Flowers, Swords and France

Just as the Charleses and Henry promised, after he lived in the magnificent mansion where the Trevilles lived, he was indeed introduced into the splendid and bizarre social world of Paris, and he was overwhelmed with all the parties. And because they knew about his relationship with the Treville family, everyone was very polite to him and wanted to make him happy, and he did have a good time in it.

However, even when he was being flattered by everyone and enjoying all the fun, Henry did not lose the last bit of reason in his heart - he understood why he could get all this and what he had to pay to keep it all.

Today he no longer has to go to other people's homes, because Lady Charlotte, the wife of the Imperial Minister Charles de Treville, held a banquet at his own home.

Lady Charlotte loved to be in the limelight in social circles since she was a child. This hobby did not change even after she got married, so she often entertained guests. Since the establishment of the empire and the male host becoming an imperial minister, as the male host's status has improved, this kind of banquet has become more grand, and every time it is full of guests, the glitz and hustle and bustle of the imperial era, and the kind of spending money just for one night. The spirit of joy has already begun to take shape here.

After several years of management by the Charles couple, this originally luxurious mansion has become even more luxurious, with exquisite decorations everywhere and splendid splendor everywhere.

However, even if they are the same guests, there is still a difference between intimacy and distance among the hosts. Although the minister attended the banquet today, except for a few hasty words he made at the beginning, he was not the same as the few who attended today. Confidants and friends mingled together, and others rarely had a chance to intervene.

And Henry, who had already expressed his loyalty to Charles, was also drawn into this small circle.

It is worth mentioning that two young people came today. One is Charles's personal secretary, the Duke Gaston de Choiseul-Praslan, and the other is Matilda's brother, Viscount Georges de Dillion, Lucien's brother-in-law.

Unlike the Duke, who is dressed in formal attire and is serious about speech, George is a very cheerful young man. Because he is studying in a military academy, he is wearing a military uniform. The decent military uniform makes the young man's figure look thin and tall, and he has the same brown hair as his sister. He was also neatly combed and shiny, and his facial features were exquisite and he looked very handsome. Since he has been staying in the military academy for the past two years, today is the first time for him to participate in social activities as an adult, and he seems eager and full of passion.

However, in front of Lucien and Charles, he could only suppress his temper and listen to their instructions honestly.

"George, you will soon become a real adult. I hope that in the upcoming war, you can show your courage with fearless spirit." Charles looked at him with a smile, "Remember, time No one is waiting, and the war is imminent. Every effort you make now will be of great help to you in the future. "My grandfather and I are very optimistic about you."

"I understand, Your Excellency." George nodded respectfully towards him. "I will never let you down and the Marshal's expectations."

Although Charles technically took his father's position, he did not hate Charles because of his sister Matilda - he did not like his father, but admired and loved his sister very much, so he was influenced by her. He was also very close to Charles.

Moreover, George also knew that his future in the army depended on this minister. Although he was not a soldier himself, he was very influential in the army because he had previously served in the Army Department and had single-handedly led the promotion of a large number of officers. strength, not to mention that he also has a grandfather who is a marshal, and the marshal is now planning to transfer him to his side as an adjutant.

If he had a field marshal as his protector, at least the first half of his military career would have been glorious.

To be honest, George is not particularly keen on getting ahead. In contrast, he prefers to be a libertine. However, his grandfather's last wish was for him to become famous in the army, and his father also hoped that he could inherit the family business. , so he had to be patient and climb up.

"George's character is too impatient and needs to be tempered." At this moment, Lucien suddenly spoke, "He needs to know that in a real war, bravery alone is not enough, but also patience and resourcefulness. "

"This is a common problem among young people." Charles smiled slightly, "But I think he will learn this from my grandfather's side on a real battlefield."

"I think so." Lucien nodded regretfully.

To be honest, he felt that it was not a good thing for a soldier to stay with the marshal and experience a war, because he could not face the blood, fire and toil on the front line, nor could he feel their hardship and fear, not even himself. Facing too many tests of life and death, it is difficult to grow into a qualified commander.

However... his wife and sister-in-law would never want to see their only brother go to the front line. They wished that His Majesty the Emperor would directly make him a general. Being able to feel the war up close was already rare.

"By the way, Lucien, how are you preparing?" Charles asked the other party with a smile, "Although I can't supervise you, I think you won't slack off at all."

"That's natural." Lucien shrugged, "The prepared troops have been gathering secretly, and the exercises everywhere have never stopped. We even simulated a battle according to the scheduled battlefield. Everything is now Everything is ready, the soldiers are waiting The day of the war - to be honest, I feel that the army has never been as united as it is today in the past few decades. Of course, this is also due to your contribution... However, although you are no longer in the Army Department, we are still I have a big favor for you to do.”

"What's the deal?" Charles asked quickly.

"Although we were not initially optimistic about the consumption of materials, it now appears that the consumption of war may be greater than imagined. This puts too high demands on the protection of our army. Really, too high. "Lucien looked at Charles seriously, "Char, I don't doubt that these materials can be collected or produced domestically, but it will be a very serious task to transport them to the front line and deliver them to every soldier. challenge.”

"And I became a minister just to achieve this." Ciel also became serious, "I think in the entire empire, I am the only one who will achieve this with my incomparable enthusiasm and my own ability. ”

"Don't talk so much, Your Excellency." Viscount Alex de Lautrec suddenly laughed. "I'm afraid you don't know what kind of monster the current army is. It can eat Go down to Jinshan.”

Because of Charles's help, this War Department official was promoted to Deputy Secretary-General of the Secretariat, and now has become one of the few powerful figures in the Army - although his reputation is not well-known.

"Even so, I can solve this challenge with my incomparable determination and the power of modern industry." Although faced with the other party's ridicule, Charles remained unwavering.

Then, he suddenly laughed, "Actually, you should really change into that outfit today. It looks much better than this one, and it will definitely make everyone's eyes brighten."

This vicious sarcasm made Alex frown, but he still kept silent unwillingly. After he was discovered by Ciel while disguised as a woman and was forced to write a confession, he really could no longer compete with Ciel and could only swallow his anger.

Fortunately, Charles didn't want to pursue him. When everyone was confused, he looked at Henry who had been silent but seemed to be suffocating.

"Henry, you must be full of doubts, right? Yes, let me repeat it to you - the war is imminent, and you will play an important role this time."

Then, Ciel walked up to Henry and told him everything the empire was planning now with a shocked face.

"Oh my God!" He was stunned again.

"In short, to guarantee such an expedition, we need to maintain smooth sea routes. And if we want to maintain smooth sea routes, we must possess absolute sea control. And, more importantly, we need to demonstrate the power of the Imperial Navy in front of the British. Strength, instead of just relying on them..." Charles concluded, "So, the navy has a very heavy task. In other words, the time has come for you to show off your talents. Compared with the previous emperor, our new emperor has come. It values ​​both the army and the navy.”

Then, he patted Henry on the shoulder, who was still a little distracted, and said, "Do a good job, Henry, your future is bright and bright."

"Okay, Charles, how boring it is for you to tell him such a thing at this time!" Albert suddenly interrupted, and he also patted Henry on the shoulder, "Friend, you have been in the south all the time, and it is not easy this time. When you come to Paris, you should have fun and don't take those things to heart. It's not too late to think about it later. It's a rare treat from Charles, so you should cheer up the atmosphere! "

"Yes...yes..." Henry nodded repeatedly, but actually he didn't know what he was talking about.

"It's up to you to liven up the atmosphere, Albert." Charles said with a smile, "They are all soldiers, how can they be the same as you."

"But it's really not easy to talk here, it's too restrictive." Albert sighed, "When I think of your wife next to me, how can I dare to tell more jokes?"

"This is indeed a problem..." Ciel nodded, and then pondered to himself.

After a moment, he raised his head again and said, "Well, I'm going to Giverny for business in a while, so you guys can come to Giverny too. There's fine wine, scenery and everything. Anyway, the railway has been built there now. , you can arrange a military exercise there, you can take this opportunity to have some fun..."

"That's great!" Before anyone else could reply, Albert responded directly. "I've been staying in Paris recently, and I feel a little too depressed. I just wanted to go there to have a look."

Then he looked at George jokingly. "Friend, are you a boy or a man now?"

His eyes were very narrow, and George was old enough to understand him.

"I...I haven't tried it yet." He said with a slight blush.

"This is indeed a bit pitiful..." Albert sighed, "But it doesn't matter, now you have met me! I can bring you over then and let you know the joy of living...or two?"

George's face turned redder, but he did not object verbally. Instead, he was full of expectations.

At home, he was watched by his two sisters, but the young man was already full of daydreams. Now that a great opportunity was waiting in front of him, how could he not be eager to try it?

Looking at him like this, everyone laughed at the same time, and felt the fun of making fun of young people. Even Gaston couldn't help but smile.

Then, they took advantage of this excitement to toast each other, and the atmosphere became much more lively.

However, amid the laughter, Charles remained sober.

He observed these people calmly, paying attention to their behavior and conversation.

Unconsciously, he had already gathered a group for himself, a political and military group that was not conspicuous but had great prospects, and these people were also the core figures in the group.

As a politician, he had many subordinates to use, so he didn't need a lot of confidants, but he needed to be capable and trustworthy, and these people could almost do their best.

He deliberately proposed to take them out for entertainment, and his purpose was to use various methods, whether it was bribery or emotional winning, to increase the sense of belonging of this group of people to their own group. And now it seems that the effect is pretty good.

Just as he was secretly calculating, a loud shout came from the door.

"Marshal de Treville has arrived!"

The original text is available at 6 # 9 @Book/Bar!

With the roll call, the hall fell into silence for a moment.

But soon everyone resumed their conversation, but everyone's eyes were focused on the door.

Soon, Marshal Treville, dressed in military uniform, came to the hall.

Under the gaze of the crowd, he held a marshal's baton, looking majestic and grand.

Everyone hurriedly saluted him, and he just picked up the marshal's baton, shook it gently at the people in the hall, and walked to the center of the hall.

"Grandpa, you are finally here." Charles walked up with a smile and symbolically supported his hand.

………………………………

While Charles was talking to his friends, his wife was also in her lounge, receiving one of her friends.

This friend was about thirty years old, with a pretty face, wearing a pink velvet hat on her head, and her long hair was also tied up inside.

She didn't focus her eyes on Charlotte, but gently teased a baby in front of her.

She carefully rubbed and kneaded the baby's face with her hands, and occasionally made faces to tease him, and even put her fingers into his mouth. The baby instinctively sucked her fingers tightly, and the tingling sensation brought by the sucking made her giggle.

Seeing this, who would have thought that her hands would be faster than men when using swords?

"Wow! Your son is so cute!" She said with a smile, "Charles is so lucky to marry you!"

"If only he thought so too..." Charlotte's face darkened slightly.

"What's wrong?" Agnes was a little surprised. "You just became a mother, why are you still so depressed? I think your current situation is pretty good, right? You have a successful husband, a healthy and lovely son... and no annoying father-in-law to disturb your beautiful life."

Ever since Charlotte betrayed her father-in-law Edgar de Treville to Agnes, who had been hunting him down, in England and helped her get what she wanted, Agnes regarded her as a friend, and Charlotte became the only person she liked in the Treville family besides Charles.

She came here specially because she received Charlotte's invitation.

"If everything is just like this, it would be great!" Charlotte suddenly sighed, "But things are not as simple as they seem, really...some things are hanging over my heart, making me feel so uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? It's hard to imagine what you need to feel uncomfortable about." Agnes shrugged, "In fact, I think you are already worthy of people's envy."

"If Charles really loves me loyally, then of course I will think everything will be so beautiful... so enviable, but things are not like this!" Charlotte sighed again.

"You mean he is not loyal?" Agnes seemed to understand something.

"Yes, that's it," Charlotte nodded slightly, "He had fooled around before marriage, and then he begged me to forgive him, and I did forgive him. But...after he became a minister, he seemed to have returned to his old ways. Yes, I have enough basis to judge so."

"This is really..." Agnes took a breath.

After a while, she smiled bitterly, "Is this the blood relationship..."

The father is like this, the son is like this, and this family is probably like this.

"So I want to seek your help." Charlotte looked up at the other party, "I ask you to help me prevent the worst result from happening."

"What is the worst result?" Agnes still didn't understand.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment, and finally said it out loud.

"I suspect that Charles may have been bewitched by his sister. You know how terrible this is."

"Oh my God!" Agnes opened her eyes wide.

"Yes, his sister has had this kind of abnormal evil thoughts since she was a child. I have known about it for a long time." Charlotte suddenly frowned and her tone became sharp, "She is the kind of person who deliberately loves The type who pretends to be pitiful, but always manages to fool people around. I think you must have seen many such people, but I have to tell you Let me tell you, she is an expert at it. As a result, she naturally messed up everyone and caused us no idea how much trouble she caused! She seemed to have restrained herself a while ago when we got married, but now she is back to her old ways. You don’t even know how extreme she is, and she doesn’t even try to hide it in front of me!”

"Do you have any basis for thinking this way?" Agnes asked again.

"There is no complete basis, but I think it is indeed very possible, because only she would do that to the imperial minister and demonstrate to me." Charlotte suddenly bit her lip, "Really, it's terrible, you think about it Are there any consequences? If the affair between the imperial minister and his sister is really exposed, God knows what will happen to Ciel! I have to ask you to help Ciel not to be fooled by temporary happiness. There is this prestige in front of me.”

"I understand... So that's what it is." Agnes nodded slightly, "Then... what do your family members say?"

"I didn't tell them at all. I can only pray for your help - my father and brother have been in cahoots with him for a long time. They are despicable people who are unscrupulous and have fallen at Charles's feet. , because he can bring them benefits... What's more, they are afraid of Ciel. They are really afraid. When Ciel gets angry, everyone is afraid." Charlotte smiled bitterly, "And I am. What can it bring them? It can only remind them of the ghost of their grandfather and the rules of the past, which they can't wait to abandon immediately! Besides, they are not just as absurd as Ciel, they are even more absurd! They won't help me. There are so few helpers around me. I want to help Charles, but I am so helpless. It's really ridiculous."

"Poor child." Seeing Charlotte looking so depressed, Agnes couldn't help but sympathize.

"Please help me, at least we have to solve this problem before everything turns into a huge tragedy." Charlotte held her hand. (~^~)