flstandardbreds Chapter 172 Painter
Chapter 172 Painter
Accompanied by the sound of orchestral instruments, the entire town of Hohenzollern was enveloped in a happy atmosphere. In the square, people gathered together to celebrate the wedding of the lord's heir.
In order to make as many people as possible identify with the territory, whenever there is a major festival, everyone in the territory except the soldiers stationed on duty will have a day off, and gifts will be given to children under the age of 12.
Those foreign nobles who came to attend the wedding have basically left, and the only ones left are those within the family. It can be said that if the previous one was a show of strength and excellent performance to outsiders, then this one is the real wedding.
In the peaceful atmosphere, John's father, as the family leader, stepped onto the high platform in the center. The music slowly stopped, and the father congratulated the people below with a tone that was slightly joyful but not without dignity:
"Thank you very much for attending my son's wedding. You have taken care of Christian since he was born. Now he has started a family and will soon become the new lord of the Hohenzollern Territory."
"I would like to express my best wishes to everyone present here, and I hope Christian can lead the people of the entire territory to live a better life in the days to come."
"Now then, the wedding begins!"
Following the old man's last words, the music resounded in the square. The villagers gathered together with laughter and joy. The table was filled with dishes prepared by John's mother and everyone in the castle kitchen. Young men and women danced folk dances in pairs around the platform to the music.
"Okay, okay, stand closer to the middle."
In an open space, the Hohenzollern family gathered together. Christian and his wife stood in the center, followed by John's parents, then John, and finally all the Hohenzollern family members including Jules.
They were wearing armor or gorgeous uniforms and looking at the opposite side. Facing them was a huge drawing board placed on an easel with its back facing them. In front of the drawing board, several people were sketching something on it. From time to time, they would show their heads and gesture to the crowd with pens, and then immediately continue painting on the drawing board.
When John and his family and relatives were standing until their backs and legs were sore, a voice behind the drawing board shouted:
"Okay, let's take a break!"
After hearing this, everyone was able to leave, and John walked forward curiously to see how the painting was going.
In order to celebrate the new member of the Hohenzollern family, John's father proposed to paint a family painting of all the Hohenzollern family members. John also saw the family painting of himself and his elder brother when they were just born in the gallery in the city, but at that time, neither his parents nor relatives were as rich as they are now, and everyone was struggling for life, so naturally there were not many people in the painting.
But now, with John gaining power, Jules became the deputy commander of the Knights of the White Lion, his father's territory gradually became wealthy, and the Hohenzollern family had more and more bargaining chips. For the Hohenzollern, this accumulation was converted into the solicitation of major forces.
Of course, a cunning rabbit has many burrows. Dad still understands that only by maintaining neutrality can the family's position in Midland be maintained, so he did not let relatives and John's eldest brother choose one faction to rely on.
The advantage of this is that although the neutrality of the Hohenzollern family prevented them from gaining the greatest benefits, the nobles did not dare to do anything to them because of John. After all, John's temper had been deeply imprinted in the minds of the nobles because of his previous actions.
Although John's territory was still far away from them, the Black Watch mercenaries under his command were spread across major cities in the Midland Kingdom. Not to mention 10,000 people, some nobles with small territories could not even withstand a hundred of them, not to mention the equipment and the support of officers with rich combat experience.
If you get angry, the mercenaries will take over the territory while the lord is away, and then say it was done by bandits and sell you a mercenary contract to wipe out the bandits. Or in a noble war caused by a territory, you find that some of the enemy lords are wearing black armor and armed to the teeth. Although the Black Watch Mercenaries have stated that they will not accept orders related to noble wars, who knows if they will give up this principle for some reason.
In short, all the nobles with brains knew that although being friendly with the Hohenzollerns might not be beneficial, being hostile to them would definitely cause a lot of trouble. The Hohenzollerns were now curled up like a hedgehog to protect themselves.
However, even though the Hohenzollern family is now prosperous, the father did not invite professionals to take charge of this wedding. Instead, he chose his own relatives and retainers. Almost everyone in the family had his own task in this banquet, including the painter who was sketching on the drawing board.
His name was Orel Hohenzollern, one of Father John's younger brothers. Although he did not have much impression of him, Orel painted a portrait of him when John was born and hung it in the gallery. At first, when John saw the portrait, he was still wondering who this silly and cute baby was, until his mother told him that he realized that the person he had been complaining about for many years was himself.
According to John's father, Orel loved art when he was a child. When he grew up, he went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Windham for further studies. After graduation, he rented a house to run a painting studio and made money by painting landscapes and portraits.
He also wanted to study at art academies in southern countries, but due to lack of funds and ability, he had to give up. He could only make a living by painting with his apprentices.
However, due to the rise of John and the Hohenzollern family, Orel made a fortune by virtue of his fame, and then he was invited to attend Christian's wedding.
"Uncle Orel, why is this painting just a draft?" John asked, looking at the scribbled lines on the white paper.
"We draw the layout first, and then paint according to the layout when we return to the studio. Painting is not something that can be completed in a short time. It takes a long time to mix colors, fill in colors, and make revisions." Orel responded to John while making revisions on the drawing paper with a pen.
However, when he turned around, he saw Matilda following him.
"Hey, John, is this your girlfriend? Why doesn't she join the team?" Orel raised his eyebrows and said to John.
"How is that possible? She came to discuss business with my father." John hurriedly explained. Not only him, but other relatives thought Matilda was John's wife or girlfriend after seeing her. For them, the sooner John got married, the more secure the bloodline of the entire Hohenzollern family would be.
After hearing this, Matilda just lowered her head and stroked her hair without making any rebuttal. All this was observed by Orel, but he said nothing and just showed a meaningful smile.
John didn't think so at this time. After learning that Orel was a painter, he immediately thought that there seemed to be no teachers teaching painting in the school in his territory, so he asked:
"Uncle Orel, my territory is in need of a teacher who can teach art. If you are willing, I can help you with food, clothing, housing, transportation and work."
Orel thought about it and declined John's invitation:
"I'm sorry, John. I think I'm fine now. Maybe in the future I may change my opinion, but at present I care more about my painting studio in Windham."
Seeing that Orel refused, John did not try to persuade him to stay and walked straight to the long table opposite which was full of food. After all, this was John's first time to have a meal in this world.