Chapter 44 (1/1)

Chapter 44: Telling Tales

“This is aristocracy!” The three si over the classroohter and a twinkle invaded his eyes, stirred by the exciting speech It was a sentiment shared by almost all in attendance

Wu Junyi’s hard expression had softened perceptibly, and beside him Jin Yan’s breath had quickened to match her flushed face

Tang Mi’s jade green eyes shone Beside her sat Zhou Qianlin, and though her expression was unchanged, her heart was beating with excitehteenth century of the Forral part of society They were important Even today the older families protect and pass on their titles of nobility, and grant theenerations When the nobility becaeoisie didn’t rise up, didn’t rail against their culture On the contrary they sent their sons and daughters to finishi+ng schools in the hopes of becoures and insignia’s, anything they could to inherit the mantle of ‘noble’ The reason why the noble institution has continued until today is because it has earned the approval of the people Because the people believe that the noble spirit represents a certain honor… A certain dignity”

“In the old days battles were all more or less the sahbors Looking back on thehts like schoolyard scuffles”

“Long ago in the forrandson, Henry, and his sister’s son Stephen thought they were entitled to the throne of England Stephen had already been in the country when the king passed, so he was first to arrive He rushed forth to claim the throne as his own Henry, rew resentful So he raised an ar, inexperienced, and he deployed his troops without the proper planning or strategy His mercenary army arrived from afar to land on his native shores, and disembarked to find that he had spent all of his one What was he to do? It was then he ca a noring for aid I have e the proper provisions I ask you to send financial assistance so that I ly, Stephen acquiesced and sent his second-cousin soan a second bid for the throne”

As he related the story Lan Jue had returned to his normal, soft-spoken persona A small smile was on his face, and as he continued he had the attention of every ear in the hall

“Someone offers you financial assistance, and you return the favor by trying to rateful at the very least, but nobles believe that affording your enemies a measure of leniency is a matter of course If competition is required, then there will be coainst Stephen in a second go At this point he had grown older, wise, and this resulted in Stephen’s defeat He had won his victory, but the result was quite interesting The two signed a treaty wherein they agreed Stephen would remain upon the throne, but Henry would becoe and Henry beca only a successor’s title after winning such a difficult victory hardly seems worth it But this is precisely the spirit of nobility Henry use the code of aristocracy to repay Stephen for his earlier leniency”

Lan Jue paused as though lost in thought Gradually the look in his eyes grew ards to the noble spirit there is yet another story that ettable tale It was back when I was still a student, a story my own professor told me Today I’ll tell it to you”

“In the former era mankind had produced a massive cruise shi+p They christened it the titanic”

“The na to the giants called titans The titans wished to ar against the God Zeus on behalf of the mysterious forces of nature They were ultimately defeated, and banished to the depths of the Atlantic ocean, buried deeper than the eighteenth level of hell itself Thus it was people said the name ‘titanic’ was poorly chosen, ominous, and would invite catastrophe”

“And as predicted, the shi+p sank to the bottom of the sea in an accident”

At the mention of Zeus, Zhou Qianlin inadvertently raised her head Her eyes found Lan Jue’s looking directly back at her

Lan Jue continued “But the difference between this great shi+p and the titans of lore was that the only thing that sunk was it’s steel it’s bolts… it’s people It’s spirit was never conquered That is to say that the titanic sunk, taking with it the lives of one thousand five hundred passengers But the invincible spirit of human civilization rerew louder as he pressed on

“As the boat sank eighttheir instrunity and honor of the hu to bow it’s head to the ruthless acts of nature Just as the farote in his book The Old Man and the Sea: A man is not made for defeat Athe old naw on the fish lashed to his boat until there was nothing but bone, but they couldn’t gnaw the sailor’s undaunted spirit This was the burning fire of the inner spirit, the will of uish”

“Even many years later people still laud the actions of those e when they faced drowning in the brine? How is it they could adhere to their duties when death lay in those tumultuous waters? How is it they could retain the noble sentiment to wait until all the wo of themselves? Statistics state that seventy-six percent of the sailors died in the accident, a ratio that outstripped the first, second and third class passenger deaths combined The sailors even had evacuation preference over the passengers – but they gave their opportunity to others They took on that hopelessness for themselves Nor was it one, or two sailors who did this All nine hundred staff, including sailors, waiters, firemen and even the cook all chose to stay behind; soto do what they did As we think on it today, this sort of towering spirit of hu of that great shi+p It is almost unbelievable”