The Favored Heiress-Chapter 756: You Can Report to the House of Nobles

Xi Luo nodded with a smile and then gazed at the group approaching from ahead, lifting her skirt to meet them with a spark in her eyes, "Greetings, Marquis... Lawrence."

She drew out her words and deliberately changed the address, her mocking tone quite thick.

As astute as Li Qiao was, she sensed something off about her and slightly narrowed her eyes.

Shang Yu, meanwhile, dropped his gaze, looking at Xi Luo’s shrewd expression with indifferent acknowledgment.

Gu Chen, an onlooker, stepped slightly aside, afraid that he, an innocent bystander, might get caught up in Xi Luo’s troublemaking.

For the man in front was not only the newly inaugurated Marquis Lawrence, but also the Godfather of Black Hawk, the most powerful force in Aida State, with inextricable ties to the International Club.

Could a mere civil servant member possibly stick to the script?

Presumably, it was the first time Shang Yu attended a banquet as Marquis Lawrence, as most of the surrounding guests cast scrutinizing looks, yet few approached to converse.

It was then Feng Yi, dressed in a splendid tailcoat, approached from the left. He glanced at the marquis’s insignia on Shang Yu’s suit collar and performed a gentleman’s courtesy, joking with a smile, "Taking the stage as a marquis, how would this make the other nobles feel?"

With Li Qiao in his arm, unlike the noble ladies who would traditionally be linked at the arm of the gentlemen, Shang Yu’s deep, ink-dark eyes fixed on Feng Yi, his thin lips slightly parted, "Blame them for not having capable wives."

Unexpectedly complimented, Li Qiao curved her lips and serenely accepted this praise.

Forced to swallow a mouthful of dog food, Feng Yi cast a sidelong glance at the man, as if to say, "So you’re the only one with a woman, huh?"

Soon, the majority of the invited dignitaries gradually arrived at the manor.

Looking around, there were at least a hundred people in pairs.

Yin Zhihong, the current steward of the Charlman Ducal Mansion, wearing the standard attire of a noble’s steward, led a welcoming team out of the castle one by one.

Li Qiao, watching through the faintly discernible crowd, kept her gaze steady on him—no wonder Yin Mo had a mix of Eastern and Western features; it seemed Yin Zhihong had some Western blood.

He greeted the guests with a bow and offered a few polite words, then stepped aside to invite everyone into the castle for a tour.

Just as Gu Chen said, entering the castle involved a security check, the rigor of which was comparable to that of the parliamentary session.

Guns or knives had to be handed over, and even cell phones had to pass through a scanner.

All accompanying bodyguards were required to wait outside and not enter.

As Li Qiao stepped into the castle, she noticed the communication device in her ear start to emit interference noise.

It was clearly signal-blocking technology.

After the security check concluded, twenty minutes had already passed.

The castle interior was rich and magnificent, with stone sculptures visible everywhere, and a standing life-sized statue placed beneath the fan-shaped window directly in front.

Li Qiao looked around several times and was about to look away when she saw several figures slowly walking down the staircase from either side of the statue.

Xiao Yehui was in the lead, followed by Ming Dailan and Xiao Yeyan, flanked by several Royal Knights, but their youngest daughter was nowhere to be seen.

Whether noble or high-ranking official, everyone inside the hall paid their respects—an emblem of reverence for stature, "Your Grace Duke Charlman, Madam Charlman."

Li Qiao and Shang Yu watched unperturbed from the side.

Clad in the most resplendent European court attire, Ming Dailan basked in the supreme glory, and for a moment, Li Qiao suddenly understood why she had married into the Ducal Residence for a second time.

Shang Zonghai had once said, Ming Dailan, relying on her beauty, had great ambition; compared to the noble wife of Parma, to receive such top-level honors in the Western world would indeed satisfy an intense sense of vanity.

At that moment, Xiao Yehui, dressed in a red velvet duke’s outfit with a golden sash hanging from his chest, approached the crowd, looking around at everyone with a warm, gentle smile, "Thank you, esteemed colleagues, for attending the manor’s evening banquet. I am profoundly honored."

"Your Grace is too kind."

Xiao Yehui looked at the densely packed noble guests, exchanged a few simple pleasantries, and then ordered someone to lead everyone to look around at their leisure.

From beginning to end, his gaze did not stray, and there was no eye contact with the Five Sons, as if they were unseen.

...

The high society banquet was nothing more than a vanity fair for mutual social climbing.

As the guests dispersed to explore, many of them also approached Xiao Yehui to strike up a conversation.

Li Qiao discreetly glanced at the time, and as she looked up, two figures slowly came into view.

"Lawrence?" Madam Xiao sized up the badge on Shang Yu’s chest, moving her gaze away after a single glance, "It must have cost you quite the effort to buy that identity. The House of Nobles hasn’t discovered it yet, I presume."

Li Qiao glanced sideways at Shang Yu, her cool palm silently took hold of his hand, providing silent companionship.

Shang Yu’s tender fingertips slowly tightened, his eyes met Madam Xiao’s as he spoke in a low and calm voice, "You are welcome to report me to the House of Nobles."

Madam Xiao laughed leisurely, her eyes harboring deep sarcasm, "You’re not worth the Ducal Residence personally taking action."

The man’s lips curled into a cold smile, his thumb caressing the back of Li Qiao’s hand, his polite words full of mockery, "Thank you for your concern."

Li Qiao lowered her head to adjust the black veil on her shoulders, arching an eyebrow and casting a glance that drew Madam Xiao’s attention without a word— a single look was enough.

As their eyes crossed, Madam Xiao, maintaining her poise, spoke gently, "Young lady, attending such events requires understanding their etiquette. Being impolite will only make people look down on you and your husband, the Lawrences."

Li Qiao nodded with an air of taking the advice to heart, "You’re right, abandoning your own son yet enjoying the worships of a noble as a stepmother—they must indeed hold you in high regard."

Seeing this, Madam Xiao’s smile grew rather than diminished, as she shook her head with a semblance of helplessness, "I thought you had more intelligence, but it seems that’s not the case. Xiaoyan, why don’t you keep the Lawrences company for a chat. I must attend to other important guests."

Madam Xiao’s eyes lingered deeply on Shang Yu before she turned and headed to the side hall with a knight accompanying her.

Xiao Yeyan bowed to her retreating figure, straightened up with a polite smile on his face, "Lawren..."

But before he could finish, he found that he was speaking to thin air.

The smile on Xiao Yeyan’s face froze, and turning, he saw Shang Yu and the other had already headed toward the garden in the castle’s rear hall.

Truly audacious.

A mere Marquis dared to act with such disregard in the Ducal Residence?

Xiao Yeyan seemed to ponder something, his beautiful eyes narrowing slightly, lips curving into a meaningful smirk.

...

In the back garden, as dusk fell, lanterns were being lit one by one.

Li Qiao lifted her dress hem and strolled through the courtyard with Shang Yu, with bodyguards and patrolling members of the Knight Squad visible everywhere.

There was still half an hour before the banquet began when Xi Luo appeared out of nowhere.

"Marquis, there are two Lower House members who would like to have a word with you—can you oblige them?"

She stood smiling behind them, thumb gesturing behind her twice, and indeed, not far off in the courtyard stood two middle-aged men with restrained smiles.

Compared to the House of Lords, the Lower House was the real power center of the British Imperial Parliament.

Li Qiao turned to look at the two members, her peripheral vision catching Xi Luo’s full implication.

Shang Yu turned his gaze sideways, a simple gesture that made the two members instinctively bow and hunch their chests.

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