With Alice's efforts, the two families finally reached an agreement, and then Edmond Dantès naturally followed the agreement and found Mr. Beauvin, the manipulator behind the scenes, and told him that his benefactor planned to pull the strings.
Duke Delien's family asked him to lend money to help.
Bowang was naturally happy to cooperate - on the one hand, he had made a lot of money for himself and the bank this time, with abundant funds on hand and an increase in his voice; on the other hand, he also very much hoped to take the opportunity to please Lechstadt
Duke.
If Edmund hadn't specifically stated that the money should be paid one by one, Bowang might have simply prepared enough money at once.
Of course, in order to cover the eyes and ears of the outside world, Bowang did not want himself and his boss Poncena to appear in these transactions. They used some secretly controlled lending institutions to lend money to the Duke's family. In order to show off, they also asked the Duke for "
Collateral" - of course, the amount lent was more than ten times greater than the actual value of the collateral.
All the details are very similar to Alice and Edmund's previous plan, and Agnes also followed her father's orders and participated in the entire process, monitoring these transactions.
Of course, Agnes still has the task assigned by her father. She tries her best to find out who the "manipulator behind the scenes" is.
Although Agnes didn't quite understand her father's intentions, out of the mentality of protecting the family, she faithfully carried out the order and wholeheartedly tried to find the truth from the clues of these transactions - but she did not have the corresponding professional ability.
, so progress can only be quite limited.
Agnes found it difficult to do this kind of spying on others, so she wanted to directly tell the Count of Monte Cristo several times and ask him to tell her who the financier was, but in the end she broke her father because of fear.
It was a big plan, so I had no choice but to endure it.
Of course, while executing these transactions, Edmund was also performing other tasks assigned by His Majesty, and those followers who were attached to Aigron were also busy working for his cause.
Just one night, an inconspicuous carriage quietly came to Edmond's residence, and the passenger inside was also a frequent visitor here - the Marquis of Noirtier.
This old expert in the political arena is as graceful as ever. Although his hair has turned gray, his tall body is still straight and erect, exuding endless energy.
Under the guidance of the servant, he went straight to the count's study.
"Good evening, Mr. Marquis." As soon as he saw him, Edmund stretched out his hand to say hello. "You are here today. Do you have any good news?"
"A very good news, sir." The Marquis held his hand, and a happy smile appeared on his wrinkled face, "Prince Talleyrand sent me a message yesterday through my news channel, saying
I want to meet His Majesty’s agent.”
"Prince Talleyrand?" Edmund was a little surprised for a moment, "He... wants to see me?"
Even though he has retired from politics for many years, the name Talleyrand still impresses the count and almost all French people. The name itself even represents an era.
Edmond Dantès despised his moral corruption; but at the same time, he admired his vision and skill to a certain extent, so much so that he didn't even know how to evaluate this old cunning guy -
—Perhaps, some people are born unable to be evaluated in just a few words.
Of course, it doesn't matter how you evaluate him. What's important is that he is one of the people that His Majesty has personally said that he will focus on wooing. He has great influence both at home and abroad. Now that he can have direct contact with him, this is definitely what His Majesty wants.
Significant progress to see.
Last time he had met Marshal Soult under the leadership of the Marquis of Treville, and this time the Marquis of Noirtier will lead him to meet Prince Talleyrand, which also means that he himself participated in the stage
, he can only learn how to play his role step by step to avoid showing cowardice.
"Do you mind him very much?" Seeing Edmund's complicated expression, the Marquis immediately guessed his mood at the moment, so he asked with a smile.
"...a little bit." Edmund nodded sheepishly, "However, this does not affect my actions."
"That's good, Edmund. You are a principled and loyal person. This is a good thing, but this principle should not affect your choice. You know, politics usually means principled people wooing unprincipled people.
A game in which people do great things together." The Marquis nodded approvingly, and then talked eloquently, "I have known him for almost half a century, and I have known him before 1789. I have seen every ups and downs of his,
Of course, he has seen every ups and downs of mine, and we have experienced and witnessed everything together. I can clearly see every bad thing he does, some of which are amazing and some of which are ridiculous, but no matter
How can I put it this way, that he has survived every government and received high-ranking officials and generous salaries, which shows his ability. You can look down on him but you can't ignore him - of course, you can't rely on him, and everyone who relies on him can't.
Everyone was easily betrayed by him, and there will be no exception in the future."
"Of course His Majesty is not naive. He has never had any expectations for Prince Talleyrand. All cooperation with him is just a temporary measure." Edmund quickly explained to the Marquis, "He feels that Prince Talleyrand
As a diplomatic veteran, he can help him gain the goodwill or neutrality of the great powers. As long as he can do this, Talleyrand is worth winning over. As for the future... His Majesty is still very young anyway, and the prince's time is running out. No matter what
You can also give him a final farewell. At worst, just write a beautiful eulogy and give it to him."
"A very good realist attitude. Your Majesty is really talented at understanding these principles at such a young age. Talleyrand himself probably knew this, so he wanted to play some more tricks before he died to give his life
Draw a satisfactory conclusion." At this point, the Marquis's face suddenly became a little sad, "Me too."
Edmund was silent for a moment.
The passage of time is so ruthless. Although both the Marquis and Prince Talleyrand were lucky enough to escape the butcher's knife in every vicissitude during the Revolution, they eventually reached their twilight years and were approaching the end of their lives step by step.
Perhaps because of this, their obsession with "doing something more before they die" may be stronger than in the past.
Since joining, the Marquis has devoted himself so wholeheartedly to this cause, probably more because of this mentality than his loyalty to the Bonaparte family.
Fortunately, the Marquis of Noirtier's emotion only lasted for a moment, and immediately his eyes were full of excitement, "Although I am old, I am not moldy yet. I still have enough time to witness the next drama. Earl,
If you have time recently, we will set a date and we will visit Prince Talleyrand together then."
Now that he has met Marshal Soult once, Edmund's mentality has naturally been tempered a lot. Although Talleyrand's name will bring pressure, he will not have any fear. He just doesn't know.
How should we face this old fox who has been jumping around for decades?
The marshal was very majestic, but he also had the straightforwardness of a soldier. Even though he was ambitious, he never disdained to play tricks in front of a little guy like himself. But Talleyrand was different. He was a famous old fox.
He couldn't be sure which of his words would offend the other party. It would be a small thing for him to be resented by the prince, and he would not be able to bear the responsibility for spoiling His Majesty's plan.
Because of this concern, he decided to ask the Marquis for advice, "Sir, what do you think is my attitude towards the prince?"
As soon as he saw Edmund's expression at this moment, the sophisticated Marquis immediately understood his dilemma, so he couldn't help laughing.
"Don't worry, since you are His Majesty's agent, he will give you some respect no matter what, and you don't need to grovel in front of him, just follow your usual way of dealing with things - as for the rest,
Leave it all to me. We have known each other for decades, and although we are not friends, I can always show some respect in front of him."
Then, he sneered again, "Also, don't forget, now he is just a sage who has been in power for many years. We are anxious for him as well! The Bourbon family will never forget what he did in the past. He wants to find out
There are not many other options."
As soon as the Marquis said this, Edmund immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, both parties had an urgent need for help. Even if the talks collapsed, at least it would not be too ugly.
Although he had no political experience, as long as the Marquis was by his side to help him, he would not be embarrassed in front of Talleyrand.
So he was immediately full of confidence, and then made an appointment with the Marquis on a date.
After talking about all this, the Marquis said goodbye to Edmund. Edmund saw him off happily and took out his pocket watch to check the time.
Compared with the pocket watch he used before, this time there was a small portrait on the inner wall of his pocket watch - it was given to him by Lady Emily, and it had the portraits of his mother and daughter on it.
After the two people achieved good things, although they did not fall in love with each other, their relationship naturally became very close. In order to consolidate her position and make Edmund happy, Emily deliberately used various methods
Small means to please the count.
I have to say that her tenderness and sweetness are really effective. Edmund, who has been in a dark prison for more than ten years, desperately longs for the warmth between his family, even though he knows in his heart that Emily may have done it deliberately.
ingredients, but still enjoy this treatment very much.
Although he couldn't fall in love with Emily because of Mercedes, deep down in his heart, he already regarded her as one of his family members.
During this period, Edmond Dantès went to the old Danglars mansion to visit Emily and his daughter significantly more often, and the three of them unknowingly lived like a real family - in short, maybe this
It was the happiest and calmest period of time for Edmund after he was wrongly imprisoned.
Because of this, when he saw the portraits of mother and daughter on the inner wall, Edmund couldn't help but smile, and he was thinking about going over to see them after a while.
The Marquis was also keenly aware of the Earl's happy expression at this moment, and then his eyes fell on the pocket watch.
"Mrs. Danglars?"
Then his eyes widened and he blurted out in surprise.
Edmund was awakened by this exclamation. He quickly put away his pocket watch, and then felt regretful about his mistake.
Logically speaking, I should not show the portrait of my "family" in front of outsiders, but because the Marquis is a comrade, I subconsciously lowered my guard. I will take this as a warning in the future.
"Is that Mrs. Danglars?" The Marquis seemed to have thought of something, stopped, and then asked Edmund.
Seeing the serious expression on the Marquis's face, Edmund knew that he couldn't deal with it, so he nodded slightly awkwardly. "Yes, that's her. After the collapse of Tanglar Bank, I bought his mansion, and
At that time, I thought their mother and daughter were pitiful, so I allowed them to continue living there. To express her gratitude to me, she gave me this portrait——"
Edmund's words were not entirely untrue. He only briefly described the process and concealed what he and Bowen had done. The Marquis did not want to ask about this matter. On the contrary, he fell into deep thought and his eyes flickered.
.
The Marquis's main focus was on politics, but after all, he was born in a noble family. He had been in the court before the Revolution, so he was no stranger to all kinds of romances. The meaning of the portrait of the pocket watch and what Edmund just saw were
The expression in this portrait revealed a fact to him.
Logically speaking, out of the etiquette of upper class society, he should not continue to inquire about the details. He had no interest in asking about other people's private lives.
However, Lady Emily has a special meaning to the Marquis of Noirtier - she was once his son's mistress.
"Count, are you really close to Madame Danglars?" the Marquis of Noirtier asked in a trembling voice.
Edmund noticed that the Marquis' face was a little ugly.
He thought that the Marquis was worried that he would lose his mind by playing with things and delay important things by being indulged in the gentle countryside, so he nodded a little shyly, "Yes, sir, she and I are often together now."
The Marquis of Noirtier felt a throbbing pain in his head.
He didn't really care that the Marquis did such a thing, after all, who doesn't have a bit of a romance?
It's just that the earl and his son were enemies in the first place, but he didn't expect that they would be related to each other because of this kind of thing. It's really a tangle of cause and effect.
So should he reveal the truth about the past to the count? Or, the count has already learned the truth about the past from the lady, and this is also some kind of revenge on his part?
The Marquis Noirtier's originally shrewd mind was a little disturbed by this accident.
"Sir?" Seeing that the Marquis was in a trance, Edmund was a little confused.
"It's nothing... I'm sorry, I was a little distracted." The Marquis shook his head, and then smiled apologetically, "Oh, people tend to be in a trance when they get old. It's okay. Goodbye."
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