What is the pomp of a great noble?
In a word, there are many people.
At night, on the main road outside the castle, a line of people holding torches stood on both sides, stretching for several miles. The superficial intention is to light the way for guests. After all, some people just like to show off their status and arrive at the last moment, which is usually when the sun has already set. The intention behind it was, of course, to show off the financial strength of the Grand Duke's family and to support his own granddaughter's debut in social situations.
The small square originally used to review military appearances is usually a parking lot for various vehicles of the Duke's Guard. However, in order to welcome the guests, the big guys moved to other places first, including the Grand Duke's custom-made car. Nowadays, all kinds of carriages are parked here, just like the idiom - there are so many crowns and covers.
A large flag was hung on the castle's iconic iron-gray exterior wall. The most conspicuous and large one is of course the family crest and flag of the Kawi family. Then there is the secondary title belonging to the Grand Duke of Carvey, and the local regimental flag assigned by the Grand Duke's territory. A sea of flags decorates the front of the castle in colorful colors.
Under the guidance of the attendant, enter the grand banquet hall of the castle. The arrangement that started here was different from what someone thought.
Unlike the dramas someone watched on Earth and the aristocratic gatherings he attended while in the Lost Lands, the aristocratic banquets of the Gwana Empire had separate social occasions for men and women. Maybe they will appear on the same occasion at the opening and important ceremonies, but basically men play with men, women play with women, and the two sides have separate activities.
On occasions where men and women attend together, the women of the empire will definitely wear veils, floor-length skirts, and long sleeves that can hide their hands. Basically, the principle is not to show any skin.
Of course, for foreign guests and non-imperial women, the Gwana Empire will not force them to comply with their customs. But the main thing is not to expose yourself too much. In the empire, there was only one type of person who would wear naked clothing in public and in front of men - prostitutes. Therefore, if women do not want to cause other people to misunderstand, they must respect local customs in the Gwana Empire.
Because social occasions are separated for men and women, the nobles of the Gwana Empire do not hold any form of dances, but instead hold concerts. Under the pleasant music, the nobles chatted about daily life, or secretly discussed content that could shake the entire situation in Lost Land. Musicians, waiters, etc., of course, distinguish between men and women and do not communicate with each other.
The reason for such a strict distinction is that in addition to the unique customs and habits of the Gwana Empire, in purely female situations, they will also take off their disguises and remove their veils. There are all kinds of competitions, and compared to those of nobles in other places, the mixed banquets of men and women are even better.
If there is a lustful man, don't think that you can "accidentally" break into such an occasion and enjoy the beauty. Then, whether it's to escape by urinating or pretending to be crazy through drinking, you can escape intact.
Basically, if something like this happens, look at how many women are present, and the man who breaks in is equivalent to making a feud with the family behind all the women.
If that person is a civilian, no problem, just chop him down first. If a noble is deprived of his inheritance rights on the grounds of "imprudence", or forcibly passes the title to other members of his family, and then forcibly retires, these are all things that have actually happened. There were even wars between nobles and nobles.
Therefore, even the emperor would not dare to break into a purely female social situation. In the history of the Gwana Empire, there have been cases where the emperor's heir did this, and then his inheritance rights were revoked and he was exiled to the frontier. Because if the emperor who was reigning at the time did not compromise like this, the Gwana Empire would directly fall apart and disintegrate due to rebellions in various places.
It is precisely because of this custom of separating men and women that the nobles of the Gwana Empire will not deliberately introduce family members of the opposite sex. Unless it is a child's coming-of-age ceremony, of course he will be captured and shown off. However, female family members will still wear veils and other clothing that can cover themselves tightly in front of male guests.
And someone who intervenes in arranging the ceremony will of course have to comply with the customs of the empire. It's never a good idea to be idiosyncratic, and one doesn't want to be caught in a pig pen for a trivial violation of local customs. Therefore, although many opinions were raised, we still discussed with the old duke's deacons to come up with a ceremony arrangement that was acceptable to them.
First of all, the first change is the arrangement of music. At the strong request of Marquis Balan, the musicians belonging to the Duke's family all learned new music from Hallumi. Of course, pop music is not suitable for this kind of occasion, but the classical music in someone's memory is very suitable for the atmosphere of this kind of aristocratic banquet, and it is not inconsistent if used as background music.
Fortunately, someone has experienced... upgrades over and over again in the Lost Land? Variety? Anyway, the memory is so good that it doesn't look like a normal human being. When I was studying, I used to listen to classical music to relieve stress. It can be said that I listened to all the famous music.
Of course, relying on these memories alone, someone can only hum. Hallumi spent a lot of time writing the hum from someone's mouth into music scores, so that the classic music of the earth can be reproduced in the lost land.
The biggest difference between this music and the original music of Midi lies in the partial performance. Different musical instruments have different scores and play different music. Then combine to form a melodious piece of music.
The original music of Midi consists of multiple instruments, most of which are the same instruments, or at least similar in nature, playing the same music. It's more like a place without speakers, using this method to amplify the sound so that everyone can hear the music.
In this case, Halumi was able to uncover some musicians who could only pretend but could not actually play an instrument. Or maybe their skills are not proficient enough to be worthy of being hired by a ducal family. He just relied on his unknown connections to join the Grand Duke's family and make a living. Of course these people were fired. For this reason, the girl also received unknown threats.
How could a blond girl who had only seen the world and experienced life and death worry about the revenge of such a noble family who wore small shoes? He directly handed the threatening letter to the deacon of Marquis Balan, so naturally someone would do it for him.
This can only mean that the other party is mistaken. He mistakenly thought that this doll-like girl was just a wandering musician who was accidentally picked up by the Grand Duke himself or other deacons.
If the other party is really of this status, then it is definitely a high climb to enter the Grand Duke's family. Because female wandering musicians usually work part-time jobs to earn meager travel expenses. Such people are also despicable in the eyes of the servants of the Grand Duke's family.
But Halumi did not mention her status as a magic apprentice or a high-ranking member of the Ikaruga Alliance. Having followed their teacher through life and death for such a long time, and having Fen teaching them through words and deeds, their nerves have long been trained to become extremely thick. Conspiracies are usually ignored as long as they are not fatal.
What's more, for the blond girl, she is already busy enough preparing for the apprenticeship ceremony of Marquis Balan, and there is no time to worry about such a trivial matter.
It is obviously not practical for a group of people who can play musical instruments to suddenly master symphony-level music. So Halloumi adjusted the score so that everyone still used the original instruments they were good at, just playing different parts. She also specially asked the Grand Duke for a few good horn players in the army to supplement the wind section and form a small orchestra.
More importantly, she led the Grand Duke's craftsmen to make a piano. Their teacher has always stayed on the drawing board, without actually building the instrument. On Earth, there is a saying that a piano is equal to a symphony orchestra. Therefore, having Halumi play the piano himself, paired with other people's orchestral music, may sound like crap to someone's ears, but it may be shocking to the ears of the Midi natives.
It was also difficult for that girl to master the piano playing method in a short period of time. Although to someone's ears, the music played is still very raw. However, the nobles of the Gwana Empire, who considered themselves to have the best musical taste in the entire land, were all listening intently to the piano concerto that the blonde girl and others had practiced.
The opening of Hallumi opened a unique banquet for the nobles of the empire. Under the guidance of the waiter, the male and female guests went in different directions. It is easiest for male guests to be taken directly to the grand banquet hall.
The way of eating is no longer a long table, and the host has to worry about arranging seats according to his status. It is a walk-around buffet, and of course it also provides dining seats. This format not only facilitates walking around and chatting, but also helps people with ulterior motives to walk together without leaving a trace and discuss their plans in secret.
The female guests are a little more troublesome. They will first enter a small room where they can tidy up their appearance. Under the service of his maid, the veil and heavy robe were removed, revealing the gorgeous clothes and jewelry underneath. Then they officially entered the banquet hall for women.
Once the shackles are released, the women of the Gwana Empire are as beautiful as the female nobles of other countries. Noble fabrics, close-fitting tailoring, exquisite lace and various decorations, and colorful and bright colors, every woman is like a peacock in full bloom, attracting and competing with each other.
After the men and women were separated, the musicians also went to different banquet venues to perform according to their gender. However, Halumi did not continue to do this kind of showmanship. Of course, he taught the musicians employed by the Grand Duke how to use the relevant instruments and the new music scores. What these people who make music their profession lack is just proficiency.
Although it is not yet very proficient, the freshness brought by the partial ensemble music is enough to cover up the unobvious flaws. More importantly, the food provided in the buffet format is so delicious that the nobles can hardly imagine it. I can't take into account the slight flaws in the music.
At first glance, they couldn't tell what the material was in many things. Because they are all carved into flowers, made into balls, or mixed with other ingredients into different shapes. You have to wait until you take a bite to taste it. In other words, these foods not only look pleasing to the eye, but also taste unforgettable.
It can be said that with just the opening music and the food at the banquet, the Grand Duke of Kawei really succeeded in taking the lead. All the participating nobles realized that the strength of this great noble was still the same, even more powerful than before.
