Alice's surprise was not because she didn't know Bowen.
Before, because she and the Count of Monte Cristo ran an underground organization for the Bonaparte family, and Bowen was the "big sponsor", the two people had had many contacts. Bowen even spoke highly of Alice's abilities.
, thinking that although she is a woman, she will definitely be able to do something great.
Alice was shocked that time had changed, things had changed, and she had "fallen". During this period of time, she was used to the harshness of the world and the feeling of no one caring about her. She didn't expect that when she was so down,
Baron Beauvain was still in the mood to come over to see her.
No matter how surprised she was, she must not neglect a distinguished guest like Bowang.
Therefore, she reluctantly dragged her increasingly immobile body to the reception room and received the other party politely.
When Alice appeared in front of him, Bowang stood up from his seat with a smile, and then kindly helped Alice sit down.
"Madam, long time no see! You are pregnant now, so you should pay more attention to your health..."
Bowang still had the same short, fat and unattractive appearance, and the smile on his face was as amiable as ever. Although she knew in her heart that this was just a "routine" smile, Alice still couldn't help but feel warm in her heart.
"Thank you, Mr. de Beauvin." She looked at him with a smile, "You suddenly came to visit me. In my haste, I inevitably did not receive you well. Please forgive me."
"Where are you talking? It's rude of me to come directly to the door without notification..." Bowang smiled and waved his hand, and then, as if by magic, he took out a small box from his pocket.
, "In order to make up for my fault, please accept this small gift..."
Alice was even more surprised, but she did not refuse. Instead, she directly reached out and took the gift box, and then opened it directly.
Inside the gift box is a pair of sapphire earrings. Although they are not large, they are extremely finely made and are worth a lot at first glance.
"Isn't your gift too expensive...?" Alice hesitated.
"For ordinary people, it is precious, but for you, it is just right and very suitable." Bowang still smiled, "You are the most beautiful, charming and intellectual lady in our country. It is up to you to
Wearing them will not disgrace their value."
This set of lavish compliments did not make Alice go to her head. On the contrary, she became even more confused as to why the other party wanted to please her so much.
"You are going too far. I am just a relic forgotten by the times. How can I deserve such a high evaluation?" However, Alice did not ask further questions, but showed full joy and put the box away again.
He stood up. "However, thank you for your gift. I really hope that I will have the opportunity to repay you in the future."
As a woman, of course she does like expensive jewelry, but she is not obsessed with these things. The reason why she accepts them is not because she is greedy for wealth, but to accept the "goodwill" from the other party.
Of course she understands that people like Bowang are useless, and there must be a purpose for putting such effort into currying favor with him. But on the other hand, as a person who has lost power now, she also needs to have a good relationship with Bowang. This can be regarded as
Everyone gets what they need.
And seeing Alice accepting the gift, Bowang's expression became more relaxed.
It seems that my plan went very smoothly.
He went all the way to Alice to show his courtesy, and naturally he had his own purpose.
First of all, he hopes to maintain the "friendship" that existed between the two people and leave an "investment" for the future.
During this period, because Alice was kicked out of the palace, she was now in a state of neglect and no one cared about her. Many people had even forgotten about this once-famous noblewoman.
But Bowang doesn't see it that way.
Over the past few decades, he has been used to seeing changes in the situation, and has seen many cases of high-ranking officials who are clearly dead suddenly "turning around" in an instant. He knows that talented people cannot remain unknown all the time.
And he analyzed the information he got from the palace, and concluded that Her Majesty the Queen has not really "forgotten" Lady Alice, so Alice must have hope of recovery at any time.
Besides, her biological sister is His Majesty’s beloved pet. How could Miss Agnes bear to see her sister in trouble?
In this world, the icing on the cake is never as good as providing help when the time is right. Because of this, the troubled Alice is very worthy of his investment - anyway, he has plenty of money, and it doesn't matter even if he goes to the wrong temple, just treat it like spending money to get water.
Pretty good.
As long as Alice accepts this gift, if Alice really makes a comeback in the future, it will be more legitimate for the two of them to interact again.
Of course, this is a long-term goal, and he also has a more urgent short-term goal.
Now, he no longer intends to keep telling the truth, but begins to show his true intention.
"Madam, although you have temporarily withdrawn from the court, everyone knows that you were the right-hand assistant of Her Majesty the Queen. It was precisely because of your efforts that it was possible for Her Majesty the Emperor and his wife to rebuild the palace belonging to Bonaparte in such a short period of time.
The family's palace can also keep this palace running smoothly. I firmly believe that even at this moment, there are still many people who are nostalgic for the days when you were there...and they will be very happy to serve you."
"You've praised me, I'm not that good... I just did a few more things with the favor of Her Majesty the Queen." Alice still smiled calmly to show her humility, but she still couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed in her heart.
Proudly. "Of course, I do have a few capable assistants and friends there, but as you also know, that place has always been cold and heartless. I have already been driven home, and there are still a few people who will
Do I take it seriously?"
"It shouldn't be a problem to at least get some information..." Bowang asked.
Alice understood immediately.
She did not refuse the other party, but looked at him with a half-smile, "It depends on what information you want me to find out for you. Of course, some people are willing to accommodate me for ordinary trivial matters, but if it involves royal secrets, then I'm afraid
There is nothing I can do to help..."
"It's not a big deal, but it's not too small either..." Bowang sighed.
This kind of performance that seemed to be telling a riddle made Alice even more curious.
"Can you explain it in more detail? I don't quite understand this..."
Bowang frowned slightly, seeming a little worried. After thinking for a while, he finally decided to tell the truth to the other party.
"To tell you the truth, Mrs. Alice, I have encountered a bad thing recently, and I hope to get your help."
What worries Bowen is naturally the secret agreement between him and Maria.
Previously, under Maria's initiative, he and Maria had reached a tacit understanding. Maria would convey important news in the palace to him (especially news about His Majesty), and he would convey benefits to Maria.
The two of them worked together happily, but one day before, Maria had promised to come over to see him, but she suddenly broke the appointment, and then directly cut off contact with him.
Of course he didn't know about the series of changes that happened that day, nor did he know that Maria had to temporarily keep her tail between her legs since she was severely punished by Teresa. She was also afraid of being monitored by Teresa, so in a short time
I dare not contact Bowang again, lest Teresa catch more "criminal evidence".
Although he didn't know this information, with Bowang's cunning and cunning nature, he certainly smelled the ominous atmosphere from such a huge and sudden change, so while he carefully protected himself, he quickly mobilized his network of contacts and tried to
Find out what exactly went wrong.
After many efforts, he found some information, which was enough to confirm that Maria did come to Paris that day to fulfill her promise to meet him. However, as soon as she arrived in Paris, she was "invited" by Her Majesty the Queen to go back to Fontainebleau, and then it seemed that the two of them
There was also a violent conflict, and what happened next was completely unclear.
Such vague information made Bowang even more frightened.
He has always been a sensitive and suspicious person, so he naturally guessed that Her Majesty the Queen must have noticed that Princess Maria secretly colluded with him to resell confidential information.
Although everyone is doing this kind of thing, no one cares about some things if they are not named. Once they are named, it will become a big problem. If Her Majesty the Queen can use these "evidences" to pursue Princess Maria, then of course she has the ability to use this kind of "criminal evidence"
To hold him accountable for his crime, even if he has all his abilities, he will still be in big trouble after all.
Fortunately, until now, His Majesty and his wife have no intention of pursuing him, not even asking or reprimanding them. The huge turmoil has just disappeared, as if nothing happened.
This also seems to prove that Her Majesty the Queen is just fighting with Maria and trying every means to trouble her, and has no intention of touching her.
While Bowang was secretly glad that he had escaped, he also summed up his experience and lessons.
He did not regret his attempt to "collude with the palace members", but found that his investment was still too single-minded, so that when Maria had an accident, he had no warning, let alone any remedy, and could only watch the situation worsen, unable to do anything.
After learning from the experience, he naturally hopes to increase investment, add more information channels, and even obtain a life-saving amulet at a critical moment.
And Alice, who had an old friendship with him before and was now kicked out of the palace and idle at home, naturally became an excellent investment target.
To achieve this goal, not only must he give Alice a heavy gift, but he must also be "sincere", because it is difficult for smart people to be fooled by simple lies.
Because of this, Bowang took the risk and told Alice the secret.
Alice, on the other hand, was dumbfounded.
She didn't expect that such a "big drama" would happen during her idle time at home.
She had long heard that Princess Maria was domineering, arrogant and unruly, but she never expected that she was so "well-deserved" that she stirred up troubles as soon as she came to France, and secretly colluded with Beauvin.
What's more, I didn't expect that Her Majesty the Queen would act so quickly and harshly, which was not at all like her past style.
Maybe this is the real Her Majesty the Queen... She just didn't care before. Alice thought to herself.
The information disclosed by Bowang, combined with the information she had obtained from various parties before, allowed her to roughly guess the beginning and end of the previous series of events.
"I understand... There were rumors everywhere about the conflict between Her Majesty the Queen and Her Majesty Maria. It turns out that the cause is all here with you!" Now, she suddenly realized, "It seems that she has suffered a lot. No wonder she has been keeping a low profile recently.
Quite a bit, I am no longer so arrogant in front of Her Majesty the Queen... Hehe, this is really retribution in this world."
When she thought of Maria's failure, not only was she not sad, she actually wanted to laugh. After all, she was somewhat grateful to Her Majesty the Queen for promoting her, and naturally she couldn't bear to see Maria being disrespectful to Teresa.
"Then do you think she will collapse? Or, will she implicate me...?" Bowang carefully asked the question he was most worried about.
Since she had just received such an expensive gift from him, Alice naturally wanted to reciprocate the favor and show her own worth.
So, she thought for a moment and gave the answer.
"No, from my point of view, the reason why the previous turmoil disappeared is because His Majesty stood up, stopped Her Majesty the Queen, and saved Princess Maria, so this matter should have ended here, and you don't have to worry about being
Even if she is implicated, she will not be driven away. I am very sure of this."
"Really...that's good." Bo Wang couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was the result he most hoped for.
Then, he couldn't help but ask, "So, do you think it is worthwhile for her to continue investing in the future?"
Alice fell silent immediately.
It's not that she can't give an answer, but that the answer she gives will definitely involve too much.
Because this question is essentially asking whether Maria will fall out of favor in front of His Majesty.
Seeing her hesitation, Bowang immediately guessed that the other party thought his price was not enough. Just when he was about to promise more benefits, Alice suddenly sighed.
"You can continue to interact with her. She will not fall out of favor. After all...after all, she is His Majesty's favorite."
"Favorite?" Bo Wang didn't believe it. "His Majesty's taste is not so unique..."
"It's normal that you don't understand. In fact, I figured it out not long ago." Alice's eyes flickered a little, as if she was sighing and joking, "In short, Your Majesty will not abandon His Highness Maria. You
Just don’t worry—”
Although Bowang was still a little surprised, seeing Alice being so decisive, he felt a little more convinced.
"I understand...Thank you for your advice! Mrs. Alice, I will never forget your advice."
After solemnly promising Alice the benefits, he changed the topic again, "In addition, for me, I am a pure businessman. I just want to make money and get political asylum. So no matter who the asylum is, as long as it is effective enough,
, I can happily accept it. I don’t want to participate in the internal fighting in the palace. If possible, I would rather be a lovely money-distributor. Of course Princess Maria can do it, but if I can give you, or even give a gift to Her Majesty the Queen,
, I will definitely be extremely happy!”
The implication is that he hopes to continue to cooperate with Alice in the future.
Facing this olive branch, Alice just smiled and didn't appear particularly eager.
"Let's wait and see..." she said, gently stroking her belly, "If I can recover, I will be qualified to accept your kindness, won't I...?"