Under the gaze of Crown Prince Alexander, Fran left the room unhurriedly. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The small box full of jewels had already been left in her room and not taken with her, because she knew that if she showed her promise, His Royal Highness would deliver them to her, and she would not need to get her hands dirty.

Now she had seen it clear that the bribes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, or that the Russian royal family had a request for her brother, or that he wanted to use his influence to serve themselves, were a way of showing their sincerity.

She didn't know whether the bribe had been finalized and approved by His Majesty the Tsar himself, but as far as she felt, although it was only the first time they met, Fran could see that His Majesty the Tsar was arrogant and had some contempt for Emperor Bonaparte and his close courtiers, so even if he wanted to win over these people now, it still seemed a little dignified, and his son was much more pragmatic - Crown Prince Alexander didn't think that his father could impress the French as long as he made a little gesture of surrender.

Whatever the attitude, however, it was no longer helpful now, and the war between France and Russia would eventually break out, and Crown Prince Alexander's efforts were doomed to be in vain – or rather, to be left for post-war purposes.

But knowing this, Fran still accepted these gifts, of course, not because she was obsessed with these jewels, she could basically get any jewels she wanted now, and she did it for her own reasons.

She had come to Russia now, ostensibly for sightseeing, but in fact she was engaged in an activity that was detrimental to the Tsarist government, and although she did not know much about the internal situation of the Russian government, she could also see that the Tsar's father and son had a bad impression of Count Bezukhov, so the acceptance of these jewels would reassure His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander a little and show him his good opinion of the Russians.

More importantly, Crown Prince Alexander's move, whether morally correct or not, at least treated her as a real adversary, believing that she could act on behalf of the Tréville family and her brother, rather than seeing her as a child who had to be ignorant, as some people did. When Crown Prince Alexander patiently explained and bargained with her, he was exactly the same as he was to others.

Even for this, she wants to take her spoils and declare her true growth.

This is also the reason why she thanked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince when she left.

However, even if she thanked the other party, she would not relent, she was now fighting for the interests of her family, and this interest had been very clearly defined by her brother, and she had to take every step well.

Perhaps when the war began, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander would be furious and scold his brother and sister for being untrustworthy, but that would not make her feel bad.

With a somewhat complacent attitude, she followed the attendants to the chambers prepared for her and Mary in the court, where Mary was already resting.

Because she came early, Mary simply lay down on the sofa to rest, and didn't even say anything when her friend came in.

"Why did it take so long to come back......" she asked casually.

"I want to come back soon, too!" Fran also lay down directly on the bed, because she was also very tired from the previous exertion, and just wanted to rest well. "Who knew they suddenly arranged such a job for me......"

"What job?" Mary was intrigued.

"Paint a few portraits of His Majesty the Tsar." Fran first gave an outline, then explained in detail.

"Oh! You can be famous! Mary's eyes widened when she heard this, "Hell, you're so lucky! If you can get such an opportunity, many people can't ask for it, and you can still take a large sum by the way! ”

"People don't fancy my paintings, they just use them as an excuse to win over Mr......." Fran smiled bitterly, "I was a little excited at first, but after I figured it out, I didn't feel so happy." ”

"What if they are not right-minded? In short, you are already painting for His Majesty the Tsar, and one or two of these paintings will be given to our Emperor Majesty! Think about it, your work is going to be a gift between two emperors...... What a privilege! Mary's eyes were full of envy and jealousy, as if she was going to get up and beat her friend, "You're going to be famous!" ”

"I ...... I didn't want to be famous...... "Fran bowed her head in embarrassment. "It's better not to have this kind of name, and if others don't know it, forget it, don't you understand?"

"Some people are destined to be famous, it just depends on what she wants." Mary sneered.

Then, she approached Fran's side in hatred, threatening to hold her down, "Didn't they give you jewelry?" No, you can score some points for me, you can't take them all yourself! Jewelry that can be admired by the Romanovs as a gift is certainly not an ordinary thing. ”

"Take whatever you want, whatever you like." Fran was generous, "I don't really like anything. ”

"Okay, just with your words, I will definitely take the best." Mary smiled. "I really didn't expect it...... The day when we were flattered by the Russian Tsar is unbelievable. ”

At this, Mary's face turned slightly red, as if she had just talked and laughed with the Tsar and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Isn't a person's love for power essentially derived from this sense of excitement?

"I thought the rulers of Russia were cruel and terrible, but now when I meet their emperor and crown prince, I realize that it is nothing more than that." However, compared to Mary's enthusiasm, Fran was much calmer, "Although they must have some merits, they are only mortals after all, and they do not have more minds than us." ”

"yes, yes, where did they think that the catastrophe was only a few feet away from their heads!" Mary chuckled.

"Yes, the catastrophe hangs over their heads." Fran also smiled and nodded, and then said something that Mary was somewhat incomprehensible, "When Michael's holy sword is swung from heaven, I'm afraid that no matter how luxurious the hall is, there will be no way to protect His Majesty the Tsar......"

While they were talking and laughing, the daily life of the court continued, and Fran and Mary soon joined the royal family at a dinner party, socializing at the usual pace of the nobility of the Russian Empire.

In the days that followed, Fran would visit the Tsar whenever he had time to paint his portrait, for her skillful skill and seriousness made them very pleasing to Her Majesty, and they were also very happy because of the court's hospitality, and Mademoiselle Tréville was loved by the social community because of her artistic skills and character, and became the "lovely Miss France" by word of mouth in the court.

In the midst of these happy days, Mademoiselle Treville's journey came to an end, and after several portraits had been painted, Fran took his leave to His Majesty the Tsar, intending to return home in the near future.

His Majesty the Tsar was not surprised by this, for the Russian winter was an ordeal for everyone accustomed to it, and if it was winter, Petersburg would freeze, and the young lady would be in trouble on her way home.

So after commending her for her service, His Majesty the Tsar and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince happily bid her farewell—and with the departure of Fran and Mary from the Royal Village, there was a host of "delicate little gifts" from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. ”

Armed with a bag several times heavier, Fran returned to Count Bezukhov's estate.

At this time, the weather was already very cold, and the cold wind was raging everywhere, although the journey was not long, it made Fran feel very uncomfortable, and she just wanted to return to her warm hometown as soon as possible.

"Sir, are you done?" As soon as she saw the Earl, she hurriedly asked.

Fortunately, as she had expected, Count Bezukhov replied in the affirmative—during this time, apart from the necessary work of concealing his whereabouts, he devoted almost all his energy to this matter, and he had put together a large number of papers.

"Great!" Fran was naturally very happy, "You really worked hard. ”

"No, it's you who will have to suffer." Count Bezukhov said meaningfully.

"There's no way I can guarantee that something will happen......" Fran replied with some embarrassment.

"As long as you send them to France, God will decide the rest." The Count was very gentle, "But now we have to face the question, how do you get these things to France?" ”

It was a difficult question, for if Miss Tréville did leave with a large pile of papers, it would arouse suspicion, and if any customs officer looked closely, everything would fall short at the last step, and no one could bear the consequences.

However, this problem is not something that Fran has not thought of a solution to before.

"Thank God that He gave us some revelation many years ago."

"What revelation?" Count Bezukhov was a little strange.

Fran didn't answer directly, but pulled out a page from the album he was carrying and handed it to the Count. "That's the revelation."

Still a little unsure, the Count took the page gently, and found it a pencil drawing of a court hall with a great deal of ornate ornamentation.

Perhaps because of the new techniques used, the brushwork is a little different from the usual, but from the outline of the lines, it can be seen that the painting skills that have been immersed in it for many years.

"Very good sketch, beautifully drawn." The Count looked up again and looked at Fran in bewilderment, "But what does this have to do with the revelation?" ”

"You must not have understood, did you?" Fran couldn't help but look at Mary and smile, "This is a little trick we played back then, and we used this way to make fun of each other." You see, the lines that make up the picture are actually letters, and the whole picture is an article......"

Count Bezukhov finally understood something, and his eyes widened suddenly. "Interesting! So you're going to rewrite the file again? ”

"It's just a little trick...... Of course, there are times when it is useful. Fran still smiled, "Also, in order to make the number of letters larger, I will deliberately depict your Amber Room, I don't think anyone will be surprised by this......"

"Very good technique, and ...... It's also worth depicting. Count Bezukhov nodded, "I have to say that you surprised me. But...... We have a lot of documents to organize, and you may not be able to finish them all at once. ”

"I'm going to do my best these days to make the most important documents sketched and pasted into a book......" Fran continued, stating his intentions, "and the others...... Just put it in the mezzanine of the jewelry box, I think you should be able to make this kind of box here, and no official would dare to carefully inspect the jewelry sent out by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself, right? ”

"Makes sense," Count Bezukhov nodded again, and looked at Fran again, as if he had reacquainted himself with her. "You're Mr. Treville's sister, it's exactly the same in some places."

"I promise you." Fran smiled even more. (To be continued.) )