"So I'm willing to give anything to strengthen our party. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Of course, he didn't mean it when Charles said this, but this attitude was undoubtedly much milder than the aggressive appearance just now, almost equivalent to declaring victory.

Prince Jérôme was not pleased by the steps, and he still frowned slightly, and looked at the people next to him again, as if asking for help. However, he still did not get a response from anyone, and everyone wanted to stay out of the situation and did not want to participate in this kind of struggle, which also made the accusation that "Charles you did not take care of your comrades and let them be in an embarrassing situation" became groundless.

Even his son, Prince Joseph Bonaparte himself, only shook his body with an ugly face, but in the end he did not speak.

De Treville's alliance with Morney seemed too strong and intimidating for him to challenge it alone when everyone else was out of the way, so he refused to stand up for his father, even if he seemed embarrassed now.

Under such circumstances, Prince Jérôme finally wisely chose to acknowledge reality.

"Hey, today's young people are really amazing!" He sighed, "Charles, it's great that you have such enthusiasm, I am very touched, our empire just lacks talents with ideals and ambitions like you, please continue to work hard in the future." ”

When he chose to walk down the stairs he had given him, although he was a little sour, Charles was secretly relieved.

Although he showed full momentum in order to maintain his own territory, he did not want to really fall out with Prince Jérôme, after all, this is also the eldest person in the royal family, even if he does not have any specific position, his influence is still big enough - especially now that His Majesty the Emperor has no heirs, he is still the most priority heir to the throne.

After Charles took a tough stance to block Prince Jérôme's proposal, although the party was still going on, and everyone was chatting while drinking and chatting, it was clear that everyone had reservations, everyone was performing politely, and the banquet came to an end with a happy drink.

When the ceremonial time had come, many of them took their leave to His Royal Highness, knowing that nothing could be said of the day, and that they would simply go home and do their own thing—or, as Prince Jérôme rebuked, continue to "immerse themselves in their little kingdom."

However, Charles did not leave, he stayed here and chatted with His Royal Highness Prince Jérôme, and he had no intention of leaving until the others were about the same.

Although everyone looked at Charles with strange eyes when they left, and didn't understand why he didn't leave, he was still unmoved, and still accompanied His Royal Highness.

The two of them said innocuous polite words like this, and even though His Royal Highness Prince Jérôme knew that the young man didn't really care what he said, he still had to spend time with him and put on a show of intimacy between the two of them.

When everyone else was done, His Royal Highness also stopped his small talk with Charles, and then looked around blankly, and then sighed.

"Hey...... Charles, if you leave now, no one will think you're disrespectful to me. I'm old, I'm a little tired, I really don't like to put on a polite show all the time, I've been with you for so long, you should be satisfied, right? ”

"Your Highness, what you said makes me sad so much, I really only have full respect for you." Charles looked at the other party with great sincerity, "I stayed here to discuss your proposal with you warmly. ”

Although he had just relied on his allies and power to win the secret struggle, and had forced a prince to back down on him, this did not make him feel very happy, for the very existence of the struggle meant that the situation was beyond his pace and control.

So he wanted to figure out what the hell was going on.

He had always wondered whether Prince Jérôme had called his large group of people over and made such a request, whether he had been on a whim, or had he heard the instigation of his son, Prince Joseph Bonaparte, and wanted to embarrass himself specifically.

The distinction was of course very important, because he wanted to see how much of his opposition was and how united he was in the royal family.

"Come on! I don't like to do this with you. The prince smiled bitterly, "Don't I know what I am?" You don't look down on me, it's just because of my age that you give me some respect on the surface, isn't it obvious just now? But no one wants to stand up for me. ”

"You're not guessing right, everyone respects you very much - it's just that you can't judge by emotion on such a major issue just now." Charles's expression was very flat, and he didn't appear arrogant, "Don't forget, you said that you want to open the barriers of our respective realms, and I am not the only one who will be violated...... If you are in charge of attacking me, what will they do when it is their turn? Everyone is hesitant. ”

"You all only think about your own little self-interest, and you are afraid that others will get a little bit of it! Where have your ideals and passions gone? The prince shook his head slightly, obviously a little unimpressed by the thoughts of Charles and the others.

He sighed again, "Well, I've seen this kind of thing a lot, so it's not surprising. At that time, the ideals of the Gironde and the Jacobins were much purer than yours, and did they not end up fighting each other? After having power, there are a few people who are willing to back down half a step......"

"Actually, I don't think you're necessarily an idealist." In order to prevent the old man from reminiscing about the past, Charles had to interrupt the other party, "Is it ...... Aside from concerns about partisan interests, you don't mean anything about supporting us for your own personal gain? ”

Prince Jérôme did not answer.

"What if...... If you really have a personal interest in mind, I ...... As I said, I can do everything in my power to meet your requirements. After the initial temptation to get no results, Charles decided to step up the bait and make sure to get a clear meaning out of the other party's mouth.

"Of course there is, but what's wrong with that?" After a moment of silence, Prince Jérôme replied without hesitation. "You are as keen on power as my brothers, you are keen on dominating others, then you are busy with your business, I enjoy them and the favors you have brought me, and enjoy my life."

It turns out that an individual wants money. Charles breathed a sigh of relief.

This did not surprise him, Prince Jérôme had been a flashy prodigal since his youth, not keen on power, and he was also a profligate, and it was strange that he was not short of money.

"Then why did you come with such an offer?" Charles decided to get to the bottom of it. "If you really need funds, I think Your Majesty will give them to you."

"Your Majesty gave me an annuity, but how is that enough? I'm not begging with my nephew. Perhaps because there were only two of them now, His Royal Highness Prince Jérôme spoke very casually, with an indescribable sense of boredom, "It just so happened that Joseph told me about you, and he said that you have too much money in your hand, which has aroused the resentment of your colleagues and destroyed the unity of our party. He wants me to come forward to intercede, let everyone contact the feelings, and by the way, let everyone come up with a reasonable distribution method, and can't watch you alone stop all the money in your hands - originally I just wanted you to renegotiate, but I didn't expect you to be so tough, as soon as I opened my mouth, you hit it head-on, and forcibly blocked my words back! You should be satisfied now, right? Now no one dares to mess with you, you can do whatever you want with your money. ”

Although there was a lot of ridicule and ridicule in the prince's tone, Charles was relieved.

For he finally figured out that although Prince Jérôme had indeed come to the fore after listening to his son, he was only doing it for his own selfish interests, and he was not deliberately targeting himself, nor had he formed a close group within the royal family against him.

In that case, he could find a way to divide the father and son.

At the end of the day, Prince Jérôme doesn't have much power, he just wants to spend a lot of money and enjoy his life as he did before.

"Actually, I really don't want to confront you in person, you are the only living brother of the emperor, I have great respect for you, no matter what you ask, I will try my best to cooperate......" Charles said with a calm and unhurried smile, "But you are so fanfare, I can't back down, if I give in to you, others will underestimate me, how can I still carry out my work at that time?" If you make some kind of request to me in private, as you are now, out of reverence for you, out of loyalty to the Bonapartes, out of our private friendship, I think ...... I'm there to help you in some way. ”

Although he said it in a garish manner, Prince Jérôme could only hear the subtext - as long as you are not clearly opposed to me, I can secretly distribute favors to you.

"What are you going to do if I do ask for it." He suppressed the distractions in his heart and replied with a calm attitude.

"Then I will soon be able to arrange for you a stipend that will exceed the one that His Majesty has given you." Charles straightened up at once, and then replied in a firm tone, "Of course, the premise of all this must be that we keep it secret and ...... it."

"And we'll be friends after that?" The prince asked rhetorically.

Charles smiled.

"Well, I think that's pretty good." The prince thought about it, and finally agreed.

Although he didn't know what Charles was up to, it was enough for him to get this, and he didn't want to worry about anything else.

"But I have to ask your forgiveness for not being able to pay you a stipend with the Ministry's funds, it's too glaring." Charles immediately entered the substantive discussion stage, "In addition, as you know, I have set up a railway federation for the development of the railway business, and they can figure out the movement of funds in many ways, and I want to keep everything secret, so I will distribute it to you in a private way." ”

"Is it really a personal money?" His Royal Highness the Prince was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing, "Charles, you really do what you say. ”

"To you, I must walk the talk." Charles bowed slightly.

The reason why he did this is not just because of the flow of money. If you list the expenses in the name of the ministry and then give allowances to others, people will only rely on their own power to bring them, and they will not be too grateful to him, but in his personal name, people will also feel his kindness, knowing that as long as they make him unhappy, this thing will definitely be gone.

"If that's the case, that's great." This time, without much hesitation, Prince Jérôme finally chose to compromise with the Charles.

The eldest prince of the Bonaparte family, just put forward his opinion, was directly beaten back by Charles, and he had no intention of continuing to fight with Charles, as long as Charles was willing to give him what he wanted, he didn't need to argue about anything.

"Can you, the Railway Federation, let me be a supervisor?" Suddenly, His Royal Highness thought of something, "If I come to sit for you, it will be of help to you, and I will be more at ease with your allowance." ”

"Now there are some enterprises in the Railway Federation that are in charge of the people around His Majesty, and even I don't know the details of them, and I don't want to know the details." Charles immediately declined his request. "So it's better for us not to change the existing pattern."

For him, the Railway Federation was an institution he had carefully designed, and it was not enough for him to do everything he could to increase his control, how could he be willing to let the prince cram it in? So he immediately rejected the prince's request.

"Your Majesty......" Prince Jérôme really flinched.

"Your Majesty also has to find a way to save money for himself, this is normal." Charles shrugged.

"Okay, so be it." Prince Jérôme thought about it again, and finally decided to compromise with reality for the time being.

Charles de Treville has proved by his actions that he is by no means a person to be messed with, and it is clear that he is deeply involved with His Majesty, and if he really fights against him, he will not gain much at least for now, and if he compromises with him, he will at least get some compensation.

While this result isn't the best, it's good enough.

"Thank you very much for your magnanimity." Charles bowed again and thanked the old man.

However, although the prince already felt that the negotiations had been settled, he still had no intention of leaving.

"Why is there anything else?" The prince asked curiously.

"That's it, Your Highness." Charles calmly looked up, then looked at him with a smile on his face, "Do you remember the lady with the last name Patterson?" I met her last time I went to the UK......"

"What?" His Royal Highness's face suddenly turned extremely gray.

Then, it turned into anger. "Hell!" (To be continued.) )