Eagle's Glory

But in Maria's view, it's all about luck—who knows how long this old thing will live?If you have to endure another 20 years, what's the point of waiting until the day when you can feel proud?

Of course, she also knew that talking about it now would only annoy Sophie even more, so she didn't say any more, but changed the subject.

The two sisters reunited after a few years, so naturally there are still too many topics to talk about. They kept talking about their homeland and interesting things about their childhood, which made Sophie feel homesick again.

"It would be great if I could go home and have a look in my lifetime." She said with red eyes.

"I believe that in the end we can have the day when we can achieve what we want." Maria replied, "So, my sister, you must not be overwhelmed by sorrow, you must live a good life, as long as you live, there is hope... After all, if If I can no longer ridicule you in the future, I will have a lot less fun."

Sophie was both moved and annoyed by her sister's words. In the end, she wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and then hugged Maria tightly, "Don't worry, I will survive. Since none of you have given up on me, I will How can I be willing to bid farewell to this world? I still have so many good times that I haven’t enjoyed, and these days, I have wasted too much time... Yes, if there is a day when I get what I want, I'm going to double make it up!"

After speaking, she took the letter on the table, put it on her chest, and closed her eyes, as if to draw spiritual strength.

"You write a reply." Maria suggested, "It doesn't matter how long it is, I'll bring it to you—"

"Thank you." Sophie opened her eyes again, and then looked at her sister with energetic eyes. "I will never forget this kindness."

=========================================

On the second day after Princess Maria came to Schönbrunn Palace, Her Excellency Metternich, Prime Minister of the Empire, also came here to meet the Princess.

Of course, this was not his original intention, but Her Royal Highness expressly wished to meet him, so he had no choice but to take some time out of his busy schedule.

Although no one except her sister was happy for her arrival, as the princess of Bavaria, she should also enjoy due courtesy.

Etiquette cannot be changed according to people's likes and dislikes. For this dynasty, which has accumulated hundreds of years of history and countless red tapes, rituals are its life.

Soon, His Excellency the Prime Minister came to the suite where Her Royal Highness the Princess lived.

Like the old emperor, when he saw this face exactly like Sophie's, he felt a lot of displeasure in his heart, but unlike the emperor, he covered it up with a delicate smile and elegant demeanor.

"Nice to meet you, Your Highness Princess. Although this is the first time I meet you today, I feel very familiar with you, because you are as beautiful as Her Highness Sophie."

"Mr. Prime Minister, I am also very happy to meet you." Maria also smiled, "You are as elegant as I imagined, and I am really grateful that the empire has such a pillar of you."

"You're too proud—" Metternich shook his head lightly, "I'm an old man in my twilight years, and I always feel exhausted recently, just because I have to force myself for the sake of the empire. "

"You must take care of your health. Although I am a Bavarian, I still hope that the peace you created in Vienna can be maintained for a long time, so that we can enjoy our current life." The princess continued to compliment.

"Oh, if only everyone thought the same as you..." Metternich sighed, "But there are some troublemakers who just like to make trouble and make everyone unhappy!"

Metternich's words meant something, and Maria naturally knew what he was talking about.

"Don't worry, we Bavarians have no intention of adding chaos to the world..." She narrowed her eyes with a smile, "The reason why we entertained the Duke of Reichstedt is just to thank him for gifting our family a crown That's all - in all fairness, with such a great favor, can we be indifferent? That would be too embarrassing."

"That's true, but you'd better be careful. That little guy is a troublemaker, and he has caused so much trouble for all of us! I think it's the best policy for you to get out of the matter." Metternich said with emotion and half threat explain.

"Naturally, we know how to measure, and we also know how to act in the interests of our own country." Maria replied calmly. "Moreover, he has also left Bavaria now, and we have nothing to do with what he does next, and our country will definitely not participate in his career."

Then, she took a letter from the side and sent it to Metternich, "Speaking of which, before I left, the Duke once entrusted me to send you a letter. I don't know if you would like to accept it." .”

"It doesn't matter. Although our relationship has broken down, we still have some affection, so we can't even communicate." Metternich smiled, and then took the letter.

He tore off the inkpad, opened the letter, quickly browsed through it, and then immediately set his sights on Maria.

Maria just kept a calm smile, as if she didn't know anything about it.

Egron mentioned the matter of Christel in his heart, and asked Metternich to help her in a private capacity to provide her with the education she deserved, and was willing to give the corresponding funds for this - Metternich's personal pocket can still Get another copy.

Maria knew the inside story, but whether she considered it from Austria's standpoint or her own personal standpoint, she had to pretend that she didn't know about the existence of Kristel, and she had to pretend that she had nothing to do with the whole incident.

"Okay, I see." A moment later, Metternich stuffed the letter into his pocket and replied vaguely, "Thank you for your hard work."

Then suddenly he laughed again.

"Actually, not long ago, I just received news about the whereabouts of Duke Lechstedt." Prime Minister Metternich looked at Princess Maria with a smile on his face, "Are you interested in hearing about it?"

"Go ahead and talk," Maria replied.

"He has gone into France," Metternich replied slowly.

"What?!" Maria was surprised and blurted out, "Impossible, isn't this courting death?"

In this era, there was no telegraph network on the European continent, and there was no pervasive news media everywhere, so Maria never heard of it on the way to Austria, and she didn't know about such a storm until now.

No wonder he has been keeping secrets from me, it turns out that he is playing such an adventure!

Metternich has been secretly observing Maria's expression. From her expression, he thinks that Maria is really completely unaware.

It seemed that the little guy didn't place much trust in her, and he had no further collusion with the Bavarian royal family—but this was normal, and it didn't exceed his expectations.

Bavaria's national power was too weak compared to France. King Ludwig would not dare to openly stand on the side of the pretender to the throne and fight against the Bourbon dynasty no matter how insane he was.

Now that this fact was confirmed, Metternich no longer kept the joke, but continued to talk.

He roughly talked about what the young man did, and the general content of the declaration he issued in France-these things have been spread as explosive news in various countries, and they are not classified at all, so Metternich No embellishment, just stating the facts.

Although it seemed to Metternich it was just a talk, but Maria heard it in her heart.

How bold and reckless it is to abscond and return to the country alone and dare to show up in front of the public!I was still laughing at him for being timid just now, but now it seems that I underestimated him.

That's right, if he wasn't such a person, how could he have come to where he is today... It's amazing.

While Maria was still thinking, Metternich spoke again.

"Your Highness, you have met and chatted with him before, so do you know what he plans to do next? Or do you have any guesses?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know at all, and he didn't tell me—" Maria shook her head without showing any trace, "Just think about it, how can a person like him talk to me?"

Metternich thought the same, so he didn't bother anymore.

Next, the two said a lot of innocuous polite words in accordance with the etiquette, but each other's thoughts had already drifted away, and they left each other immediately when the right time came.

Maria knew in her heart that she had not been here for a long time, and His Majesty the Emperor could not wait to issue an eviction order immediately to let her, an unwelcome guest, leave as soon as possible.

But she doesn't care, she is already looking forward to her next destination.　　

60, Milan

Good rain knows the season.

Just in the middle of the night at the turn of spring and summer, thunder rumbled, earth-shattering, followed by pattering raindrops.

The fine rain slapped on the woods, the soil, and the buildings everywhere, turning this land into a wet world.

Different from the tyrannical and harsh winter rain that hopes to take away the last trace of heat from people, the current rain is like a gift from heaven to the world, nourishing the creatures on the ground, driving away the sweltering heat and bringing them longing. Cool.

On this dreary rainy night, Aigron quietly came to the outskirts of Milan with a few of his guards.

He is now wearing a black raincoat, and his whole body has been integrated into the night, walking on the road without people with the help of the only dim lights that are scattered around.

The heavy rain did not affect his mood. On the contrary, the closer he was to the city of Milan in the night, the happier he felt.

Not long ago, he had just completed a feat. He sneaked into the territory of France, and then issued a declaration while the people were watching.

Relying on his own adventurous actions, he easily made himself the focus of attention and turned the European public opinion field upside down again.

On the way out of France, he hid all the way, crossed the territory of Switzerland and finally came to Milan, so he had little chance to get in touch with outside information along the way, but he could predict that he must have done this.

Of course, he knew better that not everyone liked him, and as many people cheered for him, there were as many people who wanted him to die immediately, so his most important task now was to protect his own safety.

Milan will not be a city that welcomes him.

After 1815, with the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, Austria recaptured the Lombardy region centered on Milan, and established the Lombardy-Venetian Kingdom on its own Italian territory, with the Austrian emperor as the head of state.

Although Lombardy and Venetia were incorporated into one country, in fact the two regions still had their own parallel governments, and the Austrian royal family sent a governor to supervise the operation of the kingdom.

The current governor is Grand Duke Rainer. He is the No. 12 child of the former Emperor Leopold II. He is also the younger brother of Emperor Franz and Grand Duke Karl. Since 1818, he has been staying in Lombardy- The Kingdom of Venetia served as Governor, ruling this part of Italy on behalf of the Austrian Emperor.

As governor, he usually stays in Milan with his family.

Theoretically, this grand duke should be regarded as Aigron's uncle and grandfather. Of course, Aigron didn't dare to go to this grand duke to express his family affection.

Aigron knew that the Bourbon royal family hated him so much that he could never fall into their hands, but would his fate be much better if he fell into the hands of the Habsburg family?I'm afraid that's not necessarily the case. My grandfather is a narrow-minded and vengeful person. I have brought him such a big humiliation. How could he easily pretend that nothing happened?

Moreover, the local Milanese are different from the French.

The French remembered the glory brought by the emperor and the security and stability he brought to restore order to the country, but these Lombards were different.

Although they were once subjects of Napoleon like the French, they did not particularly favor the French. These poor Lombards, after all, were Italians. During the rise of Napoleon, they became the first to be conquered , was ravaged and looted everywhere, and Napoleon relied on the wealth here to complete his primitive accumulation. The French army burned, killed and looted this area, and the various disasters they created were also engraved in the local historical memory.

And after Napoleon created the empire, they were merged into the Kingdom of Italy with Napoleon as the monarch, but even then they didn't get any benefits, and they still had to bear high taxes and endless military service. Love Napoleon even though Napoleon is theoretically of Italian descent.

As the empire fell into endless wars, the increasingly heavy squeeze made the Milanese's resistance more intense, and the continuous military failures at the end of the empire added to the courage of the locals to rise up against the empire.

On April 1814, 4, large-scale riots broke out in Milan, and Giuseppe Lina, then Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Italy, was even lynched to death after being caught by the mob.

It is conceivable what the image of the empire is in their hearts.

Of course, the only thing that makes Aegron a little relieved is that the Lombards don't like the Austrians too much.

In all fairness, compared with the rule of the Napoleonic Empire, the rule of the Austrians is now much looser. The Austrian Empire is not as tyrannical as the French Empire, and even allows the Lombards to be autonomous to a certain extent. In peacetime, economic development is also very fast.

But the problem is that under the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, the Lombards, especially those upper elites, began to awaken their national consciousness.

They identify themselves as Italian and are tired of the constant history of being invaded and alternately ruled by the French or the Germans. They don't want to be treated as second class citizens and be treated as a frontier of no importance. They want an Italian. Their own country and the Kingdom of Italy that Napoleon once kneaded happened to meet their expectations to some extent.

They wanted an Italian kingdom created by the Italians themselves.

And today's Italy is politically back to the state of fragmentation before the French Revolution. The north is ruled by the Habsburg family, the south is ruled by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies of the Bourbon family, and there are a bunch of dilapidated small states in the middle.

Faced with this cruel reality, the Lombards did not feel that they could overthrow the Austrian rule by themselves, so they pinned their hopes on the nearby Kingdom of Sardinia.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was originally just a small state. During the Napoleonic Wars, Piedmont and other territories on the European continent were directly swept away by Napoleon. However, after the fall of the French Empire, it not only restored the old territory, but also from Vienna and In the meeting, Genoa was won, and the strength has been strengthened.

The original intention of Metternich to make this arrangement at the Vienna Conference was to create a powerful buffer state between Austria and France, as the gatekeeper to French expansion, to withstand the first wave of blows.

This calculation is indeed a good one, but he has forgotten the fact that Austria itself will also be the target of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

After the fall of the French Empire, the French forces temporarily withdrew from the Italian stage, and the Austrians were the next to control the Italian territory, especially the most elite northern Italian territory, so they became the thorn in the eyes of the emerging nationalists.

The disasters brought by Napoleon have been far away from this land, and the wounds of the past are slowly healing. Gradually, people will forget about these disasters and pay attention to the positive parts he brought (although it may not be his. intended).

Just because the flames of nationalism began to burn, the ancient Savoy family, which ruled the kingdom, became the hope of unity in the eyes of these Italian elites.Either publicly or secretly, they hope that the Kingdom of Sardinia will take the lead to unify Italy with Italian guns, expel all foreign intervention forces, sweep away the humiliation of thousands of years, and return this fragmented country to unity.

And the ancient Savoy royal family, in order to expand their power at this time, is also secretly catering to such a nationalist trend of thought, wanting to borrow this power for their own use in Europe in this era, the instinct of feudal lords to expand their territories, The glorious dream of liberating the motherland of the nationalists will indeed be miraculously combined at a certain historical stage. This is not the only example, nor is it the most grand example. It is not even ranked in terms of the disasters created .

On the original historical line, Metternich’s calculations were completely in vain. After all, this diplomat was still a person in the 18th century. He used the methods of various feudal kingdoms to deal with contemporary issues, and he did handle them well for a time; but The nationalist ideological trend that flooded all over Europe in the 19th century was so strange to him, and the feudal royal family and the nationalist ideological trend were even more unheard of for him, let alone prevent it in advance.

Regardless of what he originally thought, in short, the Savoy royal family became an enemy with ulterior motives in Austria. It continued to instigate the Lombardy region to rebel against the Austrians, and in 1848, taking advantage of the revolution in Vienna, the armed forces The attack on Lombardy was unfortunately defeated.

After the failure, the Savoy royal family was still undeterred, and still persistently wanted to complete the great cause.In order to make a comeback, it even turned to France. After 1848, Louis Bonaparte was elected President of France and became Emperor of the Second French Empire in 1852. The Kingdom of Sardinia immediately moved closer to him and sought his asylum. , as a backer for revenge against Austria.

In order to please the Bonaparte family, the Savoy royal family gave their blood to King Vittorio Emanuele II and married his daughter, Princess Clotilde, to the cousin of Napoleon III.

Napoleon III also reciprocated. He originally wanted to hit Austria hard and avenge the past, but now that he has a small follower, he is naturally more happy.

In 1859, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the French Empire declared war on Austria successively, and finally relying on the decisive victory of the French army in the Battle of Magenta, the Austrians had to give up Lombardy. The long-cherished wish of the Kingdom of Sardinia for decades was finally Come true, embarked on a decisive step to unify the whole of Italy.

The end of the Austrian rule over Italy was actually accomplished by the Savoy family. Napoleon.

The exquisite arrangements for the Kingdom of Sardinia at the Vienna Conference, due to the ambitions of the old era and the trends of thought of the new era, led to a result that was completely opposite to the wishes of the parties involved. What a joke...

Of course, for Aigron at this time, these things that happened in the "future" can only be regarded as references.

Right now, the nobles in the Lombardy region are still muttering in their hearts that they want to get rid of the Austrian rule, or at most send their children to the Kingdom of Sardinia to study and establish personal connections. They have not really had the courage to openly seek independence. The Austrian rule over the land still looks rock solid.

He respected that and had no intention of challenging the patience of the Austrian authorities with him.

He came here just to solve some old problems.

Before, from his mother, he learned that the treasure plundering team he had made up before actually existed; and later, from his righteous brother Eugene, he got further information.

Prince Eugene was also aware of the existence of these people. After all, he was the governor of Italy and ruled the region on behalf of the emperor, so the activities of these people could not be hidden from him.

But he didn't get involved in these matters deeply, because he didn't want to get the notoriety of tomb robbers, he just found some convenience for these people when necessary.

But even so, he still has a lot of information about them.

When Prince Eugene fled Milan with his family, because the situation had become very chaotic, he dared not go to these people and take the treasure away, because that would only make his escape more dangerous.

However, deep down, he still believed that these wealth belonged to the heirs of the empire.

So in the last days of his life, while writing his memoirs, he dug out the relevant information he still remembered from his own memory, recorded them all, and sealed them up as a posthumous manuscript.

If Eggron is still under the control of the Austrians and has never had the opportunity to visit his family, then these manuscripts will always be buried in the box without seeing the light of day; He's about to fulfill his last wish and maybe the last he can do for his adoptive father's heir.

Eggron did, and he got the last gift from his brother-in-law.

These manuscripts are now hidden in Aigron's arms, and even the heavy rain in the sky has not damaged them in the slightest.

In the dark night, the rain poured down, washing these paths into potholes, but the flame in Aigron's heart burned more and more with the distance.

He raised his head and stared at the lights of the city in the distance, his eyes burning with greedy fire.

In all fairness, he is not sure that he can really get what he wants; and now he does not necessarily have to get the so-called treasure.

However, he didn't want to lose anything that belonged to him. This was the only paranoia in his life, and he had fought so far for it, and this time was no exception.