Flowers, Swords and France

In the magnificent dining room of the Duke of Treville's mansion, a luxurious dinner was held as usual. However, unlike usual, there were only two people toasting at the table.

Mr. Philippe de Treville, the heir of the Duke of Treville, sat at the main seat, but he did not seem to be interested in the delicious food in front of him. Instead, he kept looking at the young man sitting at the side of the table.

"In other words, Mr. Bonaparte is planning to ask us to help dismantle the Order Party?"

"Basically, that's right."

Charles answered in a low voice, then he carefully cut the venison in front of him into small pieces with a table knife, and then picked up the wine glass next to him. The scarlet wine flowed freely in the glass, and then Charles drank it all without regard for his manners. After he put down the wine glass, the servant standing in the corner came over and refilled the wine glass with wine.

"Oh, he really thought of it..." The little duke sneered, and then he also took a sip of wine.

"Don't you agree to do this?" Charles asked back.

"Not that I don't agree... As long as the benefits are enough, what can't be done?" The little duke answered leisurely, with a sneer on his face still on his face, "The problem is that even if we want to help him do this, we have to find a good reason to convince those people?"

"What benefits do you talk about with your own family?" Charles smiled and told a cold joke.

"Of course, we have to talk about benefits among our own family. Does it mean that my daughter won't take things from me just because we are a family? Bah. She takes more than anyone else, as if she is afraid that she can't empty this place!" The little duke also replied with a cold joke, "So. Even if it is to leave something for my family, I have to try my best to get some benefits from Mr. Bonaparte..."

Uh... Charles was speechless for a moment.

It's not that he was embarrassed, but he felt helpless about this cousin who was obviously stubborn.

Fortunately, he was not unable to give benefits - anyway, the people who gave benefits were Louis-Bonaparte.

"You're exaggerating. Charlotte is just a little worried about her future. It's not like she's going to empty your house." Charles smiled and replied, "Besides, Mr. President won't ask people to help him for nothing. He's always generous..."

"So how exactly is he going to be generous to us?" The little Duke took another sip of wine.

"This time my grandfather led his troops to Rome. In addition to helping Italy and the Papal States restore order, he also had other tasks..." Charles deliberately slowed down his speech. He said slowly to his cousin.

"Well, I know, so what?" Although he still pretended to be very calm on the surface, Charles clearly saw that the other party frowned slightly.

"He has reached an agreement with His Majesty the Pope. He will support Mr. President's efforts to turn the republic into a monarchy again..." Seeing that the other party was already concerned. So Charles continued to finish.

"A thousand years have passed, and the popes are still so unprincipled..." The answer of the little Duke of Treville was like a mockery and a sneer.

In today's era, the old nobles have lost their old privileges, and even their economic superiority has been gradually eroded by the emerging bourgeoisie. What do they have left? Only "orthodoxy" in the religious sense remains - isn't it God's will that the descendants of Saint Louis continue to rule this country?

But the popes never talk about moral integrity. Pius VII came tremblingly to crown Napoleon, and Pius IX was still willing to sing praises for Napoleon's nephew. Therefore, even the flag of orthodoxy is not very bright now, for aristocrats like the little duke. This is indeed a pity - after all, if there is really hope to return to the old times, how can he not cheer?

However, this regret will not make him lose his mind.

"It sounds like this will make Mr. President very happy, so what does the President intend to pay?"

"Mr. President intends to restore the Catholic Church's status as a state religion, and at the same time issue a decree to allow the church to dominate the country's school education." Charles narrated coldly, "At the same time, the church can restore some of the church property that was seized."

"Shock, that's it!" The little Duke of Treville sighed. "No wonder the Pope bowed down to the Bonaparte family so easily again."

The Orleans royal family, which came from a royal family, abolished the state status of Catholicism, but the Bonaparte family, which came from a humble family, was busy trying to restore it - as long as there are interests, no matter how strange things happen in the world.

"So, in the future cabinet, Mr. President will appoint an outstanding orthodox person as the Minister of Justice, who will implement this decree and let the glory of God return to the land of France..." Charles finished slowly.

"Give me the position of minister?" The little duke nodded, looking noncommittal. "It sounds tempting, but...wait...are you going to forcibly replace the prime minister and dissolve the cabinet?"

He raised his head and looked at Charles, as if he wanted to see the shadow of Louis Bonaparte in him.

"Not yet, but sooner or later there will be such a day." Charles nodded gently and answered in a rather mysterious way, "and I believe that this day is not far away."

"Is that so..." The little duke pondered and weighed the pros and cons.

What Charles said meant that the first showdown between the President and the Party of Order was coming, and of course he was trying to find a way to deal with it.

"Then, are there no other arrangements?" After a moment of silence, the little Duke spoke again, "You also know that we have no intention of entering the government now, so this benefit is not ours. …”

Huh, these people are really... Ciel smiled bitterly in his heart.

"Of course I will help you think about it, don't worry." He looked at his cousin, "As long as you hold the government in your hands, are you afraid that you won't get any benefits? Although Mr. President can't arrange people there like he did in the past Regardless of the monastery, he can still send the person he likes there without anyone noticing. There are some fat positions. For example, the district chiefs of various regions, or the tax chiefs of other provinces, or the prosecutors of the administrative courts... These positions are well paid and not resented, as long as they listen quietly to the president. Being able to make a lot of money, isn’t that enough to buy your happiness?”

[In the past Bourbon era, because the church was rich in real estate, if the French monarch wanted to bestow favors on a favored minister, he or his relatives would reward him or his relatives to manage a monastery diocese, from which he could make a lot of money. After the Revolution, a large amount of church property was confiscated and sold off. The district system was also abolished. 】

Of course Louis Bonaparte was not willing to use the country's assets and budget as gifts to win over people's hearts.

"That's not bad..." After hearing Ciel's explanation, the little Duke finally showed a satisfied smile. "Eugen has grown up now. When the time comes, I will send him to be a prosecutor of the Administrative Court, so that he can earn a living for himself."

"It's up to you." Charles replied with a smile.

By the 19th century, aristocratic families no longer sent their second sons to the church. Instead, choose to send it to the government or court. This can be regarded as the progress of the times.

"It's a pity that my two sons don't have a fraction of your abilities and can't earn a career for themselves!" The young duke suddenly sighed, "It's not like now, I still have to worry about them every day! Forget it, Forget it, there is no way to force this kind of thing. You are enough for the younger generation in the family. After all, we can finally see the Treville family bloom again..."

"It's really embarrassing for you to say that." Charles replied seemingly modestly.

"Hahahaha. Why are you pretending to be modest at this time? Come on. Have another drink!" Little Duke Treville picked up the wine glass again.

After obtaining satisfactory results, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves.

………………

"You had a lot of fun there?" After drinking for a while, the little duke asked his daughter, "You didn't bully her there?"

"How dare I bully her..." Ciel smiled bitterly.

"That's such a pity. It's rare to go to the countryside. Why don't you bully her in bed?" The middle-aged man smiled very strangely. "Char, although career and work are important, there are many things in life that are much more interesting than this..."

"Uh..." Charles was speechless for a moment.

She is your daughter!

"Hey, I really can't keep my daughter when she's grown up. I went there to play for so long and didn't send a letter to my family. It seems like I don't care about my parents at all... Hey, it's really hard to raise a daughter. What a loss!" The little Duke sighed without knowing whether it was true or false.

"Anyway, we will meet often in the future, so we are not in a hurry."

"Then you should hurry up and get married. Why are you dragging it out?" The little Duke glanced at Charles. "Do we really have to wait until the day when the two old men are about to die?"

"Don't worry, it will be soon. We are at the critical moment of seizing the country and cannot be easily distracted." Ciel replied.

Then, in order to turn away from this embarrassing topic, he asked casually, "By the way, we also met a very famous person there. You should know him."

"who?"

"Princess Kadiyan," Ciel replied.

Unexpectedly, the other party's reaction was so big that it was beyond Ciel's expectations.

"Ah!" The middle-aged man suddenly exclaimed, then put the wine glass aside and looked at Charles with some surprise. The flush on his face suddenly disappeared, "Princess Kadiyang?"

"Yes, it's her." Although he didn't know why the other party had such a big reaction, Charles still nodded, "We met accidentally in the countryside..."

So, he told the young Duke exactly what happened when he and Charlotte met the princess twice.

The little Duke listened quietly and remained silent until Charles finished speaking, then he slowly spoke.

"Ah, I didn't expect that she would be hiding in a place like that. This is really surprising."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Then, he let out a long sigh, as if he was sighing for something. "What a coincidence, you met her there."

"What's wrong with her? You must know her?" Charles asked smoothly. "And judging from my observation, she and my father should be very familiar with each other. My father also painted a lot of paintings for her..."

"Hey, familiar, of course familiar. That's not ordinary familiarity!" A strange smile suddenly appeared on the little duke's face, "Forget about drawing, what else haven't the two of them done?"

"What's wrong..." Charles suddenly felt his heart move.

"Oh, nothing..." As if he realized that he had said something wrong, the middle-aged man shook his head quickly.

"Don't keep me in suspense. Is there anything I don't know at this point?" Because of curiosity, Charles asked further. "Don't worry, if there is anything inconvenient, I can accept it no matter what. I can keep everything in my heart."

The little duke was still a little hesitant at first, but he couldn't resist Charles' repeated inquiries, and finally nodded and said, "Okay. In fact, that's the case..."

"Because of the arrangement of the previous generation. So your father and I have been good friends since childhood, often go out to play together, and slowly from teenagers to young people, uh... um... I don't need to tell you, you know? What activities do young people like most? In short, we often go out together to have fun, and we have made quite a reputation, hahahaha..."

At this point, the little duke smiled and joked to Charles. "It was still the Bourbon dynasty, and my father was the Minister of State. So we didn't have to worry about so much, and we had more fun than your generation..."

"And then?"

The little Duke was silent for a moment, as if summarizing his thoughts.

"Edgar is a good person, and he is a bit humorous like you, and he can also paint... You know, women are always easily attracted to these artists, and he is also good-looking, so when we both like a woman at the same time, this guy always wins..."

Charles' heart skipped a beat.

"That princess is one of them? No wonder... No wonder..."

"Let's say she is one of them," the little duke said again after a long silence, "but the reason is not so vulgar. You don't know, the princess was so beautiful back then, Edgar and I were fascinated by her when we met, even though she was several years older than us! After returning from exile, she became a famous beauty in the upper class. Unfortunately, her parents married her to Prince Kadiyan early..."

"What happened next?" Charles couldn't suppress his curiosity.

The little duke poured himself another glass of wine and drank it down.

"Hey, the princess married the prince who was almost 40 years old when she was a teenager. What kind of feelings could there be between them? So, although she was of noble status, she was not happy at all. But it doesn't matter. This is France. Getting married doesn't mean going to the grave. Your father and I, well, and many other people fell in love with her and pursued her..."

"So she got together with my father?"

"Although the result was indeed like this, the process was much more tortuous. Although Edgar had so many advantages, he still went through a very hard pursuit before he moved the princess's heart, and then... Of course, there is no need to say. Although I felt very painful at the time, I had to admit it. I heard that someone wanted to challenge Edgar to a duel at that time! The prince was quite well-behaved and had no intention of interfering with his wife. He just lived his own life..."

This "rule" made Charles feel a little funny for a while.

"Since I exist, then he didn't have a duel, at least he won the duel." In order to adjust the atmosphere, Charles told a cold joke, and then he suddenly plucked up the courage to ask a seemingly boring question, "So... was he sincere at the time?"

Fortunately, his cousin's answer comforted him in his heart - although he didn't know why.

"At first, it was just a routine pursuit of beauty, but later, I could see that he was really in love and really obsessed with the princess... Anyway, it happened so many years ago, and I can't explain it clearly at once. In short, they were indeed very close at the time."

"So that's the case." Charles nodded, and then he suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

"Then why did they separate later? He finally married my mother."

"They didn't separate." The little duke shook his head, "After getting married, although Edgar returned to a decent life on the surface, I have been in contact with him for so many years. Can't I see it? Although he got married, he still kept in touch with the princess privately."

Charles felt a little dry in his throat.

"If that's the case, why..."

"Why? Isn't it the only way? Are they really going to leave everything behind?" The middle-aged man sneered, "My friend, isn't that how the upper class is? You can have fun as you please, but divorce is a sin. Unless you have the courage to say goodbye to all privileges and glory, you can only follow its rules."

………………

There was another silence.

"I understand." Charles finally said dryly.

If that's the case, then why did the "father" choose to run away from home back then is worth pondering. Although the blow of his wife's death in childbirth was indeed a great blow, he was not so infatuated.

Father dated the princess - father got married - the two continued to date - mother died in childbirth - father disappeared.

What exactly happened back then?

The more Charles thought about it, the colder he felt in his heart.

No, he was no longer in the mood to explore.

Keeping silent and forgetting is the wisest choice.

Charles thought.

"You don't look very energetic?" The concerned voice of his uncle broke his meditation. "How about taking a rest first?"

"Okay..." Charles managed to calm down, "I should take a rest." (To be continued...)