Chapter 337 Arrogant Qina
The "progress" of pseudo-civilized society compared to feudal society lies in the fact that the rentiers in pseudo-civilized society pay more attention to "public image".
Or it can be called... knowing how to wipe the blood from the corners of the mouth, putting on a gentle and elegant image, and letting a bunch of middle-class people who admire the aristocracy help brag about being "aristocratic".
But this disguise is just a disguise after all, and that human skin is just a human skin.
Under the human skin, there are no bones, blood or flesh like a human, only a beast covered in fur and horns.
Yang Qiu, who once lived in China, took many, many years to see the true nature of the rentiers in this world after he came to this world...The textbooks did not lie to him. The exploiting class is the exploiting class. No matter how much makeup and elaborate decoration they put on, they still do not look human.
Coulson O'Neill and Viscount O'Neill are not strangers, but blood relatives. Coulson's father is Viscount O'Neill's brother with the same father and mother.
Blood ties did not prevent Viscount O'Neill from skillfully applying the nobles' rules of the game, and using extremely "gentle and elegant" and particularly "aristocratic" means to cleanly plunder his brother's inheritance.
The year Colson's father passed away, a strange man came to his door and claimed that Mr. O'Neill had invested in a joint-stock water shipping company. In addition to expressing his sympathy for Mr. O'Neill's death, he also brought Mr. O'Neill's dividends for that year and hoped that Colson could inherit his father's shares.
Immersed in grief, Coulson and his mother had no doubt about the stranger's intentions. They just thought that this was indeed an investment that Mr. O'Neill had forgotten to tell his family about before his death, and signed the inheritance documents without any precautions.
Less than two months after receiving the "shares and dividends left by my father", this shipping company was involved in an extremely serious shipping accident. Not only did it lose all its funds, but the shareholders also had to pay high compensation, otherwise they would face imprisonment.
Coulson, who was only sixteen years old at the time, had not yet realized that this was a trap set by his good uncle. He hurriedly ran to Viscount O'Neill's house for help. Under the "kind" advice of Viscount O'Neill, who seemed to care about them, he mortgaged the mansion worth thousands of gold in Midtown and got through this difficult time.
Coulson, who moved to the farm, felt more and more that something was wrong... After all, he was born into an aristocratic family and had received an aristocratic education. After suffering a great loss, he finally reacted.
After repeated investigations using the connections left by his father, Coulson realized that the water transport company to which he had inherited shares without any preparation was originally an underground gang in the city of Dutata, which deliberately disguised itself as a shell company after taking a business from the royal capital. The purpose was to solve the hidden dangers left by a batch of embezzled materials for a certain royal capital consortium... It was the same routine as in some places on Earth where a grain warehouse fire would be reported as soon as the stored grain was investigated.
This matter involves a lot of things. If Coulson wants to get back the money that was cheated from his family, he will have to take the double risk of offending the big shots in the capital and the underground gangs in Dutata City. Doing dirty things for the masters in the capital is one of the main sources of income for the Dutata underground organization. If Coulson is not sensible enough to try to expose this matter for the sake of his own mansion, then he and his mother's bodies will soon be found in a stinking ditch.
Having kept this secret in his heart for years, Coulson explained the whole thing to his cousin. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I don't want to do it, China. I really have no choice... My good uncle has calculated everything to make me shut up and keep the truth in my heart forever."
Qina looked anxious after hearing this, and couldn't help but look back at Yang who was disguised as the housekeeper... This matter involved too many things, and she really didn't expect Viscount O'Neill to do this.
Yang Qiu bowed slightly, lowered his eyebrows and suggested: "Ms. Qina, why don't you ask Mr. Coulson about the farm? Maybe you can help with the farm matter."
Coulson was a little confused as to why his cousin, who was already a female Countess, wanted to see the butler she brought with her. But after seeing Yang Qiu's acting skills, he no longer had any doubts and said with increasing worry, "Mr. Butler, this matter is not as simple as you think."
Next , Coulson introduced the butler of Lord Adler's house with great hatred...
Generally speaking, butlers in noble families are divided into two categories.
One type serves the head of the household who manages the family business and family members who "go out into officialdom". This type of butler is more like a secretary. In addition to taking care of the master's daily life, they also have to understand the fields of the master's career and provide certain assistance.
This type of butler is often highly valued and trusted by the host family, and the relationship between them is closer than that of blood relatives.
The other type is the deacon, who supervises, manages, and operates a project in the family business for the master, such as being in charge of a farm, managing a manor, operating a workshop, factory, mine, etc., and is more like a professional manager.
A manager-type butler will also gain the attention and trust of his master, but his status and importance are obviously much lower than that of a secretary-type butler.
Unfortunately, it was the former type of steward who took a fancy to the farm of Coulson and his son.
The steward served Lord Adler for nearly twenty years and only stepped down after he was over sixty years old and no longer had any energy.
Normally, such a steward who holds an important position in the eyes of the great nobles would be introduced to certain local lords, "rehired" as the governor of a small town, or serve as a civil servant in a certain department.
But the old butler was really unable to do anything anymore and just wanted to live out his retirement in a quiet place not too far from the city. When Viscount O'Neill learned of this, he asked someone to direct the old butler's attention to his nephew's farm.
Both Coulson and his son were people who had been in the power field before, and they knew the price of rejecting the old butler - even if the old butler didn't mind, there would be some opportunists who wanted to win the favor of the lord by currying favor with the old butler and would jump out to step on them... Coulson and his son had seen too many such people.
Qina understands her aunt and cousin's feelings very well.
After Grandpa made it clear that he didn't like her that much, her cousins would intentionally or unintentionally bully her and embarrass her; it wasn't that the cousins disliked her, they just wanted to please Grandpa through this behavior.
She also knew…that those in higher positions would be pleased by the actions of such opportunists.
Because the superior may not need very capable subordinates, but he will definitely need subordinates who are loyal enough.
After her cousins wagged their tail at grandfather by bullying and ostracizing her, didn't grandfather become more doting towards them?
Even if it is just superficial care like pampering cats and dogs, it will make the gifts that cousins receive during the winter celebrations more generous and give them more opportunities.
The party that was used as a bargaining chip for surrender and a ladder to advancement did not even have the qualifications to resist - if Qina had confronted her cousins at that time, it would only be interpreted as dissatisfaction with her grandfather's partiality, and she would not have a good life.
Qina couldn't help but sigh...
Yes, that's right, she was lucky enough to be born into a noble family and enjoy a better life than ordinary girls, but she also hated this world where the fate of most people was determined by the preferences of one person - because she knew that she had never been the luckiest one, the one who was favored by the superiors who controlled the fate of many people.
In a world under such rules, personal abilities and ideals are worthless unless they are based on sufficient luck that exceeds that of the vast majority of people.
"This is not right." Qina said softly, "This is awful... It's not right."
She did not say the word order. For a little girl like this, talks like overthrowing order and rebuilding order were too arrogant after all.
But this was enough to make Yang Qiu, who was quietly observing and examining her, smile from the bottom of his heart.
"Mrs. O'Neill, in my opinion, your son is an outstanding and intelligent young man. If he had not encountered such a sudden change, he would have achieved great success." Yang Qiu said to Qina's aunt with a smile.
Mrs. O'Neill, who had been embarrassed by her own miserable situation, seemed to suddenly come to life, and her tone became a little lighter: " Of course, Mr. Butler, when Coulson's grandfather was still alive, he was his favorite grandson -"
Normally, the heir to the title would give a little alms to his former competitor to show his magnanimity - of course, such alms were limited, and at most could ensure that the competitor would not become destitute and become a commoner within two or three generations.
Viscount O'Neill plundered the wealth of his brother's widow and nephew. First, he couldn't wait to cut off their way of living in the central city and maintaining social connections with other noble families. Then he took away the farm, making his nephew lose the opportunity to return to power through proper management. This somewhat ugly way of eating can only be based on one possibility - this nephew posed a threat to Viscount O'Neill's own heirs.
After a brief inquiry, Qina's aunt confirmed Yang Qiu's speculation... The O'Neill family, which started out as knights of the kingdom, had few descendants. Over several generations, there were only two or three brothers, and the proportion of early deaths was quite high.
All of Coulson's cousins combined are less than a fraction of the Darcy family before they were wiped out, and Viscount O'Neill has only one son.
This son also has a leg disability due to an injury he suffered while riding a horse in his early years.
In other words...if Viscount O'Neill passed away, the O'Neill family would most likely support Coulson rather than O'Neill's son.
No matter how few family members there are, there are still a few families. Compared with a disabled head of the family, the clan members will naturally prefer a lively and better hidden heir to the family.
Yang Qiu went around to inquire about the existing members of the O'Neal family, and then made a small suggestion: "At present, it seems that it is indeed too difficult to take back the house and farm in Midtown. But since Coulson is still the blood of the O'Neal family, he should be blessed by the family."
"I think that if Mr. Coulson asks for help from his uncle Viscount O'Neill as a nephew, if this Viscount is still the head of the O'Neill family, he should always bear the corresponding responsibilities." When mentioning the word head of the family, Yang Qiu deliberately emphasized the tone.
Coulson and Mrs. O'Neill naturally understood the hidden meaning, but this absurd suggestion still made the mother and son laugh and cry, and they shook their heads and refused on the spot.
"Give it a try, aunt, cousin Coulson." Qina took over the conversation at the right time and said to the two relatives, "I will accompany you to visit Viscount O'Neill."
After a pause, Qina said firmly, "If Viscount O'Neill refuses to assume the responsibilities of the head of the family, I will question the legitimacy of this Viscount occupying the title of the O'Neill family from the perspective of my aunt's family."
Mrs. O'Neill and Coulson, who had wanted to say something, were so shocked by China's resolute statement that they forgot what they originally wanted to say.
"China, you, don't be impulsive!" Mrs. O'Neill stood up, walked quickly forward, bent down to hold China's hand, stared at China's face with concern, "What's wrong with you? How could you say such a thing? This, this is not a trivial matter, don't say such words that can easily cause trouble!"
Of course, Qina couldn't tell her aunt that she came here on purpose to cause trouble... This young girl who grew up in a noble family and had been trained in acting since childhood smiled sadly at her aunt and said bitterly: "Please don't refuse my help, aunt, you...you are my last family member."
The vampires of Moses Port took revenge on Inard and immediately killed all the people in Darcy's mansion, including China's father.
Although her father , and was busy enjoying the benefits of the Darcy family's power and status while her grandfather was still alive and she didn't have to be separated from the family, he was still her father after all, and it was impossible for China to not feel sad.
Mrs. O'Neill's eyes were sore and she couldn't help sobbing softly in front of China.
Coulson didn't say anything else, just sighed...
In response to Lord Adler's reaction to the candidate he had reserved, Yang Qiu said that he was quite qualified.
If this man was ecstatic on the spot and hoped to return to a decent life with the support of the female victor, then after Yang Qiu finished his job, this man could also find a place to stay where he could eat and wait for death.
If you also know that you are worried about whether your cousin will act too impulsively and whether standing up for them will harm China's interests, then there is some value in exploring their potential.
Next... Qina left behind the bodyguard (Zhao Zhenzhen) who looked too capable, and did not take the security guard with her. She only went to Viscount O'Neill's Mansion in the Midtown District with her aunt and cousin, accompanied by Yang Qiu, the "weak butler", a maid and a coachman.
Viscount O'Neill is less than fifty years old, which is the prime of life for the nobles in this world.
The pampered life made Viscount O'Neill a little fat, but he was not fat. Instead, he was quite majestic and looked like an old traditional aristocrat.
When China asked Viscount O'Neill, like a vicious little kitten, seriously to take due responsibility, take into account the dignity of the nobility and not let his aunt and cousin Coulson continue to live in such a terrible place as Hexagon Alley, Viscount O'Neill smiled like a kind and generous elder.
"Miss China, the daughter of the Darcy family." Viscount O'Neill raised his chin slightly, narrowed his eyes, and had a very gentle expression on his face and a kind tone. "You are very young. Since you are such a young lady, let me give you some advice on behalf of your elders... In the time of the Bartles family, your grandfather, Viscount Darcy, would not speak to other nobles in such an offensive way outside of Innadelli."
"Viscount O'Neill, if you think you are qualified to speak as an elder, then I hope you will behave like a true elder in your actions." Qina said with a straight face.
This kind of speech... undoubtedly puts himself in the position of a weak person, making Viscount O'Neill even more unwilling to waste time on this little girl who looks tough on the outside but is actually a coward.
"You are right. I will ask the butler to pay attention to Coulson's future." The fake smile on Viscount O'Neill's face became colder and colder, and he said as if coaxing a child, "The O'Neill family is not large, and there should be news around the winter celebration. Please be patient and wait for a while. You know, Miss China, adults always have a lot of things to do."
China didn't react. Mrs. O'Neill and Coulson, who were sitting behind her, were trembling slightly with anger.
This is a very standard attitude of the nobility when dealing with unimportant matters... just get by with it.
Viscount O'Neill was too lazy to argue with a little girl like China. Even if she was willing to risk everything to stand up for her aunt, could she really stay in Dutata City?
After sending away the beggars who came to ask for favors, Viscount O'Neill said to the butler with disdain, "Remember to remind me to send some holiday gifts during the winter celebration. You actually found a little girl to back you up. It's really a disgrace to the O'Neill family."
It is impossible for an old-fashioned noble like Viscount O'Neill, who is active in the power arena, to take China Darcy's threat seriously. After Innadri changed its owner, the nobles in Adler County had also paid attention to the situation in this neighbor's home.
All the members of the Darcy family were killed by vampires, and the new lord, Charlie Rex, an illegitimate son who didn't know the rules of the nobility, pushed the surviving little brat up; and he didn't even know how to support the person he brought up, and let everyone know that the Darcy family members opposed this useless head of the family - for a little girl like this who might hear the obituary of sudden death at any time, Viscount O'Neill was willing to speak politely to her, which was considered to be giving her respect.
The next morning, Viscount O'Neill was sitting at the dining table having breakfast and reading a newspaper when he suddenly spat out milk.
Viscount Innadel, China Darcy, announced in the newspaper that Viscount O'Neill had abused her aunt and cousin, and she wanted to seek justice for her relatives; if Viscount O'Neill did not apologize to her aunt and cousin in the newspaper within three days, she would declare war on the O'Neill family to protect the face of her married aunt.
"--This arrogant bitch!" Viscount O'Neill roared with distorted features.
