What Is It Like to Talk Politics in Front of the Empress?

Outside the window, the academy's great clock chimed on time.

Its ethereal echoes always calmed the mind.

Mr. Harrison walked into the classroom on time.

He first looked toward Li Mo's seat and greeted him. "Good morning, Li Mo."

"Good morning, sir."

"I organized and transcribed what you presented at yesterday afternoon's lawn salon last night. Early this morning, I had someone send it to the Kingdom Mathematical Association by express delivery."

Many of the students looked at Li Mo with envy.

That was the Kingdom Mathematical Association!

Even having a short paper published there would give an academy teacher enough to brag about in the faculty office for three years.

It was simply beyond the reach of students like them.

Li Mo really was far ahead of his time.

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Harrison."

"Not at all. If this language is confirmed to work, the entire kingdom will have to rewrite its textbooks on mathematical analysis. Keep it up! I'm looking forward to your second salon this afternoon. I mentioned it to many of my friends outside the academy, and they're interested too. You'd better prepare a few extra chairs today."

"All right. Thank you, sir."

Mr. Harrison smiled and walked up to the lectern. "Before we begin today's analytic geometry class, I'll take two minutes to introduce a new student. Because an elder in her family has been transferred for work, she'll be joining Class One starting today."

With that, Mr. Harrison stepped aside and said, "Come in."

The girl walked in quietly.

Naturally, the students in the classroom all looked at her with curiosity.

To the surprise of many of the boys, the new transfer student was dressed very plainly.

She wore an ordinary academy uniform. With chestnut-brown hair, black eyes, and unremarkable features, she had the kind of ordinary face that would disappear in a crowd.

But she had a particularly fine bearing.

Just standing there, she gave the impression of a noble.

Someone thought to themselves, She's probably a fallen noble. Otherwise, she wouldn't have transferred to Mondel.

Wayne blinked at his desk and muttered, "Isn't that the girl from earlier?"

Anna was also a little surprised. She turned to look at Li Mo.

Li Mo nodded. He hadn't expected the mysterious girl he'd run into on the stairs to be the student transferring into Class One today either.

At the front of the classroom, Mr. Harrison gestured to her. "Introduce yourself to everyone."

The girl said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Estelle Xi. The Xi is the one from 'tide.' You can call me Xiao Xi."

Mr. Harrison looked around at the seats in the classroom. "Estelle, take that seat by the aisle. Li Mo will be on your right. There's less than a month left before October's unified entrance examination, so if you've fallen behind in any of your classes, you can ask Li Mo for help afterward."

"Thank you, sir."

Once Estelle had taken her seat, Mr. Harrison said, "All right, turn to page forty-two of your textbooks..."

Li Mo opened his notebook, quietly observing her out of the corner of his eye.

Estelle still held her back perfectly straight when she sat down, and she seemed very attentive throughout the lesson...

When class ended,

Estelle came over on her own to ask Li Mo a question.

He spent a few minutes answering it.

Li Mo said, "Estelle, you seem pretty interested in mathematics too. The second academic salon will be held on the academy lawn at four this afternoon. If you're free, would you like to come and listen?"

Estelle nodded gently. "All right, I'll be there. And from now on, just call me Xiao Xi."

"All right, Xiao Xi."

While the two were talking, Matthew, who sat in front of them, had been listening with his ears pricked for quite a while.

When he heard Li Mo strike up a conversation with the new transfer student in just a few words and even invite her to the afternoon lawn salon, Matthew felt as though ants were crawling all over him!

He couldn't stand it any longer and hurried over to join the conversation.

"Hello, Miss Estelle. Welcome to Mondel Town. I'm Matthew Oliver. It's a pleasure to meet you. My father is Isaac Oliver, and the Oliver Cotton Mill, the largest mill in town, belongs to my family."

Estelle gave him an interested look. "Hello, Matthew."

The Oliver Cotton Mill.

She had seen the name in a local briefing submitted by the special envoy Caroline.

The briefing said that the local textile industry's supply of raw cotton had been cut off, and someone was deliberately hoarding it and disrupting the quota for military supplies in the rear.

She hadn't yet had time to investigate the matter.

She hadn't expected someone to come to her of his own accord.

Seeing Estelle look at him intently, Matthew thought she was interested in him.

Pleased with himself, he leaned against the edge of a desk and began talking at length.

"Actually, it's nothing special. I just heard you'd transferred here from out of town and weren't familiar with the place, so I was worried you might not understand the situation in Mondel Town or even in our kingdom. After all, you girls probably just read poetry and romance novels at home, right? But it's 1861 now, and things aren't peaceful out there. You should know at least a little about the bigger picture."

Estelle watched him quietly. "I'd be glad to hear more."

Seeing that she was interested, Matthew spoke with even greater enthusiasm. "Take the war in the north, for example. The newspapers are full of reports of great victories every day, but those are just meant to fool ordinary citizens! When my father entertains guests at home, the people at his table are all important figures from the town hall. I've heard all kinds of inside information from them. Apparently, the kingdom's army, the Third Legion, has suffered defeats at the Permafrost Defense Line and the Black Swamp. The Duchy of Magla's offensive is fierce, and the northern sea route has been completely blockaded..."

Estelle fell silent.

When... had military intelligence become a topic of conversation at the dinner tables of wealthy local merchants?

At the side, Li Mo keenly sensed that something was off and quietly activated Focus.

He could tell that Estelle seemed a little angry...

Estelle said softly, "It seems Mr. Oliver has very well-informed sources."

"Of course!" Matthew seized the opportunity to boast. "A man doing big business has to keep his eyes on the entire empire! Take the coal and pig iron quota controls imposed across the country this time. Outsiders all think the sky is falling, but those who really understand can see a vast fortune in the crisis!"

Warming to his subject, Matthew leaned forward and boasted in a low voice:

"To tell you the truth, Miss Estelle, my father saw through the young empress's policy direction long ago. Think about it: the empress is only sixteen this year, the same age as us. What could she understand about the laws of economics? Faced with the Duchy of Magla's offensive, what can she do but cling to her quotas?"

Wayne frowned and warned him, "Matthew, you mustn't discuss Her Majesty the Empress in private. Watch what you say!"

"What are you afraid of? There aren't any royal guards here!"

Matthew continued boasting to Estelle:

"Precisely because we knew the royal capital would be slow to react, our family bought up every bit of raw cotton on hand in town last month and put it all in our warehouse. Now that the northern route has been blockaded, raw cotton prices have tripled! Those shortsighted little workshops in town can't even afford half a bale of cotton now. All they can do is watch their supplies run out and production grind to a halt, then obediently sell their factories and machinery to us at rock-bottom prices! What do you think, Miss Estelle? You studied elsewhere before, but I doubt anyone your age there could have told you about things like this."

Estelle repeated softly, "Isaac Oliver, the Oliver Cotton Mill, obtained advance military intelligence of the northern sea blockade, monopolized all the raw cotton on hand in town, and tripled the price."

Then she asked, "Matthew, when your father did these things, did he know you were telling people all over school about them?"

Matthew puffed out his chest and said proudly, "Why shouldn't I talk about it? My family borrowed the money on our own merits and hoarded the cotton thanks to our own foresight. It's perfectly reasonable and legal! Here in Mondel Town, the people from the town hall and the banks are all honored guests of our family. Who would dare meddle in our affairs?"

Estelle nodded gently. "I see. Thank you for enlightening me."

"Ha ha, it's nothing!"

After Matthew finished speaking,

Li Mo exited his state of Focus.

He came to a conclusion.

This girl must have some connection to the higher-ups. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so angry after hearing what Matthew said.

Moreover, the girl was particularly concerned about cotton textiles.

Approaching her from that angle would be a very good way to make friends with her.

"Xiao Xi, speaking of the cotton business, my family is in it too. I recently worked out some figures. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Estelle looked at Li Mo. "Go on."

Li Mo said, "Hoarding raw cotton can only put a stranglehold on competitors because all the factories are producing the same kind of ordinary, low-count coarse cotton yarn. But what if there were an improved spinning machine that used only a fifth as much cotton to produce stronger, high-count fine-spun thread, and could even handle linen and wool blends directly?"

What he meant was that this thing would not only save costs but could also supply the military industry and high-end weaving exclusively.

Matthew froze for a moment, then scoffed. "Stop daydreaming! A fifth as much cotton? You've got to be joking!"

In Matthew's eyes,

Li Mo was competing with him for Estelle's attention, trying to see who could win her favor faster.

But Li Mo and Estelle... were clearly not talking about anything so childish.

War consumed resources.

Just how severe was the shortage of bandages and canvas at the front? Matthew had no idea.

If the technology Li Mo described really existed, it had to be put to use as soon as possible.

Estelle pressed him. "Has this improved spinning machine you mentioned already been built?"

Li Mo nodded. "If you're interested, I'll take you to the factory to see it after the salon."