foreshadowing.

If he had seen this while reading a novel, he would have commented that it was old-fashioned and clichéd, but once he was in the novel himself, he realized that this move could save him a lot of trouble.

However, because Alex in the original comic was still struggling to survive in the capital and had not opened this copy at all, he could not predict it.

"Have you found out anything about Mrs. Mond?" Inger asked.

This person is the key to their trip.

What you read in the book is ultimately just some official rumors, which are not as good as the actual folk sayings living here.

Alex sat on the armrest of the sofa where Inger was leaning. "Of course. In this city, her name is known to almost everyone. It's really amazing."

In Mondstadt, the people of Mondstadt talk about the past of their lord, the Mondstadt family, with great relish.

With the piecing together of different versions by a group of amateur storytellers, the story has taken shape.

Danshu Mond, the current Duchess of Mond and second wife, was once known as the Iron-Blooded Red Danshu, and is now the Tamer of the Red Lion.

The most credible version is that Mrs. Danshu was a country girl from a rural family whose ancestors were once slaves and had no surname.

This is evidenced by her childhood countryside playmate, who now works as a maid in the castle.

Let’s start with the name. The name Danshu sounds nice, but it is rarely used because it means a big demon spider with red eyes.

The female spider is very poisonous, very large, very diligent in laying eggs, and likes to swallow the male immediately after having sex. She is called the Red Danshu.

In every way, this title fits this girl very well.

It is said that the last Duke of Lahong was sick after returning from the battlefield. Not long after, the Duchess also died. Under the double grief, he walked to the river in the suburbs, trying to drown himself. He happened to meet the girl Danshu who was running and playing with her friends on the grass. The girl turned around and smiled charmingly. At one glance, the Duke seemed to have been reborn.

Hearing this, Inger couldn't help but stop and said, "Are you sure they didn't make this up?"

"That's why it's so popular. Don't interrupt me. This is the least outrageous story I've carefully selected. I don't have a memory as good as yours. What if I get it wrong?"

When Duke Lahong met Danshu, the girl was only 14 years old. Noble girls had to get married at an older age, and it was common for rural children to get married at a younger age.

So when the old duke, who was in his late thirties or even forty, proposed to marry the girl, her parents were ecstatic.

But the Duke's condition was that the girl cut off all ties with her family.

With the promise of a large dowry, the girl's parents reluctantly broke off relations with her. No one asked the girl's opinion, and she was sold to the Duke.

Danshu's playmates swore that Danshu's dream when she was a child was to open a flower shop. In the end, she became a duchess who could buy hundreds of flower shops, making everyone jealous.

The Duke married her two years later. Before that, she was raised and educated in a separate residence by the Duke. The Duke left his three young children at home to stay with this girl who was only a few years older than his children.

Inger subconsciously thought of "starting from ten years".

Two years later, the 16-year-old Madam Dan Shu entered the Duke's Mansion and officially became the mistress of the huge mansion and territory.

In the age of online novels where Cinderella rises to the throne and becomes a phoenix, perhaps this kind of subject matter would be very popular, but it was a subject matter that was greatly despised in Qiu Nie’s social circle at the time.

The popular romantic novels at that time were about an illegitimate daughter of a noble family who was bullied by her stepmother and met a neglected prince or grand duke, and together they defeated the villain and ascended the throne, and then discovered that her true identity was actually a princess of a certain country. In essence, she was still Marie Sue, but there were also different levels of Marie Sue.

For example, the heroine's true identity must not be lower than that of a noble. No one wants to see a real maid fall in love with a prince, because the women who have the leisure time to read novels are all noble women. They prefer loyal maids who sacrifice themselves for the ladies and knights who adore princesses, but they will hate commoners who occupy "their position".

Although these novels are labeled as "vulgar" on the surface, they are rampant in private and are loved by many nobles.

Inger: "...You are getting off topic."

Alex laughed and quickly pulled it back.

Madam Dan Shu became a complete joke as soon as she entered the mansion.

The servants in the palace looked down on her, the Duke's relatives and ministers despised and ridiculed her, the Duke's children hated her, and the celebrities in the social circle did not take her seriously.

This was tantamount to torture for a 16-year-old girl.

Despite the Duke's protection, it was a consensus in the city at the time that anyone could step on her. This contempt was directly exposed, and even the Duke's reputation began to be affected.

However, the Duke still asked the emperor for a marriage certificate. In the wedding without anyone's blessing, Danshu Mond became Lahong Mond's legal spouse and the first heir to his property.

Soon after Duke Lahon married her, he returned to his sickbed and entrusted all affairs to Madame Danshu.

Madam Dan Shu had to take care of her bedridden husband, deal with relatives and subordinates who wanted to eat her alive, and take care of the messy affairs in the mansion. Everyone was waiting for her to make a fool of herself.

But what no one expected was that she managed everything in an orderly manner. Occasionally, she could be seen strolling on the street in plain clothes, buying a basket of vegetables and fruits to cook at home.

People on the street had never seen her before, and at first they didn't know who she was. They thought she was some beautiful daughter-in-law from some family. She was lively, bright, lovely and amiable, and her local dialect was so authentic.

When they found out later, they were all shocked.

Dan Shu was well-known throughout the city for her love for children. She donated part of the fiscal surplus and her own savings to many orphanages and childcare institutions, sponsoring the children's education and studies, and she would often take some time to visit them.

Her friendly language and emotions quickly infected the people on the streets, although she did not do so deliberately, she just chatted casually with people passing by on the street when she was out playing.

It was said that the Duke's Mansion was full of conspiracies and intrigues, and there were countless dirty things that wanted to harm her and her three children, but she was always safe and sound, and she always managed to escape danger and take her three children on outings around the territory.

When Dan Shu was 17, she had three children: the eldest son was 10 years old, the second son was 8 years old, and the third daughter was 4 years old. The first two were the most rebellious, but they were also completely submissive under her control.

Faced with the Duke's weakness and the central government's forced reduction of troops, she also upheld the fine tradition of the Mond family and did not look back and kicked back.

In response, the loyal Knight Captain of the Mond family, Jian Xiangwai, stood firmly on the side of the lady.

But her style in the mansion in the early days seemed to be very fierce and aggressive, and many servants who were sent out by her to sweep the floor complained about her everywhere. The iron-blooded Hong Danshu seemed to have spread in this way.

Some people speculated that she would become the real owner of the Duke's Mansion, rather than the mistress.

A year later, the Duke died.

Madam Danshu officially took power and stepped into the central social circle with a ruthless attitude.

Her behavior overturned the nobles' previous perception of her.

She did not lose out in the invisible social arena and lived up to her status as a duchess. In terms of political participation, she was even more powerful than Duke Lahon, had a unique vision, and put forward many constructive suggestions.

Needless to say, the Duchy's opposition to her opinion cooled down silently, like warm water in ice, without causing any more waves.

Unknowingly, the territory went from being in decline after the war to regaining its prosperity in less than ten years.

At this time, her reputation was obviously not very good.

It was not surprising that a humble lady of commoner origin, who had her husband sent away soon after marriage, was called Hong Dan Shu, not to mention that she had occupied the Duke's position of power.

However, something even more shocking happened.

Everyone would have thought that she was an ambitious person who was prepared to hold on to power until she was old, but when her eldest son came of age at the age of 16, she could not wait to give him the dukedom, giving everyone a slap in the face.

Her goal is to retire at the ripe old age of 23.

She even prepared a small villa in the country, and planned to live a secluded life isolated from the world, but she failed to escape and was caught by her son.

Inger couldn't help laughing and said, "What a strange man."

Alex curled his lips: "Why do I feel a bit like someone?"

Inger: "Thanks for your blessing. I'll try my best."

He exclaimed sincerely from the bottom of his heart, this is really a great dream.