Flowers, Swords and France

After hearing the request conveyed by Agnes, Charlotte felt very unhappy. After all, she had never regarded the people there as her relatives.

But for Agnes's sake, she finally decided to agree to the request. Still, she set conditions.

"Mortgage...?" Agnes was stunned.

She doesn't have any financial knowledge, but she still knows this. If you want to get a loan from a bank, you need a mortgage, but what kind of mortgage is needed to borrow money between relatives?

It seems that Charlotte is indeed very resentful towards her family.

"He has lost a lot of money recently, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to provide enough collateral at once." After thinking for a moment, she replied sadly, "I heard that he has pledged and sold most of his real estate in order to make up for the loss... …”

"I wouldn't dare lend him a large sum of money without collateral." Charlotte waved her hand to show that she was helpless. "Even if I could agree, I can't justify it to Charles."

"Charlotte, can't you please be accommodating for my sake? If we can provide enough collateral, then I don't need to come to you to intercede..." Agnes said nervously Blinking, "He promised me that as long as I fill in the shortfall and get through this difficult time, I can get the money back right away. Just think of it as doing me a favor, okay?"

At this time, she no longer looked as strong as before, but seemed a little embarrassed. Obviously, in the face of money, no matter how powerful the swordsman is, there is nothing he can do.

Seeing Agnes like this, Charlotte felt both distressed and angry. Of course, this anger was not directed at Agnes.

"You were deceived! He must have been very painful when he told you, right? I've seen this kind of routine too many times in social circles. The libertines kept tossing their mothers and sisters, asking for help without conscience. They are cheating you out of money! He just sees you being so easy to talk to. That's why he pretended to be desperate." Charlotte commented on Charles's uncle in a harsh tone, "He said he would pay back the money when he got through the difficulties. This must be a lie. How could such a person pay back the money if he didn't? As for the collateral, he will definitely find a way to default on it.”

Charlotte's words left Agnes speechless for a moment.

In a sense, she also felt that what Charlotte said made sense, and her brother might really do this.

However, she felt that she could not abandon her family, so she gritted her teeth and continued speaking.

"I won't let him do this, Charlotte, even if you don't believe him, you can believe me." She looked at Charlotte with a very sincere tone, "I can guarantee him, if he dares to be cunning, I will make him suffer enough without you taking action! So, Charlotte, just help me this time..."

Charlotte could only sigh now.

She has understood. It seems that Agnes has made up her mind and hopes to help the family tide over the difficulties. She is the only one. Moreover, if he wanted to deceive her, he couldn't do it, because she had assisted him in checking the accounts of the Giverny factory before. She knew how much money she had and couldn't use "I can't mobilize funds now." To shirk.

Either agree or not, and for Agnes's sake, she seemed to have no choice.

The Duke had no credit with her, but Agnes did, and, at any rate, she felt that she owed Agnes some reward for her help.

"Hey, why do you want to help him do this?" Finally, she sighed.

"You know, I already owe them too much." Agnes smiled bitterly, "I have been willful since I was a child, and my father has worried a lot about me. When I grew up, I didn't let him feel comfortable. For my own sake, Because of my thoughts, I ran out of the country and wandered outside for so many years that I was not by his side when he passed away..."

As she spoke, tears appeared in the corners of her eyes, and her voice was choked, "I am not following my brother's orders, I just can't bear to see my father in heaven sad. If we see our family in such a state, How sad should he be..."

An ordinary person would have burst into tears when he said this, but Agnes quickly regained her composure after the brief pain, but her breathing was slightly disordered, which shows her strong will.

"Hey...Okay, stop talking!" However, Charlotte couldn't bear it anymore and waved her hands repeatedly, "Okay, I will trust you once, and you will ask your brother to come to my place in a few days. Come on, we’ll get this done.”

Not long ago, Charlotte had discussed with Charles to withdraw part of the funds from the Giverny factory account to purchase national bonds to save the family fortune for her youngest son Lelouch and future children. Now it seems that we can take some of these funds and lend them to the uncle secretly.

Although this was a risky loan, with Agnes as guarantee, she wasn't too worried. What's more, if it really didn't work out, she would still have many ways to deal with the Duke to force the debt - she didn't believe what the family had now. Capital versus itself.

In addition, she has another way to ensure that the other party can

"Thank you so much, Charlotte!" Agnes was overjoyed and grabbed Charlotte's hand, "I will definitely remember your help to us!"

"Don't be too busy thanking me." Charlotte shook her head and her expression became a little weird. "Although I don't need him to put forward anything as collateral, he still has to use some way to prove that he has indeed repaid the loan. will.”

"What...mean?" Agnes was a little surprised.

"Selling things, to be precise, is helping others sell things." Charlotte showed a strange smile and lowered her voice, "But they are not businessmen, but a group of soldiers."

"Soldiers?!" Agnes became increasingly confused. "How do soldiers sell things? What do they want to sell?"

"Soldiers are much better than businessmen. They specialize in business without capital." Charlotte replied in a low voice, "Who told them to have guns in their hands?"

"The things they robbed?" Agnes finally understood. "You mean they want to sell the stolen goods?"

"Yeah, that's it." Unlike Agnes' shock, Charlotte was very calm, "You also know that those soldiers don't have much education, so the things they robbed can't be sold at a good price. They can only be exploited by profiteers, so we want to help the soldiers get the rewards they deserve. After all, they are born and died... To tell you the truth, the soldiers stationed in various colonies now have such needs, plus Xia. Your grandfather is now commanding the army,"

"Oh my god... this is selling stolen goods!" Although Charlotte said it calmly, Agnes could certainly see the essence, "Charlotte... this is wrong, we shouldn't do this! They robbed Everything that comes here is filled with blood. If we just take it and sell it as stolen goods, aren’t we also getting blood on ourselves?”

"If no one knows, then our hands will be spotless." Charlotte was not moved at all, "Besides...Agnes, think about it, isn't this what war is all about? Soldiers have been looting everywhere for so many years. Why is there any surprise or outrage? Think about it, where would the collections of the British Museum and the Louvre come from without these people?”

"Even if no one knows, don't our consciences know?" Agnes couldn't help but asked loudly, "Charlotte, are you still short of the money now? Why do you need to use this method to enrich yourself?" What about blood? Do you really feel no uneasiness at all?"

Faced with this questioning, Charlotte finally hesitated for a moment, and finally shook her head.

"To say that we have to do this for money, of course not, but... we have other considerations. Our family needs to use some means to maintain relations with the army. Agnes, sometimes we have to do it too Something less glorious..."

Agnes was right. Of course the Treville family looked down on this small amount of money, and were not interested in taking risks to earn this small amount of money. However, considering that this could attract a large number of officers, the situation was completely different. If you can win over a group of officers by helping to sell stolen goods, then doing so will be very profitable.

In particular, Marshal Treville is already in his final years and God knows how long he can live. If he passes away, the family will lose a link in the army, so it is necessary to establish another solid link while the old man is still alive. .

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

These considerations are very practical, but not very glorious, so both Charles and his wife only tacitly understand it, and even to Agnes and Charlotte, they are unable to explain it in detail.

Although Charlotte certainly did not have any uneasy conscience, she also knew that this kind of thing was definitely not a glorious thing, and it would not be easy to do it herself, so she was prepared to find an agent secretly, at least without having to get her hands on blood. . And when she was about to find an agent, Agnes came to her and told her about it, so she came up with this idea.

In the case where Duke Nordrion sells the spoils on a consignment basis, Charlotte can always monitor his income and take a commission from this income to repay the Treville family. She feels that this can have the best of both worlds - both By ensuring the safety of the loan, you can also gain Agnes's gratitude.

Agnes fell silent again and lowered her head, obviously not knowing what to do.

She has now seen that Charlotte doesn't care about moral issues at all. Although she values ​​feelings, she only has feelings in her heart, not morality. The princess paid no attention to anyone except those whom she valued, and she did not think she had any obligations.

Because of this, she was even more unwilling to let her family participate in such things.

"Charlotte, I'm not a child. I also know that many things in the world are gray. Maybe you have things you have to do...but if you want to do it, you can do it yourself. There is no need to involve others. Right?" After a long time, she finally said, "I ask you not to set such conditions for the loan..."

"Your brother wants to borrow our money to tide over the difficulties, so isn't it reasonable for me to ask him to provide labor as a way of repaying it?" Charlotte was a little strange, "Do you think I am making things difficult for your family? ? Then you are wrong, I am also thinking about him... Think about it, if you agree to my condition, then he will have an additional income channel, and won't he be able to take a lot less risks in the future? You don’t want to come out to ask for help every time, right?”

"I only beg for him once." Agnes bit her lip, "Charlotte, I don't want this to happen to my family, so I can only refuse you on behalf of my brother."

She didn't dare to take this condition back and ask her brother, not because the conditions were too harsh, but because the conditions were too lenient. She knew that with her brother's nature, he would definitely seize such an opportunity. After all, not only could he get a A loan and a huge income stream.

So she could only refuse by herself.

"Hey... you actually refuse such an offer? Don't you know, some people might be trying to get you!" Charlotte was a little shocked and looked at Agnes, trying to make sure she was serious.

After a moment, she could only sigh, "Well, if you don't want to do it, that's okay... But in that case, I will have to discuss the loan with Charles. After all, the amount is really quite big. ”

"It doesn't matter, just talk to Charles." Agnes nodded, "I hope he can help with this for the sake of our many years of getting along."

After a pause, she added, "If you insist on a mortgage, then just add a top-up. How about I work for you and be your pawn until the loan is paid off?"

"How...how is this possible?!" Charlotte was shocked, "You are our aunt, what kind of pawn, isn't this a joke?"

"Have I not been sold to your family?" Agnes asked, "Then I should serve you, isn't it right? When Charles captured me, my family did not give me a ransom, but took it from Charles. I paid a large sum of money... In this case, I have an obligation to repay it.”

"We are not living in the Middle Ages, Agnes." After hearing this, Charlotte felt a little dumbfounded.

Sometimes she really felt that Agnes's way of thinking was ridiculously old-fashioned. Even in this era, she was still obsessed with some abstract morality. She actually refused such a generous offer and even lowered herself to say she wanted to be a pawn.

"There are some things that others don't care about, but I care about them very much." Agnes replied seriously, "Well, if you have no objection, let's make an agreement first. As long as Charles agrees, you will give me the money. elder brother."

"Okay..." Charlotte could only smile and nodded.