Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 326 028 White Nights in Petersburg

Speaking of which, the last time Solovyov paid attention to the white nights was when he was in Stockholm.

His adjutant job was somewhat exciting, but now he is more fulfilled in leading troops.

After all, when there is something to do, there is no time to think about women's problems.

But the closer it is to the summer solstice, the longer the daytime is. In the area north of the 48° north latitude, it is considered a daily routine at this time.

That's why curtains are more needed.

At home at No. 4 Laundry Lane, Solovyov saw this and wanted to sleep well, so he should not let the light in all the time.

However, his family's situation is a bit special.

Since the temperature warmed up in the spring, Adela started to build illegally on the roof. After all, after Solovyov moved back, he directly turned the roof of his house into a platform, which could be directly accessed from the attic.

Then, planting flowers on the roof became a feature of his family.

Although this girl doesn't sell flowers, she loves flowers!

Solovyov also bought a lot of seeds. Besides fruits and vegetables, there were also flowers and plants. When Adela was free, she would stay in the flower shed on the roof and would only go back to the attic when she was sleeping.

Therefore, he came to the attic to take a look.

There was no one in front of the piano and the desk. The windows of the attic were still open, and you could go directly to the roof from the small balcony outside.

Solovyov himself did not come here on weekdays. After all, this was also Adela's boudoir. Although she was nominally a servant, she was more like his adopted sister.

As for what the roof looked like, he had only heard Adela talk about it before, and once, he saw it from the top floor of Prince Yusupov's mansion.

A lot of flowers were planted, and the space was well arranged. In addition, Adela was commissioned by the princess's daughter, Ekaterina, to plant some tulips here.

Speaking of which, the tulip craze back then was still a typical financial bubble and Ponzi scheme, and the one who took over in the end was the real fool.

However, there are a few tulips planted by Adela that look very strange.

After Soloviev came up, he was attracted by these tulips.

"So beautiful."

"Brother, don't move yet, I'm going to take that pot of flowers to Catherine tomorrow."

"You girl, you really go back to your old ways."

"I like these flowers, and that pot of roses, which belongs to Yulia."

"And."

Soloviev also saw plants from the family of poppies, which Soloviev has always disliked.

There is no other reason, but the alkaloids produced have always been quite toxic.

In comparison, those flying leaves in the ancient world are nothing.

"Who is this for?"

"Catherine's brother Alexander, he is quite interesting."

Soloviev even thought that Adela might be interested in Alexander Potemkin.

According to Russian marriage rules, except for the royal family, no one cares much about marriage between nobles and commoners. Many nobles have married actresses and their housekeepers.

Of course, he just thought about it and rejected this idea.

Maybe she and Ekaterina Potemkin are best friends, so she helps Potemkin grow flowers.

And Potemkin is usually not at home. Usually only his wife, Catherine and Prince Boris live here.

"How did you meet Sasha?"

"When he came back from boarding school, Catherine happened to be holding a tea party. I went there as a maid that day, and that's how I met him."

"Ah, what's your impression of him?"

"Although he is a student at boarding school, he wears a uniform of the Guards."

Speaking of which, Alexander Potemkin is still a registered soldier of the Putin Regiment, but that was registered after Solovyov became an aide-de-camp.

Alexander, who was somewhat of a collector of descendants and relatives of famous generals, sent this child to the Guards when Potemkin was not married and left no legal heir.

In addition, after Arkady came back, he did not stay in the court, but became an officer.

Most of the other generals sent their sons to the army, and the emperor did not need to ask about it personally.

As for the private school that little Potemkin attended, the tuition was shockingly expensive, costing 2,000 rubles. The students there were either rich or noble, and they were all top-notch.

"Mr. Nikolai's school is a terribly expensive place. There are never more than 33 students, even..."

The more Solovyov talked, the more he felt that there was a clear class gap even among the nobles.

Even the private tutoring alone made people feel the gap.

He, who was completely self-taught, was completely different.

"Brother, you seem to be very familiar with that school!"

"Nothing, it's on the embankment of the Fontanka Canal. I always pass by there and I'm very familiar with it. Of course, I also know a lot about the neighbors on the street in front of us."

As for Mr. Charles Dominique Nicolay who teaches at the school, because he is a Catholic dean and an old colleague of Mr. Talleyrand, the Catholic atmosphere here is strong. If Vasily Vasilyevich comes back from abroad, he may like this place very much.

However, now that anti-French sentiment is quietly rising here, it may be difficult for such a school to continue operating here.

Of course, it has little impact on Italians. For example, Catherine's aunt and new uncle will not be affected.

After all, both Naples and Milan are Italians.

Solovyov also knew that almost all of these French boarding schools had to go to Odessa with Duke Richelieu.

As for the French people who were still in Russia, they were more respectable people and were more affected.

Adela couldn't tell the accent when she spoke, and sometimes even the girls who were very close to her couldn't notice that she was French.

"only."

Solovyov really didn't think about himself. What he thought in his consciousness was very different from Adela's thoughts.

"Girls also have secrets, brother. What I've disclosed to you is just my friendly relationship with Catherine and the others."

As for this moment, the restless children of Prince Yusupov's family were still saying hello to Adela on the top floor of their house.

"Hey Adela!"

When Xiaobo Jiangjin said this, it should be like the relationship between Solovyov and the married Elena, they were just friends, but the genders were reversed.

However, he is wearing a college uniform today, although boarding schools don't have this particularity.

What Solovyov didn't know enough about was that it was a French-run boarding school for children of high-end aristocrats, from which many Decembrists came out.

It's hard to say whether they are friendly forces or people who can mess things up.

It's white night now, so naturally many people can't sit still.

He wanted to take a good rest but couldn't. This was Solovyov's state. Although he was only 24 years old, he was very energetic and couldn't stand it.

In his opinion, even having a kidney transplant would not cause him more fatigue than the current training + high-intensity compilation and writing.

As for Adela going up to the roof, she really wanted to send flowers to the Yusupov family.

The Solovyov family actually has a car that was remodeled by a servant. If Adela wants to return to her old job one day, she can push the car to Nevsky Prospekt.

In addition to the ones requested by several children, there are also exotic flowers from the Prince’s wife.

Although the prince's wife is definitely not a "sheltered market" like Solovyov, the flowers she requested are all related to the artillery.

In addition to the tulips her daughter wanted, there were also hyacinths, carnations, cornflowers, and oleanders.

But Xiaobo Jiangjin happened to be from the general regiment, and he was not an artilleryman.

"It's enough for Adela to come over and give us flowers. Misha, why don't you come over too."

This prince's wife is also Prince Potemkin's niece, that is, the aunt of the Bagration family's daughter-in-law. When speaking, she still treats Solovyov like an elder.

Moreover, this could be considered a neighbor. After all, he lived in the alley behind, opposite the house where her servants lived.

"I just went to the roof to have a look. It's a white night in Petersburg now. I have to close the curtains tightly so that I can sleep."

"Yeah, that's true. It's not good if there's a little light."

"Madam. Since Sasha is here, Bolenka (Boris Yusupov) is also, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Nicolai gave them all a holiday recently."

Although this lady has staggeringly exaggerated wealth and is married into the family of Prince Yusupov, whose wealth in Petersburg is about the same as that of Count Stroganov, her life is very simple.

She owned a lot of jewelry, but she withdrew from palace life and preferred to live with her children. Even in this mansion, the couple did not often live here after they separated. The prince and his wife were at the British Embankment, and the prince himself He often goes to his estate in Moscow.

The Prince's wife only appeared here when her three children were at home.

As for Alexander and Boris who came down from the top floor, it was Boris, a child who was about to be eleven years old, who directly gave Solovyov a military salute.

"But, Bolenka, you don't look like Sasha. He is a soldier of the General Regiment, although he is not in the regiment."

"Yes, Mr. Colonel."

Xiaobo Jiangjin and his half-brother have different attitudes towards things. After all, he should officially join the army at this age.

"If you join the army now, you can still catch up with the French. But, Sasha, you have not lived in a military camp, and you have not received enough military training. Go to the reserve army, where you can still learn Quite a few things.”

"Yes, those of us who are on the roster but have not joined the legion are willing to follow your example."

"What kind of role model am I? I haven't learned all my skills by the side of the Generalissimo."

Although Solovyov is modest in his words, his admiring eyes for his juniors are still very useful.

At the same time, he would not be able to do such a stupid thing by sending aristocratic children who have not been fully trained into the battlefield.

It is precisely because of this that the officers and soldiers currently retained in the Guards, according to the opinions of Grand Duke Constantine and the reports of the regimental commanders, those officers and soldiers who go on overseas expeditions must be fully trained.

The additional soldiers and officers must at least have received training in the regiment.

The military service cycle of the Russian army is relatively long. There are many veterans in the army, and the officers, even those who are too young, have received training.

This is not the case when the French invaded later, and the army also added a lot of brave but unarmed children.

As for the young Potemkin, he was a good person. Solovyov was already surprised by his extraordinary generosity to his friends and servants.

He didn't look like a Potemkin family member. He was simple, straightforward, approachable, and polite.

Even when his friends asked him to borrow money, his attitude was always, "No need to pay it back."

This was something that surprised Solovyov, but what he saw now was Alexander Potemkin in his youth, not the retired officer and philanthropist who was even somewhat heroic in the future.

And Boris had already seen that he was indeed unique, and everyone in his family was like this.

Every generation of Yusupov could make some big news.

But Solovyov didn't know that in history, after Louisa's sudden death by Belyov, it was Boris, who had just returned from abroad, who escorted her coffin back to St. Petersburg.

Well, this kind of fate may be more of a coincidence.

"As for you, Borunka, the prince has only one child."

The princess looked at Soloviev and felt that he was more like a nagging housekeeper.

"But what the children will do in the future is not something that relatives and friends can interfere with."

The lady also signaled the servants to move the flowers away, and then continued: "Baron Sergei couldn't control you, so don't expect Borunka to listen to you. Moreover, he will only listen to you when he wants to play with you."

A typical Yusupov, always doing things according to his own ideas.

In the future, there will be someone who will participate in the assassination of the evil monk, that is, his descendants.

As for the troubles he will cause in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the court in the future, it is countless.

Also, if you have seen his father, you will always feel that this head looks a bit like Meyer.

And Boris's future portrait.

Although Soloviev still saw a beautiful boy, he will really become like Meyer in the future.

It's no wonder. His mother's last name is Engelhardt. You can tell where it comes from by looking at this last name.

"Also, you can have some drinks now, but no tea or coffee, otherwise you won't be able to sleep."

"How about kvass?"

"That's fine too, everyone likes it."

The people in their family are also good to servants. The serfs of the Yusupov family were all FREE when Boris inherited the family property.

It's no wonder that many of the nobles in St. Petersburg actually left safely after 1918, not like eating peanuts as rumored, and even the helpless ladies assigned their former servants to take care of them in their old age.

As long as they are not the ones who have done all the evil things, there is still room for maneuver, and even like the Stroganov family, they left in a decent manner in the end.