Struggle in Russia

Naturally, old Adlerberg did not dare to talk in circles with the Queen Mother Alexandra. If he did not take advantage of the Queen Mother's good mood to deal with the matter quickly, what if the Queen Mother's mood became worse later?

Queen Mother Alexandra didn't feel embarrassed about old Adlerberg's request, she just wanted to help him say a few nice words. Although her current status is not as good as before, she occasionally opens her mouth to ask Alexander II for some requests. As long as they are not particularly difficult, Alexander II will still try his best to satisfy them.

Old Adlerberg's request fell into this category, so Queen Mother Alexandra agreed easily.

Of course, she wouldn't do it right away. Speaking well to someone in the royal family, especially in front of the Tsar, also requires timing. The most taboo thing is to open your mouth randomly at the wrong time.

Queen Alexandra has been hanging out in the Winter Palace for so many years. She has a good reputation here, and she plans to wait for Alexander II to come to talk to her in a few days.

In fact, old Adlerberg was not particularly anxious. Although it would be best to be able to do Alexander II's work, the ideological work of the Tsar is not so easy to do. According to common sense, there are more times when it cannot be done, so He didn't have high hopes.

What he is really concerned about is the news from Duke Alexander. For him, if Duke Alexander can help put in a good word and make Li Xiao not so difficult to deal with, his task will naturally be easier, right?

Duke Alexander did not disappoint him in this regard. Just one day later, he sent someone to invite him to come and talk.

"You mean, this matter is a bit difficult to handle?" Old Adlerberg frowned and asked.

Duke Alexander sat upright and looked at the old fox coveting the old hen. He replied with a smile: "It's not that it's difficult...but as you know, the Grand Duke is just a fool. You don't follow the rules when talking and doing things. I asked Leonid to communicate with him. He was confused about your request and lost his temper, which made me very embarrassed!"

Old Adlerberg was stunned. He didn't believe that Li Xiao still dared to lose his temper at Duke Alexander. Did that guy take some gunpowder?

It's just that he can't question Duke Alexander's lies, at least not publicly in person. He can only ask in a roundabout way: "Grand Duke Andrei is so... so unreasonable? I heard that he is pretty easy to deal with!"

Duke Alexander was too experienced in dealing with an old fox like old Adlerberg. He immediately replied: "Easy to deal with? Why do you think he is easy to deal with? If he is easy to deal with, why are you coming to me?"

Without waiting for old Adlerberg to speak, he said to himself: "Today's young people are getting harder and harder to deal with. Every one of them has his tail raised to the sky. If it weren't for our many years of relationship, I would I don’t want to suffer from this cowardice!”

Old Adlerberg was speechless. Although he wanted to say that this was too false, he still did not dare to say it.

He could only laugh awkwardly and said flatteringly: "I'm really sorry to trouble you, Duke. If I knew that Grand Duke Andrei was so difficult to deal with, I wouldn't have come to you to make you angry... This is all my fault. Blame me!"

Even though he was apologizing, he didn't actually express anything other than an apology. This is the style of a mature old fox in officialdom. You can pretend to be a grandson, but you still won’t pluck out a hair!

Duke Alexander was not surprised. If old Adlerberg was so easy to deal with, then he, the minister of palace affairs, would have packed up and gone home long ago. It is precisely because he is thick-skinned, dark-hearted and full of tricks that a master like him is needed!

He agreed with Li Xiao's request and decided to scrape at least a layer of oil from the old fox. Now this old fox is ready to use nice words to confuse things. How is that possible!

He replied with an expression on his face: "That's right! If it weren't for you, how could I possibly see the face of a little Maotou? You were not there at the time. If you had seen his face at that time, you would probably faint on the spot!"

Old Adlerberg chuckled again in his heart, but he was thick-skinned enough and didn't do this at all. He just kept apologizing, and there was nothing else.

Duke Alexander, an old fox like this, also finds it funny. If pretending to be stupid can fool things, why don't you pretend to be stupid in front of Alexander II? Do you think I'm easy to bully or fool?

It seems like you won’t be honest if I don’t give you some real stuff!

Thinking of this, Duke Alexander responded decisively: "Okay, you don't need to apologize. Who knows that I am a warm-hearted person! Although I can't help you much, my heart has been there, and I am worthy of the friendship between us. Friendship... I don’t have a good solution for this matter, why don’t I try with someone else?”

Old Adlerberg was dumbfounded. He had no idea that Duke Alexander would serve tea to the guests even if they disagreed. Nima, do you think my grandson has been pretending to be a grandson for a long time?

He thought for a while and gritted his teeth and said: "Duke, you are too humble. Who doesn't know about your relationship with Grand Duke Andre? I think as long as you have a good chat with him, this little matter should not be difficult to solve." ?”

Duke Alexander raised his eyelids and asked with a tigerish face: "Isn't it difficult to solve? If it's so easy, why don't you go and talk to him yourself? What do you want from me? I'm repeating to you, Count, Andre and I The Grand Duke has nothing to do with him. Although he is my son’s friend, he is not my friend. Please remember this!”

Old Adlerberg was frightened. Duke Alexander made it clear that if he continued to fail, he would be ruthless, which left him with no choice. He gritted his teeth and replied: "Yes, yes. What you said is absolutely true...I was negligent...what, Duke, please make an exception and help me again, I will never let you down!"

Duke Alexander rolled his eyes in his heart and said to himself: You have disappointed me now, can you be more honest?

Therefore, he was too lazy to say anything and just looked at the old fox without saying anything.

The two looked at each other like this for a minute. In the end, old Adlerberg was defeated. He said with a grimace: "What do you think? I also have a few good friends in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If anything happens to you, , or if you have any instructions, I will ask them to help you, how about that?"

Prince Alexander said to himself: This is not bad. A smile immediately appeared on his face, and he said with a smile: "Then it's settled, I will do my best to help you with your matter!"