After the carriage stopped, An Ning opened the door and got out of the car first, then turned around and held Christina's hand to help her get out of the car.
Christina: "You are quite familiar with this set of etiquette."
An Ning: "There is a proverb in my hometown that even if you have never eaten pork, you have seen pigs running away. Even if you don't have personal experience, you may have heard about it."
"What a strange proverb." Christina laughed.
At this time, the guards from the palace came forward and said, "Who are you two..."
Christina: "I am the daughter of Duke Torestale, and this is my dance partner."
An Ning introduced himself: "I am Andy Frost, the son of a tanner in Caen."
When the guard heard An Ning announcing his door, he looked at him in surprise: "This... this is the royal ball. Do you have an invitation?"
Of course, it is impossible for a cobbler's son to get an invitation to the royal ball.
Christina took a step forward: "Frost is my savior, and he also won the Legion of Honor on the German battlefield."
Guard: "So you are a war hero. I'm sorry. But I don't seem to see you wearing a medal..."
An Ning: "Because my medal has not been awarded to me yet, but it is true that General Carnegie has applied for it for me."
Guard: "That's right. That's no problem. You two, please come over here. The dance is being held in the palace garden."
The guards began to lead the way.
Christina naturally held An Ning's arm.
The evening dress that Christina wore had the unique low-cut placket of this era. She held An Ning's arm in such a way that the entire left side of An Ning's field of vision was occupied by white.
Christina pulled An Ning and followed the guards into the palace garden. The place was brightly lit, with music playing, and the ladies were like blooming roses on the dance floor.
At this time, a gentleman stepped forward to greet Christina: "Hey, isn't this Christina? And this, is this the civilian swordsman who won the duel this afternoon?"
An Ning: "Well, I did win a duel this afternoon. I didn't know you were..."
"He is Viscount Raphael, the son of Earl Lane." Christina said and stretched out her hand, so Viscount Raphael respectfully kissed her hand.
"Oh Christina," Raphael recited poetry, "your arrival makes the whole ball more gorgeous."
Christina smiled and said: "Don't say that, the queen will be unhappy if she hears it."
"What's wrong with me?" came a voice that was pretending to be majestic.
An Ning looked around and saw a graceful and elegant woman walking towards her.
The woman's appearance made An Ning think he saw the goddess Audrey Hepburn for a moment, and he was so surprised that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
Christina let go of An Ning's arm, pinched the hem of her skirt and saluted the woman: "Good evening, Her Majesty the Queen."
It’s actually the deficit queen Mary herself!
An Ning hurriedly followed Raphael's example and saluted the queen.
The queen looked at An Ning: "Are you the son of the cobbler who won the duel this afternoon?"
An Ning: "Yes."
"Some people say that you are the son of a declining noble, so you have learned swordsmanship." The queen stepped forward, ignoring Christina next to her, "Is that true?"
"No, I am indeed the son of a cobbler."
"But you defeated the greatest swordsman in Paris."
An Ning raised his eyebrows: "That means Reginald is not as powerful as he claims."
"But he won three duels."
"It means that the people who dueled him before were better than him." An Ning shrugged.
At this time, Christina intervened forcefully: "Andy saved me on the battlefield. No one who has seen the cruelty of the battlefield can compare to a young man like Reginald."
The queen glanced at Christina and did not hide her dissatisfaction with her interruption: "Christina, I heard that you disguised yourself as a man and went to the battlefield?"
Christina nodded: "Yes, I did."
The queen glanced at her breasts and said with a smile: "How did you do it? If you want to have the same figure as a man, it must be very laborious."
An Ning silently agreed in her heart: Indeed.
Christina: "There is nothing that is impossible. If Joan of Arc of Orleans could do it, I can do it too."
An Ning: "Joan of Arc didn't disguise herself as a man, right? And she wasn't from Orleans, she was born in Champagne..."
Christina stared at An Ning, with an expression on her face that seemed to be asking, "Where are you from?"
The queen smiled and said: "It seems that your knowledge is quite broad. No wonder people say that you are the heir of a declining noble family."
An Ning: "If a person is knowledgeable, everyone will say that he is a declining noble or something. This is wrong. Common people can also be knowledgeable."
Queen: "As expected of the Duke of Orleans, the Duke almost lifts the common people to heaven."
A woman behind the Queen immediately said: "It's a pity that this is France, and civilians are only the third class and subjects."
An Ning glanced at the woman who spoke and asked doubtfully, "Who are you?"
Female: "Oh, quietly, 'who are you?' Mary, look, this commoner doesn't understand the etiquette at the ball at all."
Hearing the woman address Queen Mary directly, An Ning probably guessed the identity of this woman. She should be the Queen's best friend Madame Lamballe.
An Ning's guess was immediately confirmed by Christina: "Andy, this is Madame Lamballe, a good friend of Her Royal Highness the Queen."
Mrs. Lamballe snorted: "Yesterday I heard that Reginald was challenged by a commoner. I wanted to go see the excitement today, but then I thought about it and felt that the commoner would definitely be killed by the experienced Reginald in an instant.
, just didn’t go.”
An Ning: "So you missed my wonderful performance today."
Mrs. Lamballe rolled her eyes: "Although I didn't look, I can guess that it must be because Reginald underestimated the enemy. But are you so leisurely and contented? Reginald's father, Marquis Richard, is a very precious child.
For this son, I guess when the news reaches his territory, he will come to Paris to find you and ask for justice."
An Ning raised her eyebrows: "I thought the nobles all lived in Paris."
In this era, many French nobles did not stay in their territories. Instead, they purchased properties in Paris to live permanently, and left their territories to stewards and agents to take care of them.
Many French peasants in this era had never seen their lord since they were born. They only knew that the lord's steward would come to collect taxes.
The organizer of life in the French countryside has long since transformed from a lord to a local priest.
The rule of feudal lords over their subjects had long ceased to exist in name only.
But there are always exceptions.
These nobles who still lived in the countryside were sent to lampposts by the peasants after the outbreak of the Revolution.
Madam Lamballe looked at An Ning arrogantly: "Marquis Richard likes his castle. He just sent his precious son to Paris to study. Now that his precious son is killed by you, the Marquis will definitely throw it away."
Go down to the castle and come over aggressively to prosecute, you just wait, there will be a good show! You'd better find yourself a good lawyer!"
Queen Mary looked at An Ning and said loudly: "You can ask the Duke to help you find a lawyer, but I don't know if the lawyers in Paris will litigate for a shoemaker's son."
An Ning corrected him with a smile: "My father is a cobbler, which is different from a shoemaker. Of course he also makes shoes, but his main job is leather products."
The queen and her best friend seemed amused by An Ning's correction.
"Mary, listen, leather goods! When he said this, it seemed like it was something valuable!"
"I heard it, my dear, for civilians, leather products may indeed be valuable goods!"
An Ning: "Sorry, I forgot this is the palace. In the palace, locks are the most valuable items."
Christina: "Pfft!"
Christina, who accidentally laughed out loud, quickly straightened her face.
The queen stared at An Ning fiercely, and it was obvious that An Ning's words touched her sorely.
Her husband, King Louis XVI of France, was an excellent locksmith and was much more interested in playing with various locks than in playing with his own queen.
"Do you know?" The Queen said to An Ning through gritted teeth, "If it were in the past, these words just now would have been enough to get you hanged."
An Ning shrugged: "It's a pity that now that there is the Paris Supreme Court, the royal family can no longer hang people casually. Even the son of a cobbler like me."
The French Supreme Court during this period was actually an institution used by the aristocracy and the emerging bourgeoisie to limit imperial power. The court would not only prevent the king from executing people at will, but also block some of the king's policies.
Later, one of the main reasons why the French Emperor convened a three-level parliament was that the Supreme Court said that if you want to increase taxes, you must convene a three-level parliament, otherwise the increase will not be allowed.
Queen Mary's dissatisfaction with An Ning was written all over her face. At this time, Christina suddenly cleared her throat: "Well, the royal family still owes my father..."
"You two, please enjoy the dance." The queen showed her amazing face-changing talent.
An Ning couldn't help but said: "The royal family has so much debt, is it okay to hold such a luxurious ball?"
Christina gently kicked An Ning's shoes.
The queen and her best friend pretended not to hear An Ning's complaints and left with their heads held high.
Christina pulled An Ning: "Come, let me introduce my friends to you. You must want to meet the civilian swordsman who defeated the Paris Duel King."