Flowers, Swords and France

"Hey! Finally I can stand on land!"

In the cool breeze of early autumn in St. Petersburg, Fran walked down from the boat and said to the building outside the port in a cheerful tone that was almost relieved.

After a journey of nearly half a month, they finally arrived in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire.

As far as she could see, tall and wide buildings stood in a row, silently standing in front of her, as if everything was in eternal silence. And at the deepest point of her sight, the palaces were also looming in the shadows.

Since Peter the Great, who was obsessed with the seaport, defeated the Swedes and seized this hard-won Baltic Sea outlet, he couldn't wait to build a new city here, and the capital of the Russian Empire was moved from Moscow to this city.

From then on, this place became the center of the entire empire and a window for the empire to absorb all cultures and ideas from the West. After more than a century of painstaking efforts by successive emperors, the city has developed into a metropolis, and a large number of beautiful palaces are also dotted in it.

In particular, the Winter Palace, the bedroom built by Empress Catherine II and inhabited by successive tsars, is even more magnificent and is not inferior to any palace in Western Europe.

Due to the distance limit, the outline of the Winter Palace can only be vaguely seen, but as far as the eye can see, the buildings and roads everywhere are very spacious, and the decoration and painting are very careful, with a style not found in other places, as if it is a classic Russian style, and in these architectural reliefs and subtle decorations, the shadow of Western Europe can be seen. The Russian style and the influence of Western Europe are everywhere, and they are appropriately integrated together. Perhaps this is the beauty of this city.

"This place is so beautiful!" After admiring it for a while, Fran sighed to Mary next to her again, "We must visit this city if we have the chance."

"You have plenty of opportunities, Miss. Since you are here as our guest, we will do everything we can to make you have fun here." At this time, Andrei Bezukhov, who was standing next to them, said with a smile, "But now, I can only say with great regret that you'd better come with me to our house and settle down first."

"Okay, sir." Fran smiled and followed him.

During this period of travel, she and Andrei have made friends. Although this person looks very frivolous, she found that he is still very reliable when he needs to be serious, and he is calmer than most people - in short, he is the kind of person who cannot be underestimated.

They waited at the dock for a while, and several carriages drove towards them. These carriages have exquisite appearances and a family emblem engraved on the carriages. They look like carriages specially used by the Bezukhov family.

As soon as the leader saw Andre, he immediately saluted, and Andre just waved at them, and then urged his guests to get on the carriage. When Fran, Mary and the gifts they carried were put on the carriage, the carriage started to move again and started running along the way.

Because it was heading out of the city, the road was not crowded, and there were not many pedestrians. The carriage was also very fast. The originally tall and compact buildings began to become sparse, and slowly began to show the scene of the fields.

When she came to the fields on the outskirts of the city, Fran only saw fields and forests around her. These green plants swayed in the bleak wind, filling the sky and the earth with cold colors. The vast green fields that could not see the edge also added a bit of depression to people's self-pity.

Maybe, when Grandpa went deep into Russia, he would think the same as me? Fran suddenly thought to herself.

Grandpa liked to talk about his war experience, but he rarely mentioned his experience in Russia. I guess that experience was too unbearable for him to look back on.

Is my brother going to go to war with such a country? Can he really win? It's really worth worrying about.

"What a vast place." Fran suddenly sighed in the midst of the worry that came naturally. "Your motherland is too vast."

"This is Russia." Andre shrugged.

"When will we arrive at your house?" Mary asked.

"Actually, we are already at my house now." Andre laughed humorously, "Just about a quarter of an hour ago, we have arrived at my manor."

"Ah?" Fran was a little surprised.

She looked around again, but there was still no one. After driving at such a fast speed for a quarter of an hour, but still not seeing the mansion, it is really hard to imagine how big this manor is. "Your house is really big."

"Our territory is more than ten miles in radius. It should be considered big in France... But it's nothing in Russia. Our family is in the south, and there are much larger estates in Ukraine." Andre continued with a smile, "In Russia, it's not like France. Everyone only regards land as wealth."

Fran and Mary looked at each other, both secretly amazed at the vastness of Russia and the wealth of the Bezukhov family.

"Indeed, it is rare to see such a large estate in France. After all, we have a large population and a small land." Fran nodded, "But I don't understand. Since your family is so rich, why do you still want to start a revolution? The Duke of Orleans started a revolution to become king, but your father doesn't look like..."

This question was a bit rude. If she hadn't become somewhat familiar with Andre these days, she would never have asked him.

"This question... is strange, isn't it? Actually, I don't understand it either." Andre laughed, as if he thought it was ridiculous, "But since my father wants to do this, of course as a son, I should follow him. Some people are born with a bit of idealism, and there’s nothing they can do about it.”

"That's right...for ideals." Fran nodded, while thinking about how she should deal with the earl later.

As a realist in nature, she felt that she was still a little inexperienced in how to deal with such fanaticism, for fear of making the count unhappy.

While they were chatting, the Bezukhov family's mansion finally appeared in the green, and the speed of the carriage seemed to be a little higher.

After the carriage stopped, Fran found that the mansion was larger than she had imagined. If the decoration was not relatively simple, it could be comparable to a palace.

When Andre returned home, he didn't look very happy. Instead, he looked much more solemn, even his smile disappeared. He looked more like a young man who had received a strict education. Silently but politely, he led Fran and Mary all the way to the mansion.

The temperature in Russia has always been cold. Although it was only early autumn, it was already quite cool. In addition, the mansion was very ventilated, so Fran always felt a little chilly and quickly tied her clothes tighter.

When they came to the living room, an old woman came to greet them.

This woman was about sixty or seventy years old. She was wearing a very conservative black skirt. She was a little fat, her hair was mostly gray, and she was wearing a warm hat. Her face is covered with wrinkles, so her nose looks taller, almost like an aquiline. Only eyes full of love and excitement can see some enthusiasm that does not belong to this age.

"Andre!" She shouted as soon as she saw Andre, then opened her arms, hugged Andre's waist, and kissed his cheek. "You're finally back!"

"Mom, Mom, I'm back." Andre also smiled, and then hugged the old woman with a very warm tone, "I'm so happy to see you so healthy!"

"What's there to say about being healthy at this age? I'm happy enough to see you all by my side." The old woman smiled, letting go of the hug, and at the same time looked at Ander affectionately. Lie seemed to be confirming how much weight he had lost since the last time they met.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"You ran away to France and didn't come home for several years. It really made everyone worried."

"Young people, you have to make some career." Andre smiled awkwardly. He himself also knew how ridiculous his 'career' was.

Then, he looked at Fran next to him and introduced her.

"She is Countess Natasha Rostova-Bezukhova, my mother."

Then he introduced the two people to his mother, "Mom, this is Miss Fran-Louise de Treville, the guest I brought back from France, and the other is her companion, Marie- Mademoiselle de Leoland, they all came to Russia at my invitation."

Fran and Marie quickly bowed to the countess. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"A French aristocratic lady?" Only then did the countess focus on the two women, and then her eyes suddenly lit up. She was obviously very satisfied with their appearance and behavior.

"You bastard, you have some discernment now!" She suddenly said to Andre with a beaming smile. "At this age, have you finally remembered what you should do?"

There was a huge embarrassment that made the three young men and women not know what to say.

"Mom... they are just my friends, and they came at the invitation of my father." Andre explained with some difficulty, "They just came to Russia to travel and visit my father. They have no other meaning."

"I understand! I understand! Just come here, people will always like Russia. Andrei is also a good tour guide. Anyway, he has been idle since he was a child." The countess suddenly realized, but still looked at the two ladies , with some meaning, "Ladies, I am very happy that you can place such great trust in my son. Our Bezukhov family will definitely work hard to make you feel at home."

"I firmly believe so, madam." Fran smiled and nodded.

"Let me show you the room. You have come all the way here, so you should take a rest." The countess said with a smile. "We'll have a Russian dinner in the evening!"

"Mom, go and arrange a room for them. I have to take them to meet their father." Andre said quickly, "We'll talk about other things later. By the way, how is dad now?"

The countess felt that the purpose of these two women's visit was a bit unusual, but she didn't ask any more questions and just agreed. "Okay, then I'll make arrangements and you go see Pierre. But Andre, be careful, he's not in a good mood today..."

Then, she nodded politely to the two young women, then turned and left, apparently going to arrange matters to entertain them. When she left, a group of children followed her, and she picked them up with her hands. One, and then made them smile.

Here you can only see a loving and humorous mother and grandmother. Who would have thought that this was once a beautiful girl with a slim figure and lively and active!

"Those are her grandchildren." Andre explained to Fran, "My mother likes to stay with her family and take care of children, so she often lets them accompany her."

"Oh, so enviable..." Fran looked at the Countess's back with a little envy, "I really hope I can have such a day... By the way, doesn't she know we are here?"

"She doesn't know." Andre shook his head, "My father doesn't let her participate in such things. Well, let's go, don't keep my father waiting!" (~^~)