While Aigron and Haidee were attending the coronation celebration of King Otto I in Athens, an unexpected visitor arrived in Paris, thousands of miles away.
However, compared to Aiglon's pomp, Edmond Dantès was much more low-key. He used a false identity to sneak into this magnificent city, and no one noticed his arrival.
This is not the first time Edmund has come to this city, but the last time he came here, he was just a poor guy who had just crawled out of a dark prison and was surviving the disaster; but a year later, he
When he came to Paris again, the tempering of blood and fire had shaped him into a brave and resourceful elite, and he was also a count with a fief.
In just one year, his mentality has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the wind and rain from the outside world can no longer shake his hard heart.
When he first came to Paris, he was not in a hurry to find a place to live, nor did he have the heart to appreciate the famous attractions in this prosperous city. Instead, he found a way to get outside General Treville's residence.
According to His Majesty's instructions, General Treville is his biggest and most reliable helper. The general is also brave and resourceful, and is a native of Paris. He is familiar with the local situation and has some connections in the upper class.
What Demon lacks most.
Of course, he did not immediately send a letter to visit, but secretly observed it outside.
After all, the Marquis of Treville and Aiglon sneaked into France before and caused a lot of trouble. The Bourbon royal family was sure to be furious and tracked down the person responsible. He could not ensure the safety of the Treville family, so he did not dare to surrender rashly.
Snare.
After patiently observing, he found that someone was indeed secretly watching outside the mansion, but the Treville family didn't look like they were in any serious trouble, so he felt relieved.
The people following him had no trouble at all, because he had stayed at Treville's house last time, so he knew the environment inside very well.
When night came, he quietly walked out of the darkness and entered through the secret door in the small garden.
As soon as he came in, he was immediately noticed by the servants in the mansion with vigilance. However, after confirming that he was the "distinguished guest" who stayed in the mansion last year, he immediately received the courtesy he deserved, and then the Marquis of Treville
Then we learned about the arrival of the Count of Monte Cristo.
The general did not disturb other family members, and his servant immediately took the count to his study.
In the candlelit study, Edmond Dantès and the Marquis de Treville, old acquaintances, finally met again.
Because they knew each other's important position in His Majesty's heart and had heard about each other's "heroic deeds", the two of them felt a sense of sympathy for each other when they met, and they immediately shook hands. During this handshake, Ed
Meng clearly felt that the general's body seemed a little weak.
"Count, I am so happy to see you again!" Marquis Treville was the first to send greetings. "Your arrival will definitely make us Bonapartists even more powerful."
"I'm glad to see you again, General." Edmond Dantès replied sincerely, "It seems that you have been ill recently?"
"I made you laugh." General Treville smiled bitterly, "The last time I ran back to Paris, the puppet king was so angry that His Majesty showed up and ordered all suspicious persons to be investigated. In order to prevent them from becoming suspicious, I took the initiative
I was very successful in drinking the medicine and pretending to be sick, so I lingered on the bed for a long time, and I have only recovered a little now. In a sense, you came at the right time."
Edmund was admired and moved at the same time. Although the general said it easily, his courage and courage are indeed not something ordinary people can have.
"Your loyalty is enough to awe everyone." He said solemnly, "Your Majesty will never forget the price you paid for him."
"As long as the empire can be restored, I will not hesitate to pay no matter how high the price is." General Treville replied.
After finishing speaking, the two people held hands tightly again to express the admiration between their comrades.
"At this moment, His Majesty is probably attending the coronation ceremony of the King of Greece." After shaking hands, Edmund spoke again, "He has found a king for Greece, and hopes to win a long-lasting peace for them. Now his attention
He wants to put all his efforts here. He believes that the time of the false king and his dynasty is running out, and now is the time for us to prepare for it."
Although Edmund did not speak clearly, how could the Marquis of Treville, who had been lurking at home for a long time and secretly watch for opportunities, not understand what he meant?
Your Majesty's intention is very clear. The Bourbon dynasty seems to be crumbling, and the crown is likely to fall to the ground again in the near future. However, there are many people who want to rush over and steal the crown. Your Majesty, who is abroad, will inevitably be affected when the dynasty collapses.
He was also one position behind in the process of grabbing the crown, so in order to grab the crown, he had to prepare in advance.
And this happened to be the judgment of the Marquis of Treville.
Because of this, he was very happy to cooperate.
"Your Majesty's wisdom and insight are indeed far beyond ordinary people!" He praised loudly, "Yes, now is indeed a good time to expand our power. The days of the false king will not last long, and his son is extremely mediocre and unworthy of leading this country.
Country, this is something that everyone can see clearly! On the Duke of Orleans’ side, Your Majesty should make preparations in advance.”
"What your Majesty means is that we need to find more supporters among the elite so that they can help His Majesty seize the throne." Edmund simply made it clear, "Before he returns to Paris, we must make it clear who stands with us.
On the other hand, who are the neutrals waiting and watching, and who are the enemy generals we must defeat? His Majesty clearly told me that this is the only focus we need to focus on during this period, and other things can be put behind."
"I will cooperate with you to complete this work." The Marquis nodded happily, "I have been dormant in Paris for too long! It has been so long that I have almost forgotten that I used to be a general... But now, I will pick it up again
Memories of the past, I will mobilize all the connections I can use so that you can complete your work smoothly."
Edmond Dantès recalled what his Majesty had said to him, and then recounted it himself.
"The support of the military is absolutely essential for us. However, the top brass in the military are all promoted after the restoration of the Bourbon family. They definitely don't have much goodwill towards us. The most we can do is count on them to be neutral. Your Majesty means that in
Looking for supporters among the frustrated senior officers, he believes that if a former Imperial Marshal is willing to stand on our side, it will become a decisive bargaining chip..."
"Marshal..." Marquis Treville pondered for a moment, searching for the marshals who are still alive in his mind, and estimating the candidates among them who may support the empire. "They are still alive, and they are most likely to be on our side.
The marshal, I think it is Marshal Moncey or Marshal Soult. They both have huge reputations. If one of them is willing to stand on our side, we will become stronger. If both agree, then I
I think we will have no obstacles within the army."
Edmund was secretly stunned. He had no idea that the general's reply was similar to His Majesty's previous guess.
General Treville was a high-ranking official in the military before, so it was natural for him to be familiar with these situations. However, His Majesty has never had much contact with France. He could clearly estimate that this was indeed not easy.
"I know that it will definitely not be easy for the two famous marshals, Qu Jie, to deal with me, and it is hard to say how much energy they have to participate in domestic politics now..." Edmund sighed softly, "
But since this is His Majesty’s wish, then we will take this as our goal and try our best to realize it.”
"You have to try no matter what. These two marshals are not happy because of the suppression of the dynasty. I think they have enough motivation to support His Majesty. As long as we win over them and put forward enough conditions." Trey.
General Weir is quite confident.
He was not worried that after the matter was accomplished, he would be ostracized by the marshals and subordinated to others, because these marshals were not His Majesty's cronies, and they could not gain real trust from His Majesty. In the end, Your Majesty still had to control the army by himself.
Marshal Moncey is relatively older, now in his 70s, and would not have had much ambition to participate in the struggle for power; as for Marshal Soult, he is young and capable, but because of this he will definitely not be
The "own people" in His Majesty's eyes can only take advantage of cooperation and take precautions at the same time.
Therefore, by executing this order, he will lose nothing, only benefits and no harm.
The focus now is to seize power for Your Majesty, and we will talk about other things later. Your Majesty is a person who knows how to reward according to his merits, and he will give him the rewards he deserves.
Edmond Dantès didn't know what was going on in General Treville's mind. He saw more hope in the general's statement, so he became more confident.
He firmly believes that Your Majesty is what people want, and that any pretender king or other pretender to the throne will never have your Majesty's charm and appeal.
"By the way, there is something I want to remind you. After arriving in Paris this time, I am no longer the Count of Monte Cristo, but the Count Bellivet of the Principality of Parma, a foreigner who admires Paris and comes to visit.
person."
The Principality of Parma? As soon as he heard this word, Marquis Treville fell into deep thought.
He knew that His Majesty's mother was the ruler of the Principality of Parma, so the identity of Count of Monte Cristo must have been forged with the help of Queen Louisa.
Does this mean that the mother and son, who originally had a bad relationship, secretly colluded?
But soon, the general put this idea aside. After all, he was not qualified to take care of His Majesty's family affairs. Besides, it was only human nature for Queen Louisa to want to help her son ascend the throne.
"Okay, I understand." Marquis Treville nodded, "Then you must need a place to stay, right?"
"Yes, I need to use this identity to move around in the social circles of Paris to hide my true purpose." Edmond Dantès nodded again, "For this reason, I need to buy a mansion that matches my identity.
, and live a life that suits your identity. I think if you help me, this will definitely not be a problem..."
"Of course it's not a problem." The general replied happily, "However, if I take charge of this matter personally, I'm afraid it will make people suspicious, so let Alice help you. She is very good at doing this kind of thing, and she doesn't
Who will pay attention to her?"
"How is Mrs. Alice?" Edmund asked casually. "And your granddaughter."
"The madam is very good, and as for Xia Lu, she is even better!" Marquis Treville suddenly smiled from the bottom of his heart, "She is indeed my granddaughter. She is beautiful and healthy, and she has never been sick.
, and she is smart and can learn everything quickly... She must be a gift from God to me. I have to spend several hours with her every day, otherwise I would just feel uncomfortable and panicked."
When he said this, the Marquis's face glowed with pride and happiness. Now he didn't look like an ambitious conspirator, but truly looked like an ordinary grandfather.
Seeing the Marquis looking so happy, Edmund was also happy for him from the bottom of his heart. "That's great... I also want to see Miss Charlotte. She must be very beautiful."
"What's the problem? I'll just bring her over to you right away to have a look." The Marquis agreed immediately.
He wished that everyone could see his granddaughter and praise her.
Just when he was about to walk out of the study to find Xia Lu, Edmond Dantès remembered something else.
"By the way, General, Your Majesty also told me something very important before I left... to track down his assassin."
"What! Is there such a thing?" The general was stunned immediately, and the smile on his face became solemn. "What's going on?"
So Edmund relayed to the Marquis exactly what His Majesty had said.
Like Edmund, the Marquis was extremely angry when he heard this, but what he was angry about was not that "the master humiliated his ministers to death", but that his dream of glory and wealth was almost extinguished.
"Shameless! Despicable! Someone would actually do such a thing... They will definitely pay the price!" he yelled.
"Yes, they must pay the price, and His Majesty will not forgive this kind of offense. Whether it is the assassin or the instigator, he will find out and give him the punishment he deserves." Edmund nodded, "He will
The task of tracing has been entrusted to me, and the biggest clue now is the identity of the assassin. She is Miss Agnes's master."
"What? Agnes is also involved?" The Marquis was startled again, but quickly shook his head, "No, I know Agnes very well, she is very stubborn, she doesn't know how to care, and she doesn't care.
Doing such crooked things should have nothing to do with her."
"I think so too. Miss Agnes will not be involved." Edmund also agreed, "But we can find her master from her. The only question is how to do it."
"With Alice here, this little girl is easy to deal with." The Marquis curled his lips and sneered, "Okay, I will bring Xia Lu over to you first, and then let Alice see you later, right?
Let’s not tell her this thing, she shouldn’t know.”