As night fell, the atmosphere of the welcome banquet at Karlsruhe Palace gradually reached its peak, and the salutes placed in the square outside the palace began to fire under the order of the Regent's adjutant.
The bronze gun barrel fired colorful fireworks, forming fleeting light curtains in the sky, attracting residents living near Karlsruhe to turn their heads to the windowsill to watch.
In Karlsruhe Palace, a grand dance was going on.
The nobles and celebrities who attended this banquet, under the leadership of Jérôme Bonaparte and Queen Augusta, danced one piece after another until late at night, when the dance stopped.
Later, under the leadership of the Chamberlain of Karlsruhe Palace, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta lived in a bedroom in Karlsruhe Palace.
"If your Majesty needs anything, you can inform me at any time!" The palace steward responded politely to Jerome Bonaparte and Queen Augusta.
"Thank you very much!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled and nodded.
After the royal steward left, Jérôme Bonaparte looked at the entire bedroom.
The Baroque-style decoration and crystal chandeliers hanging overhead vividly and exquisitely display the nobility and luxury of the ancient royal family.
Compared with this bedroom, Jérôme Bonaparte's bedroom in the Tuileries Palace seemed particularly "bourgeois" (in popular terms, it means the atmosphere of the nouveau riche).
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Jérôme Bonaparte couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of a family that was once an elector, its background is so different from that of a small family like ours!"
"A small family! Your Majesty, when did you become so humble!" Queen Augusta said to Jerome Bonaparte with an interesting smile on her face.
"I have always been very humble!" Jerome Bonaparte responded seriously.
"Oh? Why didn't I know?" Queen Augusta's words contained a hint of provocation.
"Augusta, you should be good at discovering your husband's strengths! Instead of imitating someone and staring at my shortcomings every day!" Jerome Bonaparte continued to respond to Augusta seriously, and by the way, he also connoted himself.
sister Mathilde.
Mathilde was told to point out his shortcomings whenever she met him.
Jérôme Bonaparte believed that every monarch in the world was the kind of person who said he accepted advice humbly, but actually wanted to tear the person who accepted advice into pieces.
After all, monarchs also like to hear flattery, not harsh speeches.
"What advantages!" Queen Augusta smiled slightly. Of course she knew the advantages of Jerome Bonaparte, but she also liked the feeling of quarreling with Jerome Bonaparte. "So far, I have not
Discover what special strengths and advantages Your Majesty has!"
"Forget it! I won't argue with you anymore!" Jérôme Bonaparte decisively changed the subject and began to chat with Queen Augusta about the value of everything in the bedroom.
The two chatted for nearly an hour, and finally came to the conclusion that the approximate valuation of the entire room should be around 100,000 francs. (It can only be lower or higher)
"Tsk, tsk, one room is already worth 100,000! The entire Karlsruhe Palace is worth at least tens of millions of francs!" Jerome Bonaparte touched his chin and sighed again, "No wonder, my uncle wanted to
Dig deep into Germany!
You are all really rich and powerful!"
After hearing Jerome Bonaparte's "vulgar words", Queen Augusta gave Jerome Bonaparte a blank look and said angrily, "You think these things can be saved so easily?"
Yet?
My uncle did us a lot of harm back then! More than half of the family property that we worked hard for for hundreds of years (an exaggeration) was lost in one fell swoop!"
"That can't be helped!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and replied to Queen Augusta: "Augusta, have you ever heard a word!"
"What words?" Queen Augusta asked curiously.
"My neighbor is stocking grain, and I am stocking gun! My neighbor is my granary!" Jérôme Bonaparte plausibly replied to Queen Augusta: "According to the situation in France at that time! If there is no foreign war, then wait for France
The only way is self-destruction.
Not to mention, weren't you also sharpening your swords under the leadership of the Austrian Empire at that time, ready to kill us at any time?
It’s just that my uncle’s ability is much stronger than yours!”
"You are right!" Queen Augusta nodded empathetically.
"Forget it! These are all things in the past!" Jérôme Bonaparte waved his hand to end the topic, "It's time for us to rest!"
After saying that, Jerome Bonaparte blew out the candles placed throughout the bedroom in turn, and the room immediately fell into darkness and silence.
At noon the next day, escorted by a group of uniformed royal cavalry, a carriage carrying Jerome Bonaparte and Queen Augusta set out from Karlsruhe Palace and headed south to the castle.
Another train station on the outskirts of Karlsruhe.
The train at this railway station will carry Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta from Karlsruhe to Stuttgart, the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg.
When the carriage stopped near the train station, a group of soldiers wearing light blue uniforms appeared around Jérôme Bonaparte's carriage. The commander in charge of commanding this force was still the adjutant of the Prince Regent.
"Your Majesty!" the adjutant respectfully opened the car door for Jérôme Bonaparte and Augusta.
"Sorry to trouble you!!" Jérôme Bonaparte responded with a slight nod.
If Jérôme Bonaparte had guessed correctly, the troops in front of them should have arrived nearby to blockade the area last night, which meant that they had not slept a wink all night.
"This is what we should do!" the adjutant replied humbly.
Immediately afterwards, led by the adjutant, Jerome Bonaparte and his party arrived at the platform.
A steam train is parked quietly near the platform, ready to depart at any time.
"Your Majesty, this train will take you safely to Stuttgart!" the adjutant responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Say thank you to Frederick for me!" Jérôme Bonaparte said softly to the adjutant, and then got on the train under the watchful eye of the adjutant.
After Jérôme Bonaparte got on the train, the train made a shrill whistle. Seeing this, the adjutant on the platform quickly ordered his soldiers to line up in a row, and then shouted: "Salute!"
After hearing the adjutant's call, Jerome Bonaparte in the train immediately looked at the window on the side of the platform.
At this moment, the adjutant was standing upright and saluting the train, while the soldiers behind him also followed the adjutant's example and saluted the train.
Seeing this, Jérôme Bonaparte also raised his hand and saluted the soldiers outside the window.
The train started slowly and gradually disappeared into the distance.
…
Since the distance between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart is only 82 kilometers, the steam train only traveled for more than two hours before arriving at Stuttgart, the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg.
The person responsible for welcoming them at the train station was none other than the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Württemberg, the eldest brother of Queen Augusta, Carl Friedrich Alexander, and his wife Olga Nikolayevna
, the two men had met when Jerome Bonaparte celebrated the full moon for Frederick.
Therefore, the relationship between Jerome Bonaparte and them is not unfamiliar.
Queen Augusta, who had just gotten off the train, enthusiastically took Olga Nikolayevna's hand and said, "Sister-in-law, you are here!"
Jerome Bonaparte also said to Crown Prince Karl with a smile: "Brother, you are here!"
"Father specially asked me to come here to greet you!" Carl Alexander said with a calm expression, "Get in the car quickly!"
"good!"
Jerome Bonaparte and Queen Augusta got on the carriage together with Karl Alexander, and the carriage carried Jerome Bonaparte from the train station to the royal palace in the center of Stuttgart.
Perhaps because of the close relationship between the Kingdom of Württemberg and the French Empire, unnecessary ostentation was saved.
When the carriage arrived at the gate of the Stuttgart Palace, Jérôme Bonaparte and Augusta quickly stepped out of the carriage and entered the palace.
In the palace hall, Queen Augusta met her father William I and her mother Paulina, who had been away for a long time. She excitedly ran to her mother and gave her a warm hug, "Mother, I'm back!"
"Augusta!" Paulina responded to Augusta gently stroking Augusta's hair, "Welcome back!"
"Yeah!" Augusta looked up at her mother and nodded.
Just as the mother and daughter were reminiscing about the past, an untimely cough interrupted their warmth.
"Augusta!" William I's majestic voice reached the ears of Queen Augusta and Paulina, "This is how you treat your husband when you are in the Tuileries Palace!!"
Augusta quickly let go of her mother Paulina, then shook her head and said to William I: "No! No, father!"
"Father-in-law, Augusta and I have a very good relationship!" Jérôme Bonaparte also saw the opportunity to help, "Augusta just hasn't seen his mother-in-law for too long, so he can't wait to see her.
I want to throw myself into my mother-in-law’s arms!”
"That's right!" Augusta nodded quickly and explained to William I.
"Humph!" William I snorted again, and then showed a kind smile and asked Jerome Bonaparte's condition (whether he was tired, whether he needed a rest, etc.).
Jérôme Bonaparte immediately said that he had made up for his condition in Karlsruhe and that he was now in good condition.
William I nodded again, and then ordered the palace steward to prepare for today's dinner.
Then he asked Jerome Bonaparte if he would like to go hunting with him on the outskirts of Stuttgart before the dinner began.
Jerome Bonaparte immediately agreed to his old father-in-law's request.