Today's dinner was of a very high standard. Because there were foreign guests and close aristocrats, it was rare for Downton to open a large banquet hall.

For this banquet, Carson's team started preparing a week ago.

The huge crystal chandelier above the head of the grand banquet hall shines brightly. The horseshoe-shaped extra-long dining table is covered with a docile white linen tablecloth, silver-plated salt shakers, porcelain dinner plates, silver-plated table knives, glass wine glasses, gold-plated candlesticks, etc. in order

placed in front of the guests.

Paper slips with the guests' names will be affixed to an 8-foot-wide nameplate, which will be placed on the simulated dining table and the seats will be constantly adjusted.

Arranging seats is also a science. It requires careful consideration of who the guests may prefer to sit with, whether they know each other, what language they speak, etc.

The plan required Carson to repeatedly report to the hostess for modifications before finalizing it.

The Crowley family has little money now, but the family background is not comparable to that of the nouveau riche.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, this is the truth.

The Earl family, which has been passed down for centuries, has successively purchased and created 1,000 pieces of luxurious gold and silver porcelain tableware.

This tableware series embodies the design essence of Egypt, Greece, and Rome in the 19th century.

Because of the high specifications of this set of tableware, it was rarely used before.

One is because the guest status may not be enough for this set of tableware, and the other is because the number of people is too small and it is not worth using.

Today is different. There are dozens of domestic and foreign guests. In order to show the glory of Britain and the heritage of the family, everything must be treated with the highest standards.

This week, Carson had to take the maid with him every day to wash, dry, wipe the tableware by hand, and then carefully put them back together. It was a very huge project.

The waiters in white aprons first polished the long dining table until it was as shiny as a mirror.

This extra-long horseshoe-shaped dining table is formed in one piece. God knows that hundreds of years of old trees were cut down to make it.

Because the table is too big and it is difficult to hook the arms to the center, the servants will take off their shoes, wear thick socks and lie on the table to carefully wipe the table with a stick wrapped in a cloth mat.

In short, all porcelain, glass, silver-plated utensils, etc. that will be used at the banquet need to be cleaned and polished, and linen tablecloths, tablecloths, small napkins for cups and plates, etc. also need to be ironed and folded for later use.
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The day before the dinner begins, accessories are placed on the table, including 10 exquisite candlesticks, each of which contains 122 parts.

Before each use, they need to be disassembled separately, cleaned, and then reassembled.

The centerpiece of the dining table is mainly composed of seasonal fruits and flowers.

The 12 pots of flowers are designed by a specialized flower arranger. The project is complicated and takes several hours to complete.

Ice buckets, salt shakers, dinner plates, main dinner plates, wine glasses, and silver-plated table knives must be wiped at least 7 times before being placed on the table.

The order in which all tableware is placed must also follow the regulations handed down from the Middle Ages to show respect for the distinguished guests.

The tableware placed at each seat must be accurately measured with a ruler, leaving at least 18 inches between knives, forks, and dinner plates.

The distance between seats will also be measured using special poles, and the distance will be adjusted to ensure the visual beauty brought about by the overall balance.

The guests on Robert's left and right sides will also have their own salt shakers and mustard shakers, while other guests will share one set for every four guests.

Servants will fold linen napkins into the shape of a Dutch hat and place them on the dining table. Each napkin is embroidered with the Crawley family totem, which is very beautiful.

Of course, these are all external factors. The key to the success of a dinner party is the taste of the food.

Mrs. Patmore prepared this for a week, all her specialties.

The pre-dinner soup is cold tomato clear soup and mashed potato pancakes. The appetizers include cod with oyster sauce, and pan-fried whitebait steak with anchovy sauce. Guests can choose between the two.

Followed by French meatballs and duck meatballs with Cumberland sauce.

The main course is roasted leg of lamb with potato slices, and the final dessert is fruit cake.

The taste is actually just that, mainly because the ingredients are fresh enough so it’s not unpalatable.

Mrs. Patmore's craftsmanship is still trustworthy, although she sometimes makes mistakes.

After the dinner, everyone moved to the ballroom next to the banquet hall. Cora arranged for a band to play live, and the guests could dance at any time.

However, most people chose to drink and chat. After all, it would be a pity to use this kind of social occasion for dancing.

Gao Bin walked among the guests with champagne, taking care of every guest who came to Downton as much as possible. This is also one of his responsibilities.

The normal banquet lasted until 11 o'clock in the evening and everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.

Gao Bin was so tired from working in the factory during the day and helping to entertain the guests at night that he went back to his room and took a shower before falling asleep. He didn't even go to Anna to play games.

He slept soundly and had no idea what was happening outside.

In the second half of the night, when it was almost dawn, Gao Bin felt a hand pat his face. He suddenly became excited, his brain reacted instinctively, and his body also took action.

A standard choke hold will pin the person directly to the bed.

"Well~it's me~"

"Anna?"

Gao Bin was startled, thinking that someone was trying to harm him.

Fortunately, Anna spoke up in time, otherwise her fragile neck would not have been able to stop Gao Bin's explosive grip.

"Hu~hu~"

Anna also knew that she was almost killed in the hands of her lover, and she burst into tears instantly.

Gao Bin comforted:

"Okay, okay, stop crying. Why did you come to me at this time?"

"Something happened to Miss Mary..."

It turned out that 20 minutes ago, Mary, who was fooling around with a beautiful Turkish man, woke up Anna. The reason was that the handsome man died on her bed. She didn’t know who to look for, so she could only wake Anna up.

But it is impossible for the two of them to move the body of an adult man.

Mary did not dare to tell her father. She knew that this incident was too embarrassing and that once word spread, the reputation of the entire family would be destroyed.

They didn’t want her father to be ashamed of her, so they had to wake Cora up.

In the end, the three of them still couldn't move it, so they had to have help from a man.

Carson is too old and William cannot hide the secret. After much deliberation, the only one he can find is Gao Bin.

So Anna took the initiative to invite Ying over. Unexpectedly, Gao Bin regarded her as a threat and almost had her neck cut off.

Gao Bin was speechless after learning the cause and effect.

This Mary has more success than failure.

"Let's go, let's go there."

He was used to sleeping on the ground, so he had no clothes on at the moment, but Anna had never seen anything, and there was no need to avoid her. Time was tight, so he just threw on a nightgown and followed her out.

When she came to Mary's room, she saw the mother and daughter in shock. Mary lowered her head in shame and did not even dare to look directly into Gao Bin's eyes.

Cora hugged Gao Bin:

"Child, I know this incident shocked you, but you must keep Mary secret, not for her, but for your father, for the Crawley family, and for Downton."

Gao Bin patted Cora on the back and said softly:

"Don't worry, I know what's appropriate. We must dispose of the body now, otherwise it will cause unnecessary trouble. The Turks will definitely investigate the cause!"

The women didn't think so much before, they just thought about sending the body back to his own room.

Now that Gao Bin said this, they also realized the seriousness of the problem.

It’s impossible for a good person to sleep to death, right?

You have to give someone an explanation!

There is still an hour and a half before dawn, time is running out.

Gao Bin stepped forward, stretched out his hand to pinch Mary's chin, and lifted it hard. Looking at the face full of pain and fear, he didn't feel soft at all:

"Tell me, how far have you developed?"

"What?" Mary didn't understand.

"There are no outsiders here. Tell me where you have progressed. This is very important!"

"I, we..." Mary subconsciously looked at her mother.

Although Cora didn't know why Gao Bin asked this, she believed in Gao Bin's ability to deal with things.

"Tell me, at this point, do you still feel ashamed?"

"Halfway in, he suddenly yelled, lay on top of me and became unresponsive."

After all, Gao Bin had been a policeman. Although he was not a professional forensic doctor, he had a basic understanding of corpses.

He shook off Mary's face and went to the body for a quick inspection.

If the judgment is correct, it should be a myocardial infarction. He was too excited, and he already had a heart disease, so he had a heart attack!

But Mary was indeed the inducement.

"Did he rape you?" Gao Bin asked without looking back.
To be continued...