"Empress Napoleon III, Your Majesty Eugenie?" Similar exclamations kept ringing out.

"Isn't she in London, when did she come to Berlin?" Some people who know about the current situation of Empress Eugenie said.

"No, could it be that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederick invited her?" Some people who don't know the inside story start to speculate wildly.

"It's incredible to be able to meet Her Majesty Eugénie, you know, she is a beauty on the same level as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth! Queen Elizabeth has been there lately...", some people whispered gossiping.

More people have only one excited thought, "Oh my God, the queen of fashion, I can meet the queen of fashion!" ”

Amid the controversy, everyone at the ball was looking forward to the appearance of Empress Eugenie.

The old emperor looked at his son and daughter-in-law with a surprised face, shook his head and said helplessly, "You know your mother's character, and you always like this sudden surprise." She and Empress Eugenie have been friends for many years, and they have known each other for longer than I have been married to your mother, and besides, since I had you. The old emperor glanced at his son, "We will not speak, God knows, the English friend she has received these days is the empress of Napoleon III." ”

Chancellor Bismarck certainly knew who Empress Augusta's British friends were in the past few days, but he never expected that Empress Eugenie would appear in public, especially in this country that had defeated her husband, not to mention that he still had some old feuds with her that have not been resolved.

The crown prince and his wife glanced at each other, and finally confirmed from each other's eyes that the other party had not invited Empress Eugenie. Now it seems that this invitation should have been issued by the Charlottenburg Palace, and listening to the tone of the old emperor, it was most likely a personal invitation from Empress Augusta.

When Joey heard that Empress Eugenie was coming, in addition to a trace of curiosity about the Empress of Napoleon III, in fact, he was more surprised by the frenzied expressions of the men and women at the ball, from the emperor to the ordinary attendants, even if they behaved reservedly, Joey could feel their nervousness and anticipation in the details.

Or rather, it was more like the physiological performance of later generations of fans when they saw the superstar of the emperor they admired and loved, and Joey wanted to laugh a little, "How could there be a superstar in the nineteenth century?!" ”

But the truth gave Joey a different answer, the atmosphere in the palace was obviously tense, as if there was an invisible hand, clenching everyone's neck, Joey could hear that the breathing around him was obviously short.

Men mostly straightened their chests unconsciously, and some grabbed the last bit of time left to fix their hair and clothes. Joey even saw a few people, quietly rubbing their trouser legs against their already shiny leather shoes. As for the ladies, they work hard to lift their breasts, stomachs and buttocks, trying to show themselves as the perfect S-shape, and as for tidying up their hair, hats, accessories and clothing, etc., it is even more commonplace.

In front of the empress of contemporary European fashion, everyone wants to show their flawless side.

The door to the hall opened, and Joey visibly felt the whole of the palace let out a long breath.

A middle-aged lady of excellent appearance and figure, dressed in a beautiful Crenolin dress, a black fur coat, and a hat made of light velvet with ostrich feather tassels on her head, entered the hall accompanied by Empress Augusta. This lady walked with a touch of style and majesty, and her smile, like a breeze mixed with the fragrance of flowers, swept all the faces of the palace.

Joey heard a loud inhalation from the crowd around him.

can have such a demeanor and charm, Joey doesn't have to guess, he knows that this well-mannered lady is Queen Eugenie, just like the superstars Joey saw in his previous life, which can always cause boundless frenzy among fans.

Fortunately, in his previous life, he had seen a lot of superstars and had correspondingly stronger immunity than people of this era, and Joey's eyes did not linger on Empress Eugenie for long, and began to observe the others who were traveling with Empress Eugenie.

Holding the arm of Queen Augusta, who was also dressed in a long Crenolin dress, was Princess Elisabeth from Hesse. And Queen Eugenie also has a gorgeously dressed little girl next to her, when she sees this little girl's face, Joey's eyes are quickly absorbed, and she always feels that this girl should be extremely familiar to her, but she just can't remember it.

The little girl also seemed to feel Joey's gaze, her big blue eyes were slightly curved, her eyes were smiling, her nose was slightly wrinkled, and the corners of her mouth were curled.

At this moment, Joey finally recognized who she was, the Mary who danced with her, and then Joey opened her mouth to look at Queen Eugenie, and then at Mary. Joey's gaze kept beating between the two, but his mind was completely dead.

When Mary saw Joey's slightly demented expression, she couldn't help but feel a little smug in her heart, and the smile on her face was even better.

Since seeing Mary's smile, Joey has been no different from the fans around her who adore Empress Eugenie, the only difference being who to worship.

In front of everyone, Empress Augusta first introduced her invited guests, "This is my esteemed friend Empress Eugenie and her granddaughter, Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, daughter of the Duke of Alba. ”

Then, according to etiquette, it was a greeting and mutual salute when the nobles met.

According to the etiquette of the aristocracy in the 19th century, men were usually required to kiss the ladies, and the salute was preceded by the ladies' permission, which meant that men could only kiss the ladies after they had extended their hands.

But when Emperor Wilhelm I saw Empress Eugenie, his heart was filled with trepidation. The old emperor mainly considered the important feud between Germany and France, that is, between Empress Eugenie's husband and himself, and a few years ago at the same ball between German and French nobles, someone the old emperor did not like, for some special reasons, deliberately caused unhappiness at that ball, if Empress Eugenie also followed suit......

William I's heart lifted, and his breath couldn't help but become short, in case Empress Eugenie didn't give face and let herself kiss her hand, then her face would be lost. Between the gains and losses, he completely forgot that he was the current emperor of Germany, and Empress Eugenie, the former empress of France, seemed to be more honorable.

Fortunately, Empress Eugenie smiled and took the initiative to extend her right hand to the old emperor.

"Your Majesty Empress Eugenie, it is a pleasure to meet you." The old emperor gracefully kissed the empress and saluted, "Hello Princess Beatrice, honored. ”

"Hello Your Majesty the German Emperor, I am equally glad to see you." Empress Eugenie curts, Princess Beatrice, with the same demeanor.

"Your Majesty Empress Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice, thank you for coming to the ball." Crown Prince Frederick respectfully kissed the Empress and smiled Mary.

"Hello Your Royal Highness, thank you for having me." Empress Eugenie took Mary and thanked her.

"Venerable Empress Eugenie..."Crown Princess Victoria was about to curtsily her knees, but was stopped by Empress Eugenie, and then Empress Eugenie gave the Crown Princess a cordial hug and a close salute, and said, "Vikki, don't be so polite, I remember the last time I saw you, it was at your coming-of-age ceremony, we haven't seen each other for more than 20 years, right?" ”

"Yes, it's been so long since I've seen Your Majesty. I always remember the coming-of-age gift you gave me, the coming-of-age ceremony of my daughter Princess Charlotte, I prepared it according to your style, she was so happy, and now my other daughter, Princess Victoria, is also going to have a coming-of-age ceremony this year, and she also strongly asks to prepare another one for her according to her sister's coming-of-age ceremony. The crown princess smiled and complimented, "Your Majesty, your vision is a classic of fashion forever." ”

Then the crown princess smiled and said to Mary, who was curtsied, "Your Majesty, your granddaughter Princess Beatrice is so beautiful, I like her smile so much, this smile is like an angel, it can cure all the unhappiness and pain of others." ”

"Vikki, you're really flattering, is this your Princess Victoria?" Eugénie looked at Princess Victoria and asked, and after receiving an affirmative answer, Empress Eugenie smiled and continued, "Dear Victoria, please wait and tell me when your coming-of-age ceremony will take place, and I will give you a surprise of the coming-of-age ceremony." ”

Princess Victoria's face was as red as a strawberry in everyone's eyes, and every pore on her face was full of happy red. A gift from the Fashion Queen, Princess Victoria had never thought of it before.

"Your Majesty Empress Eugenie, I am William, and it is a pleasure to meet you." William saluted Empress Eugenie meticulously, but a trace of his eyes drifted to Empress Eugenie's side.

Empress Eugenie, who was so shrewd, immediately felt that William's gaze was shuttling back and forth between herself and the others. Following William's gaze, Empress Eugenie tilted her head slightly, and also saw a strawberry-like person, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse.

As a person who has come over, Empress Eugenie certainly understood what was going on, looked at William and said with a smile, "Dear Prince William, do you think that Princess Elizabeth's costume today is different from usual?" Well, that's my dress code. A beautiful flower like Elizabeth deserves to be taken care of by anyone for the rest of their lives! Empress Eugenie said with a pun.

William nodded vigorously, and basically everyone who was familiar with the inside story laughed, and William's face became a third red strawberry.

Empress Eugenie then lowered her head to look at the youngest son of the crown prince and his wife, ready to continue to say hello, but found that this stinky boy actually looked at her precious granddaughter all the time, and although her granddaughter's face was deliberately tight, her eyes could not hide the thick smile.

"It turned out to be you, stinky boy, fooling my precious granddaughter into attending some kind of prom!" Empress Eugenie couldn't help but say angrily in her heart.

Eugenie looked at the pair of children with big eyes and small eyes, and deliberately asked, "You know each other?" ”

"I don't know!" Mary replied.

"Acquaintance!" Joey replied honestly, and then saw Mary purse her lips and glare at herself with her big lake-blue eyes.

"To know or not to know? Mary, you are not allowed to speak. Empress Eugenie asked.

Joey looked at Mary with wide eyes and asked Mary with hard eyes, "Do we know each other or not?" Mary finally turned her head, no longer looking at Joey's stupid look.

Finally, under the scrutinizing gaze of everyone, Joey said helplessly, "Mary taught me to dance at Charlottenburg Palace, but I didn't know that she was the granddaughter of Empress Eugenie, nor did I know that she was Her Royal Highness Princess Alba. I don't know if I know or don't know. ”

When Queen Augusta heard this, her heart was not good, her precious grandson was obviously not on the line after a serious illness! hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Joey, have you even forgotten the French court meeting ceremony that your grandmother taught you to meet Empress Eugenie?" Maria, my little grandson is a real nuisance, please forgive him for his rudeness. ”

At the reminder of his grandmother, Joey hurriedly introduced himself while saluting Empress Eugenie with a standard French bow, and then saluting Mary.

Empress Eugenie took a look at Empress Augusta, her best friend who was desperately trying to wink at her, thought about it, and decided to let go of this hateful stinky boy first.

Princess Alice and Princess Fiodora couldn't wait to introduce themselves to Queen Eugenie, and then the two took Mary by the hand and asked Princess Victoria and Queen Eugenie if they could invite Mary to their bedroom and pray together before going to bed, and the Princess and Queen Eugenie nodded in agreement.

This promise opened the precedent for Frederick's children to take their favorite people to flash, first William said that he would take Elizabeth's cousin to visit the palace, and then Princess Victoria also went with the excuse of going together, and finally only Joey was left alone with his parents.

But the next moment later, Joey felt that he had made the right choice not to leave, because he found someone who was more embarrassed than he had just been in front of Empress Eugenie. But it seems very ungraceful to comfort yourself with the pain of others!

Empress Eugenie, the empress of the fashion industry, finally stood in front of the great iron-blooded prime minister Bismarck, Empress Eugenie is a tall lady, standing in front of the old prime minister without the slightest feeling of inferiority, but a faint feeling of pressing the old prime minister.

This scene caused another headache for Empress Augusta, who had only invited Empress Eugenie to the ball after learning that Prime Minister Bismarck had rejected the ball. From the moment she saw the old prime minister at the door, Queen Augusta lifted her heart, and was very annoyed by the old prime minister's refusal and repentance of the invitation, and she really didn't know how to open her mouth to ease the atmosphere in the face of the current sabre-rattling scene.

Empress Eugenie stared at Prime Minister Bismarck for a long time with a level-eyed gaze, and then used a standard bow that only men would use, touched her chest with her left hand, and nodded her head in greetings to the old prime minister.

The entire ball was watched by Empress Eugenie's every move, and the appearance of this scene made everyone in an uproar. A woman performed a man's etiquette to the old prime minister, and basically everyone present had the thought, "This is ..... This is a big lace news, the old prime minister actually behaved so rudely towards Empress Eugenie, and he didn't have the least gentlemanly demeanor. ”

"Wait, the prime minister is the victim!" The just-in-a-justice of a very small number of people was quickly overwhelmed with boundless anger by the fashion fans of Empress Eugenie, who traveled with them.

The old prime minister's face turned red rarely, in Joey's eyes, this was the fourth red strawberry he had seen today, and it was a large red strawberry with some blackening.

In the hearts of a few insiders such as Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta, of course, understood what was going on. The initial cause of the incident was the Fourth War of the Anti-French Coalition between Napoleon I and Prussia, when Napoleon won the victory of Jena and defeated the Prussian army, and all the Prussian soldiers were completely blinded by Napoleon the Great's fierce and aggressive style.

During Napoleon's occupation of Berlin, no one dared to speak out against it, except for Empress Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Wilhelm Frederick III, who called out the Prussians against the French.

Therefore, Napoleon called Empress Louise the only man in Prussia, and every time he saw Empress Louise, he never kissed his hand, but saluted with a bow between men.

If it were just this seventy-year-old thing, the hatred would certainly not continue to this day. Another crux of the matter is that before the Franco-Prussian War began, the German and French nobles wanted to work for reconciliation and mutual understanding between the top leaders of the two sides, and Empress Augusta planned to hold a grand ball for the emperors, empresses and prime ministers of Germany and France to attend, so that everyone could reach a face-to-face reconciliation and avoid war.

On the eve of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie's participation in this reconciliation ball, in order to anger the French more quickly and let the French declare war on Germany as soon as possible, Chancellor Bismarck announced in public that he would treat Empress Eugenie of France with the etiquette of a man at this ball, as a tribute to the rudeness of the French sixty years ago.

The French, of course, did not allow such rudeness to happen, and the French emperor and empress did not attend the ball, and the ball of reconciliation between Germany and France eventually turned into Franco-Prussian war, as Bismarck had wished.

The fact that Bismarck wanted to treat Empress Eugenie with manly etiquette also spread throughout Europe, so that Empress Eugenie began to hate Chancellor Bismarck for the rest of her life.

Today's scene has made Chancellor Bismarck once again understand a truth, don't be rude to a lady, especially not to a beautiful lady.

But the prime minister is the prime minister after all, and he has dominated the diplomatic circles of Europe and the world for decades, and he has seen no matter how big the storm is.

Then Prime Minister Bismarck, slightly clumsy with his knees slightly bent, crossed his right foot behind his legs, put his hands at his side and made a gesture of lifting his skirt, and made a curtsy to Empress Eugenie, which is common to ladies.

"Hahahaha!" In the entire palace, there was a burst of laughter, followed by louder applause and whistles.

I have to say that Prime Minister Bismarck used wit and humor to perfectly save his face.