Flowers, Swords and France

Under the watchful eye of Crown Prince Alexander, Fran left the room calmly.

She had left the small box full of jewelry in the room and did not take it away directly, because she knew that as long as she showed her willingness to agree, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would definitely deliver these jewelry to her. It doesn't require her to get her hands dirty.

Now she can see clearly that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince - or that the Russian royal family is begging for her brother, or that they want to use his influence to serve themselves, and these bribes are a way for them to express their sincerity .

She didn't know whether the bribe was finalized and approved by His Majesty the Tsar himself, but it didn't seem like it to her. Although it was just their first meeting, Fran could see that His Majesty the Tsar was arrogant and had no respect for Emperor Bonaparte. He has some contempt for his close ministers, so even if he wants to win over these people now, it still seems a bit presumptuous, and his son is much more pragmatic - thinking about it, Crown Prince Alexander does not think that as long as his father makes some concessions, The way you look can impress the French.

However, no matter what the attitude is, it is of no use now. The war between France and Russia will eventually break out, and Crown Prince Alexander's efforts are destined to be in vain - or, in other words, can only be effective after the war.

But knowing this, Fran still accepted these gifts. Of course, she was not obsessed with these jewelry. She could basically get any jewelry she wanted now. She did this because of her own considerations.

She is now in Russia. Although she is here for sightseeing, she is actually engaged in an activity that is unfavorable to the Tsarist government. And although she does not know much about the internal situation of the Russian government, she can also see that the Tsarist father and his son have great feelings for their ancestors. Count Hof was not impressed, so accepting these jewels could reassure His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander and show him his good opinion of the Russians.

More importantly, Crown Prince Alexander's move, regardless of whether it was morally correct or not, at least treated her as a real opponent, thinking that she could act on behalf of the Treville family and her brother, rather than treating her like some people. She saw him as a child who had to be ignorant. When Crown Prince Alexander patiently explained and bargained with her, he was already doing exactly the same thing as he did with others.

Even for this, she wanted to take her trophy and declare her true growth.

This is why she thanked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince when she left.

However, even if she thanks the other party, she will not be soft-hearted. She is fighting for the interests of her family now, and this interest has been very clearly defined by her brother. She must take every step she needs to take.

Maybe when the war starts, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander will be furious and scold their brother and sister for being dishonest, but this will not make her scruple.

With a somewhat contented attitude, she followed the attendants to the rooms prepared for her and Mary in the palace, and by this time Mary was already waiting here to rest.

Because she arrived early, Mary simply lay down on the sofa to rest, and didn't even make any sign when her friend came in.

"Why did it take so long to come back..." she asked casually.

"I want to come back early too!" Fran also lay down directly on the bed. She was very tired from the previous exertion and just wanted to have a good rest. "Who knew they would suddenly arrange such a job for me..."

"What kind of job?" Mary was aroused.

"Paint some portraits for His Majesty the Tsar." Fran first gave an overview, and then explained in detail.

"Oh! You can become famous!" Mary opened her eyes wide after hearing this, "Damn, you are so lucky! No one can ask for such an opportunity, and you can also get a lot of money by the way!"

"They are not interested in my paintings, they are just using it as a reason to win over Mr...." Fran smiled bitterly, "I was a little excited at the beginning, but after I figured it out, I felt less happy."

"It's really stupid. So what if they have bad intentions? In short, you are already painting for His Majesty the Tsar, and one or two of these paintings will be given to our Emperor! Think about it, your works will become two emperors It’s a gift... What an honor it is!” Mary’s eyes were full of envy and jealousy, as if she wanted to get up and beat her friend up, “You are about to become famous!”

"I...I never thought about becoming famous..." Fran lowered her head in embarrassment. "It's better not to have such a name, and forget it if others don't know it. Don't you still understand?"

"Some people are destined to be famous, it just depends on what name they want." Mary sneered.

Then, she came to Fran's side hatefully, trying to suppress her, "Didn't they give you jewelry as a gift? No, you can give me some of your points, you can't take them all yourself! Being able to be beaten by Romano The jewelry that husbands like as gifts will definitely not be ordinary things.”

"Just take it if you want it. Take whatever you like." Fran was very generous, "I don't particularly like anything."

"Okay, just based on your words, I will definitely take the best." Mary smiled all over her face. "I never thought... that we would survive until the day we were flattered by the Russian Tsar. The fate of our lives is really unbelievable."

Speaking of this, Mary's face turned slightly red, as if she was the one who had just chatted and laughed with the Tsar and the Crown Prince.

Isn't a person's love for power essentially derived from this kind of excitement?

"I originally thought that the rulers of Russia were so cruel and terrible, but now that I have met their emperor and crown prince, I find that they are just like that." However, compared to Mary's enthusiasm, Fran was much calmer, "Although they must have some extraordinary qualities, they are just mortals after all, and they don't have brains beyond ours."

"Yes, yes, how could they have thought that the catastrophe was only a few feet away from their heads!" Mary chuckled.

"Yes, the catastrophe is hanging over their heads." Fran also smiled and nodded, and then said something that Mary found difficult to understand, "When Michael's holy sword is swung down from heaven, I'm afraid no matter how luxurious the hall is, it will not be able to protect His Majesty the Tsar..."

As they talked and laughed, the daily life of the court continued. Fran and Mary soon participated in the dinner attended by members of the royal family, and carried out social life according to the rhythm of the nobles of the Russian Empire.

In the next few days, Fran would go to see the Tsar when His Majesty was free and paint his portrait. Because of her skilled skills and serious attitude, these paintings were very pleasing to His Majesty the Tsar. Similarly, because of the court's attentive hospitality, they all lived very happily. Miss Treville was also deeply loved by the social circle because of her artistic skills and personality, and became the "lovely French lady" passed down by word of mouth in the court.

During this happy day, Miss Treville's journey also came to an end. After several portraits were painted, Fran said goodbye to His Majesty the Tsar and planned to return home in the near future.

His Majesty the Tsar was not surprised by this. The Russian winter is a torment for everyone who is used to it, and if winter comes, Petersburg will also freeze, and then this lady's return journey may be troublesome.

So after commending her for her service, His Majesty the Tsar and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince happily said goodbye to her - as Fran and Mary left the Imperial Village, there were also a lot of "exquisite little gifts" given to her by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Carrying a bag that was several times heavier, Fran returned to Count Bezukhov's manor.

At this time, the weather was very cold, and there was a cold wind everywhere. Although the journey was not long, Fran felt very uncomfortable. She just wanted to return to her warm hometown as soon as possible.

"Sir, have you finished your business?" As soon as she saw the count, she asked hurriedly.

Fortunately, as she expected, Count Bezukhov gave a positive answer - during this period, in addition to the necessary work of hiding his tracks, he almost devoted all his energy to this matter, and a large number of documents were collected and sorted out by him.

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

"Great!" Fran was naturally very happy, "You really worked hard."

"No, it's you who will have to work hard." Count Bezukhov said meaningfully.

"I can't guarantee what will happen..." Fran replied somewhat embarrassedly.

"As long as you send them to France, the rest will naturally be decided by God himself." The count's attitude was very gentle, "But now the problem we have to face is, how do you send these things to France?"

This question is indeed a bit difficult. If Miss Treville really leaves with a lot of documents, it will arouse people's suspicion anyway. If a customs official carefully checks it, everything will fail at the last step, which is a consequence that no one can tolerate.

However, Fran has thought of a solution to this problem before.

"Thank God, He gave us some revelations many years ago."

"What revelations?" Count Bezukhov was a little surprised.

Fran did not answer directly, but took out a page from the album she was carrying and handed it to the count. "This is the revelation."

The count was still a little confused. He gently took the page of paper and found that it was a pencil sketch of a palace hall with a lot of gorgeous and complicated decorations.

Perhaps because of the use of some new techniques, the brushwork is a little different from the usual, but from the outline of the lines, it can be seen that the painting skills have been immersed for many years.

"Very good sketch, very beautiful." The count raised his head again and looked at Fran in confusion, "But what does this have to do with revelations?"

"You must not understand it?" Fran couldn't help but smile at Mary, "This is a little trick we played back then. Everyone used this way to tease each other. You see, the lines that make up the picture are actually letters, and the whole painting is an article..."

Count Bezukhov finally understood something, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Interesting! So you plan to rewrite the document with drawings?"

"It's just a little trick... Of course it's useful sometimes." Fran still smiled, "Also, in order to make the letters in the drawings larger, I will deliberately depict your Amber Room. I think no one will find it strange..."

"Very good technique, and... it's worth your description." Count Bezukhov nodded, "I have to say you surprised me. But... we have a lot of documents to sort out, you may not be able to finish them all at once."

"I will try my best these days to turn the most important documents into sketches and paste them into the book..." Fran continued to talk about her plan, "Some others... just put them in the interlayer of the jewelry box. I think you should be able to make such a box here, and no official dares to carefully check the jewelry sent out by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself, right?"

"That makes sense," Count Bezukhov nodded again, and then looked at Fran again, as if he had met her all over again. "You are worthy of being Mr. Treville's sister, and some places are exactly the same."

"Thank you for your good words." Fran smiled even more happily. (~^~)