Sitting on the smooth-moving magic car, Matilda looked out the window.
The wide and flat road stretches forward along the line of sight. The wide avenue can almost accommodate eight or nine large carriages driving side by side. It is obviously specially designed to cope with the pressure of modern traffic. There are well-arranged and beautiful buildings lined up on both sides of the road. Those buildings have a new style that is different from Typhon, but also different from old Ansu—it retains the classical and elegant shape of the Northern Kingdom, but also has some pleasing neat lines and regular shapes.
And between these buildings and roads, you can see neatly arranged street lamps, magic projections distributed at intersections or open spaces, stop signs designed for magic vehicles to stop, and people flooding the streets in this cold winter season. , Wearing bright and thick winter clothes to welcome the crowd.
On those magic projections, on the large-scale colorful paintings at those stations, there are various welcome sentences or pictures, and even real-time images of the convoy driving.
This is the modern capital of magic, Cecil City...
Matilda withdrew her gaze, but still retained the perception of an extraordinary person, paying attention to the movement on the road outside. She looked at Philip who was in the same car with her. On the face of this young army commander, she saw Arrived with barely concealed pride.
This is normal, a noble with such a status would certainly show such pride in front of a foreign ambassador.
But on both sides of the road outside, those Cecilians who are said to be "ordinary citizens" have expressions of curiosity, excitement, and similar pride on their faces, which is not so unusual.
"I hope you are satisfied with the welcome process we have arranged," Philip said with a smile on his face, looking into the eyes of Princess Typhon, "Cecile and Typhon have many differences in customs, but we have The common root, this root can become the link between the two countries to draw closer."
"I sincerely hope for a longer peace," said Matilda, also smiling. "It will be good for all of us."
The magic convoy of the Typhon mission drove through the straight "Pioneer Avenue" of Cecil City, and was welcomed by the citizens, escorted by the security team and the Iron Rangers, and drove towards the Royal District. They gradually left the outer city, Entering the center of the city, as a large square appeared outside the car window, all the Typhon envoys including Matilda suddenly heard a loud cracking sound—
It was as if the thunder had exploded, and the distance was not very far. There was not only one explosion, but more than thirty times in a row.
Someone in the messenger team showed a look of surprise, and even Matilda couldn't help but look at Philip opposite, but the latter just smiled at her: "No need to be nervous, it's just a salute.
"It is Cecil's custom to welcome guests from afar with a salute."
Matilda blinked, recalling some information collected before in surprise, and couldn't help flashing some weird thoughts in her mind—
The Cecilians do seem to enjoy welcoming their guests with these loud cannon blasts, though sometimes they hit the sky, sometimes they hit their guests on the head...
"Interesting rules," she smiled. "In the new era, there will indeed be some new customs and habits."
When the time approached noon and the giant sun was gradually rising above the head, the Typhon envoys led by Matilda came to Gawain.
After the welcome ceremony that was not luxurious but grand enough, solemn enough, and unique to the people of Typhon, Gawain stood in front of the steps of the "Autumn Palace" and looked at the "Flower of Gaoling" with a smile on his face.
Beside him stood Hetty and Rebecca, several government affairs executives, and Veronica who was holding a platinum scepter.
Amber could not be seen at the scene, but everyone familiar with it knew that the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau must be at the scene—but he hadn't separated from the air yet.
Matilda was wearing a complicated and classic black court dress, her long black hair was dotted with thin golden chains, hanging down to her waist, she walked slowly in front of Gao Wen with an impeccable posture, and slightly lowered her head: "Salute to you, His Majesty Gawain Cecil.
"On behalf of House Augustus, I bring here the kind wishes of Typhon.
"May you be healthy and long, and may your achievements be passed down from generation to generation."
"In a sense, your last sentence is not a blessing, but a statement," Gawain said jokingly, and stepped forward, "Welcome to Cecil."
Next came the boring but unavoidable part of the official rhetoric. Both sides smiled and said the compliments prepared in advance, but everyone must still maintain a serious appearance and try to make this unnutritious business bragging look like Be more sincere.
Rebecca felt bored within a few seconds, and even secretly yawned. She looked at Matilda Augustus, who was chatting happily with her ancestors, and couldn't help muttering in her heart, looking left and right Look, there is Aunt Hetty on one side, and Veronica on the other, chatting with the former may be beaten, so she turned to the latter: "Hey, you said she is also a princess, and I am also a princess, why can't I help it?" Break a flattery into three as she did?"
This question is really difficult to answer—after all, when the Ansu Dynasty was still there, Veronica could split the same flattery into four paragraphs.
Therefore, the "Holy Maiden" who was surrounded by a faint holy light remained silent, just shook her head slightly, and then her eyes fell on that Matilda, and she did not move away for a long time.
Matilda raised her head with a feeling, and met a pair of eyes that were gentle and calm, but lacked the texture that a living person should have, just like crystal.
There seemed to be some kind of profound scrutiny in those eyes, which made Matilda's heart move slightly, but when she looked carefully again, she found that those eyes seemed to simply sweep over her, the weird scrutiny before The feeling is gone.
After the reception ceremony, there is a grand luncheon.
Formal negotiations on setting up embassies, sending ambassadors to each other, exchanging students and many other matters are scheduled for tomorrow. Surrounded by music and other elements, this kind of attitude exchange can be carried out relatively easily. On the premise that both sides of the negotiation hope that the matter can be negotiated, this kind of early negotiation will often reap very good results.
Matilda tasted exquisite food that was different from Typhon, cutting the barbecue sprinkled with various spices with a table knife, but at the same time maintained a dignified and elegant demeanor, and did not show too much attention to any kind of food. Loved, her eyes swept over the waiters passing through the banquet hall, the magic images set up around the hall, and the "Princess Cecil" not far away who seemed not very good at table manners, and finally landed on Gawain: “I had heard that the Anzu were so good at roasting meat that Typhon’s court chefs were keen to learn how the Anzu used spices, but now that I actually tasted it, I realized that their imitation was just a Imitation, authentic is a completely different thing.”
"Then you're probably going to blame your court chef by mistake," Gao Wen said with a smile, "The food in front of you is not the traditional 'Ansu cuisine', but something I came up with when I was bored in the past two years—it seems Is it to your liking?"
"You invented it?" Matilda looked at the desserts on the table and the barbecue on the plate in astonishment, and then praised from the bottom of her heart, "It's incredible, I just thought you were a powerful A knight and a wise monarch, I did not expect that you are also a gourmet who can create delicious dishes-they are indeed delicious, and it is my honor to eat them."
Gao Wen smiled and didn't say much.
When he was just unmasked a few years ago, he still thought about using the delicacies in his mind to improve the food life in another world, and for this purpose, he worked hard on several kinds of foods that were not available in the local area, but In the end, there was no such thing as "he took out a plate of barbecue and let the natives bow their heads". After all, gourmets in this world did not grow up eating soil, and he himself... was an ordinary person in his previous life. No matter how much food there is in the Celestial Dynasty, he can eat it but not cook it himself.
The few foods he came up with now get the highest evaluation of "delicious", and they were quickly overwhelmed by local chefs in terms of variety, and now they save a few barbecues and Jiangnan dim sum as "state banquets" The embellishment on it is the last achievement he left in the catering industry of this world as a traveler.
Gawain was distracted for a while, and Matilda swallowed the food in her mouth again. She looked at the small plate of thinly sliced fruit in front of her with some curiosity, and asked curiously: "This fruit tastes very strange. Never had it...is it Cecil's specialty?"
Gawain glanced at the plate of fruit, his expression almost showing a strange expression, but he maintained his indifference at the last moment: "This is the fruit of the Thorin tree, and it is indeed a specialty of the Cecil Empire."
He controlled the expression on his face, but he couldn't control the thoughts in his heart.
That was the fruit of Bertila Augustus. Most of it was used to alleviate the food crisis in the Holy Spirit Plain, and a small part was sent to Cecil City as a sample.
Now, he entertains the descendants of the family with the fruit produced by the ancestors of the Augustus family.
People have to say thank you after eating.
Think about the whole process carefully, it seems to be quite devilish...
On the other side, Matilda didn't know what she was eating (in fact, it's okay to know, after all, thousands of people in Cecil are eating these fruits), and she politely praised After that, she brought up a more formal topic.
"I came here this time, in addition to the official diplomatic visit and preparations for the follow-up overseas students and other projects, I also brought my father's personal greetings." She put the knife and fork, and smiled slightly, "He He thinks that the new order you created and the magic technology you brought are great things that can change the world, which makes him admire... "
"I didn't create the order alone, nor did I create the magic technology," Gao Wen said casually, "but I do admit one thing—they can indeed change the world."
Matilda glanced at Gao Wen, and said solemnly: "My royal father... I guessed that you would give a similar answer."
"Oh?" Gao Wen raised his eyebrows, "Then what else did he say?"
"He said that you are similar to him, and that what you are concerned about is something beyond a generation in a city and a country," Matilda said seriously, "He also wanted me to tell you something: in a country In front of interests, we are Cecil and Typhon, in front of this world, we are all human beings, and this world is not safe, at least you understand this."
Gawain paused slightly.
After a while, he smiled and said lightly: "We have built a magnificent wall together, and at the border of the wasteland of Gondor, I had a brief conversation with your father.
"So I get the sense that he's taking a longer-term view than most people in this era.
"I'm glad he let you bring this sentence, you can tell him that the fate of all of us is on this continent, and under this premise, Cecil is happy to create a peaceful and prosperous world with Typhon new era."
As soon as the words fell, Gao Wen had already raised the wine glass in his hand.
Matilda smiled, also raising her wine glass.
"Then celebrate ahead of time for a time of peace and prosperity," she said.
…
After the grand luncheon, the envoys were arranged to rest in the corresponding area of the Autumn Palace, while Gao Wen returned to his residence.
Instead of going to rest, he came to the study.
Veronica has long been waiting here.
"Wright said you have something to ask me," Gawain sat down behind the desk, looking at the "Saint" holding a platinum scepter in front of him, the former leader of the rebels in Gondor, "and I noticed that you greeted me earlier and at the banquet. I have looked at the Princess Matilda several times on the Internet—is it related to her?"
"Yes," Veronica nodded, and said straight to the point, "I sense a little divine aura in her. It's very faint, but it does exist."