Chapter Ch130.1 - Noble

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

The bells from the chapel outside the Palace of Versailles rang out.

The quiet palace seemed to suddenly awaken. The maids and guards hurried down the corridor, “Pay attention to the carpet and the dust on the curtains…”, “There’s also the Parliamentary papers that need to be presented”, “The King will arrive in five minutes…”

The first guard raised his head and bowed to the player in front of him, “Marquise.”

Wu Jin held the card in his hand and accepted the identity of the Marquise de Pompadour without any change in expression. He quietly moved his chair towards to sit near the entrance to the Council Hall, speaking quietly with Vera.

The guard whispered to his colleague on duty, “Why does the Marquise seem to be sitting so… obediently?”

“……” Wu Jin quickly changed his sitting position and tried to appear more domineering.

From over ten meters away, Dolma Entertainment’s Qin Jinbao was closely monitoring Wu Jin’s actions and discussing them seriously with his teammate, “Contestant Wu is sitting there… what’s the meaning behind that move?”, “There must be a reason––”, “Now what?”, “Follow him.”

One minute later, Qin Jinbao and his teammate moved their chairs over to sit near Wu Jin.

The chief guard bowed once again to Qin Jinbao, “Marshal Saxe!”

Wu Jin smiled as he turned his head back to exchange a friendly handshake with Qin Jinbao even as he flipped through the pages of the history covering the two major wars in his mind.

He lowered his voice and explained to Vera, “One of the three French Marshals. His military theory had a great influence on Napoleon. His combat style had a very distinct personal characteristic––”

He had been very talkative. Before a fight, the Marshal could argue with the other side over ‘whether the English gentleman should shoot first’, or ‘whether the French gentleman should shoot first’ for half a day.

Vera mouthed, “Main faction?”

Wu Jin’s expression didn’t change as he drew a horizontal line in the air. Neutral. Before the Seven Years’ War between Britain and France, Marshal Saxe, whose card was in Qin Jinbao’s hands, had died due to excessive indulgence. Naturally, he had no position in this historical war.

One and a half minutes later, Thin Fire, Ning Fengbei, and Red all appeared. Ning Fengbei seemed to have a very good relationship with Red’s female teammate.

The chief guard greeted Thin Fire, “Cardinal Townsend…”

Wu Jin quickly waved his arm and enthusiastically touched paws with Thin Fire while making a downward gesture to Vera behind his back. Cardinal Townsend, anti-war.

Three minute later, the Jingyi Double C came in. Ming Yao quickly stared at the situation, “Why did they all move their chairs over before sitting! Captain, captain, be careful––let me go first!”

Ming Yao quickly moved a chair, letting it clatter as he positioned it across from Wu Jin.

He’d just wanted to open his mouth to ask Wu Jin about it, but the question suddenly changed, “You took off the clothing before I could touch it. Little Witch, you’re not serious enough about us!”

Wu Jin froze, “Wait-wait a minute…”

Ming Yao turned to Qin Jinbao, “Brother Qin, what are you sitting here for?”

The guard next to him bowed to Ming Yao and said, “Governor of Champagne, His Excellency Soubise…”

Wu Jin’s eyes lit up. He quickly stood up and grasped Ming Yao’s hand for a handshake. Ming Yao resisted, “Wow, don’t gay me! Let me go, let me go! Captain, he’s insisting on touching my hand!”

Wu Jin didn’t hesitate before giving Vera a signal. Soubise was Madame de Pompadour’s favorite minister and most likely the second person who primarily sided with the war faction in the entire Palace of Versailles!

There were only four entrances left to the Council Room. The four from Thin Fire were anti-war, Jingyi Double C were pro-war, and Qin Jinbao were neutral. They could almost ensure that they wouldn’t lose…

There was the sound of intense footsteps coming in through the corridor. Louis XV was finally about to appear in the Council Hall.

Qin Jinbao and his teammates were still looking at each other.

Wu Jin had already returned back to his chair, so what were they following Wu Jin around to sit here for? Thin Fire looked at Qin Jinbao, with an expression of, ‘You don’t know why you’re sitting here? And you even led us to follow suit’––

Ning Fengbei suddenly came to her senses and stood up, speaking coldly, “The guards will only report the identity of any contestant who arrives once. Now, Wu Jin knows all of our identities, but which one of you knows his identity?”

Ming Yao: “…Holy shit, Little Witch, you tricked us!”

Footsteps were still coming closer from the distance through the corridor.

The King wore a white wig as he walked in front, the guards all bowing behind him. The four entrances opened up in front of the contestants, and the six Council Room seats surrounded the throne in the middle––

Wu Jin dashed towards the Council Room with a swish. Qin Jinbao, as an assault position, reacted within 0.1 seconds, grabbing Wu Jin’s arm with one hand and the door frame with the other to attempt to squeeze inside! Wu Jin elbowed back to try and defend, his movements holding Qin Jinbao back and creating an opportunity for his teammate––Vera was the first to enter!

Thin Fire’s eyes narrowed, “We have to snatch the chairs!”

Ning Fengbei looked at the doorway closest to her and was just about to sprint past, but Red moved faster than she did. In the moment when she surged forward again, she found herself held back by Ming Yao, “Captain, charge––quickly, quickly, quickly!”

A scuffle was imminent. The first two seats were taken over by Vera and Red, followed by Zuo Botang who took the third seat. Ming Yao and Thin Fire were fighting each other at the side, and Ning Fengbei was about to take the opportunity to enter––

Wu Jin suddenly pushed Qin Jinbao into the Council Room.

Qin Jinbao was stunned, his expression vigilant as he took over the fourth chair. Before he could look back at Wu Jin, the four doors to the Council Room slammed shut.

Four pro-war, one neutral, one anti-war.

It was enough.

Wu Jin lifted his legs and ran off.

All the remaining players were left outside the door. A long time later, Thin Fire finally spoke up, “How come there was the sound of six doors closing? Are there two other doors? Wait a minute, there really are two doors hidden behind the bookcase. Ah, where’s Wu Jin?”

At the end of the corridor, Wu Jin was running faster than a rabbit. Thin Fire cursed quietly––at the same time, parliament was in process.

Wei Shi and Chu Chu who’d taken over two entrances appeared at just the right time. The servant handed the documents over to the King and spoke respectfully, “We are discussing the issue of whether or not to ally with Austria and start a war with Britain. The King requires a decision to be made today…”

Half an hour later, Wu Jin, who was hiding in the corner of the kitchen and nibbling at a biscuit felt a burst of heat at his waist. The card that been placed in the pocket of his combat suit was finally unsealed.

Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764), purple noble card.

Mission 1 (Lobositz’s sand table) complete.

Mission 2 (The Seven Years’ War) complete.

Wu Jin took out the card for the King’s mistress from the previous round and looked at it again. The lady depicted on the card had faded to a black and white portrait.

Madame de Montespan (used card).

He put the two cards away again. Wu Jin slowly nibbled at the biscuit until it went from a full moon into a half circle. The rules for the whole game had basically been made clear.

In the first round with Louis XIV, all teams who’d obtained cards had been promoted. In the second round with Louis XV, those who’d obtained noble cards would be able to get their teams promoted. The advantage brought about by the identity of a card would give them a starting advantage in the next round––players could choose teammates and make alliances at the ball, but the cards obtained from the previous round couldn’t be used in the next round.

He wanted to find a second noble card for the big boss as soon as possible.

The kitchen door squeaked open. Wu Jin looked up, and Chu Chu pounced in with a chattering cry and picked up a biscuit, stuffing it into her mouth. At this time, there was only one biscuit left on the table. Vera’s hands moved quickly as she picked it up and licked it, looking proudly at Wei Shi––

Wei Shi reached out.

Wu Jin quickly handed over the remaining half biscuit he’d already eaten from.

Vera’s expression was filled with a thousand regrets. After seeing Contestant Wei eat directly along Wu Jin’s teeth marks, the green tendon at her forehead twitched. Fortunately, Chu Chu soon spoke up vaguely, “It’s done. Contestant Mao Qiukui was silly when it came to voting, and Qin Jinbao helped him vote against the war, but in the end, the results were still 4-2.”

“The King was very happy when he saw this…” Chu Chu pondered, “I remember, this war shouldn’t be fought, right?”

Wu Jin nodded, “Louis XV longs for victory more than anything else.”

Later generations would only remember that he was the most mediocre King in French history, and wouldn’t care that he had also been one of the most ambitious ones. It was just that years of failures at war and fiscal deficits had tormented the King into depression.

Wu Jin took out the activated Pompadour card, showing it to his teammates. Wei Shi suddenly spoke up, “The main set was changed 10 minutes ago.”

Wu Jin was surprised, but Chu Chu snapped her fingers and said, “Right, the murals have been changed. The maids are all discussing the front lines of the war, and the council cabinet was said to be discussing the deployment of troops for the next naval battle. It’s like––just like time has gone by in a time-lapse.”

A time-lapse––Wu Jin’s gaze froze for a moment before he said, “They’re pushing time forward, and the second round is going faster than the first round. The number of noble cards is limited. We need to move as quickly as possible.”

The kitchen door squeaked open.

The team of four, now full of food and drink, wandered back out to the corridor again. When they met a maid who was waiting for guests, Wu Jin finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

Their 4-man team was strong, but the two teams couldn’t split up a single card equally. Madame de Pompadour had given Wu Jin the card, but he had an obligation to ensure that the big boss and Chu Chu could also be promoted.

There was hope as long as they could trigger a new instance––

The maid bowed to the team slightly and said, “Your Excellency, I’m very sorry, but the Grand Duke does not welcome the Madame de Pompadour.”

Wu Jin froze, then immediately made a gesture to the big boss before fading out of the maid’s sight. After Chu Chu inquired again, the maid still answered mechanically, “The Grand Duke does not welcome guests of Madame de Pompadour.”

The big boss felt no regrets, “Switch.”

There were other players shuttling through the corridor as the frequency of encountering new instances continued to decrease. At this time, the Palace of Versailles was still full of many civilian and bourgeoisie cards, but the purpose of the team was very clear at this time. They only wanted a noble card that would allow them to advance in the game.

“The Marquis of Rebecque––”

“Madame de Pompadour launched a war against all of France, and the Maquis lost his colony in Canada, please go back. The Marquis will not entertain the Madame de Pompadour.”

“I’m sorry, Bishop Seine also…”