Flowers, Swords and France

It was already afternoon, the sun gradually lost its previous blazing, and instead emitted a slightly warm golden light, and the temperature also dropped a lot.

Under the shining golden sunlight with a little residual heat, a row of cruise ships floated on the slightly black surface of the Thames. Its speed was slow enough for the tourists in it to quietly appreciate the buildings on the shore.

It quietly encountered the Tower of London, which carried countless legends, and then the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral was vivid in front of it.

Finally, in the shadow of the sunset at dusk, they met Nelson's statue.

In just one afternoon, these cruise ships greeted England for hundreds of years.

Just like countless centuries before, this long river flowed quietly forward, silently nurturing a nation and recording the history of a nation.

And at this time, it was the most glorious and magnificent page in the history of this country.

Even if the Thames became black and smelly due to the pollution brought by the Industrial Revolution, so what? The fire of this country has illuminated every unknown corner of the world. Whether people are willing to accept it or not, their fate will be completely written by the British Empire.

On one of the inconspicuous cruise ships, two girls were staying at the bow, looking at the capital of the world empire. One of them stood at the bow and looked around, and the other sat at the open easel, her eyes wandering between the canvas and the magnificent buildings on the river bank from time to time.

They are very young, so they are dressed very lively and casually, wearing gray and blue dresses. They also wear small round hats on their heads, looking pretty and cute.

They are Fran and her close friend Mary. They just came to London yesterday.

Because they thoroughly implemented the purpose of playing, after settling down. They went around various attractions in London the next day, and then took a cruise on the Thames in the afternoon, preparing to paint a few paintings on the cruise ship as a witness to this journey.

Although both of them were very charming, the crowds of people on the streets along the shore were all moving in a hurry, and no one looked over here.

On the densely packed streets, carriages and pedestrians kept coming and going, like blood vessels that could not stop, and the numerous shops. However, they boasted the wealth of the country to everyone who visited it.

This country that ruled the entire world concentrated all its wealth together and built this indescribable metropolis.

Other cruise ships were now also crowded with tourists from all over Europe. Everyone looked at the exquisiteness everywhere with curiosity, and had enthusiastic conversations with local tourists from time to time.

In order to host the World Expo, the British were rarely hospitable.

"What an interesting country!" Mary exclaimed in a low voice.

Then, she turned her head and looked at her friend who had been silent.

"How is it? You have been sitting for so long, do you have any inspiration?" After looking for a long time, because Fran was slow to write. So Mary urged her anxiously. "We have to paint something. It will be dark soon!"

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? You have been learning to paint for so long. Don't you know that you can't be in a hurry about this kind of thing?" Fran rolled her eyes at Mary in a bit of annoyance. "I have to think about how to paint it. If I just paint a few strokes, it will just become a poster of scenery, right?"

"Even if I paint a poster, it's better than nothing, right?" Mary shrugged disapprovingly. "Hurry up and paint. It will be really dark soon! If you don't paint anything, then we will have made a wasted trip?"

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Fran waved her brush, signaling her friend not to rush. "I have a feeling, I will be fine in a moment. I will be fine in a moment!"

As they were joking and chatting with each other, the cruise ship slowly passed Westminster Abbey.

This Gothic building, which buried the kings of Britain, countless princes and ministers, and even great men like Newton, looked old and solemn in the dim sunlight with its abrupt spires and angular outer walls. It looked down at everyone who passed by it, as if it wanted to use this method to show all the glory of an empire in detail.

It seems... it seems to have some inspiration.

Fran's heart moved slightly.

This girl, who was talented and talented in painting since childhood, suddenly felt that she was full of the creative passion she often had in the past.

Driven by this passion, she almost unconsciously picked up the paintbrush, dipped it in paint, and began to carefully paint on the canvas.

Seeing her friend so serious, Mary knew that she had entered the creative state, so she said no more, just watched from the side, and was just looking forward to what kind of work she could come up with with her extraordinary talent.

As the brush rose and fell, the outline began to appear on the canvas, outlining a picture, and then the picture became clearer and clearer.

Finally, when the sun was about to set over the river bank, Fran's brush finally stopped.

Then, Fran looked at the painting she had just finished quietly, without saying a word, as if she was still immersed in the afterglow of the creation.

"Huh? What is this?" Mary, who had already seen the whole painting clearly, finally exclaimed.

Because the style of Fran's new painting was different from what she expected.

Even, this cannot be regarded as a landscape painting at all.

It is also dusk in the painting, in the square next to St. Paul's Church that we just passed. The outer wall of this church looks a little black, as if it has been burned by fire; right next to the square, the statue of Admiral Nelson has fallen. When it landed, the surrounding buildings were engulfed in firelight, and the imperial eagle flag loomed in the dim background.

And surrounded by the sky full of firelight, a young man wearing a bicorn hat and a generalissimo's uniform stood proudly in front of the ruins of the cathedral. Under the steps were a group of soldiers who stood solemnly and were inspected with loaded weapons.

"...Uh...you..." Mary muttered to herself after looking at it for a moment. It's like he wants to say something but can't.

The painting skills are as superb as ever and simply stunning. But the taste is a bit unflattering.

Mary, who has quite an artistic vision, quickly made a decision in her mind.

"In this age, what the hell are you wearing a bicorn hat on your head? It's so ugly!" After a moment, she finally couldn't help but comment, "Also, it's rare to come here to play, how can you draw it? Is something like this coming?”

It was really difficult for her to understand what Fran was thinking. She was quite happy just now, but now she painted such a terrible scene. As for the costume, it was not a big problem - in fact, she just hated Emperor Napoleon because she hated him. It’s just this iconic look that he brings.

"It's nothing? It's just a painting..." Fran looked at it for a long time. Finally, as if he was satisfied with the painting, he nodded slightly and threw the brush aside. "Don't worry, I'm fine!"

"Why do you draw something like this when you have nothing to do? It's so scary." Mary still looked at Fran with some confusion.

"I'm just thinking, is my brother now interacting with the British?" Fran slowly put away the painting tools and replied casually, "I can guarantee that although he will definitely chat and laugh with the British, he is sure that Will he like these British people? So... he will definitely like this painting, and I will give it to him when the time comes!"

Of course she wouldn't know that at this time her brother was still bargaining with the most powerful people in the country for national interests - or personal gain - but she still believed it. His brother is continuing his unprecedented career in this country.

After hearing this unexpected answer, Mary looked at Fran in surprise and blinked.

"You are really..."

What did she want to say. But suddenly I felt my nose was a little sore, so I didn’t say anything in the end. "Okay...it's nothing. In fact, I also think this painting is quite beautiful. My husband will definitely like it! Okay. It's getting dark now. Let's put our things away quickly. We're about to disembark."

"Well, we have to hurry up." Fran nodded.

Then she turned to look inside the cabin.

"Mr. Kongze, please come and help me clean up!"

No response.

Then, a pale and expressionless Kong Ze suddenly appeared at the cabin door.

When she saw him, Mary felt very uncomfortable.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

This could indeed be a pleasant journey - if the man standing aside expressionlessly was not too much of an eyesore.

"Okay, miss." After understanding Fran's request, he nodded immediately.

Then, after looking at the somewhat dirty easel, he frowned visibly.

"How did it happen?"

"It always ends up like this after painting." Mary replied, blocking his view without leaving a trace, and then took the canvas off the easel. "Please help me pack up. We'll be disembarking soon."

"Yes." Kong Ze responded in a low voice, and then began to help pack up the easel.

However, his expression still looked uncomfortable, as if this was some annoying chore.

"Sir, I'm sorry, it's really difficult for you to ask for help..." Fran frowned slightly, obviously not having a good impression of him. "But if you find it troublesome, you don't have to follow me like this."

Kong Ze could see that the two ladies deliberately called him over to help just to make him unhappy, so he didn't intend to show much kindness.

"If possible, I would like to do this, miss. Unfortunately, reality does not allow me to have such an easy life."

"Um?"

"My mission is not only to protect you, but more importantly..." Kong Ze bowed to Fran expressionlessly, "to prevent you from doing anything that would bring danger to yourself or others. "

"Could it be that just wanting to take a stroll would put anyone in danger?" Fran asked.

"Oh, God knows." Kong Ze shrugged, then said no more and silently put away the easels.

Fran and Mary looked at each other, feeling very displeased with the "guards" who were an eyesore along the way.

This man was really incompetent and seemed not to take him seriously at all. It was really annoying. However, he had been ordered by his brother and he had no way to deal with it, so he could only do nothing.

"I will tell the gentleman what you said to me. You are so disrespectful to his sister." After a moment of silence, Mary said to Kongze with some displeasure. "I want to see how you will tell him then!"

"You can do so of course. It is your right." Kongze replied calmly, "But, at least now, when Mr. Treville's order has not expired, I can only ask you not to embarrass us."

He did not take Mary's threat to heart at all, because he knew in his heart that Charles would never blame himself for obeying orders. To be honest, he was a little dissatisfied with his employer for giving him the job of taking care of the little girl.

He certainly didn't know how angry and wary Charles was about his sister.

"Okay, wait." Mary replied in a hoarse voice.

And Fran, who was also unhappy, simply turned her eyes away and looked at the bow of a cruise ship.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a middle-aged man dressed elegantly also sat beside the easel, as if he was preparing to paint the city's grand scene just like she did just now.

The difference was that his eyes did not look at the scenery on both sides of the river at all, but only at the woman lying in his arms.

At this moment, under Fran's gaze, he leaned down gently with a charming smile and gave the woman in his arms a deep kiss.

Fran suddenly turned his eyes away, and then looked around blankly.

She opened her mouth slightly, and then immediately covered it with her hand, but her heart suddenly beat wildly - of course, it was not just this kind of immoral behavior that made her so excited.

The quarrel between Mary and Kongze continued to reach her ears, but she had turned a deaf ear to it.

How could... how could it be here?

"Mary!" She whispered.

"Hmm?" After hearing Fran's call, Mary stopped arguing with Kongze and walked back to Fran's side, "What's the matter?"

"Hey, don't argue with him, what's the point?" After trying to suppress the panic in her heart, Fran's face reappeared the relaxed and casual smile just now, "Let's go back first and take care of ourselves. We still have to go to Westminster to have a look tomorrow!"

"Okay, it's time to go back." Mary nodded, and then glanced at Kongze hatefully, "That man is really annoying. I must have a good talk with Mr. when I go back!"

"Okay, let's talk about it later, let's go first!" Fran held Mary's hand, "Don't forget the painting, keep it carefully!" (To be continued..)