Chapter 60: Breakfast at the Duke's Manor

  I won't say anything more, if you're willing to give flowers then give them, if not then forget it. But here I'd like to thank those friends who sent them.

  Ye Feng returned to his room and saw that it was still early, so he rested for a while longer. Unbeknownst to him, he fell asleep again, as the entanglement of last night's sleep had been too exhausting.

  It was only after a long time that he woke up from the knocking sound of the maid. Then, under her reminder, he got up and went to the dining hall with a stretch.

  Seeing the Duke's family already seated at the long dining table, he pulled out a chair and sat down too, but Diana was nowhere to be seen. He asked worriedly, "Where is Diana? Hasn't she arrived yet?"

  "The duke pointed casually out of the window and said, 'She has arrived.'"

  Yefeng unfolded a clean white napkin and placed it on his lap, then looked at him and found that the Duke's mood was as good as today's weather.

  At this time, Diana slowly walked in, she slightly frowned, as if somewhat uncomfortable.

  "This horseback riding posture is really cool." The red-haired guard captain thought to himself as he walked, pressing on the waist that had been sore from exercising all night: "I must keep this up in the future, I absolutely cannot compromise."

  Diana completely threw away the promise she made to Ye Feng. From this perspective, she indeed has the potential to become a politician. During the campaign, no matter what requirements the voters put forward, she would unconditionally agree first. However, after taking office, her expression changed and she immediately threw those promises aside.

  The duke, as a veteran of many romantic conquests, understood what had happened the previous night as soon as he saw Diana's appearance.

  He couldn't help but glance at Nia beside him, who was calmly flipping through the ledger while biting into a bread roll, seemingly oblivious to Diana's change. He said in a low voice, "Has that foolish kid finally discovered the secret on Diana's windowsill? But my Nia is really pitiful, isn't she?"

  As a father, he now has mixed feelings, not wanting to see his daughter run away with someone else, but also very clear that this will be an inevitable thing, so he hopes she can have a good place to settle down and doesn't need to accompany him all day, dealing with things like account books.

  At the same time, he also regarded Diana as his own daughter. What he originally wanted to remind Nia of was left unsaid, and this hand-over-hand situation made him very embarrassed.

  Ola sat beside him and listened to his muttering, leaning over to ask: "Old man, what are you saying? It's unclear and vague."

  The duke was taken aback, glanced at Nia who was completely unaware of the situation, and said with a double meaning: "If you were to practice sword fighting with Diana today, in her current exhausted state, you would absolutely be able to hold your own against her."

  Ye Feng was suddenly choked, "Puff" sound, the soup he drank into his mouth all sprayed onto the table, some of which even came out from his nose. He suffered so much that he kept coughing loudly.

  Diana almost crawled under the table.

  Ou La glanced back at Ye Feng's disheveled appearance, then sat down with a huff and said, "I'm not sick, go find someone to beat up early in the morning."

  The duke watched Ye Feng's awkward expression with a mixture of delight and schadenfreude, then wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and stood up, saying: "You eat, I still have things to do, don't wait for me at noon or tonight."

  Nia finally raised her head from the account book, furrowed her brow and asked: "Where are you going?"

  The duke picked up an invitation from the table, waved it in front of everyone, and said with a smile: "I have a poetry gathering to attend. I won't be back until tomorrow."

  Niya murmured and buried her head back into the quilt.

  Diana stood up and reminded anxiously: "Sir, you must bring more guards with you and pay attention to safety. Do you want me to accompany you?"

  The duke was taken aback, and with a nonchalant wave of his hand, he said, "No need, no need. It's so peaceful now, what could possibly happen? I'll just bring two guards, no need for you to accompany me. Besides," he winked, continuing, "if you were to accompany this old man, I'm afraid someone might not be too pleased."

  Nina suddenly remembered something and interjected: "Right, Diana, you can't go with him."

  Diana turned around and looked at her clear eyes, hastily shifted her gaze away, looking down at her feet with a guilty conscience, saying: "What's wrong?"

  Niya put down the account book, let out a sigh, and gently rubbed her forehead with her hand, saying: "This doesn't seem like you at all. You're probably busy too, right? We've been sending out recruitment notices for over ten days now, and people from various estates should have arrived by now. I've arranged for them to stay in the city guard's barracks. You'd best make time to go take a look - after all, they are your subordinates."

  Diana let out a low, soft cry, she had almost forgotten about this matter.

  Niya turned her head to look at Ye Feng again, saying: "Are you going too? I ordered them in the summons to send out the best young riders and have them bring their own horses. This way, our cavalry can be formed a bit faster."

  Ye Feng hesitated for a moment, he had originally planned to perfect his get-rich-quick plan and complete the lottery plan book today, but seeing Diana's expectant eyes, his heart softened, and he nodded in agreement.

  As they finished their breakfast and stood up to leave, Ye Feng and the others didn't know that Nia put down the account book in her hand and stared blankly at their backs as they walked out of the room.

  On this day, the people of the Duke's mansion were worried to find that their beloved Miss Nia was not like before. She didn't go to flip through those account books or deal with the Governor's documents, but instead sat on the top floor with her knees hugged in her arms, staring at the distant sea under the sun and being dazed for a whole day...

  Because it was the first time to see those subordinates, in order to achieve a shocking effect, Diana specially wore that armor on herself. Then with Ye Feng, and several guards, of course, also including Ou La this follower.

  When they passed through the city, the clanging armor immediately caused a commotion among the city's residents. Many people were frightened by its ferocious appearance and thought that a monster had really appeared. They stuck to the wall corners, not even daring to breathe loudly, staring blankly as they walked away before finally coming back to their senses.

  Ye Feng saw Diana wearing the armor, feeling good about herself as she walked through the streets, having a better effect than Niu Er and Jing Jie Hu. He felt a sense of defeat and frustration in his heart. Unconsciously, he curled his lips and thought to himself: That was originally my armor. However, looking at Diana's appearance, it seemed like she had no intention of returning it to him.

  The only way is to help her make a custom-made one, but just making one for her won't work either, I have to make one for Nia too.

  However, after having a suit of expensive armor made for himself, he felt embarrassed to use the name of the ducal mansion to make private profits. They had to pay out of their own pockets to have the armor made, so that they could give it as a gift to them, in order to show their sincerity. But this also required a large sum of money.

  He whipped the war horse under him, pained by his soon-to-be-thinner wallet, and thought bitterly: Is it easy to be a man like me? They say I'm ruthless in my extortion, but can I survive without it? And doesn't anyone care whether this money ultimately ends up in my own hands or not.