Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The coachman spoke sincerely and did not want to talk anymore.

We can't arrest him and torture him to extract a confession. It seems that we can't ask anything else.

"I'm just curious. Don't be nervous. Just forget it if you don't want to talk." Winters reassured the slightly flustered coachman and stopped pressing him.

The driver nodded gratefully.

Kesha walked out of the front door. She changed out of her comfortable home clothes and put on a dark green dress decorated with embroidery and lace, a lavender silk shawl, and a richly decorated hat.

"It's just a trip to the tailor shop. This is too exaggerated." Winters walked towards Kesha in surprise: "Isn't it hot? Auntie, you're wearing a corset, right?"

"Silly boy, the tailor shop is a battlefield for women!" Kesha glared at her nephew and happily took Winters' left arm and stepped onto the carriage.

She reservedly and politely gave the coachman her destination: "Mr. Bato, please take us to Mewa's house."

The carriage drove sparklingly on the stone streets, the wheels made regular clattering sounds as they passed through the cracks in the stones, and the horseshoes tapped rhythmically on the road. The carriage's carriage was suspended from the body with belts, so it was not bumpy.

Kesha raised the curtains and admired the street view. She seemed to be in a good mood.

But Winters was preoccupied. All he was thinking about was the coachman who seemed to have joined a secret society, and the brotherhood he talked about.

Kesha lightly hit Winters' hand with a small folding fan: "What are you thinking about? Are you so lost in thought?"

"Nothing." Winters came back to his senses and replied with a smile. It was obviously inappropriate to tell my aunt about my concerns in the carriage. I had to talk to my uncle about this. So he changed the topic and asked: "By the way, why didn't you see Ella? Is she not at home?"

As long as Elizabeth is mentioned, Kesha will have a headache. She gently holds her forehead and says helplessly: "She went to Mrs. Anguizola's studio. Alas... your sister makes me worry so much. She is already sixteen years old, and she can't speak or act." She still behaves like a crazy girl, without the slightest bit of ladylike manners."

"Isn't it good to learn painting?" Winters admires those who are good at painting. Although he does not believe in religion, he always lingers in front of the beautiful murals in the church.

Kesha's mood became a little depressed: "Why is she going to learn painting? She just wants to find a name and play with her little girls. When your mother and I were as old as her, we had to do it for you every day. Grandfather can count accounts, how can she be like this now? Nv Hong can't do it, she can't read accounts, and she has no housekeeping skills at all. "

Winters felt that his aunt was belittling his sister a little too much. Elizabeth was a rare person that he could admit was smarter than him. He had to speak for his sister: "If you teach her to read accounts, she will definitely learn well. Hers I’m convinced by my mental arithmetic skills.”

"I have taught you, of course I have taught you." Kesha said in a more serious tone: "But your sister is not normal at all. I taught her to read account books, and she started complaining within two days. No matter what it is, she has just learned a little bit. I’m no longer interested in her. How can she get married? How can a good family be willing to marry her? Aren’t they bound to be deceived sooner or later? "

Kesha was silent for a while, and suddenly asked Winters hopefully: "Are there any outstanding boys among your classmates in the military school?"

Winters thought about the same period, and suddenly felt a chill and his whole body shivered. Starting from the time when Lu was young, and living together day and night for nearly ten years in the military academy, the contemporaries in the military academy have seen the most vulgar sides of each other.

Therefore, whether emotionally or intellectually, he could not accept anyone marrying his sister at the same time. If any of his contemporaries dared to marry his sister, Winters would stab him to death with a sword, no matter who it was.

So he replied firmly: "Absolutely not. None of my contemporaries are worthy of Ella. You must not find a husband for Ella from among them. Don't even think about it."

"Is that so?" Kesha sighed in disappointment. She suddenly looked into Winters' eyes, stretched out her hand and held Winters' right hand: "It's better not to talk about your sister, and talk about you."

Kesha's attitude suddenly became very formal, which made Winters a little strange. He also sat upright and listened seriously.

Kesha said very seriously: "I said this once when you went to Lian Province six years ago, and I will say it again this time when you come back. After your grandfather passed away, his property was divided into two equal parts. As dowries for your mother and me respectively. My share was brought to the Serbetti family, and your mother’s share was kept by me as your guardian because you were not yet an adult. When you officially come of age next year, I will give you I’ll give you my mother’s dowry to settle my worries.”

Winters originally thought that her aunt was going to talk about something big, but she didn't expect that it was about inheritance. Winters is a posthumous son. His father died in battle with the rank of second lieutenant twenty years ago, and his mother also died young.

Although Kesha has always strictly prohibited anyone from mentioning the details of her sister's death to her nephew, she only said that it was caused by illness. But Winters was very thoughtful, and he got the real answer after a few indirections: his mother, Kesha's sister, died of a postpartum emergency.

But he was actually not too touched by this. In his opinion, his aunt was his mother, and his uncle treated him like his own son.

He cares more about his close family members who raised him than his biological parents whom he has never met. Since his aunt didn't want him to know the truth, he had been pretending not to know.

"Auntie, I've said it several times, you can just handle this money. I don't have any objection if you add it to the family's account book or use it to make Ella's dowry." Winters said very Opposing Kesha's determination not to use a share of her nominal property.

Kesha may be worried about outsiders' rumors, but in Winters' view, no amount of gold can buy back the hard work that goes into raising a newborn baby.

"Silly boy, you still have to start a family and start a business, and there are many places where you need money. I exchanged your mother's dowry for real estate in the port area, and the value has increased a lot in the past twenty years." Kesha said with tears in her eyes. She lovingly helped Winters trim his hair: "My eldest nephew is already a young man. Elizabeth [referring to Winters' mother, who has the same name as Winters' cousin] will see you grow up in the Kingdom of God." , and she must be very happy, and when I meet her in the future, I will be able to kiss her face with pride."

During the conversation, the carriage stopped, and the driver reminded softly: "Madam, the Mewa family has arrived."

Kesha wiped her tears and returned to her matronly tone: "Thank you, Mr. Bato."

Winters left the carriage first, and then helped Kesha get out of the carriage.

The carriage stopped at a unique storefront, which occupied a width of about five meters in a row of stone houses.

The store door is painted black, so clean that you can smell the paint that has not yet dried. A pair of scissors and a set of needlework were painted on the door with golden paint, and "Mewa Brothers' House" was written in colorful characters below the pattern.

The most eye-catching design is not the store door, but the wall.

The two sides of the store door are not brick walls, but small pieces of transparent flat glass fixed with wooden frames. Behind glass, wooden mannequins display elegant sets of finished garments. Mainly gorgeous women's clothing, supplemented by elegant men's clothing.

This kind of small pieces of transparent flat glass is not cheap. At most, ordinary citizens only buy a few pieces to make windows. Most people still use wooden shutters. Using this fragile material to make walls is a very generous and imaginative design by the designer.

It was equally extravagant to paint the sign with gold paint, using gold powder instead of gold leaf. Pigments are expensive consumables, and gold paint is even more so. Although Winters had never studied painting, he knew that he could not create gold unless he used gold powder.

Winters was stunned by the behavior of Mewa Brothers Tailor Shop. He couldn't help but want to ask the shop owner: Aren't you afraid that thieves will come and tear down your shop door at night?

"Isn't it great?"

"But all these glass and paints will have to be paid for by the customer in the end?"

"Let's go." Kesha took Winters' left arm and dragged Winters into the store.

The bell on the door frame rang, and there were several well-dressed ladies and young ladies in the store selecting clothing materials. Comparing it with them, Winters no longer thinks that his aunt's outfit is exaggerated. This is not a tailor shop, it is clearly a competition ground.

A handsome young man who looked like a tailor walked up quickly. He had a ruler on his shoulders and was wearing simple work clothes that were rare in this sea of ​​colorful flowers.

He smiled warmly and walked up to Kesha, took off his hat and saluted, and said in a slightly reproachful tone: "Serbian Lady, you haven't been to the shop for a long time. Without seeing you, my inspiration has dried up. ."

If an ordinary person said this, it would definitely make people feel hypocritical and disgusting. But this handsome young man's expression, posture and tone of voice were so well controlled that even if he knew he was speaking politely, he would not be disgusted.

Kesha was unmoved and asked with a smile: "Then you have many sources of inspiration. How many ladies have you said this to?" For such a level of flattery, she already has a pretty high level of confidence. resistance.

"But you are the most beautiful one among them." The tailor, who did not know which of the Meva brothers it was, saw that the Serbian people were not impressed, so he began to attack from the side, and then praised the young man next to her: "This Who are you, handsome young man? You are just born with clothes."

Winters blushed when he heard these words, but the young tailor could say it in a sincere tone without changing his face, which shows that life is not easy.

But the effect was excellent. Kesha smiled happily: "This is my nephew. He just graduated from the United Provincial Military Academy and now works at the Army Headquarters."

The young tailor came up with a lot of clever compliments, which made Kesha happy. Winters saw several ladies in the shop peeking at him secretly, and felt even more shy, so he quickly said: "Aren't we making clothes? "

"Okay, let's take the measurements first." The young tailor led Winters to a small, clean room at the back of the store and began to measure Winters.

Winters has always been very observant. There are mostly female customers in the store, so he must have been measured by another female tailor. It's just that there is only one male tailor in front of the shop, and there are only a few child workers left, who seem to be apprentices.

And Winters heard the subtle sound of cutting cloth in the back room of the shop. He thought to himself: Maybe these Mewa brothers are actually Mewa brothers and sisters.

"What purpose do you want to make a suit of clothes for?" The male tailor grasped the key point and did not ask Winters at all, but asked Kesha.

"Two sets of regular uniforms and one set of formal uniforms." Kesha thought about it for a moment and then said, "Make another set of lieutenant uniforms."

When in the military academy, the uniforms of the cadets are uniformly tailored by the school. But outside the military academy, the officers' uniforms must be paid for by themselves.

The officer class of the Union Army was inevitably influenced by the old aristocratic class. Just like the aristocrats of the old era who brought their own equipment and attendants, the officers of the new era also had to prepare their own uniforms, horses, swords, etc.

These unwritten rules formed an invisible threshold. Bud said that he couldn't even afford a military uniform if he didn't go overseas, and that was not a lie.

"I can't wear the lieutenant's uniform yet." Winters reminded her aunt hurriedly.

Kesha disagreed: "Can't you wear it next year? Do it in advance to save money on having to do it again in the future."

Winters knew he had no say in matters of life, so he stopped objecting.

Kesha sat next to her and flipped through a folio, which seemed to be the design album of the Mewa brothers. The male tailor was busy beside Winters.

But Winters remembered the case at the dock, and he pretended to ask casually: "Do you make cloaks here?"

"Cloak? Do you want to make a cloak? We can do it for you if you need it." The male tailor said while measuring Winters' waist.

"That means it seems like Brother Mewa doesn't usually make cloaks?"

The male tailor replied with a smile: "The shop usually makes more exquisite clothes, but I have never made cloaks."

"Approximately how many tailors are there in Hailan City?"

"Not many, less than a hundred people." The male tailor added: "Many people don't go to tailor shops to make clothes from us. Most of them buy the materials and make them themselves."

After hearing this, Winters understood that it was unrealistic to try to find the man in black robe from the tailor. The cloaks of those assassins were not necessarily made by outside tailors. They could also be made by hiring a maid who knew needlework.

However, even if there was a clue, Winters was unwilling to give up. He politely asked the male tailor: "Can you help me find out which tailor in Hailan City has recently received a job of custom-making a black cloak?"

"No problem." The male tailor asked politely: "Who are you looking for?"

Winters smiled lightly and replied: "I want to find some friends wearing black cloaks."

"If you are looking for clothes, why not look for materials." The male tailor wrote down the measurements in a small book and said casually.

"Looking for clothing material?"

"There are more than forty sewing suppliers in Hailan City, and each company's materials are slightly different. If you bring the fabrics, I can roughly tell which company's materials they are from, and then ask the cloth merchant who supplies them. For supply, it will be much easier to continue searching.”

This is indeed a good idea, but unfortunately Winters does not have the clothing materials of those assassins. He thought about the situation at that time and couldn't explain why.

"What material is it? Linen? Cotton? Wool? Silk?" the male tailor asked.

Winters tried hard to recall the feel of the cloak when he struggled with the man in black: "I don't know, I just know it should be made of good material. The cloth is very dense, but not as smooth as silk."

"Then it should be wool or cotton." The male tailor made a judgment: "I will help you find out, but there are many cloth merchants selling cotton and woolen fabrics in the city, so don't count on me."

"Thank you."

After taking the measurements, all that's left is to pick the fabric. In this process, Winters completely turned into a puppet. Under Kesha's command, the male tailor brought one kind of fabric after another for Kesha to choose. Time and time again, Winters was asked to stand on the small platform and put the fabric on it. See the actual effect on Winters. After choosing the fabric, I started choosing the style.

Winters originally thought he would just go to the tailor's shop to take measurements and it would be over soon.

But when the exhausted Winters and the delighted Kesha returned home, it was almost dark.

In the mansion, Antonio has been waiting for a long time and is passing the time playing with the cat in the living room. As soon as Winters entered the house, he was immediately stopped by Antonio. His uncle said seriously: "Follow me, it's urgent."

The method of making small flat glass appeared in the German region in the 11th century, and later spread to the Italian peninsula. The Venetians improved this technology, and at least in the 14th century they were able to make transparent glass, but at that time, colored glass was more valuable. .

The method of making large pieces of transparent glass was relatively late, appearing in 1674.

Thanks to the book friend The Rat Who Stealed Food for his recommendation vote;

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