I am the only one who practices magic: I practice magic in the city

Chapter 557 Let's see if you're the one they lost (5000)

"Your Highness..."

Butler Bacchus's voice was as steady as ever, but a hint of hesitation and unease could not be hidden in his silence. He bowed slightly, his tone low and slow.

"I'm afraid I must convey... extremely sobering news: London Bridge has collapsed." (Note 1)

"His Majesty the new King has issued an edict requesting Your Highness to immediately go to Westminster Palace to work with the Privy Council to assist in the administration of the funeral and succession."

His Majesty King Charles?
London Bridge collapsed?
Has the Queen collapsed?

According to Anglo-Saxon succession law and constitutional tradition, "The King never dies" is a deeply ingrained core concept of constitutional monarchy, meaning that the moment the Queen's death is announced, her father Charles has already officially become King, possessing royal status and full legal power without needing a coronation or oath.

And Barks changed his address for Charles from His Highness the Prince of Wales to His Majesty the King.

William's expression changed drastically, his pupils contracting: "When did this happen? What happened?"

Backs nodded, his tone restrained yet sorrowful: "This morning at Windsor Castle, His Majesty suddenly experienced chest tightness and shortness of breath during breakfast. Although the Royal Physician, Sir Hugh Thomas, and the medical team immediately began resuscitation efforts, ..."

He paused, his voice lower: "...At 6:58, Her Majesty the Queen was called by the Lord and returned peacefully to His embrace in His grace."

"The Royal Medical Team, acting on His Majesty's last will and the orders of the Regent, conveys this moment of both sorrow and honor, and hopes that all will remember His Majesty's virtues in their prayers."

At this point, Bucks couldn't help but raise his head and glance at William, his eyes seemingly filled with pity, scrutiny, and unspoken disappointment.

"According to palace servants, His Majesty was reading today's Times Morning Post when he passed away."

William was taken aback. Seeing the look in Bacchus's eyes, he instantly thought of the Times Morning Post's follow-up report on his rumored relationship with the Kardashians that morning.

His affair had been circulating for over a week, and the Queen immediately issued a curfew order against him, confining him to York Cottage. However, the outside world's tracking and reporting on this affair never stopped.

Previously, it was only The Sun and other foreign media that were hyping it up, but as BuzzFeed released more and more solid information, it can almost be confirmed that William did indeed cheat on her with Kim Kardashian.

Even The Times, which has always been a mouthpiece for the conservatives, had to report on the scandal and subtly criticize William.

The previous newspaper report had that characteristic sarcasm and eccentricity of the Anglo-Chinese upper class.

"Leaked private itinerary," "cultural exchange with the West Coast," "the transatlantic movement that has been pondered for so long"...

There wasn't a single explicit criticism, but those familiar with the language habits of the Anglo-Saxon upper class could immediately sense the sarcasm and ridicule.

A soft knife kills more painfully.

Given the Queen's age, and considering that she had recently been unwell due to a severe cold, it is not impossible that her condition could suddenly worsen after seeing such a report.

Is this a blaming me?
Having "recovered from his addiction," William regained his usual composure and calmness. His feelings of shame and panic vanished in an instant, and he immediately realized that something was wrong.

Sending me to Westminster Abbey? To coordinate with the Privy Council?
What about today's London Bridge Operation Royal Cabinet meeting and tomorrow's Regency meeting?
Operation London Bridge was the code name for the Queen's death plan. Immediately after the Queen's death, the Royal Family and the Cabinet would hold a closed-door meeting to make arrangements for many matters related to the Queen's passing.

The Regency Council, convened by the Privy Council at St. James's Palace on the morning of the day after the death, was an important constitutional ceremony meeting held after the death of the Anglo-Saxon monarch.

This meeting will include not only the Prime Minister and all cabinet members, but also all senior judges, Protestant leaders such as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, as well as the opposition shadow cabinet, representatives of the upper nobility, local heads of state, and members of the royal family.

The new king will sign his accession oath and pledge to protect the Church of Scotland at this meeting, deliver a national address, and offer condolences to the nation.

Then, the new king will embark on a historic three-day "mourning tour," traveling to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to receive condolences in each location.

On the fifth day after her death, the Queen's body will be moved to Buckingham Palace. On the sixth day, the body will be moved to Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for a four-day mortuary period. The funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey on the tenth day.

The Regency Council is being held at St. James’s Palace. He should either return to Kensington Palace or go to Buckingham Palace to wait for the meeting to begin. In any case, he shouldn’t be sent to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral is not scheduled for another ten days.

I am now the first in line to the throne!
Is this a sign that he's trying to marginalize himself?
What right do you have? Have you forgotten what you did thirty years ago?
Compared to you, what did I do wrong?
What makes Camilla better than Kim Kardashian?

While you were fooling around with her, wasn't she already married?
A surge of resentment welled up in William's heart.

After his affair with the Craigavan Lodge was exposed, he became despondent and even considered the possibility of being marginalized by the royal family and losing his right to the throne.

At that time, he was still thinking defiantly, "What's so great about a broken throne? I don't even have the freedom to choose where to go on vacation. At worst, I can just give up the throne like Edward VIII. Even if I give up my right of succession, my son will become king, and I will still be the regent."

But when he actually felt the signs of being marginalized, he found that he was not as carefree as he had imagined.

“Bacchus, I need to speak with my father… His Majesty the King.”

William's eyes flickered as he probed.

Backus glanced at William's wrinkled shirt and disheveled hair and stubble, then lowered his head again: "Your Highness, it is a time of national mourning. His Majesty is working tirelessly day and night and has many official duties to attend to. Please move to Westminster Abbey immediately."

William's pupils narrowed slightly upon seeing Bacchus's reaction.

William, who grew up in the imperial court, immediately confirmed his guess.

"Okay, I'll change my clothes and come out right away."

William nodded to Bacchus without saying a word and closed the door.

Backs hesitated for a moment, but then he thought that York Cottage was heavily guarded and William couldn't possibly run away, so he obediently stood outside the door and waited.

After waiting for a good ten or twenty minutes, just as he was about to knock on the door with a sense of unease, William, who had changed into clean clothes, came out of the bedroom.

“Let’s go,” William said in a deep voice, taking a deep breath.

Backs glanced at William, nodded with a complicated expression, whispered a few words to the two RaSPs behind him, and the three of them escorted William through the dimly lit corridor and left York Cottage.

Unbeknownst to the Basque, William wore an oval pendant around his neck inside his shirt, with a semi-transparent crystal in the center that occasionally flashed with a glimmer of light.
-
Has the Queen passed away?
Fang Yu was also somewhat surprised and saddened when she heard the news.

I never expected that this old lady, who had been in power for over sixty years, would pass away. I thought she was a lizard person who could live forever.

Some time ago, media outlets reported that the Queen was suspected of having health problems. In addition, the royal family has been plagued by scandals over the past year, with the eldest son marrying a divorced mistress, the second son being involved in the Alcatraz incident, and the eldest grandson, who was originally highly regarded, getting involved with someone like Kim Kardashian.

The old lady was exhausted and couldn't hold on any longer; it was only natural that she passed away.

But thinking about it, ninety years old is enough, it's not a loss.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I thought this old lady would live to be a hundred. Charles has finally made it through."

Lu Xuechang crossed his legs, cracked sunflower seeds sent by Luo Ziming's family, and watched the news with a sigh.

"Throughout history, has there ever been a prince who has been a prince for forty years? Charles has been a prince for over sixty years and has not rebelled, which shows that he is a good person."

Luo Ziming had a look on his face like that of Yinreng.

"After all, her mother died, so watch your mouths. Tong Yuan seems to have been invited to the Queen's funeral too. By the way, Lao Luo, why haven't you mentioned that junior from the journalism department you were fawning over the other day?"

Huang Xiang swept the sunflower seed shells on the table into the trash can and said casually.

"What good deeds are we supposed to do? The Daoguang and Xianfeng Emperors have already done that for me." Luo Ziming spat a mouthful of melon seed shells onto the table that Huang Xiang had just tidied up, his attitude arrogant but his face full of frustration.

Seeing this, Lu Xuechang grinned slyly at Huang Xiang and Fang Yu: "A few days ago, Rockman sent a WeChat message to that junior girl named Lin Zihan. He was overjoyed because she was very nice to him."

“The girl on WeChat said that her games are too laggy and she wants to buy a 1080p, but it's too expensive and she can't afford it.”

"Upon hearing this, without saying a word, he placed an order for one on JD.com."

"result……"

"Shut up!"

Lu Xuechang's mouth was covered by Luo Ziming.

"Turns out, Lin Daiyu was taking a shower at the time, and that WeChat message was sent by her boyfriend using Lin Zihan's phone! Hahahaha!"

Lu Xuechang was much stronger than Luo Ziming, and he easily broke free from Luo Ziming's gag, finally managing to reveal the truth.

Fang Yu and Huang Xiang laughed and shook their heads. Sure enough, a simp is a simp, and it has nothing to do with whether he has money or not.

Even if you have money, you're still just a poodle.

After BlackRock acquired 404, the three adopted sons are now all quite wealthy, having achieved financial freedom before graduation. Logically, Luo Ziming only needed to flaunt his wealth slightly; he wouldn't need to be a sycophant or chase girls, he could simply wait for opportunities to come his way and open a spicy rabbit head snack shop.

But a few days ago, when they were chatting idly, Fang Yu casually told them the gossip that his father's friend Jiang Haoran had been given half of his family's assets.

Huang Xiang has a stable relationship with a female police officer who is three years older than him. Lu Xuechang has made up his mind to never get married and to be a happy little bee.

The two of them just listened to it as gossip and didn't feel anything about it.

Luo Ziming fell into deep thought. Combining some extreme cases he had seen recently, he came to a conclusion—he still had to find a wife at school.

Firstly, knowing someone's background is much better than meeting an unreliable person through blind dates after entering the workforce. A stronger emotional foundation reduces the chances of encountering a gold digger from the outset.

Secondly, if they do get divorced in the future, their social circles will still overlap, and if the other party tries to take advantage of him, it will ultimately increase the moral cost.

Therefore, he decided to use the remaining year and a half of his time in school to have a real campus romance before his wealth was exposed.

As it turned out, this time I didn't encounter a gold digger, but I did encounter a gold digger.

Fortunately, the man didn't ask him to carry a bucket of cooking oil or anything like that.

"You guys don't know anything. I'm putting this into practice," Luo Ziming snorted.

"You two don't even think about it. Besides your looks, why is it that Lao Fang has a constant stream of women around him, and every single one of them is devoted to him, while we can't do that? We even have to worry about getting gold coins if we find a girlfriend?"

Hearing Luo Ziming's words, Huang Xiang and Lu Xuechang became very interested, and even Fang Yu was a little curious: "Why do you think so?"

Seeing the expressions on the three people's faces, Luo Ziming's desire to teach was greatly satisfied: "Since you have asked so sincerely, I will do you a favor and tell you."

"The answer is simple: we haven't licked it enough!"

Lu Xuechang and Huang Xiang's expressions immediately changed, as if they were looking at an idiot.

Has this guy gone mad?

"Don't you believe me? Think about it, why are Lu Jiayan and Shen Shuyao both so devoted to Lao Fang?"

"Competition, competition, brothers. If there's no competition, even if they still like Lao Fang, the degree of attraction will be significantly different, right?"

"And then there's that Poppy at school, it licks everyone. And look at all those girls, they're competing to feed it the best food. If you bring a bowl of Royal Canin dog food today, the day after tomorrow the girl in the next dorm will be bringing two cans of dog food."

Poppy was a stray dog ​​at the school, but now she's become an animal influencer. Judging by her physique, she's probably been fed too much and developed fatty liver disease.

"What I'm doing now is licking them more. There aren't enough fish in the pond yet, so an ecological cycle hasn't been formed. When I've licked enough, it won't be me licking them anymore; they'll be licking me!"

Luo Ziming propped his legs up on the table, trying to save face without feeling ashamed but rather proud and arrogant.

"Fan one, you're a simp; fan a hundred, you're a player!"

Damn it! ?
Is this for real? It sounds plausible.

Lu Xuechang and Huang Xiang exchanged a glance, then looked at Fang Yu, who was expressionlessly eating sunflower seeds.

"Speaking of which, Lao Fang, you're not very nice. You know so many girls, but you didn't introduce them to us."

"If you're not interested, you can introduce her to your brothers. Maybe one of them is your soulmate."

Luo Ziming had a smug look on his face.

"Okay, here's this girl's contact information. Go ahead and lick her boots."

Fang Yu calmly handed over a slip of paper with contact information printed on it.

Luo Ziming was taken aback when he held the note. He had only said these things to save face, but he hadn't expected Fang Yu to actually give him a contact number.

"158XXXX5643... Is this really a girl?" Luo Ziming looked suspicious. "What does she look like? What's her major?"

Fang Yu shook his head: "I remember it was the Electronic Information Department, right? They lived in Daolin Village, probably renting a house for school staff. I don't know what they looked like."

Daolin Village is located within the national university campus. The houses there were originally allocated to faculty and staff. Now, apart from a few elderly professors who still live there, most of the houses have been rented out, with a significant portion being rented by students from the university.

The village is called Daolin Village because this area was a rice paddy more than a hundred years ago.

"You know where they live, but you don't know what they look like?" Luo Ziming got anxious as soon as he heard this. "Don't tell me you covered their face with a pillow and did this? I don't want to be your brother-in-law."

"Be my brother-in-law? You're dreaming." Fang Yu snorted, patting the sunflower seed shells off his hands. "I really don't know what he looks like, I don't recognize him."

"How did you get my contact information if I don't know you?" Luo Ziming asked, looking at the note with a puzzled expression.

"When I came back in the afternoon, I saw a lost dog notice in Daolin Village. Judging from the name, it should be two girls sharing an apartment."

"They seem to have lost a teddy bear. Why don't you go and try to see if you're the one they lost?"

grass! ! !
Hahahahaha!
Lu Xuechang and Huang Xiang laughed so hard they were doubled over, slapping the table and laughing so hard they were almost breathless.

Enraged, Luo Ziming crumpled the note into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket.

"Old Luo, being a simp is not an external situation, but an internal mentality."

"If your mindset doesn't change, fawning over one person makes you a simp, and fawning over a hundred people won't make you a player."

"You can only become a skilled simp."

"Tamed".

Huang Xiang and Lu Xuechang suddenly understood, suppressing their laughter as they looked at Luo Ziming, thinking to themselves that they had almost been led astray by this guy.

Luo Ziming ignored the spit in his face and rolled his eyes.

"Campus romance can indeed reduce the risk of meeting the wrong person, but if you don't want to be treated like an ATM and get the other person to be sincere with you, you still have to change your mindset."

Fang Yu took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, flicked his thumb, and the bottle cap flew accurately into the wastebasket.

"Change your mindset?" Luo Ziming's eyes darted around. "How?"

"It's simple. The first step is to reduce your sense of neediness."

Fang Yu gulped down half a bottle of beer, completely unfazed.

"As for how to reduce one's neediness..."

"I'll read the whole thing and order the extras in a few days... uh, no, I mean, I'll pay the apprenticeship fee."

After chatting and laughing for a while, Huang Xiang brought the topic back to the main point.

"Old Fang, the agreement for BlackRock to acquire 404 has been signed. BlackRock requires us to submit the complete source code and training data of the Woking system, but they do not allow our technical staff to get involved in the Aladdin system iteration project."

Huang Xiang also took a sip of beer from the bottle.

"Right now we've only opened up the API to them, but according to the agreement, we can't delay much longer. We must submit the source code and data to them by New Year's Day at the latest, otherwise we will face a great risk of breach of contract."

Huang Xiang blinked.

"Then just submit it. Why not just give them a disk backup? They've already prepared the plane, haven't they?"

Fang Yu shrugged, unconcerned.

For acquisitions of this scale, BlackRock does not transmit source code and data via the internet, but rather through traditional physical transportation methods.

To put it simply, it's like using an airplane to transport hard drives.

Seeing Fang Yu's reaction, the three of them looked at each other in bewilderment.

Should I just give you the source code?
Without doing anything underhanded?
This is a bit out of character for Lao Fang.

(End of this chapter)