Chapter 1933 - 528: The Ripples Stirred by the Bell Sound Echoing in Everyone's Hearts (Part 3)

Saint Sis above...

How can someone be so bad?

It costs twenty silver coins just to ring a bell... Enough said, please hang this sacred Ancient Bell at Horace's doorstep!

He'll work for just 5 silver coins, absolutely fair to both young and old. As long as the sound of silver coins keeps falling, his bell sound will never stop!

"Damn... Damn it, I last cried the last time! This wicked unequal treaty must be abolished!"

"Two loving souls coming together is the will of the Divine, what right does a bell-ringer have to represent the Divine? Did he ask for Horace's opinion!"

Mr. Horace, who often speaks radical opinions, inadvertently spoke human words this time, using his sleeve to wipe the tears from the corner of his eyes and then offered the sleeve to his teary-eyed wife.

His wife grabbed the sleeve to blow her nose, looking at him with tearful eyes.

"If it were me... would you do as Matthew did for me?"

Seeing his wife's swollen eyes, the grieving Horace almost burst out laughing, because it was indeed the funniest joke he'd heard today.

However, he certainly held back.

Even though he is a Campbell, he's not a natural warrior, and there's no need to face a rampaging female Demon King.

He wiped his sleeve on the corner of his clothes.

"Dear, for you, not to mention kneeling like Matthew, what's wrong with cutting off my kneecap to give the Lord as a chamber pot? If he wants one, I'll give him two."

His wife glared at him with a reddened face.

"I must have been blind to fall for you; you'd rather cut off your legs than open your purse, is that it? Just take them to the grave with you!"

"No... do you really think the Lord wants money?" Horace said, both crying and laughing, "They have much more money than you and I do."

"Enough, am I living with the Lord? You don't understand me at all; what I want is your attitude!" His wife glared at him with swollen eyes.

Horace couldn't help but hum quietly in his heart; what he feared most is when a woman says this, because it often means she hasn't figured out what she wants.

Alright.

Horace thought seriously, if he were Matthew and that Lord who never showed up was Prince Colin...

Hmm...

Perhaps, he should talk to his wife?

After all, he didn't care much about chastity, and his wife would be happy; plus, he'd also have the honor of meeting Prince Colin.

There's nothing wrong with this, is there?

It must be said, Thunder City's Parliament wasn't much more virtuous than His Majesty Theoden's Parliament, even if they both bore the name Parliament.

However, the scripts they received were ultimately different.

Moreover, the esteemed Mr. Horace did not share his blasphemous thoughts with his wife, but instead took out a tissue he had long bought but never used and handed it to her.

"Dear, I did have a poor attitude just now. But this new dress took me a lot of courage to buy, perhaps you could use this next time?"

Not only did his wife break into a smile, but this time even the children joined in the laughter.

...

The theater during the day is not as lively as the theater at night.

Only a few people managed to steal some leisure time, as most still had work to do. Only those doing day labor at the docks and citizens conveniently off shift could take the time to visit.

Even if many people added up to a lot.

Aside from the theater and the Iris Flower Troupe making a killing, the real winners were the vendors peddling tissues, handkerchiefs, and silks outside the theater.

Their goods even sold better than the theater's tickets.

After all, even the operas on Queen Street didn't make people cry like this, and not every gentleman used to carry such things.

But soon, they would adopt new habits.

The ladies on the Northeast Shore of Vortex Sea would never respect these gentlemen more for being quick to the draw, but they might indeed be touched enough to cover their mouths because the young men here always carried a tissue in their pockets.

Ladies were, of course, the same.

The bell sound echoing on stage resonated with them because everything Eloise cared about was exactly what they cherished.

The name "Eloise" spread over the city like a sudden fire, with posters on all four walls of the theater; the endearing portrait no longer merely a simple image.

It had become a banner.

Or symbol.

Though no slogan of resistance was written on that banner, it possessed a power more deafening than any tangible flag.

After all, for most laboring citizens, the term "feudal oppression" is far removed, and biting the bullet is just part of the routine.

Those complex sociological definitions, and theories about personal dependencies, are obscure to common folks who haven't read serious books.

They might not understand it, or if they do, they might even misinterpret it, ending up kissing the noose that could hang them as if it's a lifeline.

But that bell sound everyone heard made everything tangible.

Campbell people may not have had higher education, but almost everyone has experienced love and real-world suffering.

And once pain has a concrete name, once it becomes something spoken and seen, it gains the power to pierce the heart.

Even those who don't agree with it will be stung by it.

This is what feudalism fears the most.