"The Count of Monte Cristo is with us now, in the room next to you."
Agnes looked at her sister dumbfounded.
In an instant, her expression changed, from questioning and blaming at the beginning to understanding and helplessness. She knew that this "distinguished guest" was not something that her sister could decide whether to receive or not.
She hesitated to speak, as if she didn't want to provoke her sister any more, and finally she could only sigh.
"I've known for a long time that nothing good will happen if you follow that guy! We are all in bad luck!"
Alice knew who the guy she was talking about was, so she dissuaded her sister, "You shouldn't say that. Although we do face a little danger, it was not forced on us by anyone, it was our own choice."
"No! You didn't choose it, it was the arrogant general! Not only was he ambitious, but he also got all his family members involved." Agnes retorted to her sister, "You were involved from the beginning.
You didn't care about the Bonaparte family in the beginning. Now there are only two of us here, so why do you pretend to be loyalists? Could it be that, under the suppression of that hateful general, you no longer have the courage to maintain your opinions in private?
?"
Agnes didn't have a good impression of General Treville, and she was angry at the moment, so she spoke very rudely.
However, Alice became angry after hearing this. She glared at her sister and stopped her bad words. "Agnes, I don't care what you say outside. I don't allow you in this home, in front of his family."
Speak ill of him! The general is a very powerful man, strong-willed, courageous and strategic. He is much stronger than our father! I admire him very much, not fear him. The reason why I embarked on this path is not
Because I am afraid, but because I sincerely agree with what he is doing and would rather participate as one of them..."
"Agree?" Agnes was a little confused.
"Yes, you are right. Even now, I don't have a good impression of the Bonaparte family, but that is not important. What is important is that the Bonaparte family is now willing to pay a high price to buy our family, and the Wang family
You won’t do it anymore, let alone others!” Alice replied seriously to her sister, “We are indeed taking risks, but we are also promised huge rewards in the future. If that day comes,
The general will definitely stand taller than my father. The difference is that my father only got it because of his bloodline and to please the king, while the general really got it all by himself."
After a pause, she smiled bitterly again, "Maybe in your eyes, I have been polluted by the world and turned into a careerist addicted to lust for power. However, the situation is completely different for me. My family
We are all taking risks. How can I pretend that nothing happened and stay out of it? Didn’t I vow to share the joys and sorrows? For me, this is more than just words.
Also, Xia Lu... my daughter, if I had a choice, I would not let her live in a declining family and bear the glare of the outside world. I would let her get everything she deserves.
She is so smart and cute, can't she be noticed and admired like a princess? Are we destined to be excluded from the social world by those who are not as good as us? I can endure this humiliation, and I have
I have endured it for a long time, but I can't bear the same treatment for my daughter... Since they pushed us away, we stepped on their heads, isn't this the fairest result?"
Her sister's rhetorical question immediately left Agnes speechless.
She knew in her heart that since her sister married Edgar, the famous families who were originally dissatisfied with General Treville had closed their doors to her sister. Even her father had almost ignored her, although her sister didn't care.
These, but it is quite normal and reasonable to accumulate resentment in your heart.
But after all, you didn't choose it yourself in a daze... She didn't dare to say this.
Xia Lu, yes, Xia Lu is so cute. She should be the most dazzling star at the ball. How can she be excluded from the social world and live as an unknown Xiaojiabiyu? Obviously her surname is De.
- Treville... When she thought of this, Agnes suddenly understood her sister's thoughts a little bit again.
At this moment, Alice also calmed down, she retracted her rare excited scowl, and then showed her normal smile.
"So you see, I was not coerced, but took the initiative to participate. I sincerely hope that His Majesty's career will succeed and lead us to success. But you are different, Agnes, you are outside of us, and you
You have already helped us enough before, you have no obligation to get involved anymore, I am just telling you this..."
"I understand." Agnes bit her lip, and then took the initiative to comfort her sister, "Okay, the Count of Monte Cristo is here, but so what? Everything is not that bad. To be honest, I quite admire that guy.
Although his skills are average, he has a good personality and is brave and resourceful. He is worthy of being my friend!"
"Now don't call him the Count of Monte Cristo, so as not to cause new troubles. He now has a new alias, Count Bellivet from Parma. And he plans to live in Paris temporarily. I am ready to provide him with
I need the help I need.”
Although Agnes is not interested in these things, she can certainly guess what it means for the count to "live in Paris for a long time", but she is not willing to add new troubles to her sister at the moment, so she treats it as nothing.
He nodded cheerfully, "Yeah! That's good. Let me help you too. After all, you are a friend from afar. As a Parisian, I can't be rude."
Alice had already known that her sister would answer this way, and it was also the answer she was looking forward to.
Objectively speaking, she took advantage of the sisterly relationship to get Agnes to side with her and provide help. Just because she knew this in her heart, she was filled with guilt and did not dare to look at her sister again.
"I think he is also looking forward to seeing you again. Come with me." She stood up directly.
Agnes naturally had no objection, so she got up and followed her sister over.
As the door of the reception room was opened again, Edmond Dantès, who had been waiting here for a long time, finally saw Agnes.
He immediately stood up, saluted and greeted the girl's arrival.
Perhaps because she lived in seclusion after returning to Paris and was well-fed and well-fed, Agnes was even more charming than when she was in Greece, and her aura of agility and vitality was completely different from that of other ladies of the same age.
It seems even more rare and valuable.
"Miss Agnes, it's a pleasure to meet you again."
"Nice to see you again, Count." Agnes also saluted Edmund, "Why did you come to Paris again?"
"Of course I was assigned by His Majesty." Edmund smiled bitterly, "As a servant, I have no right to refuse, and besides, I also like this city very much."
"This is a very risky move." Agnes replied, and then changed the subject, "By the way, I heard before that your Majesty went to France to make a show and then fled the country. How is he now?
Is everything going well?"
"Your Majesty is fine now. He has escaped safely back to Ioannina. If my prediction is correct, he should be attending the coronation ceremony of the King of Greece now." Edmund replied that of course he would not tell what happened to His Majesty before.
of assassination.
"That's it, it's quite powerful." Although this should be a big deal in diplomacy, Agnes was not interested in it at all, so she just said it in one word, "Because the troubles he made before can bring the king to ruins."
His Majesty was so angry that he lost his temper. As a result, not only the general, but also my father was almost in trouble..."
"Is it because of me?" Edmund asked quickly. "If so, I sincerely apologize to you!"
"That's right." Agnes smiled bitterly, "But what's the point of apologizing after everything is over? No one was harmed anyway. But you, Mr. Earl, you'd better be careful, because
You made an appearance at my house, so you should try your best not to be recognized by others. Once you are arrested, it will not be fun...I am afraid that even if my father pleads for mercy, he will never be able to save you."
Agnes's attitude was quite sincere. It was obvious that she was not just talking, but was really worried about the count's safety.
"Don't worry about this. Since I'm here, I will definitely be prepared not to be captured alive." Edmond Dantès replied calmly.
Of course Agnes could hear the weight of it. She was both admiring and helpless, so she could only spread her hands.
"I really hope this all ends soon! This poor country of ours is really unlucky. It has been soaked in blood for 20 or 30 years. It finally got a chance to breathe, but the result is still no peace! Oh, if the world can not help
Then it would be great to be obsessed with power and position..."
"It's not just a question of power and position. Sometimes we have to decide the winner, because only the winner can represent justice and write history. In order not to become a clown in other people's writings, we must grab the pen ourselves," Edmund replied sternly
.
"Hey... OK, OK... As expected of his subordinate, he talks exactly like him!" Agnes felt dizzy when she heard such words, so she interrupted him with an impatient shrug, "
Forget it, you can do whatever you want. I pray for your life and hope that God will be merciful and not take you away so quickly..."
Edmund just smiled and did not continue the topic.
"Since you are my friend, of course I will do my best to help." Agnes changed the topic, "Well, I will not participate in those conspiracies, let alone let my father participate.
, I will explain this in advance. However, if you have any requests for life, or if you need my help to find out any news, then for the sake of my sister, I will try my best to help."
"Even if you only do this, it is already a great favor to me. I will never dare to ask for more..." Edmund quickly thanked the other party.
He knew that although Agnes was an understatement, she was a very serious person. Now that she had said so, she would naturally practice what she said, and this also meant that he had half a helper.
He had just arrived in Paris and was unfamiliar with the place. It would be much more convenient to have the help of the general and the sisters.
Moreover, through General Treville, he could also secretly mobilize some people.
He knew that he had several life-and-death enemies in Paris. He had engraved the names of these enemies in his mind and did not dare to forget them for a moment. However, there were more important things now. He had clearly prioritized and would not waste energy on personal matters.
Personal vendetta.
He now has to carry out another important mission of his.
"Miss Agnes, rather than asking for any news, I am more looking forward to seeing you again." He pretended to mention the past inadvertently, "That time in Messolonghion, at our celebration reception,
You showed off your power and beat us all into submission one by one. I am afraid I will never forget that gorgeous performance..."
"What, there is such a thing?" Alice, who had been silent until now, was really shocked this time, "Agnes, really, what are you doing fighting with a group of grown men? Not to mention the danger, what do you want others to do?
Looking at you?"
"It's nothing, it's just a performance at the celebration reception, no one takes it seriously!" When hearing the count mention this kind of thing in front of her sister, Agnes was embarrassed and a little proud, and couldn't help but laugh, "
What, Mr. Earl, aren't you still convinced? If you want to discuss things further, I'm here to accompany you at any time~"
"Sparring is out of the question, but I would like to take this opportunity to learn from you again. Didn't you say you wanted to teach me before? I didn't have time at the time, but now I have... I really want to ask you for advice.
, After all, I need to practice self-defense skills now." Edmond Dantès answered the other party half-truthfully.
Then, after setting the mood, he finally revealed his trump card, "By the way, the identity you gave me last time was a relative of your master. To be honest, I am also very curious about your master. I don't know who he is.
How powerful a swordsman can be to teach an apprentice like you? I heard you said before that she is a woman, so that is even more amazing..."
"Of course!" Agnes had no intention of being modest about her master. Instead, she replied quite proudly, "My teacher is better than me."
"Then if I have a chance, can I catch a glimpse of her?" Edmund's eyes were full of expectation, "I just want to see who else is better than you."
"Well..." Agnes pondered.
She knew that the master usually lived alone and did not like to be public, but after all, she had just promised the count to provide some help, and meeting the master was not a "conspiracy" at all, so she felt that it would be difficult for her to refuse.
Besides, theoretically the earl is also his apprentice, so it seems reasonable to ask him to meet his master's master?
So Agnes nodded and agreed.
"Okay, but I'm not sure when she will come back to Paris. When she arrives, I will let you see her... But you'd better practice first, otherwise I'm afraid she will look down on you~"
That's it! Edmund was overjoyed.
The mission entrusted by His Majesty has now become clear.
In his ecstasy, he did not forget to remind the other party, "By the way, don't reveal my identity, just introduce me to her as an ordinary person."
"I know, how could I be so stupid?" Agnes replied impatiently.
...No, in fact, you have been fooled now.
Edmund answered in his mind.
His joy suddenly disappeared and turned into sympathy.
Everyone is hiding from her and taking advantage of her to some extent, and she clearly doesn't deserve this kind of treatment.
What a good person she is...
Feeling guilty, he did not dare to look at Agnes for a moment.
It would be great if there was anything he could do to help her in the future, he thought to himself.