"It's too early to think about that, Jochen."

At the royal hunting ground in Tiergarten, Mary, dressed in a hunting suit, said to her husband with some reproach.

"You're beautiful today, how long has it been since I've seen you dressed like this? You're as young as you were back then. Looking at his wife on a tall Hanoverian horse, Jochen said with a smile.

There is no woman who doesn't want to hear others praise her youth, Mary's smiling duplicity: "You know that you are 40 years old and still young?" Who told you not to go out hunting? I can't get a bunch of noble ladies out hunting, can I? It's you, now you're wearing a very formal hunting uniform, not your fancy military uniform? ”

Marie was right that Jochen didn't like hunting, and if he hadn't wanted to make friends with Ferdinand in order to establish a good relationship with the Austro-Hungarian royal family, Jochen would not have bothered to go to the outskirts of Vienna to show off his marksmanship.

The Royal Hunting Ground is a strange place for Jochen, where his two older brothers died unexpectedly. If it weren't for their deaths, they would not have been able to become the Emperor of Germany, but they became the Emperor of Germany, worrying about hard work, fear, and losing too much of the life that an ordinary member of the imperial family could experience.

So Jochen has never been here except for the occasional time when he accompanied Ferdinand to visit Wèn in Berlin. But Jochen is not here today to accompany the Croatian-Slovenian king.

Listening to his wife's blame, Jochen smiled, although he was 40, and as a mother of two children, Mary, who was well maintained, was still as radiant and mature as 30 years old, and the hunting dress that she hadn't seen for a long time made her full of vitality.

"Yes, yes, it's my fault, I'll accompany you out hunting more when I have time in the future." Jochen replied with a smile, "The protagonists of today's hunt are not those of us who are coming. It's incompatible to walk with these people in military uniforms. It's a great choice for you to wear a hunting suit today. ”

I didn't come here to hunt today, so Jochen was dressed in a hunting suit, and he didn't put on the hunting vest that is indispensable for young people to hunt now, and he looked like he had come to ride a horse and take a walk.

"Am I not clear about you? You don't want to go out hunting even if you stay in your collection room without a purpose. Mary exposed her husband's lies, then lowered her voice and said, "Don't digress, don't you think it's too early to think about this?" Don't you see the way the ladies in the back look at Leo wrongly? And those girls are more beautiful than the other. The purpose is so obvious. ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the large army that followed behind, which was composed of the princes and nobles of the various states of the German Empire and their families, the older men followed the emperor and empress respectfully, and then the aristocratic ladies dressed in full costumes, they gathered together and chatted excitedly about the parents' shortcomings, while their daughters, who were also dressed in fancy clothes, quietly followed them, showing the good upbringing of the noble lady.

As the Empress of Germany, Mary did not fit in with them in a hunting costume, but Mary did not care. As the Austro-Hungarian princess who dares to love and hate, she doesn't care what others will say about her dress, and as the queen of Germany, no one dares to make irresponsible remarks, and wearing a hunting suit is also very consistent with her status as the queen of Austria, which is a decisive difference in identity from those noble ladies.

She was more concerned that the purpose of this "hunt" was obviously not pure, and the center of this not pure purpose was her son, the crown prince of the German Empire. Reinhart

"Leo is 16 years old. If I hadn't felt inappropriate, I would have done it the year of his coming-of-age ceremony. Jochen smiled and said, "As a boy, it's time to taste the taste of love." "The German rite of passage is 14 years old, which is a bit early, and 16 years old is quite appropriate for Jochen.

That's right, this so-called "hunt" is actually a "blind date" meeting of the crown prince. In the name of Reinhardt's 16th birthday, he invited all German princes and nobles with their families to Berlin.

The nobles are not fools, the emperor's purpose for doing this is more or less understood, if he just wants to find a reason to call everyone to Berlin to reflect the majesty of the emperor, deepen the feelings between the families, and consolidate the rule of the empire. Wouldn't it be better in the name of the emperor's 40th birthday? Although it is indeed a bit cold in February, as long as the emperor invites who dares not to come?

Of course, this can't really be done like a blind date for Reinhardt to meet one by one, so group activities such as banquets, balls, hunts, and then letting the young people see each other is the reason for Jochen's fanfare, of course, Jochen does not deny that there is no political purpose at all to bring these people together, but it is more relaxing and effective to bring people together on the grounds of deepening contact between young people than to gather people together on the grounds of the emperor's birthday. And it's not just about letting Reinhardt come on a "blind date", it's also a good thing to get in touch with the outstanding young people of other families.

So after the big birthday party, in order to provide a better environment for communication, Jochen took the initiative to invite everyone out to hunt, but Mary was obviously not very interested in such a practice.

"Even if Leo reaches the age of falling in love, he doesn't necessarily have to choose his future partner from among these people, he should have more freedom of choice." Mary objected in a low voice: "And it is too early to decide at the age of 16 that the person who will be with you for the rest of your life." ”

"My dear, you're worrying too much, I didn't say from the beginning that this was the selection of the German crown princess? It's just a chance for young people to get to know each other. Jochen smiled and said, "Don't you see that Leo is now running to the front with the boys of the other families to look for prey?" ”

"But......" Mary retorted, but was interrupted by Jochen.

"And even if Leo finds someone he likes now, it doesn't mean that that girl will become the crown princess of the empire. As a young man, his feelings are hazy, youthful, and uncertain, and we don't know for sure how long we have been in love with someone, but at least we have to give Leo time to find someone he likes. Jochen said, "As the crown prince of the German Empire, his marriage cannot be completely according to his wishes. He must marry before he is twenty-five, and his wife, the crown princess of the empire, the future empress, must have a status worthy of him, so the freedom I can give him is that he can now choose what he likes within the limits of my limits. ”

"So you've summoned all the girls from the proper aristocratic families in Germany here?" Mary asked with mixed feelings.

"That's right, there is no need for Germany to marry other countries for any political purpose. So Leo can choose the girl he likes among the German aristocracy, and if he meets someone he likes, he can let them stay together for a few years, and then get married, and if he doesn't meet someone he likes, then at the age of 20 he must accept my arrangement, and this is the limited freedom I can give him. Yochen said.

Mary stared at her husband's face for a moment, then sighed, "Well, you're right. Anyway, it's a lot freer than when we both started, isn't it? ”

Knowing that his wife had compromised, Jochen laughed: "That's right, it's much better than we were then, I'm still worried when I get married, if it really doesn't work, should I go outside and have an illegitimate child and bring it back, otherwise won't the Hohenzollern family have no heir?" ”

This is, of course, a joke, that the successive heads of the Hohenzollern family have never had any stain on their private lives. Even if there have been rumors in history that some people have homosexual tendencies, there has not been a single scandal of having an affair with a woman.

If Jochen and Mary had not been a real husband and wife. It is estimated that either it will become the same as Frederick the Great, leaving behind a rumor that the marriage between the Hohenzollerns and the Habsburgs is doomed to a miserable life, or it will only choose to divorce, and it is unlikely that he wants to follow the example of his uncle Edward VII.

"I think it's true that you want a mistress, right?" Mary laughed and made a joke about her husband.

"I didn't think so, it's just that the empire needs an heir. You know how hard my mother pushed her in those years. Jochen said with a smile, and then said with some concern: "That's why now I ask Leo to get married at the age of 20 and have a baby as soon as possible, it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl, I want my mother to see her great-grandchildren." ”

"My mother's health is getting worse and worse. If she could see Leo get married and have children, she would definitely be in good spirits. Mary was also a little gloomy.

Queen Victoria is now 68 years old, and although she has lived 7 years longer than in history, her health is not very good, so she has been recuperating. But it would be good that Queen Victoria, who no longer cared about outside affairs, would not be affected by the current bad relationship between Britain and Germany.

"Don't talk about that, my mother is old, but as long as you keep a good mood, there will be no problems with your health." It was a bit out of place to talk about such a topic in such an environment, and Jochen diverted the subject: "It's Leo, apparently he didn't realize what I was doing this for, his interest was not at all on the girls behind him, and all his mind was on playing. If it weren't for the fact that he was the crown prince of the empire, I think that the young people who accompanied him on the hunt would probably be more willing to spend their time on courtesy to the girls, and I don't know which girl would be able to control him in the future. ”

"His personality for novelty is not like you, like you did back then, running in front of other people with new military weapons to show off." Mary said angrily.

"That's true, taking Gew.98 to hunt is a lot like what I did in the first place." Jochen laughed: "But while I admit that it would be too bad to hunt with a semi-automatic rifle, Gew.86 was a novelty to the Austro-Hungarians back then, but now Gew.98 can't show off, which of those young people hasn't seen it?" Okay, the two of us have a good time to chat in front of us alone, you go and chat with those noble ladies, and by the way, see which daughter is better, and then give Leo the opportunity to be alone, and he will deal with those men. ”

Johen pulled the reins and turned the horse's head, and rode back to the nobles, and everyone nodded to His Majesty the Emperor, and at that moment, a gunshot rang out from ahead.

"It seems that the boys have found their prey, those of us who are parents, should we guess who received the most today." Jochen smiled and said to them, and everyone immediately complimented that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must have gained the most.

Jochen shook his hand: "My son I know, that kid is not good at marksmanship, so don't hold him off." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a series of sounds of fried beans in front of him, and the smile on Yoheng's face froze instantly, the semi-automatic rifle couldn't hit this rate of fire, could this stinky boy come with a machine gun?

It's enough of an exaggeration with a semi-automatic rifle, you kid isn't that outrageous, right? The problem is, even the latest MG4 can't shoot on horseback, right? Could it be that he was lying on the ground and setting up a tripod to shoot at his prey? (To be continued......)