"It's a seal, and some important documents."

In the palace, Orlov put some of the things he had found on the table, and Ekaterina was looking at the papers.

"Is there any news from Peter?" She asked.

"According to the information we have asked, he was very panicked when he learned of the coup, and his men advised him to leave for Kronstadt at once, and lead the navy and the troops loyal to him, relying on Prussia, to counterattack St. Petersburg.

However, Peter III rejected this suggestion and commanded his Holstein legions to be entrenched in a wooden castle that was used for training. ”

Catherine smiled disdainfully, "It's really something he would do, and then what?" ”

"Later, it was estimated that we brought the elite forbidden army, and then changed our minds, took my mistress and retinue with us, and fled to Kronstadt."

Catherine bowed, "When you catch him, remember not to kill him, I also want him to sign an abdication decree." ”

"Yes!"

After Orlov's departure, it didn't take much time to capture Peter III.

Because when Peter III arrived in Kronstadt.

The local garrison announced that they had sworn allegiance to Catherine and therefore could not accept Peter III.

After that, Peter III completely lost his fighting spirit, and even had no courage to flee to Prussia, and obediently returned to Oranienbaum according to Catherine's wishes, and signed the edict of abdication.

Of course, this is not enough, judging from the law of succession to the throne stipulated by Peter the Great, Catherine's approach is undoubtedly a rebellion against usurpation and is legally untenable,

So the first thing she did after she ascended the throne was to tell the world and explain the legitimacy of her gain from power. Catherine knew that she could not explain her actions from a legal point of view, so she needed to make a fuss on the moral and political levels.

So at this very moment, she hunched down at her desk and wrote a manifesto, in which she denounced Peter III's perverse actions and described many of Peter III's actions as betrayal and crime against Russia at the national level, so the coup d'état was a last resort.

In a sense, these things are actually not wrong.

After she had written these manifestos, Orlov also walked in from outside, holding a roll of parchment in his hand.

"He's already written."

That should be the abdication edict of Peter III, and Catherine was already very disgusted with Peter III, so everything was done by Orlov, and she didn't even bother to see him.

"Your Majesty." Orlov looked at Catherine with a glimmer in his eyes, "Now, he has lost his role for you, can you leave him to us to deal with?" ”

Peter III's act of returning the land to Germany that had been fought so hard was undoubtedly a great betrayal and disgrace to the army.

Their glory was trampled on, their faith was shaken, and the emperor, both those who participated in that war and those who did not, hated the emperor immensely.

So his purpose can be imagined.

Ekaterina closed her eyes slightly and continued.

"Let him live for the time being, and don't touch him without my consent."

Orlov pursed his lips, but said, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

With that, he retreated straight from here.

Catherine slowly opened her eyes and looked ahead of her.

"What do I say I should do with Peter?"

Char was standing right next to her, so it was obviously about him.

Char's eyelids narrowed slightly, "You're the emperor, this is something you should decide, isn't it?" ”

Catherine's eyes flickered, "There was a man who asked me to spare Peter III's life. ”

"Is this person important to you?"

"It's not important, but I have a lot of respect for him."

Catherine did not continue to speak, but simply got up from her seat.

"You should still have time, right?"

"Before sunset today, I'm going back for dinner." Char said.

"Then come with me to another place." She said.

She got up from her position and walked out of the room, Char following her.

She found an Orlov and said to him.

"Prepare the carriage, I'm going to the Shliselburg fortress."

"Yes!"

Orlov nodded in response, and then retreated, waiting for Catherine to walk out of the palace, when a carriage was parked at the door.

She got into the carriage with Char, and with the sound of the wheels, they gradually drove into the distance, and the carriage walked for about a few dozen minutes, and they reached what she called the fortress of Shlisselburg.

It was the Bastille of Russia, where political prisoners were held, and which had been occupied by revolutionaries during the revolutionary movement in another world.

There are many towers, and the only thing that connects it is a drawbridge, on which are placed a lot of heavy artillery, and it fulfills its fortress function well.

But the soldiers here also declared their submission to Catherine, and they led them through the corridors, up the stairs, and into a tower.

The environment was dimly lit, and the 18th-century fortress structure could only support a few small windows, so the interior needed to be lit by torches.

"Have you heard, Ivan VI?" Catherine asked.

Char raised an eyebrow, Ivan VI, for anyone who knows the history of this country, is also a celebrity.

He was the eldest son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Braunschweig, and Ivan VI's mother, Anna Leopoldovna, was the only granddaughter of Tsar Ivan V and the only niece of Empress Anna I of Russia.

Anna has lived in Russia almost all her life, and her husband has made his home in Russia, and the couple hopes that they or their descendants will inherit the throne after the death of the empress.

On October 5, 1740, Ivan VI's maternal grandmother, Anna I, adopted him on her deathbed and declared Ivan VI her heir.

Anna also announced that her long-time lover and advisor, Ernst John von Byron, Duke of Courland, would be regent until Ivan VI came of age.

In fact, in order to ensure that her lover would enjoy power and influence after her death, the dying empress chose Ivan, who was still a baby, as her heir instead of Ivan VI's adult mother.

On October 28, 1740, Anna I died. The next day, Ivan the Infant was proclaimed Emperor Ivan VI as the dictator of all Russia, and Byron became regent.

However, neither Ivan VI's parents nor most of the nobility accepted that Byron would be in power. Byron, who was Anna I's lover, made numerous enemies and was extremely unpopular at court. Within three weeks, Byron had fallen at the behest of Ivan VI's father.

At midnight on November 8/19, 1740, Byron was captured in his bedroom by a forbidden army led by Minihe, the head of the palace forbidden army, and was exiled to Siberia.

Ivan VI's mother, Anna Leopoldovna, was chosen as the new regent, but the real power remained in the hands of Praetorian generals such as Minikh.

Soon after Minih came to power, he was overthrown by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Ivanovich Osterman, who was removed from his official position and demoted to the rank of commoner. Ostermann becomes the new regent.

The reign of Ivan VI and his mother's regency lasted only 13 months, and on December 6, 1741, Elizabeth Petrovna ascended to the throne in a coup d'état.

This Elizabeth was the last emperor of Peter III.

Since then, Ivan VI has been imprisoned for an extremely long time, that is, he has been imprisoned as an infant, not allowed to be educated, not allowed to have freedom.

He should be the most miserable man in all of Russia.

Char's eyes looked at the iron door at the end of the corridor, a guard in military uniform opened the iron door, behind the iron door was a metal checkered iron bar, inside was a circular cell, the space was not large, only a dozen square meters, dark and dim.

Only a very small window let in the light, and the sunlight from outside poured in through the window, just enough to hit Catherine's face as she stood in the doorway.

In that cell, there stood a man, dressed in a dirty petticoat, his hair scattered haphazardly over his shoulders, glued together because it had not been washed for a long time.

There was a small bird in his hand, and he seemed to be whispering something to the bird.

Then, he carefully placed the bird on the narrow window and let it fly away on its own.

Then he turned his head slowly, because he had not been out of the cell for many years, his face was sickly pale, his cheekbones and eye sockets were sunken, and he was thin and did not look like a human form.

Seeing Catherine, he walked slowly, grabbed the iron bar, and looked Catherine up and down with wide eyes, there was no hostility in his eyes, only a little ignorant curiosity.

He opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't.

After a moment, he stammered slightly.

"I'm glad to meet. You.

Your eyes are very. Pretty.

I am the Emperor, Ivan VI. ”

Catherine's eyes rippled slightly, but she didn't speak.

Her body was slightly sideways, and she didn't look directly at him, but just looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"What's your name?" Ivan VI said.

"Catherine." Ekaterina said.

"Ekaterina" he repeated.

"You can't speak, they say." Ekaterina said.

"No, I can talk." He said, "It's just. It's been a long time since I've had anyone to talk to, so I'm glad you came.

I often read the Bible aloud on my own. ”

As if because of the harsh sunlight cast outside the window, Catherine twitched her eyelids.

"Who gave you the Bible?"

"My grandma."

His palms were slightly open, and in his hands was a military puppet, which he showed to Catherine as if he were showing off to his friends.

"This was given to me by a good magician

His name was Peter, and I prayed for him every day.

He promised to release me. ”

Catherine lowered her eyes, "I don't have anything for you. ”

"I'm glad to see you." He laughed, "I'll pray for you every day, too." ”

After a pause, he asked curiously, "Will you let me go?" ”

Catherine raised her eyes and continued to look at him, staring at him for a long time, at his empty and innocent eyes, and at his cheeks, sickly pale from years of captivity.

After a moment, she whispered.

"Yes."

With that, she turned and left, and the soldier behind her closed the iron door.

Ekaterina exhaled a breath of turbidity, raised her hand and touched her arm, trembling a little.

The soldier on one side asked.

"Your Majesty, do you know that the former emperor once ordered that if someone robbed the prison, the secret prisoner would be executed, and whether the order was valid?"

She was silent for a long time, glanced at Char, who was standing on one side, and spoke.

"The command works."

With that, she turned to leave the room, and a more senior officer stood by the door and asked.

"Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions for secret prisoners?"

Catherine turned to his side.

"It's good that you have a clear conscience."

"Please give us clear instructions." He said.

"You are a man of valor and nobility."

She looked up at the officer, and there was no hesitation in those azure eyes.

"You're going to make the right choice."

The officer's eyes flashed, and then he bowed, "I see." ”

Catherine continued to walk out with Char, and they got back into the carriage, but the carriage did not leave immediately.

After a while, Char opened the curtain, and through the window of the carriage, Char saw a group of people wearing different military uniforms walking into the fortress with guns in their hands.

"Those, who are they?" Char asked curiously.

"Hell robbers."

Catherine said without looking back, she was quietly watching the scenery outside the window at the moment.

Char's eyes flashed, but there were no words.

After a moment, Catherine whispered.

"Do you think he's pitiful?"

"A tragedy of fate." Char said, "He didn't do anything, he wasn't the usurper, he was just a puppet who was put on the throne, a tool for his mother to rule the empire, but he will bear all the pain in the future." ”

"Empress Elizabeth chose to imprison a man for twenty years for her vow not to kill, leaving him to live a life worse than death.

It's not kind, it's hypocritical. ”

She looked up at him, blue eyes full of sharpness.

"He's the emperor.

As an emperor, you should have the dignity of an emperor. ”

Char's eyes flickered, "I think, what to do with Peter, you already have the answer." ”

Leaning back on the back of the carriage, she continued to look out the window, a spark in her eyes.

Ivan VI was the emperor, and even if he never really reigned for a single day, he was still the rightful emperor who succeeded him.

With the exception of Peter III, it was impossible for any emperor with a normal IQ to release him.

The political risks are extremely huge, not to mention that Catherine was usurped in the first place.

Putting an end to his miserable and tragic fate was the greatest dignity she could give him.

This is, belonging to Catherine's mercy.

She had already made the consciousness of stepping on the throne with blood on her feet.

(End of chapter)