When the golden sunlight of dusk spreads over the majestic building of the Elysée Palace, Paris also ushered in another ordinary afternoon.
As the official residence of the Prime Minister and the seat of the core organs of the imperial government, there are naturally a large number of civil servants and employees gathered here. It is time to get off work. A number of beautifully decorated private carriages or plain taxi carriages gather in the palace.
At the gate, prepare to bid farewell to the adults.
At this time, Prince Talleyrand was also preparing to leave in his office - of course, all the cleaning work was done by his entourage.
The old prince's face was wrinkled, like the bark of an old tree, and his eyes were dim, as if he was going to sleep at any moment.
Everything is full of decay, but even so, no one will underestimate this dying old man.
As the Prime Minister of the Empire who is supposed to have many things to do every day, the Prince should be very busy. However, in fact, the old man's work is quite leisurely. Most of the affairs are left to the cabinet ministers and his close secretaries to handle.
He has the style of "governing from the top" - of course, this is mainly because he is too old and has no time to pay attention to various details. He can only control the general direction as the head of the government, and leave all specific affairs to his subordinates.
.
This kind of work style, if it is under normal circumstances, will definitely arouse doubts from the outside world, especially by those careerists who covet his position, attacking him for refusing to leave despite his old age, but Prince Talleyrand still remains my boss.
If your conduct is impeccable, your position will remain as stable as Mount Tai.
He is a survivor and winner of the bloody political arena in France for half a century. He is also a bystander and even a planner of revolutions, riots and dynasty changes. Now, as the last "king", his "existence"
In itself, it is an amazing symbol.
The newly arrived His Majesty Napoleon II needs this symbol to appease and intimidate political forces of all factions - this is actually the same thing.
At least for this period, he is still indispensable to His Majesty, so he can enjoy his time in power.
There is no doubt that the "honeymoon period" between the monarch and his ministers will come to an end, and His Majesty will give the position of Prime Minister to his more trusted ministers, but for Prince Talleyrand, that is nothing to worry about.
——Because with his current twilight years, God knows how long he can live. His physical life is about to come to an end, so why should he care about the political curtain call that he is bound to usher in?
Just as he was about to return to his luxurious mansion after the day's work, a secretary walked up to him with a nervous expression.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, an urgent message has been sent from Fontainebleau. Your Majesty needs you to come over."
When he heard the news, the old man's eyes, which were originally dim and his movements were slow, suddenly burst into life.
"Show it to me."
The secretary handed the letter to Prince Talleyrand, who immediately began to read it.
This is indeed a handwritten edict written by His Majesty, summoning himself to the palace to discuss important matters, but he did not specify what it was.
Prince Talleyrand was no stranger to being called to the palace. Due to various official duties, he often had to travel between Paris and Fontainebleau to see His Majesty, but today His Majesty's tone of urging him was more urgent than usual.
Prince Talleyrand, who had a keen sense of smell, immediately sensed the unusual smell.
He thought for a while and soon got some clues.
"It seems that Your Majesty has encountered some trouble..." He said to the people around him with a smile full of ridicule. "Oh, being young is really good!"
Although he smiled happily, no one dared to speak up. After all, as a senator, he could comment on the royal family in such a frivolous tone, but others naturally knew the rules. Who dared to talk nonsense in front of everyone.
In the silent silence, Prince Talleyrand waved his hand, and soon someone arranged a carriage for him. The old Prime Minister crossed a distance of dozens of kilometers in the most comfortable way and headed to the Palace of Fontainebleau.
When Prince Talleyrand and his party arrived at Fontainebleau, it was already dark.
But of course he didn't have to worry about getting lost. The polite guard officer led him diligently and took him to Aigron's study.
Prince Talleyrand was very familiar with the furnishings of the study, but today, he discovered that there was an unexpected guest here—Princess Maria.
After seeing Princess Maria, the prince seemed to have guessed something. He carefully observed the expressions of Aiglon and Maria, and he understood even more clearly.
"Your Majesty, you summoned me urgently. Did you encounter something urgent?" Then he asked calmly.
"Mr. Prime Minister, I have indeed encountered a problem now, and I need your help to deal with it-" Aigron cleared his throat and said as calmly as possible.
"Is it related to Her Royal Highness Maria?" Prince Talleyrand asked knowingly, "Did she have a conflict with Queen Theresa?"
He asked unintentionally, but an awkward atmosphere suddenly spread in the room.
"Yes." After a moment of silence, Aigron readily admitted, "Just today, they had a very serious conflict."
"Then, can you tell me the details?"
So Aiglon told Talleyrand the details of Maria's arrest.
Of course, Eglund naturally ignored Maria's experience after her arrest, and just generally summarized it as "severely humiliating Maria."
But even so, everything that has happened is bizarre and sensational enough.
And all this, instead of frightening Prince Talleyrand, actually made him say "enjoyable".
Fun! This is the fun that the old man has been waiting for.
For him who has reached the end of his life, what else is more important than having fun?
He glanced at Maria secretly again and found that the princess was indeed crying, as if she were mourning for her concubine. There were even obvious traces of crying in the corners of her eyes. It was obvious that she had suffered a very heavy blow just now.
Hey, I think back when I met Her Royal Highness the Princess, how arrogant she was, but in the blink of an eye she looked like this down and out, interesting, interesting... The prince secretly laughed in his heart with malice.
He has met countless people in his life, and of course he easily noticed the other person's trouble-making personality after the two met. However, he only contributed to it. After all, for him, he could let her do whatever she wanted without affecting the overall situation.
Have some fun, why not?
And now, he got it, even faster than he imagined.
Although he was extremely happy in his heart, Prince Talleyrand still pretended to be serious.
"So, Your Majesty, you want me to stand in front of you to settle this matter for you and calm the storm as soon as possible, right?"
"Yes." Aigron knew that there was no point in lying to such a once-in-a-thousand-year-old cunning man, so he readily admitted, "Now I think only you can prevent things from slipping into the worst outcome."
"Your Majesty, although I am indeed the prime minister loyal to you, please allow me to remind you that I am your minister and not a domestic servant. My duty is to handle the official affairs of the government for you, not to solve your own problems for you.
"Personal issues arise..." Talleyrand replied deliberately in a tone of voice, "Personal romantic debts should be settled individually, shouldn't they?"
Being deliberately squeezed by Talleyrand, Aigron suddenly felt even more embarrassed.
Fortunately, even though he is young, he has been weathered for a long time, so his face has already surpassed that of ordinary people.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, there is no doubt that you are a public servant and not my private servant. You don't need to help me with my family affairs, but please see that this matter has gone beyond the scope of 'family affairs' at the moment. Just imagine, if I and the Prime Minister
If there is a serious conflict between Lesa and Lesa, it will inevitably disrupt the discipline of the palace and even paralyze it! And if the palace becomes the target of public criticism, the operation of the government will also be greatly affected, and you will not be unaware of the consequences. So, now I hope
As the patriarch of the country and our elder, you are making a contribution to the country by using your prestige and influence to eliminate a crisis before it arises."
At the moment, he was asking for something, so Aigron lowered his stature and put on all the high hats. These high-sounding words undoubtedly gave the two of them a step forward.
Of course, this was not enough. After Aigron finished speaking, he secretly winked at Maria.
Maria also understood at this time, so she broke the silence, then walked up to Talleyrand, showed a rare humility in her life, and asked Prince Talleyrand for help.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry that I have caused trouble to Your Majesty and you. It was because I did something stupid inadvertently that brought me to where I am now... But even so, I can guarantee that I will treat Your Majesty and France absolutely.
There is no malice, only kindness. Now Queen Theresa oppresses me and even humiliates me because of certain prejudices, which puts me under unspeakable pressure and may even bring shame to my family. This is something I cannot bear.
The consequences of... I urgently need your protection, and I also implore you not to abandon me in this critical moment. If you help me, I will always remember this kindness... I ask you to do it for Your Majesty and for this country.
You may even leave yourself a warm friend."
Although Maria was arrogant and arrogant, the current situation was stronger than others, and coupled with the anger of revenge in her heart, she put down her posture easily, apologized and asked for help smoothly and naturally
Prince Talleyrand, on the other hand, listened quietly, but his heart was filled with joy.
Whether this apology was sincere or not was not important at all. What was important was that the old man felt an indescribable sense of relief when he saw the young couple helplessly bowing their heads to him.
"Hahahaha..." At this time, he finally stopped pretending to be serious and laughed, "Oh, young people are really young people. This little thing messes up the situation. What does it mean? Think about it.
We were so good at playing back then... Nowadays, this era is really vulgar and stingy..."
After sighing as usual, Prince Talleyrand nodded happily, "Well, since Your Majesty wants me to be a shield, then I will reluctantly use my old bones to take over His Majesty the Queen's duties.
The anger..."
Seeing that Prince Talleyrand agreed to come forward, Aiglon and Maria looked at each other again, each other breathed a sigh of relief, and then thanked the prince one after another.
"There's no need to say thank you, but in order to resolve the matter better, I hope you two can also make some cooperation." Prince Talleyrand waved his hand.
"Please tell me." Aigron responded immediately.
"First of all, Your Majesty, I hope that you can personally comfort Her Majesty the Queen afterwards, so that she can feel a little calmer. After all, disputes between emperors and empresses cannot become a topic of conversation at any time." Then he turned to look at Maria,
"As for Her Royal Highness Maria... I hope you will apologize to Her Majesty the Queen in person and ask her to forgive you for your rashness. This is not to make her angry, but to let people see your sincerity."
Of course Aigron agreed wholeheartedly, but when Maria was involved later, Aigron hesitated. After all, with Maria's character, this might be difficult.
But he didn't expect that Maria just gritted her teeth and immediately nodded in agreement.
"Okay, Your Excellency, as long as you can help me resolve this matter, then I am willing to apologize to her! Even if you flatter her in front of everyone, it doesn't matter."
Aiglon is a little confused. Did the blow of reality really make Maria receive a "frustration education" and then grow up?
But the actual situation was just the opposite. Maria was willing to surrender precisely because the resentment in her heart reached its limit and she was able to suppress her arrogant nature.
As long as she can survive the difficulties, preserve her reputation and the reputation of her family, as long as she can stay and maintain the hope of revenge in the future, she is willing to make sacrifices at this moment.
This proves how firm her determination is at this moment, and how strong her desire for revenge is.
In any case, after both of them agreed, Prince Talleyrand smiled lightly. "In this case, you two have nothing to worry about. Just let me fight with my old bones to make it for you."
Your Majesty, please help solve the problem."
Although Prince Talleyrand did not say what he planned to do, this old man who had stood firm in the bloody storm for decades and personally supported and overthrew several political regimes gave two young people a
People have great faith.
If he could accomplish so many miracles before, now the "little things" are naturally within his grasp.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Aigron bowed slightly to the old man, using this rare courtesy to entrust him with important matters.
Prince Talleyrand did not waste any time. After meeting Aiglon, he immediately applied for an interview with Queen Theresa.
As the queen, Teresa of course also learned about Aigron's urgent summons to Talleyrand, and also knew that the two people had just had a secret conversation, so she naturally guessed that Talleyrand was here to act as a lobbyist.
At this juncture, she originally did not want to cause trouble, but the identity of Prince Talleyrand prevented her from giving a reason to refuse the interview, so she had to summon the Prime Minister of the Empire in her reception room.
Upon meeting, the old prime minister first saluted the queen and then immediately got to the point.
"Your Majesty the Queen, I have heard everything that happened today..."
Teresa remained calm, just looked at him quietly, waiting for the next step.
Talleyrand didn't care when he didn't get a response from her, but continued, "That's why I came here to ask you to take back your life. You shouldn't make the matter so big."
"Are you accusing me?" Teresa suddenly felt a little angry, "Don't forget, she committed the crime, and I was just enforcing the law impartially -"
"She did commit a crime, but your problem is bigger because you made a mistake, which is more fatal than the crime." Talleyrand seemed to have been prepared and immediately made a conclusion.