met free Chapter 4287 Loyal Astley
Chapter 4287 Loyal Astley
Chapter 4287 Loyal Astley
"The club is a place for everyone to interact. If you contribute, you will naturally be rewarded. Ms. Redstone, you don't seem to lack crowns, and you have a male companion that everyone envies. So what do you need?"
Antiques from the era of Delineor? Magical supernatural gadgets? Some possibly inaccurate secret information? Or perhaps, you could point out the next event the club will be holding.
Lady Butterfly asked with a smile, and Viggo felt Shade squeeze her hand; she naturally understood what Shade meant:
"Can you provide everything I'm asking for?"
"I don't think we're omnipotent, but at least the club can meet most of the requirements."
Wei Ge pretended to think for a moment before speaking:
Is there anything you're interested in?
This was addressed to Shad, so Shad spoke:
"The most interesting thing in the country recently is the rumored major case at Willendale. So, can the Charming Ladies Club provide information about the truth behind that case?"
Madame Butterfly used her feather fan to cover the lower half of her face that was not covered by the mask:
"Mr. Wrist's question is interesting, but I can give a definite answer. It's just that, Ms. Redstone, the level of detail in your answer depends on how many invitations you can produce."
Vige pretended to roughly shake off Xia De's hand and leaned forward slightly:
"Haha, you guys actually managed to produce the truth about this?"
She then pretended to think:
"Four invitations are the most I can provide. After tonight's event, I'll have someone deliver them to where you keep the information for the next club event."
Madame Butterfly snapped her feather fan shut with a whoosh.
"That's quite a generous gesture, Ms. Redstone. I knew I hadn't misjudged you."
She moved closer to Wei Ge, which made Wei Ge, who didn't like getting too close to strangers, feel a little uncomfortable.
Madame Butterfly lowered her voice slightly and said:
"The theft occurred at the Willendale Mint. Under the personal supervision of our King, the Grey Gloves of Willendale have already investigated and found out who committed the theft."
She paused deliberately to create a dramatic effect:
"The theft was not committed by MI6, nor by Drinor Zionists or other domestic reactionaries. The real culprit was an internal member of the mint. There was no grand conspiracy involved. Although the mint's internal management appeared strict, there were actually loopholes in the safekeeping of the warehouse keys."
We must believe that every organization has its flaws; powerful figures are not as perfect as we imagine, and even the most renowned organizations are not truly as tightly controlled and stable as steam-powered machinery. The thief merely acted on a whim, and then found the opportunity to steal the two printing plates that should have been locked deep within the vault.
Wei Ge didn't believe it:
"How could an insider take away something so important on his own?"
“Ms. Redstone, sometimes reality is more dramatic than stories. Stories that wouldn’t dare to fabricate can actually happen in reality. I’m not talking about false information; this is intelligence from the Grey Gloves of Velendale, investigated and reported to His Majesty the King. It’s very accurate.”
The beautiful middle-aged woman smiled and said:
"The thief happened to be sent by the mint to our side to participate in the Old World Industrial Exposition, so the master printing plates were taken to Arcadia. Now the thief has broken away from the mint's delegation and is hiding in some corner of the city. I heard that the old Delinor people are very interested in those two master printing plates, but the club doesn't know any more details."
Now that Margaret is not in Willendale, it would be difficult for her to obtain such firsthand information. And since "Lion" already knew that the two banknote printing plates were in Arcadia, he didn't inform Margaret to search for them, but instead arranged for the Grey Gloves system to continue the search independently. There's a rather intriguing reason behind this.
Madame Butterfly's information was extremely valuable; the fact that she directly mentioned "the master printing plate" proves the accuracy of her information.
"So it was an inside job. That's not surprising. But the missing item was actually the printing plate for banknotes. That's a big deal."
Viggo feigned surprise, indicating she wanted to know more but didn't press the matter further. The "Glamour Ladies Club" was far more valuable than she had initially imagined when she first arrived two weeks ago. There were some things she didn't need to inquire about herself; Agelina could easily send someone to gather information from other sources later.
Madame Butterfly seemed unaffected. She didn't leave immediately but sat down next to Viggo and chatted with her about the club's activities that evening. She even exchanged a few words with Viggo about the topic of the starry sky and personality.
After Madame Butterfly left before the first event of the evening began, Viggo complained to Shad in a low voice:
"Although she acted very friendly, I still don't like that kind of person. I wouldn't want to come here a fourth time unless absolutely necessary. What are you looking at? Oh, how can those women over there wear clothes like that?"
Vigo refers to the female dancers who just entered the greenhouse through the side door. Their dance performance is the first event of the evening, and the clothes they wear use even less fabric than some of the costumes that Shad conjured with "The Key to the Gate - Cinderella".
Shade wasn't looking at the dancers, of course; he was looking at Madame Butterfly standing by the water lily pond. Although he couldn't sense anything up close, outsiders always trust their intuition, and this was his third encounter with Madame Butterfly, and Shade had begun to suspect her.
Vige claimed she didn't like this place, but actually she quite liked being able to curl up in a corner with Shad, kissing and whispering sweet nothings. Of course, Vige hadn't forgotten her second reason for coming here tonight: to obtain the contact information for the "Grey Gloves" intelligence network's crucial nodes.
After the ladies' dance performance came an art exhibition, followed by a book club. Afterwards, different people went to participate in different activities. Most were led away from the greenhouse, but Shad and Viggo stayed behind, meaning they wouldn't participate in any additional activities and wanted to spend the remaining time strolling around the manor's gardens.
Many others made the same choice, deliberately leaving the greenhouse in batches from the entrance and heading to different parts of the garden to meet their lovers.
Viggo first strolled around the garden with Shad on an early summer night. Shad even picked a rose and placed it behind Viggo's ear, making the Astley girl giggle with delight.
Following the information given by Adelina, the two arrived at the southeast corner of the maze-like garden and successfully found a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair reading a book under a hound statue of unknown significance.
There was a gas lamp right next to the statue, which would provide her with light. Neither Shad nor Viggo recognized the stylishly dressed woman; she wasn't a guest at the club event, and she had likely been there from the beginning.
The hedges formed a square around the statue area, with only one gap allowing entry. Viggo didn't follow, but stood at the gap to wait, while Shad sat down next to the middle-aged woman reading a book. He then discovered that she was reading the third volume of "The Hamilton Detective Stories," and in De La Rion's language.
Shad took the prepared triangular-folded letter from his pocket and handed it to the woman. She then placed the book face down on the chair on her other side, glanced at the letter, and asked:
What do you want to know?
"Two things. First, the local agents are no longer trusted, but our mission is not yet complete. The old contact is dead, and I need new, reliable intelligence leads;
Secondly, Her Highness Margaret's people are trying to contact us, but our orders are only to investigate the theft. We need someone to explain to Her Highness on our behalf; she has no authority to contact us.
The woman nodded and gave Shad an address and a time:
"We need to find the new intelligence contact information there, but there are indeed major problems locally, so I can't guarantee that the new intelligence contact is reliable."
Instead of looking at the other person, Shad looked ahead:
"I will make my own judgments. I need to see clearly what's in front of me and also what's behind me. This is what our instructors often say during training."
The woman continued:
"I will explain things to Princess Margaret. News has come from headquarters that His Majesty is still personally directing this operation. However, if the princess does manage to find you, don't deliberately hide what you know. You come from Velendale and know more about the three royal heirs than I do. We are loyal to Carsenrick, and also to the throne and the crown. Don't easily get involved in the internal affairs of the royal family."
Shad chatted with her for a few more minutes before leaving. She told Shad that local agents were not only investigating the theft but also the Astley family. They still believed the Astley family might be behind the theft. Even if they weren't, they needed to prevent the Astley family from also trying to obtain the two stolen banknote printing plates.
Viggo was naturally furious about this, but sometimes proving one's innocence is more troublesome than committing the crime itself, especially when others have already begun to have doubts.
On the way back from the club event, Vigo was still angry. Once she and Shad returned to Fragrant Mansion, Vigo immediately summoned Adelina:
"The objective has changed from contact to infiltration! Adelina, I'm giving you top-level authority to mobilize manpower and complete the full infiltration of the local Grey Gloves organization as soon as possible. Hmph~ No matter what methods you use, I don't want to hear anyone doubt the Astley family again! We are loyal, and since they doubt that, then let them all become ours."
Adelina blinked and looked at Shad again. She didn't think she couldn't do it, but she didn't know if she should.
"In that case, let Arcadia burn."
Xia De then said, and Wei Ge paused for a moment before blinking:
"Although I was angry, it wasn't to that extent. After all, this is my hometown."
Adelina understood that Shad meant support:
“Okay, teacher, I understand. The recent operations have been going very smoothly. There are actually many problems within the local Grey Gloves organization. A small number of people have already been bought off with crowns. With the help provided by Margaret and the support of the royal heir, the infiltration work is not difficult.”
Wei Ge nodded, feeling that finding a capable apprentice for herself was indeed necessary:
"However, it's best to operate as covertly as possible; burning down the city won't work."
Wei Ge added, still not entirely at ease, that she didn't care about the consequences of infiltrating the gray gloves. Since her family had always been under suspicion anyway, she might as well do something daring.
Moreover, she knew that Speaker Isabella supported Margaret's bid for the throne, and although Shad had not said anything, he would obviously give Margaret his greatest support as well.
Therefore, in Vigo's view, what she did was merely placing a bet in advance on the selection of the royal heir. It was not a betrayal of Carsonrick, nor was it because she was ambitious. All her actions were still out of utmost loyalty.