Chapter 1170 Masquerade

When Han Li was watching the pastry chef laying out the preserved fruits layer by layer, a woman suddenly asked him if he was alone.

At this time and place, there are some rules for foreigners.

Han Li knew without guessing that the other party was looking for a dance partner for the evening. He thought that he didn't have a dance partner either. If this woman had the same face or figure, he would agree to her.

However, when Han Li turned around, he found that the other party was a woman with ordinary looks and not too outstanding figure. He raised his hand and raised his wine glass and said.

"I'm sorry, beautiful lady, my dance partner is on the way."

"That's a pity. My name is Cecilia Phillips. I was sent to Edinburgh on a business trip by the 'Single Wheat Kingdom' Adcskj Company. Due to some reasons, I can't go home for the holidays."

Although Han Li didn't plan to let this mediocre person be his dance partner, it was good to meet someone from the Single Wheat Kingdom and learn about the customs of their country from him.

Moreover, the ball held by the hotel started very late. According to their custom, they would sit in front of the TV or radio and listen to the Queen's speech and blessings before starting the Christmas Eve carnival.

The Queen's speech would be finished at about nine o'clock in the evening, which means that there are still more than three hours before the ball starts. It would be nice to have someone to chat with to kill time.

So Han Li switched to single microphone and briefly introduced himself to the other party. Cecilia Phillips was celebrating the festival in another place and heard her hometown dialect, and it was someone who could speak it so fluently and authentically. Needless to say, she was surprised at the moment.

The two moved to the window where they would not affect others and chatted until night fell.

According to the ancient Scottish tradition, the hotel staff brought a lot of rowan trees and put them in the fireplace. It is said that burning this kind of tree can eliminate the bad mood of friends and family.

The hotel staff also said that they hope that the burning rowan trees can help guests eliminate the regret of not being able to go home for the festival, so that everyone can spend this year's Christmas Eve and Christmas here more happily.

At this time, the streets outside were full of Santa Clauses of all sizes who had no sleighs to sit on. The hotel staff turned on the TV and distributed paper hats to the guests who wanted to eat and watch the Queen's speech in the lobby.

Han Li did not intend to join in the fun in the lobby. It seemed lively here, but it was not friendly to people like Han Li.

If these people collectively shouted Merry Christmas Eve, Han Li would shout a few words with them.

But what if they collectively shouted "Long Live the Queen" like lunatics? So it was best to leave here.

Han Li did not take the paper hat handed over by the waiter. He took two large pieces of preserved fruit cake on the pastry side and brought them to the meat side.

Here, Han Li first eliminated the pork full of smell, and tasted the turkey meat that tasted like firewood and rejected it.

Finally, Han Li took a few pieces of Christmas mincemeat, a large piece of stewed venison, and a bottle of champagne here, and asked the waiter to help bring them back to his room.

Although Han Li would not shout "Long live the Queen", it did not affect him from watching TV and watching the Queen's performance while eating and drinking alone in the room.

At this moment, many nobles and wealthy businessmen who were invited by the Queen to attend the Christmas Eve banquet had gathered in a manor of the English royal family. They were all dressed in gorgeous and expensive clothes, sitting there solemnly waiting for the Queen's summons.

Those dignitaries who did not receive the Queen's invitation or were not qualified to attend, their whole family dressed in formal attire, sitting in front of the TV, waiting for the Queen's New Year's speech and blessings.

These people are not simply listening to the Queen's blessings, but more want to get some information from the speech.

Especially those families with daughters of marriageable age, they hope to learn about the royal family's dress and preferences, so that their daughters can successfully attract the attention of the royal family when they attend the "Queen Charlotte Ball".

At the very least, they can let their daughters attend the "Royal Ladies Blind Date" in London and marry an elite who can help the family.

(Queen Charlotte's Ball: This is held by the English royal family and has been held since the 18th century. Many English princesses and noble ladies were selected here. At that time, daughters below the baron were not eligible to participate.

Now, those with a slightly lower status, wealth, and fame are not eligible to enter this circle at all. The later king asked many people to help his daughters qualify.)

(London Royal Family Celebrity Dating Party: This dating party is not as good as the "Queen Charlotte's Ball", but ordinary people are not eligible to participate at all.

Later, it was learned by Barry. It does not have the title of the royal family, but it is also a celebrity dating party, but the level has been lowered a lot. Even the daughter of a certain Yi can participate, but it is said that she was eliminated in the first round.)

As for the ordinary people in England, most of them are wearing ordinary clothes, wearing celebratory paper hats on their heads, talking and laughing in front of the TV and the radio, and are also waiting for the Queen's New Year's greetings.

Some older people will also preach to their impatient children and grandchildren who can't sit still.

"You should be content to hear the Queen's blessing every year. When I was a child, I couldn't even see the nobles, let alone the Queen's blessing. I could only see the tax collectors. But when I saw them, I had to pay taxes and I would be beaten if I wasn't careful."

The Queen's New Year's speech and blessing were just like that. As soon as the Queen finished her speech on TV, Han Li heard cheers from outside.

Not long after, the waiter came to inform Han Li that the Christmas Eve dance was about to begin and he could attend at any time.

Han Li had no interest in the regular dance held in the east hall, because that kind of dance was very common in England.

After everyone went in, they danced, drank, and chatted. If two people liked each other, it would not be surprising if they had a little more than friendly relationship during the period, because that was the current trend in England.

Han Li had never participated in any masquerade balls. Humans are always curious about unknown things.

So Han Li put on the vampire cloak and mask provided by the hotel, opened the door and came to the masquerade ball held in the west hall.

Han Li also met some people in other costumes on the way, but everyone just nodded and didn't say anything, and walked all the way to the place where the dance was held.

After Han Li came in, he found that this was a dance party with strange costumes. Now he was like entering a messy magical world.

Maybe vampires have a special meaning in the eyes of Westerners, so the number of people in this costume is the largest.

In addition, there are werewolves, clowns, pirates, priests, nuns, shepherdesses, knights, ghosts, mummies, princesses.

There are also some people wearing fairy tale costumes, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Wolf Grandma, male and female wizards, etc.

No matter what these people are dressed up in, what kind of props they have in their hands, everyone wears a mask or eye mask on their face to hide their true identity.

However, many people's masks are very small, and the holes in the eye masks are very large, which can't cover up the effect at all. Han Li feels that those people wear this thing as a self-covering decoration.

At the beginning of the dance, there was no difference from an ordinary dance. Everyone gathered together to drink, dance, chat, and flirt.

Maybe because of the mask, many people at the scene moved more violently, and some people were about to rub together when dancing.

When chatting, people talked about those usually private topics, and the people around them made strange noises from time to time.

Of course, there were also people who were a little more reserved. Han Li pulled such a young woman to sit in the corner of the ballroom to chat.

She was dressed as a nun with a pirate eye mask. The two contradictory costumes gave people an impulse to explore and understand.

It was not allowed to ask each other's names at this kind of masquerade, so everyone just drank and chatted about topics that both parties were interested in.

People who like lively gatherings gathered in those conspicuous places, so no one came to disturb them.

Because Han Li was wearing a mask, he felt that this chat mode was the same as the online chat in later generations. A lot of things can be said, and it feels really good without worrying about the other party recognizing oneself.

If there is a chance in the future, Han Li plans to participate in more such masquerade parties.

Han Li learned from chatting with the lady in nun's cloak that this kind of masquerade ball is now often held in many big cities and even small towns in England.

However, most of them are privately held, and the threshold for entry is also different.

Some require the invitation of the host, and some will ask those who want to participate to pay some fees according to the situation.

This time she paid to come in and see it, so that when the graduation season comes, she will not make a fool of herself when her classmates hold a masquerade because she knows nothing.

When it was close to midnight, the music in the hall stopped.

This situation should be a mistake, but no one in the hall said anything, and the people who were dancing hugged each other tighter, and some people showed excitement in their eyes.

Han Li saw that no one else raised any questions about this, so of course he would not say anything.

However, this situation did not last too long, and soon the church bells came over.

When the bells rang, when everyone was cheering, a man dressed as a knight walked to the speaker and took out a microphone to say to everyone.

"The New Year's bell has rung, which means that the Lord has not only forgiven the mistakes we made last year, but also given us new blessings. To thank the Lord, let's have a thorough carnival."

Han Li thought this was a feature of the masquerade, and he was thinking about what activities would be next.

The knight who had just spoken put down the microphone, first twisted his body in an unsightly dance, and then screamed that he was actually