Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 126 026 Tennis courts in France are prone to duels

There are many people who come to play, but it is inevitable that there will be some disputes on the court.

For example, Solovyov and Vasily from the Vyazemsky family, when they play doubles, they cooperate very well, but according to the size of these two people, they play two completely different types of tennis that are not in sync.

The tall and strong Vyazemsky plays serve-and-volley tennis, while Solovyov, who is not big enough, always stays at the baseline, which is really inconsistent.

In theory, the size of these two people should be the opposite of their playing styles.

But in this era, Solovyov's playing style is quite different. The strength of this racket is easy to break when playing.

This time, a strong forehand hit the ball, the racket was broken, and the ball hit a dead angle.

"40-15, two set points!" If they only play one set, they are now 5:2, which means they will win soon, but they can't play without a racket.

But at this moment, the two opponents are not willing to not decide the winner.

The reason is simple. After all, they haven't lost yet, although they are on the way to losing at any time.

"What, we still need to play singles?"

Vyazemsky also found it ridiculous, but he didn't intend to entangle, and the two cavalry officers on the other side were still not giving up.

"We didn't lose either, so we still need to decide the winner!"

"Yes, we still need to play three sets and two wins. We want to play singles. I won't play with you, but with this major."

Solovyov didn't understand. Today he just wanted to help play, and victory was in sight. He was not keen on tennis. This was the first time he had seen someone who was looking for trouble. Whether he would refuse or not, the conflict at that time might lead to a duel.

Such a troublemaker, and he was looking for him, which made him highly alert.

His whole mind was filled with the plot of Kurosawa competing with his opponent in Akira Kurosawa's film "Seven Samurai". It was quite funny to encounter such a thing on the tennis court.

And he always had to overcome his serve problem.

It was still Vyazemsky who told him what to do.

"There is something wrong with your tossing gesture. It should go out from the fingertips and be faster."

After Solovyov knew where his problem was, he started to practice a few times.

The opponent was not in a hurry and asked him to practice a few times.

"This major is not good enough except for the strong power and fast ball speed. There are still some gaps on both the forehand and backhand. Hit there when the time comes."

Solovyov hits the ball with both hands for both forehand and backhand. It seems to be like this, but if he hits the ball with one arm, the situation is different.

After the game started, there were some people watching the excitement in the small stands on one side, and even some women. Playing and showing off here is also a place for young officers to show themselves.

Solovyov glanced at the stands and saw a few girls. Although he was not familiar with them, they were dressed in such a way that they must be from a good family.

The other party was from Prince Mikhail's group. In fact, Solovyov was not very reassured. If there was a duel, a mediator would be needed. He asked Vyazemsky to leave first and go find Prince Peter.

But at this moment, Peter Dolgorukov had not arrived yet, and two young ladies appeared here today.

"Misha, why are you playing tennis again?"

"Your Highness, it's just a competition."

Maria asked him, and he had to answer. As long as he developed a new business, this most honest among the five sisters would come to make trouble, and even ask him to work illegally. There were too many copied music scores and various stories he heard!

"When you have time, you must play tennis with us sisters!"

After she finished speaking, she immediately said this, with an innocent smile, which was actually a little more "scary" than the naughty Ekaterina behind.

If a little girl of this age asks you for something, it's really hard to refuse.

But he didn't say anything, and the first game was still his serve.

It's just that he made a double fault at the beginning.

"0-15!"

"This 'idiot' usually looks very smart, why does he use so much force to serve!"

"Yes, isn't it better to lightly pick the ball over? That's the action. I've seen my sister-in-law play tennis. Although she can't hit it far, it looks really good."

Ekaterina also gestured, but Louisa is in poor health, and she focuses all her attention on her children, so she rarely comes to the tennis court recently.

When she gestured, Solovyov served a super fast ball, and the opponent didn't receive it after hitting it.

"15-all!"

This is a big risk to pursue lethality, but the effect is not bad.

The guy on the opposite side now feels that it is difficult to receive the serve, and the third ball is also missed.

However, Solovyov's style of play always makes mistakes, and he is not sure when serving. When the score was 40 to 30, he himself felt troubled, and the ball fell within the boundary, which won the first game.

In the second game, the opponent wanted to use Solovyov's two angles to play. At the beginning, he really took advantage of the forehand, but when he wanted to adjust the backhand, he didn't expect that this guy could hit the ball with one arm.

This left-handed ball, the action is still very handsome.

"'Idiot' hit this ball beautifully."

Maria's eyes were full of stars, but it was just admiration. After all, she has squeezed all kinds of knowledge from Solovyov and asked him to write short scripts.

"Sister, then he is not 'Idiot'."

This backhand ball hit the dead corner directly, and the score was tied.

Seeing this, Solovyov could feel that if he played, the opponent should not be his opponent, but he should not pursue too much power when receiving the ball, so as not to hurt himself.

After all, as long as he controls the speed of his hitting better and does not pursue too much power and speed, it is enough, at least it is not easy to receive.

In this way, the game basically fell into a one-sided situation. Although the first set was not beaten 6-0, the 6-1 was also quite ugly.

It can be seen that the opponent was still a little unconvinced, but he did not expect that Solovyov would be so lethal after getting familiar with the court environment and the way of hitting the ball, and he was so angry that he kept smashing the racket.

Solovyov knew that there was a tennis player in Russia who liked to smash the racket to vent his anger. Maybe Russians with bad tempers are all like this.

Then he played 6-2 again, and Solovyov quickly killed the game.

However, the opponent was still a little unconvinced and wanted to make trouble.

"Why, you lost the game, what do you want to do?"

It seemed like he wanted to duel, but before it started, someone came up to mediate.

"Asshole, you're embarrassed after losing the game, right?"

Prince Mikhail came. He was an officer of the Pavlograd Regiment, and his rank was higher than that of the Hussar. With this shout, the possible dispute was settled.

"I'm sorry, you know there are always some troublemakers among the Hussars. If you don't take the initiative to provoke him, he will still cause trouble for you."

"I can understand, after all, we are friends."

Of course, this Mikhail also saw Ekaterina sitting in the stands. The girl stood up and waved her little hand at her.

Although she was still young, the girl was actually precocious and scary. However, because she was always with her second brother Konstantin, she especially liked those in uniform, especially Prince Mikhail who saved her.

"Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"

"I sprained my foot a few days ago, and it still hurts a little. How about I show it to you?"

She was quite proactive, and it was obvious that she was wearing a long skirt today, but she didn't wear socks on her feet, and the mules she wore were also loose and obviously larger in size. With her small feet, it was just for the convenience of applying medicine.

She just lifted her skirt slightly to show Prince Mikhail that there was indeed ointment on her ankle, and her right ankle was still a little swollen.

"Your Highness, then you should rest in the palace."

"I can't stay idle. If I stay indoors, I will be suffocated to death!"

Soloviev thought it was quite funny. This girl didn't take the initiative to tease him now, but she was like this at such a young age. She would be amazing in the future. Among you named Ekaterina, only Prince Vasily Dolgorukov's daughter is quite well-behaved, but that girl is younger and went to Dresden with her parents and family.

"Your Highness, you probably forgot what I said, you need to rest more. If you are reckless again, you will twist your other foot and you won't be able to walk!"

"If that happens, Prince Mikhail, come and hold me."

Ekaterina didn't want to pay attention to Soloviev. After all, this guy always puts safety first. She wants something exciting.

She may not even understand where her feelings for this hussar colonel come from, and she also heard a piece of news that shocked her a little.

"But, Your Highness, I just received an order to go to Paris."

Soloviev knew it, after all, it was an order signed by Tsar Paul himself, and he was in a delegation to Paris as an aide-de-camp.

"If you go to Paris, I heard there are many fun places there. Tell me when you come back."

In general, Ekaterina is not as good at expressing her emotions as her three sisters. Although the four sisters are often together, there are always some differences between them.

This is a "decision". The hussar colonel will be in Paris for at least a year on this business trip.

According to common sense, this is a normal transfer, but considering his family background, he usually doesn't need to go so far to brush up his qualifications. There is still a secret negotiation mission between Russia and France.

In this way, the Tsar's own will should also be to negotiate with France, but it has not yet escalated to the point of going to war with Britain. Maintaining "armed neutrality" is still Paul's established policy, which also makes the British more headache.

"You go to Paris this time. Forget it. It's better for me to ask about this kind of thing myself. Asking on the streets of Paris: 'Who is my friend's stepmother's cousin?' It sounds stupid. If there is really a fool, I'll do it myself!"

Hearing this, everyone started laughing, and Solovyov himself laughed.

"But you are not stupid at all, in fact you are very smart. My two brothers have also been assigned tasks."

Mikhail said that his eldest brother Vladimir was going out to lead troops, and his second brother was going to Dresden to do business. The three brothers would not be in St. Petersburg for a while.

Although there was no conflict and it seemed that there was nothing suspicious, many officers loyal to Paul and Alexander's confidants were out to do business, which did make the power around Paul begin to be empty.

However, Count von Palen still did not dare to take action now, after all, there were still many loyal officers around Paul.

These people who were conspiring to rebel were generally fierce on the outside but weak on the inside, forgetting their lives when they saw small profits and cherishing their lives when they did big things. Many people were waiting to pick up the ready-made ones, and it was a makeshift team no matter how they looked at it.

And the British support for them did not deepen with the changes in Russian policies. In the decision-making of this era, due to the backwardness of communication technology and the distance between the capitals of various countries, the speed of information transmission must have been relatively slow.

They are actually still waiting for support from all sides. After all, the attack on the Tsar's bedroom has caused most of the guards officers of the Semenovsky Guards (now also the Tsar's Guards), and any form of military coup is indeed not feasible.

As for Peterhof Palace, although the defense seems to be lax, it has formed a state of looseness on the outside and tightness on the inside. Not to mention that the reckless guards officer was beaten to death, this has tested the reaction speed of the guards in the palace.

At this level of vigilance, even pest control may be difficult.

In fact, Solovyov himself has also imagined the possibility of these coups, and even considered the occasions where Paul usually summoned some officers to dinner.

However, the Tsar himself does not have the habit of "big" or "small", which is more reassuring.

As for the weapons that can be brought to the scene, they must be strictly checked. As the commander of the first battalion, his salary is not white-collar, so the inspection of ladies may be more relaxed, and the women around Paul are relatively fixed, but men will be checked to see if they have daggers or muskets.

But for things like poison, it is really difficult to check, and there is no need.

Because the conspiracy group's method of using daggers and poisons has now been rejected, they don't even know what they want to do, and it also confuses the outside world.

Without a clear goal and no reasonable means, no one can predict what kind of conspiracy they are going to carry out.