The Count of Monte Cristo's questions made Fernand feel extremely painful.
It was obviously still winter at the moment, but he was sweating like rain, as if he had gotten into a steamer.
Not long ago, he felt that he had many choices and could calmly plan for his future wealth. However, he did not expect that less than an hour later, the Count of Monte Cristo's ruthless questioning would easily stop him.
shattered his fantasy.
Many years ago, as a French instructor, he served under Ali Pasha of Ioannina and received generous treatment from the pasha. However, during the pasha's war against the Turkish Sultan, he secretly betrayed the pasha and used the pasha to
The lives of the whole family were exchanged for a generous reward from the Sultan.
To say "whole family" is not strict, because although the pasha's sons and grandsons were slaughtered, a daughter-in-law and granddaughter were kept as prisoners--in the Sultan's army, women
Captive, naturally means female slave.
At that time, Fernand had already married a wife and planned to use the money he earned to return to France to establish his own status. Therefore, he did not intend to take these two female slaves with him, so he made "waste use" of these two female slaves.
It was resold to the Sultan's court and received another sum of money.
His calculation at the time was that after the mother and daughter were sold into the palace, they would never see the light of day again, and naturally they would not be able to seek revenge from him; and he would never come to Ioannina again in the future because of what he had done.
The incident will not spread to France thousands of miles away.
Over the past ten years, everything has gone as he expected. He took the money to return to China and started speculating smoothly. He relied on money and a well-woven network of connections to rise step by step. He was promoted to brigade commander when he was only in his 30s.
——In the era of the Great Revolution, there were many generals and marshals in their 30s, but in this day and age, to be able to hold an important position at this age, he can already be regarded as a "young hero" in the military.
He originally thought that his next journey would be as smooth as before, but unexpectedly, unexpected disasters would occur with the actions of the King of Rome.
The King of Rome took his people to the Balkans for adventure, assisted Greece in independence, and created the Principality of Ioannina as his own territory. Originally, he did not care about this kind of thing, but - in order to facilitate his rule, the King of Rome held out
He appointed a little girl named Haidee to rule the principality, and she turned out to be the granddaughter of Ali Pasha, the slave girl who was betrayed to the Sultan by him!
When he heard the bad news, Fernand felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and it took him a while to recover.
Of course, he does not regret the despicable betrayal he committed before, but regrets that he should not have spared the lives of the mother and daughter just to be greedy for a little money, thus leaving such a big flaw for himself.
However, even if he regretted it at this time, he had nothing to do. He could only pray that Haidee did not reveal the matter because he was too young to remember what happened back then, or even if it was revealed, he would not be traced to him.
Although he also knew that this idea was unreliable, after Haidee became the Grand Duchess, his previous evil deeds were not exposed, so out of luck, he secretly began to believe that he had been blessed by God.
Grand Duke Dai did not find herself out.
As a result, now he knew that the King of Rome and his confidants had already known about the evil deeds back then. The reason why they did not expose the matter was just to use it as a handle to blackmail him.
That's right, this matter has long been an old thing. Even if it comes out, it will only ruin your reputation. It will not be good for the King of Rome. If you were standing in the position of the King of Rome, you would secretly withhold this handle.
.
When he thought of this, Fernan could only smile bitterly in his heart.
It turned out that he had no way to escape from the beginning.
He didn't know whether the King of Rome could succeed, but if he offended the King of Rome, no matter who had the last laugh, he would definitely lose everything.
Therefore, even though the earl in front of him spoke rudely and his eyes were full of contempt, Fernan no longer had the arrogance and reserve he had just now.
"...Actually..." He took a hard breath, and then continued in a low voice, "Actually, I have always remembered the scene when I met with His Majesty. His Majesty's demeanor and will made me extremely admired, and I will keep it in mind.
He spoke every word to me and was extremely eager to be of service to me one day."
Although what he said was not completely untrue, it was tantamount to surrendering to the Count of Monte Cristo.
And Edmund had long known what the other party would say.
How could Fernan, a despicable man, be willing to lose everything he has now? The handle held by His Majesty is something he cannot resist, and it is inevitable for him to bow his head now.
The contempt in his smile became clearer, "I am very happy that you have such loyalty to His Majesty... However, Count Morcerf, I remember that you were a deserter with General Bourmont on the battlefield of Waterloo.
, escaped from the battle?"
The earl's teasing made Fernand even more embarrassed. If anyone dared to mention this matter to him, he would be furious, but at this moment he did not dare to get angry and could only show a pitiful sneer.
"I have always felt deeply guilty about this. In fact, that was not my original intention. It was General Bourmont who took us away at that time. As one of his subordinates, what could I do?
Of course, I know that this is a stain that is difficult to wash away, but please your Majesty and you believe that in the future, I will use my own actions to wash away this shame! I, Fernand de Morcerf, will become
The Empire’s most loyal warrior!”
At this moment, Fernand looked groveling and faced Edmund with his usual humble attitude to please the superior. Although this was not enough to calm the hatred in the Count of Monte Cristo's heart, it also added a lot of tricks to the Count.
The enemy's happiness.
Even if you try to please me to the point of exhaustion, it will not change your fate. You will die in endless despair...
Edmund sneered in his heart, but showed a pleasant look on his face, "Mr. Earl, since you have this determination, your Majesty will definitely be very pleased. He has placed a lot of expectations on you, as long as you can do it
Okay, then all the old debts can be wiped off, and you can prosper under His Majesty’s staff——"
"I will be loyal to your majesty to the end!" Fernand quickly stood at attention and loudly assured the count.
In his heart, he had already made up his mind to jump ship and join the Bonaparte family - for him, working for anyone was not a job, as long as there was glory and wealth. Since he could not resist the will of the King of Rome, then
It's better to just follow through with determination. Anyway, as long as you perform well enough, no one will pursue the "little things" in the past.
"What does Your Majesty need from me?"
"Tell me first, what does Marshal Marmont want to do?" Edmund asked.
"He plans to go south next and lead us to Lyon to intercept His Majesty." Fernand did not hide anything. He immediately relayed the order given to him by Marshal Marmont to the earl, and then added, "I will not hide it from you.
Said, my subordinates are currently uneasy. Few of them are ready to carry out the marshal's orders sincerely, and no one wants to shoot at the King of Rome... I can assure you that my subordinates do not want to defend Bourbon.
Fighting against the royal family, and I have enough prestige with them, as long as I give the order, they will definitely switch sides and come to the side of the King of Rome."
Edmund thought for a moment, and then asked Fernand, "Then can you incite rebellion against your colleagues?"
Fernan was silent for a while, carefully recalling the memories of the marshal's meeting just now, and recalling the looks and reactions of his colleagues, "There are several officers who have a good relationship with me, and they have no confidence in the Wang family. I believe that as long as I
If I try to persuade them, they will definitely make the same choice as me; but for other officers, I am not so sure. If I have enough time, I can give it a try, but... time is very tight at the moment, and it is difficult for me to make a decision.
Test."
"A few people are enough." Edmund shook his head, "Your Majesty does not need all of you to defect directly, you only need a few of you reliable people to take action at the critical moment... You are at the critical moment.
Bring your men to defection, and then control Marmont, and the matter will be done."
"As long as His Majesty gives the order, we will capture Marmont and then surrender to Your Majesty!" Fernand directly made a guarantee, "Marshal Marmont is at the end of his rope at the moment, and there are not many people around him who really want to do something for him.
Those who died in the royal family, as long as we hold the marshal hostage, the remaining people will not want to resist. At that time, the entire army will automatically surrender to Your Majesty. It will be a smooth road from Lyon to Paris. Your Majesty will surely
Done!"
Fernand knew that after his scandal was exposed, he had been branded a "despicable villain" by the King of Rome, and it was impossible to gain favor by showing loyalty. All he could do now was to work hard.
Live, improve your "use value",
Kings also need scoundrels, as long as they are useful enough.
What he can give now is his old superior, Marshal Marmont. As long as he sells Marshal Marmont and gives Lyon, then this contribution will be enough to wash away his own stain.
"Marshal Marmont has been your old superior for many years and has given you a lot of guidance and help. You won't hesitate when the time comes, right?" the Earl asked pretending to be suspicious.
"Absolutely not! I only serve the Bonaparte family now, and I don't recognize anyone except Your Majesty!" Fernand replied impassionedly, "If Your Majesty needs it, I can also take off Marmont's head for Your Majesty!"
Disgusting, so disgusting.
The more impassioned Fernand spoke, the more disgusted the count felt from his heart.
In the Earl's view, Marshal Marmont was certainly not a good person, but he was extremely kind to Fernand and had absolutely no debt to him. As a result, Fernand actually talked about the Marshal in such a nonchalant tone, without any trace of guilt for betrayal.
No, I really have no shame at all.
However, this is Fernand, the scum of the scum in the world, and he is indeed capable of such a thing.
And he is also useful to His Majesty.
Let him finish the worst things. This is the last value of this scumbag.
By the time he completes this task, he will no longer be of any use to His Majesty. He will also be a smelly piece of trash in everyone's eyes, and no one will take him seriously anymore.
His reputation was ruined.
And at that time, he will enjoy his final blow...
Edmund felt that vicious pleasure in his heart.
He knew that he was also a bad person at this moment, but he didn't care. As long as he could avenge his father's death and his wife's death, he was willing to fall into hell.
While trying to suppress his excitement, he looked at the other party calmly.
"Well, sir, let's keep in touch after you go south. By the way, can you give me a token? Your Majesty needs something to trust your sincerity."
Because this was a routine operation, Fernan had no doubts. He looked down and had an idea immediately.
Then, he took off the medal on his chest that Marshal Marmont had just given to him, and handed it to the Count of Monte Cristo. "This medal is a medal that the marshal usually wears. He just gave it to him."
If you give it to me, I am willing to dedicate it to Your Majesty and declare my determination to Your Majesty!"
The marshal's medal cannot be counterfeited, and once this item falls into the hands of the King of Rome, it means that Fernand himself has no room for change and is completely tied to death in the Bonaparte family's war.
on board.
The Count of Monte Cristo did not comment, he just took the medal and hid it in his arms.
Next, he would rush to His Majesty's side as fast as possible, and then tell His Majesty his plan - he believed that His Majesty would be very satisfied.
What His Majesty lacks the most right now is time. He can't afford it, and he doesn't want to delay it in a meaningless battle. If he can overthrow Lyon without any blood, then there will be a smooth road in front of him, and no one will stop him from going to Paris. At that time,
He will be able to participate on the highest stage in this country.
This is what the count longs for day and night.
"Okay, then you can start your work. If nothing else happens, we will meet again in Lyon, and then you can mobilize your own people." Edmund resumed the meeting between the two.
With his usual demeanor, he bowed and said goodbye to the other party, "Count Morcerf, I wish you good luck in the future."
"I wish you good luck, Count of Monte Cristo." Fernand said in an attentive and courteous manner, and bowed to say goodbye. "We will have many opportunities to work together in the future, and I am willing to provide you with any help I can."
"You do have a lot of things you can do to help me -" a sneer appeared on Edmund's lips, "please don't refuse when the time comes."
I'm not afraid that you'll ask for a high price, but I'm afraid that you won't bid. Seeing the count's attitude, Fernan suddenly became energetic.
"Don't worry, no matter what you want me to do, I will do it! I am willing to do my best to be your friend."
"Goodbye then, my friend—" Edmund turned around and disappeared into the house.