Jia

"History transmits knowledge, and it transmits civilization; therefore, as a noble, history is indispensable. And antiques carry the imprints of history. To learn history well, one must first learn antiques well."

"Nobles ought to be erudite, elegant, and wise. A true noble must surely love and be well-versed in antiques. Who among you can tell me the background of this ring in my hand?"

Jia held the ring up in the sunlight. It did not have much of a brilliant luster, and it was obvious that it had not been polished from gemstones. The material should be quite special.

Merlin knew nothing about antiques, but Anson beside him was quite fond of them and usually loved to collect some interesting antiques. Hearing Jia's question, Anson immediately stood up.

"Teacher Jia, might I examine this ring closely?"

Jia nodded and personally handed the ring to Anson. Anson gently stroked the ring, carefully observing the patterns upon it, and finally said with absolute confidence, "The material of this ring is special; it should be polished from jade. Using jade to make rings—historically, only during the mysterious Molta Empire period three thousand six hundred years ago were people passionate about making rings from jade. And the patterns on the ring also precisely display that style. It is undoubtedly a ring from the Molta Empire period."

Hearing Anson calmly analyzing the background of the ring, a flash of surprise also crossed Jia's eyes. She then nodded and said, "Not bad, you spoke very well. What is your name?"

Anson felt a surge of joy in his heart and immediately said, "My name is Anson."

Jia nodded and continued, "Not bad. Anson's analysis just now was very accurate. It can be seen that Anson must be quite erudite and has already grasped the most basic elements of noble etiquette. Every noble should be exceptionally erudite. However, you may not understand antiques, but it does not matter. I will spend a long time specially explaining to you some of the basic elements of recognizing antiques. Now, let this ring be passed among you to feel the material, and then look at the patterns, experiencing the vicissitudes of three thousand six hundred years all the more."

The ring was first passed to Merlin and the others in the front row. Merlin was not interested in antiques, but he was very interested in the Molta Empire that Jia had mentioned.

He also had some impressions of this Molta Empire in his memory. The Molta Empire of three thousand six hundred years ago was undoubtedly a great and mysterious empire.

To call it great was because three thousand six hundred years ago the Molta Empire unified the entire continent, unlike the present where there were nearly dozens of kingdoms, large and small.

To call it mysterious was because the collapse of the Molta Empire was truly baffling. It collapsed almost overnight without a single sign, and the entire Molta Empire only existed for less than a hundred years. Until now, regarding why the Molta Empire collapsed overnight, there was still no unified understanding.

Why would a vast empire collapse overnight? Merlin found it somewhat hard to believe; he was more inclined to believe that it was because too much time had passed, leading people to spread exaggerated falsehoods and thus masking the true cause of the Molta Empire's collapse.

The ring was passed toward the back, and Jia followed along behind it. At this time, Merlin noticed that Anson, who had still looked excited just a moment ago, now wore a somewhat unsightly expression.

"Anson, what's wrong?"

Merlin asked softly.

Anson glanced with a complex expression at Jia, who had walked to the back, and then let out a long sigh, slowly saying, "Wanting to hook up with Jia is probably impossible. I originally thought she was like all the other women, coming here just to seduce some noble scions. But after seeing this ring, I feel this is quite unlikely. Do you all know how much this ring is worth?"

"Tens of silver coins?"

Gute also did not know much about antiques. In his view, jewelry was the most valuable thing; this ring was merely polished from ordinary jade, and for it to be worth tens of silver coins would already be quite good.

However, Anson shook his head and said, "Tens of gold coins couldn't buy it. You might not know, but on the current market, antiques from the Molta Empire period are priced ridiculously high, let alone a ring refined and polished like this one, which definitely belonged to the ornaments of the nobility at that time. To be able to casually pull out an antique worth tens of gold coins—do you really think Jia came here for money?"

Merlin also fell into contemplation. In this world, there were three denominations of currency: gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. A single gold coin was roughly equivalent to one thousand of his past life, and dozens of gold coins meant tens of thousands. Someone able to casually produce tens of thousands definitely could not be here to hook up with noble scions.

"Hn, that makes some sense. It seems this woman has some background, but it doesn't matter. There isn't a person I want to inquire about that I can't investigate. Give me a few days, and I can dig up Jia's ancestors three generations back."

Gute's face was filled with an expression of confidence.

Jia's first class passed quickly. These noble scions only attended one class a day, so one after another, people began to leave.

Merlin and Anson also arrived outside the small building. Moss was already waiting there. Just as Merlin was about to scramble into the carriage, Anson behind him hastily grabbed his overcoat and said in a low voice, "Merlin, why go back so early? How about coming with us to a place?"

Thinking of Mei Xue's warning earlier, Merlin shook his head helplessly and said, "Forget it, I'd better go back early. I won't go today. Besides, Mei Xue warned me today that I must return before dark."

Anson hurriedly said, "Merlin, where do you think we're going? Heh heh, this time it's to take you to broaden your horizons. A recent acquaintance of mine has gotten some new antiques, and both Gute and I want to go take a look."

"Just looking at antiques?" Merlin hesitated slightly.

"Of course we're going to look at antiques. Let's go."

Merlin finally nodded, saying to Anson and Gute, "Get on up, let Moss drive us."

Anson, however, said with a look of disdain, "Just your beat-up carriage? Riding inside is suffering; we'll take Gute's carriage instead."

Merlin looked up and saw a luxurious carriage draped in animal hides and drawn by four horses appear before the three of them. Comparing the two, Merlin also revealed a trace of a wry smile, then nodded and instructed Moss, "Moss, go to the church to pick up Mei Xue. Such cold weather, riding in a carriage will be more comfortable."

"Then Young Master Merlin, what will you do when you return?"

Moss glanced at Anson and Gute, a worried expression appearing on his face.

Gute waved a hand and said, "I'll send Young Master Merlin back."

Moss nodded, and without speaking further, directly drove the carriage toward the church. Merlin and the others also climbed into Gute's ultra-luxurious carriage and slowly departed.