"Come on! I'm not afraid of you! ”

In the small room, Miss Trevier, who was gentle and amiable in everyone's eyes, shouted at her cousin without hesitation, and there was no longer the silence of the past.

However, although she has become so abnormal, Charlotte is not at all unhurried, just sitting in a chair and watching her sister-in-law go crazy, and her smile seems to hide a kind of "look, I knew you would be like this" banter.

"That bastard father snitched you? Well, whatever he is, I don't care, I hate him and don't want to be his daughter, what's wrong with that? Yes, I did swing the axe at that bastard, but I still love Grandpa, and that doesn't affect our relationship at all. Fran's chest heaved violently, but she finally regained her composure, "Even if you want to punish me, you shouldn't come and tell me, call my brother!" Punish me as much as he wants. ”

"I'm afraid you didn't force your father to write this document for this purpose, did you? Forget it, I won't pursue this......" Charlotte asked rhetorically with a slight sneer, "Besides, at this time, you still want to pull your elders out as helpers?" You don't want to think about it, can I just come over without permission? ”

This rhetorical question immediately made Fran speechless.

That's right, if her brother didn't agree, how could she run over and swagger at herself like this? It must be a foregone conclusion.

Even at such times, he would not come and personally punish him...... Not even the last bit of hope was given.

Her heart sank into the ice cave again, and her whole body felt paralyzed, and even breathing was a little difficult.

Suddenly. She looked up at Charlotte hatefully, "It's all your fault...... It's all your fault...... It's all your fault! ”

She really hated Charlotte.

Originally, it took an unknown amount of effort on her part. only to make up for the rift between the two brothers and sisters before and get back together. As a result, as soon as this hateful woman came back, she snitched, and then let her hard work during this period of time turn into a waste of water...... From hope to go

Until this moment, she still didn't feel that there was anything wrong with her father's actions.

"All this, it's all your fault...... Originally, we were doing well, but you had to run over and snatch my brother! And then you're going to come with me to show off your might...... You're so vicious! Fran said, with a crying voice, and then glared at Charlotte without showing weakness, "Also, punish whatever." But don't let me beg you! I'd rather die than bow to you!" ”

"Hmph, whatever you want, I didn't expect any remorse from you." Angered by Fran's words, Charlotte also stared at her hatefully, "I don't want to say anything more to you, God will naturally curse you with this evil desire, and you will be corrected by purgatory at that time!" ”

After a pause, she regained her anger because she felt that she had lost the grace of her family. "Forget it, I don't have to talk to you any more, and now I'll tell you the punishment—we were going to let you slowly receive the gift from your grandfather this year, and gradually take your own share of the property you deserve. However, given your recent performance, we have determined that you are not yet old enough to manage yourself, so we will hold this property for the time being. You will only receive one pocket money. In addition, this punishment is indefinite. This punishment will not end until we determine that you can do it yourself. ”

Fran listened quietly with tears in her eyes at first. But the more she listened, the more she felt that something was wrong.

What kind of punishment is this?

Withholding the money she deserves and not being able to live a life that she can squander on her own may be a terrible punishment for some, perhaps most, but it is not a big deal for her, she is not a profligacist in the first place, on the contrary, she is happy to split up with her brother.

Even if she sometimes had to use money urgently because of certain circumstances, she didn't believe that he would be generous, given what she knew about him.

If the brother had been really angry, his punishment would have been much harsher than it would have been so harsh - like being locked up.

It was as if she had been pulled up from the bottom of the water, and her breathing was smooth again.

"Is that all punishment?" Fran asked rhetorically.

"In addition to the above, you must also write a letter of repentance and promise not to do similar things again in the future, especially not to do anything that is detrimental to the family." Charlotte replied with a straight face, as if the person who had just sent her cousin to death was not her, "If you dare to do it again, I guarantee that you will definitely regret it, and no one will forgive you again, I think everyone has tolerated your willfulness enough, and you can't squander this tolerance forever." ”

I just don't want to be said by you! Fran wanted to refute this, but she was afraid that the punishment would increase and ruin her only remaining hope, so she didn't refute anymore and endured it silently.

After a long period of silence, Charlotte nodded slightly.

"Well, since you don't object, then I'll accept this punishment as you. You can write a letter of repentance later, and you will leave it to us when it is ready, and I hope that you will sincerely examine yourself for your mistakes, as we wish. ”

Fran remained silent, not disagreeing, which was not difficult for her. She has written letters for so long, and she has already mastered the words, and she can write as many copies as she pleads, and she can be as sincere as she wants - of course, it is impossible to give up her obsessions.

"You just told me two things?" A moment later, she remembered something again. "And what's the other one?"

"The one thing that was bad for you is not a good thing or a bad thing for you...... It's just a request, depending on whether you want to agree to it or not. ”

"Please, could it be worse?" Fran asked rhetorically.

"Just recently, Charles and I were planning to fund the creation of a charity association about art." Charlotte lowered her voice. "The purpose of the whole association is to make its own contribution to the cause of art in our country. Sponsor talented artists and collect some art by the way. We all know you have some genius for drawing. Plus, you're part of your own family, so we want you to take care of that. ”

"Huh?" Fran didn't understand for a moment, "Patronage of the arts? You? ”

She blinked and looked at Charlotte in disbelief.

This could never have been Charlotte's idea, because she knew that Charlotte had an arrogant shelf, but she knew nothing about art such as painting, sculpture, music, etc., and even looked down on those who did it.

Charlotte was a little uncomfortable by this look, because it was really not her idea, she was just helping her husband to inform Fran by the way. In order to get rid of this embarrassment, she continued.

"Our family is obviously the best family in the country. But in this country where right and wrong are reversed, there is no respect for many years, especially the Shire. Because he helped Bonaparte, Charles's reputation was bad enough, and those villains were jealous of him every day and spread rumors and slandered him, so even if he did this, no one would buy his account, and the people of this country were very bad! So, we've got to figure it out. Salvage your reputation and at least let a group of influential people say good things about us. ”

"So you sponsor those artists?" Fran seemed to understand her brother's train of thought. "My brother wants me to discover artists with potential, sponsor them when they are poor, and then let them sing the hymns of our family?"

"That's what it means." Charlotte nodded.

Just when Fran was glad that she knew her brother so well. A new blow is coming again. "But that's only a small part of the intention, not even the main one."

"What?" Fran was taken aback. "What does that mean?"

"Actually, it's very simple, you know. Those strange works of art, those paintings, sculptures. It's all a bit of a vain thing......"

"These are not empty heads! They are all the result of individual genius. Fran interrupted her, "Only the uneducated and vain do not understand the value of art." ”

"Those paintings, sculptures. It's all vain things, God knows their true value, and some of them may have the brilliance of genius, but most of them seem to me to be nothing more than mud for children to play with. Ignoring Fran's rebuttal, Charlotte said firmly, "Most artists are mediocre in their intellect, they are great when someone praises them, and they are worthless when no one pays attention to them!" ”

"You're biased!" Dissatisfied with her words, Fran couldn't help but protest again, "It's true that there are many artists who are poor, but that's just because they don't meet them!" ”

"Whatever you want." Charlotte spread her hands, but did not intend to change her discriminatory attitude, "But, no doubt you can notice that the value of art fluctuates greatly, and that there are things that are worth a moment and then depreciate sharply, while there are things that seem ordinary and can make the whole of Europe feel good." ”

"That's true." Fran nodded, but she still couldn't figure out what her brother's plans were.

"Let's put it this way, we have a lot of incoming and outgoing accounts, which are not easy to write clearly in the account books, or even if they are written in the account books, they will not be able to see the light, so ...... Charles felt that we could use this property of art to cover up the flow of money, and that we could take some shady money to buy a worthless painting, so that we could pocket a large sum of money properly, and by using the opposite method, we could transfer a large amount of money without realizing it......"

"In other words, it's a way to run some money that can't see the light of day, right?"

Through Charlotte's explanation that she is obviously learning and selling, Fran finally understands what her brother means.

The trade in art is used to cover up the flow of black money, to launder bribes, to allow the stolen money to flow freely, and to unknowingly mobilize a large amount of money.

She was amazed to find that even now, she didn't quite understand what was going on in her brother's head.

This amazing wisdom is amazing!

"You understand it right, that's pretty much what it means." Charlotte nodded, "Charles thinks that in a few years, there will be rich people everywhere who will buy worthless paintings, and our family is just taking the lead and making a good name in the art world." Of course, most of this fame is yours to enjoy, and the Charr will do nothing to please them, and I don't bother to please the fools! ”

Fran's eyes welled up with tears again, but this time it was out of joy.

She finally fully understood her brother's thoughts.

After his "good performance" during this time, his brother finally forgave himself and complied with his request to let himself participate in his career.

Maybe get your hands dirty, but so what?

I'm just happy to do it!

"If you don't want to, we can go to someone else......"

"No, let me do it, only I can do it!" Fran shouted out. (To be continued......)