Chapter 274 I'm Very Curious About You
"Professor Stanley, are you sure... those 'geniuses' from Great Xia were also invited by the Temple?"
Qin Mo was quite surprised to hear Alice Steinlia's question. After all, many people were dissatisfied with the invitation he had received, and Emperor Zhaowu even challenged them to decide the final outcome of the invitation.
But now Alice Stellia is saying that many people have followed the Great Xia delegation to the Western Continent to study at the Holy Temple. What's going on here? If there are so many invitations from the Holy Temple, why make such a fuss? How innocent are the challengers who were crippled by their own actions?
“Your Excellency Qin Mo, I am certain that they all possess invitations from the Temple. They are coming from the East and will need to change ships in Athens. There are many of them, and one ship cannot accommodate them all. Our seminary has reviewed their invitations in order to arrange dedicated vessels befitting their status.”
How many of them are there?
Elisa Stellia hesitated for a moment before saying, "Twenty people."
Qin Mo felt somewhat dejected. Allen, Lin Bo, and Wu Shengze had all described the opportunity to study at the Temple as incredibly lucrative, but now there were twenty people—what was the difference between that and cabbages? What was she? A large, juicy cabbage?
"Your Excellency Qin Mo, I never imagined we would become classmates! This is wonderful. In the Great Xia language, we are... fate."
"Eh! Why do you look...not very happy, Lord Qin Mo?"
After hearing his friends talk about going to the temple, Giulio kept watching Elisa and Qin Mo's conversation. When they both fell silent, he finally managed to interject and express his joy. Then he noticed that something was wrong with Qin Mo.
“I… heard from my elders that the opportunity to study in the Temple is extremely rare, and only true ‘geniuses’ are qualified to study in the Temple. So when I received the invitation to enter the Temple, I felt… that I was truly a genius.”
"But now that I know the Great Xia Empire has twenty slots at a time, I suddenly find my previous thoughts quite laughable. I'm not as... important as I thought."
"Oh! Your Excellency Qin Mo, I've heard my teacher say that your Great Xia Empire is vast, about the size of the entire Western Continent, is that right?"
"More or less! I'm not quite sure about the exact size of the Great Xia Empire."
Qin Mo genuinely didn't know how large the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty was. After all, it was quite different from the Celestial Empire of later generations. Much of the northern territory belonged to Great Xia. He did know that Europe was 10.16 million square kilometers, so it was probably correct to say that Great Xia was about the same size as Europe.
"Your Excellency Qin Mo, my teacher also said that the Great Xia Dynasty has a population of over 100 million?"
"Hmm, more or less! Only the Ministry of Revenue knows the exact population figures."
Giulio said with admiration, "The Great Xia Dynasty is so big, yet only twenty-odd people have entered the Holy Temple. Do you still think you are not important? You are truly a humble person."
Qin Mo smiled. This Giulio was actually very good at reading people's expressions. Seeing that she was a little embarrassed, he immediately used a few small questions to harmonize the situation.
"Mr. Qin Mo, may I take a look at your invitation?"
Elisa's voice was very pleasant, but now it sounded extremely grating to Qin Mo. She hadn't noticed it when Elisa first started asking questions, but now she was certain that the girl was questioning her identity, or even suspecting that she had deliberately approached Giulio.
"I'm sorry, Miss Elisa, I didn't bring the invitation with me."
Qin Mo did not bring the invitation with her, because the scroll was not small and it was inconvenient to carry around in her pocket.
"Your Excellency Qin Mo, you'd better keep the invitation with you. The invitation can prove your identity, and with it you can move freely throughout the entire Western Continent, and you can also get necessary assistance, such as a free boat trip from Athens to Rome."
"If it's inconvenient for you, I can take a boat to Rome myself."
Qin Mo felt annoyed. She hadn't expected any help whatsoever. "I've got plenty of money," she thought, "buying a boat is a piece of cake. What are you, little wench, whining about?"
Besides, I've been riding on your boat for nothing. If Giulio wants to get any Daxia goods from me, I'm the top supplier. He'd be too busy serving me to even think about it. In my past life, I would have to make sure he was comfortable with all the food, drinks, entertainment, and lodging.
“Cousin Elisa, Mr. Qin Mo has business dealings with the Medici family. I must bring him safely to Rome. I hope you will consider my feelings.”
Giulio spoke solemnly to Elisa in Italian.
Are you sure he's really a nobleman from the Great Xia Dynasty?
"Believe me, Elisa, he had enough wealth to not need to cheat, and he didn't even know I was the heir to the Medici family at the time."
“Cousin Giulio, every year there are people impersonating students of the Temple to swindle people in the world. If you are taken advantage of, you will be ridiculed by those people.”
"Who do you think your cousin is? Would he be fooled? Are you kidding me?"
Giulio grumbled at his cousin with great dissatisfaction, completely oblivious to the twitching at the corner of Elisa's mouth, and seemingly forgetting the time he was tricked as a child.
The group arrived at the dock, but Giulio looked unhappy because the Stanley family had provided Elisa Stanley with a private speedboat, which made Giulio very unhappy.
"Julio, are your elders trying to set you two up?" Qin Mo asked jokingly, noticing Julio's dejected look.
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