"You go out first, and I'll talk to Lord Sheila alone."

The nobles got up and left, casting an unfriendly look at Sheila as they left. Sheila prepares for a conversation with Duchess Balden, completely oblivious to the reactions of these people. As the last nobles to leave closed the door, the Duchess of Bardon asked her servants to quietly go and pull them away, and they saw that the nobles who had gone out were standing at the door. When the servant went out, the duchess pointed to the inner room, and the two of them quietly entered a small room together. Da Song is very clever in the design of the senior suite, mainly not shouting, and the outside cannot hear the movement inside.

Duchess Baldon sat down comfortably on the small sofa, she raised her hand and touched the wall of the cloth fabric, and asked, "Sheila, do you think we want to use you to ease relations with the Legion?" ”

"Yes." Sheila replied cheerfully.

"Won't you help?" After the duchess finished speaking, she looked at Sheila with bright eyes.

"Your Excellency. What the legion needs is food, and you have the land to grow it, and you don't need my help at all. ”

"Wouldn't it be better if you were willing to come forward?"

"Then vouch, I can't vouch for you."

The Duchess's brows furrowed slightly, and she paused for a moment before saying, "Do you think we are not worthy of respect?" ”

"There's something respectable about everybody, I've always thought so. The reason why I don't vouch for you is because to do so is to interfere with your way of life. I respect everyone, so I don't interfere with other people's lifestyles. ”

This answer was obviously beyond the Duchess's expectations, and she thought for a while before she said, "Didn't Your Excellency Sheila interfere with Suren's way of life?" ”

Sheila replied: "The basis of my cooperation with His Excellency Suren is not to deal with third parties, and there is no third party involved at all. ”

"Hehe, in that case, I would like to ask you to introduce us to someone from the office." There was sarcasm in Duchess Balden's tone.

"How would you like me to introduce you to the office?"

"Can you introduce us like you did to Suren?"

"His Excellency Su Lun likes to farm all his life, and he will also engage in some other businesses, and the money earned from those businesses will be invested in farming. That's how I introduced Your Excellency Suren to the Office, and Your Excellency the Duke thinks you are such a person? ”

“…… Your Excellency Suren is so interesting. "The Duchess used the title of Your Excellency for the first time, and it was evident that she had only said this to change the mood of the conversation.

Sheila replied bluntly, "Yes, that's what the eastern nobles say about Lord Suren. ”

"Sheila, do you think we can't do what Lord Suren did?"

"I don't think Your Excellency understands respect differently than I do." Sheila simply made her words clear, "How you want to live and how you make money is your own business. I will not interfere in your affairs at all. So you don't have to worry about what I will destroy, I will not destroy and make things difficult for others to achieve my goals. Like Your Excellency, I have my own life and way of life. This approach only involves me and my collaborators, and does not target anyone else. I'm happy with this way of life and I'm not going to change my lifestyle. ”

Hearing this, Duchess Balden's eyes seemed to burn, and she stared at Sheila for a moment, and the Duchess smiled. At this moment, the gray hair and wrinkles were no longer noticed by Sheila, and Sheila saw the appearance of Duchess Baldon when she was young. This enthusiasm did not last long, and the duchess withdrew her gaze, allowing Sheila to see an old lady in her forties again. The duchess asked, "Sheila, do you believe in hope?" ”

"I live my life as I hope." Sheila replied.

"Humph!" Duchess Balden smiled wistfully: "When I was about the same age as you, my heart was full of hope and hope for a better future. Then my mother married me to an old man. ”

Sheila's heart was shocked, and she subconsciously pursed her lips. Her mother wasn't so snobbish...... Or maybe her mother didn't have the ability to arrange for Sheila to marry a rich old man.

"My second husband was a man of many virtues, except that he was too attentive." Duchess Balden's tone became flat, as if she was telling someone else's life, "Sheila, your persistence will only make you miserable in the end. There are too few people like you in the world. ”

Sheila didn't quite believe Duchess Balden's words, she had seen too many people who were more determined and wiser than her. Not to mention those in the office, it is not uncommon for nobles and scholars to have their own ideas, and those who are willing to pay for their ideas. Even Tiberius, whom Sheila didn't like, was not a follower. She said cheerfully: "Perhaps Your Excellency has been in the west for too long, and you will see too many people who are better than me when you stay in Constantinople for a while." ”

"Huh." Duchess Bardon smiled noncommittally, "Sheila, why does Your Excellency Suren have your respect. ”

"His goal is just to plant the land and make money. Everything he does is just for this purpose. So I respect him because that's what I'm helping for. ”

Duchess Balden pondered for a while, and asked Sheila with some confusion: "Suren has a lot of land, and he has borrowed a lot of money from the Constantinople bank. We are no worse than Suren in these respects. Why does Suren deserve respect? ”

"Do you plough your land before sowing it? How deep is the ploughing? How much manpower is it necessary to plow to the depths you think is necessary? How many animals are needed? How much fertilizer do I need to apply per acre? How large of a composting site do you have in order to apply such a large amount of land? How is the composting yard segment. How much land can be sown in a few days? Your Excellency, as a layman, if I ask these few questions casually, can you answer me? ”

Duchess Balden fell silent again, and Sheila thought that the Duchess would be silent for a while, but she didn't expect that after a moment she spoke, "These are the butler's things. ”

"This is where His Excellency Suren deserves respect, and the purpose of his hiring of a butler is not to leave everything to someone else. He just had a lack of skills, so he asked a housekeeper to help him complete the part that he couldn't personally supervise. When he asks for help, he understands what he has accomplished, what he lacks, what he needs help from, and how valuable that help is. So I have a lot of respect for him. ”

"It's impossible." The duchess objected, "He couldn't hold on." ”

"The western aristocracy once thought that without the grain of the west, the legion would not be able to hold on to itself."

"I used to think so." The duchess did not deny it.

"To not believe in yourself is to disrespect yourself. If you can't respect yourselves, how can I get your respect. ”

"Why don't you get our respect, why don't you respect us?"

"For me, there is something to respect about everyone. A lot of people don't know what I have to respect. Some people thought I could manipulate the legions, and some people thought that I could dictate the policies of the imperial court through proposals. Your Excellency the Duke, these perceptions are wrong. I just respect those people and come up with the solutions they need. If the other person is willing to give me the same respect, we start working together. I will do my best to do my part and assist my collaborators in completing their part. Other than that, I'm not going to target the collaboration with anyone else. ”

There was silence in the small room, this time for a long time. Duchess Balden's expression was already very serious when she spoke, "Sheila, can I understand what you just said that you will help us grow good food, but you will not help you in how to sell food or how to contact the people of the legion." ”

"If you want to know who the Legion is responsible for procuring food, I can tell you. But I think Your Excellency has already inquired. ”

"I've heard a lot about you, and everyone says you're a willing person to help others."

"Then please think again about those things, which one is directed against a third party. If your purpose is to increase the yield of crops on your land, I will help you. If you have grain that you want to sell and you don't know who is buying it, I will also provide you with a list of buyers that I know. If your carriage breaks down and you can't travel, let me know and I'll lend you my carriage. All of this concerns only Your Excellency and me. I am happy to help others at times like this, because I have been helped by many people when I am in trouble. ”

"But you're not going to help me ask the Legion to buy our food." The Duchess made the final decision.

"Yes."

"Even if we own and have a larger and more fertile land than Sulen."

"Yes."

Seeing Sheila's persistence, the Duchess sighed, "If you are willing to help us, you will be rewarded." ”

Sheila replied categorically: "That's not my way of life, I'm not going to change my way of life." ”

At this point, the duchess said she was tired, and Sheila took her leave. Sitting in the carriage, Sheila's mind was full of thoughts, and although Sheila was sticking to her own way of life before talking to the duchess, she didn't understand how she was living as she did now.

After these words became clear, Sheila only felt a sudden enlightenment. She didn't want to be dominated by someone else's life, so she went to an office that provided opportunities. There is a saying in the Great Song Dynasty called 'saving the emergency but not helping the poor', Sheila slowly learned to distinguish what is 'urgent' and what is 'poor' in a few years of training, and the wings of dreams finally became a reality with the growth of her knowledge.

This conversation allowed Sheila to finally see what her wings really looked like, and it also made her suddenly clear up to many things in the past. No wonder so many people have come to Sheila's aid, with kindness and expectations for Sheila. Because they didn't want to see Sheila as a link in some chain from the beginning, what they were looking forward to seeing was what would happen to Sheila herself, who was helped by them.

A warmth filled Sheila's heart, and she didn't know who she should thank at this moment. Such great luck befell Sheila, and Sheila was completely unaware of it for such a long time. However, Sheila did not allow herself to be immersed in such wonderful feelings, and she took advantage of the clarity of her thoughts to reflect on the things in her life that impressed her but could not be explained, hoping to use this epiphany to clear the fog that still hung in front of her.

For the next few days, Sheila was completely immersed in her own psychic world, completely oblivious to the outside world. And Sheila's mother couldn't help but talk to her husband about her daughter, who seemed to be unwilling, "She should be in love." ”

"In love?" Maximi, the new chairman of the Constitutional Council of the Eastern Roman Empire, disagreed with his wife's words: "I think she's just thinking about things. ”

"Cut...... You don't understand a girl's heart. Sheila's mother expressed disdain for her husband, "You see she's thinking about things all the time, sometimes happy, sometimes sad, that's what you only do when you're in love." Who does Sheila have her eye on? Who do you think it will be. Who has she been with lately? ”

Maximi blinked and didn't know how to answer, he himself was already busy, where did he have time to pay attention to who his daughter had been with lately. And Sheila came into contact with so many people, and even in places like the Senate, where old men gathered, there were unmarried senators of appropriate age. Not to mention those who show up at the banquet. In the end, Maximi could only ask, "Do you want to ask Sheila?" ”

"No, she'll say it herself in a little while. Girls can't hide their minds about this kind of thing. Sheila's mother said confidently.

Two days later, a distinguished guest came to Sheila's house, the Duchess of Balden, a female citizen of the Eastern Roman Empire. According to the custom, the Duchess of Bardon sent someone to meet Sheila's mother in the morning, asking if she could be free to meet the Duchess of Bardon in the afternoon. Sheila's mother, of course, would not refuse, and even though her husband and daughter were not at home, she believed that she would be able to entertain the honored guest.

At tea time, the duchess's carriage stopped at the door of Sheila's house, and Sheila's mother quickly invited the distinguished guest into the house. The two chatted casually for a while, and the duchess said, "I have an only son, who is twenty-two years old this year. I want him to get married. ”

Sheila's mother smiled when she heard the news, believing that Sheila probably met the son of a great western nobleman and fell in love. This is a smooth thing, and the female patriarchs of the empire are only worthy of the sons of the great nobles of the empire. Sheila's mother asked, "When will I see Your Excellency's son?" ”

Duchess Bardon replied, "I have written to him to come to Constantinople. It will be there in about a week. ”

The smile dissipated from Sheila's mother's face, much to the surprise of Duchess Barden. Sheila's mother's smiling appearance was a normal performance in the eyes of the duchess, and although Sheila's family was a nouveau riche in the empire, it was still a small nobleman in the rising period. The chairman of the Imperial Constitutional Council, the senator of the Senate, and the judge of the legionary army, these three positions can be blown away by the wind at any time due to a political change, and the only thing that can be stable is the marriage with the Leo family.

Sheila's marriage to the only son of Duchess Bardon would change the nature of the Cresius family. After being forced to marry an old man, Duchess Baldon understood that a strong alliance would give rise to greater power. So the Duchess didn't quite understand why Sheila's mother's smile had disappeared.

Sheila's mother said, "Your Excellency, my daughter is very tough, and I don't think she is necessarily suitable for your son. ”

"I don't expect them to be in love." Duchess Bardon sighed. She also thinks that Sheila's personality is too arrogant, but Sheila's arrogance is not that she despises others, but that her attitude towards life will make people feel arrogant. This attitude to life and Sheila's casual remarks about the management of the farm annoyed Duchess Baldon and made her look at Sheila with admiration. In order to prove whether what Sheila said was true, the duchess also called the two nobles who knew how to farm the land among the nobles who followed her, and questioned them with a few points that she barely remembered. The two nobles were frightened when they heard this, and one praised the duchess for her insight. These points have been bothering them, and no matter how they are arranged, they are not satisfied.

This effect strengthened Duchess Balden's mind, and even if Sheila was no longer a senator in the future, she would be able to manage the Baldon family's family property and carry it forward. Such a girl who can prosper the family, the duchess is not ready to let go. After expressing her opinion on love, the duchess continued: "But feelings will get better after marriage. I believe my son is worthy of your daughter. ”

Sheila's mother didn't dare to guarantee that girls in love were impulsive, and Sheila's personality was not the kind that her mother kneaded. If Sheila had left it to someone else's list, she would have been a few years old by now. But it was not appropriate to openly refuse Duchess Barden, and Sheila's mother could only say perfunctorily: "Wait until your son arrives in Constantinople." ”

When Sheila returned home that night, Sheila's mother kept an eye on her daughter. Finally Sheila had to ask, "Is there anything on my face?" ”

"Nope." Sheila's mother replied, "I ...... I'm just wondering if anyone is going after you. ”

"Huh!" Sheila laughed dryly. When he was in the office, many young men showed a crush on Sheila, who disappeared after Sheila became a senator. Young boys are very strange creatures, and if a girl has little to do with them, they will often find ways to get close to that girl. In the face of girls who have to talk about things together every day, the boys don't do anything. It's as if they don't realize Sheila is a young girl, which makes Sheila feel sorry.

It's not that no one threw ** glances at Sheila, think of those greasy middle-aged and greasy old people...... She couldn't help but feel the urge to vomit when she thought about it. Sheila didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't spoil her mother's cooking.

After a few more moments, Sheila remembered something, and she said, "By the way, I'm going out in a few days." Go and see where the coal comes from. ”

"Coal?" Sheila's mother was not very familiar with the term.

"Sister, can I go with you." Sheila's brother immediately snapped.

"Don't go, study hard." Sheila immediately took out her sister's panache.

"I want to go out and see it too. I want to be a councillor too! Sheila's brother immediately made a fuss, "Sister, I went with you to deliver things to people at that time." Caesar and Octavian were already on the move at my age. ”

"What nonsense." Sheila and Sheila's mother scolded in unison. The little guy really didn't have the courage to stand up to the two adult women in the family, and lowered his head stupidly.

Sheila said solemnly to her brother: "Gaius, a great person cares about what they have learned from what they have faced, not thinking that you have gone the same way as others and therefore will have the same results. Remember what I told you about shaving your head? Being brilliant and being smart are completely different. ”

"Hmm......" Gaius replied, bowing his head.

Looking at her brother's lost appearance, Sheila felt a little soft-hearted. She thought for a moment before continuing, "Okay, I'll go meet your mentor and listen to his comments before deciding whether or not to take you out with me." ”

"Really?!" Gaius was overjoyed, "Sister, I have good grades!" ”

Sheila said with a straight face: "Even if I take you there, I will increase my primary military training after you come back." It's not a kid's play, it's going to be very hard! ”

"Okay, I'll study hard." Gaius replied loudly, and his unhappiness was completely thrown out of the clouds.

Watching Sheila bang her brother, Sheila's mother wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything.

After eating, Sheila returned to her bedroom and began to think about her next move. Nowadays, many of the travelogues written by many members of the Eastern Roman delegation have been put on the market, which record that the cities of the Great Song Dynasty no longer burned wood, but used coal as fuel. The travelogues of the members of the visiting group who had traveled to the Wa Kingdom discussed the reason why the Wa people preferred to eat raw food, saying: 'The local trees of the Wa country were no longer enough to provide fuel for the Wa population, so they had to develop a variety of raw foods to eat in order to reduce the demand for fuel. If the Eastern Rome could not guarantee the supply of coal, we would be very close to eating raw food'.

Sheila's proposal was to develop the coal in Eastern Rome, to solve the fuel problem of the major cities in Eastern Rome, and to avoid the problem that Eastern Rome was subject to the coal of the Yuan Kingdom. Although the idea is good, it is very difficult to execute. First of all, there is the problem of money, the development of coal requires prospecting, and the imperial court simply cannot come up with so much money. The second is that money is needed to build coal mines after successful prospecting, and the imperial court does not have so much money.

So where the start-up capital for coal supply comes from, and how the price of coal is determined, cannot be nonsense. Sheila asked the people in the office how Da Song solved these problems. The answer I got was that 'the imperial court prospecting is all about the official family saying that where there is a coal mine, they will send a prospecting team there.' It can be as short as two or three months, or as long as more than a year, and the coal mine will be explored. Those coal mines are all high-quality large coal mines, so you just need to dig hard. We don't have experience with what you're asking. ’

Even Da Song has no experience, and Sheila has no idea at all on her own. This bothered Sheila a lot. She is going to take a look at the coal mines that have already been developed, just to make use of the existing resources first.