Eagle’s Glory

With the arrival of spring, the nights in Paris are no longer cold and windy, but there is still a bit of coldness. In this dark and cold atmosphere, the current prime minister, the powerful Prince Talleyrand, is riding in a carriage. Surrounded by a crowd of guards, he leisurely returned to the mansion.

He has always been fond of extravagant enjoyment, so this mansion is splendidly decorated and houses a large number of art works that he carefully collected. During his decades of political career, he worked hard through corruption, bribery, and extortion, and saved several thousand dollars. With a family fortune of 100 million francs, no matter how much he squandered it, he could never finish it.

He knew that his time was running out and he might die at any time. However, now that he was in great power and deeply relied on by His Majesty, for him, besides seizing the time to enjoy every pleasant day, what else could he do? What's the pity?

Quietly, he returned to his private house, then changed out of his gorgeous coat with the help of a servant, and then limped to his spacious reception room with a cane.

At this time, the fireplace in the living room was burning with a blazing fire, as warm and comfortable as usual, and there was already a person sitting on the sofa surrounding the fireplace.

To be precise, an extremely beautiful lady.

Of course, this is not to say that Prince Talleyrand has a new favorite, this woman is his latest visitor.

In the past, because he liked to be dissolute, he never lacked mistresses around him for entertainment. However, because of his old age and frailty, he had already said goodbye to the hobby he once enjoyed so much and became like a "monk" again.

Therefore, facing this exciting beauty, Prince Talleyrand only glanced briefly at her before returning to his normal state.

"Dear Her Royal Highness Princess Maria, it is a pleasure to meet you... You are indeed as beautiful as your Majesty described."

"Your Highness, you look exactly as I heard." Maria replied with a smile.

That's right, Prince Talleyrand's distinguished guest tonight is Maria, who has been staying in Paris for many days.

Previously, Aigron and Talleyrand agreed to invite Maria to be a guest in the name of "accompanying Princess Theodelande." That is to say, in theory, Maria has not yet come to France, so according to According to the necessary procedures, she should first be secretly sent to the border, then join Princess Theodelande and her party, and then return to Paris as a "justified" person and become a guest of the palace.

And all of this, if you want to do it so that the outside world will not be suspicious, it is impossible to do it without the cooperation of Prince Talleyrand. Therefore, Aiglon naturally made corresponding arrangements and had Maria brought to Prince Talleyrand.

Although Maria did not have stage fright when facing Prince Talleyrand, she was always a little curious, so when the two of them were chatting, she also deliberately looked at each other.

After all, Prince Talleyrand was a big figure she had heard about since she was a child. Although he was notorious, Maria, who had no enmity against him, had no hatred at all. Instead, she found his legendary life experience extremely interesting.

And Prince Talleyrand has long been accustomed to other people's curious gazes over the years, so he just smiled indifferently, let the other party pay attention, and waved a gesture unhurriedly to let his trusted servant Serve the coffee steaming hot.

He took a comfortable sip of coffee, feeling the warmth that nourished his heart and spleen, and then looked at the other person again. "Your Highness Maria, although Your Majesty did not say much to me about your affairs, he emphatically instructed me to treat you well, so please rest assured that I will handle everything properly and will never It brings disgrace to you and both countries."

"Then it's all your fault." Maria replied with a smile, and then she changed the topic, "To tell you the truth, I have been in Paris for a while, and I had a lot of fun. This city left me with A very good impression.”

Although these are common polite words in social circles, Maria is indeed somewhat sincere. After all, with her character that likes prosperity and showing off, the wealth and vanity of Paris are certainly to her taste. The kind in Bavaria, although noble, But the lonely and boring princess life is obviously not as interesting as here.

"It's an honor for this city to receive your compliments." Talleyrand replied jokingly, "That's right. Now that you're staying here permanently, you can continue to enjoy everything this city has to offer - I I believe that there are many people in the social world who are willing to warmly receive you and have a glimpse of your style.”

"Oh, you are talking about exactly what annoys me!" Maria sighed exaggeratedly, and then shook her head slightly, "The reason why I came here anonymously is to enjoy this undisturbed Happy, if I walk around with the title of princess, wouldn't it be exactly the same as I was in the past? It would be boring, so even after coming here in a public capacity, I would rather continue my current life."

"Your request seems a bit high." Prince Talleyrand pointed out the problem sternly, "You want to enjoy the honor of a princess, but also want to enjoy the happiness of being undisturbed and not being watched. This request is natural. Paradoxically, even a little greedy.”

"So haven't I found you now?" Maria looked at Talleyrand with a smile, "His Royal Highness is also very famous in our country. We all know that you are very capable. Since you can bring down one political system after another, then It shouldn't be a problem to satisfy my little wish, right?"

Although he knew that the other party was actually sarcastic about him, and although he knew that the other party's words were not sincere, Talleyrand still couldn't help but feel a little proud when being complimented by Maria in person.

"Hey, I have to say, ladies always have all kinds of whimsical ideas. No matter how capricious or unbridled they are, it is us hard-working men who are always in trouble in the end! But what can we do? We French Men are always willing to help ladies solve their problems, especially a beautiful and intelligent lady like you." Prince Talleyrand sighed, and then turned his old brain to think hard to satisfy Princess Maria's request.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the other party again, "How about this? After you officially come to our country, I will invite you in my official capacity to participate in the cultural exchanges between our two countries, so that you can No one will blame you for rejecting social activities that you don’t like and don’t need to attend because of being busy; on the other hand, you can also use this as an excuse to go to the Louvre or any other place you like. Visiting museums, entertaining artists who are frustrated, and even sponsoring those you like among them... Do you think this is okay?"

Hearing this, Maria opened her eyes slightly in surprise. She originally made so many demands just to "ask for high prices" and get better treatment for her future, but she didn't expect that Prince Talleyrand would actually treat her. He was so polite and agreed to her casually.

Moreover, if she obtains such an official status, then when she attends salons in the future, she will be eagerly sought after and complimented by writers, poets and artists in order to get their own praise and sponsorship. Wouldn't it be great? ?

Sophie will also like it very much.

Of course, Talleyrand was so easy to talk to, not just because Maria was beautiful, but more importantly because Aiglon admitted to his face that he had a "very close relationship" with her. In order to please His Majesty, he would naturally treat this foreign princess more favorably. .

"Thank you, Your Excellency, Prime Minister. If that's the case, then I don't have any objections -" Because she was satisfied, Maria became a lot more polite when she spoke, "I am also quite attracted to your country's culture. Since I have received such a An unexpected mission, I will try my best to fulfill your good wishes from now on."

"In Paris, we have always been friendly to foreigners. After all, foreign friends just want to chat with us and don't want to send us to the guillotine." Prince Talleyrand laughed at himself humorously. "Oh, when I think back to that poor King Gustav, half a century has passed in a flash. The moment when we toasted and drank together is still vivid in my mind. Who could have imagined that so much would happen next? What about the bizarre things?”

The "King Gustavus" that Prince Talleyrand refers to refers to King Gustavus III of Sweden. In 1772, when he was still the crown prince, he visited France and became very popular in the social world and made many friends. , he also accepted the Enlightenment ideas that were popular in France at the time; during his visit, his father died, so he rushed back to Sweden to inherit the throne, and then launched a coup with the help of pro-French forces in the country and re-established the throne. Established a royal autocratic system, and then tried to carry out French-style enlightened reforms.

It is a pity that although he tried his best throughout his life, he achieved little results. The declining Sweden still has not revived.

It is worth mentioning that after he became king, he also used the pseudonym "Count Aga" and secretly visited France several times. He secretly met with friends in Paris, drank and talked together, and participated in various social activities. Talleyrand was a socialist at that time. A celebrity in the border area and a well-known "joker", of course he has met the king many times.

Finally, at midnight on March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was assassinated during a masquerade ball held at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, and died of his injuries shortly afterwards - but at this time Louis, who was already too overwhelmed by the Revolution, The Sixteenth couple no longer have time to remember this old foreign friend.

In short, in this era, French culture was very popular in Europe. Because of its prosperity and luxurious charm, Paris attracted a large number of foreign princes and nobles to hang out here. Even if Princess Maria appeared here, it would not be an exaggeration.

Of course, Maria was not interested in the old man's emotions, and she quickly changed the topic back to the topic.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I am not interested in politics, and I do not want to participate in your diplomatic career - because that is my brother's business. I don't want to cause trouble to him because of myself, and I am unable to do anything on behalf of the Bavarian official. decision. Therefore, I cannot make any official statement to you or to France. However, I can assure you that I am completely pro-French. Like you, I hope that the two countries can always maintain friendship. , so if you need me to convey any news or help you in private, I will be happy to help you. The Kingdom of Bavaria has not forgotten the favor given by Emperor Napoleon, and at this moment, it is also happy to continue to be Bonaparte Friends of the family - I think our sincerity has been fully expressed since His Majesty came to the throne."

"I am very satisfied with your statement! Please believe me, Your Majesty, your Majesty and I have only good intentions for your country, just like the late Emperor." After receiving this sincere assurance, Talleyrand The prince also smiled with satisfaction, "His Majesty has always been very friendly to the Wittelsbach family. He and your brother the king hit it off and have a very harmonious relationship. He also expanded the territory for your family... In short , in the future, no matter what threats your country encounters, you can count on the help from France. We will never turn a blind eye to any armed invasion of Bavaria! Our two countries are now connected by ties of kinship , this friendship is bound to last forever.”

After finishing speaking, he changed the topic again, "By the way, Your Highness Maria, after seeing you, I couldn't help but think of another unrelated question. I don't know if you can help me solve my doubts..."

"What question? Just ask." Maria replied.

"I heard that you and Princess Sophie are twin sisters, so according to common sense, the two must look very similar, right?" he asked with a smile.

"They are indeed very similar." Maria nodded.

"I see... No wonder." Prince Talleyrand smiled and stopped asking further questions.

Although he was forced to retire after 1816 and lie dormant for many years due to the suspicion of the Bourbon family, he has never relaxed his spying on the situation in various countries over the years, and has been collecting information on royal families and government officials in various countries.

Therefore, UU Kanshu www.uukanshu.net Although he has not met Princess Sophie in person, he also knows that she has a twin sister.

But now, he saw Maria with his own eyes, and he could also use Maria to get a glimpse of Sophie's style from the side.

He still doesn't know the specific situation between Aigron and Maria, but he has vaguely guessed that the reason why the two of them have a "close relationship" must be because of the affair between Aigron and Sophie.

Regardless of whether His Majesty wanted to find a "substitute" or had "empathy", he must have attached great importance to this twin sister, and may even have other intentions.

"Twin sisters, both so beautiful, elegant and interesting!" Prince Talleyrand opened his old and cloudy eyes and looked at Maria, as if he meant something, "If one day, I can witness the two His Highnesses appearing together. That scene must be unforgettable in my life, even in such a long life, this is the first time."

"Then let's wait until you live until then!" Faced with this kind of ridicule, Maria responded to the other party without showing any weakness, and then stood up to leave.