Flowers, Swords and France

According to the previous agreement, Charles came to the Italian Theater. He walked around the corridors on both sides, took the stairs to the second floor, and then found a small box on the right.

He knocked on the door three times.

The door opened quickly.

"Finally, you're here, but you've been waiting for a long time."

Charlotte looked at Charles with a smile.

"I think I'm on time." Charles answered calmly.

However, he was not as calm as he appeared.

Today, Charlotte was as beautiful as usual. She wore a pink lace dress, the most fashionable round flat hat on her head, her long golden hair spread behind her, and she held a small gold-carved telescope in her hand.

What an angel! He sighed in his heart.

It's a pity that angels on earth always have to spend a lot of money to comb their feathers.

When the two were still in love, Charles had seriously and earnestly calculated the minimum cost of supporting this angel: tailors would spend 20,000 to 30,000 francs a year, powder and perfume merchants would spend at least 10,000 to 15,000 francs, and fashion merchants, gardeners, theater boxes, coachmen, carriages and horses... All in all, it would be at least 100,000 francs a year, which is equivalent to about 40 kilograms of gold. This is the minimum cost of supporting an angel in Paris at that time.

At that time, he thought that as long as the Bonapartists took power, this amount of money would not be a problem at all, so he never worried about it. This is the most lovely and precious ambition of a young man.

However, it seems that he no longer needs to worry about it now.

Just as these different thoughts flashed through his mind, Charlotte pulled him in directly and closed the door.

"What are you thinking about, my dear friend?" She asked teasingly, but her face was slightly red.

"I was thinking about angel feathers." Charles answered casually.

"Huh?" Charlotte was a little confused, then laughed again, "Did you see me thinking about angels? Oh, Charles, you are really..."

She reached out and adjusted the crooked bow tie on Charles' chest.

"Nothing." Charles ignored the constant touch on his chest, shook his head gently, and then became serious again. "Let's talk about business, right? Everyone has limited time, right?"

"It's rare to get together again, why don't you chat more?" Charlotte tilted her head, and there was a hint of coquettishness on her face. "I have a lot to say."

Charles looked at his cousin expressionlessly.

"Okay, okay, whatever you want." Charlotte sighed with a wry smile, and then took her hand back. "Still the same temper as before."

"Now, how is that thing going?" Charles asked softly. "Your grandfather should not be idle during this period, right?"

"Of course not." Charlotte still smiled, "I am here to tell you now, now has come to a critical moment."

"Go on."

Charlotte turned her head and looked at the play being performed on the stage.

"Mr. Guizot has contacted many people, and now it is almost time to attack Soult. And it is obvious that our respected Prime Minister is not old and confused, he is now fighting back."

"Fighting back?" Charles asked.

"Yes, he now knows that his foreign minister is plotting a conspiracy, so he has fought back. He issued an order yesterday to let the African garrison go south to fight the Arabs."

"Oh? Yesterday's order? How did you know?" Charles was a little surprised.

Charlotte smiled in return.

"Well, that's not important. What's important is..." Charles fell into deep thought, "Why is he doing this?"

"Once the Prime Minister's permission is received, the garrison will attack southward. The French like adventures because there is glory in adventures." Charlotte held her gold-engraved telescope and watched the play on the stage carefully. "But if the British protest, then the attack must be stopped. Then, glory becomes a shame, because it is difficult for people to accept the fact that France is now dependent on Britain..."

"Then in the excitement of the crowd, he can just dismiss the Foreign Minister who accepted the British protest?" Charles understood.

"Maybe they will die together, but this will also let the Prime Minister vent his anger." Charlotte answered in a low voice. "He is already 78 years old this year, he is not afraid of dragging others to death."

"But the Foreign Minister is afraid." Charles continued, "Then what does our King think?"

"He is still hesitating. If he forcibly stops the Prime Minister's order now, he will seem to be the coward in the eyes of the French people... How can he like to play such a role?" Charlotte smiled with a hint of sarcasm. "If the price of getting his Prime Minister to step down is to sacrifice another Foreign Minister, he can accept it."

"I see..." Charles let out a long breath, then walked to the window and stood side by side with Charlotte, "In other words, Mr. Guizot is very anxious now. He needs to get the Prime Minister out of office before the British protest comes, and then deal with this incident himself."

"That's it." Charlotte nodded slightly, "I didn't expect that although Soult is so old, he is still very smart. With this move, he made the Foreign Minister confused and had to act in time."

"So he is qualified to sit in that position." Charles also praised.

In the hearts of various rebels, Soult, the cunning and even slightly sinister former marshal, made them hate him but also admire him.

Charles continued to ask. "What is Mr. Guizot's plan now? He won't sit and wait for death, will he?"

Charlotte did not answer, but suddenly burst into laughter, and then pulled her cousin's sleeve. "Hahahaha, so funny! Look at that actor, he ripped his breeches apart..."

Charles followed her gaze, glanced at the stage, and then sighed. "This is obviously a mockery of you, and you can still laugh."

In the early days of the July Monarchy, the embryonic trend of the feminist movement appeared in France. In this atmosphere, a group of women published a daily newspaper to promote the feminist movement, called "Free Women", and later changed its name to "New Women". Because it was in its embryonic stage, the propositions of this newspaper were quite naive and utopian, and were completely influenced by the utopian socialist ideas that were popular at the time.

However, due to its immature thinking, the newspaper seemed to promote "being different and arbitrary" as "feminist expression", such as advocating wearing breeches and men's clothes, living like men, etc., which greatly damaged the image of the original reasonable feminist proposition in the hearts of the French. In 1837, a French playwright wrote a farce called "Women's Rights", which ridiculed these "new-style women" through various exaggerated performances and actions. The play was a great success and was re-enacted many times.

Today's theater is re-enacting this classic play.

"But it's fun, isn't it?" Charlotte is still laughing.

Her silver bell-like laughter caused the audience on the first floor seats to keep looking at the two siblings in this box.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

"Don't laugh so loudly! Everyone is looking at it!" Charles was a little embarrassed.

However, Charlotte still laughed for a long time before stopping. "Charles, I think those people are so stupid."

"Which people?" Charles was puzzled.

"Those 'new women'." Charlotte's tone was full of unintentional mockery, "They actually think that imitating men's behavior is to resist male power. It's so stupid. If it were me..."

She reached out again and gently and elegantly adjusted her brother's tie, "I will make men willingly obey me..."

I said, this is in public, okay! Charles felt even more embarrassed, he quickly stepped back from the window and returned to the middle of the box.

"Okay, let's not talk about this meaningless gossip, tell me the serious things, right? What is Guizot going to do?"

Charlotte turned around and looked at Charles playfully, with a charming and bright smile. "Do you really want me to say it out loud?"

"Okay, okay." Charles sighed, and then walked in front of Charlotte again.

Business is important.

Since the height difference between the two was about ten centimeters, Charlotte raised her head slightly before leaning close to Charles' ear and whispered a lot.

"Is that so?"

"Could it be..."

"How is it possible?"

"Are you sure?"

Charles kept making various comments.

After a while, Charlotte finally finished.

"I will consider your plan carefully...ah..." Charles turned around and glared at his sister.

Charlotte looked at Charles with an innocent smile, not like she had just kissed her brother's earlobe.

"Anyway, I have been authorized by the higher-ups to cooperate with your actions as much as possible. If you need to take action, please notify me. Please believe us, we are as eager as you are to defeat Surt." Charles endured the dissatisfaction in his heart and finished his words.

Then he picked up his small velvet hat next to him. "I'll take my leave first."

Charlotte lifted her skirt and bowed gracefully. "Be careful on your journey."

Then she smiled at Charles and said, "Take care!"

"Thank you!"

There is a kind of women who have strong souls and sharp insights. They can make decisions quickly, but they can still look carefree on the outside. They have already made up their minds about things that men are afraid of and hesitant about, and once they have made up their minds, they will fight to the end without hesitation. This ability, which may be called terrible, is hidden under the most elegant and weak appearance. If a man is deceived by this elegant and weak appearance, he will lose all his spirit.

In the East, there is Wu Zhao, and in the West, there is Lady Macbeth, both of whom are outstanding. And Charles can also find this trait in Charlotte. This trait once intoxicated him in the past, and it also makes him alert now, reminding himself how careful he should be if he is against her.

Fortunately, Fran is not like this, Charles thought with relief when leaving the theater.