The four hundred and ninetieth chapter [the first dance of life]
Chapter 493 [The first dance in life]
On the high platform directly in front of the hall, His Majesty Emperor Augustine VI is sitting on a throne. The only difference from previous emperors is that next to the emperor's throne, there is a throne parallel to his seat.
Naturally, it is the position of the Imperial Regent.
Chen was sitting next to the old emperor, with a perfect smile on his face.
The palace band was on the left side of the main hall, behind a curtain. When His Majesty Emperor Augustine VI stood up from his chair, the ceremonial officer next to him quickly waved his hand, and the band immediately stopped playing.
In the main hall, the cheerful atmosphere just now suddenly became solemn again.
Soon, a palace attendant nearby brought two gold cups. His Majesty Augustine VI and the Prince Regent each picked up one. Everyone understood that this was the beginning of the toasting ceremony.
"Long live the Empire."
The voice was not loud, and everyone could tell that the mood of His Majesty Augustine VI was not too high, but this was normal, because everyone understood that now this old man who was so happy with his achievements had been sidelined.
However, no one dared to look directly at the tired and impatient expression of the old man, so everyone obediently picked up the wine glass next to them and raised it high. Hundreds of people responded and loudly shouted: "Long live the Empire!"
And then, the regent Prince Chen also raised his wine glass. When he raised his wine glass, the hall immediately fell into absolute silence! Because everyone knows that this regent is now the real master of the empire!
"May the empire be prosperous and the thorn flower flag fly forever on the mainland." The regent smiled, then raised his wine glass and touched his lips.
"Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live His Royal Highness the Regent!!" Hundreds of people shouted loudly, and both men and women drank all the wine in their glasses.
Du Wei is sitting in the first position on the left side of the emperor's throne, which is also the position closest to the emperor and regent. Judging from this ranking order, it is enough to reflect the status of Duke Tulip in the empire!
Others, including old Prime Minister Rob Schell, could only sit under Du Wei.
After the toasts are over, tonight's banquet and dance will begin. The next thing will be much simpler.
As long as His Majesty the old Emperor sits in his seat for a short while, pretending to be cool, then he can pretend to be mentally exhausted, stand up and go back to the palace to rest, and tonight's business will be over.
According to tradition, the first dance should be danced by His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress. However, the old emperor was already old and the Empress had already passed away. So starting from the coup three years ago, this formal evening occasion, the dance
In the first dance on earth, Prince Chen danced instead of the old emperor. Anyway, in everyone's hearts, he was already the emperor.
Amidst the melodious and gentle dance music, the Prince Regent stood up with a calm smile on his face, bowed slightly to the Prince Regent and Queen sitting next to him, and gracefully extended his hand.
This is the first time Du Wei has seen the queen. The queen is twenty-eight years old this year. She looks much younger than her actual age. She has a gentle and charming appearance, quiet and elegant. From the appearance and temperament, she is very...
Only Du Wei knows how elegant and graceful a queen is. I'm afraid this woman will never be a queen in her lifetime.
In fact, it is said that this queen is also a very gentle and virtuous woman. She married Prince Chen when she was sixteen and gave birth to a son and a daughter to him. And it is said that she has a kind and gentle personality and has no ambitions.
, is a peaceful and beautiful woman.
The only slight flaw is that, as the head wife of the ruler of the empire, the queen's family background is a bit shabby. Of course, this is also a relative term. She is not from a poor family, she is also a local aristocratic family in the south, and her family is quite wealthy.
This small force is just a third-rate aristocratic family in the empire at best. It is far, far behind the top aristocratic families like the Luo Lin family. These local nobles in the south are often looked down upon by the wealthy families in the imperial capital and think that
He's a country bumpkin.
After Prince Chen came to power, everyone thought that he should marry an aristocratic woman from the imperial capital as his concubine. Unfortunately, what was surprising was that he chose another girl from a southern aristocratic family: Miss Dai Li, as his concubine.
This move by the princess was immediately regarded as a meaningful political signal!
Obviously, in addition to wooing Dai Li's family and establishing a balanced political opponent for Du Wei, this move also has some other meanings: Prince Chen doesn't like that the traditional wealthy and aristocratic families in the imperial capital are too powerful! So it seems that he wants to support him.
Several emerging forces have emerged to balance the balance of forces among the wealthy and aristocratic circles of the imperial capital!
Therefore, in the past two years, there has been a sign of a "strong south wind" among the elite circles in the imperial capital.
Since they both received strict court training since childhood, the regent and queen were very superb in their court dances. They displayed their skillful dance postures and various perfect skills to the fullest. The two of them were originally handsome men and beauties, and after finishing the dance,
It immediately received a burst of warm applause. Du Wei could tell that the applause came from heartfelt admiration, not just out of respect for the status of the two dancers.
According to custom, after the first dance was performed by the master of the palace, the regent and the queen bowed gracefully to each other, and then walked back to the throne hand in hand: "Okay, everyone, I hope you all have a great time tonight!"
Then, the second dance music started...but after the music started, no one moved!
In the aristocratic circle of the Roland Empire, traditional etiquette is still very important.
Because, in this circle, everything operates according to "status and rank"! The first dance belongs to His Majesty the Emperor. Then the second dance begins, although everyone can dance. But there is another very
Subtle "tradition".
There is an unwritten rule here: after the second dance starts, the person with the highest status present tonight, except His Majesty the Emperor, must be the first to enter the dance floor. Only after this person moves first,
Only other people can leave one after another, otherwise it will be considered a rude and arrogant act!
And on this occasion tonight, apart from the emperor and the regent, there are only two people with the highest status in the country: Du Wei, the Tulip Grand Duke of the empire, who has spent his whole life in officialdom and has been the prime minister of the empire for many years.
Old Rob Schell counts as one.
If the two of them sit still and the others leave first... then they may be misunderstood: Do you think your status is more noble than the Duke of Tulip and the Prime Minister?
The prelude to the dance has ended. Neither Du Wei nor the old prime minister moved. As everyone knows, the old prime minister's health has been declining in recent years, and dancing is no longer suitable for him.
In the past, he would usually not attend such banquets if he could. And Du Wei was in the northwest all year round. In the past, on such occasions, except for the regent who danced the first dance, the first person to leave was often
They are all the finance ministers of the empire, or the marquises from two or three wealthy families in other places take the lead. Sometimes the Earl of Villa will take the lead.
But on an occasion like today, the old prime minister is here, and Duke Tulip is also here! In this case, who dares to move first?
Comparing the title? Du Wei is a duke! It can be said that apart from the royal family, the duke has the highest title! (Only the royal family can be crowned a prince).
Compared with the official position? He is already an imperial general! He is also the military and political minister in the northwest! And in a palace meeting, the regent deliberately arranged for Du Wei to sit in his "first from the lower left" position, which has obviously released a
Signal: Du Wei will become the Prime Minister of the Empire in the future!
News of that time has spread through various channels.
Now the illustrious young minister of the empire is sitting there. At this time, if anyone relies on his status to act first, it will be a clear provocation to the Tulip family, which has tens of thousands of soldiers and is the most wealthy in the world!!
The nobles below were eagerly waiting for Du Wei to make the first move, and in addition to the men, almost all the girls from young noble families present were also waiting expectantly!
Why?
Waiting to accept the invitation from Duke Tulip as his dance partner!!
Although the news of Du Wei's engagement has blocked the royal family's marriage channels, with his current prestige and power, who would believe that the future first minister of the empire would only marry one wife?
Although those truly wealthy families would not marry their daughters to Du Wei as a concubine (in their view, this behavior is too shameful. Marrying the emperor or the regent as a concubine is more like it). However, some second- and third-rate noble families
, there are absolutely 100 people who are willing to marry their daughter to Du Wei! Even if it is to be a concubine!!
After learning about Du Wei's attendance at tonight's banquet, throughout the whole day today, many noble girls spent all their thoughts on how to dress themselves up as flashy as possible. At this moment, in the hall, there are countless bright and charming people.
All the charming girls were staring at Du Wei who was sitting there with their big twinkling eyes. If eyes could eat people, I'm afraid that our young Duke would have been eaten to the point where not even his bones were left.
Du Wei felt a little embarrassed.
He knew this kind of traditional etiquette, but... looking at those noble girls with expectant faces, he felt a little scared. In fact, if it was in normal conditions, he would have a good choice: such as inviting a princess
Come dance!
This is very good, because in terms of status, it is a sign of respect for the royal family. But in terms of private matters, it is impossible for him to marry a princess as his concubine, which eliminates many unnecessary daydreams.
Unfortunately, Princess Louise, who was originally the most suitable partner for Duwei's dance tonight, is now far away in the northwest city of Gilliat, acting as a nurse to carefully take care of the brave knight in her heart.
Du Wei's eyes rolled around, then he suddenly smiled, stood up, and walked towards the lower right side of the Regent's desk with his head held high in full view of everyone...
For a time, this behavior immediately made the hearts of several girls from noble families nearby that place flutter, and some of them were so excited that their faces turned red.
However, then, Du Wei quickly walked to his "target", and then he showed the most elegant and charming smile on his face, bowed, his voice was as warm as the spring breeze, and he stretched out a hand. He said softly:
"Is that okay, Your Highness?"
This sentence almost made countless noble girls present feel relieved. Even the men seemed to have their eyes widened and stared at Du Wei in disbelief!
Because the "His Royal Highness" sitting in front of Du Wei is surprisingly the eight-year-old daughter of the Regent, His Royal Highness Prince Chen, Princess Karina!
Karina was dressed up tonight. At only eight years old, this was her first time to attend such a formal banquet. This eight-year-old girl inherited the handsomeness of Prince Chen and the beauty of her mother. At such a young age
, she was already born with beautiful features and delicate features, making her a perfect future beauty.
Although Du Wei's actions shocked her, the eight-year-old little princess had no idea that the Duke would actually invite her...
However, having received strict training in royal etiquette, she quickly calmed down, coughed, and stood up quickly, her eyes a little flustered. In a childish voice, she nervously replied: "That's my honor..."
After hesitating for a moment, the little princess added a title: "...Teacher!"
Du Wei was stunned for a moment, and then immediately remembered that he was also responsible for being the tutor of Prince Chen's son and daughter. He smiled, took the little girl's hand, and slowly walked off the dance floor...
There was an obvious sigh of helplessness from all around. But no one dared to say anything. Because although Karina is very young, she is a real princess after all!
With Du Wei taking the lead, the other guests finally dared to move. When Du Wei danced with Princess Karina in his arms, many nobles around them invited their dancing partners to leave.
The little girl's figure had not yet grown, so Du Wei bent down slightly. To accommodate the height difference between the two, he could easily bear the weight of Princess Karina with one hand, and half-armed the child to dance to the music.
The rhythm gently rotates.
Princess Karina was obviously very excited and excited. Her little face turned red. In her nervousness, she even forgot her strictly trained dance steps and almost stepped on Du Wei's feet several times.
"Ah! I'm sorry, teacher..." Karina felt like she would have to find a way to slip in.
Du Wei smiled peacefully: "No need to apologize. Your Highness. In fact, you have done me a big favor."
Karina rolled her eyes, and she was smart enough to immediately understand what Du Wei meant. He was indeed a child of the royal family.
"Teacher..." Karina suddenly came over and whispered in Du Wei's ear: "Did you know? This is the first dance in my life."
Du Wei laughed, looked at this cute little girl, and resisted pinching her cute nose. He said with a gentle smile: "That is my honor, Your Highness."
At the end of the dance, Du Wei took Karina's hand, sent her back to her seat, nodded and left. There was a hint of disappointment in Karina's eyes, and ten people sitting next to her
Prince Charlie.
Charlie looked at his sister and suddenly smiled: "Dear, I heard that he returned to the Imperial City to stay a little longer this time. I think I can go and beg my father tomorrow and ask the teacher to start giving us formal lessons.
What do you think?"
Karina immediately glanced at her brother in surprise, then suppressed her excitement: "Okay! Thank you then!"
Prince Charlie smiled faintly and looked at Du Wei in the distance: "No need to thank me... because I am also looking forward to the lessons from Grand Duke Tulip! He is now the most famous genius on the mainland! Alas, I am really good
I want to ask him to teach me how to ride a broomstick that can fly into the sky, how to fly in a hot air balloon, and..."
Karina smiled. She looked at her brother's excited expression, but the little girl couldn't help but think of the first volume of "General History of the Continent" that fell into her hands!
Over the past year or so, Karina has read all of Du Wei's notes. Although she can't understand many things, little Karina is undoubtedly extremely fascinated by them.
She subconsciously looked at her toes. Fortunately, in order to prepare for tonight's dance, she picked a pair of her favorite new dance shoes! Karina has decided to treasure this pair of dance shoes when she goes back.
Shortly after the first song ended, when the second dance started, Prince Chen winked at Du Wei. The two looked at each other and understood what the other meant: It's almost time.
According to the plan, during the free time after the second dance, it can be announced that His Majesty the old Emperor is not in good spirits and will leave first, and then everyone can respectfully send His Majesty back to rest. In every public appearance in recent years, it has generally been
That's it.
At this moment, His Majesty the "Old Emperor"'s performance was perfect. He didn't show any flaws. He was sitting on the throne, his spirit was a little wandering, a little unfocused, and he had a touch of impatience and boredom. These performances were also very consistent.
True to Augustine VI's consistent performance.
Finally, the second song ended, and Prince Chen and Du Wei both breathed a sigh of relief: tonight's test was finally passed successfully.
Prince Chen was about to stand up and make an announcement, but at this moment...
Outside the main hall, a rumble of drums sounded, followed by the horn of the honor guard. This indicated that another distinguished guest of high status was coming!
Sure enough, a loud voice came from the ceremonial officer standing outside the hall to announce:
"The Mainland Temple of Light, His Majesty Pope Paul XVI is here!!"
