Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz is still planning the future of Austria at his desk, as usual.

A maid knocked on Franz's door.

"Archduke Franz, Madame Sophie wants to see you."

"Come in."

Franz went to open the door.

"Hello, Mother."

"Hello, Franz. Can I go in and talk to you? ”

"Okay." Franz replied.

Madame Sophie waved her hand to the maid guards behind her, who exited the room in amusement and closed the door.

"Franz, you don't seem to be in a hurry at all?" Mrs. Sophie looked like she hated iron but not steel.

"Should I be in a hurry? Mother-sama. Franz hugged Mrs. Sophie, rubbing his face against her chest, a feeling that was both familiar and strange made Mrs. Sophie very angry.

"Why are you still spoiled!" Mrs. Sophie was speechless for a while, and searched everywhere, until she finally found a teacup and took a big sip.

Mrs. Sophie also ignored her image at this time, and said with a long breath.

"You are born to me and your father, you don't have to worry about that. But this rumor is very vicious, he not only wants to kill you, but also wants our family to disappear from this world. ”

"Mother, who do you think is the happiest when our family loses power?"

"I've offended so many people, and you kid has offended a lot of people, how can I guess this!"

Franz covered his face.

"Then let me put it another way, who is in the best interest of our family to lose power?"

"The most advantageous?." Lady Sophie suddenly thought of a terrible result. "Empress Anna?"

Franz didn't answer, just silently brewed tea.

"Why?! That vicious woman! Mrs. Sophie was already gritting her teeth in anger by this time.

"I don't have any evidence either, but it's unusual. Most of the things I did were done in the name of my father, and if they wanted to retaliate, they should also go to my father. But the other party just came to me, and it was when the attention was the highest before spreading this rumor, which can be described as deliberate. ”

Normally the attention paid to the individual of Archduke Franz was not high, and it was easy to eliminate it if the government took strong measures, but at this time, the whole country was in a kind of fanatical worship of heroes after victory.

"And those details, it is difficult for people outside the palace to be so clear. If it was a state-level frame-up, then the news would have spread abroad long ago. But even Austria's sworn enemy, the French, did not publish this news in the newspapers, so it could never have been the action of a certain country. ”

"But that slut has no children, and the Austrian throne is unlikely to be inherited by the Empress, so what's the point of her doing this?" Mrs. Sophie was puzzled.

"Mother, do you know the story of Catherine the Great?"

"Franz, you mean"

"Mother, there is a first time in everything. Before Empress Teresa, there was no woman who inherited the throne of Austria. ”

Franz's words made Mrs. Sophie break out in a cold sweat, but her heart was restless.

"But what are we going to do? Go tell the emperor and let him depose the empress? Or let the Grand Duke Louis directly lead the troops and let the queen die unexpectedly? ”

"Mother, what Austria needs at this time is stability." Franz said flatly.

"But if this continues, your legitimacy and legitimacy will be questioned, and these filthy statements will stay with you for the rest of your life." Mrs. Sophie is well aware of the terrible nature of the rumors, which is that people don't care if it's true or not, they just choose what they like.

Franz also knew that even if the sixth son cut open his stomach for people to see, no one cared.

And the best way to eliminate rumors is to directly punish those who spread rumors, as well as those who spread rumors.

"Don't worry, Mother. The rumor-mongers will be sentenced to be hanged tomorrow in the public square, and those who help spread the rumors will be exiled to Namibia and Chenla. ”

"Then what if there are any more rumors?" Mrs. Sophie said worriedly.

"Continue to be hanged and exiled, only by engaging in activities that are not at stake in one's own life can those who do good deeds completely shut up." Franz said.

"How did you catch those rumormongers? The secret police searched the whole city but couldn't find it, the Bavarian Mutual Aid Society helped to find it for several days, and even the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry offered a reward of 500,000 florins."

"Don't worry, Mother. After tomorrow's execution, the rumor-monger will already be dead, and if there is an accomplice, he can also be sentenced to death by hanging. Franz's tone was cold and murderous.

The real rumor-mongers may have long since left Vienna, or even the European continent, and how difficult it would be to arrest them. But there are a lot of death row prisoners, and people just want to see the excitement.

As for the owners of that newspaper, they have taken advantage of the censorship system, and at the same time touched the bottom line of the country, and they are justified in being punished.

It would have been merciful to let them be exiled to Namibia on the basis of damaging the reputation of the royal family alone.

Of course, if someone jumped out at this time and admitted that he had spread the rumor, then Franz would not mind hanging one more person.

As for the mastermind behind the scenes, Empress Anna and her lover Karl von Sluth, the chief adviser to the emperor, Franz felt that they could be spared for the sake of the stability of the Austrian Empire, after all, although these clowns were vicious, they were nothing more than palace fights.

"But what about the slut? Just let her go? Sooner or later, your kindness will harm you! "Madame Sophie obviously didn't want to let Queen Anna go, even if she was in the same room, she didn't care.

"Mother, we don't have enough evidence."

Franz still looked nonchalant, much to the annoyance and amusement of Mrs. Sophie.

"Why did the old lady give birth to such an invulnerable thing as you? People want to ruin you! ”

"This scandal alone hurts the royal family a lot, and if another queen dies mysteriously, it will definitely not be a good thing for the country. What's more, I don't have much to do with them in the first place, and I believe that they will retreat after this time. ”

Contrary to Franz's optimism, Madame Sophie could not make Queen Anna die mysteriously, but it was okay to let a few of her maids disappear before figuring things out.

However, Madame Sophie soon became angry, because the two maids brought from Savoy by Queen Anna's side, under coercion and temptation, quickly admitted to the rumor-mongering.

It was Empress Anna and her chief adviser Karl von Sluter who sold the rumors to the newspaper and then hid in the palace to avoid arrest.

The framing of Archduke Franz was only the first step in the plan, which would be followed by the framing of Archduke Maximilian and Archduke Ludwig in order to drive Madame Sophie's family out of the palace, and even hired gangsters and gunmen to assassinate them disguised as mobs.

Soon two mysteriously missing maids were found in septic tanks on the outskirts of the city, precisely two incompletely corpses, whose identities could only be identified by their clothing and belongings.

(End of chapter)