aristocratic engagement

The cold wind seeps into every pore.

Sensing the owner's unsteady mood, the pony neighed anxiously, and suddenly raised its front legs in the air.Annie woke up suddenly from her daze, and was startled. She gritted her teeth and grabbed the rein, and let out a muffled snort.Subconsciously bent down. The body quickly hugged the horse's body, and tightly attached itself to the horse's back.

Earl Fitzwilliam was also frightened by the sudden change in front of him, his face changed slightly. The old horse sternly snorted at the unsteady foal and stomped its feet, as if mocking and reprimanding mercilessly.

The horse was even more unconvinced, struggling on the spot uneasily, Annie suddenly couldn't help crying out in pain.

The count immediately got off his horse, and regardless of the danger, reached out his hand several times, and finally grabbed the rein.He skillfully wrapped the rope around his hand twice, tightly restraining the horse's neck. After a few back and forth, the horse finally calmed down and stopped swinging wildly.

Annie lay on the horse's back in shock, panting.

"Damn Daniel! This is Rosings's horse trainer's negligence, how did he train it! How can such a young and ignorant foal be used by you as a beginner?" Earl Fitzwilliam reprimanded angrily. It seemed that he completely forgot that he had deliberately distracted Daniel just now in order to have a private conversation with Annie, and he also forgot that it was even more impossible for Annie to give her a full-grown horse to ride with her figure.

"..." Annie didn't have the strength to reply to him, in fact she was too painful to speak.

Only then did the count realize her abnormality, and he made a gesture to hug her off the horse.Anne waved her hand hastily. She gritted her teeth and raised the corner of her skirt, revealing her bloody ankle—her foot got stuck in the sharp stirrup when the horse struggled.

"I absolutely don't allow it!!! I said long ago that you are not allowed to learn how to ride a horse! Look, this is the end!" Madam Catherine saw Anne's small face being carried into the house by Earl Fitzwilliam and Daniel Qili Pale and pale, he screamed in panic, "Such a thing happened before Christmas Eve! God, I'm so confused, I actually agreed with you to learn how to ride a horse! Daniel! How did you teach it? You can't even tame a horse , What's the use of Rosings keeping you!?"

Madam Catherine screamed angrily and scolded Daniel incoherently. This was not enough. Every servant was scolded from top to bottom, and even Du Li who came in to deliver water was reprimanded and beaten. trembling.Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng immediately presided over the overall situation, and called Dawson to ask him to go to Murakami to invite the doctor immediately.

Annie was placed on the big sofa in the living room, her legs were laid flat, and the corners of her skirt had been pulled away.Lady Catherine frowned, looked at the men and women standing in the living room, and proposed to take her back to the bedroom, but the count retorted: "What if you hurt a bone? We'd better wait until the doctor comes to see it."

Georgiana was so frightened by the blood on Anne's ankle that tears came to her eyes. Darcy frowned when his eyes touched the bright red. He only hesitated for a moment, and then squatted down decisively.

"Do you mind?" He stretched out his hand and looked at Anne.

Annie was taken aback, not understanding what he meant.Then seeing his finger pointing at his ankle, he realized that he wanted to check for himself.Annie shook her head and clenched her teeth.

Under everyone's attention, Darcy pinched Anne's ankle carefully a few times, and his fingers were stained red with blood.Soon, he breathed a sigh of relief, and told everyone loudly: "Fortunately, no bones were injured."

His words made everyone let out a long breath.

Cold sweat dripped from Annie's forehead, and the flesh wounds were not easy to bear.

After Lady Catherine was relieved, she couldn't hold back her emotions again. She couldn't help but turned around and shed tears. Countess Fitzwilliam comforted her in a low voice.Lady Catherine, however, was comforted and became more and more angry (she was a person who was very easy to get into trouble with herself), and couldn't help cursing the careless servant in a low voice, reprimanding Anne for her boldness, and complaining about the misfortune of life...

Earl Fitzwilliam's originally pent-up guilt was transformed into impatient anger by his sister's trivial complaints.

He couldn't help but silenced Lady Catherine's complaints, and ordered her to be quiet immediately, leaving Anne room to breathe.Lady Catherine had always been bold, but she acted like a child who had made a mistake in front of her majestic elder brother. She finally remained silent, and just looked at Annie's foot injury and wept silently.

To put it bluntly, Annie thought she had lost half her life when she saw her crying like that.

But no one is qualified to blame a mother who is worried about her child.

The count quickly realized that his words might have hurt his sister, but his arrogance also made him unable to apologize.The brother and sister also have the same stubborn temper. Even if they realize their mistakes, they can't say soft words for a while.

The countess knew her husband's temper well, and immediately smoothed things over.

Annie was lying on the sofa, and suddenly became the most peaceful person at this moment.

The injury has already been hurt, and there is no rush.Since Darcy said that no bones were injured, it shouldn't be a big problem, and the doctor's arrival later will be nothing more than prescribing medicine.

Anne turned her head, and saw Georgiana sitting on the carpet beside the sofa, looking at her worriedly, with tears streaming down her little face, as if she was suffering more than the injured person, and hiccupped from crying.Anne was now very comfortable with comforting children, and Georgiana was calmed by a few words.

"Aren't you very sure about everything? How can you make yourself like this?" A cold irony came from above her head, Anne shrugged her shoulders, raised her head, and saw Darcy rubbing the bright red fingertips, He squinted dangerously at her.

This is absolutely an unwarranted disaster!

Annie was lying on the bed holding the account books and reports that Du Li had brought from the big study, recalling the absurd scene today, she wished she could squat in the corner and draw circles.

She almost fell off the horse!What a shame!

Annie buried her face in the report and let out a slow breath.During the conversation in the snow, Earl Fitzwilliam's falcon-like eyes flickered in her mind, and Anne shuddered and woke up instantly.She opened her eyes and threw the report on the bed.

His eyes flickered across the book, and suddenly froze on a line of writing.

"...a piece of cotton plantation land has been selected near Meryton in Hertfordshire. The original owner is not managing well, coupled with the increased tax burden, he intends to sell this [-]-acre land with a holiday estate..."

Increased taxes?

Anne suddenly remembered Earl Fitzwilliam's reminder, and a hint of inspiration flashed through her mind, elusive.

Annie dropped the report, picked up the ledger and rummaged through it, and soon found her target.She moved the candlestick on the bedside table closer, and slid her fingers over the ledger.

Seeing that shocking number, Anne was shocked by her own guess and shivered.

She hurriedly rang the bell and called Du Li, asking her to run to the big study immediately and bring her the year-end account book of Rosings Manor.After Du Li left, Annie gritted her teeth, lifted up the injured leg, shifted the weight to the other leg, grabbed the ledger and jumped and sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. The fire was full of heat. Let her cold hands gradually warm up.

Soon, Du Li brought the thick ledger and spread it on the tea table in front of Annie.Annie didn't have time to say anything, and immediately turned the ledger to the new opening item.

—the new tax on carriages, servants, and windows at five hundred pounds!And that's not including those traditional GST and Land Taxes!

This seems to be a signal that the big action of the chancellor of the exchequer implies that the frontline war is tight, and perhaps a new system is about to follow the trend.

Annie is not sure whether such a change is good or bad for the time being. She tried her best to recall the memory of her previous life, but it became blurred because she did not pay special attention to this period of history. She could never imagine that she was in this world, such a Waking up in the body, it is even more impossible to remember clearly the turmoil in a strange country in a certain year.

Several heavy property taxes and traditional taxes can no longer meet the needs of the war, so it is no wonder that the chancellor of the exchequer will attack textile factories and steel factories-you know, many people in the north rely on them to start their fortunes, and their wealth is completely overwhelmed. Like the fallen lords, they gradually infiltrated the aristocratic class.

Annie felt numb for a while, as if the track of history was crushing heavily on her body.

"Du Li, I'm afraid we have to go to London in the spring."

On Christmas Eve, it is rare for the whole family to get together happily.To be precise, it was the first time that the patriarchs of the three families sat together to celebrate the saint's birthday and pray for the arrival of a new spring.

Anne came to the church with the elders as scheduled, and her injury aroused the worry and concern of the old pastor.After singing hymns, receiving communion, and praying, Old Jones left Anne on purpose and prayed for her in a spirited manner.

When it was late at night, a group of people returned to the manor in a carriage.

Georgiana went out of her way to perform a poetry recitation, which won everyone's praise; Anne escaped the piano performance because of her foot injury-"I can't press the pedal with my foot"-her excuse" won" Lady Catherine's glare; Lance surprisingly sang an opera, and even more surprisingly, he was accompanied by that George Wickham.

After listening to it, Annie came to the conclusion that Wickham's playing level was almost the same as hers, and could not match Lance's charming and beautiful voice.

After a round of performances, the men gathered around the table and played whits. They didn't play very much, considering that they were all family members.Anne was very interested in this, but within a few minutes, she was detained by Madam Catherine in front of the fireplace, and helped the two noble ladies tangle the wool - this is Madam Catherine's new hobby, after admiring Fitz Countess William after hand-knitted sweaters for her sons.

It was late at night, and the men were not interested in fighting, and left the card table early. Darcy, who had just grown up, became the only winner tonight.

Everyone went back to their respective rooms, and quickly washed and fell asleep.

Until midnight, a sudden, hurried and frightening knock on the door pierced the quiet night.

"Help—is anyone there? Open the door!"

TBC.