Flowers, Swords and France

While Charles was giving instructions to his subordinates in the hotel, there was another place in Giverny that was also quite restless.

Not far from the hotel was the factory area of ​​Giverny. This large-scale factory area was developed in just a few years. It was divided into several areas, producing steel products, rails, steam locomotives and even military supplies and muskets. And with their efforts, this beautiful countryside has changed its appearance. The green mountains and green waters were submerged by the neat factory buildings and the scattered steel bars and tracks. The towering factory buildings and chimneys, under the rendering of the night, stood on the ground like a gloomy steel jungle.

Although it was already night, because there were many orders recently and the goods were rushed, the factories were still working at full capacity. The red and yellow light emitted by the molten steel made the large figures everywhere vaguely visible, and the roar of the machinery in the workshops everywhere shook everyone's eardrums.

In the most central management office of this factory area, this roar could not be covered up.

In the meeting room on the second floor of this small building, a group of heads from various factories have gathered. They were also called together temporarily.

In the dim light, their eyes were focused on the woman sitting in the main seat, and their expressions were quite nervous.

It was this woman who made them nervous.

They had just received the news a few days ago - their employer, the owner of these factories, Mrs. de Treville, was going to send one of her own clients to Giverny to check the operation of the factories. Mrs. de Treville specifically explained in the telegram that she was the most trusted by Mrs. de Treville and asked them to treat her with the most sincere attitude.

Although the Giverny factory was indeed under the name of Mrs. de Treville, she had never asked about the factory's operation for many years, so her sudden decision really surprised these managers and leaders.

After receiving this telegram, they immediately met privately to try to figure out Mrs. de Treville's intentions, fearing that Mrs. de Treville made such a sudden move because she was dissatisfied with their work results.

However, no matter how surprised they were, they were determined to please the "imperial envoy" and complete the task at the same time, so as not to anger the lady.

After several days of urgent work, they finally prepared the corresponding materials and documents before the envoy came, and waited for the envoy's arrival with uneasiness. It must be said that they were even more surprised when they found that the envoy who came from afar was actually a woman.

Of course, they could hide these surprises in their hearts and face the envoy honestly.

Under the gaze of everyone, Agnes felt very uncomfortable. She never liked to put on airs with others, say some cold words, and even more disliked being the focus of everyone's attention. But in this case, she also knew that she had to put on a cold face and let people stare at her, so her expression was very serious, which put some pressure on this group of people.

She was in no mood to greet this group of people, so she went straight to the point when she came to this meeting room, and this group of people had already prepared, and first presented a large stack of account documents.

"How can there be so many books?" Agnes couldn't help but be amazed at the pile of books that looked like an encyclopedia.

"In order to calculate accurately and control the circulation of materials and costs, the different factories here are financially independent and have their own accounts. Even the internal circulation of materials must be recorded," a tall and thin old man wearing glasses answered carefully, "However, every half a month, the heads of our factories will get together to check the accounts and ask people to calculate the overall financial situation and report it to Paris."

This gray-haired old man is named Barsu-Horn. He is an accountant with decades of work experience. When the Giverny factory was built, he was hired here as the chief accountant of the steel plant. He has a deep qualification and rich experience. After coordination, the heads of other factories also decided to use him as the main person to deal with the imperial envoy who was suddenly sent from above.

He had already seen that the person specially sent by Mrs. Treville knew basically nothing about the finance and operation of the factory, so he immediately relaxed a lot in his heart, but he was still respectful on the surface.

"Is that so?" Agnes picked up a book and opened it. She found that it was full of dense numbers and tables, as well as a lot of notes written in beautiful handwriting and time marks. They were all things that she could recognize but could not understand clearly.

In order to maintain her dignity, she remained calm on the surface, gently put down the book, and handed it to the person she brought with her. "Take a good look at it."

These two people were accountants specially hired by Charlotte. They came here with Agnes on Charles' special train. Charlotte and Agnes also knew that they were not professional enough, so of course they would prepare some helpers for themselves.

The two accountants immediately took over the books and began to browse them carefully.

Although she didn't understand the profession at all, Agnes knew that such a large number of books would definitely not be read in a short time.

"You have been serving the Treville family for all these years. Madam is very grateful for your hard work." She began to lecture the group of people according to Charlotte's instructions. "The Treville family has always been very generous. Your salary has always been higher than that of your peers. Madam thinks this is what you deserve. She also hopes that you can continue to work hard with the same performance as before and get more rewards. Please rest assured that as long as you have made efforts, you will definitely get the due compensation, even if you retire, you will get an allowance. However... if you do anything in it, you know the consequences."

"We all understand, understand..." These people nodded repeatedly, and seemed very nervous.

Under Agnes's gaze, Barsu-Horn took out a large pile of documents from the side and pushed them in front of Agnes.

"Madam, this is the recent monthly product output, statistics of raw materials, qualification assessment of suppliers, accident records of major accidents that affected production, and the profits and losses caused by these accidents. We have summarized them and you can take a good look at them."

"You are quite diligent." Agnes couldn't help laughing.

She didn't know whether the records were good or not, but at least she was quite satisfied with the attitude.

After all, the accounts were actually secondary to her. She had a more important question to explain to this group of people.

"You said you would report to Paris before. Who did you mean to report to?" she suddenly asked.

"Of course, I report to the Minister." Barsu-Horn looked at Agnes in confusion, as if he didn't understand why she asked knowingly. "However, the Minister has a lot of affairs, of course he doesn't have much time to take care of these, so it has always been Miss de-Leoran who is in charge. She handles our reports and approves or rejects our monthly plans. Well... since last year, Miss Treville has also participated in it, and many decisions are made by her..."

This is it. What Charlotte and Agnes had to solve most urgently was not the accounts, but this.

"This item has been invalidated. You no longer need to report to them, or... you can't report to them at all." Agnes interrupted the other party in a stern tone, "Madam's order is that from now on you must report directly to Madam, and no one else is allowed to know about the operation of the factory."

"Uh... this...?" Not only Barsu-Horn, but others were also very surprised, and even dumbfounded.

It was indeed surprising, because Miss Treville was the minister's sister, and the relationship was self-evident. Even Miss de-Leoran, everyone thought that she had some ambiguous relationship with the minister, so no one thought that their status would be shaken. The decision conveyed by Agnes really surprised them.

Could it be... because the relationship was too close, so the lady wanted to cut it all off?

In addition to being surprised, their brains turned rapidly, and they seemed to have thought of something.

Now, after a series of unexpected events, they all have a vague understanding of the power struggle within their family.

It is precisely because of this little understanding that they have become more silent, and no one dares to express their opinions.

The problem is that someone has to speak up.

After hesitating for a long time, Barsu-Horn finally couldn't hold on. He looked at Agnes cautiously, "Madam, this... This arrangement is indeed a bit unexpected. It directly disrupted the system we have been running in recent years. Do you need to ask the Minister for instructions?"

"The Minister completely agrees with the Madam's opinion." Agnes replied unhappily, "Besides, this is the Madam's factory. Her will should be implemented, right? Or does anyone have an opinion and want to refute the Madam?"

Everyone was a little silent after being swept away by Agnes's cold eyes.

How could they have the mood and courage to participate in the struggle between the Madam and the Miss?

"If...if this is the arrangement of the lady, we...of course we will obey."

"It's good that you are so sensible." Agnes's tense face finally relaxed, "The lady said it very clearly. If you serve her, you will get what you deserve. If anyone has second thoughts, you know the consequences. Do you understand?!"

"I understand." Everyone nodded.

"That's more reasonable." Agnes finally laughed.

Charlotte could tolerate her husband using her property, and even be happy to see it, but she could not tolerate the people she hated and her enemies running her property, so she had to completely eliminate their influence, not leaving any.

……………………

It was late at night, and Agnes and the people she brought had left the meeting room, but the managers did not leave. They sat quietly in their original seats, as if they were waiting for something.

The factory, which was running at full speed, still had a roar, as if a heavy hammer hit everyone's heart.

With the sound of light footsteps, the door finally opened, and Fran and Mary, with stern faces, appeared in front of everyone's sight.

"Has the lady finished her work?" Fran asked without wasting time as she came in.

"Yes, everything is as you expected." Barsu-Horn nodded repeatedly, but his expression was still full of nervousness.

The original text is available at Six # 9 @Books/Bar!

"Then all the accounts were handed over to her?" Fran asked again.

"Yes, it has been given..." Barsu-Horn lowered his gaze, and his face turned pale. "Miss, is this...will everything be okay?"

"What's going to happen?" Fran frowned, "Why are you panicking?"

"But, that's Madam..." Barsu-Horn couldn't help but whisper.

He understood what he was doing, and because he understood it, he was particularly afraid.

"You have to understand, who has the final say in this world." Fran walked to the seat where Agnes was sitting just now, and then sneered, "Yes, Madam has property rights, but so what? As long as you obey My brother, even if you don't listen to your wife, nothing will happen; if you let the minister If you are not happy, then no matter how much you cooperate with Madam, you will die!" Her expression has become very serious, and she is no longer as gentle as usual, "Don't think I'm just joking...my brother has already cheated on me! The order has been passed. If any of you are disloyal at all, you will definitely end up miserable."

Her attitude at this time was stern, and she no longer looked like her usual delicate look. No one would misread her message from here.

"I...I understand." Barsu-Horn took out a handkerchief from his pocket with trembling hands and wiped the sweat on his forehead, "But...but Miss, if we tamper with the accounts like this, it will cause trouble." Everyone will look ugly when he gets older... I'm afraid even the Minister... it won't be easy...?"

He only said half of what he said, but everyone understood the meaning - although the madam may not be able to fight against the minister, she is the madam after all, and the minister will never take it out on her no matter what, and the one who suffers in the end will be the one who suffers from the quarrel. These people below.

He has been working here for the past few years, earning a very high salary. He has always been complacent about getting such a job, but when the drama unfolded in front of him today, he realized that the money was really not worth it. Very profitable.

"Are there so many easy things to do in the world?" Mary asked with a sneer, "Didn't you realize that Madam wants to punish us! Who likes to make trouble over nothing?"

"Either...or..." Barsu-Horn cast his hopeful eyes on Fran, "Miss, you...you try to communicate with the madam, you...you are her sister... …If you communicate with her, it shouldn’t be…”

He could no longer speak, because he suddenly realized that Miss Treville had stared at him.

"Communicate? How to communicate? She just came for me!" Fran glared, rarely losing her composure in front of others, "Unless I disappear from her face, she will not be satisfied! Do you think this means Is it something that can be resolved with just a few kind words?”

Seeing that she was losing her composure, Mary quickly tugged at the corner of her clothes, and she finally regained her composure.

"Charlotte, um, Madam...'s mind is still in the last century. She thinks that others will obey her as a matter of course. She doesn't know that there are many ways in the world that can be used both covertly and covertly, and she doesn't have enough knowledge and experience to judge these. The value of things - and because she doesn't bother to learn, she will never have it." Fran's expression returned to indifference, "Even if we make a little change, so what? Let me emphasize again, we are following the will of Your Majesty the Minister! Giverny is my brother’s, not hers, that’s for sure! How could she be here without my brother? Does she really think it’s so great just by having a name? Is that ridiculous! My brother has always pampered her and given her everything, so she takes her false reputation seriously. Reality can finally make her wake up... Huh, I'll wait for that day!"

The others hurriedly looked away. She could comment on Madam like this, but who dared to interrupt.

After Fran's words, the oppressive silence lasted for a long time. People looked at each other, and no one dared to speak first.

They have been up and down in society for so many years. Of course, it can be seen that the Treville couple seem to be engaged in some kind of struggle at the moment. Madam has rarely checked the accounts, and the minister secretly instructed his sister to come here first and complete the accounts. He ordered them to continue to act according to their orders in the future.

They only hope that this power struggle within the family will not affect the operation of the Giverny factory, lest it shake the jobs they finally obtained.

Because of Charles's prestige, and because of their habit of obeying Mary and Miss Treville, they quickly made a decision without much struggle - continuing to obey the Lord Chancellor and Miss Treville. command.

So when Agnes came here, all the arrangements had been completed under intensive supervision, and then all the documents were handed over to her in one go. The only purpose of all this is to let Giverny's property, or most of the property, still belong to Charles - even the nominal property rights belong to Charlotte.

After some face-to-face interviews with Fran, these managers finally left. Fran and Mary walked to the corridor of the small building and looked at the night outside.

In the darkness, the crimson glory appeared like shadows, and there were busy people everywhere. Although it was a noisy and rough environment, she felt relaxed and happy.

"It's finally time." Mary whispered.

"Yeah, luckily we acted quickly." Fran said with a smile. "She hated me, tried every way to exclude me, hit me, and wished I would die, but I was still alive, thriving, and stubbornly moving forward, no matter what she tried... Oh, how unhappy she was, I felt a little embarrassed. I was really looking forward to the showdown. If that day really came, she would be so shocked!"

Her usual innocence and cuteness returned to her words and laughter, and her tone seemed to be looking forward to a long-awaited art exhibition.

"But... Mr. may not want to show his cards with his wife, right? This is just a defensive measure." Mary frowned slightly. "I don't think Mr. wants to break up."

"As long as you are alive, there is hope. This is what you taught me, isn't it?" Fran replied with a smile. "As long as she keeps doing this, I believe that sooner or later there will be such a day... and at that time, she will stand opposite her brother, while I will stand firmly beside him... everyone will know which side is more loyal, right?"

"I think so." Mary couldn't help laughing. "I really hope that day will come sooner."

"Okay, forget about it, I want to meet her..." Fran suddenly said.

"Who?" Mary didn't understand for a moment, but soon understood.

"Why do you want to meet her...?"

"Some things should be discussed clearly, right?" Fran asked back, "Besides, if she comes here to show off, she will be disappointed if she doesn't show off in front of me. After all, she is my aunt, and I can't lose my manners."

"You really are..." Mary quickly figured out her intention, so she couldn't help but smile bitterly.