It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

But the problem is that Li Cheng wasn't looking at her at all; he was looking at the two pairs of stockings she was wearing!

Although Newton's small feet paired with white stockings looked quite innocent and cute, and it was extremely rare to see them in the 17th century, that was Li Cheng's perspective. From Newton's perspective, it would be that Li Cheng was frequently giving her perverted looks at the stockings she used to keep warm, which was completely incomprehensible.

If anyone else had looked at her stockings with such a perverted gaze, Newton would have had them thrown out long ago. He only held back because it was Li Cheng, silently despising Li Cheng as a pervert and fetishist.

That's because you haven't seen enough, you silly little girl! There are countless people who are into black and white stockings these days!

Li Cheng snorted inwardly, intending to righteously refute her and explain the beauty of stockings, and that his gaze was one of appreciation for beauty.

But then he suddenly realized that Susie was next to him, so he quickly changed his argument: "Do you know that many mature ladies are eager to wear stockings because they look good?"

A mature, elegant lady?

This word struck Newton's nerves precisely, and she hesitated before asking, "But aren't these socks for keeping warm?"

"No, no, no, this is called 'fashion'."

Li Cheng explained in a serious tone, "I can tell you... no, I mean, explain it to you..."

This interruption finally brought the topic of the true story back on track. However, Susie kept muttering to herself, seemingly saying things like, "Oh, I see. Should I give it a try?" and "Ugh, I don't think I can afford it."

......

The three of them finished their breakfast chatting and laughing.

Afterwards, Li Cheng visited the female knight who was lying in bed beside him. Seeing that she seemed to have recovered somewhat, he then boarded the carriage to Lincoln with satisfaction.

He thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere he had just experienced, having a lively meal and chat with several close friends, which even soothed his frustration from having to travel and run around.

If this could continue indefinitely... it wouldn't be bad, would it?

However, some risks still have to be taken.

Chapter 209 City Council

As mentioned earlier, in order to break the church's monopoly on education, cities in Europe with the means would more or less support the construction of a local university and provide the necessary environment.

Lincoln University's origins lie in this: the university has the backing of the municipal government and receives funding from government grants every year.

Li Cheng walked along the tree-lined street. The number of students here was significantly lower than at the University of London, and the atmosphere for discussion was noticeably lacking. However, due to the school's requirements, almost no students studied theological books.

After wandering around for a bit, Li Cheng figured it was about time, so he grabbed a student and asked for directions to the principal. They headed towards a four-story stone building that was noticeably more ornate than the surrounding buildings.

There was a small pavilion at the entrance of the stone building, where someone was already waiting. It was an old man with half-black and half-white hair, dressed in a butler's uniform. Although Li Cheng guessed that the other party must have been waiting for quite a while, the old butler still stood up straight, fully demonstrating his meticulous professional qualities.

"Hello, thank you for waiting so long."

Li Cheng sat down opposite him.

Upon seeing Li Cheng's face, which was no different from the surrounding students, or even a few years younger, the old butler looked puzzled, wondering if he had mistaken him for someone else.

But the other person's red hair and black eyes matched the description, so he hesitated before asking, "Let me confirm, are you Mr. Banana?"

"It's me. Do I need any verification?"

Li Cheng nodded, his face completely indifferent.

Of course, he couldn't possibly help the female knight receive Mitchell; even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to—for one thing, this was Lincoln's first time here, so how could he possibly introduce and receive her?

After Deedley fell ill that day, Li Cheng sent someone to Lincoln University to inform her uncle, explain why she could not entertain Professor Mitchell from London, and offer his sincere apologies.

As expected, Deedley's uncle, the president of Lincoln University, didn't blame her too much. But unexpectedly, he took the opportunity to say that he had some important matters to discuss with Li Cheng and hoped that he could do him the honor of coming to Lincoln University.

Who the hell are you? You didn't give me a single word before sending me to your door.

Li Cheng usually ignored such cryptic remarks from strangers, but since the other party's niece was sick and lying in a guest room in the castle due to a minor accident, he felt embarrassed to refuse.

And so, Li Cheng's visit came about today.

Well, I might as well check on Mitchell's condition while I'm on the way, just to say hello.

Hearing Li Cheng's confident retort, the old butler thought for two seconds and felt that it was not very necessary. Besides, he didn't have any means to verify it, so he decided to leave it to his master to judge whether it was true or false.

“Mr. Banana, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The old butler then stood up from his seat and bowed slightly to Li Cheng: "I am Principal David's butler. The master and the other guests have been waiting in the reception room for quite some time."

"Are there other guests?"

Li Cheng frowned: "That's not what they said. Why weren't we notified in advance?"

From what the servants said, he had never heard of anyone other than Principal David. Could there be some kind of conspiracy behind this secret scheme?

The old butler looked apologetic: "I'm very sorry about that. The master initially made a mistake in his considerations. He later felt that this matter required more people to consider, but time was tight, and it was too late to notify him at the last minute..."

Seeing that he was still frowning, the old butler added, "My master has no intention of harming you, and Chairman Smith has also been invited here today. You will see him as soon as you enter the door."

Although Smith and Li Cheng weren't particularly close, there was at least a layer of trust between them, which somewhat eased his sense of security.

"Row."

But Li Cheng remained calm and nodded, saying, "I know I was in the wrong this time, but I will still remember his behavior."

The old butler gave a bitter smile, but there was nothing he could do.

After a brief exchange, Li Cheng followed the old butler into the stone building, all the way to a spacious reception room on the third floor.

The reception room was luxuriously furnished, with paintings by unknown artists hanging on all four walls, soft carpets on the brick floor, and several comfortable armchairs evenly distributed around the coffee table in the center.

At this moment, there were already four or five men in different clothes sitting on the sofa. Some were in their thirties, with a lean and capable appearance; some were around forty years old, chubby and dull, somewhat like fat sheep; and there was even an old man in his sixties with a face full of sunken wrinkles.

After observing for a while, Li Cheng found that most of them looked familiar, and seemed to be businessmen who had participated in the banquet hosted by Smith.

President Smith was among them. He wasn't dressed too formally, but rather in soft, comfortable casual clothes. He looked so youthful and energetic that he seemed ten years younger as he chatted and laughed with the others.

"If this succeeds, we'll win mahjong again..."

"Yes, we're too tired to handle it."

"We have to win big."

"What does 'win-win' mean? This is what 'win-win' means!"

"..."

The group seemed to be discussing some strange topic, but when Li Cheng entered, they immediately fell silent, no one saying a word.

Good morning, everyone.

Li Cheng casually greeted them, then casually scanned the room, quickly finding a sofa that seemed to have been reserved for him. He then very familiarly sat down and found a comfortable position.

After he was settled, the elderly man with graying hair who was sitting directly in front of him was the first to speak: "Hello, Mr. Banana, thank you for your willingness to participate in this discussion."

"You're welcome, Principal David—after all, I'm very sorry about your niece's illness; it's partly my fault."

Li Cheng initially seemed easygoing, replying "No need to thank me," but before the other man could even breathe a sigh of relief, he immediately changed the subject, staring directly into the old man's eyes and saying, "But if you really want to talk to me about something, sending an invitation afterward would be much better than this infuriating approach."

The atmosphere in the reception room suddenly became tense after those words, and everyone fell silent.

Smith wiped his sweat, hesitating whether to speak up.

Although he wanted to ease the tension, he knew in his heart that he wasn't actually that familiar with Li Cheng; they only had some business dealings. He was worried that it would be too embarrassing if he were ignored.

This atmosphere lasted for two or three minutes before Principal David broke the silence: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Banana, we had no choice but to do this because of the tight schedule. We are willing to provide compensation within our means afterward."

"Ah."

Hearing the other party's words of relenting and realizing that he could receive compensation from everyone, Li Cheng nodded, his expression softening considerably: "I accept your apology."

At the same time, Li Cheng felt a little suspicious, because the other party not only apologized but also promised to provide compensation within their means. This was too good a deal, and it was hard not to suspect that there was something fishy going on.

Before the other party could speak, Li Cheng interrupted, "I wonder what you've asked me to do? I can't agree without explaining the reasons, and if it's too difficult or beyond my capabilities, I can't do it either."

Principal David nodded and said matter-of-factly, "Of course."

Smith's heart skipped a beat, and he seized the opportunity to show off, saying, "How about I explain this matter? I know Mr. Banana better... well, if Mr. Banana has no objections."

Seeing that it was Smith, the only one among them whom he knew well, who was explaining things for him, Li Cheng nodded and said, "Okay, I have no objection."

"I have no objection either."

"agree."

"Um......"

The remaining people all expressed similar opinions, and seeing that no one objected, Smith took on the task of telling the story.

He adopted a serious expression and slowly said, "According to some intelligence we have received, the Garcia family is preparing to reopen the city council, and they are doing so very quickly."

......

Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, fifteen minutes had passed.

After listening to Smith's explanation of the whole incident, Li Cheng roughly understood the current situation.

It all started with Smith's banquet.

After witnessing Veronica's unexpected appearance and Kevin's downfall, a group of conspiracy theorists gathered in a corner of the banquet to discuss whether there was any deeper meaning behind it all.

After a heated discussion, the Winning Party, which judged that Veronica had come to carry out the orders of the soon-to-be-appointed King Edward, to put pressure on the Garcia family to consolidate their position, and to win over the hearts of the people, successfully gained the upper hand in the discussion and incidentally turned the discussion into a competition of repeating themselves.

"I'm so tired of winning."

"I'm so tired of winning."

"I'm so tired of winning."

So after that day ended and the merchants and nobles returned home, rumors began to circulate in Lincoln that the soon-to-be-inaugurated King Edward was going to put pressure on the Garcia family.

Although the Garcia family dismissed the rumors, their promise to grant Lincoln autonomy, which they later reneged on, was indeed a perfect excuse for the king to intervene and could be used against him.

Since there are loopholes, let's take this opportunity to fix them quickly. After all, if the rumors are true... well, it's good to be prepared.

After much deliberation, they came up with a plan: to sham the reopening of the city council and elect a new mayor who would be "completely legitimate."

Once the process is just, even the king can't interfere too much, and other nobles with similar interests can voice their support and exert pressure indirectly.

"..."

Li Cheng pondered for a moment, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Electing a mayor...that doesn't seem to be a problem, does it?"

"That's how it is in theory."

President Smith sighed, "But the problem is that over the years, most of the council members have become members of the Garcia family, and the elections are all for the mayor nominated by the Garcia family. No one else can change their minds, and even if a few do, it's to no avail."

The muscular, lean businessman of unknown identity nodded: "The Garcia family has their eye on this point. They are now preparing to convene all city councilors as quickly as possible to hold an election before His Highness can react and elect a 'legitimate' mayor."

The obese, unidentified merchant shook his head: "Once they vote in favor of you and you lose a suitable reason, it will be very difficult for Your Highness to interfere."