Chapter 269 Just Make Friends
When Alice came out of the house, there was a little golden monkey on her shoulder. It looked quite cute.
Lu Sen was practicing the Zhan family's swordsmanship in the yard. Since he had recently acquired a special ability related to swordsmanship, he would take some time every day to practice his swordsmanship.
I don't mean to be proficient or powerful, but at least when you really fight with others, you can swing it a few times to buy yourself some time.
Of course, as the level increases and the attributes are enhanced, the small goal of buying time should become "the opponent doesn't lose too quickly."
Alice walked to Lu Sen's side and said happily: "My dear, thank you for your gift, but I always feel guilty like this. I haven't done anything, but I have such a big reward. How about I serve you and I won't tell the mistress."
In the eyes of others, she has a lot of capital, whether it is her own ability, appearance, or even financial resources.
Don't underestimate Alice. She saved a lot of money during the two or three years she spent in Bianjing City and the more than one year she spent in the Music Bureau.
It can be said that Alijie is one of the small group of women standing at the top of the pyramid.
But she knew that in Lu Sen's eyes, she was just that.
Lu Sen rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "Even if I find a woman, Jin Hua won't say anything. You can just gossip here. Go away and do what you should do."
Alice covered her mouth and smiled coquettishly. After all, for a woman who has been hanging around in the city for many years, this kind of coquettishness is natural.
Then she happily left the manor and went to find Assassin in Venice.
After all, based on her understanding of Hassan, it is impossible that only Theodore, the Assassin, was sent here. There must be other people who came along as well.
After all, Alijie didn't know many Assassins, but if the contact information didn't change, she was confident that she could find all of them.
As for whether she could win...she was already not afraid of Theodore, who was ranked before her. What's more, now that she has the magical object given by her husband, her strength has greatly increased. It is not a simple matter to deal with a few assassins!
Unlike Alijie's activeness, Lu Sen seems unusually low-key.
To the people of the Roman Empire, it was almost unbelievable that a nobleman would just stay in his own manor, follow a regular schedule, not hang out with friends, not give "speeches", and not hold any parties.
This is already the level of the legendary hermit sage.
So two days later, Domenico came again, and Lu Sen treated him with some honey water and fruit.
At this time, Alice happened to not go out and continued to serve as a translator.
While eating fruits and drinking honey water, Domenico suspected that everything he had eaten before was fake, but then he thought again, "Lu" was a great noble from the East and a wizard with some strange abilities. It was not strange for him to get a lot of strange treasures.
"Mr. Lu, the banquet will be held in a few days. Can you provide some of these fruits and honey water for us to enjoy?"
Lu Sen shook his head: "It's very precious."
"I can exchange it for money!" Domenico made an exaggerated gesture: "A lot of money."
Lu Sen smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the fruit for now. The honey water you just drank was probably made with a quarter of a bottle of water. In our Song country, this thing is worth twice its weight in gold!"
Domenico was stunned for a moment, and then he almost spit out the remaining honey water in his mouth. He swallowed the sweet water in his mouth with all his strength, and then said with an expression of disbelief: "Sir Lu, you are kidding me."
"No!" Lu Sen said with a smile, "Your Excellency Governor, you practiced swordsmanship, so there must be some scars on your body. Now lift up your clothes and take a look!"
Domenico was stunned for a moment, and with some doubt, he did as he was told. Then he was shocked and asked, "Is this the legendary elixir?"
Lu Sen smiled and nodded.
He doesn't bother to care about the effects of Western elixirs, but now that he says this thing is a elixir, then it is a elixir.
"No wonder." Domenico understood how precious this thing was, and then he asked, "Sir Lu, can you sell some to me?"
Before, he had thought of buying some to put at the banquet for everyone to taste, but now when he saw the price and the effect... who would be stupid enough to buy some to share with others? It would be good enough if he could buy it himself.
After gently waving his hand, Lu Sen said, "I won't sell this thing."
Domenico felt very disappointed and a little anxious. He was about to speak, but Lu Sen reached out to stop him.
"Governor, don't worry." Lu Sen said with a smile: "After I gather the information I need, I will not only give you ten pieces of silk, but also a bottle of pure honey elixir."
Domenico's hands shook subconsciously, and he asked hurriedly, "Really?"
"There's no need to lie to you." Lu Sen said with a smile: "Although this thing is precious, it's still worth giving a bottle to a friend to try occasionally."
"Then I thank you, Lord Lu."
Before, Domenico was only moderately interested in intelligence gathering.
But now, the matter concerning Lu Sen has become even more important.
Lu Sen took a sip of water, looked at Domenico's face which was a little red due to excitement, and asked: "Your Excellency the Governor, you must have something else to do this time."
"Indeed." Domenico found that Lu Sen seemed very smart and could always guess many things: "A banquet will be held . The royal family has arrived. They are a prince and a princess. Princess Theodora wants to meet you!"
Lu Sen was stunned. He seemed to have heard the name Theodora somewhere , as if it had appeared in some work.
There was no way, he didn't know much about the history of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Moreover, although the names of many Western celebrities appear in certain literary works, he does not specifically look them up or memorize them.
"Why does she want to see me?"
"Maybe he's curious about what Oriental people look like." Domenico thought for a moment and whispered, "The prince's name is Michael. It doesn't matter if you meet him or not. He is just one of Queen Zoe's many adopted sons. Now that Queen Zoe has passed away for several years, he has become a figurehead. But this Princess Theodora is very special and is not someone who can be easily underestimated."
"Is it amazing?" Lu Sen asked.
Domenico nodded. "Although she was once exiled to a monastery, more than half of the noble families in Constantinople secretly support her. If nothing unexpected happens, she will probably become the new queen."
Lu Sen was a little surprised.
In fact, the word Theodora means, in Greek, 'gift of God'.
She is a descendant of the orthodox Roman royal family.
Birth is extremely noble.
To be honest, Lu Sen doesn’t support bloodline and even wants to laugh!
He thinks that the Central Plains is the best place, the emperor takes turns to sit on the throne, and this year it’s my turn!
But he thought about it and realized that since Theodora had such power in the Eastern Roman Empire, it would be reasonable to meet her. After all, if he needed intelligence, Princess Theodora should be able to help.
"I will be here for the next few days. If the princess wants to see me, just ask her to come over."
Domenico really wanted to say that you should be the one going to meet him.
But then he thought about it and felt that Orientals should be more respectful than himself. Moreover, this man was a great noble in the East and a wizard who was good at mysticism. It didn't seem too rude to let the princess come to see him.
Then Domenico bowed politely and left.
Because she didn't know when Theodora would come, Alice planned to stay in the manor for the next few days.
Fortunately, Theodora came the next day.
An old woman in a silk robe!
Lu Sen always thought that a princess should be young and beautiful.
But this Theodora looked to be at least in her early fifties.
Lu Sen clasped his fists and bowed to her, smiling, "I am a scholar of the Longtu Pavilion from the Song Kingdom, a fifth-rank civil servant, Lu Sen! It's a pleasure to meet Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Then Alice on the side directly translated Lu Sen's name into "Grand Priest"!
At this time, Domenico, as the local owner, was naturally there too.
When he heard the word 'Grand Patriarch', his face turned pale.
This is a position unique to Byzantium, and its status is almost that of the Pope.
Lu Sen's title of 'Direct Scholar of Longtu Pavilion' is already the highest honor a civil servant can get, and the title of 'Zhongnan Mountain Immortal' is the highest 'title' in Taoism, which can be completely compared to the Pope.
Theodora in front also looked surprised.
Although she is old, looking at her current face shape and temperament, it is clear that she was definitely a great beauty when she was young.
"Is he really an archbishop-level noble?" Theodora turned her head and looked at Alice who was translating next to her: "Girl, as a translator, you have to translate the other party's meaning completely and accurately. You can't just say a random word to scare people or make up an identity for your master."
Alice bowed slightly, then said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Respected and holy princess, I have heard of your reputation since I was a child. I spent the previous four years in the Eastern Song Kingdom, and I have enough knowledge of that country. My master has always been an official of the Song Kingdom, a high-ranking noble who participated in state affairs discussions, the highest leader of the Song Kingdom's sect, and the strongest wizard. He is the recognized 'Grand Priest' of the Song Kingdom. Of course, the title may be different, but the status and meaning are the same!"
Lu Sen was listening to Alijie talking to the old woman. Then the old woman turned around, looked at Lu Sen in surprise for a while, and said, "I didn't expect that your status is so noble."
She cared more about Lu Sen's identity as the "Grand Priest", and didn't feel much about the title of "Mage".
As a member of the royal family, she has seen too many tricks.
And...the Eastern Roman Empire itself was a theocratic state system.
She is well aware of the "filthiness" of the so-called theocracy.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "In our East, the word 'dignified' doesn't have much meaning. Time will erase all distinctions. Please take a seat, Princess."
"Your words are strange. Is this Eastern philosophy?" The old lady princess sat down. Her blue eyes were a little cloudy, showing her age. "Human life is indeed not eternal, and there is no distinction between noble and humble after death. But your bloodline will continue to be noble and will be passed down to your descendants forever."
Lu Sen did not refute.
At this time in the Eastern Roman Empire, the theory of bloodline was very popular.
It would be better to say that the theory of bloodline in the Western world has never changed.
Even though it later wore the cloak of democracy, its essence was still based on the supremacy of bloodline!
But Alice on the side understood what Lu Sen meant.
She felt more and more that the Song Dynasty was much more "civilized" than the Roman Empire.
"So, Your Highness, why did you find me at the banquet? Is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Sen asked.
"I heard that you sent a roll of silk to Governor Domenico?"
Lu Sen turned his head to look at Domenico, then turned his gaze back and smiled, "Indeed, I wonder what Your Highness the Princess means?"
After Domenico got the silk, he started to build momentum. Otherwise, he would not have had the face to invite all the famous nobles of the Eastern Roman Empire.
"Sell me one!" The old princess said generously, "You decide how much gold coins it costs. The banquet is about to begin, and I must have a new silk dress to match my status."
Although Theodora was also wearing silk, she had worn it for more than ten years.
The silk from the East was generally consumed halfway along the Silk Road, and the Eastern Roman Empire was almost the end point of the Silk Road.
The silk that can be brought here is not only expensive, but also extremely rare in quantity.
The silk robe she wore for more than ten days took her several years to piece together.
Lu Sen smiled and said, "Since Your Highness Princess has asked, I will naturally give you one."
After saying that, Lu Sen took out silk from the system backpack.
The sudden appearance of silk startled Theodora. She stood up suddenly, looked at Lu Sen, and asked, "Are you really a wizard? Or a sage?"
Lu Sen nodded slightly: "That's about it."
"Have you seen the forbidden fruit of the snake that is said to restore youth?" Theodora asked anxiously.
Lu Sen shook his head.
Theodora thought that Lu Sen had not seen it either and was about to get discouraged.
At this time, Lu Sen continued, "In my Song Kingdom, what can restore youth is not the forbidden fruit of the snake, but the peach!"
Then the word "Peaches" was translated by Alice into "Spiritual Fruits from Heaven"!
Because there were no peaches in the West at that time.
"Do you have any?" Theodora asked expectantly.
The older people are, the more they fear death, especially women! They would rather have a shorter life span and want to regain their youth.
Lu Sen shook his head.
He doesn't want to show these things to Westerners to avoid trouble.
However, Alice pursed her lips slightly at this time, and this little action was seen by Theodora.
But Theodora didn't say anything at this time. She asked Lu Sen: "Sir Lu, how many gold coins do you need for the silk?"
"This is for Her Royal Highness the Princess." Lu Sen said with a smile, "Just consider it as making friends first!"
As friends, you’ll help me when I need help in the future, right?
