Chapter 115 Beautiful Manor

Li Fushou and his entourage stayed in Readingburg for four days before they met Duke Victor who had returned from Windsor. The Duke and Duke Victor adopted Gu Liuyan as goddaughter and presented a newly constructed building on the outskirts of London. The castle, to show that the relationship between the two parties is close.

  The news spread back to the upper social circles in London for the first time, and everyone who heard it was surprised, because they knew that the castle was very valuable and came from the family of the famous financier, Baron Ferdinand-Rothschild.

  Unexpectedly, the Duke of Victor actually sent it out in a big way. It can be seen how much the Earl of Queensland and his wife are valued, which is the most vivid signal to convey.

  March 21, 1879

   Around 2:00 pm

  To the northwest of the outskirts of London, Wardsden Manor

Wardsden was a barren hillside in 1871. The highest point reached 600 feet. In order to build the manor, Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, who loved French art, bought this area from the Earl of Marlborough for £7,200. 165 acres of land.

  The whole hill was cut down 30 feet to find a suitable stone layer for foundation, which shows the huge amount of manpower and material resources.

  Ferdinand hired the most famous French architect to design the Waddesdon Manor, and spent many years building this castle with the most French architectural style in England, a splendid garden.

  The French castle built by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild is only one of his 30 manors around the world. It is not used for residence, but to store his beloved art treasures from all over the world.

  Under the bright sunshine of spring

The blooming roses in the manor set off the picturesque scenery. A magnificent French palace building is surrounded by greenery. It is a pure Neo-Renaissance French architectural style. The Louvre can be seen from this building. Shadow.

  In front is a huge marble water sculpture with no friends, telling scenes of mythological characters in ancient Rome. Lifelike knights are fighting against legendary monsters, which are also made by French sculptors.

  Now, all this belongs to the newly released Queensland Earl and his wife, whose property is registered under the Earl’s name. This is because the Queensland Countess has not yet been naturalized and cannot hold British property.

There is no shortage of ancient castles and famous manors in the UK. Li Fushou doesn’t know how much the Duke Victor paid to get this magnificent garden. Perhaps the Duke did not care at all. Perhaps Baron Ferdinand Rothschild is like himself. The same, is a trivial refuge, hoping that his business can be protected by Lord Duke.

Everyone was stunned by the beauty in front of them, including Li Fushou, who was shocked by the exquisite architecture of this French palace, the sculptures and Neo-Renaissance style marble entrance tickets, carved window sills, colonnades and arches. Top, with a strong French palace style rushing towards the face.

   "Master, am I not dreaming?" Gu Liuyan rubbed his eyes vigorously, feeling that everything seemed to be in a dream.

"You squeeze it to know if it's a dream, oh hello...it hurts..." Li Fushou retracted his arm with a grin, rubbed his other hand quickly, and glared at Gu Liuyan reproachfully; "I'm just that. By the way, do you really pinch me hard? Then again, why are you pinching me?"

Gu Liuyan shrank his neck, knowing that he was wrong, and his eyes smiled like a crooked moon; "Master, I really feel itchy hands, so I can't help but pinch it. It's the most I have ever seen. The beautiful manor is so beautiful."

  At this time, Lawrence, the steward of the manor, led a group of servants and gardeners to greet him, bowing respectfully and saying;

"Your Excellency and Mrs. Earl of Queensland, I am the senior housekeeper Lawrence, please allow me to show you this recently completed French palace building. The master bedroom has been cleaned up, and the sheets and sheets have been replaced with the latest ones that have never been used before. , I hope you can be satisfied."

   "Thank you Lawrence, we really need to get familiar with it, so please lead the way." Li Fushou behaved politely.

  Lawrence watched Mr. Earl of Queensland gaze over the servants and gardeners standing on both sides, and while leading the way respectfully, he said in a low voice; "Your Excellency and Madam, Earl of Queensland..."

   "Lawrence, you can call me Mr. Lord." Li Fushou interrupted the other party and walked forward with ease.

"Yes, Mr. Lord, there is a senior housekeeper in the manor, that is, I am responsible for the overall management. If I can get your approval to keep it, my annual salary is 60 pounds, and the uniform cost can be deducted from my salary, probably It is 4 to 5 pounds a year."

Lawrence introduced as he walked; "This two-story Neo-Renaissance-style building was officially completed in less than a year. In Mr. Ferdinand’s plan, there were some other auxiliary facilities that needed to be built. The building was carefully polished. Carved, now it seems that it can only stay on the blueprint for the time being.

   There were originally 89 servants in the manor, 55 of whom were gardeners.

  Sir Ferdinand considered that you might bring your own manpower, so he cleared half of his servants. Now only 46 people are here to serve you.

  Four personal servants, with an annual salary ranging from 30 to 50 pounds, and two low-level butlers, who assist me with trivial matters in the manor, with an annual salary of 38 pounds, and a female housekeeper with an annual salary of 32 pounds.

  Our chef's annual salary is also 38 pounds, and his 4 assistants have an annual salary ranging from 25 to 28 pounds.

  In addition, there are attendants, coachmen and gardeners, whose annual salary is between 20 and 26 pounds, and the annual salary of low-level attendants and handymen is between 8 and 12 pounds.

  We also have some high-class maids and personal maids with an annual salary of about 20 pounds. In addition, some handy maids, low-class maids, dishwashing maids and kitchen maids do not exceed an annual salary of 10 pounds, which is between 6 and 9 pounds.

  These are pure annual salaries without uniforms. If the owner is responsible for equipping the uniforms, it will be reduced by 1 to 5 pounds. If some of them need to be dismissed, each person can pay two months' salary..."

  Lawrence walked all the way to introduce, Li Fushou and Gu Liuyan turned around and felt very satisfied, beyond imagination.

Sir Ferdinand did not take away all the precious collections in the building, but did not take any of them, showing extraordinary courage. At the same time, he was also showing his favor to the Earl of Queensland.

  Ferdinand is keen to collect, especially 18th century French furniture, tapestries, porcelain, books, etc. Most of the collection comes from the French court, which is the royal favorite of successive kings, exquisite and priceless.

  The collapse of the Third Reich of France gave Ferdinand the opportunity to buy a large number of precious French court antiques at a low price, a large part of which is stored in the castle, which is immeasurable over time.

To Li Fushou’s surprise, there are four large famille rose gold beast statue vases displayed in the hall of the manor from the Qianlong period. The vessels are simple and dignified, and they are magnificent. At first glance, they know that they are from the imperial palace. If they are passed down to later generations, they have no value. Measurable.

  In the castle

  There are still many large-scale official kiln porcelains used by the imperial court. It is estimated that they are all the dirt robbed by the British and French forces in the Old Summer Palace. Because there are too many, they are not valuable, and the price is a little more expensive than the market porcelain.

  According to the size of the porcelain, the larger one is tens or hundreds of pounds, and the smaller one is only a few pounds.

  The official kiln porcelains in the castle are among the finest works, which shows that Sir Ferdinand’s unique insight and definitely reached the expert level.

Although the entire castle has only two floors and a dome, each floor is more than 10 meters high and is decorated with exquisite murals and stone carvings. There are also various famous paintings from the Renaissance on the walls, which looks magnificent. Atmospheric and dignified.

  This castle-like building on a 600-foot hill is surrounded by dense green shades. There are huge flower beds in the front and back, and the sweet air is sent with the warm breath of spring.

  After a visit, Li Fushou was extremely satisfied.

  He is in need of a suitable manor for making friends with the upper class in London. Aristocratic banquets are held here, and afternoon tea is perfect.

  As for the stay of the servants, the 4 personal servants are not needed, of course, they must be cleared, and all the others will be kept for use.

  Li Fushou didn’t know how the chef’s craftsmanship was. He knew it after tasting it at the dinner party. He was mentally prepared.

  This is a French cuisine chef invited from France. It shouldn’t be like a British chef. The dark dishes made will make you crumble.

  Among all Li Fushou’s entourage, Fiona is the happiest one. Here, she seems to have returned to the romantic and warm Normandy manor in her memory, but it is more grand and luxurious.

  She got a large and comfortable bedroom on the 2nd floor, equipped with a full set of bathing and heating facilities, and a marble balcony facing south, allowing the bright sunshine in spring to come in.

  This is the life Fiona dreams of, rich, comfortable and comfortable.

  You can have gorgeous clothes and an enviable life here. You don’t have to worry about money, you just need to do your best to serve the master.

  Since losing Li Fushou’s favor, Fiona has regretted her willfulness more than once, and her personality has changed a lot.

  It turned out that she looked down on the service girls like Xiang Niu'er and Tian Niu'er at all. Now it is different. Fiona has the same status as the two bed-warming girls. They also have a spacious and comfortable room next door with their own service girls.

  Fiona deliberately made friends with Xiang Niu'er and Sweet Niu'er, helping them learn English, learning aristocratic social etiquette, explaining European customs and customs, and bringing them closer together.

  This hard work finally achieved results. Xiang Niu'er and Tian Niu'er were girls who had no idea at first. Everything was based on the master's preference. The master forgave Fiona, so naturally they would not deliberately neglect and alienate them.

  Everyone worked together to guard the master to prevent being eaten by the little waves of Yingyingyanyan around him.

  The descendants of European nobility titles cannot be inherited by female descendants. This is different from European royal families, so many ancient nobles are extinct because of this.

  The Third French Empire, where the Earl of Normandy sworn allegiance, collapsed, and both sons died in the domestic turmoil. The facts have been severed.

  His two daughters, Fiona and Nicole, cannot inherit the title of Earl of Normandy, but can only become ordinary people.

  Fiona can live the life of a master now only if she hugs Li Fushou’s thigh tightly. As for her status, she doesn’t care.

  As long as she can give birth to an heir to the Lord, according to the traditional Chinese rules, the Tongfang girl can become an aunt. This is the only opportunity Fiona can seize.

  (End of this chapter)