"I'm just going to punish her in front of everyone, who let this old woman bully my precious daughter-in-law." Mathilde took the coffee from her daughter and took a sip calmly.

"Oh my God! I adore you so much Mathilde! The dark clouds on Sophia's face were immediately replaced by ecstasy, and she excitedly hugged her mother-in-law and kissed her on the cheek.

It was only when the emotional pregnant woman had calmed down that Roland learned the ins and outs of the whole affair through Madame Mathilde's story.

Today is the usual day for the ladies of the Holy City's high society to meet at the "Whalebone Club", and Mathilde accompanies her pregnant daughter-in-law to the club to attend the salon. Over afternoon tea, the women naturally chatted about the gossip that had been circulating in the city lately, the most fashionable of which was about two high-profile funerals and the rights and wrongs surrounding the funeral.

These two protagonists, who have just been recruited by the Lord, are both celebrities in the Holy City, but the two people are famous in diametrically opposite ways, and they embody two completely opposite attitudes to life.

One of the main characters is named Plyushkin, who was originally a provincial nobleman, poor in his youth, and later made good fortune, inherited the inheritance of his widow aunt, a countess, and became a large landowner. Patriarch Gregory publicly praised him as "a rare and precious stream" in this declining era, and called on people to learn from Pryushkin's ascetic attitude and take pride in thrift, piety and asceticism, so as to purify the degenerate social atmosphere.

Plyushkin was established as a moral model by the Holy See, while Baron Nassim, another protagonist of the news, was the opposite. The hereditary nobleman of the Holy City came from a prominent background and was himself a frequent visitor to social venues, having enlisted in the army as a young man and was one of the most suave Guards officers among the most suave officers.

No one can count how many lovers and scandals Baron Nassim was involved in in his lifetime, just as one cannot count how many gold dugas he lost at the table, how many lavish meals he feasted in the fine dining restaurants of the Holy City, and how many expensive bottles of wine he drunk.

Baron Nassim himself openly admitted that he was a "super loser", his life was a life of indulgence, prostitution, gambling, extravagance, and a life of spending, at the age of thirty-six, he squandered all his family fortunes, and frequently went in and out of the willow alleys of the flower street to hollow out his body, so that he contracted a variety of incurable diseases, and the last period of his life was tormented by illness, awakening his awe of faith, and now it is time to consider the fate after death. After careful consideration, Baron Nassim made a will to donate all his remaining inheritance to the Church, hoping that the Holy See would send a priest to hold a deathbed confession for him and save his fallen soul.

Patriarch Gregory, who regarded the Pleushkin tree as a moral model, has also publicly criticized Baron Nassim on more than one occasion, denouncing this playboy as the epitome of the moral decline of contemporary society, and the epitome of human depravity and lack of faith. Even when Baron Nassim was repentant on his deathbed, the iron-hearted Patriarch refused to forgive him, affirming at the Council of the Holy See: "If a man's deathbed repentance can undo a lifetime of depravity, then the wise will imitate Nassim's way of life, hypocrites and opportunists will prevail, and pious and good people like Pryushkin will be extinct!" ”

Based on the above logic, Patriarch Gregory believed that forgiving Nassim was tantamount to indirectly hurting Pleuskin; Vice versa. Unable to take care of the two, he was happy to send Plyushkin's dying wishes, but he was unwilling to accept the repentance of Nassim, an opportunist.

Patriarch Grigory was true to his words and deeds, and the morning before yesterday he came to Plyushkin's bedside and personally held a deathbed confession for him. Conservatives in the Holy See also spoke out in support of Gregory, even issuing a vehemently worded warning: if any priest dared to perform the sacrament of the death of Baron Nassim in defiance of public opinion, he would be regarded as a shameful traitor and heretic!

The clergy of the Holy City all stayed away from Baron Nassim as if they were fleeing the plague, lest they have a relationship with this playboy and dishonor their reputation. However, in such an atmosphere of "a thousand people", His Royal Highness Frank, the crown prince and "archduke of the Holy See", unexpectedly visited Nasim's mansion the evening before yesterday and personally expressed his willingness to offer his deathbed blessings to him, a prodigal son who was spurned by the decent people of society, and promised him to return his soul to heaven.

Frank's unexpected visit flattered Nassim, who was dying on his sickbed, and he couldn't help but wonder why he had treated himself so generously, and for a sinner whom Patriarch Gregory had characterized as a negative archetype, and he was grateful for this honor.

"I see it in contrast to Mr. Grigory, that a miser like Plyushkin is not good for society and does not deserve the praise that Grigory gives; And you, Mr. Nassim, though you have behaved inadequately, been dissolute all your life, and have been denounced as a 'loser' and a 'degenerate' by the elm-headed moral guardians, yet it seems to me that you have inadvertently contributed to society in your spendthrift far more than Plyushkin's donations to the Church before his death, so I bless you with the reward you deserve. ”

With tears in his eyes, Nassim closed his eyes with relief at Prince Frank's blessing, and the Crown Prince's words on his deathbed spread throughout the city overnight, becoming a hot topic of discussion at every dinner table.

According to the statements of Patriarch Gregory and his supporters, Frank, who held a deathbed confession for Baron Nassim, was undoubtedly a traitor to the Holy See and a shameful heretic. However, there are three or six or nine types of people, and there are also high and low status clergy, and the same rules may not apply to different people.

Take Frank as an example, first of all, the crown prince of the empire, the status of respect is self-explanatory, and secondly, he also has the position of "grand duke", in the order of the Holy See, second only to His Majesty the Emperor and the Ecumenical Patriarch, and is the third state religious leader of the Assanian Empire. What's more, Frank still has the identity of "Bethro Elect", like the agent of the sun god in the human world, since the sun god did not take back the divine grace because Frank favored Baron Nassim, which mortal is qualified to criticize Frank's behavior as heretical?

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