When Metternich had a secret conversation with the emperor, Princess Sophie, whom they mentioned, was walking in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace while admiring the beautiful scenery around her.
It was late spring at this time, the temperature was warm and pleasant, and the trees and grass in the palace were also lush and green, making this already famous palace look as magnificent as a gem.
However, even the beautiful scenery could not relax the frowning brows of this graceful lady.
Looking around, everything is so beautiful and harmonious, but the most important person is missing.
Looking back on the time when they wandered here together, writing poems and reading essays, how comfortable and carefree they felt?
Nowadays, I want to relive the old dream again, but I don’t know when. Maybe it will be forever.
As she thought about it, she felt even more melancholy, then she sighed and threw the poem manuscript aside.
However, even though her boring and boring life seemed to have no end in sight, the stubbornness in her bones still gave her a glimmer of hope. She told herself countless times that as long as she persisted, she would eventually see the light of day again.
Before that, she had to live and wait.
While she was boredly admiring the beautiful scenery, an attendant of the emperor came over and respectfully conveyed the emperor's summons to her.
Sophie was instinctively surprised, because since the incident happened four years ago, the emperor had hated her deeply and would never take the initiative to see her. Today's sudden summons was really rare.
Does this mean that my fortune has finally turned around and I am about to get up from the bottom? She thought to herself.
But soon, she stopped this idea herself - she was afraid that she was overthinking it, so she might as well wait and see what happened, lest she be disappointed again.
So, she followed the attendant to the interview room of His Majesty the Emperor.
Soon, she discovered that Metternich, the Prime Minister of the Empire, was also here.
When he saw her, Metternich's serious expression did not change at all, and he just winked secretly.
Obviously, the prime minister was implying that he was able to get this opportunity only because of his good words in front of the emperor.
The Prime Minister's performance also seems to mean that today is really a good thing for him - otherwise there is no need for him to take credit.
Uncontrollable joy suddenly emerged in Sophie's heart.
She couldn't believe that she finally had a turning point, but the reality seemed to be true.
It seemed that taking the risk to win over Metternich was the right step! She secretly said to herself in her heart.
Soon, she put aside these distracting thoughts, and then with a serious but respectful attitude, she slightly bent her knees and saluted the old emperor in front of her who temporarily controlled her destiny.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty, I am honored to meet you."
However, the old emperor did not respond to Sophie. He just stared quietly at the submissive but unruly daughter-in-law in front of him, as if he wanted to get to know her again after not seeing her for a long time.
After a long time, his eyes slowly moved away and fell on the green grass outside the window.
"Today is indeed a beautiful morning..." Then he sighed in a low voice.
Sophie felt a little confused by this nonsense, so she just echoed in a low voice. "Yes, it is very beautiful, so I just walked in the garden to enjoy the beautiful scenery."
And from the emperor's old face and feeble voice, Sophie also noticed the emperor's weakness at this time.
Old thing, you should die as soon as possible. Sophie cursed bitterly in her heart, wishing that the old emperor would die now.
"Seven years, this is a long time for anyone... Such a beautiful scenery, you can stop and appreciate it all the time, and you have become a part of this beautiful scenery..." After a moment, the emperor spoke again.
.
Seven years?
Sophie didn't understand what the emperor meant at first, but she soon realized it——
She was married in 1824, so it has been almost seven years now.
Until now, she still remembered all the novelties when she first came to this foreign court, and the one who impressed her most deeply in her memory was the beautiful boy who was thirteen years old at the time.
The child was pale, introverted, withdrawn, and even a little cynical, but he was also amazingly handsome. She fell in love with him almost the first time she saw him.
This is not to say that she had any lust for this child, but because her mother only had five daughters who survived to grow up, so she had only sisters and no brothers around her since she was a child, so she subconsciously hoped to have a younger brother.
Such a handsome and lovely child, with such a bizarre and sympathetic life experience, and the common situation of coming from a foreign country, made Sophie pour in love and affection for this child from the first day they met.
It was this love and compassion that triggered all the subsequent storms. How could she have predicted this?
All we can say is that this is a mysterious fate.
Until now, seven years have passed in a daze. In these seven years, I feel that happy and carefree times are so rare, and almost all of them are related to him. After he left, everything seemed to have fallen into desolation. I was in the most beautiful place in the world.
In the beautiful palace, he is like a prisoner.
Of course, Sophie knew that this was definitely not the answer the old emperor wanted to hear.
"Yes, Your Majesty, it has been seven years since I got married... In the past seven years, I have called this place my home. Every plant and tree here has made me intoxicated and attached to me. I am very glad that fate has allowed me to become
Be part of this place—"
Although Sophie's words indeed sounded "sincere", now when people who know the inside story listen to them, they feel full of irony.
However, as a member of the royal family, he naturally has the self-cultivation of an actor, so the emperor just smiled and nodded.
"It's good that you have such an awareness. After all, you are my daughter-in-law, and this palace and this country also have your share. After I pass away, this place will eventually be handed over to the next generation to take care of.
,So, I can only wish you can take good care of it in the future."
The emperor could talk about what he would do "after death", but Sophie couldn't talk nonsense, so she just lowered her head and waited for the emperor's instructions.
The old emperor had no intention of making any more detours, and he sighed softly.
"Actually, you still have resentment in your heart, right? Because I tortured you."
"How dare I resent you?" Sophie gritted her teeth secretly, and then replied in a low voice, "I brought all this on myself. Now I have deeply reflected on my mistakes and regret it all the time."
Since we have already talked about this, it is natural to act in a full set. After all, the opportunity is rare.
So Sophie simply took the risk and knelt down to apologize to her father-in-law.
"Your Majesty, everything that happened before was the result of my willful behavior. I have brought heavy losses to you and the country. I deeply regret and hate myself for this... I promise you that in the future I will
I will definitely change my mind and make every effort to make up for my past mistakes."
It is also a coincidence that in France and Austria, without the two sisters knowing each other, almost at the same time, Sophie and Maria apologized to the old emperor and Queen Theresa respectively.
For hundreds of years, the Wittelsbach family has been humiliated in front of the Habsburg family. During the Thirty Years' War, the Elector of Palatinate was beaten like a lost dog and even lost its territory; in the War of Austrian Succession, Bavaria was again
Queen Theresa defeated the country and destroyed it. This is probably the result of one thing defeating another.
In a trance, these two sisters seemed to have become a microcosm of history.
Of course, the Wittelsbach family has always been "fighting after repeated defeats". They never lose their ambitions even when they lose. Although they have been frustrated many times, they have always unyieldingly challenged the Habsburgs, and this time is no exception.
With their arrogant characters, this kind of "admission" will not bring about awakening and repentance, but will only make more anger and hatred accumulate in their hearts, and they will definitely find ways to avenge the humiliation they have suffered.
Although Sophie's acting skills are better than Maria's, so her performance is sincere, but of course this kind of performance cannot be hidden from the eyes of the old emperor - after all, he has been the emperor for almost 40 years since he ascended the throne. Who is this?
What have you never experienced?
But, right now, I don’t care about that much anymore.
Originally, his wishful thinking was to keep his grandson in the country, find a marriage for him, and gain wealth and power. The relationship between Sophie and him was enough to give him the motivation to support the family.
In this way, it doesn't matter even if his two sons are either mentally ill or mentally retarded after his death. As long as the two of them work together, they can keep the direct lineage of the royal family safe and prevent their brothers from taking away the throne.
As for their "private relationship"... in the royal family, could such trivial matters matter? The emperor didn't care about it. He just pretended not to notice their usually too close interactions.
However, the actual development made all the emperor's wishful thinking come to nothing.
Sophie's willful behavior created an opportunity for her grandson, whom she monitored closely, to escape. All her plans were wiped out as he fled Vienna.
Now it has become a complete mess. The sons are still ineffective. The daughter-in-law is under house arrest and alienated from him, let alone the next generation of heirs. The grandson ran away to France and started a new career as an emperor...
Just thinking about all this makes me heartbroken.
But no matter what, Sophie was his daughter-in-law. No matter what mistakes she committed, the Habsburg family would never divorce her. He would either poison her or admit it.
When he was furious before, he did consider poisoning her and finding a new wife for his son, but after the anger subsided, he slowly began to think rationally about the problem.
If she is really poisoned, it will be difficult to find a suitable princess candidate for her son in a hurry, and it will be even harder to face the anger of her grandson.
Moreover, his own current queen is Sophie's half-sister. If she knows about this and then exposes it, how will the consequences end? They can't all be poisoned, right?
After weighing it again and again, the emperor finally gave up this cruelest solution.
Therefore, no matter how bad the relationship between the two people is, if she dies, then when her two sons are not very useful, she will also be the only candidate for the next generation of the imperial royal family to support the family - unless he is willing to let his royal brothers
Stand up and take charge.
Reasonable balance ultimately prevails over momentary anger and passion.
No matter how much I hate this daughter-in-law, I have to put her back on the table now.
Because his aging body cannot be hidden from anyone, including himself, he must start preparing for the next generation in advance.
"Okay, you don't need to apologize anymore. The matter has already passed, so what's the point of bringing it up again? Just let it pass -" Then, the emperor let out a weak sigh, which was considered as an end to the previous grudges.
"Now, what we should consider more is the future...Sophie, you are one of us, we need you."
Are you turning the page now? What about me? Do you think I will forget what happened before? The humiliation and pain I suffered... can I easily turn it over with just one sentence from you?
Sophie sneered secretly in her heart, but on the surface, she still showed an expression of relief and overjoyed.
"Your Majesty, I will always be grateful for your magnanimity and keep your teachings in mind... In the future, I will definitely follow your example and do my best to support the royal family and the country, even if I work hard -"
The old emperor watched his daughter-in-law's performance quietly.
To be honest, he doesn't care whether the other person is sincere or not - after all, can you expect a royal member to be sincere? No one does.
The important thing is that the daughter-in-law relents and everyone's reputation is improved. That's all. What else can we expect?
As Metternich said, interest is the strongest bond. Her position determines that she needs to protect the royal family, and this is enough.
"Well, now I need you to show your determination with practical actions -" the emperor waved his hand gently, "you should know, right? Your sister Maria is in Paris now, I hope you can contact her
She, and took this to hint to her that Metternich and I intend to establish closer unofficial ties with Aiglon in order to consolidate the relationship between our two countries and two families."
...is there such a good thing?
Sophie's heart suddenly became ecstatic.
She was worried that she didn't have a suitable reason to contact her sister and Aiglon who was far away in France, but she didn't expect that this problem would be solved so easily.
But it’s normal if you think about it carefully. If you want to get closer to Aigron, who can speak with more weight than yourself?
Of course, it is true that the old emperor wanted to take advantage of his daughter-in-law, but it was naturally impossible to pack his daughter-in-law and send him to Paris.
But Sophie is not in a hurry. After all, she has turned over step by step, and she has enough patience to continue to wait... She can afford to wait.
"Okay, Your Majesty... I will write a letter -" After finishing speaking, she looked at Metternich again, "In order to avoid leaking state secrets or causing any unexpected disputes, I will write a letter every time after writing a letter.
Let the Prime Minister review it, what do you think?"
Sophie knew that no matter what she wrote, it would be censored before it was sent, so she took the initiative to submit it, which made her have a clear conscience.
Anyway, Metternich, an old guy, will have plenty of ways to smooth things over in the future.
"Okay, so be it..." the emperor agreed.
Then, he waved to Sophie again, "Then you go back first, thank you for your help, Sophie, thank God, we will have the opportunity to make up for our damaged family relationship in the future -"
Old thing, if you go to heaven quickly, you can make up for it immediately. I will definitely cry for you... Sophie cursed in her heart, and then said goodbye to her father-in-law with a smile.